Rihanna, Nicki lead American Music Awards nominations

The 40th anniversary of the American Music Awards will be celebrated in true style this year – that if the list of nominees for this year is anything to go by.  Nicki Minaj and Rihanna lead the pack with four nominations each. Other big nominees include Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, One Direction and Katy Perry.

Already confirmed to perform at the awards is Ms. Christina Aguilera, who no doubt will be bumping off a few guys… if her latest video, Your Body is anything to go by More performers will be added to the list in the build up to the awards on the 18th of November.

Check out the list of nominees below:

 2012 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEES:

 

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Justin Bieber
• Drake
• Maroon 5
• Katy Perry
• Rihanna

 

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• J. Cole
• fun.
• Gotye
• Carly Rae Jepsen
• One Direction

 

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

• Justin Bieber
• Flo Rida
• Pitbull
• Usher

 

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK

• Kelly Clarkson
• Nicki Minaj
• Katy Perry
• Rihanna

 

FAVORITE BAND, DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK

• fun.
• Maroon 5
• One Direction
• The Wanted

 

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK

• Justin Bieber /Believe
• Maroon 5/Overexposed
• Nicki Minaj/Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
• One Direction/Up All Night

 

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

• Jason Aldean
• Luke Bryan
• Eric Church

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY

• Miranda Lambert
• Taylor Swift
• Carrie Underwood

 

FAVORITE BAND, DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY

• Zac Brown Band
• Lady Antebellum
• Rascal Flatts

 

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY

• Luke Bryan/Tailgates & Tanlines
• Lionel Richie/Tuskegee
• Carrie Underwood/Blown Away

 

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP

• Drake
• Nicki Minaj
• Tyga

 

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP

• J. Cole/Cole World: The Sideline Story
• Drake/Take Care
• Nicki Minaj/Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

 

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

• Chris Brown
• Trey Songz
• Usher

 

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B

• Beyoncé
• Mary J. Blige
• Rihanna

 

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B

• Chris Brown/Fortune
• Rihanna/Talk That Talk
• Usher/Looking 4 Myself

 

FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK

• The Black Keys
• Gotye
• Linkin Park

 

FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY

• Adele
• Kelly Clarkson
• Train

FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN

• Don Omar
• Pitbull
• Shakira

 

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL

• Jeremy Camp
• Newsboys
• tobyMac

 

FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)

• David Guetta
• Calvin Harris
• Skrillex

 

Grammys 2012 – Foo Fighters win Best Rock Performance

Best Rock Performance goes to the Foo Fighters for their track Walk

“Thank you very much everybody. This is a great honour because this record was a special record for the bands. Rather than using the fancy computers you can buy, we made it in my garage. It shows that the human element of making music is the most important thing you can do”

Ryan Seacrest introduced the Beach Boys, along with Foster the People and Maroon 5. Maroon 5 got it going with Surfer Girls. Foster the People then tackled Wouldn’t It Be Nice. Celebrating their 50th Anniversary in the business, the Beach Boys (Men) hopped onto the stage to perform their song Good Viberations.

2012 GRAMMY Nominees Album out of Jan. 24

The countdown to music’s biggest night is on, with just a month to go (to the date) until the awards take place in LA. Besides the Oscars, this is my big highlight on the entertainment calendar and I can’t wait to see how many trophies the incredible Adele takes home.

It has just been announced that the Foo Fighters, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj will all be performing coming Grammy night.

Now for the past eighteen years the good people at the Grammys have put together an album with some of the major nominees. Check out the tracklist for this year’s album, due to be released on the 24th of January:

1.       ADELE
          “Rolling In The Deep“
Record Of The Year
Album Of The Year

2.         BRUNO MARS
            “Grenade”
Record Of The Year
Album Of The Year

3.         KATY PERRY
            “Firework”
Record Of The Year

4.         MAROON 5 FEAT. CHRISTINA AGUILERA
            “Moves Like Jagger”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

5.         NICKI MINAJ
            “Super Bass”
Best New Artist

6.         RIHANNA FEAT. DRAKE
            “What’s My Name?”
Album Of The Year

7.         J. COLE
            “Work Out”
Best New Artist

8.         LADY GAGA
            “Yoü And I “
“Album Of The Year”

9.         FOSTER THE PEOPLE
            “Pumped Up Kicks”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

10.       SKRILLEX
            “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites”
Best New Artist

11.       COLDPLAY
            “Paradise”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

12.       FOO FIGHTERS
            “Walk”
Album Of The Year

13.       THE BAND PERRY
            “If I Die Young“
Best New Artist

14.       MUMFORD & SONS
            “The Cave”
Record Of The Year

15.        BON IVER
            “Holocene”
Record Of The Year
Best New Artist

16.       LADY ANTEBELLUM
            “Just A Kiss”
Best Country Album

17.       TAYLOR SWIFT
            “Mean”
Best Country Album

18.        BLAKE SHELTON
            “Honey Bee”
Best Country Album

19.        ERIC CHURCH
            “Drink In My Hand”
Best Country Album

20.       THE BLACK KEYS
            “Dearest”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

21.       JASON ALDEAN WITH KELLY CLARKSON
            “Don’t You Wanna Stay“
Best Country Album

22.       TONY BENNETT & AMY WINEHOUSE
            “Body And Soul”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Watch: Maroon 5 and Christina Move Like Jagger

