Amplifier

  • Lil Wayne made a rare appearance on his Twitter this afternoon to reveal, "I'll be in NY this Thursday doing a free show with @nickiminaj. Don't miss it," with a link to this legit website that promises a free Weezy and Minaj performance atop a NYC building as part of NBC's New Year's Eve festivities, limited to 500 fans. However, quickly after announcing the performance, Weezy tweeted that his account was hacked and that he would not be joining his Young Money cohort Minaj in New York. Yet, that website boasting tix for the pre-taped performance is still active (and apparently still offering tickets).

    So was Weezy's Twitter hacked like Gawker, or did the flood of Wayne fans demanding tickets for the NYE performance force the rapper to backtrack? Both tweets (the performance announcement, then the hacked revelation) came via "Twitter for iPhone," as opposed to different sources, so we're already thinking that Wayne was fibbing about the hack. The Amp speculates that following the

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  • 2010: The Year Rock Hit Rock Bottom

    By | Amplifier – Tue, Dec 14, 2010 12:55 AM EST

    Only one rock band reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Songs of 2010. It was Train. Technically, Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," the song that charted, isn't even a "rock" song, according to the Billboard criteria (not to mention our ears): It made their year-end lists of Pop Songs, Hot Radio Songs, Hot Digital Songs, and Adult Contemporary Songs. A chart for Rock Songs exists, but more on that later.

    Could there be worse news, rock fans? Absolutely. Billboard's roundup of the 100 most popular tracks of 2010, based on Nielsen SoundScan's metric for measuring radio airplay impressions, contains one song by a band the magazine actually classifies as "rock": Neon Trees' "Animal" at 61. That means 1 percent of the Hot 100 Songs of 2010 rocks.

    If we broaden the definition of rock and include the other tracks on the list that could reasonably be classified in the genre, we have six tracks from 2009 (the Script's "Breakeven" at 27, Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying" at 48, OneRepublic's

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  • Remember Ja Rule? The New York rapper had a string of hits in the early half of the new millennium, scored bit roles in terrible movies like "The Fast and the Furious" and "Half Past Dead" and was infamously called out in 50 Cent's first hit "Wanksta." Well, that Ja Rule is back in the news today, and not for anything he's done musically, and not because it's a really slow news day: The rapper born Jeffrey Atkins was sentenced to two years in prison today for essentially the same crime Lil Wayne was busted for.

    According to Reuters, Ja was pulled over following a New York concert in July 2007, and a semi-automatic handgun was found hidden in the rapper's Maybach. Like Weezy, Ja Rule pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, but unfortunately for Ja Rule, that's where all similarities between himself and Lil Wayne end. Ja Rule took the news in stride, writing on Twitter, "Minor setback for a Major comeback!!!" Ja Rule also engaged in a very public beef with 50 Cent

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  • 'Tis the season for remakes of legendary music videos: Just a week after The Amp reported that Will Ferrell would appear in the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right Revisited," the actor has reunited with his hilarious "Step Brothers" costar John C. Reilly for a shot-for-shot remake of one of the most famous non-Claymation Christmas music videos, David Bowie and Bing Crosby's unlikely duet "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy." What is it with everyone trying to be David Bowie lately?

    With Ferrell busting out the British accent for his rendition of Bowie and Chest Rockwell in the role of Crosby, the pair does an amazing job of reenacting the classic clip from "Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas," right down to replicating the fuzzy look of color television in 1977. Even the ridiculous and nuanced dialogue between the two singers -- Bing: "But tell me, do you ever listen to any of the older fellas?" David: "Oh yeah, sure. I like John Lennon, and the other one with the... Harry Nilsson" --

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  • What were two of hip-hop's forefathers up to over the weekend?

    Run-D.M.C.'s Rev Run officiated the wedding of Joel Madden and Nicole Richie.
    "They both appreciate his family values and he is an inspiration for both," an unnamed guest at the ceremony held at Lionel Richie's home told Us Weekly, noting, "Joel and Nicole have looked up to Rev Run, so they wanted him to officiate." Unfortunately this source didn't specify whether the happy couple admire the Rev's work on "King of Rock" or his reality show "Run's House."

    Considering Madden started up Good Charlotte after checking out the Beastie Boys' "Ill Communication" tour in 1995, maybe Joel would have preferred to have had Ad-Rock handle his ceremony. Unfortunately, the New York MC was otherwise occupied ...

    The Beastie Boys' Ad-Rock played bass in a muumuu.
    Saturday night, Adam Horovitz helped honor his wife, riot grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna, at a Brooklyn tribute show. Twenty bands played 20 songs by Hanna (everything from her work in

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  • King of Pop fans in the U.K. are not happy about Discovery Channel's plan to air a new documentary next month called "Michael Jackson's Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson," a special that as you can imagine probably lives up to its morbid title by reenacting the Jackson autopsy to explain how the singer died of a sedative overdose. To protest Discovery's decision to broadcast the show, the MJ Justice Project and MJ Children group have banded to together and drawn up a petition, TMZ reports. Petitions: Not just for fans of TV shows on the verge of cancellation.

