Watch a new version of Madonna’s “Celebration” featuring real fans!

The video was shot on location in Barcelona and Milan during the Sticky and Sweet Tour 2009, and also features Madonna’s teen daughter Lourdes giving homage to her mother’s classic “Like A Virgin” video.

‘Celebration’ is the title track from the Queen of Pop’s forthcoming greatest hits compilation due out on September 29, 2009.

Want to become a part of Madonna history?

Dress up in your favorite Madonna looks, film your own version of the video, and enter the “Celebration” video contest. Simply upload the video to Myspace and email the entry to madonnnacontest@warnerreprise.com by Sunday, September 27, 2009. The best ones will be featured on Madonna.com and Myspace.com.

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna – Celebration (Fan Version) video:

Madonna Official Website

‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour becomes most successful tour by a solo artist in history

Madonna’s ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour made history as it wrapped up last night with two final shows in Tel Aviv, Israel at Yehoshua Gardens (HaYarkon Park, September 1st and 2nd).

The Material Girl more than lives up to her name, as her tour becomes the most successful tour ever by a solo artist.

After playing 85 shows since its launch in August 2008, Madonna’s ‘Sticky & Sweet’ has drawn more than 3.5 million fans in 32 countries and has grossed 408 million dollars, it was announced today by Live Nation, the tour’s global producer. ‘Sticky & Sweet’ is also the second highest grossing tour of all time.

Madonna set an attendance record for the biggest crowds in history in Zurich, Switzerland, where she drew the largest audience ever assembled for a show in that country (72,000). Her Gothenburg, Sweden show, seen by 119,000 fans, broke the record for highest grossing multiple shows in the country’s history. In Helsinki, Finland, ‘Sticky & Sweet’ sold more than 85,000 tickets, making it the biggest single show by an artist in history for all of Scandinavia. Other highlights on the tour included stops in Buenos Aires, Argentina (256,000), Santiago, Chile (146,000), Sao Paulo, Brazil (203,000), Tallinn, Estonia (72,000), Warsaw, Poland (79,000), Bucharest, Romania (69,000), and Sofia, Bulgaria (54,000).

“With ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Madonna has proven yet again that there is virtually no limit to what she can accomplish both creatively and commercially,” said Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s Chairman of Global Music and CEO of Global Touring.

‘Sticky & Sweet’ broke Madonna’s previous record of most successful tour by a solo artist with her 2006 Confessions Tour, which grossed 194 million dollars.

Madonna’s upcoming CD, ‘Celebration’ – the definitive Madonna collection – is scheduled to be released, September 21, 2009, with ‘Celebration’ – the video collection DVD to be released September 28th. Madonna’s new single also titled “Celebration” comes out September 14th.

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna Official Website

The track is taken from William’s new album ‘My Oracle Lives Uptown’, which met with considerable acclaim earlier in 2009.

Biog: short version

William Orbit has been in high demand as a producer and remixer for well over a decade, most famously working with Madonna on her 1998 album ‘Ray Of Light’, as well as Blur, Britney Spears, Sugababes, Pink and scores of other artists.

Although ‘My Oracle Lives Uptown’ is probably William Orbit’s most immediate album, it’s so subtly layered that it only reveals itself fully after a number of plays. And like his other solo albums, it will surely be resistant to the ageing process. His vision is idiosyncratic and original enough to not to have to try to play catch-up with anyone else, which gives his music a curiously timeless feel.

Remix Notes

Chicane – a legend of dance music, whose most recent foray into the charts was with ‘Poppiholla’, a reworking of the Sigur Ros hit.

Greenmoney – the self-styled ‘pair of jokers from west London’ have recently got their grubby mitts on Kanye, Kid Cudi and Amp Fiddler.

Henner & Green – described as ‘psychedelic progressive’, these guys have also notably remixed ‘Home and Dry’ by the Pet Shop Boys.

Billy Buttons – Craspedia is a genus of daisies commonly known as billy buttons or woollyheads. They are native to Australia and New Zealand where they grow in a variety of habitats from sea level to the alps.

Watch Optical Illusions video from ‘My Oracle Lives Uptown’ album:

William Orbit – Purdy EP
- Released Sept 21, 2009 on Just Music

Buy Music:

William Orbit on amazon.co.uk

William Orbit Official Website
William Orbit on Twitter

Madonna’s highly anticipated video for “Celebration” has finally arrived!

Head over to iTunes to download the Jonas Akerlund directed video for free which features the Queen of Pop’s daughter Lourdes and Brazilian model Jesus Luz.

“Celebration” is the title track from Madonna’s forthcoming greatest hits album due out on September 29, 2009.

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna Celebration CD Track Listing:

CD 1:
01) Hung Up
02) Music
03) Vogue
04) 4 Minutes
05) Holiday
06) Everybody
07) Like A Virgin
08) Into The Groove
09) Like A Prayer
10) Ray Of Light
11) Sorry
12) Express Yourself
13) Open Your Heart
14) Borderline
15) Secret
16) Erotica
17) Justify My Love
18) Revolver

CD 2:
01) Dress You Up
02) Material Girl
03) La Isla Bonita
04) Papa Don’t Preach
05) Lucky Star
06) Burning Up
07) Crazy For You
08) Who’s That Girl
09) Frozen
10) Miles Away
11) Take A Bow
12) Live To Tell
13) Beautiful Stranger
14) Hollywood
15) Die Another Day
16) Don’t Tell Me
17) Cherish
18) Celebration

Madonna Celebration DVD Track Listing:

1) Burning Up
2) Lucky Star
3) Borderline
4) Like A Virgin
5) Material Girl
6) Crazy For You
7) Into The Groove
8 Live To Tell
9) Paper Don’t Preach
10) True Blue
11) Open Your Heart
12) La Isla Bonita
13) Who’s That Girl
14) Like A Prayer
15) Express Yourself
16) Cherish
17) Vogue
18) Justify My Love
19) Erotica
20) Deeper and Deeper
21) Rain
22) I’ll Remember
23) Secret
24) Take A Bow
25) Bedtime Story
26) Human Nature
27) I Want You
28) You’ll See
29) Frozen
30) Ray Of Light
31) The Power Of Good-Bye
32) Beautiful Stranger
33) American Pie
34) Music
35) Don’t Tell Me
36) What It Feels Like For A Girl
37) Die Another Day
38) Hollywood
39) Love Profusion
40) Hung Up
41) Sorry
42) Get Together
43) Jump
44) 4 Minutes
45) Give It 2 Me
46) Miles Away
47) Celebration

Celebration on iTunes

Madonna Official Website

2 Disc ‘Celebrate’ CD out September 21st on Warner Brothers

‘Celebration: The Video Collection DVD’ out September 28th

Warner Bros. Records has confirmed the final track listing for Madonna’s upcoming ‘Celebration’ CD – The “Ultimate” Compilation – and ‘Celebration: The Video Collection’ DVD.

The songs which were selected by Madonna and her fans have all been exquisitely remastered.

‘Celebration’ will be available as a two-CD set as well as a single CD.

‘Celebration: The Video Collection’ DVD will include unedited and never before seen footage of “Justify My Love” along with 27 Madonna videos to be released on a 2 disc DVD compilation for “the very first time” including “Into The Groove” and “Give It To Me” as well as the just completed video of Madonna’s new single “Celebration.”

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna clearly continues to rule the dance floor with her latest single. In the US her “Celebration” Remix EP is number 1 on iTunes Dance Album chart and number 5 on Billboard’s Club Singles Chart.

On the international front so far, the “Celebration” single is already #1 in Italy, Denmark and Holland, #2 in Japan, top 10 airplay in UK and Top 5 airplay in every other major market.

Another newly recorded song, “Revolver” featuring Lil Wayne is also included on the ‘Celebration’ CD.

Artwork for the packaging of the CD and DVD was designed by renowned street pop artist Mr. Brainwash.

Currently on tour in Europe with her sold out “Sticky & Sweet” Tour, the multi-Grammy winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with the highest grossing tour in history for a Female Artist, is scheduled to end her tour with her final show in Israel on September 2nd.

Watch “Holiday” video from the Virgin Tour:

Madonna Celebration CD Track Listing:

CD 1:
01) Hung Up
02) Music
03) Vogue
04) 4 Minutes
05) Holiday
06) Everybody
07) Like A Virgin
08) Into The Groove
09) Like A Prayer
10) Ray Of Light
11) Sorry
12) Express Yourself
13) Open Your Heart
14) Borderline
15) Secret
16) Erotica
17) Justify My Love
18) Revolver

CD 2:
01) Dress You Up
02) Material Girl
03) La Isla Bonita
04) Papa Don’t Preach
05) Lucky Star
06) Burning Up
07) Crazy For You
08) Who’s That Girl
09) Frozen
10) Miles Away
11) Take A Bow
12) Live To Tell
13) Beautiful Stranger
14) Hollywood
15) Die Another Day
16) Don’t Tell Me
17) Cherish
18) Celebration

Madonna Celebration DVD Track Listing:

01) Burning Up
02) Lucky Star
03) Borderline
04) Like A Virgin
05) Material Girl
06) Crazy For You
07) Into The Groove
08) Live To Tell
09) Paper Don’t Preach
10) True Blue
11) Open Your Heart
12) La Isla Bonita
13) Who’s That Girl
14) Like A Prayer
15) Express Yourself
16) Cherish
17) Vogue
18) Justify My Love
19) Erotica
20) Deeper and Deeper
21) Rain
22) I’ll Remember
23) Secret
24) Take A Bow
25) Bedtime Story
26) Human Nature
27) I Want You
28) You’ll See
29) Frozen
30) Ray Of Light
31) The Power Of Good-Bye
32) Beautiful Stranger
33) American Pie
34) Music
35) Don’t Tell Me
36) What It Feels Like For A Girl
37) Die Another Day
38) Hollywood
39) Love Profusion
40) Hung Up
41) Sorry
42) Get Together
43) Jump
44) 4 Minutes
45) Give It 2 Me
46) Miles Away
47) Celebration

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna Official Website

Warner Bros. Records officially confirmed the September 28, 2009 release in the UK of ‘Celebration’ – the ultimate compilation of Madonna songs.

The songs on ‘Celebration’ have all been remastered and selected by Madonna and her fans.

They cover the expanse of the Material Girl’s extraordinary career of hits including “Everybody”, “Express Yourself”, “Vogue” and “4 Minutes”.

‘Celebration’ will be available in a two-CD set as well as a single CD. There will also be a ‘Celebration’ DVD released simultaneously which includes the video visionary’s best videos including several that have never before been available on DVD.

‘Celebration’, the CD will also include two new songs that were recently recorded in New York City. The first single, also titled, “Celebration”, co-produced by Madonna and Paul Oakenfold, will be released August 3rd.

A video for the single, which will be included on the ‘Celebration’ DVD was just filmed in Milan, Italy and was directed by long time Madonna collaborator Jonas (‘Ray of Light’) Akerlund. Several dance club remixes of “Celebration” are already headed to the clubs. The song will also be available on CD and vinyl maxi.

The airplay date for the new single “Celebration” is August 3rd.

The cover for ‘Celebration’ was created by street pop artist ‘Mr. Brainwash’ who is best known for “throwing modern cultural icons into a blender and turning it up to eleven.”

Madonna, a multi Grammy award winning singer, writer and producer has had more UK number 1’s than any other female artist and is the most successful female solo artist ever.

Buy Music:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Madonna Official Website

Photo: Paolo Nutini

Kasabian played the first of three massive sold out shows at Wembley Stadium last night, with the other two performances taking place over the weekend. They’re billed as the gigs of the decade and Serge Pizzorno pinpoints the trio of dates as the focal point of the summer.

Their epic new single ‘Where Did All The Love Go?’ comes out August 17, 2009. Wait until you see the video!

—
Rufus Wainwright’s eagerly anticipated debut opera ‘Prima Donna’ premieres at the Palace Theatre for Manchester’s International Festival, which runs from July 10th – July 19th, a total of five performances.

He releases his live CD/DVD ‘Milwaukee At Last!!!’, September 7th, taken from his acclaimed and celebrated 2007 ‘Release The Stars’ tour.

Check out Rufus on the Jonathan Ross show tonight, 10.30pm, BBC1. His interview on Jonathan Ross’ Radio 2 show last week was hugely entertaining and very funny – expect more of the same tonight.

—
Paolo Nutini provides the music for the Jonathan Ross show tonight. He performs his infectious new single ‘Coming Up Easy’ out August 10th from his No.1 album ‘Sunny Side Up’.

Paolo plays the iTunes festival tonight at the Roundhouse – 20,000 fans applied for tickets to this gig, it’s set to be a cracker, after which he travels up to Scotland to play T in the Park and then Oxegen in Ireland. What a weekend!

There is an excellent piece on Paolo Nutini in this month’s issue of Word magazine. Check it out!

—
The Duckworth Lewis Method strolled out to their Times sponsored showcase at The Oval on Tuesday, fully adorned in cricket regalia and Merv Hughes-esque facial hair. They opened up with their first single ‘Age Of Revolution’, which was suitably pitch perfect.

The duo, who were fully complemented by the Divine Comedy backing band were in great form throughout – they had the packed out England Suite bowled over with songs from their eponymous maiden album (out this week) and creasing up at their pre-song wibblings. It was a joy to watch!

—
Madonna left the UK for Europe this week following her triumphant shows at London’s O2 last weekend and Manchester’s MEN on Tuesday. The reviews were stunning including a 5* review in the Evening Standard.

