Innholdsfortegnelse for Jun-21-14 i Billboard Magazine

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE ON A ‘ROLL’ Could Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” become a crossover smash like the duo’s “Cruise,” by way of yet another remix featuring an unlikely collaborator? “Roll,” originally featuring Luke Bryan, hits a new Billboard Hot 100 peak, jumping 26-15. On Digital Songs, it also reaches a new best rank, roaring 23-7 with 130,000 downloads sold, up 130 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Behind the surge? A recently released remix with Jason Derulo, which accounts for 55 percent of its sales in the week ending June 8. A performance of “Roll” by FGL, Bryan and Derulo as part of a medley with ZZ Top to open the June 4 CMT Music Awards couldn’t have hurt either. In 2013, FGL remixed “Cruise” with Nelly…

When Amazon launched its Amazon Prime music service on June 12, it immediately became one of the largest paid interactive music services in the country by one measure — the size of its subscriber base. The company officially has not disclosed how many customers subscribe to Amazon Prime, paying an annual fee for free, speedy shipping and a movie and TV service. But one executive puts the figure in the millions in the United States — and tens of millions worldwide. The downside: The new service is not for those looking to stay on top of the latest hit albums. Amazon Prime allows users to download or stream songs, and even purchase music through a buy button. But it has only 1 million tracks, and most new music won’t be…

The soundtrack to the sci-fi indie video game Transistor is off to a Halo-sized start, according to sources. Though the musical score debuted with 2,000 copies sold in the week ending May 25, according to Nielsen SoundScan, that number might have been larger had sales from Steam, the video game equivalent of iTunes, been reported to SoundScan. Sources who have seen Steam’s figures say the digital game store sold 11,000 copies of the album in its first week. (The soundtrack was released May 20.) A representative for Steam’s parent company, Valve, tells Billboard that Steam does not “release sales data on music or games.” That’s too bad, because the combined 13,000 units would have secured the biggest sales week ever for a video game soundtrack, surpassing the 9,000 sold of…

Lil’ Kim (above) is upping the baby-naming game. On June 9, the rapper gave birth to her first child, a girl named Royal Reign. But in today’s world, when the next generation of superstars is routinely given handles like Blue Ivy and North West, it takes extra effort to help your kid stand out — and there have been some memorable offerings from artists with especially inventive parental instincts. PHARRELL WILLIAMS created the ultimate ode to a musical hero by christening his son Rocket, after Elton John’s hit “Rocket Man.” ASHLEE SIMPSON and Pete Wentz named their child Bronx Mowgli, a sprightly blend of the New York borough and the Jungle Book hero. MICHAEL JACKSON named his son Prince Michael Jackson II (aka Blanket). MJ’s brother Jermaine called his son…

After more than five years, four writers and a tough-toplease trio that holds cast and script veto power, Universal’s N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton is finally getting the green light. Sources say the studio has assembled its leading threesome to tackle the roles of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the late Eazy-E. The three parties with approval — Cube, Dre and Eazy-E’s widow Tomica Wright — have signed off on the actors who will play the core members of the seminal rap group. It’s no secret that Cube has been lobbying for his son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., 24, to be cast as the teen version of his father, and it appears he got his wish. Less known is the classically trained actor who is said to have won the role…

When trolling the radio dial, you may have noticed that horns have returned to pop music. And they’ve returned in some pretty big songs: Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty,”Ariana Grande’s “Problem” (with Iggy Azalea) and thejust-released hit from U.K. superstar Cheryl Cole, “Crazy Stupid Love.” All horns! Did those VH1 “Save the Music” commercials finally work? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t that sexy. Music is “cyclical.” The horns of the 1980s have been well-documented and can make any party sound like an“over-40s only” gathering. Even the 1990s and 2000s featured some brass with the return of ska, with the likes of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and No Doubt. The horn is back just because... the horn is back. So, rest assured, you’ll continue to get a healthy dose of…

