Stop The Presses!
  • Two decades ago Jon Bon Jovi sat with the members of his eponymous band in a basement in New Jersey. Hoping to rekindle the group's desire to make music after two grueling years on the road, he'd hung vintage posters on the wall, illuminated only by candles and blacklights. But instead of feeling inspired, Bon Jovi found himself becoming cranky and short of breath.

    "I'm thinking maybe this is an issue, maybe I just don't like them," Bon Jovi said in a recent interview for the FORBES Celeb 100 issue. "Until I realized that all the oxygen was sucked out of the room by the candles ... So I blew out the candles, cranked up the amplifiers, and said, 'We're going to be a rock band. If you believe in what I'm telling you, we can be the Rolling Stones.'"

    Sure enough, Bon Jovi is still rocking. The group earned $125 million over the past 12 months, enough to claim the No. 2 spot on FORBES' annual list of the world's highest-paid musicians. U2 (pictured above) took home $195 million-and music's

    Read More »from The World’s Highest-Paid Musicians
  • After 28 years of living with KISS singer Gene Simmons, it seems like Shannon Tweed -- former model and mother of his two children -- might have finally had enough. During the couple's appearance on The Joy Behar Show, the rocker made a comment that seemed to seriously irk his lady. At that point, it appears Tweed decided she couldn't stand her longtime partner another moment, so she got up and left the studio.

    [Video courtesy "The Joy Behar Show"]

    And while speaking to Kathie Lee and Hoda on "Today," Tweed mercilessly skewered the Kiss bassist every chance she had. And when asked specifically about their future, Tweed said, "It's not looking great."

     

    Their palpable tension seemingly stems from an incident depicted on the last episode of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" where Tweed confronts her longtime lover with a photo of two ladies hanging on his arms that was posted on TMZ. Of course, it's wasn't just the one photo that did it: Simmons has claimed to have slept with literally

    Read More »from Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed’s TV Drama Goes Beyond “Family Jewels”
  • SAN FRANCISCO - Much like the caller in the Lady Gaga hit song "Telephone," some visitors to Amazon's site received a busy signal Monday when they tried to download the digital version of the artist's latest album, "Born This Way," which the online retailer was selling for 99 cents on its release date.

    Spokeswoman Sally Fouts said Amazon experienced a high volume of traffic that caused delays for those downloading the album - echoing a posting on the album's product page on Amazon.com. Customers who ordered the MP3 version of "Born This Way" on Monday will get it for 99 cents, she said.

    An early evening attempt to buy the album on Amazon and use its new server-based storage system went seamlessly. The album appeared instantly on Amazon Cloud Drive and could be streamed online right away. The album downloaded in a few minutes to a computer. The user's storage space also registered the promotional 20 gigabytes of cloud storage that came with the album.

    Lady Gaga, whose real name is

    Read More »from Lady Gaga Album Demand Overwhelms Amazon Servers
  • Lady Gaga loves the '80s. And music critics mostly like her loving the decade, although a few are in hate with the new record's retro tendencies.

    "Born This Way is her Eighties arena-rock move," writes Rolling Stone in a four- (out of five) star rave, noting that the new album "has all the electro-sleaze beats and Eurodisco chorus chants that made her the Fame Monster. But the big surprise is the way Gaga pillages the Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and Eddie Money records of her childhood... The whole album thumps like the soundtrack to a lost Eddie and the Cruisers sequel, one where Eddie gets crucified by Roman soldiers, while Gaga stands under the cross weeping and sending dirty texts to the DJ."

    The Washington Post also was reminded of '80s movies, but did not enjoy the flashback. "At its worst, it sounds like reheated leftovers from some '80s movie soundtrack," the paper grouses. "For an information-age superstar who's managed to squeeze us all into a global group-hug, shouldn't Gaga be

    Read More »from Critics Mostly Like Lady Gaga Loving the ’80s
  • The next time you play Rock Band don't invite Jon Bon Jovi. The 49- year-old singer's wife and kids recently convinced him to give the popular videogame a try. So he picked up the microphone and launched into a rendition of his classic "Wanted Dead or Alive," backed by family on virtual guitars and drums. He never made it through the song.

    "I failed--it buzzed me down," Bon Jovi admits over lunch in Manhattan.

    Fortunately for Bon Jovi, audiences in real arenas around the world are kinder. His eponymous band took home $125 million over the past 12 months by FORBES' estimates, more than any other music act besides U2--and more than relative whippersnappers Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Kanye West combined. In the past year the band has played 74 gigs in 15 nations, grossing $203 million in ticket sales and $20 million in merchandise; Bon Jovi ranks No. 8 on this year's Celebrity 100.

    Gallery: The Celebrity 100

    The 10 Most Powerful Musicians

    Surprised? Bon Jovi out-earns younger,

    Read More »from Jon Bon Jovi: Still Rockin, And Making A Killing
  • Folk singer-songwriter Ruth Gerson isn't afraid to "go there." Her angst-ridden latest release, Deceived, takes on her own dark past of abuse to bring awareness to domestic violence, giving voice to the victims who don't always speak up. In fact, the entire proceeds from her album and concert ticket sales are going to national and local charities, including Sanctuary For Families, Shalom Bayit, the Elizabeth House, the AVON Foundation, and the Family Violence Prevention Fund,

    Judging from her credentials as a singing teacher--she has taught singing and songwriting as a Forbes College Fellow at Princeton University, and at he Blue Bear School of Music--Ruth undoubtedly has the ability to record hit songs with broad appeal. But instead she focuses on more somber folk style--"murder ballads" is how she describes her compositions--that suits the seriousness of her subject matter. Her new album also includes songs written by country crooners Bobbie Gentry and Dolly Parton.

    HEAR RUTH'S COVER

    Read More »from Ruth Gerson Tackles Domestic Violence In Folksy, Frank Charity Album

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