Tag: robbie williams

In The Buff

Published by Contributing Writer on July 1, 2011 in News

Tags: robbie williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage against the machine, jim morrison, axle whitehead

Robbie Williams exposed himself on stage last week—sound familiar? That’s probably because he ripped his pants on stage the week before. Accidentally, of course, on both counts. The first time he opted to just take his pants off completely after they ripped, which you might call rolling with the punches, but the second time “he didn’t seem in a hurry to put it away” either. If you expected some big negative backlash about this, though, don’t hold your breath. Nip slips may be a cause for embarrassment for female musicians, but that standard doesn’t quite translate for men. Case in point: in regards to Robbie William’s slip, one female fan told the Daily Star “[I]t was well worth the ticket price. I’m one of the luckiest women alive to have seen that.” We don’t really agree with that particular fan, but let’s look back at some other classic examples voluntary male nudity.

Robbie, fully clothed.

What better place to start than Jim Morrison’s famous Miami performance in 1969? For those not familiar, Morrison allegedly pulled our his junk and whirled it around on stage during this rowdy Southern show. Given the time period and location, he was actually fined and sentenced to jail time. Worse still, The Doors were shunned by promoters and played only one more show before Morrison died in ’71 (RIP). That said, it didn’t phase his fan base—to this day he’s still considered one of the most awesome and influential rock stars of the ’60s.

Now jump forward to the 1983. The Red Hot Chili Peppers start their tradition of wearing nothing but tube socks on stage. Not a wardrobe malfunction, per se, but the image became an iconic poster and even an album cover for the band. Needless to say, it was pretty popular with the ladies.

And let’s not forget about Rage Against The Machine’s nude protest in ’93. In lieu of playing a set at Lollapalooza, they took a stand against censorship and stood on-stage in their birthday suits with duct tape on their mouths for fifteen minutes. When asked what was going through his mind at the time, band member Tim Commerford responded “[Want me to be perfectly frank with you? The size of my penis—that's what was going through my mind in Philadelphia. It looked like I'd just stepped out of the ocean. I swear to god, it's bigger than that." They did play a free show later, though, to appease the disappointed fans.

Ironically, here's a censored picture of them.

Last but not least, let’s credit Axle Whitehead with the most tasteless lapse of judgment of the bunch. For those not familiar with Whitehead, he was a contestant on the first series of Australian Idol and later hosted the show Video Hits. Until the “incident,” at least. At the 2006 ARIA awards, he whipped it out and “simulated masturbation” on the award that he was presenting in front of 10,000 people. Luckily the grim scene didn’t make it to television, but he did lose his job over the incident. If that seems harsh to you, don’t fret: “I have absolutely no regrets—I think more people should do it,” a satisfied Whitehead reported.

“To each his own,” we say.

Sound And Vision: Reunited Bands Try To Make Lightning Strike Twice

Published by Jeremy Helligar on May 6, 2011 in News, Pop

Etiquetas: yaz, tiffany, the supremes, the smiths, the police, The Pixies, the eagles, The Cars, take that, sting, Steely Dan, soundgarden, sound and vision, rubik's cube, Roxy Music, ronald reagan, robbie williams, psychedelic furs, Pet Shop Boys, pearl jam, OurStage@, Nirvana, new kids on the block, new edition, mary wilson, Lady Gaga, jeremy helligar, grunge, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, debbie gibson, cindy birdsong, Chris Cornell, carter country, bobby brown, blondie, backstreet boys, audioslave, ABBA, 80's pop

For the love of money.

According to Sting, when I interviewed him in 1996, there’s no other reason to bring a band back from the dead. Yet one must assume that Sting—who’s had a gold and platinum solo career for more than three times the seven years he was a member of The Police—had more than money on the brain when he reunited the band in 2007, after more than two decades of inactivity, for a thirtieth anniversary world tour.

Think about it: If Diana Ross can try to regroup with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong (though she ended up with two ’70s Supremes with whom she’d never actually performed and possibly never even met until minutes before the ill-fated 2000 “reunion” was announced), why can’t all other former bandmates get along—or at least get back together. Are you listening, ABBA? Though a musical reunion of Sweden’s fab four, or the UK one from the ’80s (that would be The Smiths), remains as unlikely as a resurgent Rubik’s cube or Carter Country, in recent years, we’ve seen a number of bands—from the Pixies to Yaz to the “classic” original line-up of Duran Duran—come together again.

