Kenny Chesney has made the very hard work of dominating country music look easy. And Taylor Swift is paying close attention. The 19-year-old sensation has the record sales. She beat out every living artist -- no matter the genre -- this year with more than 3 million copies of her "Fearless" CD sold.
Jim DeRogatis: In addition to being an extraordinarily talented group of singers,
songwriters and musicians, as well as some of the nicest people you’ll
meet on the Chicago rock scene, the biggest reason for the Scotland
Yard Gospel Choir’s success is that no local band works harder. Now the beloved group is crawling back to life after the catastrophic automobile crash the group suffered on Sept. 24.Local band injured in severe van accident DeRo's blog More music news and reviews
The dream times continue at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with a blissful three-man minuet of some of the world's greatest conductors making delicious music week after week. The first half of November belongs to principal conductor Bernard Haitink and his unique fusion of refinement, passion and preternatural sensitivity.
Kenny Chesney has made the very hard work of dominating country music look easy. And Taylor Swift is paying close attention. The 19-year-old sensation has the record sales. She beat out every living artist -- no matter the genre -- this year with more than 3 million copies of her "Fearless" CD sold.
Did pop diva Beyonce Knowles and her Destiny's Child rip off a Chicago songwriter's song? A copycat claim contained in a 2006 lawsuit is expected to land the "Bootylicious" sensation in a witness chair next month as part of a copyright infringement trial to be held in Chicago's federal courthouse.
The University of Chicago's Mandel Hall isn't known for its modern amenities or comfortable seating, but its lively acoustics, wooden Victorian opulence and accessible sightlines make for a hyper-sensory experience. That the superb U. of C. Presents music series regularly brings here first-rate stars makes it an essential destination for downtown-weary Chicagoans.
‘Five Years.” That’s the title of one of the most iconic songs by pop music avatar David Bowie, and by coincidence, it also indicates the interval since the man known alternately as Ziggy Stardust/Major Tom/Aladdin Sane/The Thin White Duke, et al., slipped off the world’s stage after a health crisis. With Bowie largely quiet since he underwent bypass surgery in 2004, it’s curious why rock journalist Marc Spitz seized this moment to write Bowie: A Biography.
Paul Shaffer devotes a chapter to co-writing his gay disco pop hit “It’s Raining Men” in We’ll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives, but that’s not why I called.
The dream times continue at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with a blissful three-man minuet of some of the world's greatest conductors making delicious music week after week.
Jim DeRogatis: In addition to being an extraordinarily talented group of singers, songwriters and musicians, as well as some of the nicest people you’ll meet on the Chicago rock scene, the biggest reason for the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir’s success is that no local band works harder. Now the beloved group is crawling back to life after the catastrophic automobile crash the group suffered on Sept. 24.
The musical worlds of classic opera and modern hip-hop might seem like the unlikeliest of candidates for a mashup, but Chicago singer, musician and composer Adrian Dunn doesn’t think so. “Traditional Western European opera and hip-hop aren’t that far apart,” Dunn says. “Opera can be popular again, but young people need to feel like they have a place in opera and other classical music.”
Basement Jaxx, the British duo responsible for some of the most infectious dance-floor anthems of the last decade, is following the release of its latest studio album with a series of rare North American DJ dates this fall, including tonight at the Congress Theater.
Despite his various apologies, Chris Brown's efforts to atone for assaulting Rihanna may not be enough to satisfy fans.
First, we got Sting’s memoir, Broken Music, back in 2003. A couple of years ago, guitarist Andy Summers published a superb autobiography, One Train Later. That left one remaining member of The Police to weigh in on the superstar rock group’s incredible fame and infamous friction. But if you’re eager to read drummer Stewart Copeland’s account of his life in the Police, circa 1976-1983, his newly published memoir, Strange Things Happen, will disappoint.
WEST HOLLYWOOD -- "Look at Kiss culture," says Gene Simmons, radiating pride. "People tattoo their bodies with Kiss faces, name their children after our songs, have Kiss conventions.
Vertical Horizon found platinum success in 1999 with the hit single "Everything You Want," but after an unhappy relationship with its record label, the band split ways.
Irish rockers U2 returned to Berlin for a free mini-concert Thursday in front of the Brandenburg Gate, a show obscured from public view by a nearly 6½-foot metal barrier.
When the members of AFI began work on their 2006 album "Decemberunderground," they "tried really hard not to think about it as the followup to a big, successful record," guitarist Jade Puget says.
