Blog Posts by Chris Willman

Was Michael Bolton's power really in his hair, a la the biblical Samson? Or do time, love, and tenderness still trump mullet amputations?

Bolton in 1992 and 2010 [Photos: Ron Galella/WireImage; Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]These are the questions we ponder as the top balladeer of the early '90s turns 60 on February 26. Back in his heyday, there were tens of thousands of hair-metal singers... but only one hair-adult-contemporary star, which made him the closest thing the pop world had to a Fabio doppelgänger. Hard as it is to believe, it's been 16 years since he underwent a severe scissoring. To put it in perspective, he's spent about two and a half times as long with short hair as he ever spent in the limelight as a long-tressed superstar.

But even with a newly published memoir, The Soul Of It All, that delves into his romances with such starlets as Ashley Judd, Teri Hatcher, and Nicolette Sheridan, all anyone interviewing him wants to know is: Does he regret the dated signature hairstyle, and/or the loss of it?

"It was really traumatic," he said last month, asked once

Read More »from Michael Bolton Turns 60: Still Rebounding From Samson Syndrome?

To borrow a cue from Superman: Look, it's the Grammys! No, it's the Tonys! No, it's a super-musical edition of the Oscars—which have never focused on music quite as much as they did on Sunday night's gotta-sing, gotta-dance telecast.

It didn't hurt (or did it?) that host Seth MacFarlane is more of a song-and-dance man than most viewers knew, or that the show's producers were responsible for the Chicago movie, or that Dame Shirley Bassey had to represent for Bond in lieu of Sean Connery's apparent unwillingness to show up for a 50th anniversary salute.

Who came out ahead or behind amid all this hoofing and histrionic singing? "Here's to the losers," as MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth sang at the end...and, while, we're at it, the night's crooning winners, too:

Read More »from Oscar Music Highs & Lows: Adele, Bassey, Babs Soar; “Boobs” Homage Doesn’t

To pyro or not to pyro? Ten years after one of the deadliest nightclub fires in history, at a Rhode Island gig by the band Great White, plenty of rock fans can't see the most basic sparks go off on stage without flashing back to the news that 100 fans died on the night of Feb. 20, 2oo3 at the Station club. How much more traumatic, we can only imagine, to be one of the 663 people who did escape from the concert with their lives.

After the Station fireSome of those survivors have worked through their trauma to become advocates for fire safety, in and out of rock shows. One of those original Great White ticketholders is Rob Feeney, who spent the day before the 10th anniversary on Capitol Hill. He and former fireman Peter Ginaitt, one of the first responders at the scene that fateful night, were lobbying legislators for a bill that would offer tax incentives to aging businesses that install fire sprinklers.

"The timing couldn't be better," says Feeney, who stops to consider how the word "better" sounds in this

Read More »from Great White Concert Tragedy, Ten Years Later: Fire Survivors, Responders Remember

In his newly published memoir, the world's most famous music mogul comes out of the closet to acknowledge that he is bisexual. And part of the reason he stayed in the closet, Clive Davis suggests, is the problem that many gay as well as straight people have believing that bisexuality is a real sexual preference—or lack of it, if you will—and not just a hedge against owning one's homosexuality.

Clive Davis' memoirDavis waits till the very end of The Soundtrack of My Life to address his personal life at all... and then, it's only for six pages, out of nearly 600. But, inevitably, that's become a bigger instant focus than anything the longtime label chief might have to say about discovering Whitney Houston or squabbling with Kelly Clarkson.

"For over 50 years I never had sex with a male," the twice-divorced Davis, now 80, said in an interview with Nightline. "It wasn't repressed. I had very good sexual relationships with women.”

But had he ever thought about men "in that way," asked ABC's Cynthia McFadden?

Read More »from Clive Davis: Yep, I’m Bi… No, Not Gay, I Said Bi

Has there ever been a figure more polarizing than Yoko Ono? Who hasn't actually been President of the United States?