It used to be about celebrity DJs. Then it was handcrafted mixology. Then pop-up nightclubs. Now, when it comes to New York nightlife venues, Bradley Rothenberg’s lighting installations are having a moment. At 5-month-old Up & Down, where Rihanna had her wild Met Gala afterparty, Prince had a listening party and Nas and Swizz Beatz hosted a birthday party for Carmelo Anthony, Rothenberg’s lighting installation made up of pyramids of pulsing light that change colors lives in the stairwell between the upstairs nightclub and the downstairs lounge. Over 256 million color combinations are possible, according to Rothenberg. “It all depends on the people going up and down the stairs,” he explains. “It’s almost a kaleidoscopic effect pulling you down, going into an Alice in Wonderland hole.” The lighting installation at…

RITA ORA The newly single songstress performed at the Take-Two E3 Kickoff Party in Los Angeles wearing a lace frock with strategically placed feathers and a nude bodysuit underneath. RIHANNA The naked dress heard ’round the world — the sultry singer accepted her CFDA Fashion Icon Award wearing 230,000 Swarovski crystals (gown by Adam Selman) and a pink fur stole. NICKI MINAJ The rapper took the 2014 Summer Jam stage wearing a revealing mesh crop-top by designer Fannie Schiavoni and, for modesty, silver star-shaped pasties. NOW ONLINE PretaReporter.com INSTAGRAM @pretareporter…

Photographed By ERIC RYAN ANDERSON The 1975 Friday, June 6 12:54 p.m. The British rock quartet performed songs off its self-titled debut and felt right at home, with frontman Matthew Healy saying he hardly notices the difference between U.S. and U.K. crowds. “Everything is so homogenized now between teenagers,” he says. “Our American audience has really embraced us.” The Naked and Famous Saturday, June 7 7:37 p.m. During day two, the New Zealand natives took the stage — under relentless sunshine, no less — sharing the best from the rock band’s second album, In Rolling Waves, released in 2013. “Being in the heat playing for over an hour can be really taxing,” says singer Alisa Xayalith. “But we had a blast.” Jenny Lewis Friday, June 6 4:12 p.m. Six years…

EMELI SANDE U.S. album sales 282,000 HighlightsOur Version of Events peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 (2012). Scored two top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits in 2013 including “Next to Me,” which reached No. 25. BIRDY U.S. album sales 81,000 Highlights Her eponymous album peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard 200 in 2012. “Skinny Love” reached No. 24 on Hot Rock Songs in February. LIANNE LA HAVAS U.S. album sales 40,000 HighlightsIs Your Love Big Enough? peaked at No. 142 on the Billboard 200 (2012). “Lost & Found” reached No. 17 on Adult R&B (2013). PALOMA FAITH U.S. album sales 39,000 HighlightsFall to Grace peaked at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 (2012). “Picking Up the Pieces” hit No. 8 on Dance Club Songs (2012) and No.…

How did Sia contact you? Is she a Dance Moms devotee? I didn’t audition or anything. I got a tweet from Sia, who’s a fan of the show, and she asked if I’d like to be in her next video. Two weeks later, I was in L.A. making the video. What was Sia and co-director Daniel Askill’s vision for the video? I was playing a mini-Sia. I’m not completely sure what they were thinking, but I know I had to play a crazy person. All of my corrections were people saying, “Use your crazy eyes! Always make the weirdest faces!” Was the choreography hard for you? I’m used to doing competitions and over-rehearsed material — this was completely different. No one really cared if I was in the perfect position,…