Some did it for the love of money, some because of fading solo careers and some because as we get older those nostalgic impulses become harder to ignore. One imagines the latter must have been a big part of the reason why rich solo superstar Robbie Williams mended fences last year with Take That—who’d already reformed in 2005, nine years after breaking up—and participated in Progress, their first album together in fifteen years. This month, the original Take That will hit the road with Pet Shop Boys.

On May 10, The Cars, who haven’t released a new studio album since Ronald Reagan was in office, will drive their act into this millennium with Move Like This and a ten-date reunion tour that begins in Seattle on the day of the album’s release. They won’t be the only ’80s throwbacks on the road in the coming months. Bobby Brown recently said that the off-and-on-and-off-and-on-again New Edition has a new album and tour in the works. Perhaps they should join New Kids on the Block (who’ll be performing live this summer with Backstreet Boys) and soon-to-be summer tour mates Tiffany and Debbie Gibson for a Monsters of ’80s Pop package.

Then there’s Soundgarden, the band who along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam created grunge’s holy triumvirate in the early ’90s. They split in 1997, and although Chris Cornell had success as a member of Audioslave, his solo career never quite caught on. Can grunge thrive in 2011? We’ll find out when the Seattle band, set to tour in July, releases its work in progress later this year, but the odds might be stacked against them.

With a few exceptions—the Eagles, Steely Dan and Take That, whose Progress has enjoyed massive UK sales—reunited bands generally have had more success with comeback tours than with new music. Roxy Music, the Pixies and Psychedelic Furs have been back together for years, but neither band has released new albums. And Blondie, whose Panic of Girls is due on July 4, had middling US success with 1999′s No Exit and 2003′s The Curse of Blondie (though the former did produce the No. 1 UK single “Maria”).

In 2008, New Kids on the Block, whose reunion tour year featured Lady Gaga as an opening act, got off to a good start with The Block (first-week sales: 100,000), but the album failed to go gold in the US. The Cars’ new single, “Sad Song,” hasn’t gone higher than No. 37 on Billboard’s Rock Songs chart since its March 1 release, which doesn’t bode too well for the buzz-free Move Like This. Meanwhile, Duran Duran’s nostalgia value makes the group a huge touring attraction, but the new albums featuring the original line up (minus guitarist Andy Taylor) have sold only modestly.

But with album sales continuing to free fall anyway, it might not even matter. Releasing new music keeps the bands from being strictly oldies acts, and if the love of money is their bottom line, most of them are getting exactly what they’re after on the road.

[Ed. Note: Rockers and pop stars aren't the only ones taking a trip down memory lane. Check out more comebacks and reunions in hip hop.]

Sound And Vision: United They Stand (And Sell Out) — Superstars On Tour Together

Published by Jeremy Helligar on April 29, 2011 in Features, Pop

Etiquetas: u2, twilight, tours, The Rolling Stones, the black eyed peas, take that, stevie nicks, sade, rod stewart, robbie williams, Pet Shop Boys, ozzfest, OurStage@, nicki minaj, Neil Tennant, Muse, matthew bellamy, madonna, Lollapalooza, ke$ha, kate hudson, john legend, jeremy helligar, Jay Z, glastonbury, coachella, Britney Spears

It official: U2 is the biggest music act on the planet! The band might not go multi-platinum like it used to, and there’s been no blockbuster single since George Bush the elder was in office, but Bono and the boys just bagged some brand-new bragging rights. In early April, the group’s 360° world tour surpassed the Rolling Stones‘ 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang tour to become the biggest money-making road trip of all time. By the time the Live Nation-backed trek—which U2 launched in 2009 to support the No Line on the Horizon album—concludes in July, it will have pulled in a projected $700 million in ticket sales.

