Music Blogs

photo courtesy of Consequence Of SoundThe official lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival won't be revealed until 10:01 a.m. CT on May 7, but those nutty promoters are priming the pump by leaking clues in the classified ads of The Austin Chronicle.

The clever stunt was uncovered by those super sleuths at The Hollywood Reporter, who noted a series of ads dropped major hints about some of the acts on this year's roster.

Chris Smith (l), Chris Kelly (r) of Kris Kross [Photo: Paul Natkin/WireImage]The exact cause of Kris Kross rapper Chris Kelly's untimely passing is still up in the air. An autopsy has been completed, but more investigation is necessary to determine why the 34-year-old died.

According to various sources, the Fulton County Medical Examiner determined Thursday that there was no sign of trauma or foul play in Kelly's case. However, a toxicology report still needs to be completed , which could take at least three weeks.

Reports have been swirling that Kelly died as a result of a drug overdose, and the autopsy results seem to support that theory.

photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesThroughout the annals of pop music history there have been several songs titled "Somebody to Love," including certifiable classics by Queen and Jefferson Airplane. Pop sensation Justin Bieber released a track bearing that title in 2010; it became his fourth consecutive top 20 hit and was subsequently released as a remix featuring the Bieb's mentor, Usher. Then Usher released his own version of the track, with him on lead vocals and Justin in the featured role.

Both artists got a lot of mileage out of the track, and now two songwriters are suing Usher and Bieber for $10 million, claiming they stole their song, TheWrap reports. In a complaint filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Virginia, Devin Copeland (who performs under the stage name De Rico) and songwriter Mareio Overton claim they wrote a song titled "Somebody to Love," and De Rico released it on his album My Story II in 2008. De Rico's track can heard HERE for compare-and-contrast purposes.

[Related: Justin Bieber Visits

Amber Holcomb cries in her dad's armsFor weeks on "American Idol," the judges worked tirelessly on a campaign that I'd like to dub Operation Make Amber Happen. Amber Holcomb was an "Idol" underdog really ever since she squeaked into the top 10, but the judges and in-house advisor/Interscope Records exec Jimmy Iovine really believed in her--frequently praising her as the most "marketable" and "current" contestant in the competition, even when she sang the most old-fashioned ballads imaginable.

On last night's "American Idol" top four redux show, Nicki Minaj threatened Mariah Carey with a Q-Tip (a cotton swab, not the A Tribe Called Quest rapper). Meanwhile, guest mentor Harry Connick Jr. seemed to be threatening Nicki and Mariah's jobs, when he boldly sat behind the judges' table and looked right at home. Just another bizarre night on the "Idol" set, then.

Today, my "The Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I talk about last night's episode (including Nicki's weird weight remark to Candice Glover, and Harry's all-around awesomeness), and we make our predictions for who's going home tonight. We also we address Nicki's latest Twitter rant, of course, which erupted online this morning. Enjoy the "Idol" chatter!

The gold-plated Promethean coffinAs fans celebrate the late James Brown's 80th birthday May 3, it's a suitable occasion to remember the final time that the King of Soul went gold.

That was when a horse-drawn carriage bore Brown's body in a procession through the streets of Harlem on December 28, 2006, before a memorial service at the Apollo Theatre that drew thousands of fans to line up and file past his body. Some of them might have been angling to get a look at the casket as much as at Brown himself.

Brown was decked out in a casket called the Promethean, which is plated in 14-carat gold, with a body of solid bronze, lined with blue velvet. Retail value: $22,000-30,000, making it one of the world's most expensive coffins, if not the most pricey, at the time.

Michael Jackson spent five hours in the funeral home when the body was returned to Augusta, Georgia, studying the lifeless visage of Brown and, no doubt, the coffin as well. Little wonder, then, that as Jackson had followed in Brown's nimble footsteps in life,