THE MADDENS ARE BACK After leading Good Charlotte to three Billboard 200 top 10s in the 2000s, the Madden Brothers (twins Joel and Benji) are back with Greetings From California ..., due Oct. 7 (Capitol). Retro-soul lead single “We Are Done” is bubbling under at top 40 and alternative radio, with major-market play from KIIS and KYSR Los Angeles. The album features two songs co-written by Pharrell Williams. CHANCE ENCOUNTER “Stolen Dance,” the debut Republic single from German duo Milky Chance (vocalist Clemens Rehbein and DJ Philipp Dausch) debuts on Hot Rock Songs at No. 36 and Alternative at No. 39. The folk/pop/electro mix is already a global hit, reaching No. 1 in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland and France. Its official video has 38 million YouTube views. ‘BIRTHDAY SUIT ’…

Days after announcing they would be releasing an album together, former Swedish House Mafia members Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso closed Governors Ball on June 8 with a high-octane set, their first as a duo, featuring fireworks, lasers and several new songs. It has been more than a year since Swedish House Mafia, the star house trio that helped make EDM a pop and arena-tour juggernaut, walked away at the top of its game with its last show at the 2013 Ultra Music Festival. Steve Angello went solo and is working on an album for Columbia due in 2014. But Axwell and Ingrosso decided to keep the magic going: In May, they announced they would tour and release music under the name Axwell & Ingrosso. Their live debut as a duo?…

FROM THE START, ED SHEERAN has demonstrated a skill for shrugging off the conventions of mainstream pop while still managing to enjoy its successes: His breakthrough radio single focused on a crack-addled prostitute. “The A Team,” from Sheeran’s debut album, + (pronounced “plus”), cloaked its harrowing subject matter in a sensual melody, a nifty trick that has helped the 23-year-old British singer-songwriter transition from pub-playing troubadour to arena act in roughly three years. The accented yearn of his vocal delivery distinguishes him from other aspiring folkies, but Sheeran’s real gift lies in his writing — his lyrics’ attention to detail and unorthodox phrasing in particular. As the title implies, x (pronounced “multiply”), Sheeran’s highly anticipated follow-up, ups the ante from his debut. He sinks even deeper into feelings of love,…

Godsmack takes a dubious look back at its illustrious career on “1000hp,” the lead single from the upcoming album of the same name. The Boston band reminisces about the year 1995, and how no one cared about the empty rooms it played “until they all showed up one day/Then we took our stage and everything changed.” Nothing wrong with being proud of that turning point, but why is Godsmack bragging about such a far-gone moment now? The by-the-numbers rock track is nothing to shout about, either: Guitars stab, squall and chug along without making any lasting impression. A tempo switch at the bridge is briefly interesting, but then “1000hp” returns to its ho-hum speed. —Christa Titus JENNY LEWIS “Just One of the Guys” Warner Bros. Records Artists like Lily Allen…

DOT COM Read more Chart Beat at billboard.com/chartbeat. LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). RIAA certification for 1 million paid…

It was a big week for mega manager Irving Azoff. On June 11, Billboard broke the news that Azoff Music Management had signed Gwen Stefani and No Doubt. The previous day, it was announced that Azoff MSG Entertainment (AMSGE) — the joint venture between Azoff Music Management and the Madison Square Garden Company — had acquired a 50 percent stake in Levity Entertainment Group, a multifaceted firm that includes live comedy venues, TV production, talent management and online digital services. According to sources, Stefani, 44, and No Doubt, the band she fronts, were being courted by multiple managers before signing with Azoff . The singer and No Doubt recently parted ways with Jim Guerinot’s Rebel Waltz Management, which had handled them since 1998. Azoff ’s other clients include the Eagles,…

The market for CDs may be crashing, but the creators of ZinePak are doing their best to keep hope alive. A New York based startup, the company seeks to recapture the pleasure of holding a musical object in your hand — packaging CDs with mini-magazines and merchandise. Their version of Katy Perry’s Prism came with decals that fans can stick on their fingernails. “We hear from people all the time on social media or in emails that this is the first time they’ve bought a physical album in a decade,” says co-founder Kim Kaupe. She and co-founder Brittany Hodak came from advertising backgrounds and quit their jobs because they saw sales potential in reaching out to “superfans.” They know the challenge is tough. According to an April report in The…