—
Just Jack plays Somerset House tomorrow with Lily Allen. He will be performing tracks from his impressive new album ‘All Night Cinema’ August 24th.

Look out for his stunning new single ‘The Day I Died’, (August 17th) already an album highlight it has now been completely transformed with multi-layered sounds, strings and a choir. It sounded great when Jo Whiley played it on her show this week.

—
Jersey Budd also plays Somerset House, he’s special guests to The Enemy tonight. His new single, ‘She Came Back’, which features backing vocals from Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan is released through iTunes on Monday.

—
The Pretenders embark on five UK dates in six days starting at Cornbury Festival on Sunday, after which they play two special performances at Glasgow’s ABC (Tuesday) and the Shepherd’s Bush Empire (Wednesday). They round up their assault on the UK with a show with Squeeze in Liverpool (Thursday) and a performance at Latitude Festival (Friday).

—
Lightning Seeds have a busy weekend on the festival circuit. They play Guilfest tomorrow and Cornbury Festival plus Liverpool Pops Festival on Sunday. Their new single ‘Don’t Walk On By’ (August 3rd) is featured on the Radio 2 playlist.

—
Tom Hickox’s infectious new single ‘The Pretty Pride Of Russia’ had its first play on BBC6 Music on Wednesday. Chris Hawkins played the track standing in for Steve Lamacq.

Photo Credit: Kevin Westenberg

The Queen Of Pop is back!!!

Madonna returns to the road with her incredibly successful ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour tomorrow (July 4th) and Sunday with two sold-out shows at London’s O2.

This is followed by a sell out date at Manchester’s MEN and a 26-date trek throughout Europe, culminating with two consecutive performances in Israel.

It’s going to be one of the highlights of the summer and in this oppressive heat it will be both ‘sticky’ and ‘sweet’.

Last year Madonna’s ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour played to 2,350,282 fans and sold over $280 million in tickets.

—
Rufus Wainwright’s debut opera Prima Donna premieres at the Manchester International Festival next Friday (July 10th).

The five performances take place at the Palace Theatre, running from July 10th – July 19, 2009. Catch him on the Jonathan Ross show on the same night, July 10th, BBC1.

Rufus took a break from ‘Prima Donna’ rehearsals last week. His hilarious chat with Jonathan Ross on his Saturday morning radio 2 show was one of the highlights of the weekend. We don’t know who is funnier but they both made us laugh.

Rufus was also spotted at The Killers last Friday before watching his sister Lucy Wainwright Roche play a lovely set at the Borderline. Her sweet voice and touching songs had the audience entranced and her very funny sense of humour (must be a family trait) had the crowd in stitches.
Ade Edmondson was also in attendance and I’m sure he was more than impressed with Lucy’s comic timing.

Lucy also opened up the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury on Sunday and has 6 more dates left to play on her UK tour. Catch her if you can.

—
You can almost smell The Ashes now with the first test spinning into action next week. Preceding The Ashes is the release of The Duckworth Lewis Method’s self-titled maiden album out Monday. The stunning album is full of highlights including the lead single “Age Of Revolution”, “Meeting Mr Miandad” and the fantastically relevant and comedic “Jiggery Pokery”, which details Shane Warne’s ‘ball of the century’ from Mike Gatting’s eye-view, magically. There was a very entertaining interview with The Duckworth Lewis Method aka Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh in Saturday’s Times and an equally amusing chat with the pair in last Friday’s Evening Standard.

—
Tickets for Kasabian’s 10-date November arena tour go on-sale today at 9am. All tickets are priced at £25. Incredible value!

Their Pyramid Stage performance on Saturday before Bruce Springsteen is one of those moments that will be etched into the fabric of Glastonbury history. As a result their album sales are up 20,000!

Kasabian – BBC – Glastonbury

Their epic new single “Where Did All The Love Go?” is out August 17th.

—
Jason Mraz certainly got use out of his wellies at Glastonbury. Jason played a hatrick of shows, which included two sets on Friday at the Acoustic Stage and a headline Q show at the Queens Head, he completed his hatrick with a performance at the Other Stage on Saturday.

Jason’s Q show at the Queens Head was one of the highlights on Friday with the Q tent near bursting point. The crowd enjoyed a mass sing-along to his addictive smash-hit single “I’m Yours”.

—
Jersey Budd releases his new single “She Came Back” on Monday which features backing vocals from Kasabian’s Tom Meighan and has been receiving airplay on Radio 2 and Absolute Radio. Jersey also scored a hatrick of performances at Glasto – he played acoustic sets at the Dirty Boots tent on Wednesday and Saturday finishing up with a performance at the Queens Head Stage.

