Lester Cohen/WireImageKaty Perry isn't perfect, and she says fans will learn that by watching her upcoming film Katy Perry: Part of Me set to hit theaters on July 5.
On Tuesday's The Ellen Degeneres Show, Katy dished on the concert film, which she says takes fans deeper inside her life, including inside her failed marriage to comedian Russell Brand.
"I thought it was important for me to show everything in-between," Katy told host Ellen DeGeneres. "I think sometimes people think that we’re perfect and we know we’re not perfect, at all."
"I think it’s important to start breaking down the idea that to achieve your dream you have to always be perfect or flawless or live in some kind of like fantasy world," she continued. "So that’s why I decided to put everything into the film...in the most tasteful way."
The 27-year-old singer also said the film will show how she endured setbacks early in her music career, including being dropped from two labels and being compared to other successful artists.
"There was just a lot of the word 'no' being sent my way and I just never accepted that," Katy said, adding that she had a very clear vision of her sound. "A lot of people wanted me to be like someone, whether it was a Kelly Clarkson or an Avril Lavigne, and I was like, 'I want to be Katy Perry first.'"
Big Machine RecordsTaylor Swift and her friends and family didn't go straight home after her big night at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas Sunday night. Taylor was honored with the Billboard Woman of the Year award, and Peoplereports she headed to the Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant & Lounge at the Bellagio to celebrate afterward.
Taylor and her crew sat on a terrace overlooking the hotel's fountains and enjoyed a spread including Kobe short ribs and tuna pizza.
After the dinner, Taylor and her pals had a few treats from Fix Restaurant & Bar for desert.
Facebook.com/JayZD'Angelo, Janelle Monae and Maybach Music's Rick Ross, Meek Mill and Wale are among the stars who've been tapped to headline the inaugural Budweiser Made in America Festival, curated by Jay-Z. The Roc Nation boss will also perform during the event, which will feature sets from nearly 30 artists including Santigold, Rita Ora and Odd Future, plus more.
The Budweiser Made in America Festival will take place across three stages on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway on September 1-2. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster.com and Livenation.com. If you can't make it to Philly, you'll be able to watch the festivities online via live stream.
Proceeds from the event will benefit local chapters of the United Way, which will use the money to improve the education, income and health of the needy in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York City.
Ari Michelson/EMI Music North AmericaKaty Perry’s hit “Firework” will be featured on the upcoming soundtrack for the animated sequel Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. The album will also include covers by the animated lemur King Julien -- voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen -- of the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” and C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).”
The soundtrack is due out June 5, three days before the film is released.
Fox BroadcastingIt's graduation time for the seniors of Glee's McKinley High Tuesday night. In the third-season finale, airing on Fox at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, Lea Michele's Rachel, Cory Monteith's Finn, and their senior classmates will say goodbye to the school and move on to the next chapter in their lives.
The episode features appearances by Gloria Estefan, who plays the mother of Naya Rivera's Santana, and James Lipton, who guest stars as himself.
Estefan says it was a thrill for her to appear on Glee because she and her family are such big fans of the show. She says, "My daughter and I have been watching religiously from season one."
The episode features covers of hits by Madonna, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and more. Here's the complete track list:
"Glory Days," Bruce Springsteen, performed by Finn & Puck "I'll Remember," Madonna, performed by Kurt "You Get What You Give," New Radicals, performed by New Directions "Not The End," The So Many's, performed by Finn "Forever Young," Rod Stewart, performed by Will "Roots Before Branches," Room For Two, performed by Rachel "In My Life," The Beatles, performed by New Directions (Juniors)
Universal Music GroupThe BET Awards '12 are just around the corner, and Melanie Fiona, Diggy Simmons and Big Sean are just a few of the stars who'll be on hand when BET reveals the host and nominees for the show this week.
The Cadillac Lifetime Achievement recipient will also be announced during a special press conference in New York City on Tuesday. A$AP Rocky, DJ Khaled and Astro Kid are expected at the press event, which will begin at the BET New York studios and continue on Tuesday's installment of 106 & Park.
Monarch PublicityCraig Morgan will host this 6th Annual Charity Weekend August 11 and 12 in his hometown of Dickson, TN. The event will feature his Celebrity Motocross Ride and the second annual Sporting Clay Shoot. Craig and a few of his pals will also perform a benefit concert at Dickson Middle School during the weekend as well.