As the birthplace of the Constitution and home of the Liberty Bell, Philadelphia goes big for the Fourth of July. This year is no exception, as the city plays hosts to the annual Wawa Welcome America festival’s Philly 4th of July Jam, the largest free outdoor concerts in the country telecast live on VH1. The concert, which launched in the early 1990s but has picked up steam since Mayor Michael Nutter took office in 2007, this year features Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran and local stars The Roots, among others. But there’s an important name missing from the talent roster: Nutter himself. The former DJ, who did a full-length non-karaoke cover of “Rapper’s Delight” at his second inauguration in 2012, is more than qualified — but less than enthusiastic…

If One Direction fan Anna Todd wrote her own lyrics to the group’s hit “Story of My Life,” it would sound like a fairytale. The 25-year-old Texan just scored a six-fi gure advance when Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books acquired the rights to After, her steamy fan-fic story about Harry Styles and the boy band that has been a hit on the digital self-publishing site Wattpad for over a year. (United Talent Agency is shopping the film rights as well.) Fan fic, in which amateurs write and share unauthorized adventures featuring established characters or real people, has been big business for many years. Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fic. But this is the first big deal to involve a “Directioner,” as members of the massive 1D…

Nearly 40 weeks after first appearing on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart, American Authors‘ “Best Day of My Life” shows little sign of slowing down (it currently is No. 3). One of seven songs used during the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, which ran from mid-April to early June on NBC — the combined TV audience for the first four New Yorks Rangers vs. Los Angeles Kings match-ups totaled 17.4 million viewers — the high-profile placement caps off a sync frenzy that began nine months earlier. It was first used in U.S. ads for retailer Lowe’s, then in trailers for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Delivery Man. Dirty Canvas co-owner Shep Goodman signed the act to a production deal in 2012. “ ‘Best Day of My Life’ raised its…

05-31 Gawker Media publisher/founder Nick Denton wed actor W Derrence Washington in the Powerhouse event space at the American Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Guests included South Park co-creator Matt Stone and CNN anchor Don Lemon. 06-03 Paul Conroy was appointed to the newly created post of chief strategy and revenue officer at The Agency Group, based in Los Angeles. He most recently was CEO of Dyrdek Enterprises. 06-04 John Ehmann was promoted to vp A&Rfor Interscope Geffen A&M by president/COO John Janick. Ehmann cametothe label in February 2011, developing such acts as Lana Del Rey, Aloe Blacc, Cedric Gervais and Carly RaeJepsen. 06-04 Adam Wolf has been named vp synchronization for the newly formed Riptide Music Group, where he will oversee key clients in advertising and film,…

DON’T STEP ON HIS BLUE SUEDE SHOES, BUT YOU MAY be able to step into them, thanks to Phoenix Project — an e-tailer dedicated to replicating the clothing of 20th-century icons. The Phoenix Project started as an experiment on the website Bench & Loom, where owners Jared Zaugg, 41, and wife Brooke, 39, modeled a series of 30 jackets after the one with an alpaca-shearling collar worn by James Dean in Giant (1956). The endeavor proved a success and, by March, the Phoenix Project was born. The site offers re-creations of clothing for men and women, as ensured through research as well as support from the respective estates. Items are priced from $75 for a T-shirt to more than $1,000 for outerwear. The Phoenix Project nods to the musicians who…

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE” At 44, Jennifer Lopez is still smokin’,but also increasingly serious about the business ofd her brand, as she releases her eighth album, tours and grabs the big booty ($52 million in just one year!) as she empire builds in the mode of a muy modern-day Martha Stewart Jennifer Lopez has a lot of titles on her business card these days. At this point in a career stretching back more than two decades, she’s less a musician or actress than a walking lifestyle brand, and a hyper-productive one at that. On today’s schedule: an interview and photo shoot, followed by a flight to Massachusetts, where she’ll headline radio station Kiss 108’s Kiss Concert in the Boston suburbs in two days. While on the…

