Gays and lesbians have come a long way in entertainment since the days when George Michael had to have faith and pretend to want a woman in the “Father Figure” video to sell millions of albums. Although there’s no telling whether Queen would have been as successful in the ’70s and early ’80s had Freddie Mercury definitively outed himself as a lower-case queen, for the most part, today’s closeted male superstars don’t have to wait until they are about to succumb to an AIDS-related illness to publicly acknowledge their sexuality (like Rock Hudson did)—or not (like Liberace and, well, Mercury).

That doesn’t mean coming out of the closet still won’t have a negative effect on the bankability of gay music stars. This is why most of them still choose to wait until they don’t have too much to lose. Elton John, Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken, Savage Garden’s Darren Hayes and Michael all did it after their blockbuster days were over.

Though Hayes continues to release solo records that earn critical raves, it’s been years since he was A-list on the charts. John is a superstar for life, but his most notable post-coming out success (the 33 million-selling worldwide No. 1 single “Candle in the Wind ’97″) was with a song he sang to a dearly departed princess. How gay! Rufus Wainwright, despite critical plaudits, has never had gold album in the US.

Then there is Adam Lambert, the perfect example of how to be an out and gay pop star. He has a vociferous fan base, but his commercial performance isn’t commensurate with his level of fan devotion. He should be selling as many singles as Justin Bieber, but his last one, “Better Than I Know Myself,” was a chart dud (No. 76 on Billboard’s Hot 100), resulting in Trespassing, his sophomore album, being pushed back from March to a May 15 release date. Do we blame it on a weak single, or a pop constituency that’s still skittish about fully embracing a proudly out singer? Continue reading ‘Sound and Vision: Wanted: An Out and Proud Gay Or Lesbian Chart Phenomenon!’

Amelia White didn’t set out to write an album that honored her mentor, much-loved musician Duane Jarvis, perhaps best known for co writing “Still I Long For Your Kiss” with Lucinda Williams.

Yet when fifty-one-year-old Jarvis died of cancer in 2009, White felt her songwriting muse take over.

“I think it just comes naturally to me,” said White of the songwriting. “A lot of people learn to write because they sing and play; I learned to sing and play because I write.”

Although the songs on Beautiful and Wild, White’s recently released fifth studio album, are beautifully written, there’s no denying that she and the players on the album—including John Jackson (Dylan, Shelby Lynn), Frank Swart (Patty Griffin) and Tim Carroll (Elizabeth Cook)—are first rate.

Continue reading ‘Your Country’s Right Here: Amelia White Creates “Beautiful and Wild” Musical Tribute’

In Gregg Allman‘s new autobiography, My Cross To Bear, the man who has helmed The Allman Brothers Band since their inception in 1969 reflects on the wins, losses and draws he has experienced in his four decades of rock stardom. Having Allman’s history put into this kind of historical focus provides an excellent opportunity for slightly less objective parties (ahem) to tally up the home runs and strikeouts Allman has racked up in his long reign on the Southern rock throne. Some of them are as obvious as the beard on Gregg’s mug, but a few of them just might come as news to you.

1. The Hour Glass

Allman hit the ground running with The Hour Glass, the band he formed with his guitar virtuoso brother Duane. Their first album was released before Gregg was even out of his teens, and both of the band’s records featured an appealing blend of soul and psychedelic rock, including everything from an R&B-soaked take on Carole King‘s “No Easy Way Down” to a paisley-patterned adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe‘s “The Bells” alongside original material.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Gregg Allman’s Triumphs and Trip-Ups’

Last week’s big announcements from Maybach Music Group made major waves in the music world, but left some fans disappointed.  Many expected Ma$e to be announced as Rick Ross’ newest signee, after months of speculation that he was returning to rap.

French Montana alluded to Ma$e’s return after he was spotted in the studio him and Ross last month. “Ma$e sounds good, sound like he never left. His flow is crazy. We’re going to let the world hear soon enough. Stay tuned. Just stay tuned.”

Fans didn’t have to wait too long to hear Ma$e on the mic thanks to a surprise release from MMG. Wale’s latest single, “Slight Work” hit airwaves last month and features Ma$e, Diddy, French Montana and Meek Mill.  During an interview with Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97, Ma$e explained that Bad Boy’s French Montana was the mastermind of the collaboration.

“I think it was French, man. A lot of love goes out to French. I don’t know why he was repping me so strong, but he was showing me Harlem love. He ain’t even from Harlem, it’s crazy. It was really French,” he said. “We totally opposite, but he just showed me wild love. I rock with who rock with me.”

Continue reading ‘Soundcheck: Is Ma$e Making A Comeback?’

Many years ago in a galaxy known as metal, some stuff happened that would change the course of the genre forever (but you probably knew that already). We’re here to ponder things like “what if that never happened” in regard to some of metal’s most momentous events and happenings—What might the metal world be like today?

Metal vocalist, professional pilot, author and even part-time actor—Bruce Dickinson is a man of huge talent and even larger personality. Anyone with a serious passion for metal probably already knows that Mr. Dickinson was not the original vocalist for legendary metal band Iron Maiden, but what if Bruce never joined the band at all, and the vocalist remained Paul Di’Anno, who performed on the first two Iron Maiden albums?
Continue reading ‘Metal Monday: What If Bruce Dickinson Never Joined Iron Maiden?’

