*NSYNC To Honor Michael Jackson
(02.26) Source - Allpop: *NSYNC will pay homage to the King of Pop at next month's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. The best-selling boy band will induct Michael Jackson into the hall on March 19, their representative confirmed Tuesday. Besides Jackson, who was previously inducted as a member of The Jackson Five, other inductees include Paul Simon, Aerosmith, Queen and recent Grammy winners Steely Dan.
�����Besides the hall of fame appearance, *NSYNC is also gearing up for a nationwide tour, which will kick off in Miami in May. In June, they're set to release a new album, the follow-up to "No Strings Attached," which was the best-selling disc of 2000. In addition, *NSYNC will pay tribute to another Jackson next month. They are among the acts who will perform for "mtvICON," lauding Janet Jackson.
Misc. *NSYNC News
(02.26) Source - Various: Here's some minor news tidbits for those of you who don't know:
�����~*NSYNC is up for two nominations for the International Dance Music Awards. They face off against Destiny's Child, Madison Avenue, and Modjo for the Best Dance Artist Group Award and popular single "Bye Bye Bye" is set against Madonna's "Music", Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby", and Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" for the Best Pop 12-Inch Dance Record Award.
�����~*NSYNC is joining Destiny's Child, Macy Gray and OutKast in a tribute to Janet Jackson. "mtvICON" is a new annual special that will honour artists whose videos have influenced both fans and other artists, MTV reports. The Janet Jackson special is scheduled to air on March 13. It will include a montage of her videos and interviews with artists who were affected by Jackson. The evening's guests will perform covers of Jackson's songs. The diva plans to end the special by herself with a vocal performance.
*NSYNC Announce Full Itinerary For Stadium Tour
(02.26) Source - MTV: After teasing fans for weeks by revealing only a few tour dates at a time, *NSYNC finally announced the complete itinerary for their first-ever full stadium tour.
�����Kicking off the tour with a previously announced show on May 12 at Miami's Pro Player Stadium, the boy band will play 39 shows in 36 cities, including two dates each in Hershey, Pennsylvania; Foxboro, Massachusetts; and East Rutherford, New Jersey.
�����Also, *NSYNC will induct Michael Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 19, in a ceremony that will be televised on VH1 on March 21, according to Jive Records. (MTV.com's parent company, Viacom, also owns VH1.)
�����The group will release their fourth album in June.
�����*NSYNC tour dates, according to Jive Records and SFX:
�����5/12 - Miami, FL @ Pro Player Stadium
�����5/15 - Tampa, FL @ Tropicana Field
�����5/18 - Jacksonville, FL @ Alltel Stadium
�����5/20 - Jackson, MS @ Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
�����5/22 - Charlotte, NC @ TBA
�����5/24 - Atlanta, GA @ Georgia Dome
�����5/26 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
�����5/28 - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Stadium
�����5/31 - Foxboro, MA @ Foxboro Stadium
�����6/1 - Foxboro, MA @ Foxboro Stadium
�����6/3 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Giants Stadium
�����6/4 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Giants Stadium
�����6/6 - Cincinnati, OH @ Cynergy Field
�����6/10 - Buffalo, NY @ Ralph Wilson Stadium
�����6/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Veterans Stadium
�����6/16 - Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
�����6/19 - Toronto, ON @ Sky Dome
�����6/22 - Cleveland, OH @ Browns Stadium
�����6/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Metrodome
�����6/26 - Green Bay, WI @ Lambeau Field
�����6/29 - Pontiac, MI @ Silverdome
�����7/2 - St. Louis, MO @ Trans World Dome
�����7/4 - Little Rock, AR @ War Memorial Stadium
�����7/6 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Astrodome
�����7/8 - Dallas, TX @ Texas Stadium
�����7/10 - Kansas City, MO @ Arrowhead Stadium
�����7/13 - Denver, CO @ Mile High Stadium
�����7/16 - San Diego, CA @ Qualcomm Stadium
�����7/18 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Bank One Ballpark
�����7/21 - Oakland, CA @ Network Associates Coliseum
�����7/24 - Pasadena, CA @ Rose Bowl
�����7/27 - Las Vegas, NV @ Sam Boyd Stadium
�����7/31 - Las Cruces, NM @ Aggie Memorial Stadium
�����8/5 - San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
�����8/7 - Birmingham, AL @ Legion Field
�����8/10 - Louisville, KY @ Cardinal Stadium
�����8/13 - Washington, DC @ RFK Stadium
�����8/16 - Indianapolis, IN @ RCA Dome
�����8/18 - Memphis, TN @ Liberty Bowl Stadium
*NSYNC Announces Full Itinerary For 2001 Pop Odyssey Stadium Tour
(02.26) Source - Launch: *NSYNC has announced the dates and venues for its upcoming North American 2001 Pop Odyssey tour, a 36-city tour that kicks off May 12 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami and marks the first full stadium outing for the quintet. Tickets for select dates are currently on sale, and the on-sale dates for the remaining shows will be announced over the next few weeks.