Billy Mitchell literally grew up at the Apollo. One of 14 kids in a poor family from the South Bronx, Mitchell remembers his mom one day sending him to borrow money from his aunt, who lived across the street from the Apollo in Harlem. She wasn’t home, so he walked the block in the summer heat, until the owner noticed him and put him to work running errands for the talent. He worked with some of the biggest names in the business, but cherishes most the family atmosphere. “James Brown would check my report card,” recalls Mitchell, now 64. “And if it was good, he’d give me money.” Both Brown and Marvin Gaye helped pay his way through college. “I didn’t understand the magnitude of what I was witnessing when…

THE STARS, THE SONGS, THE STORIES Also... ED SHEERAN’S STAR-MAKING ALBUM The singer-songwriter takes the big step up that screaming teen girls around the world were expecting. “I ’M REPRESENTING MY WHOLE COMMUNITY” Speed across Jamaica with Drake affiliate Popcaan, dancehall’s hottest young artist. OLD 97’S, LIVE AND DIRECT A behind-the-scenes look at the band’s show at New York’s Webster Hall — whiskey, beer and tighty-whities included. “EYES ON THE CAMERA, LEAN IN, LOOK UP.” Artist Kehinde Wiley spits out directions so fast that it’s hard for a spectator to keep up, let alone one of his models. On an ordinary day the 37-year-old’s subject might be an anonymous young black male, plucked from the streets of New York — his renowned portraits recast classic art period pieces with young…

It’s shortly after midnight, and Popcaan and his crew are running late. They had planned to make the cross-island drive from Kingston to Ocho Rios for a show on Jamaica’s north coast with enough time to relax on the beach and eat some steamed fish. But somehow the time slipped away, as it often does on the island’s slow, steamy nights. “Change of plans,” says Popcaan. “This end of the country I get a lot of love.” Which is why his four-car caravan is now hurtling through the darkness at breakneck speed, swerving back and forth to avoid slower vehicles. Things have been moving fast for the 25-year-old ever since he was introduced on Vybz Kartel’s 2010 smash hit, “Clarks.” That song, which preceded a worldwide spike in sales for…

Audra McDonald is the queen of the Tony Awards. On June 8, the actress-singer, 43, won her sixth Tony (a record for a performer), the lead actress in a play award for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. 4 With her win, McDonald also makes history as the first person to win Tonys in all four acting categories: lead actress in a play, featured actress in a play, lead actress in a musical and featured actress in a musical. 483% Social networks lit up after McDonald’s big win: She had a 483 percent jump in new Twitter followers and a 306 percent increase in new Facebook likes in the week ending June 8, according to Next Big Sound. 12k McDonald scored a seasonal…

“I always dreamed about living in New York City!” shouts Old 97’s singer-guitarist Rhett Miller as the band takes the Webster Hall stage on the evening of June 3. Formed in Dallas in 1993, the foursome has released eight studio albums, but has remained a live band at heart. And New York, and this storied East Village venue, long have been favorite, if occasionally intimidating, stops for the group. “After one tough gig at Webster Hall a few years ago, I kicked a hole in the dressing room wall,” says Miller. But on this night, there will be no need for post-show outbursts: The band is on fire. “It was one of my favorite shows ever, anywhere,” says Miller, 43, afterward. Although Old 97’s is often lazily labeled as alt-country,…

CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON LIVES by the word of Scarface’s Tony Montana, as channeled by Jay Z: “Say hello to the bad guy.” During the past decade, he has racked up No. 1 records and multimillion-dollar endorsements as rap’s giddy villain. He has made enemies of Jay Z, Rick Ross, Beyoncé, members of his G-Unit crew, even his own children. And it’s not just an act: This month, while onstage at WQHT (Hot 97) New York’s Summer Jam, 50 smiled, performing while an adversary was robbed just a few feet away. It’s too bad his real-life character is more interesting than the approximation he helped create for TV audiences. New Starz series Power, executive- produced by 50 (who also plays a supporting character in later episodes), is his story repeated…