—
We caught Depeche Mode live in Paris last week performing an electric sell out show in front of 66,000 Depeche Mode fanatics at Stade de France. This is a band who are in the form of their lives and Dave Gahan’s performance was mesmerising! The staging directed by Anton Corbijn was visually spectacular and captured the mood of the band perfectly.

—
Dave Matthews Band arrived in the UK last week for three days and left us craving for so much more.

Seven scintillating live hours, playing to a total of 70,000 fans at two epic sold out Brixton Academy shows and performing as special guests to Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park in a truly remarkable set – Dave Matthews Band came, they saw and they most certainly conquered.

The band now jet off to Europe for a stint of festival shows in Europe having left their indelible mark on the UK.

Here’s a link to a 4* review of their Hyde Park show in The Independent.

They’ve been in existence for barely a year and yet The Slips – aka David Treahearn and Rob Haggett – are already generating a real buzz in the UK electro scene. They have a runaway success in their remix of CSS “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” (thrown out by everyone from Rob da Bank at Radio One to Vicarious Bliss at Ed Banger), an admirer in French production genius Mirwais, and a cache of glowing press cuttings – all uncourted – from the handful of live shows they’ve played.

Cutting their musical teeth as young studio engineers/programmers, they learned the trade with legendary producer Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, working with everyone from Madonna to Massive Attack, Brian Wilson to Björk, before breaking out of the grueling studio regime of hundred-hour-weeks to take their homebrewed pulsating glitch-disco out on the road.

Their first show was last summer, the night the smoking ban hit the UK, and led to immediate bookings for further dates across the country, including The O2 Wireless Festival, In The City and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.

2008 saw The Slips release a 7″ single “Girls At The Back Up” in the States as part of LA based IAMSOUND’s Singles Club, reaching #6 on The Hype Machine on the day of the release.

They became friends with Mirwais, working with him on Madonna’s album ‘American Life’ and recently teamed up with him on his latest musical project YAS, remixing her debut single “Yaspop”, due for release later this year on Universal.

The Slips “Superbeat” Out Now. Limited Edition Vinyl & Digital Download

“Storming performance by this hotly tipped act” – O2 Wireless Festival 2008

“Super-hot upcoming electro duo with their super-hot CSS remix” – Rob da Bank, Radio 1

“Renegade Remixers, definitely one to watch” – London Metro

“Dirty Daft Punk funk which out LCD’s LCD Soundsystem” – Clash Magazine

The Slips MySpace

Due to phenomenal demand, an additional Madonna show has been added in London on July 5th and Manchester July 8th to her summer ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’.

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

These shows will be her final UK dates in 2009.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday February 12, 2009.

Tickets are priced at £175, £110, £85 and £65 (subject to booking fee) and are available from www.livenation.co.uk.

Already the biggest grossing tour in history for a solo artist, the summer leg of Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour looks set to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Produced by Live Nation Global Touring.

With special guest:

Paul Oakenfold

Madonna 2009 ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour Dates, Itinerary:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

4-July London, United Kingdom The 02 London SOLD OUT!
5-July London, United Kingdom The 02 London On sale Feb. 12
7-July Manchester, United Kingdom MEN Arena SOLD OUT!
8-July Manchester, United Kingdom MEN Arena On sale Feb. 12
11-July Werchter, Belgium Festivalpark
14-July Milan, Italy San Siro
21-July Barcelona, Spain Olympic Stadium
23-July Madrid, Spain Vicente Calderon
28-July Hamburg, Germany Trab-Arena Hamburg Bahrenfeld On sale Feb. 13
30-July Oslo, Norway Vallehovin On sale Feb. 09
04-Aug Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn Song Festival
Ground
06-Aug Helsinki, Finland West Harbour On sale Feb. 09
09-Aug Gothenburg, Sweden Ullevi On sale Feb. 09
11-Aug Copenhagen, Denmark Parken On sale Feb. 09
13-Aug Prague, Czech Republic Chodov Natural Amphitheatre On sale Feb. 14
15-Aug Warsaw, Poland Bemowo Airport
18-Aug Munich, Germany Olympic Stadium On sale Feb. 13
20-Aug Ljubljana, Slovenia Hippodrome

In 2009, Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour will also visit Marseille in addition to performances in Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Romania, and Serbia.

Live Nation UK Official Website

For complete Tour and Ticket Information, Fan Club Memberships, VIP Packages, Merchandise and more visit:

Madonna Official Website

Tickets for the summer 2009 leg of Madonna’s phenomenally successful ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’ went on sale today in London and Manchester and sold out in minutes.

