The Times Of London‘s annual Rich List has had the odd effect of proving that stars are, at their core, just like us–because they’ve affected by the global economic meltdown, too. Elton John’s net worth? Down 26%! Tom Jones? Off 24%! In fact, only three music-related entities on the British paper’s Rich List, which ranks the net worths of Britain’s wealthiest people in a 112-page magazine–Simon Cowell, Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, and Mamma Mia! producer Judy Cramer–saw their net worths increase over the past year. Yet none of them made the top 10, so sad. If you feel like stoking your class-consciousness ire, the top 10 musical entities are after the jump.
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Welsh Lulu-in-training Duffy was the big winner at the Brit Awards, scooping up trophies for British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, and British Album (where Rockferry beat out the Coldplay album and Radiohead’s In Rainbows). Kings Of Leon also came up big, winning both International Group and International Album. (Never let it be said that the term “UKraziness” was not an apt one when it came to the country’s relationship with popular music.) Full list of winners after the jump!
Tonight, the Grammys try to stoke some excitement for their February broadcast—and the record industry in general—with an hour-long nomination special featuring Taylor Swift, John Mayer, the Foo Fighters (above), and Christina Aguilera, among others. We’ll be right here at 9 p.m. ET—right before the Victoria’s Secret Cross-Promotional Chance To Show Cleavage In Prime Time—to liveblog the whole affair, and to switch the channel to Top Chef as soon as possible once everything’s over. To whet your appetite for this year’s festivities, and to stoke a little argument, I’ve placed a few predictions regarding the big categories after the jump. (Warning: Lots of Coldplay ahead!)
If a studio chose to make a film from your novel, I’d imagine you’d be somewhat protective of the final product, down to the musical choices. Then again, if you’re a novelist who enjoys albums that came out before the Duffy record, your opinions about the soundtrack will probably be summarily ignored by the people financing the picture.
Come November, the UK charity War Child will… More »
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who’s contributed to many of those magazines, as well as a few others! In this installment, he looks at the new issue of Spin: