Blog Posts by Daniel Kreps

It was 10 years ago today, November 29, 2001, that George Harrison, the legendary Beatles guitarist, passed away after a battle with lung cancer. Harrison's impact on the music world is immeasurable, though Martin Scorsese's documentary 'Living in the Material World' did a great job of scratching the surface of George's legacy, both as a member of the Fab Four and as a solo artist. Tonight in Liverpool, Harrison's home town, a pair of concerts will honor the late guitarists, featuring two bands -- Brute Force and the Radha Krishna Temple -- that Harrison himself signed to the Beatles' Apple label. It was also revealed today that Harrison's 'Sgt. Pepper's' amp will hit the auction block on December 15th.

The overflow of cameo appearances from the new 'Muppets' movie has spilled over to its sister program 'Sesame Street', as daytime's most famous neighborhood invited crooner Bruno Mars to share a new song called "Don't Give Up." Mars, who co-wrote Cee Lo's "F--- You," leaves the f-bombs and grenades at home, opting instead to sing a bouncy tune about learning how to catch and keeping balance on roller skates (via Pop Dust). And unlike Katy Perry's controversial duet with Elmo, parents probably won't be e-mailing PBS to complain about Bruno's appearance.

Mars' inspirational "Don't Give Up" is so catchy and uplifting, it's easy to forget that the singer probably shouldn't be on a television show geared toward children in the first place. After all, it was just nine months ago that Mars pleaded guilty to cocaine possession after he was busted with the drug in the bathroom of Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel. Or maybe helping out on Sesame Street is just part of the 200 hours of community

Compton and Long Beach together… in Singapore? Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, the West Coast duo that shared the mic on some of hip-hop's greatest singles, reunited last night to perform "The Next Episode" together at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in Singapore. 'The Chronic' rapper might be too tired to finish working on his long-delayed album 'Detox', but that didn't prevent him from traveling halfway around the world to join the Doggfather on a dozen-year-old song (via Nah Right).

Alright, so the performance is just one long commercial for Beats By Dre headphones, with both Snoop and the drummer wearing the white noise-canceling models as they perform. Still, it's great to see these G-Funk icons still performing together almost two decades after Snoop first rapped, "Bow wow wow, yippee yo, yippee yay, Doggy Dogg in the m----- f------ house." However, this joyous occasion takes a somber turn at the end when we're reminded that Nate Dogg, who sang the closing portion of "Next Episode," is no

Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, was sentenced to four years imprisonment, the maximum punishment the judge could deliver. The sentencing came nearly three weeks after a jury found Murray guilty of administering Jackson with a fatal dose of the powerful sedative Propofol on June 25, 2009. "Some may feel that this was a medical malpractice case. It wasn't. And this jury found that Conrad Murray, with criminal negligence, caused the death of Michael Jackson," Judge Michael Pastor said before revealing the sentence. "The fact is, Michael Jackson died because of the actions of, and the failures to perform legal duties on the part of, Conrad Murray."

The judge also admonished Murray for his "horrific violation of trust" in treating Jackson. The defense was seeking a sentence that included probation but no jail time, but given the severity of the crime and the world-famous victim, the judge sided with the prosecution in delivering Murray his punishment. In addition to the sentence, Murray was also ordered to pay Jackson's children a restitution estimated to be in the amount of $100 million, a sum that combines the cost of Michael's funeral arrangements, plus the lost wages and earnings the singer didn't collect because he died before his This Is It concerts began. The exact restitution, however, will be decided on a later court date.

Gottahaverockandroll.comBeatles, they're just like us! They watch HBO, and worry about how much is left in the gas tank. To complete the trifecta of ridiculous John Lennon items up for auction -- following his toilet and his tooth — comes this handwritten to-do list that gives an insightful look at the day-to-day life of the "Imagine" singer. And who knew being John Lennon could be so mundane? Picking up marmalade, putting Sean Lennon's mattress back in its room (what was it doing out of Sean's room?), and arranging the photo book are among the activities John planned for himself on May 22nd (year unknown).

There is probably a small contingent of music fans out there who felt that Bon Iver's 'Bon Iver' would be the best album of the year if only it came with short films about snowy, desolate highways and time-lapse plant life footage. Luckily, the deluxe version of the Wisconsin group's arrives on iTunes today, and it brings ten atmospheric music videos to accompany each of the 'Bon Iver' tracks. There's nothing as epic as the "November Rain" video here; it's just simple, soothing images by directors Isaac Gale and David Jensen, like an awesome iTunes Visualizer made expressly for the album.

James Devaney/WireImage.comWyclef Jean has already defended himself against accusations that his Yele Haiti charity was mismanaged, but a new report suggests that the foundation may have grossly misused the millions of dollars it raised following the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The New York Post reports that of the $16 million Yele Haiti raised in the weeks following the island nation's devastating earthquake, only a third of that went toward relief efforts.

James Devaney/WireImage.comConsidering that Lady Gaga is probably the biggest artist on the planet, you'd think that her 'Very Gaga Thanksgiving' special would be the must-see television event this past Turkey Day. (Well, that and watching Nickelback get booed in Detroit.) Instead, the Fame Monster was beat by a round-headed buffoon and his black-and-white dog. According to MTV, holiday stalwart 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' edged 'A Very Gaga Thanksgiving' by a few hundred thousand viewers. The Peanuts gang drew 5.8 million TV sets, while only 5.4 million people tuned in to watch Gaga cook Thanksgiving dinner and perform Christmas songs.

Both shows aired on ABC, so execs there probably aren't too down about Gaga's defeat. Yet somehow, programs on the other major networks bested both ABC specials: