Quick Hits: Adele, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Katy Perry, One Direction, Weezer, Flaming Lips / O Music Awards, Skrillex, Bob Seger
June 29, 2012
Adele announced on her official website today that she is pregnant with her first child, with boyfriend Simon Konecki. In a brief statement online, the singer wrote, "Im delighted to announce that Simon and I are expecting our first child together. I wanted you to hear the news direct from me, obviously we’re over the moon and very excited but please respect our privacy at this precious time. Yours always, Adele xx"
Alicia Keys
Earlier this week, Alicia Keys posted a video message on YouTube assuring fans that her new record will be coming soon. Keys said the album comes from an emotional place, inspired by her marriage to producer Swizz Beatz and the birth of their son in 2010. "It's like I'm a different person, a new person," Keys explains in the clip. "Everything is new, from being married and having a baby, and what that's done for me in just giving me a sense of real stability, real connection, grounding, reason, and purpose. So much of the music that you're going to hear is talking about what that feels like, what we're all going through, all of us... That empowerment, that freedom is definitely something that's reflected in this album." After releasing the video message, the singer leaked an upbeat track called "New Day," though it's unclear whether this will be the first official single.
Lauryn Hill has pled guilty to tax evasion and is facing up to three years in jail. Hill failed to file three years worth of taxes on income of more than $1.5 million. Her attorney claimed she was targeted by the government due to being a celebrity, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The ex-Fugees member will be sentenced in late November.
Katy Perry has been doing interviews everywhere lately to promote her upcoming 3D movie, Katy Perry: Part Of Me, and in the new issue of L'Uomo Vogue, the singer says that she will use the recent heartbreak in her personal life as inspiration for her next album. "It will be a much darker album than the previous one. It was inevitable, after what I went through," she said in the fashion magazine. "If I had a time machine and could go back in time, I would. But I can't, so you'll discover another part of me." But before she hits the studio to work on new music, she plans to take a little break. "I'm going into hiding. I want to go and write songs in the woods or something," she told MTV News earlier this week. "I'm gonna unplug, take my hair extensions out, feel my head again. I'm gonna unplug and recharge, if that makes any sense. I'm gonna go away."
New music from British boy band One Direction may be coming soon. Their album Up All Night only recently came out in the States, but the group may be finished recording the next one by the end of the summer. "We’ve been recording already, actually," 1D member Niall Horan told MTV. "When we came back from Australia, we had a couple weeks off and then we went straight into the studio to get cracking on the next album. We wrote an absolutely cracking song that we’re all kind of very excited about, and then last week we were in L.A. and we had five days off the tour to record in L.A. so we recorded more there." He added that the band is spending all of July and August "getting the album done" and a lead single may be released in September.
Weezer has announced an 11-date tour that will take them to a number of festivals in the summer and fall. The handful of dates start on July 13 in Buffalo, NY at the Buffalo Rocks the Harbor Fest, and they include Baltimore's Charm City Music Festival and the Austin City Limits festival. Weezer's tour dates wrap on November 10 and 11 in Orlando, where they will play The Blue Album in its entirety on the first night, followed by Pinkerton on the second night.
The Flaming Lips have broken the Guinness World Record previously held by Jay-Z for the most concerts performed in multiple cities in a 24-hour period. The Lips played in 8 cities across the Mississippi Delta alongside Jackson Browne, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Neon Trees, Gary Clark Jr., Karmin, Hunter Hayes, GIVERS, MNDR, Neon Indian and more as part of MTV's O Music Awards. Additionally, the digitally-focused awards were given out in categories such as Best Artist with a Camera Phone (Selena Gomez), Best Web-Born Artist (Karmin), Must Follow Artist on Twitter (Adam Lambert) and Best Online Concert Experience (30 Seconds to Mars).
Skrillex is creating original compositions for the upcoming movie Spring Breakers. Film/music supervisor RandallPoster broke the news in an interview with Pitchfork, where he said: "I'm working on Harmony Korine's movie SpringBreakers now, and Skrillex is doing original music for us." On Thursday, Skrillex confirmed the news on Twitter when he wrote: "it's more or less traditional scoring... don't expect dance floor bangers! going great... very different style of production for me!"
Bob Seger was reportedly robbed by a family friend after a party at his home. CBS Detroit reports that a 20-year-old friend of Seger's daughter was arrested and charged on Tuesday with stealing cash and other items, including sneakers autographed by Shaquille O’Neal and a Rolex watch. Seger's 1978 Gibson Les Paul guitar that was featured on his Greatest Hits CD also went missing, although it turned up on the family's dock after the theft and the accused denies that he took it. "It mysteriously showed up right after I talked to him, but he denied he took it," Orchard Lake Detective Darrell Betts told CBS. "That was my main goal, getting that guitar back… It's priceless." The guitar is now in a police storage locker, awaiting the prosecutor's order that it's safe to return. "I hope he (Seger) locks it up when it’s returned," Betts said.