�����*NSYNC is currently in the studio recording tracks for the follow-up to its diamond-certified (for 10 million copies sold) Jive Records album No Strings Attached. The new set in due out in June. *NSYNC will induct Michael Jackson into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony in New York City on March 21.
*NSYNC Announces Full Itinerary For Its 2001 Pop Odyssey Stadium Tour
(02.26) Source - Allstar: *NSYNC has finally stopped the day-by-day teasing and announced the full itinerary for its summer stadium tour, now dubbed 2001 Pop Odyssey.
�����As previously announced, the tour will hit major baseball and football stadiums beginning May 12 in Miami and carry on, as expected, through a date in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 18.
�����The group will be touring in support of its as-yet-untitled follow-up to 1999's No Strings Attached of which several tracks have already been recorded in Orlando, Fla., including "Dirty Pop," "Game Over," "Gone," and "Celebrity."
�����In other *NSYNC news, the group will induct Michael Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 19 in New York City in a ceremony that will air on VH1 on March 21.
More *NSYNC Dates Trickle In
(02.23) Source - MTV: If you were hoping to follow *NSYNC across the country this year, they're making it awfully difficult to nail down your flight plans.
�����Little by little, the group has been releasing dates and venues for its summer tour since announcing the outing in February, and according to a spokesperson at Jive Records, three new dates are set to go on sale this weekend.
�����On Saturday at 9 AM (ET), tickets for August 13's Washington, D.C. concert at RFK Stadium go on sale. The following day at noon (CT), tickets for Chicago's gig (June 16 at Soldier Field) become available; while at noon (PT), seats for Pasadena's Rose Bowl show on July 24 are fair game.
Eminem, U2, Faith Hill, & Steely Dan Head Up 43rd Annual GRAMMY Award Winners List
(02.21) Source - Allstar: It may have been *NSYNC's year, but the folks at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences did the right thing, opting for fineness over fluff and awarded the likes of Eminem, U2, Faith Hill, and Steely Dan with three GRAMMY Awards each at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Feb. 21). *NSYNC ended up going home with only the clothes on its back.
�����On the performance front, things got started with a somewhat disappointing performance from Madonna, only because most had anticipated -- and hoped for -- an opening number extravaganza, � la any of her MTV Video Music Awards performances. While this was certainly not that, Madonna did prove she still has some serious dance chops (not to mention rockin' biceps and triceps) during her performance of "Music." The Material Girl entered the stage from a stretch, mirror ball-covered limo with Lil' Bow Wow as the chauffer and SNATCHD on the California license plate.
�����After a brilliant speech from NARAS president/CEO Michael Greene, Eminem took the stage at the end of the evening to perform the moving "Stan" in a bedroom setting. Elton John, in a flamboyant pink and yellow dotted outfit, performed Dido's piano and vocal part from the song "Thank You" from her album No Angel, which was overlooked by NARAS this year. The performance only required six bleeps, though Em graciously changed a few lyrics (i.e., singing "F you," instead of "fuck you") to apparently make it easier on the censors. The performance drew a standing ovation.
�����Other noteworthy moments from the stage:
�����*Shelby Lynne joined Sheryl Crow for an absolutely gorgeous rendition of Crow's "The Difficult Kind."
�����*U2 delivered a typical performance of "Beautiful Day," replete with the same tired motions Bono has been seen doing onstage and in TV appearances for the past year.
�����*Host Jon Stewart proved a stellar choice. On Eminem, "I met him backstage...he's really gay." After naming off the four members of *NSYNC, he named the last member of the band by saying, "And, let's just say Kitten."
�����*Speaking of *NSYNC, kudos to the band for the truly innovative black and white to color flip-flop effect during its performance of "This I Promise You."
�����*Moby, Jill Scott, and the Blue Man Group drew a standing ovation. The wacked performance featured Scott singing the female sample in "Natural Blues," Moby doing his thing, and the blue men being as quirky as can be.
