“I’ve always felt ageless,” Debbie Gibson tells me, two days after her 55th birthday, adding that she’s “embracing” her age and loves seeing other “seasoned” women in her industry finally get their due. In a plain white tank, she’s the definition of natural beauty, owning midlife as we all hope to, with confidence, warmth, and […]
Lady Gaga has extended her MAYHEM Ball tour into next year with 21 new North American arena shows. Coming in support of her latest Interscope album, MAYHEM, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has spawned several hit singles, the fresh leg starts Feb. 14-15 in Glendale, Az., and runs through April 9-10 in Saint Paul, Mn. […]
No one’s having more fun at the Aces’ Gold Star Baby record release party than the band themselves. On the Saturday Night Fever-style light block dancefloor at Los Angeles’ Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, vocalist Cristal Ramirez, her sister and drummer Alisa Ramirez, guitarist Katie Henderson, and bassist McKenna Petty throw shapes while singing along to […]
Jazz trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire has a recurring theme in his music: owls. In December 2023, he released the Grammy Award-nominated Owl Song, and his latest, just released and extraordinary record, honey from a winter stone, includes a track called “Owled.” His compositions are rich and complex, but the owl thing begs further inquiry… […]
Chicago’s Union Park paid an epic tribute to house music this Labor Day Weekend with its eclectic ARC Music Festival, now in its fifth year. Originating from Chicago’s boiler rooms over 40 years ago, ARC’s lineup featured an incredible range of dance music artists, including Derrick Carter, Cajmere/Green Velvet, DJ Heather, DJ Lady D, Mike […]
Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has a handful of public screenings through Sept. 14, needs a subtitle, like “Why Elvis Was The King?”. The Elvis busts, Elvis impersonators, velvet Elvis, Elvis weddings, gaudy Graceland interior décor, later-life health struggles, pill dependency, […]
BABYMETAL came out of Tokyo in 2010 as an audacious mutation of Japanese pop and muscular heavy metal. With a very young Su-metal singing up front, and two other females dancing beside her, the band was both a curiosity and a genuine sensation, with songs that were both crushing and playful. By 2012, BABYMETAL had […]
It was just last year that Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, two seasoned Los Angeles-based pop songwriters, were feeling a little burnt out, and decided to do something different on the weekends for fun. “We really felt like there wasn’t room to be wild and infuse what inspired us into what we were working on,” […]
Before the chimes of his doorbell stop echoing, Sebastian Bach throws open the front door of his Las Vegas home. His 6’4” frame fills the doorway, his iconic voice as recognizable when he speaks as when he sings. “You want some coffee??” he bellows, then runs in socked feet to the open-plan kitchen to make […]
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian conveys maximum emotion with just his voice and an acoustic piano on a new cover of “Lady in Red” balladeer Chris de Burgh’s song “I’m Counting on You,” which is out today (Sept. 5). The song will also be included on Covers, Collaborations & Collages, which is rolling out […]