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Few bands embodied the era of pop-metal like Bon Jovi. By merging Def Leppard's loud but tuneful metal with Bruce Springsteen's working-class sensibilities, the New Jersey-based quintet developed an ingratiatingly melodic and professional variation of hard rock -- one that appealed as much to teenagers as to housewives. Bon Jovi skillfully employed professional songwriters to give their songs, especially their power ballads, an appropriately commercial sheen, inaugurating a trend that dominated mainstream hard rock and metal for the next decade. |
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Country superstar Toby Keith has filled out his summertime schedule behind last year's "American Ride," confirming dates and venues for several more concerts. The Oklahoma native continues to support last year's "American Ride," which surfaced in October and marked the performer's 13th studio release. The effort's title track--the only song on the album that Keith did not write--served as its lead single, landing the musician his 19th No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. |
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After Neil Young left the Californian folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential and idiosyncratic singer/songwriters of his generation. Young's body of work ranks second only to Bob Dylan in terms of depth, and he was able to sustain his critical reputation, as well as record sales, for a longer period of time than Dylan, partially because of his willfully perverse work ethic. From the beginning of his solo career in the late '60s until the late '90s, he never stopped writing, recording, and performing. |
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Toronto, Ontario, native Drake stepped out as a rapper and singer with major pop appeal in 2006, when he initiated a series of mixtapes. A year later, despite being unsigned, he scored major exposure when his cocky and laid-back track "Replacement Girl," featuring Trey Songz, was featured on BET's 106 & Park program as its "Joint of the Day." He raised his profile throughout the next several months by popping up on countless mixtapes and remixes, and as rumors swirled about contract offers from labels, he gradually became one of the most talked-about artists in the industry. |
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With the next leg of their tour less than a month away, the Backstreet Boys have further filled out the summer itinerary behind the group's most recent Top 10 album, "This Is Us." The road trip, which originally kicked off in April, continues May 23 in New York City, and now includes five Canadian shows in August including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. "With this album, we feel like we kind of went back to what people really know of the Backstreet Boys, the sound of the pop/R&B with a little Euro-dance influence," Dorough explained. "We felt this is what the Backstreet Boys are really known for." |
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Michael Buble is gearing up for the launch of his North American spring and summer tour in support of his chart-topping album "Crazy Love.". Featured concerts include: Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Columbus, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary August 17, Calgary August 18, and Vancouver. “Expect to come and be taken away for a couple hours,” Buble said about his live show. “I really, sincerely love what I do for a living. The fact that I get to do this and do what I love with these people … They‘re gonna see that right away. |
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Jack Johnson will hit the road this summer to support his forthcoming fifth studio album, "To the Sea," and help out a few of his favorite causes at the same time. The singer/songwriter will donate all profits from the 32-city outing--which kicks off July 9 in Hartford, CT--to charity through his All at Once social-action network. The trek includes stops in Toronto, Dallas, Vancouver, Los Angeles and concludes with a pair of mid-October shows in Santa Barbara, CA. |
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Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber has added a series of Western Canadian dates to his world tour. The 16-year-old Canadian, who became an international pop music phenomenon after posting his own videos on YouTube, will be performing in Winnipeg Sept. 14, Regina Sept. 16, Saskatoon Sept. 17, Edmonton Sept. 19, Calgary Sept. 20 and Vancouver Oct. 19. Earlier this year, concerts were announced for Toronto Aug. 21, London Aug. 22 and Ottawa Aug. 24. Bieber, whose second album, My World 2.0, debuted in March, returns to Toronto on Nov. 23 and is performing in Montreal on Nov. 22. |
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Roger Waters has confirmed dates for his long-rumored full-album performances of Pink Floyd's "The Wall," announcing a 33-city North American outing to launch this fall. The trek, which gets underway Sept. 15 in Toronto, will travel to most parts of the US and several Canadian cities during its three-month run, with stops in Vancouver, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The 1979 concept album has previously been performed in its entirety only 31 times, most of them by Pink Floyd during the 1980-81 tour supporting the set, and again in 1990, when Waters performed it with an all-star cast to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. |
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Country star Carrie Underwood has extended her ongoing North American trek through the end of the year as she continues to back last year's "Play On," her third studio album. The outing--the spring leg for which continues April 23 in Grand Rapids, MI, and runs through late June--will pick back up in early fall after a handful of summer festival appearances. The new fall leg, which features dates in more than 45 cities, kicks off Sept. 25 in Portland, OR, stretching through to Vancouver, Edmonton and a Dec. 19 date in Calgary. |
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Rascal Flatts, a country trio known primarily for its pleasing harmony, is comprised of Gary LeVox, Jay Demarcus, and Joe Don Rooney. Demarcus and LeVox, both from Columbus, OH, founded the group and later added Rooney, a Picher, OK, native. The blend now known as Rascal Flatts came together when second cousins Demarcus and LeVox invited Rooney to sit in as a substitute guitar player at a Printer's Alley gig in Nashville. Demarcus and Rooney were also playing in country star Chely Wright's band at the time. The rest is history. |
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Through a combination of zealous righteousness and post-punk experimentalism, U2 became one of the most popular rock & roll bands of the '80s. Equally known for their sweeping sound as for their grandiose statements about politics and religion, they were rock & roll crusaders during an era of synthesized pop and heavy metal. The Edge provided the group with a signature sound by creating sweeping sonic landscapes with his heavily processed, echoed guitars. |
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"With any trilogy," says John Mayer, "the third in the series blows it open."
On CONTINUUM the singer/songwriter/guitar slinger meets that challenge head-on. Mayer's third studio album follows the multi-platinum ROOM FOR SQUARES (2001) and HEAVIER THINGS (2003) and marks his first turn as producer. It is his most soulful, cohesive collection yet and he says it's no accident that this project is where all of his efforts, his potential, and his disparate influences fully come together. |
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The Black Eyed Peas have added a few more shows to the forthcoming world tour, including a pair of year-end performances in Vegas. The trek will stop by arenas in 35 cities, including stops in, Toronto, Boston, Newark, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and more. The Black Eyed Peas dropped their fifth studio set, "The E.N.D.," in June. The Grammy-nominated album, which was produced by the group's own Will.I.Am, topped The Billboard 200 and has spawned three chart-topping singles: "Boom Boom Pow," "I Gotta Feeling" and "Meet Me Halfway." |
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The most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel crafted a series of memorable hit albums and singles featuring their choirboy harmonies, ringing acoustic and electric guitars, and Simon's acute, finely wrought songwriting .The pair recently performed a heralded set at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert. "Simon and Garfunkel walked onstage together to a rapturous standing ovation," said Rolling Stone." |
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