concerts (176 posts)

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People, it was really nothing.

After breathing problems forced Morrissey to cancel two shows, the former Smiths frontman resumed his U.K. tour Tuesday night at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Morrissey, 50, fell to his knees Saturday after finishing the first song of his set in the city of Swindon and had to be carried offstage by two of his band members.

The Maladjusted crooner was hospitalized overnight for observation. On the advice of his doctors, he scrapped a gig Monday in Bournemouth so he could get some rest.

But back on his feet last night, Morrissey made light of his ailment, pretending to faint at one point before jumping back up and shouting, "Thank you, Swindon!" per the BBC.

"The doctor said I shouldn't smile. I told him, 'I don't,' " cracked the usually somber hitmaker.

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There's the family we were born with and the family we find along the way. Bruce Springsteen has both.

And tonight, his show with the E Street Band in Kansas City, Mo., was "unavoidably cancelled" following a death in Springsteen's "immediate family," according to a statement on the rocker's website.

No further details were available, but local police told the K.C. Star that they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death this afternoon of a member of Springsteen's road crew.

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So, we're checking out the new Rihanna single and... Wait, what? Chris Brown's going on tour? Say, that is news!

Just hours after his ex released her first solo single since being assaulted by Brown in February, Brown announced plans for a Fan Appreciation Tour to—just as it sounds—thank the folks who have stood by him in the wake of his arrest and subsequent guilty plea.

The month-long jaunt kicks off Nov. 14 at the House of Blues in Houston and will touch down in similar capacity venues in 19 cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Small theaters were chosen to encourage a "fans only" atmosphere, according to tour organizers.

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Seems like Sasha Fierce isn't putting up much of a fight.

Beyoncé has called off a planned concert for culturally sensitive Malaysia after facing some pretty fierce objections from Islamic critics upset over her sexy stage outfits and dance routines.

The R&B songstress was due to perform Oct. 25 at the National Stadium Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, but according to a statement released by Malaysia-based promoter Marctensia, the performance "has been postponed to a future date to be announced shortly."

"The postponement is soley [the] decision of the artist and has nothing to do with other external reasons," the company added.

Best to let it blow over, B.

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Courtesy: Seth Browarnik / Belvedere

This just in from the Who Didn't See That One Coming file: Lady Gaga's tour plans are continuing apace.

A day after the "Poker Face" singer and Kanye West called off their ill-timed Fame Kills joint tour, her ladyship confirmed that she would still be hitting the road sans a certain stage-jacking rapper.

"Still leaving on solo TOUR this nov.," she tweeted today. "Announcing next week. leaked next single is makin my ears bleed. Wait till you hear the real version ;)"

And while the closest thing to a party line this morning—coming courtesy of Gaga's longtime choreographer Lori Ann Gibson—was that the tour was canceled over "creative differences," the star had another equally P.C. answer ready to dish out today.

"It was a mutual decision," she said before picking up her Billboard Rising Star Award. "Kanye's going to take some time off. But the good news is that I'm going on tour in a few weeks."

Good news for one of them, that is.

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No Kermits were harmed in the making of Lady Gaga's outfits. We think. You might want to check out our Fashion Spotlight gallery just to make sure.

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Yo, Osaka. We're really happy for you, but Kuala Lumpur has one of the best Beyoncé-worthy venues of all time...

We could only hope that's it went down when the Bootylicious One agreed to bring her world tour to Malyasia next month, two years after scrapping a concert there due to anger by Islamic activists over her gyrating stage antics and titillating costumes.

Her website confirmed a stadium gig in the capital city on Oct. 25.

"Beyoncé for the first time ever has decided to make Malaysia part of her 'I Am' World Tour," a Knowles-sanctioned statement reads.

Malaysia's Islamic opposition party has already begun mumruring about a protest. The nation traditionally forced foreign performers to adhere to a strict dress code and code of conduct that includes no jumping shouting, hugging or kissing onstage.

Beyoncé isn't the only artist to run into trouble in Malaysia. Similar complaints have surfaced there in recent years about cleavage-baring performances by the likes of Gwen Stefani, the Pussycat Dolls and Avril Lavigne.

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Decorated music man Elton John might be expanding his brood.

The "Your Song" singer visited Ukraine with his AIDS Foundation on Saturday and found himself taken by a 14-month old boy who lost his parents to the disease.

