Reunited rockers Guns N’ Roses have expanded their “Not in this Lifetime” tour. See the dates below.

The new dates will see the band returning to many of the cities they hit on their original post-reunion trek, albeit in slightly scaled-down venues. Not to say the shows will be intimate, the band will just be playing arenas instead of stadiums.

In addition to the new fall dates, Guns N’ Roses have also added a date at the War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, to their previously-announced summer run. They will be opening that leg of the tour in St. Louis, the city of the infamous 1991 “Riverport Riot,” where frontman Axl Rose assaulted a fan in the audience for taking pictures and abruptly ended the band’s set.

The band has also announced a variety of opening acts including ZZ Top, Sturgill Simpson, Deftones, Royal Blood, Our Lady Peace and Live for the summer dates. Openers for the newly-released dates have not yet been revealed.

For the full list of tour dates, Click Here.

​Written by Eugene

They first found success overseas in 1995. It wasn’t until 1997 when their US debut album hit the shelves. The release peaked at number 4 and has since sold 14 million copies worldwide. In 1999, Millennium was released debuting at number one on the Billboard chart with 1,134,000 copies sold in the week of release and became the best-selling album of the year with over nine million albums sold. Black & Blue was released in 2000 and sold 1.6 million copies in its first week. After years of struggling and then hitting it big in the world of pop music the Backstreet Boys decided it was time for them to leave their management team in 2002. Things got hairy when Nick Carter decided to stay and work on solo projects. In a lawsuit against filed against Zomba Music Group the Backstreet Boys claimed their label promoted Carter’s solo efforts at the expense of the group. The boys would not appear together for almost two years after that. 

How did their solo turns go?

Nick Carter – His first solo album, Now or Never reached number 17 on the Billboard chart and was certified gold in both the US and Canada in 2002. It wasn’t until 2011 that Carter would release another solo effort, titled I’m Taking Off. This album failed to have a major impact on the charts but Carter would return with another effort only this time in an odd twist, he released a joint album titled Nick & Knight with fellow boybander and New Kids on the Block member, Jordan Knight. Their album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200 and in 2015 Carter was back again with All American which was released in 2015 but failed to chart on the Billboard 200.

Brian Littrell – His Christian album Welcome Home, peaked at 74 on the Billboard 200 chart but landed at number three on the Christian Albums chart and his song “Welcome Home (You)” peaked at number one on the Christian Songs chart. Since this release in 2006, Littrell hasn’t released any other solo albums or songs.

AJ McLean –  McLean broke free from BSB during the height of their popularity in 2000. He tried to establish an alter ego, “Johnny No Name” to use when not performing with the group. Though no album was ever released Johnny No Name performed as part of the Save the Music campaign for VH1 in 2000. AJ McLean wouldn’t release a solo album until 2010, Have It All failed to chart in the US. Just as recently as 2016, McLean teased new music however no new album has been released.

Howie Dorough – He started the project back in 2002 but kept shelving it to focus on new BSB music. Finally in 2011, Dorough released Back to Me the album was initially released in Japan and then released in the US failing to chart on the Billboard 200. 

While it was Kevin who officially left the group to peruse other things, he has yet to release a solo album. Back in 2012 he teased the possibility of releasing an album of covers but as of now that album has not seen the light of day.

Click Here, to read about how the boys reunited after their attempts at solo stardom. 

Written by Kristen

Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgens hosted the 2017 Billboard Music Awards live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last night. The show really could have been named the “Drake Music Awards” as the rapper won 13 awards. He took home the hardware for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Rap Artist, and Top Rap Album, JUST TO NAME A FEW!

The awards were secondary to the amount of performances that were packed into the time slot. Nicki Minaj opened the show with features from Jason Derulo, David Guetta and Lil Wayne. The evening’s big winner, Drake also performed but he took his performance outside to the Bellagio fountains (ala Britney Spears circa 2001). Miley Cyrus continued her more subdued era by performing her new song “Malibu”, “for the first time in years with pants on” as her loving sister Noah pointed out.

Other big winners of the night were The Chainsmokers. They performed “Young” for the first time on TV. Behind the scenes the duo showed love for K-Pop group, BTS with each Twitter accounts posting pictures of the groups hanging out. The Chainsmokers handle cryptically tweeting “See you guys this summer”. Could there be a collaboration in the works? Or is the pair just planning on seeing the group on tour?

In one of the more moving moments of the night, Sean “Diddy” Combs made a surprise appearance to honor the late, Notorious B.I.G. on what would have been the rapper’s 45th birthday. He brought on stage with him, CJ Wallace, Biggie’s son who said “My sister and I carry on his name with tremendous pride, I live my life by his words”. Afterwards, Diddy debuted the trailer for the new documentary Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop which is about the history of Bad Boy Records.

Legends were on hand at this year’s event as both Celine Dion and Cher performed. Dion celebrated the 20th anniversary of Titanic, performing “My Heart Will Go On” and Cher was presented with the Icon Award after singing “Believe” and “If I Could Turn Back Time”. The latter had Cher breaking out an epic, curly haired wig, black leather jacket and fishnets, reminiscent of the 1989 video. During her acceptance speech Cher made a point of saying she just turned 71 and she “can do a 5 minute plank, okay? Just saying”.

All in all, the show was a hefty three hours with performances taking up much of the time and under 10 awards presented during the show. For the full list of winners, Click Here. 

Written by Kristen

It’s the same old story, start off in a boyband, make millions of girls around the globe swoon and then leave said boyband to make it on your own. Some strike gold (Justin Timberlake) and others try to take on a new identity and confuse everyone around them (AJ McLean). Either way, no matter how much fans would rather the boys turned men stay in the group they love, the grass always looks greener as a solo artist.

Over the next few weeks we are going to examine some of the biggest selling boybands and how those who tried to go solo have faired. At the end we'll decide if the boys are better together or if they are better off staying solo.

This week we’ll throw it back slightly to One Direction. We'll recap the success they had as a group and who from 1D is trying to go solo (and how they're doing).

This is a boyband break up that is still pretty fresh. First the boys lost Zayn to solo stardom and then in 2015 the remaining four announced they were taking an “extended hiatus”. Many 1D fans may not be old enough to know the impact the word “hiatus” can have on you, ‘N sync never officially announced they broke up, they’ve just been on “hiatus” since 2002. Anyway, we’ll get back to them later.
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To be fair, Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn never actually wanted to be a boyband, they all auditioned for the British version of the singing competition, X Factor as solo artists. Simon Cowell saw something in each of them though it wasn’t solo success, it was boyband success and so the five boys advanced in the “Groups” category. Placing third in the overall competition, the boys then signed on to Cowell’s record label, Syco Records and eventually with Columbia Records in the US.

Their debut album, Up All Night debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, less than a year later, Take Me Home also debuted at number one this time tripling their debut album’s first week sales at a whopping 540,000 copies sold. With Midnight Memories they made history, they became the first group in Billboard 200 history to have their first three albums debut at number one. Their fourth album was appropriately titled Four as it quickly became a prophesying album being the last album they would record with Zayn. Made in the A.M is the first album One Direction released as a quartet.

Prior to the release of Made in the A.M the group announced they were going on “hiatus” with their last televised performance as a group on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve in December 2015.

How are they doing on their own? Click Here to find out!

Written by Kristen

He doesn’t seem to think so! Tom Brady announced that he would be on the cover of Madden NFL 18 titled the “G.O.A.T. Edition” while also poking fun at the “Madden Curse” and other superstitions such as breaking a mirror and walking under a ladder in a tongue and check video posted on Friday morning.

To understand the “Madden Curse” one must go back to 1998 when the first player on the cover was San Francisco 49ers running back, Garrison Hearst for Madden NFL 1999, he broke his ankle that year. Prior to this all covers featured John Madden, even this year saw two covers one with John and one with Garrison.

From there the curse snowballs, for the 2000 edition, the curse struck twice. Originally meant to include Barry Sanders on the cover, he abruptly retired which allowed for a new athlete to take the cover, Dorsey Levens. Levens and the Green Bay Packers played in two previous Super Bowls but Levens was bothered by a knee injury which led the Packers to finish 8-8 on the year.