Proceeds from the weekend will benefit Billy's Place, an organization benefiting foster children in Dickson County. The events are all open to the public, with tickets going on sale next month. Visit CraigMorgan.com for all the latest ticket information.
Patrick ConeThe Polyphonic Spree has just announced they'll be recording Wednesday’s show at Webster Hall in New York City for an upcoming live album and DVD release.
"NYC was our first home away from home in the States," said frontman Tim DeLaughter in a statement. "We went from very small crowds in Texas to the U.K. for the Meltdown Festival curated by David Bowie in 2002, then straight to New York to play eight shows in seven days on our 'layover' back to Dallas. New York embraced us from the get go. We toured so much overseas initially, and coming 'back to the States and feeling at home' meant Brooklyn and Manhattan."
In addition to the upcoming live release, The Spree is planning to release a Christmas album in the fall. The band has also said that they expect to release their fourth studio album sometime in 2013.
Marty Temme/WireImageAs previously reported, former Kyuss frontman Josh Homme and bassist Scott Reeder have filed a federal lawsuit against ex-band mates John Garcia and Brant Bjork, alleging that the latter's current band, Kyuss Lives!, isengaging in trademark infringement and consumer fraud. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Garcia says that he and Bjork are “innocent of these charges.”
“Win or lose, we believe that the name Kyuss Lives! is worth fighting for…we will continue conducting business as usual and connecting with our amazing loyal fans,” explains Garcia. “It is our God-given right to play any and every Kyuss song anywhere and anyhow we see fit, no matter who wrote what, and we will continue to do so for as long as we are alive. Because of this, we have already won.”
Bjork added that he has an idea why his former band mates are taking legal action against them. “Trademark infringement and consumer fraud are accusations used by Josh and Scott to justify why they do not want John and I to continue as a band without them,” asserts Bjork.
Bjork also feels that Homme and Reeder’s charges of consumer fraud are baseless. “Kyuss fans are intelligent, conscious people,” says Bjork. “If they thought this was consumer fraud, they wouldn't have supported it. Their accusation of consumer fraud a year after our successful tours is very insulting to us and to the fans.”
As the former band mates get ready to battle over the Kyuss name, Kyuss Lives! is scheduled to tour Europe over the next two months. The outing includes festival appearances at Metalfest, Sonisphere, the Download Festival and Grasspop Metal Meeting, among others.
Facebook.com/MichaelMcDonaldMichael McDonald has become the latest veteran music star to initiate a lawsuit claiming he hasn't been fairly compensated for digital sales of his recordings.
According to The Tennessean, the former Doobie Brothers singer/keyboardist's suit, which was filed against the Warner Music Group in a U.S. district court in Nashville on Monday, charges the label with paying out a much lower royalty rate than McDonald is due on the digital versions of his tunes.
McDonald is being represented by Richard S. Busch, the attorney behind similar cases launched by Eminem, Peter Frampton and Toto, among others. The new suit alleges that the singer's insufficient payments were "part of a conscious decision by Warner, and others in the music business to deprive artists of their proper royalties."
McDonald is asking for at least $500,000 in compensation.
Kevin Mazur/Wire ImageThe Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch in the English city of Taunton on Monday. The Summer Games will be held in London beginning in late July.
After he carried the torch for about five minutes, the Daily Mail reports, will.i.am said, "It's like a blast moment and a surreal moment and a can't believe it moment all at the same time."
will.i.am is currently a coach on England's version of The Voice.
Facebook.com/DavidBannerDavid Banner's latest album Sex, Drugs and Video Games, features everyone from A$AP Rocky and Lil Wayne to Raheem DeVaughn and 2Chainz, but the disc is more than a who's-who of hot music stars. Banner tells ABC News Radio that the project sends a message to artists about taking control of their creativity, and serves as a call to fans, encouraging them to support artists who deliver quality material.
When Banner announced his new project, he also introduced fans to his 2M1 campaign, a movement that began taking shape when he was in London, following the release of his 2009 smash "Get Like Me," featuring Chris Brown. The trip gave Banner a chance to see how black men were depicted overseas, and he says, "It was a harsh reality" that got him thinking.