"David [Furnish] always wanted to adopt a child and I always said no because I am 62 and I think because of the traveling I do and the life I have...wouldn't be fair for the child," John said of his longtime parnter, who was along for the trip.

So why now? "Having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David's heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I've changed my mind today," John lovingly exclaimed.

This new outlook can also be attributed to the recent loss of John's close friend and keyboardist, Guy Babylon.

"It broke my heart because he was such a genius and so young and has two wonderful children," continued the showman. "What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to."

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Elton's generosity is moving. See other celebs who give in our Do-Gooder gallery.

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To pole or not to pole? That is the question for Miley Cyrus.

After taking heat for her simulated stripper action at last month's Teen Choice Awards, Cyrus has decided to drop the prop from her performance of the song "Party in the U.S.A." for her upcoming tour, a source close to the star tell E! News.

In recent dress rehearsals, the 16-year-old replaced the pole with a rolling baggage cart described as "the kind a hotel bellhop uses."

While father Billy Ray Cyrus didn't have much of a problem with his daughter's pole-dancing routine, defending the provocative poses as "art" and saying Miley just "loves entertaining people" (yay, dad!), the fan backlash was immediate.

Now, Miley will keep her concerts tween-friendly. Although the insider says the Hannah Montana missy holds onto a pole, "it's more for support, [and] she doesn't grind her hips."

"Miley cares about being a good role model to her fans and didn't want to offend anyone."

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How do you like your Miley? Make the call once and for all.

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Well, that didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to.

The big-on-talk but short-on-delivery Michael Jackson tribute concert scheduled to take place in Vienna later this month has been postponed to June 2010 and relocated to London, with Jermaine Jackson blaming the move on scheduling conflicts with would-be headliners.

Organizers had been taken to task for its less than all-star lineup—25 acts were promised, only 13 had been named and arguably the three biggest, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Natalie Cole, weren't exactly locked in.

"Numerous stars were just not able to change their schedules to make a live appearance at the Vienna event possible," Jackson said this morning.

"Now we have eight months to put this monumental show together and not just eight weeks."

And eight months, the theory goes, can cajole a lot of superstar participation.

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As if Chris Brown didn't already owe enough of his career to Michael Jackson.

The forgetful avowed abuser, who in his pre-Rihanna beating days was widely tipped to be the next M.J. (at least dance-wise), is leading the pack of performers set to honor the King of Pop at a tribute concert for the star taking place in Vienna Sept. 26.

The event, which incidentally will double as Brown's comeback, marking his first public performance since the February attack, is being organized by Jermaine Jackson, who today announced the first round of performers taking part in the bash at the imperial Schoenbrunn Palace.

All told, 20-25 artists are expected to take part in the "very special tribute," which Jackson said would feature "unforgettable music, as well as shedding light on this wonderful humanitarian."

Forget the world, Brown would settle for healing his career.

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It's not just their fashion sense that's similar. Madonna and Whitney Houston apparently also share the same parenting style. The same pushy, awkward stage mother parenting style, that is.

While there are no doubt plenty of perks associated with being the daughter of a pop diva, this week brought into stark focus that no matter how famous your parents are, there's no escaping embarrassment at their hands—particularly when those hands are working overtime in front of a crowd of YouTube-enabled masses.

Lourdes and Bobbi Kristina both gamely appeared at their respective mothers' sides in concert this week, the former with Madonna during her tour stop in Tel Aviv, the latter alongside the Comeback Kid on Good Morning America.

Both appeared to be enjoying the spotlight, albeit in a slightly out of their element kind of way—though while Lourdes suffered through what appeared to be an accidental headlock at the hands of her mama, B.K., after Houston ordered a minion to produce an extra microphone, stat, did manage to get out a few words.

One of which, miraculously, was not Mo-oooom.

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Someone get Whitney Houston a lozenge.

It's a good thing Good Morning America didn't choose to go live with the songbird's Central Park performance Monday. She arrived with a case of hoarseness verging on laryngitis. Thankfully, not airing the appearance until today bought the ABC morning show a little time to spread the word that the comeback show's weakness was Oprah Winfrey's fault.

According to the New York Daily News, Whitney apologized for all the vocal cracking, adding, "I'm so sorry. I did Oprah. I've been talking for so long."

Still, she pushed through, although the performances themselves were not without a dash of strangeness.

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