While PDQ Bach and Victor Borge may still loom large, classical music and humor have long been seen as the perennial odd couple. On Monday night at Orchestra Hall, the Chicago Sinfonietta made a convincing argument that silliness abounds in the hallowed tradition of composition if you look hard enough. It doesn't always take a musicologist's ear to get the jokes.
The world's first Hasidic reggae superstar is getting a little unorthodox. Matisyahu Miller, known to his fans by his first name and to his friends simply as Matis, emerges this month with his first full-length album in three years -- and a sound more like Jersey than Jamaica.
Lyric Opera of Chicago has had a hit with its revival of audience-favorite "Faust" since its opening last month with rising Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, superstar bass Rene Pape and thrilling soprano Ana Maria Martinez.
Citing a "family issue within the band," Dashboard Confessional has called off its fall tour, including a Dec. 11 date at the Aragon.
For Grammy-winning producer Mark Johnson, the first step to an adventure that would take him around the world began in a New York subway station. It was there on his way to work one morning that Johnson heard two monks performing, one playing the guitar, the other singing in a language he did not understand.
1. Mohammed Alidu: He's created his own unique blend of Afropop, fusing traditional and contemporary elements from West Africa and Madagascar.
Unwilling to let his pipes rust while hurdles for a Who tour are cleared, the band’s singer is striking out on his own. The Use It or Lose It tour, Roger Daltrey’s first solo outing since 1985, hits Chicago on Monday. Daltrey says one of the goals of his upcoming “Use It or Lose It” tour is to get his voice in prime shape for the start of the Who’s next album later this year.
The historic Auditorium Theatre was the ideal venue for the Monsters of Folk indie-rock super group on Friday, but too often the show stumbled through erratic transitions.
Nick Jonas might be releasing a solo album next year without any help from his siblings, but that doesn’t mean the Jonas Brothers are over. In a MySpace blog post this week titled “WE ARE NOT BREAKING UP,” the power-pop trio quelled the worst fears of its fans, which stemmed from a news report that its youngest member was branching out with a side project.
This week, the first round of tour dates for Lilith Fair 2010 -- a revival of the late '90s women's music festival -- was announced, prompting those of us who were the target demo the first time to go, "Aw, cool." And then, "Wait, but is it?"
With Orchestra Hall still shaking down from the recent residency of Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director designate Riccardo Muti and the attendant Mutimania, the CSO turns its podium over to a busy Chicago-based conductor this week.
As much as the legions of tiny trick-or-treaters who'll fill the city streets this weekend, Chicago's always-vibrant underground rock scene loves Halloween.
First, let's get one thing straight: Monsters of Folk is not a Halloween monster mash featuring folk-singing Frankensteins, Draculas and werewolves. Even though the name is holiday-appropriate this weekend, it's the year-round name of the collaboration between four indie-rock musicians -- Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and singer-songwriter M. Ward.
Jim DeRogatis: Bob Dylan's new disc of massacred holiday standards is a miserable listening experience. But thankfully there wasn’t a harsh, croaking rendition of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in evidence Thursday night as the favorite son of Hibbing, Minn., played the first of a three-night stand at the Aragon Ballroom.
When it comes to putting a season schedule together, an opera company can be damned if it does and damned if it doesn't. Not enough chestnuts and many patrons get heated. Too many, and the critics yawn. A more obscure work often elicits cries of "why?"
Artists with longtime fan bases and comfortable lifestyles rarely volunteer for complete makeovers, but British singer-songwriter David Gray has opted for an overhaul of his professional life for his seventh album. For “Draw the Line,” Gray has a new band and fresh label deals.
Chris Brown has announced a December release for his first CD since his February altercation with then-girlfriend Rihanna. "Graffiti," the singer's third album, will be released on Dec. 15, he said via Twitter. He has released the CD's first single, "I Can Transform Ya," featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz.
Artists with longtime fan bases and comfortable lifestyles rarely volunteer for complete makeovers, but British singer-songwriter David Gray has opted for an overhaul of his professional life for his seventh album.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Bruce Springsteen canceled a Monday night concert after his cousin and road crew member died.
NEW YORK-- Eric Clapton has pulled out of this week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York after undergoing gallstone surgery.
