Nick Fradiani called in to the radio show recently, ahead of a show he played at Toad’s Place in New Haven, to give an update on new music he was working on and his thoughts on the latest season of “American Idol.”
Archives For katy perry
Recently on the show, Noah Cyrus dished to us about her experience supporting Katy Perry on tour, her latest collaborations and what she planned to do (and well, eat) for the holidays.
Our old friend Jax called in to the show from her new home in Los Angeles and we had a lot to chat about it. I ran the New York City Marathon this year and she completed it last year so we compared notes on the 26.2 mile trek before moving on to Jax’s new music and the next season of “American Idol.”
I recently had the chance to sit down with Epic Records artist Tom Walker. His EP “Blessings” is out now. We chatted about his music, covering Imagine Dragons and his hometown of Manchester during our conversation inside New York City’s Stage 17.
John Mayer is on the road again, touring ahead of “The Search For Everything,” his new album that drops on April 14. But Mayer is once again in the headlines not as much for his music but rather a former relationship with pop star Katy Perry.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise: yes, the “Love On The Weekend” singer is a notorious lady’s man and sure, he’s had a couple “foot-in-mouth” moments regarding women while speaking with the press over the years. But Mayer’s relationship with Perry, which lasted on-and-off for about a year-and-a-half, was different because it was both personal and professional.
Back in the summer of 2013, yours truly broke the news that Mayer and Perry recorded a song together. That track, “Who You Love” eventually served as a single off of the guitarist’s sixth studio album, “Paradise Valley.” Later that year, Perry told me that she worked on more than the song with Mayer.
“He played guitar actually on a couple of songs (on ‘PRISM’), which was awesome,” she revealed in the August 2013 phone interview. “He’s just been a great support, and that’s all you can ask (of your partner).”
So did the musical collaborations lead Mayer to forge deeper feelings for Perry? He certainly leaves it up for public discussion on the song, “Still Feel Like Your Man,” from “Search.”
“I still keep your shampoo in my shower, in case you wanna wash your hair,” Mayer croons on the track. “And I know that you probably found yourself someone, somewhere. But I do not really care.”
The list of people that he could be referring to is rather short, and by rather short, it’s pretty much exclusively Perry; this much Mayer confirmed in a recent interview with the New York Times.
“Who else would I be thinking about?” he told the Times. “And by the way, it’s a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years. That was my only relationship. So it’s like, give me this, people.”
And so as Mayer returns to the road, the iTunes chart and potentially the airwaves, he too may return to the world of celebrity. But he probably does not really care about that, either.
I joined The PIX11 Morning News on Tuesday with Scott Stanford, Sukanya Krishnan and Ojinika Obiekwe to talk about new music from Pitbull, Drake and Rick Ross along with potential songs of the summer. We also chatted about an album that will be released posthumously by Chuck Berry’s family. Then at the end, Scott compared my looks to an artist we play quite a bit on the show. Check out the full segment below.
The 59th GRAMMYs proved to be an interesting mix of the predictable and the unpredictable.
Heading in to the night, you knew Adele was going to sweep the three major categories. The songstress took home all five gramophones that she was nominated for, including Record, Song and Album Of The Year.
You also probably assumed (correctly) that the singer, nee Adele Adkins, would turn in a rousing performance of her hit “Hello,” proving to open the show on the loveliest of notes.
James Corden? He was exactly what you expected: funny, not unsafe and collaborative. We saw the Carpool Karaoke segment coming from as far away as Justin Bieber or Drake were sitting (neither attended the show).
Actually on the karaoke bit – why didn’t CBS, which broadcasts the Patriots games, pull in Tom Brady or Julian Edelman for that spot? The final product looked more real-life karaoke than of the edited, Carpool variety: some didn’t know the lyrics, others were a little off and I think everyone at one point contributed to the awkwardness.
Then there were the political statements. From the subtle (Katy Perry wore an arm band reading “PERSIST”) to the not-so-subtle (A Tribe Called Quest complete with Busta Rhymes calling America’s Commander-In-Chief “President Agent Orange”). But hey, if you tuned in expecting not to see that then you simply haven’t been paying attention to the past year-and-a-half of our country.
Sunday night’s award show, which rose slightly in the ratings from last year, threw us a few curveballs too. Metallica, who took the stage with Lady Gaga, would say that’s putting things lightly. First Laverne Cox introduces the performance by only mentioning Gaga’s name and then lead singer James Hetfield’s microphone wasn’t working.
You didn’t hear Hetfield (mostly) and something you didn’t see were the stagehands in the commercial break after Beyonce’s performance. They had to use leaf blowers to clean the stage from confetti for the following act.
Another incident you didn’t see: the fact that every vendor inside Staples Center closes for the show, yet there was a rogue McDonald’s dishing burgers and fries to hungry attendees through the stand’s side door in cash-only transactions. From what I witnessed, it appeared that someone from the venue came over and shut down the operation.
Yeah, definitely didn’t expect to see GRAMMY-goers decked out in black ties and gowns while downing Big Macs. I also didn’t expect to see Adele have a performance-snafu… again.
Remember last year? The microphone inside the piano fell over and caused a weird sound throughout the number. This year, the flub occurred while Adele was performing a rearranged version of George Michael’s “Fast Love” in tribute to the fallen star. The 28 year-old accidentally sang an uncensored line and immediately hit the brakes.