Need further proof? In 2003, just days after Madden NFL 2004 featuring Michael Vick hit the shelves, Vick fractured his right fibula and only played in 5 games that season. The Falcons finished 5-11.

Madden NFL 2006 featured Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb. Coming off of a season where they lost the Super Bowl by just 3 points, McNabb would suffer a hernia in the first game of the 05-06 season. Though he went on to play for eight games he ended up needing surgery and missing the rest of the season having the Eagles finish in last place.

Brett Favre had an amazing 2007 season with the Green Bay Packers and retired after it, because of this he was selected to be on the cover of Madden NFL 2008. Then things took a turn. Favre decided he wanted to play and was traded to the New York Jets. Though things started off well for his new team, after a bicep injury he failed to put up ’07 numbers and the Jets did not make the playoffs.

In 2012 Cleveland Browns running back, Peyton Hillis was yet another victim of the “Madden Curse”. In 2011 Hills rushed for more than 1,100 yards, cut to his year on the cover of Madden and he didn’t even reach 600 yards. His production after being put on the cover was literally cut in half.

Brady will be the second New England Patriot to grace the cover in two years. Last year’s cover boy was Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots won the Super Bowl but Gronk missed it due to being put on the injured reserve for the entire postseason.

The New England quarterback turns 40 on August 3rd, will his age have a hand in any troubles he might have this season or will it be the “Madden Curse”?

Madden NFL 18 the “G.O.A.T. Edition” drops on August 25th you can reserve your copy now.
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Written by Kristen

​Imagine Dragons have announced a North American tour in support of their upcoming album, Evolve.

The alternative rock band unveiled the name and album artwork on their third LP on Twitter. Evolve is due June 23rd via KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records and will contain 11 songs. So far, the group has released three tracks from the album – “Believer,” “Thunder” and “Whatever it Takes.” “Believer” has held the #1 spot on alternative radio charts for the past six weeks.

The tour will start on September 26th in Phoenix, Arizona and conclude November 16th in Anaheim, California. Support will come from Grouplove and K. Flay on select dates.

Imagine Dragons latest, Smoke and Mirrors, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and has sold over a million copies worldwide. The band will perform at the Billboard Music Awards, which will air on May 21st on ABC.

For the full list of tour dates, Click Here.

Written by Eugene

​Whenever a game goes beyond the standard 9 innings, any innings that follow are looked at just as they’re titled, extra. These innings are being thrown in for free, and if your New York Yankees announcer, Michael Kay, you may even exclaim “bonus cantos” which he translates to mean “free Baseball” whenever this happens.

Earlier in the week, the Yankees played a game that had just that, free Baseball! Their game in Chicago ended in the wee-hours of the morning on Monday. The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs played two games in one night, but it only counts as one loss Cubs fans, don’t worry.

What started Sunday night was your average baseball game, what ended Monday morning was a record breaking game that saw 44 strikeouts combine. This was the first game in MLB history where each team stuck out at least 21 times. Were the pitchers on fire? Or by the end of it, were the hitters just tired? Either way the game ended after 18 innings, which included both a 7th inning stretch and a 14th inning stretch.

Though a marathon, this game was actually not the most innings played in a game in MLB history, it isn’t even close!

Back in 1920, the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Robins (pre-Dodgers) played 26 innings and the game ENDED IN A TIE because day became night and this was 1920 and the fields didn’t have lights. On top of that, both starters pitched all 26 innings, again in the 20’s there was no “bullpen”.

There are 2 games tied for 2nd. The first played in 1974, the St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets with 25 innings and the second, in 1984 when The Milwaukee Brewers took on the Chicago White Sox. The latter is unique because, aside from the 25 innings it took to name a winner, this game was also played over the course of two todays. The game was halted in the 18th inning and resumed the next day where play continued for another six innings.

Tied for 3rd are two games that each took 24 innings to complete and that each involve the Philadelphia Athletics. The first from 1906, it was the A’s against the then Boston Americans (now Red Sox). The second game took place in 1945 with the Philadelphia Athletics taking on the Detroit Tigers. This game ended in a tie, each team scored a run in the 4th and 7th innings respectively and then, that was it.