In the scenic township of The Woodlands, Texas, just north of Houston, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion rises above a grassy lawn, welcoming superstars and fans to its 25th season as one of the nation’s premier outdoor venues. The Pavilion is named for the wife of George Mitchell, the businessman, real estate developer and philanthropist who created the surrounding town, which one historian in 2007 described as “the best-planned, environmentally sensitive large development in the country.” The Mitchells’ youngest son, Grant Mitchell, 51, who is a board member of the venue’s nonprofit foundation, describes the shared vision of his father, who died in 2013 at the age of 94, and his mother, Cynthia Woods Mitchell, who died in 2009. “My father didn’t want residents to have to commute to Houston…

JUNE 14, 1997 WAS A NEW DAY for rap. Fans still were mourning the unsolved March 9 murder of 24-year-old star The Notorious B.I.G. in Hollywood as the one-year anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s killing approached. Both were icons, helping bridge the gap between hip-hop and pop . But Sean “Diddy” Combs (then -known as Puff Daddy) — the 27-year-old head of B.I.G.’s label home, Bad Boy, and a rising rapper himself — had bigger plans. On June 14, his single “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to B.I.G., made its Billboard Hot 100 debut at No. 1 , a feat then only achieved four times before , and stayed there for 11 weeks. The song went on to become the second-best-selling single of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and…

Apple’s $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics has spurred a flurry of interest in streaming music services from the world’s richest tech companies. Of them, Google’s intentions may be the hardest to divine. The search giant already has Google Play Music All Access — billed as “the fastest-growing subscription service in 2013” in a March report by IFPI — though its market share remains tiny. Google, which does not release user metrics, also is readying a paid service based on YouTube, which Google purchased in 2006 (subscribers would get access to a more complete catalog of music videos, among other features). But speculation has surfaced that Google might be interested in buying Spotify (10 million paid subscribers worldwide and a $4 billion private valuation last fall) or Pandora Media (77…

Any thoughts that Toluwanimi Adeyemo had of making half a million dollars on his first record as a producer were quickly dispelled his freshman year at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. “I went way deep into what the music industry is, what it was and what it will be,” says Adeyemo, who matriculated in 2014 and works as an administrative aide at Downtown Records, after doing an academic internship there. “From my professors and peers, I was reminded of the competition, the rules of the game.” The rules certainly changed during Adeyemo’s four years at the first and only undergraduate program to focus on music entrepreneurship. In 2010, album sales fell 12.8 percent while digital sales declined for the first time in their history, according to…

Jake Sinclair was standing in line at his local American Apparel shop, waiting to buy underwear, when inspiration struck. The producer-composer had 14 pairs of the brand’s signature briefs in tow. “I just thought, ‘Oh, it’d be cool if my girlfriend wore these,’ ” says Sinclair, acknowledging that the in-store ads featuring women sporting the shorts may have had their desired effect. “The brain,” adds Sinclair, “is a weird place.” Sinclair’s shopping spree prompted a lyric, which found a home in a hit song that has helped make the Australian boy band 5 Seconds of Summer a pop sensation. But “She Looks So Perfect” is more than a smash single, with nine weeks and counting on the Billboard Hot 100. It also is a piece of unplanned product placement (“You…

With 2014 Tony Award musical winners Hedwig and the Angry Inch and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder likely doing bang-up business at the box office (“the win for best musical is instrumental for keeping a show running longer or helping it to tour,” says Broadway League executive director Charlotte St. Martin), here’s a look at which tuners might vie for the trophies next year. 1. FUN HOMEOnly eight musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize, but the Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron show, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, snagged a finalist nod this year. After a critically lauded run at New York’s Public Theater, a spring 2015 transfer to Broadway is likely. Early buzz says this is the musical to beat next year. 2. FINDING NEVERLAND: THE MUSICALProduced…