*NSYNC Sticks To Formula On Next Album
(02.21) Source - Allstar: *NSYNC took a few moments out of its busy partying schedule at Clive Davis' Pre-GRAMMY party at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday (Feb. 20) to fill allstar in on the juicy details of the boys' third album.
�����"It's basically another step above what the last album was," says Joey Fatone amid gulps of a Jack Daniels and Coke. "We're taking it another notch and bringing some edge to it. Electronically, musically, vocally - everything - just taking it another level."
�����The group has polished off six songs in an Orlando, Fla., recording studio, including "Dirty Pop," "Game Over," "Gone," and "Celebrity," and are recording a few more in Los Angeles during GRAMMY week. In total, the plan is to nail down around 20 tracks from which to choose from for the final track listing.
�����Additionally, the boys have done a lot more of the writing this time around, according to Lance Bass. "We've written and produced all of it so far," reports Bass, somewhat unsurely. "I don't know if we want to write the whole thing."
�����So what's it all sound like? "We're into club mixes more, and it's a little more urban with the ballads," describes Bass. "But other than that, we stayed with the same formula as No Strings Attached, because it did so good. I think we finally found what we're good at."
�����*NSYNC will kick off a massive stadium tour in support of the as-yet-untitled album May 12 in Miami, on which many of the group's new tracks will be debuted. "We're gonna do a bunch of new ones, whichever ones stand out the most," says Fatone.
�����One word describes how this tour will differ from the group's No Strings Attached tour: Bigger. As if that's possible. "A lot bigger," says Fatone. "A lot of different special effects and gags. We're taking it above and beyond. It's pretty exciting. We've seen the drawing for the stage. Its pretty impressive."
�����*NSYNC's follow-up to the record-shattering No Strings Attached is due in June on Jive Records. Meanwhile, the group is vying for three GRAMMY Awards at the 43rd Annual ceremony in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Feb. 21).
Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Dido Highlight Clive Davis Pre-GRAMMY Party
(02.21) Source - Allstar: Now in its 26th year, Clive Davis' pre-GRAMMY Awards party is the bash leading up to the Super Bowl of music, and Tuesday's (Feb. 20) edition at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., did not disappoint.
�����The cross-genre, cross-label, cross-generational event (members of *NSYNC, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Babyface, Tony Bennett, and Brad Paisley could all be seen mingling within 20 feet of each other) is a celebration of music like no other. Sets by Angie Stone, Dido, Wyclef Jean, Gladys Knight, Joe, Luther Vandross, Alicia Keys, and Stevie Wonder highlighted an evening of culinary gluttony and musical overload. The 775-strong guest list was a coveted invitation and was certainly not limited to Davis' new label, J Records, and its artists.
�����"He throws the best parties...by far," *NSYNC's Lance Bass told allstar. "Last year was probably the best party I have ever been to."
�����"Clive Davis does some big things so it's always good to represent and show your support," adds fellow *NSYNCer Justin Timberlake, who recently shaved his head. "Especially after everything that's happened for him last year. I hope for him that J Records goes well."
�����Although Davis' party is first and foremost a celebration for the ears, the stomachs were tended to first. Over 400 live Maine lobsters, 533 feet of asparagus, 650 olives, 6,000 pieces of hors d'oeuvres, and 350 bottles of wine were served to a star-studded crowd, which also included Mary J. Blige, Boys II Men, Melissa Etheridge, Carlos Santana, Quincy Jones, Brian McKnight, O-Town, Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas, Mya, ex-New Radical Gregg Alexander, Eve, Gloria Estefan, Carson Daly, Tara Reid, Bill Bellamy, Steven Seagal, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and Dick Clark, among others.
�����Soul-R&B artist Angie Stone kicked off the musical portion of the evening with her hit "No More Rain (In This Cloud)" before giving way to the first of several beautiful musical moments of the evening. R&B legend Gladys Knight jolted the black-tie crowd to its feet with a rip-roaring rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia" with Stone helping out on background vocals.
�����After an impressive tune by new J recording artist Alicia Keys, R&B man-of-the-moment Joe picked up right where Knight left off with his hit ballad "I Wanna Know." Dido followed with a gorgeous acoustic set of her two hits "Here With Me" and "Thank You." Wyclef Jean then busted out with an impromptu freestyle rap that name-checked Davis and audience members Wonder and Seagal before welcoming Mary J. Blige onstage for their hit "911 (Ghetto Love)."
