Music Blogs

What with all the milestones and success Kenny Chesney has achieved over the past two decades, it seems hard to believe there's one thing he hasn't tackled yet in his career.

But there is. He's doing it now, and he's just a bit overwhelmed by it.

So, what could it be? "In all the years that I've been doing this, I've never launched a tour and launched an album at basically the same time," Chesney admits--adding with a laugh, "Doing one of those things is enough!"

He's speaking the truth, and then some. His 2012 Brothers of the Sun tour, which kicks off June 2, is no ordinary tour, being his first with fellow megastar Tim McGraw in a decade. And, his new record Welcome To The Fishbowl, which hits stores just a couple weeks after the tour starts, is poised to be his biggest release yet.

The idea of handling both near-simultaneously is daunting, to say the least.  "It's been an interesting month for me," Chesney deadpans. "I love it. It's a challenge." Kenny Chesney

How ironic that a season beloved by so many, with endless sun and good, good times, would be best represented by a song that calls out summer as a bummer! But "Summertime Blues" just may be the best Summer Song of All-Time! It's certainly been covered enough times! And each time something new about the song is revealed. Often, how much louder it can get.

The song was originally written by rockabilly legend Eddie Cochran and his manager, Jerry Capehart, who knew where the real money was in rock 'n' roll.

These thirteen folks raised a fuss and raised a holla!

Long before Bonnaroo, Burning Man and all the other newfangled Summer Festivals, there were others of distinction, many were one-off type events and some were (and are) glorious traditions. If you're looking for Altamont, the Miami Pop Festival, the Monterey Pop Festival or Cal Jam, I'm sorry to say those festivals were not held in the Summertime and, therefore, did not qualify.

Here are eleven big ones. They're not the only festivals to remember fondly. The one where you hooked up with that other person was light years better than the ones you only read about. Nothing beats personal experience.

They don't let me leave the Yahoo! basement long enough to attend concerts, but if they did, I would still let Lyndsey Parker and Dave DiMartino handle it. There's nothing like seeing Dave whine about having to wear pants!

Everyone loves a good TV feud, of course. And now that Adam Lambert's neon-painted claws have so thrillingly come out during a recent Bravo interview, when he was grilled about fellow "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken, I can't wait to "watch what happens" next, as Bravo's copywriters would say.

So Adam appeared on Bravo's chatfest "Watch What Happens" Thursday night, and host Andy Cohen put him on the spot by ordering him to "say three nice things about Clay Aiken," as part of the show's "Plead The Fifth" segment. Adam, who is nothing if not honest (his bluntness gets him in trouble sometimes, but hey, I love him for it), answered, "Can't think of any."

"Want to plead fifth?" Andy asked. "No, I just can't think of any nice things!" Adam answered with a laugh.

BeyonceBeyonce's maternity leave is over.

The "Single Ladies" singer takes the stage Memorial Day weekend at New Jersey's Revel Atlantic City casino. The four-day run that begins tonight (Friday) will mark the new mom's first performance since she gave birth to her daughter Blue Ivy in January.

[Related: Beyonce wears Baby Blue-inspired nameplate necklace]

Garbage has returned! The 90s-defining alternative rock band has made a triumphant reunion seven years since their last album to release their fifth record, "Not Your Kind Of People." Yahoo! Music's resident rocker Dave DiMartino sat down with the band in a studio in San Fernando Valley, CA to chat the past, present and future of Garbage, plus we've got an exclusive live performance! It may have been a while, but the bands raging guitars, quaking drums and Shirley Manson's snarling vocals are as dark, sexy and electrifying as ever.

Watch Garbage talk about creating music in the digital revolution, dealing with labels and why they waited so long to make their fifth record:

During the seven years between albums, the Garbage members pursued their own projects since going on an indefinite hiatus in 2005. Manson recorded an unreleased solo album and even delved into acting, landing a recurring role on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Drummer and producer Butch Vig worked on

"So You Think You Can Dance" returned for a ninth season this Thursday--although, sadly, this will be the last time we'll be seeing "SYTYCD" on Thursday for a while. You see, next week, the show will settle into its regular Wednesday night timeslot...and it'll only be on ONE night a week, instead of its usual two. So remember all those awesome "SYTYCD" Thursday night results shows, the ones featuring amazing wheelchair dancers and amazing Wade Robson group numbers and amazing career-launching performances by Lady Gaga and Christina Perri? Yeah, well, those days are over. Apparently the Fox network would rather have "SYTYCD's" Emmy-nominated Cat Deeley host some cockamamie spinning-chair dating show called "The Choice," instead of having, say, prestigious Alvin Ailey company dancers perform on Thursday nights. Really??? Boo, Fox, boo!

However, "SYTYCD" made the most of its sole two-hour spot this week, premiering with a slew of typically brilliant auditions in New York and Dallas. And with both a female winner and a male winner planned for the Season 9 finale in September, even more talent has the potential to be rewarded this year. Yay, Fox, yay!

Don and Phillip Phillips at their Georgia pawn shop [photo: Fox]Newly crowned "American Idol" winner Phillip Phillips, who has a long history with kidney stones, underwent painful surgery earlier this "Idol" season to install a stent in his kidney. However, he didn't let that keep him from becoming a frontrunner in the competition: Incredibly, only six days after that operation, he delivered a solid performance of "Hard To Handle" on the "Idol" stage, and he eventually made it all the way to the winner's circle, never once even landing in the bottom three. But when Phillip started noticeably sitting out the show's Ford Music Videos, fans worried if another health scare had derailed him. And only now is it coming to light just how serious Phillip's medical problems were this season, as his father, Don Phillips, told People this week that his son underwent no less than eight surgeries while he was on "Idol" to remove a build-up of kidney stones.