Of course, U2 didn’t do it alone. If a GRAMMY were awarded for Best Supporting Act, Muse— who opened for many of U2′s 360° dates, including the ones in Brazil that broke the Stones’ record— would have an excellent shot. (Jay-Z did the honors in Australia and New Zealand, while the Black Eyed Peas chipped in on some US and Canada dates.) Here’s a platinum-level UK band whose slow and steady trajectory in the US has been thrust further upward by key slots on the soundtracks to the Twilight films and frontman Matthew Bellamy’s romance with Kate Hudson, with whom he’s expecting a baby. Muse could sell out big venues on its own (and did, even before U2, Hudson or Twilight entered the picture), but with the group playing warm-up act for U2, it seems almost inevitable that major records would be broken.

Two superstar acts for the price of one ticket: It’s a brilliant idea that’s spreading fast. With the international economy in shambles, and so much competition on the road, the biggest stars need to offer fans more than just the greatest show on earth to guarantee blockbuster box-office business. That’s where A-list opening acts come in. U2 could sell out stadiums and arenas solo, but why not hedge its bets by bringing in big-name support to pull some of the weight?

In previous decades, most big stars wouldn’t have been caught dead with an opening act that could possibly upstage them. They usually hit the road with bubbling-under, up-and-comers, safeguarding their own star billing while, by default, helping the upstarts bring their music to the masses. But with ticket sales skyrocketing closer to four-digit figures (U2′s $250 top-tier ticket price is practically a bargain), sometimes you need more than a name and a collection of hits to lure fans. Simply put, on their own, few superstars have the drawing power of Charlie Sheen anymore. It takes two (bankable draws) to make a gig go right.

These days the relationship between headliners and opening acts (or co-headliners) is far more symbiotic. Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks co-headlined—and sold out—the thirteen-city Heart & Soul North American tour in March and April, though she who goes on first (sorry, Stevie) is technically the opening act. Eighties teen queens Debbie Gibson and Tiffany just announced their own co-headlining summer tour (at press time, there wasn’t any word on who’d be opening), and Sade will bring fellow platinum-level GRAMMY winner John Legend along for the ride when her world tour arrives in North America on June 16 in Baltimore, Maryland. Though there is some fan overlap in all three cases, Nicks and Legend will be contributing to the financial potential of their tickets in a much larger way than your traditional opening act.

Meanwhile in the world of pop, Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj just signed a pact for Minaj to open dates on Spears’s upcoming Femme Fatale North American tour, which also launches on June 16, but in Sacramento, California. The unlikely alliance between a superstar and an up-and-comer who, at the moment, is probably just as hot, will benefit the headliner as much as the opening act. It will expose Minaj to pop fans who might otherwise know her only from her cameos on other people’s records, and it will give Spears a little bit of something that has eluded her for her entire career: street cred. It’s probably an even more winning combination than Spears and Enrique Iglesias, who had been in talks to open the tour before Minaj got onboard.

Over in the UK, Take That snagged Pet Shop Boys as the opening act on the Progress Live 2011 Tour, set to hit the road in May, despite the fact that the two acts ruled in different decades. (Fun fact: Newly returned Take That member Robbie Williams and PSB collaborated on “She’s Madonna” and “We’re the Pet Shop Boys,” two tracks from the former’s 2006 Rudebox album, and Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant sang on Williams’ early solo hit “No Regrets.”) Once again, though, the effect will be reciprocal. Pet Shop Boys will attract gays and the ’80s-obsessed, while Take That will pull in gays and children of the ’90s.

Combine and conquer! It’s a concept that for years has worked for annual multi-artist tours like Ozzfest and Lollapalooza, yearly one-off festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury that touch down in the US and UK as well as the ones that regularly land in places like Argentina and Australia, and double-bills featuring reuinted ’80s icons. Fans will hand over the cash if you give them hours of entertainment featuring a smorgasbord of talent. This, however, might be the first time we’ve seen so many superstar acts settling for the opening slot, and it’s likely just the beginning. Can Ke$ha as the appetizer for Spears’s main course in Europe and beyond be far behind?