Madonna brings her acclaimed ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’ to London’s 02 Arena July 4th and Manchester’s MEN Arena July 7th.

Due to overwhelming public demand, both shows sold out almost as soon as tickets went on sale this morning.

Already the biggest grossing tour in history for a solo artist, the summer leg of Madonna’s ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’ looks set to be one of the highlights of this year.

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

For complete Tour and Ticket Information, Fan Club Memberships, VIP Packages, Merchandise and more visit:

Madonna Official Website

Madonna MySpace

Good afternoon. With the Grammy’s taking place next week (February 8, 2009) and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss announced to perform at the bash, what better time to stoke the Grammy fire and fill you in on the show…

The duo have been nominated for an impressive 5 awards including, Album of the Year, (for their Mercury nominated ‘Raising Sand’) and Record of the Year, for their stunning single “Please Read The Letter”.

Duffy will be in attendance on the night after gaining 3 nominations for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for “Mercy”) and Best Pop Vocal Album (for ‘Rockferry’). She will also be presenting an award.

Jason Mraz will be at the ceremony. He’s been nominated in 3 categories. Jason is up for, Song of the Year (for the irresistible “I’m Yours”), Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Engineered Album.

As well as the success in his homeland, Jason is finally receiving notable acclaim and success this side of the pond. His album ‘We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things’ broke into the Top Ten this week at No. 8. His worldwide smash-hit single “I’m Yours” is currently No. 11 in the iTunes chart, on course for the top Ten.

—

Rufus Wainwright is speaking at the Oxford Union on Thursday (Feb 5th), Rufus will field questions in a Q&A session about his first, upcoming opera ‘Prima Donna’ which premieres at the Manchester International Festival – the world’s first festival of original, new work on July 10th, 14th, 17th (evening) and 12th, 19th July (Matinee) at Manchester’s Palace Theatre.

Rufus is also up for a Grammy nomination next Sunday for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (for ‘Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall’).

—

In breaking news, Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour goes back on the road this Summer. Already the No.1 biggest grossing tour in history for a solo artist, Madonna kicks off the tour at London’s O2 Arena on Independence Day (July 4th) and then Manchester’s MEN Arena (July 7th).

Never one to miss out, Madonna is up for 3 Grammy Awards too, for Best Dance Recording (for Give It 2 Me), Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for 4 Minutes) and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical (for 4 Minutes – Junkie XL Remix).

—

Saddened by the loss of singer-songwriter John Martyn, Jersey Budd had some kind words to say: “John Martyn was one of only a few people to leave me absolutely spellbound by his musical genius. It turned out that I was the last person to ever be asked to support John. Whatever I achieve in music, this will go down as one of my proudest moments, and a great honour.”

Jersey continues to impress, and impress is exactly what he did on Wednesday at Water Rats. The singer-songwriter showcased songs from his stunning forthcoming album ‘Wonderlands’.

Jersey releases his infectious new single “Visions Of You”, February 16th.

—
Russell Brand is currently on his 28-date, sold out UK tour, but due to phenomenal demand he announced a rare and simply unmissable, stand-up show at London’s O2 Arena, April 17th.

—
Politics enthusiast Will Young takes to the Question Time hot seat next Thursday (Feb 5th). Will, who is a fan of the show assured us that he is swotting up on the hot topics of the day.

Will releases his last-ever physical single ‘Let It Go’ from the same titled album on March 2nd.

—
Delta Spirit were impressive on Tuesday night at Borderline. The five-piece ripped through a storming set that included their irresistible single “Trashcan”.

They play their last London gig tonight at Koko (Club NME), before heading back to the U.S. They are playing SXSW in March before returning to the UK for more live dates. Their stunning album ‘Ode To Sunshine’ is released March 23rd.

Madonna’s phenomenally successful ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’, already the #1 Biggest Grossing Tour in history for a solo artist, will embark on another series of shows beginning July 4th in London at the O2 Arena and at Manchester’s MEN Arena on July 7th. (Schedule below).

Madonna – 4 Minutes video:

Madonna on amazon.com

Madonna on amazon.co.uk

Stops will include appearances in never before played markets such as Werchter Belgium, Marseille France, Hamburg Germany, Oslo Norway, Helsinki Finland, Tallinn Estonia, Ljubljana Slovenia as well as stops in Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria it was confirmed today by Live Nation. Additional appearances by Madonna will include return visits after more than 15 years to Madrid, Gothenburg and Munich.

“This is a first for me. I’ve never extended a tour before. I’m excited to be going back on the road, visiting places I’ve never been and returning to places I love.” commented Madonna about the new run of dates.