The New York Yankees have been blasting Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” during their playoff run. Now, the team is having the rap king perform the song live to kick off Game 1 of the World Series. Jay-Z and fellow New Yorker Alicia Keys are set to perform the hit on Wednesday, as the Yankees take on defending World Series champs, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Miley Cyrus' song "The Climb," from the EP "The Time of Our Lives," was No. 1 on Billboard's adult contemporary chart for weeks. It's just another example of the 16-year-old's maturing career. While she's still known to millions as the star of the Disney phenomenon "Hannah Montana," she's not just a teen queen anymore.
As establishing legacies goes, this is indeed it. The world's final, fleeting moments of Michael Jackson, who died suddenly in Los Angeles on June 25, will come courtesy of "Michael Jackson: This Is It," a film composed of footage the late musician had shot for his 50-date comeback gig in London: as reference material for his choreography, movie segments intended to be shown during each concert and footage intended as bonus content for an inevitable DVD.
Best known for leading the alt-country rock bands Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, Jay Farrar teamed with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard for his latest project, an album with lyrics based on the prose from Jack Kerouac’s 1962 novel Big Sur.
A court commissioner on Friday dismissed criminal charges against Kanye West and his road manager stemming from their scuffle with photographers last year. Misdemeanor charges were filed after West and his manager were arrested on Sept. 11, 2008, after the altercation at Los Angeles International Airport. The photographers and the rapper have reached civil settlements in the case. West, 32, did not appear in court Friday. AP
British singer Morrissey was hospitalized after collapsing on stage Saturday night in Swindon, England, according to multiple British newspapers. The 50-year-old former Smiths frontman, who has already canceled a number of stops on his tour this year due to illness, slumped to his knees before being dragged offstage by members of his band following his first song.
Jim DeRogatis: These days, a gas station and a fast-food joint occupy the plot once claimed by a World War II-era roadhouse. But from the early '80s through the mid-'90s, that lovably grungy dive was known as the Thirsty Whale, and it was the epicenter of the regional hard-rock and heavy-metal scenes. This weekend, the gang's back together.
That Steve Martin, he’s a wild and crazy … banjo picker. Who knew? Thursday night at the Cadillac Palace, Martin took the stage, banjo in hand and in the company of a five-member bluegrass band from North Carolina. For the next 90 minutes he joked around while performing mountain music or played mountain music while joking around.
Travis leader Fran Healy is hoping his current acoustic tour will yield the Scottish band's next album.
In the year since three members of her family were brutally killed in Chicago, Grammy and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson has found ways to heal and start a new life. And it appears the 28-year-old is happy again.
Blues fans who enjoy the "cavalcade of stars" approach to a night of live music and those who want to hear what the cognoscenti are listening to will find a slice of blues heaven Thursday night at Buddy Guy's Legends.
In case you don’t know, Tim McGraw is a pleaser. To drive this point home, he waited until late into his special club show at Joe’s Bar to sign whatever got shoved his way — baseball hats, CDs, flesh — while singing “Real Good Man” without skipping a beat. Then the crowd got what many stood in line almost a day for: an intimate 95-minute concert by one of modern country’s biggest arena stars.
Look, up on the stage, it's Superman. Or in this case, Vicente Fernandez, "El Idolo de Mexico," and arguably the single greatest ever interpreter of ranchera music -- with all due respect to past legends Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante and Javier Solis, the holy trinity of the genre.
The two best moments during Wilco’s Sunday night concert occurred when lead vocalist Jeff Tweedy was not singing. In the sold-out UIC Pavilion on the first show of a two-night stint, Tweedy yielded the singing duties twice during the 28-song concert. Both episodes were thrilling. And while Sunday night's show was sold out, tickets remain for tonight's concert.
Dave Hoekstra: Steve Martin's commitment to the banjo is funny to much of the pop culture landscape. But Martin is as serious as a blue moon in Kentucky. About 10 years ago, he put a banjo in every room of his house. "Living room, bedroom," Martin said in a recent interview from Los Angeles. "So wherever I was, it was there." Martin will appear with the Steep Canyon Rangers bluegrass band Thursday night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.
It's the diversity of his roots that Mika says propelled him to a global audience.
Considering all the attention Gossip singer Beth Ditto has received, however deserving, going to see Gossip on Friday night at Metro, could her band members stand out from her shadow and remind people they are part of this group, too? Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell and drummer Hannah Blilie are exceptionally talented, but at Metro, it seemed they had given up and given in to simply become the backing members of The Beth Ditto Band.