Jeremy Helligar’s 10 Best Things About This Year in Pop

Published by Jeremy Helligar on December 20, 2010 in Features, Pop

Etiquetas: timbaland, taylor swift, susan boyle, Shania Twain, sade, robbie williams, rihanna, q-tip, Pop Music, pink, OurStage@, nicki minaj, mark ronson, leon russell, Lady Gaga, la roux, Katy Perry, journey, jeremy helligar, glee, girls girls girls, garly barlow, Florence + the Machine, elton john, dave guetta, coldplay, carrie underwood, britney spears ted mosby, Amy Winehouse, amanda warner, Alicia Keys

The year seems to be ending as it began: with Susan Boyle practically interchangeable snoozaks ruling Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. Who would have guessed? Well, I did, but enough dwelling on the bad. Let’s focus on the good stuff that happened in the last 12 months, and dream a dream that next year’s gift is a Boyle-free holiday season. And now (in roughly chronological order), the best of the rest…

1) Journey’s trek to the tops of the pops. Glee still makes my ears bleed, but by helping Journey score its first-ever UK hit—the band’s ’80s classic “Don’t Stop Believin’” piggybacked on the smash Glee cover all the way to No. 6 in early 2010—those kids finally earned a round of applause. (We’ll spare you the Glee link. Instead here’s Sam Tsui covering Glee covering Journey)

2) Alicia Keys’ sleepless nights. Sunshine from rain. Pleasure from pain. “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” was the finest of Keys’ string of great 2010 singles. I’m still up all night myself, tossing and turning, trying to figure out how it never climbed higher than No. 27 on the Hot 100.

3) Pink goes up in the air. When I met Pink in 1999, before the release of her debut album, I was impressed, but I never suspected that a newcomer named after the hue of her hair would be a hitmaker a decade later? Topping off her continued chart success in 2010, the now-blonde, now-mom-to-be took the GRAMMYs over the top (in the very best way) with her highwire-acrobat act while performing “Glitter in the Air.”

4) Leon Russell lives! Susan Boyle isn’t the only one who began and ended 2010 on top. Russell kicked off the year wowing us at the GRAMMYs alongside the Zac Brown Band and finished it wowing us again, on the GRAMMY-nominated The Union alongside Elton John. Old Hank Wilson is back—but then he never really went away.

5) Sade returns, with guns blazing. Out of sight, out of mind, yes, but in the case of Sade, absence made the heart grow fonder indeed. Soldier of Love, the band’s first album in nearly a decade, made one of the splashiest debuts of 2010, and— in a rare, welcome twist—was worth the wait. May the long-MIA-from-the-charts Shania Twain follow suit in 2011.

6) Carrie Underwood hooks Ted Mosby. Britney Spears’s How I Met Your Mother guest spot got more hype in 2008, but Underwood, in her acting debut, was just as good in March’s “Hooked” episode, nailing her stunt casting as a pharmaceutical-selling hottie stringing Ted along. Not even that adorable teacup pig could upstage her. More, please.

7) Robbie Williams hearts Gary Barlow in the “Shame” video. Boy meets boy, boy falls for boy, boy and boy live happily ever after in the newly reunited Take That members’ send up of Brokeback Mountain. If only real life were so simple.

8) Vanity projects that rock. Timbaland’s “If We Ever Meet Again” (featuring Katy Perry, from Shock Value II) and Mark Ronson’s “Bang Bang Bang” (with Q-Tip and MNDR’s Amanda Warner, from Record Collection) were pop rarities in 2010: distinctive producer-as-artist singles that matched the behind-the-scenes best of the guys who created them. David Guetta, king of the sound-alike musical tricks, this is how you do it.

9) The British are coming… again! With Coldplay and Amy Winehouse in a holding pattern, La Roux and Florence + the Machine picked up the UK slack. La Roux became the first UK act in forever to reach the US Top 10 with “Bulletproof,” and Florence + the Machine finally became more than hipster darlings as their debut disc, Lungs, burst into the Top 20, while their “Dog Days Are Over” single became a big enough hit to get the Glee treatment.

10) Girls girls girls! Love or loathe them, it was refreshing to see single ladies like Katy Perry, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Gaga and others continue to transform music from a man’s man’s man’s man’s world into an estrogen-fueled empire. What are you waiting for, Shania? Come on, join the party!

By Jeremy Helligar

Jeremy Helligar is a former staff writer for People, Teen People, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly, who now writes about celebrities and pop culture from his couch in Buenos Aires.