The 4th longest game took place in 1964, the Giants and Mets played 23 innings at Shea Stadium. What makes this game special is it was the 2nd game in a double header! The two teams had already played your run of the mill, 9 innings BEFORE this 23 inning monster.

Coming in at 5th place for most innings played with 22, The Dodgers vs the Astros in 1989.

So while 18 innings may seem like a long game (and it is) there have been plenty other teams who have played for just as long, and longer. 

Written by Kristen

He dropped a new album, headlined Coachella and he recently announced summer tour dates. Kendrick Lamar is the man of the hour and while his new album, Damn is fire, some of his best features were not on any of his albums. Take a look at the five best Kendrick Lamar appearances that aren't on Kendrick Lamar albums:

5. “The Heart Part IV”

Taking aim at everyone from Donald Trump to Drake, “The Heart Part IV” can probably be counted amongst Kendrick’s most vicious tracks. Although it didn’t make the cut for DAMN., “The Heart Part IV” foreshadows the breakneck beat switches that ended up on album standouts like “DNA.” The lyrics ditch Lamar’s typical introspection and go straight for the jugular, using some phenomenal analogies. For instance, this take on the famous Russel Westbrook/Kevin Durant saga (which supposedly references Lamar’s relationship with Drake): [“You jumped sides on me, now you ‘bout to meet Westbrook/Go celebrate with your team and let victory vouch you/Just know the next game played I might slap the ___ out you.”]

4. “Never Catch Me” from Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead!

When Lamar collaborated with Instrumental Hip-Hop’s resident weirdo Flying Lotus, the producer said the following to Pitchfork:

“I appreciate that space when I can sit with the artist and really see how their genius works, and Kendrick is that guy. He’s a visionary thinker. Every time he raps on a song, he raps like I wish I could.”

At the time of that interview, Flying Lotus stated that the two collaborated on 12 or 13 tracks. Two were stated to appear on You’re Dead!, but one was axed for “political reasons.” The remaining number, “Never Catch Me,” is certainly the most abstract song Kendrick Lamar is featured on, but he rides the virtuosic synths and pounding bass drums marvelously while musing about mortality. Few artists have bridged the gap between the avant-garde and the mainstream so well.

3. “Black Friday”

Initially released as a taste of the Kendrick Lamar/J Cole collaborative album that doesn’t appear to be coming out anymore (or at least any time soon), “Black Friday,” like “The Heart Part IV,” was released as a surprise stand-alone single on Black Friday of 2015 and showcases Lamar rapping over the beat from J Cole’s song of the same name. The verses continue Lamar’s Tupac fascination from To Pimp a Butterfly (that album’s closing track, “Mortal Man” has an “interview” between Lamar and Tupac, spliced together from old Tupac clips) while simultaneously critiquing a Billboard list of the “10 Greatest Rappers of All Time” that famously omitted Tupac (but listed Lamar as #9) [“Billboard list need Tupac, damn/But number 9 makes sure he lives on, yeah”]

Black Friday is one of Lamar’s most technical pieces – packed to the brim with pop culture references and quick snaps into doubletime.

To read more, Click Here.

Written by Eugene

After a countdown posted on her website expired, Janet Jackson announced that she will resume her postponed tour.

Jackson rescheduled dates in April 2016 due to a much-publicized pregnancy. The singer gave birth to her first child, Eissa, in January.

In April, a Jackson fan, Tiana Adams, filed a class action lawsuit against Live Nation due to repeated delays, claiming that the entertainment company was skirting around refunding customers by stating the tour would be rescheduled and refusing to deem it cancelled. Jackson first postponed the tour in summer 2015 to undergo surgery and cancelled a slew of European dates shortly thereafter, only to reschedule again for over a year.

Jackson has also changed the name of the tour from Unbreakable, the name of her most recent album, to “State of the World,” a song off her album Rhythm Nation 1814.

For the full list of tour dates, Click Here.

Written by Eugene