Blog Posts by Daniel Kreps

Thanks to critically maligned movies like "Country Strong" and "Burlesque," the past few months haven't exactly been the golden age of music films, but help is on the way: Beyoncé has been cast in the lead role in the remake of "A Star Is Born," the musical love story about an up-and-coming female singer who falls in love with an established but troubled male star on the decline. This marks the fourth time "A Star Is Born" has been made -- Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson last starred in the not-so-good 1976 version -- but to ensure things are done right this time, producers have hired a bulletproof director, Clint Eastwood, Deadline reports.

Eastwood has some musical cred thanks to directing films like "Play Misty for Me" and "Bird," plus of late he's been scoring his own films. No one questions his abilities -- even at age 80, the former spaghetti western gunslinger has established himself as one of Hollywood's most consistent and prolific directors -- so the question is

As you may have heard, Pearl Jam are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year ("Ten" came out in 1991!) with a whole bunch of goodies for fans: reissues for "Vs." and "Vitalogy" featuring unreleased songs, a Cameron Crowe-directed documentary, and the crown jewel of the birthday celebration, a summer music festival curated by Pearl Jam themselves. "We've played enough festivals that we know what makes them exciting," bassist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone. Just when we were beginning to fear that all music festivals were mirror images of one another, Pearl Jam comes to the rescue. The band will likely headline both nights of the fest, but a couple questions remain. Namely, where will it be, and who's going to be there?

First thing to do is figure out the location of this mysterious festival. Seattle would seem like the logical pick, but Pearl Jam have already indicated that it will take place somewhere in the middle of the country, so that rules out their hometown. In the past,

Katy Perry and Bruno Mars will both perform at this year's Grammy Awards, and since a portion of Mars' fame comes from writing "Billionaire" for Perry's ex-boyfriend Travie McCoy, Mars has attempted to ease any potential backstage awkwardness by covering "California Gurls" for BBC Radio. (That's our theory behind the cover, at least. Maybe Mars just really likes the song.) So, does "California Gurls" sound hot enough to melt your popsicle from a male perspective?

Yes!
• In addition to his own hits and B.o.B's "Nothin' On You," Mars is also the man behind Cee Lo Green's Grammy-nominated, Pazz & Jop-topping "F--- You," an homage to the Motown glory days, so Mars has proven he has an ear for multiple genres. On "California Gurls," Mars converts Perry's candy pop classic almost into a smoky jazz ballet. We almost want to call this rendition "Walking in Memphis With California Gurls."

[Rewind: Katy Perry weds Russell Brand at Indian tiger reserve]

• We personally weren't huge fans of

Remember back in early November when one of Guns N' Roses' revolving-door guitarists revealed that Axl Rose and Co. would finally tour the U.S. in February? Well, we're 11 days shy of February, and we haven't even caught a whiff of a single U.S. tour date yet. If you think it's frustrating to GN'R fans, just imagine how frustrating it is to actually be a member of GN'R. Guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has been in Axl's backing band since 2006, and has no idea what's going on.

"Suddenly there's silence. I don't think it's gonna happen. Figuring February is weeks away and I've yet to see a single confirmed date," Bumblefoot said of the GN'R tour he's awaiting "impatiently" in a new interview with Guitar International. But no announced dates don't mean there won't be a tour. "That's always the dilemma. Things come together so quickly with Guns N' Roses, I just get a week's notice," Bumblefoot said (to which Guitar International responded, "Jeez"). Because Bumblefoot is "on call" as a

We're still a couple months away from Summer Music Festival season, but Summer Music Festival Announcement season is already in full swing: Yesterday, we got the Coachella lineup and today we learned who will perform at this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in the Big Easy on the weekends of April 29th and May 5th. Wilco, Bon Jovi, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, John Mellencamp, and Kid Rock are among the dozens that will play Jazz Fest, but there is some overlap between the New Orleans fest and Coachella out west: The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Ms. Lauryn Hill will play both fests, and likely many more festivals as more lineups are revealed.

Including the Benicassim Festival in Spain, that brings the total to three festivals that will feature both the Strokes and Arcade Fire, and with plenty more big shows on the horizon -- Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, Outside Lands, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, etc. (the latter three fests featured Strokes performances in

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards have added a few more performers to their February 13th ceremony, and still none of them are Britney Spears. However, viewers will get to see a couple of Grammy-nominated up-and-comers (Janelle Monae, B.o.B. and Bruno Mars), a chart-topping country band (Lady Antebellum), something for the ladies (Justin Bieber, Usher, and Jaden Smith performing together), and even a rock act! (Muse, the lone U.K. reps thus far).

Again, no surprises here, though the Grammys have the audacity to call the Usher/Bieber/Smith collaboration a "Grammy Moment," or "a special performance exclusive to the Grammy telecast with one-time-only groupings of artists," which is pretty hyperbolic. Radiohead and the USC Marching Band, that's a Grammy Moment. Ditto for Prince and Beyoncé, or a very pregnant M.I.A. performing "Swagga Like Us" with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I., and Kanye West. Usher, Bieber and Jaden Smith doesn't resonate like those aforementioned Grammy Moments.

The new recruits

Foo Fighters are continuing to tease their upcoming album with preview clips on the web. Since they've already dropped a video showcasing a cross-dressing Dave Grohl, now they're ready to preview some music from their new LP. When the Foo Fighters' seventh album arrives this spring, the above will be the first thing fans hear: a Them Crooked Vultures-like cacophony of loud guitars and drums with Grohl screaming the ironic opening lyrics, "These are my famous last words."

According to the Foos' reps, nearly as many people checked out the taste of "Bridge Burning" (300,000 views in two days) as purchased Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" (411,000 singles sold after a week), so apparently fans are still interested in Grohl's little post-Nirvana band, which is surprising considering rock is essentially dead from a sales standpoint.

But then again, why wouldn't there be some anticipation surrounding this LP? Especially since it's been confirmed that Krist Novoselic, Grohl's Nirvana

Turns out we're not the only ones excited by the promise of more volumes of Bob Dylan's "Chronicles": In the new issue of Rolling Stone, Lil Wayne reveals that he became a voracious reader of music biographies while serving time at Rikers Island. From Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix to Marvin Gaye and Joan Jett (!!), Weezy could not get his fill of music books.

"[Anthony Kiedis'] 'Scar Tissue' was really good," Wayne said. "I also read the Bible for the first time. It was deep! I liked the parts where some character was once this, but he ended up being that. Like he'd be dissing Jesus, and then he ends up being a saint. That was cool." Like Bob Dylan 30 years ago -- likely to be covered in "Chronicles, Volume Three: The Christian Years" -- perhaps Weezy is entering his "born again" phase.

Other revelations from Weezy's RS interview: Wayne used his super skills at the card game Uno to win phone time and soup from fellow inmates. Also, the avid sports fan has some harsh, harsh words that