    "Like any other human being on this earth, Michael Jackson is entitled to a minimum of decency and respect," the petition states. "We ask the directors of the Discovery Channel programming to proceed with the outright cancellation of this indecent documentary, detrimental to both the person and his family and loved ones." The show will make use of an "anatomically correct synthetic cadaver" in order to re-enact

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  • In case you didn't get the message the other thousand times he's said it in the past 12 months, Justin Timberlake is not doing music right now. He hasn't done music for himself since 2006, when he released his second solo disc, "FutureSex/LoveSounds," though he has done music for others, including his buddy Timbaland, T.I., and Ciara, in 2009. (If you count "Motherlover" as new music, that arrived last year, as well.)

    However, tucked at the end of a new Los Angeles Times interview pegged to the movie "Yogi Bear" (JT has the distinct honor of voicing Boo-Boo), there's a piece of potentially tantalizing information, depending on where you stand on former boy banders channeling the wizardry of the Thin White Duke (note: we have seen an actual wizard do this recently, and it kind of scared us):

    "He looks forward to a time when he can combine acting with his singing and producing talents for a movie project and even envisions stealing a page from the David Bowie concept-album playbook on a

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  • Hidden within the thousands and thousands of embassy memos that were released in WikiLeaks' latest controversial batch of government agency communications is one name The Amp is familiar with: Eric Clapton. According to the Guardian, the guitar god comes up in a cable from former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow, who was discussing the South Korea-North Korea rift: "Arranging an Eric Clapton concert in Pyongyang could also be useful, given Kim Jong-il's second son's devotion to the rock legend."

    Communist North Korea is notoriously insulated and shuts out all Western influences, but Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong-Chol was educated in Europe, and in 2006, it was reported that the onetime heir to the North Korean throne, "a die-hard Clapton fan," secretly attended all four of Clapton's concerts in Germany while Jong-Chol was at school in neighboring Switzerland. That's a lot of "Layla."

    In February 2008, North Korea actually extended an invitation for Clapton to play

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  • The Double Paul episode of "Saturday Night Live" kicked off with musical guest McCartney telling host Rudd, "I loved 'Role Models.' " It was an indicator that the "SNL" crew intended to utilize their Beatle for as many special moments as possible, and they did: McCartney showed up in the digital short "Stumblin,' " singing the hook from Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" and performing a solo on the world's tiniest harmonica as Andy Samberg and Rudd fumbled around New York City (Dolly Parton's classic "9 to 5" provided the soundtrack). Then he voiced Camilla Parker-Bowles in a Weekend Update "audio caption," recounting what Prince Charles' wife must have been thinking when the royal limo was attacked by "ruffians." How did he rate his impersonation? "It was probably the best thing I ever worked on," McCartney deadpanned. We knew he didn't really love "Sgt. Pepper's."

    Song One: "Jet"
    +1 for wearing a purple blazer -- Sir Paul certainly knows how to dress royally
    -10 for singing off-key --

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  • The biggest story on the Internet today, besides that Vermont senator who's been rambling to Congress for over five straight hours about tax cuts, is a video of an annoyingly giggly Miley Cyrus smoking a bong packed with the head shop psychedelic Salvia on her 18th birthday. It's not Miley's actions that bother us -- any 18-year-old, even one who grew up on the Disney Channel, should be allowed to go all Haight-Ashbury if they want -- it's the soundtrack: Blasting in the background of the Cyrus' video is Bush's alt-rock hit "Comedown."

    "Comedown" is not a bad song by any stretch, in fact something about hearing Bush makes us feel warmly nostalgic for the late '90s every time, but c'mon! With lyrics like, "I don't wanna come back down from this cloud," is there a more cliché song to listen to while experimenting with substances that are technically legal in California? Well, sadly, there are. Miley could've been hot-boxing her Mercedes while listening to Afro Man, so we'll give her a

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Pagination

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News for You

  • Palace sheds some light on Kate's baby plans

    LONDON (AP) — With Prince William and the former Kate Middleton expecting their first child in mid-July — and much of the world interested in the birth of a future monarch — the royals' office has released some of the couple's plans, although many details are still being kept private. Kate has made several public appearances recently but is expected to keep a low profile in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Here is the latest news about the infant who will, upon entering the world, be third in line for the British throne.

  • Mom: RI theater threw out disabled girl over noise

    NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — A woman says she and her 5-year-old developmentally disabled daughter were thrown out of a theater during a "Beauty and the Beast" performance because the girl was making giggling and humming noises she makes when she's happy.

  • Cher credits luck for her lengthy career

    UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Cher is no stranger to tabloid fodder.

  • Jenner: Kim Kardashian 'thrilled for the new baby'

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Jenner says her daughter Kim Kardashian is thrilled to have a new baby girl.

  • 'The Voice' Winner: Who Did the Experts Choose?

    By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - NBC's "The Voice" will crown another winner on Tuesday night's finale. Season 4's three finalists - Daniellle Bradbury, Michelle Shamuel and The Swon Brothers - battled it out for the title on Monday's performance finale episode. Before the performances, coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Shakira and Usher performed The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends." The Top 16 then got together for the second group performance of the night on Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros' "Home. ...

  • Miss Utah latest beauty queen to botch answer

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Miss Utah Marissa Powell is the latest beauty queen to trip on national television, not over her gown, but during the interview segment.

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