Lady Gaga's Born This Way Is 'Incredible,' Manager Says

'We're very excited about it,' Troy Carter says of upcoming LP.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: MTV News

There's been a lot of buzz about Lady Gaga's Born This Way, with Gaga herself opening up about the upcoming LP at a recent concert stop. And while there are still some details up in the air, like what it will sound like and when it will drop, one of the team's main men shared a few more details about the full-length follow-up to Gaga's smash debut, The Fame.

"We're just starting to play music for the label," Gaga's manager and Coalition Media Group CEO Troy Carter said during an interview at the recent Billboard Touring Conference and Awards. "We're very excited about it. We're starting to play a little for people and getting a feel for it, and she's done an incredible job, a really incredible job."

Carter also talked about what the new album will mean for the business of Gaga, admitting he has no set strategy for it. "Well, you know what, it's not where I go from a business standpoint, it's more about where she goes creatively because, truth be told, we built the business around her creative infrastructure and that business that was built is unique to Lady Gaga," he explained, not willing to reveal a release date. "We haven't announced a date ... nope ... it's coming soon."

RedOne, who has worked with Gaga on smashes like "Bad Romance" and on the current album, believes that Born This Way will really step up the singer's already stepped-up game. "I think it's more of her freedom album. It's like freedom, this album ... it's her album!" he explained to MTV News.

"To be honest with you, I think that this album that she's making is too precious to talk about. When it comes out you'll hear and you'll make your choice. I think you're gonna love it. But I think it's too precious for me to talk about it. It's crazy."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652258/20101115/lady_gaga.jhtml

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Usher Promises An 'Incredible Tour'

'Incredible records go with incredible tours,' he tells MTV News of his string of hits.
By Hillary Crosley


Usher
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

Don't call it a comeback, but following a tumultuous 2009 that included a messy divorce, Usher could describe the past 12 months as his climb back to the top. Now, he's celebrating with a national tour.

"Been hard at work getting ready for this tour ... Man, ya'll are really in for a treat," the singer tweeted Monday. "I'm on. Twits back up."

Recently, MTV News caught up with Ursh about his upcoming national run.

"The tour starts November 13 in Seattle," Usher said. "[Producer] Max Martin made an incredible record with 'DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love,' but what would I expect: less? He's one of the best."

Racking up several hits on the Billboard chart this year, including "OMG" featuring will.i.am, his current single checks in at #5 on the Hot 100, and Usher couldn't be happier.

"[I'm] loving it. Just in time for an incredible tour," Usher said during a recent visit to New York. "I took a step away from L.A. tonight. My dancers and crew are real hot with me right now."

Earlier this week, the singer was nominated for four Soul Train Awards, along with Alicia Keys. Usher is up for Best R&B/Soul Artist Male, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Dance Performance.

The singer was confident that his upcoming run will be memorable. "The tour's gonna be incredible," Usher said. "Incredible records go with incredible tours."

Will you check out Usher's tour? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1650370/20101019/usher.jhtml

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Usher Remembers Being A 'Pizza Face' On 'When I Was 17'

'I had really, really bad acne ' he admits in Saturday's episode.
By Mawuse Ziegbe


Usher on "When I Was 17"
Photo: MTV News

He's known as one of the smoothest R&B sensations to grace the stage, but when Usher was 17, he grappled with a far less flattering image.

"I went through this phase where I had really, really bad acne," the singer admits on the latest episode of "When I Was 17," premiering Saturday at 11 a.m. Usher, who was 17 in 1995, reveals with a grin that his nickname was "Pizza Face."

"His acne was so horrible," recalled one of Usher's more blunt friends, Keith. "His face was so jacked up."

Music mogul and producer Jermaine Dupri remembered how the entertainer's spotty complexion led him to shy away from the spotlight.

"He didn't want to go out. He wanted to stay in," Dupri says. "He was a little ashamed of what was going on with his face."

The singer went to extreme, and ultimately unsuccessful, lengths to disguise his breakouts.

"As a dude, you're not gonna put makeup on your face, right?" Usher said. "I tried that, it didn't even work."

He may have experimented with cosmetics and spent a few more nights at home but the multiplatinum star didn't let his acne hold him back from wooing the ladies. "I was 17, so I would still try to talk to girls [and] get past it," Usher reasoned.

He even had some smooth lines to drop when he wanted to draw attention away from his skin. " 'Don't look at that, look at my eyes, baby. I'm trying to say something real serious to you right here,' " Usher recalled, reenacting his complexion-deflecting dating moves. "I know I have pizza face, I don't care."

In the end, his skin cleared up and the singer said it was just a matter of riding out a rite passage that many teens are forced to endure.

"This is something that all 17-year-olds have to deal with," Usher said. "You can't run away from it."

— this week featuring B.o.B, Usher and Ne-Yo — premieres Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1647586/20100911/usher.jhtml

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New Led Zeppelin On The Way? Jason Bonham Hints At 'Jam' Sessions With Jimmy Page -- But Not Robert Plant

Drummer admits he doesn't know what will come of 'new material.'
By Chris Harris


Jason Bonham
Photo: Larry Marano/ Getty Images

On Friday morning, mere hours before he was due to take the stage with classic rockers Foreigner at Detroit's GM Renaissance Center, drummer Jason Bonham — the son of late Led Zeppelin kitman John Bonham — told Jim Johnson and Lynne Woodison of local rock station 94.7 WCSX that he'd be an ex-member of Foreigner as of September 1. But that's not the only thing he said.

Much to the delight of Led Zeppelin fans everywhere, Bonham revealed that he's been meeting up with Led Zep guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones in recent months and that they've been "trying to do some new material and writing."

It was the first time since Led Zeppelin announced they would re-form for a single performance (which happened late last year at London's O2 Arena, in honor of the late Ahmet Ertegün, who signed the band to Atlantic Records in 1969) that anyone connected to the band has confirmed publicly that new music could be on the horizon for the iconic rockers. While the bandmembers have stopped short of definitively ruling out such a reunion, singer Robert Plant insisted in the wake of last year's show that he intended to focus on promoting and touring behind his critically lauded album with bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, Raising Sand.

Not that Bonham knows what — if anything — will happen with the new material he's been working on with Page (who collaborated with pop singer Leona Lewis on an uneven version of Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" at the Olympic closing ceremonies in Beijing on Sunday night) and Jones. He said he just shows up and takes his seat behind the kit.

"I've been over [to England] a couple of times," Bonham said. "I've been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying to do ... some new material and some writing. I don't know what it will be, but it will be something. At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material. When I get there, I never ask any questions. If I get a phone call to go and play, I enjoy every moment of it. Whatever it ends up as, to ever get a chance to jam with two people like that, it is a phenomenal thing for me. It's my life. It's what I've dreamed about doing."

He said it's still too early to tell what will become of these "jam" sessions, but admitted that the "possibility of doing something is in the cards. I really felt it was in the cards from the moment we walked offstage at the O2." Bonham also explained that, before there could be a Led Zep LP, "lots of politics [would need to] get ironed out," but added that recording with Zep is "something I've always wanted to do."

Bonham noticeably didn't mention frontman Plant's name during the discussion. A spokesperson for Page's management had no comment on the matter, and a spokesperson for Jones' management could not be reached by press time.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1593468/20080825/led_zeppelin.jhtml

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