Blog Posts by Chris Willman

Surprise number one at Sony Nashville's annual showboat concert for country radio programmers Thursday night: an appearance by Kelly Clarkson. Surprise number two: Pistol Annies as her backup singers.

Kelly Clarkson, second from left, with Pistol Annies Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley, and Miranda Lambert (Photo by Alan Poizner)Clarkson's affection for the Annies is no surprise, given that she's done a stellar cover of their "Hell on Heels" in concert that you can find on YouTube. But the few hundred radio folks in attendance on the General Jackson boat still got a shock when Clarkson brought out Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley as her version of the Ikettes.

"Unfortunately, you ain't gonna like this!" she announced over the opening power chords. Fortunately, that was the title of the new song she was debuting, and not an actual threat. The tune name-checks at least a good number of her musical heroes, and does brashly declare that if you don't care for them, you'll get on the fightin' side of her. Sample lyrics: "If you don't like Bonnie, if you don't like Prince.../If you don't like B.B.,

Outside of an awards show, it's hard to imagine a more star-studded concert than the one put on by Universal Music Group at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday. Get a gander at this bill: George Strait, Lady Antebellum, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Vince Gill, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, Kacey Musgraves, Billy Currington, David Nail, and six other artists came out to perform one acoustic song each (with the exception of King George, who, being a star among stars, was allowed three for his climactic appearance).

The catch was that you had to be a DJ or programmer to attend this noontime showcase during the annual Country Radio Seminar. Those who did got a pretty good idea of what some of the big hits of the coming year will be, as more than half the artists performed unreleased material, with the remainder playing songs that are still fairly fresh newcomers to the chart.

The annual event is also an opportunity for

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

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:

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

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?

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

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