Raves around the globe for the tour include the London Times which remarked, “In the premiere league of song-and-dance spectaculars, the queen of pop remains unrivaled and undefeated.” “The choreography, visuals and live talent were world class and mind-blowingly well executed, intelligent and witty,” glowed The Independent (UK).

In 2008, the ‘Sticky & Sweet Tour’ was seen by 2,350,285 fans in 58 cities. With record breaking ticket sales everywhere, including 650,000 tickets sold in her series of South American dates, 72,000 tickets at Zurich’s Dübendorf Airfield – the largest audience ever assembled for a show in Switzerland, 75,000 tickets in London’s Wembley Stadium and four sell outs in New York’s Madison Square Garden (60,364 tickets).

“This new run of dates will further solidify Madonna’s position as one of the top selling touring artists of all time,” said Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s Chairman of Global Music and CEO of Global Touring/Artist Nation.

Special Guest for Sticky & Sweet 2009, Paul Oakenfold has long been one of the most important – if not the most important – name in modern club culture. He has remixed The Rolling Stones U2, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dog, Muse, New Order, The Cure, Massive Attack and even Elvis Presley and produced The Happy Mondays. The two time Grammy nominee is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest DJ in the world. His new artist album, ‘Pop Killer’ is due out later this year.

Madonna’s multi-Grammy-nominated CD ‘Hard Candy’ debuted at Number One in over 37 countries.

Madonna July/August 2009 ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour Dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

4-July London, United Kingdom 02 Arena London On sale Feb. 06
7-July Manchester, United Kingdom MEN Arena On sale Feb. 06
11-July Werchter, Belgium Festival park On sale Feb. 07
14-July Milan, Italy San Siro On sale Feb. 06
21-July Barcelona, Spain Olympic Stadium
23-July Madrid, Spain Vicente Calderon
28-July Hamburg, Germany Trab-Arena Hamburg Bahrenfeld
30-July Oslo, Norway Vallehovin On sale Feb. 09
04-Aug Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn Song Festival Ground
06-Aug Helsinki, Finland West Harbour On sale Feb. 09
09-Aug Gothenburg, Sweden Ullevi On sale Feb. 09
11-Aug Copenhagen, Denmark Parken On sale Feb. 09
13-Aug Prague, Czech Republic Chodov Natural Amphitheatre
15-Aug Warsaw, Poland Bemowo Airport
18-Aug Munich, Germany Olympic Stadium
20-Aug Ljubljana, Slovenia Hippodrome

In 2009, Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour will also visit Marseille in addition to performances in Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Romania, and Serbia.

For complete Tour and Ticket Information, Fan Club Memberships, VIP Packages, Merchandise and more visit www.madonna.com

Tickets for the UK Shows go on sale at 9am Friday 6th February 2009 from www.livenation.co.uk

UK Tickets are priced at £175 / £110 / £85 / £65 (subject to booking fee) and are available from www.livenation.co.uk

Madonna Official Website
Madonna MySpace

The nominations for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre, with MBC’s British contingent gaining a hatful of nominations.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss continue to impress, and will compete in five categories:
- Album of the year (for ‘Raising Sand’)
- Record of the year (for ‘Please Read The Letter’)
- Best contemporary folk/Americana album (for ‘Raising Sand’)
- Best pop collaboration with vocals (for ‘Rich Woman’)
- Best country collaboration with vocals (for ‘Killing The Blues’)

Duffy also had an excellent night gaining three nominations:
- Best new artist
- Best female pop vocal performance (for ‘Mercy’)
- Best pop vocal album (for ‘Rockferry’)

MBC’s American artists also scored highly. After providing one of the night’s stand out performances, five-time Grammy winner John Mayer was rewarded with five nominations:
- Best male pop vocal performance (for ‘Say’)
- Best pop collaboration with vocals (for ‘Lesson Learned’)
- Best solo rock vocal performance (for ‘Gravity’)
- Best song written for Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media (for ‘Say’)
- Best long form music video (for ‘Where The Light Is – Live in Los Angeles’)

Jason Mraz also had a good night, gaining three nominations (song of the year, best male pop vocal performance, best engineered album, non-classical), while Madonna (best pop collaboration with vocals) and Rufus Wainwright (best traditional pop vocal album) walked away with one nomination apiece.

The Grammy Awards show takes place February 8th 2009.

Grammy Official Website

Madonna arrived in London last night when her acclaimed ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour triumphed at Wembley Stadium. 74,000 thrilled to new hits “Candy Shop”, “4 Minutes” and “Give It 2 Me” while old favourites like “Borderline”, “Like A Prayer” and “La Isla Bonita” were given exciting new twists. Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Fergie and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the worshippers. What a night!!