“Just woke up after passing out in my clothes & contacts ... Today was one of THE most exciting & fun days of my LIFE!!!!” —DEMIL OVATO The pop star, after acting as grand marshal and performing at the L.A. Pride Parade. “Sometimes I listen to a Jay Z record and it starts making me feel bad about some of the choices I’ve made. This guy has had more fun on two songs than I’ve had in the last 11 years.” —DAVE CHAPPELLE The comedian, to David Letterman, about his long absence from the spotlight. “AS SOON AS I GOT THAT HOOK PART, I THOUGHT ABOUT SNOOP DOGG, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HE’S [HUNGOVER] EVERY DAY.” — PSY The “Gangnam Style” singer on why he asked the rapper to guest…

NEW YORK , JUNE 8 “LL JUST GAVE ME MY RAPPER NAME: Biggy Tap Shoes, yo,” cracked host Hugh Jackman following a surprise performance with LL Cool J and T.I., with a beat from The Roots’Questlove, at the 68th annual Tony Awards held at Radio City Music Hall. Jaw-dropping performances dominated, with Idina Menzel singing “Always Starting Over” from If/Then;Jessie Mueller, who won best actress in a musical for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, joining Carole King to perform “I Feel the Earth Move”; and the cast of After Midnight, featuring Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle and Fantasia Barrino, rocking “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”Neil Patrick Harris celebrated his first Tony for best actor in a musical for Hedwig and the Angry Inch,…

Greenwich Vintage co-founder/master cobbler Tamas “Zen” Pomazi started out as a graffiti artist: “I wasn’t the most law-abiding citizen,” he says. But rule-breakers make for innovative entrepreneurs. His online men’s footwear business — launched with CFO Maximillian Miller, 30, two years ago — recrafts and repurposes wingtips, boots and chukkas with colorful, custom-made soles and gives clients the option to send in their old pairs to give them new life (prices range from $225-$425). The idea was born after Pomazi, 44, attempted to wear his father’s inherited brogues. “It was so uncomfortable,” he says. “What could I do to make this shoe feel like a sneaker?” The answer: tear everything off to the welt and use polyurethene to resole, which he does in his workshop in Waconia, Minn.…

AMERICAN IDOL $17.5 million Lopez scored a hefty pay raise to return to Idol for a third season in 2013, from an impressive $12.5 million in 2011 to a whopping $17.5 million for this year’s series. But with ratings at an all-time low, a late-June renewal deadline looms (though she’s expected back) as her film and touring plans for 2015 also beckon. COTY FRAGRANCES $13.3 million Glow sold $100 million worth of perfume bottles in 2002, its first year, and roughly accounts for half of the $2 billion in cumulative revenue she has generated for the company across five additional pillar scents. Lopez’s estimated annual earnings are 7 to 8 percent of Coty’s revenue, or $12.5 million to $13.3 million. L’OREAL TRUE MATCH $6 million Since 2010, Lopez has been…

Maybe it’s the sunshine on this unseasonably warm mid-May day in London, or maybe it’s just a gnarly hangover, but Sam Smith is having a little trouble remembering what year it is “2014 was last year, right? It’s 2015 now,” he says on a break from tour rehearsals in a horse stable-turned-studio space in South London. He has just come off a brief European tour that wrapped less than 48 hours ago in Paris, which culminated in a night of drinking and partying while filming his latest music video, “Leave Your Lover.” The late night left him puking all the way home on the train back to London. A friendly reminder of the calendar year perks him up, though. “No we’re not. No we’re not! We’re in 2014?! I thought…