Most of what people outside the U.S. saw of African-American males came from music videos and blogs, and the images presented a narrow view of black culture, David says. He tells ABC News Radio, "we don't control our images and America only disseminates their view of us and... it's usually not an equal view 'cause we can't even get that in movies."
Looking back on films that he's auditioned for, David says that the roles would portray him as someone who, "just recently got out of jail and I'm selling crack and I drive a black Escalade."
A look at Banner's 2003 music video for "Like a Pimp," featuring Lil Flip, shows the kinds of cars, booty-shaking and partying that some people blame for misguiding young hip-hop fans. But Banner isn't ashamed of enjoying nice cars, and beautiful women. After the interview with ABC News Radio, he cues up the "Like a Pimp" video on YouTube to show that the visual also includes scenes that show the Mississippi native ripping through a Confederate flag, and toppling crosses planted by Ku Klux Klansmen.
When Banner put Sex, Drugs and Video Games together, he says, "I had to figure out a way to, for the last time, be that David Banner that I knew my fans wanted to hear but find a way to give it to 'em where it would be pleasing to my soul. So, what I did was I did a lot of the songs that people wanted to hear but I was posing the question, 'Why is this what you love so much?'"
Fans can download Sex, Drugs and Video Games online for free on Tuesday, but in exchange, Banner is asking two million people to donate $1 or more to his 2M1 Movement. With the proceeds, David will use $1 million to shoot a movie next year. Portions of the money will also be used to benefit charities, and to cover the cost of creating the disc, which Banner paid for out of his own pocket.
"It's not about a rap album," David explains. "This is really about your donating to a movement. I'm asking our people to have some sense of social responsibility, you know, because we're giving away everything about our art."
"We need to believe in ourselves more," Banner says of black music artists and consumers. He says that the middleman has been given too much power. "The very thing that scares me is that most of our people don't feel that anything is valid unless it goes through another race of people."
Banner says that through his 2M1 Movement, he wants to show people that they can come together and make things happen. "Imagine the power in that," he says.
Photo: Travis ShinnWhile it’s no secret that Slash had written the majority of the songs onhis second solo album, Apocalyptic Love, with Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy, the ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist recently hinted that the singer's former drug use was a potential source of inspiration for the tracks.
"I think there was a period in his life that we've often talked about that is the basis for the majority of the lyrics on this record," Slash tells Billboard.com. "There's some random songs that don't have anything to do with that as well, but I'd say the majority of them have really pointed lyrics about something in particular that he went through."
Slash added that he instantly knew that Kennedy would be the lead singer of his new band after he heard him sing “Starlight” from his 2010 self-titled debut solo album. "I'd like to be able to give myself a little bit of credit for being able to recognize when somebody is really genuinely good," notes Slash. "When I first met him and he did that 'Starlight' song, I was like, 'Whoa!' That's the only reason I got him to do that [2010 solo] tour in the first place because I knew that he could handle the diversity of all that material."
Apocalyptic Love, featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, is hits stores on Tuesday.
Epic/Legacy RecordingsOn Monday, the estate of Michael Jackson announced plans to reissue the late King of Pop's classic 1987 album Bad as a three-CD, one-DVD deluxe set called Bad 25, in celebration of the album's 25th anniversary. The collection will be available in stores on September 18.
The re-release will boast some pretty cool highlights from the singer's personal archives, including newly discovered and restored footage of Michael’s July 16, 1988, concert at the original Wembley Stadium in London during the Bad tour.
The set will include a CD of the remastered original album; a CD containing previously unreleased material, song demos recorded at Michael’s personal studio and several DJ remixes; and a concert CD and DVD of the Wembley event.
Other music to be issued as part of the anniversary celebration includes the June 5 release of the original album's first single, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," on a CD single together with a previously unreleased Bad session bonus track, "Don't Be Messin' 'Round (demo)." That disc will only be available in the U.S. at Wal-Mart. On June 26, a replica edition of the original seven-inch vinyl single with its original B-side, "Baby Be Mine," will be available worldwide.
The Jackson estate, in part through a marketing deal it recently cut with Pepsi, is planning more 25th anniversary happenings and special releases. Fans can register to stay informed about upcoming releases on MichaelJackson.com.
Dana TynanSugarland's Jennifer Nettles makes her debut as a mentor on ABC's new music competition Duets this Thursday night. As for her other job with Sugarland, Jennifer and duo partner Kristian Bush are deep in the writing process for their next album.
