Archive for December, 2009
Rock Daily By the Numbers: The Official 2009 Blog-Down
December 31st, 2009
Photo: McCormack/WireImage.com; SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images;Kravitz/FilmMagic; Kempin/WireImage.com
As we say farewell to 2009 and welcome a new decade, Rolling Stone looks back at the biggest stories, funniest headlines and “all the news that fit” in 2009. It was the year we lost the King of Pop, the year Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga exploded, the year U2 cemented their reputation as the biggest band on Earth and the year Barack Obama gave America a new hope. It was ...
Weekend Rock List: Party Songs
December 31st, 2009
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It’s the end of the year and the end of the decade, and as our New Year’s Eve guide demonstrates, everyone in the rock universe from Lady Gaga to Phish will be doing one thing tonight: partying. So for those about to party, we salute you. Tell us your favorite songs about celebrating and popping champagne, and we’ll tally the results in 2010. To get this fiesta started, check out some ...
2007/2008 Flashback: M.I.A., Bruce, TV on the Radio and the Best Music of the Year
December 31st, 2009
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For the past two weeks, we’ve been looking back at the decade in music — the top albums and songs as sweated over by the Rolling Stone editors. Before you dive into our Best Albums and Songs of the 2000s, check out the final two years of our flashback: 2007 and 2008. M.I.A. started her global party, Springsteen gave us Magic, Rihanna took refuge under her “Umbrella” and TV on the Radio ...
Death Cab for Cutie, Pete Wentz, 3OH!3’s Favorite Albums of 2009
December 31st, 2009
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Rolling Stone unveiled our Best Albums and Best Songs of 2009 — now it’s the artists’ turn. Check out who Death Cab for Cutie, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz and 3OH!3 had on repeat this year (and read Kings of Leon’s Jared Followill’s picks):
Death Cab for Cutie
Brand New Eyes by Paramore
Chris Walla: “I was surprised at what a totally well-written, well-constructed record it was, and I guess I ...
Ke$ha Makes Digital Sales History as “TiK ToK” Explodes
December 31st, 2009
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Ke$ha made digital sales history last week when her debut single “TiK ToK” was downloaded 610,000 times, the highest digital total for a female artist in one week since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking the figures. The current record holder for most downloads in a week, Flo Rida’s “Right Round,” also happens to feature Ke$ha on the hook, meaning the up-and-coming singer has a hand in the top two most downloaded songs in one ...
U2’s 360 Tour Named Top North American Trek of 2009
December 31st, 2009
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U2’s massive 360° Tour wasn’t just the biggest trek this year in terms of sheer size: the band’s latest jaunt supporting No Line on the Horizon has also been named the year’s most successful show by concert tracker Pollstar. Their research also revealed that despite the recession, concert ticket sales for the top 50 tours were up this year across the board compared to 2008’s final numbers. That’s thanks largely to U2, who easily ...
News Ticker: Drake, Rowland Howard, NSFW Videos, Diddy
December 31st, 2009
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Drake tells MTV News his next collaboration with Jay-Z, “Light Up,” is in the can. The MC says of the track, destined for his March full-length debut Thank Me Later, “When I heard that beat, the drums that they had come up with, it was like, ‘Man, this is a moment.’ ”
Rowland Howard, the guitarist for the Birthday Party and the Boys Next Door, has died from liver cancer at age 50. ...
2006 Flashback: “Modern Times,” “Crazy” and the Year’s Best Music
December 30th, 2009
It was the year that gave us our Number One single of the entire decade: Gnarls Barkley’s 2006 hit “Crazy.” Bob Dylan got the friskiest he’d been since 1968’s John Wesley Harding on his stellar Modern Times, the Red Hot Chili Peppers churned out the two-disc Stadium Arcadium and T.I. had everyone chanting “What You Know.” As we continue to look back at the Best Albums and Songs of the 2000s, check out what ...
Eddie Vedder Sued Over “Hard Sun” Lyric Changes
December 30th, 2009
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We’ve seen our share of strange lawsuits in 2009, from Joe Satriani versus Coldplay versus Cat Stevens over “Viva la Vida,” Starbucks’ battle with Carly Simon — even Eddie Van Halen taking Nike to court over a color scheme — but a new suit involving Eddie Vedder seems unprecedented. The Pearl Jam frontman covered the band Indio’s “Hard Sun” for the Into the Wild soundtrack, and now songwriter Gordon Peterson alleges that because Vedder ...
James Blunt, Snow Patrol Rule Decade-End U.K. Charts
December 30th, 2009
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While the Beatles’ greatest hits compilation 1 was the bestselling album in the U.S. this decade, the charts across the pond told a decidedly different story: James Blunt’s Back to Bedlam, which boasted the hit “You’re Beautiful,” was the bestselling album in the U.K. in the 2000s, BBC reports. The disc finished Number One on a Top 10 that featured nine Brit artists and an unlikely American act.
The U.K.’s second biggest seller of the ...