I love positive articulation,” says a beaming Jason Mraz of his forthcoming album YES! — written in all caps with an exclamation point. “The emphasis is on the ecstatic version of the word, because this record would not have happened were it not for some very specific yeses,” he adds, explaining how he recruited all-girl Los Angeles foursome Raining Jane as his backing band, enlisted Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis (“on my dream list,” says Mraz) and got his longtime label Atlantic behind the July 15 release, his fifth. Here, the 36-year-old keeps it candid on the joys of flatulence, longterm business relationships and soft-rocking in a free world. With “I’m Yours,” “The Remedy” and others, you’ve amassed quite the arsenal of light-rock hits. Do you ever want to branch…

Nico & Vinz’s pop smash is called “Am I Wrong,” but so far the song can only do right. The Norwegian duo’s debut chart entry leapfrogged into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 dated June 7, just its sixth week on the tally. On the June 21 Hot 100, the song dips to No. 8 from its No. 6 peak, but with a 9 percent gain in chart points. Nico & Vinz are still mostly unknowns stateside, although that hasn’t stopped the song from taking over the airwaves: “Am I Wrong” leaps 14-10 on Radio Songs with a 22 percent jump to 83 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS, and goes top 10 on Mainstream Top 40 (12-10) and Adult Top 40 (11-7 ). It has sold…

BURNABY, CANADA Alt-rock group Spoon begins a summer tour ahead of its upcoming eighth album, They Want My Soul, with three Canadian fests: CBC festivals in Burnaby and Victoria, British Columbia, on June 14, and North by Northeast in Toronto on June 21. MONTEBELLO, CANADA The Amnesia Rockfest is set for June 20-21 in rural Montebello, Quebec, home to 900 residents and 1,000 cows. Billed as Canada’s largest rock festival, the ninth Amnesia will host Blink-182, Motley Crue, Megadeth, Alice in Chains, Primus and many others. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. Touring in support of their fifth album, Education, Education, Education & War, Brit rockers Kaiser Chiefs follow up a June 21 performance at the Firefly festival in Delaware with a stop at Vapor in Saratoga Springs, just 300 miles away, the…

Luis Fonsi has had a creative few years, to say the least. The Latin pop singer started working on his new album, 8, around the time that his daughter, Mikaela, 2, was born. The release bowed at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart dated June 7 — his seventh top 10 — but Fonsi, 36, says it wouldn’t have come together at all without the following inspirations: His daughter “She’s my first daughter, and the first couple of months were very intense. So imagine the relief I felt when I closed the studio door to write. I had so much emotion inside. It was like opening up an escape valve of inspiration.” The King of Pop “I was traveling with my college choir to sing with the London…

IN 1969, LEE FIELDS INTRODUCED himself with a crackling cover of James Brown’s “Bewildered,” so faithful to the 1961 original that he earned the nickname “Little J.B.” Through the decades that followed, filled with collector’s-item indie releases and chitlin-circuit tours, his voice accumulated grit and heartbreak, and Fields became a genre idol himself, resurrected by the so-called deep funk movement that later birthed revivalists Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Charles Bradley. The soul troubadour’s fifth LP, Emma Jean, traffics in themes of love and loss Fields has perfected during his career, and proves yet again his knack for keeping a timeless sound timely. Produced by Leon Michaels, a frequent contributor to music from like-minded labels Daptone and Soul Fire, Emma Jean features Fields’ backing band The Expressions. And his…

Miranda Lambert earns her first chart-topper on the Billboard 200 with the debut of Platinum. The set — her fifth release — sold 180,000 copies in the week ending June 8, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The sum is Lambert’s best sales week yet, and the largest for an album from a female country artist since the week ending Dec. 30, 2012, when superstar Taylor Swift’s countrypop Red album sold 241,000 copies, nine weeks after it debuted at No. 1 with 1.2 million. Outside of women named Taylor Swift, the last country queen to sell more than 175,000 in a week was Carrie Underwood, when Blown Away bowed at No. 1 with 267,000 in the week ending May 6, 2012. (Platinum features a duet with Underwood titled “Somethin’ Bad.” Lambert is…