This track has hit the number one spot on the iTunes chart and it’s also hitting the radio charts across the world too. What song am I referring to? It’s the new one from Maroon 5, who have teamed up with Christina Aguilera. The song is called Moves Like Jagger and the video has just hit the net. Check it out.

Gavin DeGraw will be okay

Singer Gavin DeGraw has been released from a New York hospital following a vicious attack at the weekend. The star is said to have a broken nose and a concussion, but he is stable. DeGraw, who was touring with Maroon 5 and Train, was attacked by a group of unidentified males late Sunday. The NYPD are yet to make any arrests but the case is being investigated.

Not to be funny or anything and don’t get me wrong, but DeGraw is set to release his new album, Sweeter in September. With an incident like this happening, DeGraw is bound to sell a few extra records now. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

 

Maroon 5 album cover revealed

An edgy album cover… I like. It ties into the first single ‘Misery’ from the award-winning group, Maroon 5. The new album will be released all over in September this year.

Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement cd

Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th American president on Tuesday. To celebrate this historical event, an 18-track album has been assembled by Hidden Beach Recordings. Some of the artists you can expect to hear includes Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Kanye West, Jill Scott, Adam Levine, Lionel Richie and John Legend.

The album was inspired by the grassroots movement created by Barack Obama’s historic presidential run, and his call for “Change:
We Can Believe In”.

OneRepublic and Maroon 5 in Jozi

Here are some of the highlights from the concert featuring Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Goldfish and The Parlotones:

Internationals keep coming

Last night I went to check out Maroon 5 and OneRepublic at the Coca Cola Dome in Jozi(VIDEO coming soon). They’re performing in Durban tonight and then they wrap it up in Cape Town on Wednesday. It’s the first time that these bands have been to “Africa” as Maroon 5′s front man, Adam Levine kept saying. Maroon 5 were the last ones on stage. The lighting, the production and the sound was great. It’s strange because usually this venue is terrible, but this time it worked so good work sound dudes They played most of their big hits, including This Love and Sunday Morning.

Now both bands were very good, but I was particularly impressed with OneRepublic. I’ll be honest I don’t know much about them. Here’s what I do know:
1. They had a smash hit featuring producer Timbaland called Apologize
2. They have another song called Stop and Stare.
3. They’ve been nominated for a Grammy

Road To VFest

This weekend international bands Maroon 5 and One Republic will be rocking South Africa as a warm up to the Virgin Festival next year. It’s going to be massive and if you’re not completely sold then the local line up should help sway you. Goldfish, The Parlotones and Stealing Love Jones will all be taking to the stage… Wait there’s more. The Road To V aka the search for the most talented unsigned local band is hotting up. The three finalists will all share the stage with the above mentioned bands and they are:

Third World Spectator
PROFILE- 3rd World Spectator
The idea of 3rd World Spectator has been lying dormant for the past several years; the music has been around for a while, only coming to true fruition at the beginning of 2008 with the correct line-up of musicians being assembled.

Captain Stu
PROFILE- Captain Stu are a 6 piece band based in Cape Town. Their sound is described as a mix of African, ska, funk, and reggae with pop influences. Captain Stu began in 2002 with founding members Nick and Ryan. While forming they went through various members and sounds and it wasn’t until 2004 they started to gig as a 7 piece ensemble. At the time most of the members were just 17. They played throughout Cape Town and as gig offers increased their reputation amplified.

Gonzo Republic
PROFILE- Gonzo Republic
Coming to you from the small island known as Durban, South Africa, Gonzo is doing things their way! Their EP, is available for download from Myspace and at shows. Updates from the Facebook fans page will keep you in the loop of current news and gig dates. ’Alternate’ because the guitaring and vocals swing the groove deep and dirty. According to their website, “the Gonzo Republic is a hybrid version of all the dirty rocking groove bands you can think of.”

One of these bands will then go on to play at next year’s first Virgin Music Festival. So if you’re heard any of them before or you’re heading to one of the concerts this weekend, holler back with your thoughts on who you think should be on stage at V Fest.