Sunday night’s 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards went down as one of the best ever, pulling in record ratings and introducing American television audiences to the inimitable Russell Brand – who won plaudits for a risqué, typically rock ‘n’ roll turn as host. According to Google Trends, “vma host” and “russell brand” were two of the top ten most searched-for phrases on the day of the awards.

Christina Aguilera provided the evening’s star turn with her scintillating performance of her spicy new single “Keeps Gettin’ Better” and a revved-up version of the classic “Genie In A Bottle” – both on the forthcoming hits collection “Keeps Gettin’ Better” due out this November.

If anyone finds a vintage Rickenbacker please call Peter Buck immediately!! This electric beauty was stolen after REM’s Helsinki show on Tuesday night. The guitar has been an instrumental part of REM’s arsenal since 1982. Any information that leads to finding the guitar will be generously rewarded – no questions asked. Email information to fanclub@remtour.com.

Will Young returns this weekend with “Changes”, the first single to be taken from his wonderful forthcoming album ‘Let It Go’. Both the Radio Edit and Chris Lake’s thumping remix are available digitally from Sunday 14th, with the physical single to follow on the 22nd. The remix has gone top 5 in the pop club charts.

Stereophonics have had a hectic North American tour so far. Last weekend they supported Oasis at Toronto’s V festival, Tuesday night they sold out Webster Hall in NYC where the cast of trendy hit show Gossip Girl including Chace Crawford were among those in attendance. Next week they conquer LA! Awesome new single “You’re My Star” hits the airwaves next week.

Martha Wainwright supports Goldfrapp at New York’s Radio City Music Hall tonight following in brother Rufus’ footsteps. He headlined the same venue earlier this year on his ‘Release The Stars’ tour. Catch Martha and her ace band on their 14 date UK tour next month.

Now that the VMA’s are over, MTV is readying itself for their European Music Awards which take place in Liverpool November 6th, 2008. Duffy has bagged 4 nominations while Madonna, REM, Christina Aguilera, Stereophonics and James Blunt have all been nominated.

Duffy has also been nominated for a MOBO Award – Best UK Female. What a glittering year she is having.

We can’t wait for the James Blunt tour to start next month with special guest Teddy Thompson.

Dave Edmunds joined the Stray Cats on stage at Brixton Academy Wednesday night for rocking renditions of “The Race Is On” and “Tear It Up”. This followed last week’s truly memorable showcase at the Gibson Guitar Rooms. His hits collection ‘The Many Sides of Dave Edmunds’ is out September 22nd, 2008.

And finally congratulations to Elbow for their Mercury Prize win. Nominated ‘Raising Sand’ duo Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were both on hand for the celebrations.

Some upcoming 2008 releases:

Sept 14th (Digital) / Sept 22nd (Physical)
WILL YOUNG- CHANGES (RCA LABEL GROUP)

September 15th
ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS- STICK WITH ME BABY (ROUNDER/UNIVERSAL)

September 22nd
GUILLEMOTS- KRISS KROSS / CLARION (POLYDOR)

October 6th
JOHN MELLENCAMP- MY SWEET LOVE (UNIVERSAL) DIGITAL ONLY

October 13th
PRIMAL SCREAM- UPTOWN (B-UNIQUE)

October 20th
JERSEY BUDD- SHE CAME BACK (THIS FEELING/BANDSTOCKS)

October 27th (Digital) / November 10th (Physical)
STEREOPHONICS- ‘YOU’RE MY STAR’ (V2)
AIMEE MANN- THIRTY ONE TODAY (SUPEREGO/ADA)

November 3rd
CHRISTINA AGUILERA- KEEPS GETTING’ BETTER (RCA LABEL GROUP)
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT- COMIN’ TONIGHT (DROWNED IN SOUND)

ALBUMS

September 22nd
DAVE EDMUNDS- THE MANY SIDES OF DAVE EDMUNDS – THE GREATEST HITS AND MORE – (UNIVERSAL)

September 29th
WILL YOUNG- LET IT GO (RCA LABEL GROUP)

October 13th
JOHN MELLENCAMP- LIFE LOVE DEATH AND FREEDOM (UNIVERSAL)

October (DATE TBC)
THE KINKS- PICTURE BOX (UNIVERSAL)

November 10th
IL DIVO- THE PROMISE (SYCO MUSIC)
CHRISTINA AGUILERA- KEEPS GETTING’ BETTER – A DECADE OF HITS (RCA LABEL GROUP)

November 17th
STEREOPHONICS- DECADE IN THE SUN: THE BEST OF STEREOPHONICS (V2)