�����Luther Vandross then stirred up a soul revival with a short set highlighted by his hit "A House Is Not a Home." And then it was all about Stevie Wonder, despite an awkward set, which saw several songs begin, but few songs actually end. "My Cherie Amour" brought the house down, however, before Wonder invited Vandross out and appeared to be actually teaching him a song on the spot. In total, it seemed at least three songs were aborted mid-tune, but regardless, he's Stevie, and that's all these attendees really cared about. And kudos to Davis for putting it all together.
�����"Clive Davis is one of the last pioneers we have," said Best New Artist GRAMMY Nominee Shelby Lynne at the pre-dinner cocktail hour. "We need and want him...desperately."
*NSYNC Plans Odyssey, Album
(02.21) Source - Wall Of Sound: Whether tireless performers or just rushing to strike while the teen pop iron is still hot, the boys of *NSYNC have announced a major North American tour and an accompanying new album.
�����*NSYNC's No Strings Attached, which broke sales records after its March release, still stands strong at No. 38 on the Billboard Top 200, and the dust is still settling from the quintet's summer and fall tour, which concluded in late November.
�����*NSYNC's latest tour, dubbed Pop Odyssey, will kick off May 12 in Miami's Pro Player Stadium and will hit 35 cities before wrapping Aug. 18 in Memphis, Tenn.
�����Along the way, the band will release its follow-up to No Strings Attached. The new album, which does not yet have a title, is expected from Jive Records in June.
�����Tickets for half of the shows are already on sale, and the remaining dates will go on sale in the coming weeks, with information posted on the band's Web site, nsync.com.
�����Observers have pointed to the Backstreet Boys' (relatively) quick exit from the Top 10 and reduced radio play for teen pop acts as signs that the genre is waning. Others, however, note that this may only indicate that the Backstreet Boys' Black & Blue was not filled with radio-friendly material.
�����The new album from *NSYNC, as well as the record Britney Spears is making in Sweden with Max Martin, may just be the test.
�����*NSYNC tour dates:
�����May
�����May 12 � Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Fla.
�����May 15 � Tropicana Field, Tampa, Fla.
�����May 18 � Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville, Fla.
�����May 20 � Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Miss.
�����May 22 � TBA, Charlotte, N.C.
�����May 24 � Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.
�����May 26, 28 � Hershey Park Stadium, Hershey, Pa.
�����May 31 � Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.
�����June
�����June 1 � Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.
�����June 3 � Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
�����June 4 � Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
�����June 6 � Cynergy Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
�����June 10 � Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, N.Y.
�����June 12 � Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pa.
�����June 16 � Soldier Field, Chicago, Ill.
�����June 19 � Sky Dome, Toronto, Ontario
�����June 22 � Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
�����June 24 � Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minn.
�����June 26 � Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.
�����June 29 � Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich.
�����July
�����July 2 � Trans World Dome, St. Louis, Mo.
�����July 4 � War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock, Ark.
�����July 6 � Reliant Astrodome, Houston, Texas
�����July 8 � Texas Stadium, Dallas, Texas
�����July 10 � Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
�����July 13 � Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colo.
�����July 16 � Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.
�����July 18 � Bank One Ballpark, Scottsdale, Ariz.
�����July 21 � Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
�����July 24 � Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
�����July 27 � Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nev.
�����July 31 � Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, N.M.
�����August
�����Aug. 5 � Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
�����Aug. 7 � Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala.
�����Aug. 10 � Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky.
�����Aug. 13 � RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
�����Aug. 16 � RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Ind.
�����Aug. 18 � Liberty Bowl Stadium, Memphis, Tenn.
*NSYNC To Take It Slow At The Grammy Awards
(02.20) Source - Launch: *NSYNC will perform its Richard Marx-penned ballad, "This I Promise You" at the Grammy Awards Wednesday (February 21). The quintet rehearsed several different versions of the track from their album No Strings Attached during its sound check on Sunday (February 18) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
�����Singer JC Chasez told Launch that the pressure's off for the members of *NSYNC because they don't have to host Wednesday's ceremony like they did at the Billboard Awards in December. (Wednesday the pressure will be on comedian Jon Stewart, who will be hosting). "Well, (for) the Grammys I don't think I can relax, but I would think that it would be a bit more relaxing because we don't have the pressure of hosting," he said. "Now we get to kind of sit back and just let everything unfold."
�����*NSYNC is nominated for record of the year and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for "Bye Bye Bye," and best pop vocal album for No Strings Attached. The 43rd annual Grammy Awards take place Wednesday (February 21) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles from 8-11 PM ET, and CBS will air the event live. *NSYNC's third Jive Records album is expected to be released as early as June.