Blog Posts by Wendy Geller

Rosie Flores (Photo: Valerie Fremin)Forget Taylor, never mind Miranda. Little girls out there who just want to pick up a guitar and rock like the boys need not look any further for a role model than Rosie Flores.

The "Rockabilly Filly," who's been making waves in a variety of underground and roots genres for several decades now, has managed to rave up, get down, shred, and surf on her axe with the best of them--earning respect from top names such as Bonnie Raitt and Jeff Beck.

Flores started out in the mid-'80s as part of an all-female group, and made her solo debut in 1987, which led her to make solid footprints in the Austin, Los Angeles, and Nashville music scenes. Since then, she's gathered accolades ranging from an appearance on Austin City Limits, to the award of "Best Country Artist" by the L.A. Weekly. The city of Austin even declared August 31 "Rosie Flores Day" in 2006.

Darius Rucker performs at USC game (Photo: Collegiate Images)It's a no-brainer that Darius Rucker is a music fan, being a musician himself. However, the Hootie & the Blowfish frontman turned country solo sensation has one other deep love: football! Rucker--a big sports buff in general--is a dedicated alum of the University of South Carolina, and is such a fan of the school's Gamecocks that he was asked "Are you game, Gamecock?" when invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in October.

"There's two times of year for me: Football season, and waiting for football season," smiles Rucker. In this exclusive clip shot for Ram Country, the singer goes back to college and tailgates like it's 1984 with a bevy of Gamecocks young and old--as well as performs several songs for the crowd.

Keith Urban (Photo: Jason Kempin)Need a laugh to get over the Wednesday "hump"? Country sensation and American Idol judge Keith Urban has that for you, along with the welcome announcement of his 2013 North American tour dates. Instead of merely issuing a press release or anything boring like that, Urban and his tourmates--Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch--have a special video serenade for fans that's sure to get a few smiles.

The video starts out with "Holiday Road" playing from the classic comedy National Lampoon's Vacation, and then shows Urban, Lynch, and LBT packing into a car, with the premise they'll be driving to each tour stop. That's when the craziness begins. To amuse themselves during the drive, the musicians burst into renditions of a truly staggering variety of tunes.

Some of the artists covered? Poison, Bon Jovi, Sir-Mix-A-Lot, Culture Club, Snoop and Dr. Dre...oh yeah, and that most famous singalong by Queen (I'm sure you know which one I mean). It must simply be seen--er, heard--to be believed, and if you aren't laughing by the end, you have to be in one foul mood!

PSY's wildly popular viral hit "Gangnam Style" is about Korea's glitziest district, so it only makes sense that the world's most famous "Material Girl" would approve--right?

Right! Madonna proved she is indeed a fan, by bringing the South Korean rapper up on stage with her Tuesday night in New York City.

The pair performed--of course--PSY's smash, with Madonna enthusiastically rocking the "horse dance" and enlisting her entire cast of backup dancers to gallop along in the background. While the crowd of nearly 20,000 screamed in approval, PSY and Madonna took turns aping his famous video by crawling through each other's spread legs.

Susan Boyle (Photo: NBC)It's been three years since unassuming Scottish singer Susan Boyle brought down the house on Britain's Got Talent with her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream." Since then, the 51-year-old has released four studio albums (her latest, Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage, is in stores Tuesday), performed at venues as varied as Windsor Castle to Dancing With The Stars, and become a multi-millionaire. She has even had a stage musical written about her life.

However, despite all these accolades--one thing consistently intrigues her audience. Does the famously plain-looking star, who made waves on Talent with the confession that she'd never been on a date in her life, now finally have a love life in addition to fame?

Boyle's initial onslaught of attention following her appearance on the talent show resulted in an expected response from men eager to ease her loneliness. The singer laughed self-consciously in 2009, when asked by Today's Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer if she had landed a boyfriend. "No comment, no comment," she demurred.

Pitt and Cornell at "Moneyball" premiere. (Photo: Eric Charbonneau)

Anyone remember that classic moment in the 1993 movie True Romance, where Brad Pitt uses a honey bear for a smoking utensil while Soundgarden's now-vintage grunge standard "Outshined" blares in the background?

While that famous film scene may be eternally good for a laugh, what fans may not know is that actor Pitt and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell actually are buddies in real life. Given pop culture's current adoration of "bromances," the Pitt-Cornell alliance is a friendship that's managed to float relatively under the wire, and has apparently held solid up to Soundgarden's 2010 reunion and subsequent first album release in 16 years.

Faith Hill/FacebookIn the wake of the 2012 Presidential election--and while celebrating Veterans' Day shortly after--it's hard to find a more appropriate video to commemorate patriotism than Faith Hill's brand-new clip for the single "American Heart."

The video, which is Hill's first in nearly 5 years, goes for a straight-up positive message right from the get-go. The introduction features children of all different ethnic backgrounds, discussing what they love about our great country. "We're different on the outside," notes one little boy, only to be answered "But the same on the inside" from a little girl. Amen to that.

Hill herself puts on a star-spangled display in a tux and top hat, dancing with the adorable 10-year-old T.J. Jones--keep an eye out for this kid; he seems destined for sure stardom himself. The message of American strength and unity is anchored by a dazzling heart backdrop created from red, white, and blue lights.

It's a safe bet to say that the members of One Direction have had more than their share of attention from adorable teenage fans. However, at least one member of the pop band says his heart was set a-flutter by an older woman. The group's Niall Horan, who kissed Katy Perry back at September's 2012 MTV Awards, is still talking about that sexy smooch two months later!

In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, the 19-year-old claims Perry, 28, is "the sexiest woman I've ever kissed." The pair shared an impromptu embrace at the awards show, when Perry impulsively smacked Horan right on the lips as he took the stage with his bandmates to accept the award for Best Pop Video.

Horan and Perry (Photo: Lester Cohen)

A dazzled Horan tweeted afterwards, "@katyperry looks like its official ... me and you," to which Perry joked back, "I'll be your Mrs. Robinson"--referring, of course, to the classic '60s flick The Graduate, in which a young man is seduced by a beautiful older woman.