“’I know its live TV; I’m sorry I can’t do it again, like last year,” she said. “I’m sorry for swearing. I’m sorry for starting again. Can we please start it again?”
Adele eventually reset and turned in another spectacular performance. Predictably, she stole the show. But no one could have predicted how.
G-Eazy sent a direct message on Instagram to say he was a fan of her music. Katy Perry tweeted, “she’s one to watch,” with a link to the up-and-coming singer’s single. And a quick Google search of her work won’t yield a single negative review.
There is a lot of buzz around Lèon, a 23 year-old singer and the latest in the line of pop exports from Sweden. From Alesso to Tove Lo to Max Martin, the European country has gained a solid reputation across the pond for its music. Lèon certainly recognizes that, yet has to really wrack her brain when asked why so much good pop music comes from Sweden.
“We have a lot of dark days in the year,” the singer, who hails from Stockholm, attempted to explain during an interview on my radio show. “When summer arrives, you have like two months of bliss and then that’s taken away from you.”
Lèon also guessed that Sweden’s pop perfection could be attributed to the honesty of the songwriters’ lyrics and the country’s melodic language, but even she prefaced all of that with the fact that she just doesn’t know.
To one of her points though, the songstress’ debut single “Tired Of Talking” from her debut EP “Treasure” is based on a true story.
“I’ve had my fair shares of weird situations,” is how Lèon began the tale. “Basically it’s about a person that I had a thing with for years but we were never together.”
As Lèon began to fill in the facts of the story, things became more interesting: the guy is from Sweden, they met when she was 18 and that meeting took place outside of a McDonald’s.
And he probably hasn’t heard the song yet.
“But yeah, that’s basically what it is about. And me just being probably fed up and finally getting some self-respect I guess.”
I sensed Lèon was in a position where she didn’t want to say too much more about the guy but had more respect for me than to lie or change the subject. So naturally, I segued the conversation to McDonald’s – and what the chain is like overseas.
“I don’t really (eat) McDonald’s,” she said before adding, “It’s pretty fresh I think in Sweden, I think they’re trying to make it (healthier).
Lèon herself has had to modify her diet a bit. At a young age she chewed so much gum that doctors told her she permanently injured her jaw.
“I could chew like, 25 gums a day,” revealed Lèon of her… gum addiction? “Sometimes my cheek swells.”
Now she has to wear a brace before she goes to bed in order to prevent further damage. It’s a rather bizarre story yet relatively speaking, the singer still falls on the tamer side of pop stars with addictions.
InStyle Magazine Senior Editor Sharon Clott Canter called in from Los Angeles to chat about Sunday night’s Golden Globes. Sharon saw many stars on the red carpet, including currently InStyle cover woman Jennifer Lopez. She also witnessed a lovely candid moment at the InStyle after party with Golden Globes winner Sam Smith.
Photo: instagram.com/samsmithworld
A couple of superstar comebacks, an uncoordinated dancing shark and a boy band shake-up were just a few of the highlights provided to us in 2015 courtesy of pop music.
– America loves a good comeback story, and we received two big ones in 2015: the songstress reclaiming her throne (Adele) and the bad-boy seemingly turning good (Justin Bieber). Both artists rewrote the record books in their respective returns to the spotlight.
For Adele, here’s the final figure as of press time: Over 7 million copies of “25” sold in the U.S. The album tallied its second-highest week of sales in the days leading up to Christmas, moving 1.16 million units as reported by Billboard. And there’s still a week of reporting left before the new year. As for “Hello,” that holds down the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a ninth consecutive week.
With a sold-out tour on the slate for 2016, it doesn’t appear as if Adele is leaving the spotlight anytime soon. Judging by the way she has been received, most people don’t have a problem with this.
As for Bieber, when he released “Purpose,” he broke a 36 year-old record held by The Beatles, charting 17 songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber’s LP went to number one in 108 countries and was his sixth to top the Billboard 200 in the U.S. The album was certified platinum just three weeks after its release.
And like Adele, he has a sold-out trek that spans over 50 shows next year in North America alone.
– The week that Bieber dropped “Purpose,” One Direction released “Made In The A.M.,” the group’s final LP before a well-deserved break. The four remaining members of 1D have told fans of the group that they definitely plan to reunite at some point, despite rumors to the contrary.
Those reports came to a head in March of this year when Zayn Malik announced he was leaving the group, eventually to launch a solo career and land a deal with RCA Records. The quartet continued on with appearances at the Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards, the latter where they took home “Artist Of The Year.” Niall, Harry, Louis and Liam also went forward with the band’s “On the Road Again Tour,” performing in stadiums throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Don’t say goodbye to 1D just yet though: the band will perform at the Billboard Hollywood party for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” this Thursday night on ABC.
– A big congratulations to Katy Perry, who Forbes named as the top earning musician in 2015, raking in over $130 million. Forbes tracked revenue from June 2014 through June of this year, with Perry’s worldwide sold-out tour falling within that timeline. Perry performed last year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show to rave reviews, although afterwards it seemed most people want to chat either about the return of Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott or the shark to the left of Katy Perry during her “California Girls” performance that probably skipped a rehearsal or three.