Beyond the collegial component in Philip Glass’ art, there is an individual composer who very well may suffer from a weirdly benevolent form of psychosis. Or at least monomania, where certain structures and harmonies return again and again to his manuscript paper. He may periodically step outside these boundaries, but he never voyages far.
Transitions are often difficult times for institutions. Who’s really in charge? How is the mission maintained? Where does cohesion come from? Such is not the case with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as it continues to soar in the period between Daniel Barenboim’s departure as music director three years ago and Riccardo Muti’s taking up that position a year from now.
A serious and philosophical thinker. A natural stand-up comedian. The papa of a tightly knit family. With his appearances this week as music director-designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti is showing more sides of himself than those seen by observers who have followed him only from afar or know him by reputation.
Like so many non-profit arts organizations around the country, the Chicago Philharmonic has hit a rough patch recently. With stagnant ticket sales and missed revenue-producing opportunities, the Philharmonic's was hardly an unusual storyline during a nationwide economic slump.
Generally speaking, you keep it classic. Frankenstein? Been there, dressed up as that. Mummies? It wouldn't be Halloween without them. Finding yourself weary of the tried and true, however, you hope to break the mold.
Talk to Grammy-winning record producer David Foster and invariably the conversation will be peppered with singular names: Celine, Whitney, Josh, Barbra, Andrea, Mariah, Michael, Christina, Barry, Janet.
Country superstar Garth Brooks announced Thursday that he’s coming out of retirement. Brooks, 47, talked about the long-rumored move at a news conference in Nashville. “We’re going to take the retirement roof off over our head, and I already feel taller,” Brooks said Thursday.
Crediting the unusually strong relationship between the city's world-renowned orchestra and its audience and Chicago's business leadership, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association announced Wednesday that it has been weathering the economic downturn and remains in the black for the third consecutive year.
The Riccardo Muti era won't begin at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until September 2010. And we won't have a clear idea of the next music director's programming, repertoire and guest artist and conductor ideas until February, when the lineup for next season will be announced. But the CSO used the annual meeting of its parent organization and Muti's arrival in town to conduct two weeks of subscription concerts to announce several artistic initiatives, two of which, at least, clearly come from Muti himself. Muti also used his time on the Orchestra Hall stage Wednesday to speak with passion and humor -- and without notes -- about the central place that music plays in his own life.
Dave Hoekstra: The idea of legacy rockers playing entire albums in concert has become a broken record. Even the Pixies are getting into the act with their 20th anniversary “Doolittle & B-sides” tour. Can Bill Cosby’s “Why Is There Air” tour be far behind? Lucinda Williams had a better idea.
A House of Blues security guard was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of battery after he allegedly struck a woman in the face during a scuffle caught on video outside the downtown music club Monday night, officials said.
The Chicago debut of a major South American orchestra. The first performances here by a much discussed young African-American conductor with Indiana roots. One of the world’s leading percussionists, who is also an exemplar and advocate of the role of disabled people in the arts and society, in a showcase work. And the launch of a major arts and culture initiative by Chicago’s major disability service and advocacy group.
Jim DeRogatis: Though it may seem like the most unlikely endeavor, longtime fans of rock's most famous bard must applaud the notion of Robert Allen Zimmerman making a Christmas album -- that is, at least if you appreciate the wickedly sarcastic sense of humor and love of surrealism that have always been a strain in Bob Dylan's work.
With a familiar high-pitched voice counting off one-two-three-four, a new Michael Jackson single debuted online Monday, prompting a hasty response from the singer’s estate after Paul Anka revealed he was the song’s co-writer. “This Is It” is featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming documentary featuring the late superstar, but its genesis was actually in 1983 when it was written for a duets album Anka was recording.
Michael Jackson has a chance to win artist of the year posthumously at the American Music Awards.
MADRID---- Boyzone star Stephen Gately, whose body was found in a house on the Spanish resort island of Mallorca, died of natural causes, according to autopsy results released Tuesday.
Michael Jackson returned to the airwaves Monday with a new song -- the first from an upcoming musical documentary featuring the troubled superstar. It is the first new material by Jackson to be released since his sudden death in Los Angeles on June 25.
Miley Cyrus took to one online outlet to explain why she bailed out of another. In a YouTube video complete with dance beat and backup dancers, the 16-year-old raps about her much-discussed abandonment of Twitter last week.