They've been doing quite a bit of writing apart lately. Jennifer tells ABC News Radio, "Kristian has been writing with people from Japan. He's been to Sweden and doing some writing. He's obviously been doing writing stateside."
Jennifer has been spending time writing at her piano, and she adds, "We've been doing a lot of different writing, and we'll see how it pans out when we decide to go to the studio."
Sugarland doesn't have a timeline on when a new album might be recorded though. They're on the road all summer on the In the Hands of the Fans tour with dates on the books through a September 2 show in Las Vegas.
Sugarland's last album, 2010's The Incredible Machine, produced the top five country hit "Stuck Like Glue."
Catch Jennifer on Duets Thursday night at 8:00 Eastern on ABC.
Kristin Murphy/WireImageDoors guitarist Robby Krieger will make a special appearance Tuesday night at a benefit concert for the School of Rock's West Los Angeles chapter in conjunction with the Rock School Scholarship Fund. The show is scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. PT at Rusty's Surf Ranch in Santa Monica, California. Krieger will join the School of Rock West L.A.'s house band to play some classics by his group.
Meanwhile, Krieger has two other May performances scheduled with his Robby's Roadhouse Rebels side project. The band, which also features Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson and Particle keyboardist Steve Molitz, will play at the Bella Fiore Music Festival in Clarks Grove, Minnesota, on May 26 and at the Oriental Theater in Denver on May 27.
In addition, Krieger and fellow Doors founder Ray Manzarek's group will launch a series of international shows starting June 7 in Tijuana, Mexico. Check out all of Krieger's upcoming shows at RobbyKrieger.com.
Photo by John Shearer/WireImageWith the trial of her former brother-in-law William Balfour behind her, Jennifer Hudson has a new movie to look forward to. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer will star alongside Terrence Howard, Garrett Hedlund and Amy Adams in the comedy-drama Lullaby.
The movie is set to start shooting next month in New York City, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and will focus on Hedlund's character, who's dealing with news that his father has chosen to take himself off life support.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lullaby is being shopped to foreign buyers at the Cannes film festival, but does not yet have a domestic distributor.
Jennifer made her big film debut back in 2006, in the movie Dreamgirls. She won several honors for the role, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award. JHud most recently appeared in The Three Stooges movie, released last month.
Facebook.com/JohnMayerJohn Mayer releases his new album Born and Raised on Tuesday, but if you don't like it, just wait -- another one will be along soon. Because John's vocal troubles have forced him to cancel any touring he would have done to promote this new album, he's already started planning a follow-up. That way, by the time his voice is ready to tour, he'll have twice as many new songs to share with fans.
"I'm hoping to take advantage of putting a record out and going back in the studio," John explains. "It's not the worst thing in the world to remain productive in the studio. As much as I would love to be on stage playing these songs, I think I'll make up for it...or I'm trying to make up for it, by hitting the stage with two more records instead of one."
John says he hopes that because he isn't touring -- "being poked and prodded," as he puts it -- he'll find it easy to crank out a batch of new tunes. "You know, sometimes you go on the road, [and] you get worn down," he explains. "And in that process, it takes a little while to get back to the writing...soul."
In the meantime, what about Born and Raised? What can fans expect? John says he doesn't feel like he has much to say about it, other than "musically, it's important. I think lyrically, it's important," he explains. "I think it's a record that matters, and after that, it's up to other people to tell me what they think."
John notes, "I don't really have a rap on the record...I hope I don't have to come up with too many catch phrases for it, because it's better than any catch phrases."
The singer also claims that he's not worrying whether Born and Raised will be a hit. "I think I'm at an age now where it's not supposed to be my main concern," he says.
Warner/EmblemGlorianawill release their second album, A Thousand Miles Left Behind, on July 31. The set features the group's "(Kissed You) Good Night," which is Gloriana's fastest rising single yet. The members of the trio had a hand in writing all 11 songs on the album too.
Gloriana's Tom Gossin explains, "The new album really just feels like us, who and where we are now, to the point where we know exactly what we want to do and how to get there.”
Gloriana released their self-titled debut album in 2009.
Lester Cohen/WireImageKaty Perry isn't perfect, and she says fans will learn that by watching her upcoming film Katy Perry: Part of Me set to hit theaters on July 5. 
Adult Contemporary, 