Let’s face it, sometimes the past should stay dead. But when an awesome musical artist fades from popularity, their fans later wonder, “Where are they now?”  You may not know it, but many artists you loved in the past are still hard at work writing new albums or preparing to tour once more.  Fortunately, you now have “Second Coming” to reintroduce you to some of your favorite acts of the last few decades and give you the scoop on what you can expect from them in the future!

THEN: Before the Spice Girls and the bubblegum pop princesses of the late 90s, Gwen Stefani was serving up her own brand of girl power. As lead vocalist of the ska band No Doubt, she brought her fearless fashion sense and formidable vocal ability to the world of pop. The band’s traditional ska sound on their debut album failed to deliver commercially, but the more polished sound of their 1995 record Tragic Kingdom was applauded by critics and fans alike. The GRAMMY-nominated record spawned monster singles like “Just A Girl,” “Don’t Speak” and “Spiderwebs,” placing No Doubt in the sweet spot of achieving mainstream success, while still staying true to their roots. The band followed up Kingdom with another GRAMMY-nominated record, Return of Saturn, which piggybacked off its predecessor in terms of sound. Just one year later, No Doubt released Rock Steady, which showed a sharp turn of musical direction with its dancehall and reggaeton-infused tunes. The album was a mega pop success, churning out the ubiquitous “Hey Baby,” “Hella Good” and “Underneath It All.”

Continue reading ‘The Second Coming of No Doubt’

Life is full of surprises, and sometimes, so is pop music. In recent weeks, it’s recovered its long-dormant ability to shock, or at least catch us off guard with the unlikely hit, or the unexpected comeback.

Several months ago, I never dreamed I would ever ask the question that is the title of this article. It had been more than twenty-five years since Lionel Richie’s commercial heyday, and on the charts, he had been succeeded by younger romantic leads in pop and R&B many times over (Babyface, Usher, Ne-Yo, among others).

Then came one of those surprise developments seldom seen in pop anymore: On Billboard magazine’s Top 200 album chart for the week following the March 26 release of Tuskegee, Richie’s first studio album since 2009’s Just Go (which didn’t make the US Top 20 and failed to go gold), he debuted at No. 2 with first-week sales of 199,000 copies, right behind Madonna’s latest, MDNA.

Continue reading ‘Sound and Vision: Why Is the World So Obsessed with Lionel Richie Right Now?’

Even months after Amy Ray released her latest solo project Lung of Love, it is difficult to listen to it and not hear nuances that weren’t apparent earlier.

Like some of the best movies that need repeated viewings before you begin to grasp the full intent of the filmmakers, Lung of Love is filled with such subtle variegation that repeated listening is a joy. Perhaps some of that variation can be credited to Ray, half of the internationally renowned GRAMMY Award-winning folk duo the Indigo Girls, taking inspiration for the array of artists she enjoys.

“I love all the different kinds of music,” said Ray. “I listen [to] Josh Ritter and Patti Smith and a lot of funky stuff. I always go back to that for inspiration. There is so much good stuff, it’s hard to name it all.”

The same, of course, can be said for Ray’s music both in her Indigo Girls’ partnership with Emily Saliers and as a solo artist. On this album, Ray stepped out of her comfort zone—she and Saliers write alone for the Indigo Girls—and co-wrote four songs on this album with producer Greg Griffith.

Continue reading ‘Your Country’s Right Here: “Lung of Love” Tour is Amy Ray’s Labor of Love’

The weather over the last few days has been marked by an overcast, chilly gloom, and after being teased by summer so frequently I feel like my taste in music may have switched seasons a bit too early. I find myself constantly drawn to warm, sample-heavy hip hop—a sound that’s quite removed from the over-synthesized, over-produced, dance-hop populating the airwaves currently, and more inline with the vinyl crackle infused genre of the ’90s (heck, a couple of these songs actually come from the ’90s). The lyrical content places more of a focus on conveying a story rather than shocking the listener with clever one liners (ahem…Drake). In the words of Masta Ace… “this is how hip hop is supposed to sound”. So find your best pair of cans and switch the outside world off for a little bit.

SoundTrax: Headphones On, World Off from OurStage on 8tracks.

Continue reading ‘SoundTrax: Headphones On, World Off’

In the late ’70s, Squeeze was a quirky crew of new wave weirdos with a string of strange hits (“Take Me, I’m Yours,” “Cool For Cats,” “Slap and Tickle”) in England and low-key cult-hero status among the rock cognoscenti in America. In the early ’80s, the albums Argybargy, East Side Story and Sweets From a Stranger made them stars in the States. Led by the songwriting team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who began getting a rep as a modern-day Lennon and McCartney, Squeeze was among the small handful of acts (Blondie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Cars) that burst up from the new wave underbrush to mainstream success in the US. They did it on the strength of songs like “Another Nail In My Heart,” “If I Didn’t Love You,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Tempted” and “Black Coffee in Bed,” mating masterful pop hooks from tunesmith Tilbrook with weird, wordy, worldly-wise lyrics by Difford. In 2012, Squeeze is back on the boards, touring with contemporaries The English Beat and preparing for a new album; all the aforementioned songs and more can be heard on their new concert recording, Live at the Fillmore.

Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants and Rumors: Glenn Tilbrook’s Squeeze Play’