The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
- Rihanna unveils Chris Brown duet 'Nobodies Business'
- John Lennon's letter to Eric Clapton up for auction
- Psy says 'Gangnam Style' not his success
| Rihanna unveils Chris Brown duet 'Nobodies Business' Posted: 06 Nov 2012 10:29 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B star Rihanna unveiled a duet entitled Nobodies Business with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown on Tuesday, three years after Brown was charged with assaulting her. The song was part of an official track list that Barbadian singer Rihanna tweeted to her followers for her upcoming album Unapologetic, and comes after weeks of speculation in the media that the couple have rekindled their romance being spotted together at numerous events. While Rihanna, 24, has stayed mum on her relationship status with Brown, the Turn Up The Music singer attended Rihanna's Halloween party last week and tweeted a photograph of himself dressed in Arab robes and a rifle. Brown, 23, is currently halfway through his five-year probation after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy awards in 2009. He was ordered to complete community service and a domestic violence programme. Brown was given permission by a Los Angeles judge to embark on his European tour at a recent hearing overseeing his progress on his probation. The former couple have had a tumultuous relationship in the last three years, including a restraining order against Brown following the assault. But recently the two singers have made peace, coming together on a remix of Rihanna's raunchy song Birthday Cake earlier this year. The Barbadian singer told Oprah Winfrey in an emotional interview in August that she and Brown now had a "very close friendship," and that she still loved him. Other collaborations on Rihanna's upcoming Unapologetic album include rapper Eminem, newcomer singer-songwriter Mikky Ekko and rapper Future. |
| John Lennon's letter to Eric Clapton up for auction Posted: 06 Nov 2012 10:28 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - John Lennon held out the promise he could bring out more musical greatness in legendary guitarist Eric Clapton in a letter that could fetch as much as US$30,000 when it is sold at auction next month, the organizers of the sale said on Monday. The signed, hand-written letter by the Beatle, who died in 1980 at the age of 40, is one of a selection from some of the world's great musicians that will go under the hammer in Los Angeles at the Profiles in History auction on December 18. In a draft letter dated September 29, 1971, Lennon expressed his respect and admiration for British guitarist Clapton and suggested that they form a band together. "Eric, I know I can bring out something great, in fact greater in you that had been so far evident in your music. I hope to bring out the same kind of greatness in all of us, which I know will happen if/when we get together," Lennon wrote in the letter. The letter will hold special significance for Beatles fans as auctioneer Joe Maddalena said it was widely known that there were problems in the Fab Four's relationships with each other, and that Clapton had almost become a Beatle. Clapton played in the Plastic Ono Band, formed by Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 before the breakup of the Beatles in 1970. He also played on the George Harrison song While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which was on the Beatles' White Album. "There was a point in time when George Harrison thought about leaving the band and his replacement was Clapton, so this letter is a link of what could have been," Maddalena said. The letter is one of 300 manuscripts and letters from literary, musical and political greats, that will be auctioned from the holdings of an American collector. "What we know of history is from the written word, without these letters, it would all be verbal. It's a really unique area of collecting as you're getting a glimpse into people's minds," Maddalena said. Other highlights include a handwritten letter from George Washington, with a pre-sale estimate of up to US$300,000, and a Charles Dickens manuscript with an obituary of novelist William Thackeray, expected to fetch between US$40,000 and US$60,000. Also on the auction block is a signed, handwritten letter from German composer Ludwig van Beethoven to Tobias Haslinger, a friend of his publisher, in which the musician discussed the second performance of his Ninth Symphony and the Missa Solemnis, two of his most revered works. The letter, written in German, is undated, but both the Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis debuted in performances in 1824. Because of the rarity of the letter, it is estimated it will sell for between US$40,000 and US$60,000. Other items going under the hammer include a signed letter in Russian by composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which has a pre-sale estimate of US$10,000 to US$15,000, and a letter by composer George Gershwin dated March 24, 1932, in which he compares his compositions Rhapsody In Blue and An American In Paris. The Gershwin letter is expected to sell for as much as US$3,000, according to the auction house. |
| Psy says 'Gangnam Style' not his success Posted: 06 Nov 2012 06:48 PM PST PARIS, South Korea: His "Gangnam Style" may be the second most watched YouTube video in history but South Korean pop sensation Psy said Tuesday he still has everything to prove with his follow-on record, due out by March. "I can't say I have a success, because it's kind of a phenomenon," the 34-year-old told a press conference in Paris, where some 20,000 fans of his planetary horse-dancing hit joined him for a giant flashmob a day earlier. "I didn't do anything - people hit YouTube, people found this music and they brought it to the world. Not me. "Now it's my turn. The second one I gotta make my success," said the singer, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang. Psy's new album will feature a new single half in Korean, half in English and a selection of songs from his 12-year career in South Korea, where he is a household name. "To the Koreans it's going to be like Psy's greatest hits, but to the world its going to be brand new. It's going to be my debut album worldwide," he said. Initially slated for release this month, Psy's new single was delayed by the runaway success of "Gangnam Style", which went viral in July, notching up more than 650 million YouTube views. "I am number one in 30 countries - I have to at least say 'Hi and Thanks'," he told reporters, saying the album would hit shelves in "March at the latest". What style is he aiming for next? "With this video, this song, this dance, I did my best to be as ridiculous as possible," said the singer. "In Korea... I have ridiculous songs, fun songs, happy songs. "But I am a rookie here. I know what people want: they want something funnier than 'Gangnam Style' from now on. "So at this point I've got to be more ridiculous! I am going to show my other aspects later on if I have a chance." Asked about the turnout of Paris fans, Psy said it was "really touching." "I had seen a lot of flashmobs on YouTube, but yesterday was the first time I had been there." "Personally, I'm kind of an analog guy, I don't trust online that much. So when I arrived yesterday in Paris I still had a huge question mark, like am I really famous in this country? "I went to the Eiffel Tower and I saw 20,000 people, and they were literally mad!" he said. South Korea's culture ministry announced earlier Tuesday it had awarded Psy one of its highest cultural honours, the Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit, for "outstanding meritorious services" to the arts. Asked if the "Gangnam Style" craze has stretched as far as neighbouring North Korea - where the Stalinist authorities posted a parody of the video to mock a politician from the south - Psy said he hoped so. "We cannot communicate with them, but it's a worldwide phenomenon - so hopefully they do the dance," he said. "I never get any news from them, but I hope they enjoy the song too." - AFP |
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