As she turns 80 Feb. 18, even most young people don't need to be educated that Ono has long been reviled as the "Dragon Lady" who supposedly broke up the Beatles... and revered as an important avant-garde-ist who also happened to bring domestic tranquility and stability to the life of the most untamable Beatle. Her music, once popularly regarded mostly as caterwauling, has been a constant subject for reappraisal and been cited as a crucial influence by artists ranging from Sonic Youth to Lady Gaga. It wasn't just John Lennon who wrote songs with her name in the title—so have Barenaked Ladies, Ben Lee, and Dar Williams. She is eternally both punchline and beloved icon.

Celebrating her ability to divide the world into pro- and anti-Yoko forces, here are two dozen of the cruelest and kindest things ever said about Ono:

NICE

Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)“Thanks for being so brilliant and such an

Read More »from Yoko Ono Turns 80: The Two Dozen Nicest And Nastiest Things Ever Said About Her

For all the carping some of us have done over the years about the Grammy Awards telecast becoming less distinguishable from the MTV Awards, the 2013 edition of the show turned out to be mostly about Music With A Capital M, after all.

Or maybe that "M" should really stand for Modesty, given the infamous wardrobe memo, which actually seemed to go heeded by most of the stars. Demurity, thy name is Grammy!

A few smile- and eyebrow-rising moments:

HIGH -- Powerhouse Kelly Clarkson got a big renewal on her "America's sweetheart" license. First, she had the most endearing acceptance speech of the night when Stronger picked up Best Pop Vocal Album. After doing an elongated tour of the front row, a clearly flustered and astounded Clarkson finally made her way to the podium and proceeded to tell the world she was delayed by a dress snafu. "So sorry, I got stuck to Miranda Lambert. There's a story and a song, for later ... after alcohol. I'm just kidding, children," she joked. Her flustered

Read More »from Grammy Highs & Lows: Jack White, Black Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and Rihanna Rock It!

In his first hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, Justin Bieber didn't address the Grammy snub that allowed him to be at New York's Rockefeller Center instead of L.A.'s Staples Center this weekend.

But he was plenty willing to make light of two other controversies that have dogged him in the last couple of months: that, post-Selena, he's supposedly turned into a pothead and a womanizer. His attitude, if we can take the evening's comedy sketches as any indication? Guilty as charged on having been ganja-crazy as well as girl-crazy, and sorry about the former, if not the latter.

The pot reference arrived during a "Miley Cyrus Show" sketch in which Bieber played a Miley super-fan guesting with Cyrus (Vanessa Bayer), now showing off her punky blonde mullet, as was dad Billy Ray (Jason Sudeikis). The Bieb got to refer to himself in the third person as a "douche" who "looks like a lesbian." "I heard he still has his baby teeth," said Bieber of Bieber, bewigged and squinting like a younger

Read More »from Justin Bieber Owns Up To Being Girl-Crazy And Ganja-Crazy, Sorta, On ‘SNL’

Pink performs at the 2010 Grammy Awards (WireImage)Attention Grammy performers: The network wants you to cover your behind. Literally.

"Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered," reads a "wardrobe advisory" sent out from CBS' standards and practices department. "Thong type costumes are problematic." Aren't they always?

Don't worry, there are more "problems" to come. "Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack. Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic." In other words, ladies, CBS would really rather not see your side-cleavage or under-cleavage... and that goes for rear-end cleavage, too, guys.

The memo, as leaked by Deadline Hollywood, does go on. "Please avoid sheer see-through clothing that could possibly expose female breast nipples," CBS tells the performers' reps. "Please be sure the genital region is adequately covered so that there is no visible 'puffy' bare skin exposure."

What hath Beyonce wrought? Memos like these have not been a

Read More »from CBS Warns Grammy Performers: Lay Off The Bare Skin, Beyonce Wanna-Bes!