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/jason-bonham-hints-at-jam-sessions-with-jimmy-page.jhtml

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Lady Gaga Says Fame Was Her 'Destiny' In New HBO Promo

'There was never a question in my mind that I was gonna make it,' singer says.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

In a new promo for her May 7 HBO special, Lady Gaga recalls her rise to fame. Sitting in a car, her pals by her side, the Mother Monster explains that she always knew she was going to make it and that she woke up one day "and the delusion was real."

"There was never a question in my mind that I was gonna make it and that this is my destiny and that we were all gonna make it as the kids of this city, as the New York generation," she says, driving through the streets of New York to Madison Square Garden where she taped the concert portion of the special.

"My faith in my creativity and my artistry has nothing to do with making it," she continued. "We kind of had already made it when we were playing for nothing downtown. ... We still felt like we were superstars."

She goes on to credit God for her success, as shots of her in the car are edited with ones of her in a deli getting coffee, walking down the street in a skimpy leotard and leather jacket, and greeting fans from her SUV. Later on, in the middle of a prayer, she says, "They used to always tell me, 'You will never be a star because you're too ethnic, you're too Italian, you're too out there.' It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from or how much money you've got in your pocket. You have your own destiny and your own life ahead of you."

This is the latest tease for the special. On Monday, in a promo, Gaga cried about her lingering feelings of inadequacy. "I start to think about all the people that have tried to stop me, and I get this super-intense fury. ... I just sometimes feel like a loser still," she says. "It's crazy 'cause we're at the Garden, but I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school. And I just got to pick myself up and I have to tell myself I'm a superstar every morning so that I can get through this day and be for my fans what they need for me to be. But sometimes I still feel like people are trying to destroy me."

Previous teases have shown Gaga hitting the streets of New York, dressed in a studded leather jacket and high platform ankle boots, as "Born This Way" plays in the background. That same promo showed the madness at MSG leading up to her show, footage of which is also in the clip. In the second, shorter preview, shots of her performance are revealed as her new single, "Judas," plays.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662660/lady-gaga-hbo-promo.jhtml

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Adam Lambert's 'Whole Lotta Love': The Story Behind The Cover

Glam rocker tackled the legendary 1970 Led Zeppelin song for 'American Idol' rock night.
By Gil Kaufman


Adam Lambert performs "Whole Lotta Love" on "American Idol" on Tuesday
Photo: R. Mickshaw/Getty Images/ Fox

Imagine a freight train speeding toward you at midnight. Or a rockslide barreling down a hill as you try to outrace it. That's the feeling of the ominous, chugging Jimmy Page riff that kicks off Led Zeppelin's 1970 Stonehenge of rock, "Whole Lotta Love." And that's before singer Robert Plant leans into one of the nastiest, ecstatic rock screams this side of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

That's the song Adam Lambert chose to sing on "American Idol" rock night Tuesday (May 5), and, needless to say, it was a challenge that the eyeliner-loving Los Angeles stage veteran was more than up for, hitting a series of high notes and rock screams that would have made Plant proud. It was a risky maneuver that paid off for Lambert, who chose a tune that came in at #75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.

The legendary British rock act recorded the tribute to Chicago blues icon Willie Dixon during their second U.S. tour after working it out in their live show, including it on their 1969 classic album Led Zeppelin II. Like many of the songs Zeppelin performed early in their career, "Love" was a blues standard turned on its head with a heavy dose of crunching psychedelic guitar and thundering drums, courtesy of late drummer John Bonham. The song was based on a 1962 tune by another blues forefather, Muddy Waters, called "You Need Love," which was penned by Dixon.

For Zeppelin's version, Plant customized the lyrics by adding some lyrical quotes from a few other songs Dixon wrote for Howlin' Wolf, "Back Door Man" and "Shake For Me," nailing the tricky vocal in a single take. It was also inspired by 1966's "You Need Loving" from the British rock group the Small Faces, for whom Zeppelin had great affection, but they also did not credit Dixon for his part in writing the original lyrics. The song became Zeppelin's first U.S. single and their only U.S. top 10 hit. Though their manager would not let them release singles in the U.K. because he thought it cannibalized album sales, the song was finally released as the band's only British single in 1997.

Dixon sued Zeppelin over the song in 1985, claiming it borrowed too heavily from his "You Need Love," and Zeppelin reached an agreement with him, with Dixon using the money he received to set up a program that provided musical instruments for schools. A cornerstone of heavy rock, the tune -- which was the theme song for the long-running British countdown show "Top of the Pops" in the 1970s and '80s -- has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, from Tina Turner and Ben Harper to Prince, Slash, Leona Lewis, Train's Pat Monahan, the London Symphony Orchestra and Jane's Addiction.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1610709/adam-lamberts-whole-lotta-love-story-behind-cover.jhtml

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Usher Says New 'Rev Pop' Project Is A 'Movement'

Singer teases his new project by pointing to past hits like 'Yeah!' and 'OMG.'
By James Montgomery


Usher
Photo: MTV News

With the success of songs like "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," "Hot Tottie" and "OMG," Usher had himself a fairly massive 2010. But rather than rest on his laurels, he's looking to build on his big year, not with an album, but with a "movement."

It's something he's calling "Rev Pop" — or, simply, "Rev" — and though he's already teased his idea in a video with David Guetta (Akon is also involved), he has yet to speak in full about it. So when MTV News caught up with Ush before the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles at the (Belvedere) RED launch party, we asked him about his next musical endeavor. And though he didn't reveal much, he did let it be known that "Rev" isn't exactly something new. In fact, he's been doing it for a while now.

"I'll give it to you this way: At a later date, I'll tell you more about Rev Pop, but if I were to give you a flash: I've done it before, I did it with 'Yeah!' " he said, "taking a cultural experience, and also worldwide recognition of a feeling, and putting the soul in the middle of it. Not allowing it to shift heavily to R&B genre, or pop. I did it again with 'OMG,' once again putting the soul in the middle of it, which was an electric-pop experience, with the soul.

"It's bringing those elements together to tell a story, that was born here," he said, gesturing toward his heart, "And that's what Rev Pop is. There's more, I mean, I could really elaborate, but that's just what I'm going to tell you right now. 'Rev' is what it's called ... the movement is called Rev."

Usher wouldn't say just when his fans would be getting their first taste of Rev, but whenever they do, it sounds like they're going to be impressed ... if not a little shocked.

"Stay alive," he smiled, "Because you're definitely going to be in for a surprise."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658043/usher-rev-pop.jhtml

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Lady Gaga's 'Judas' Video To Premiere On 'American Idol'

Interscope Records announces clip coming 'the week of May 2.'
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Marco Prosch/ Getty Images

Let the cultural baptism begin, little monsters. Lady Gaga is set to release her "Judas" video the week of May 2 on "American Idol." Interscope Records made the announcement on its Twitter account, adding that more details would be on the way.

The video was co-directed by Mother Monster and her creative director, Laurieann Gibson. And, Gibson has made it clear that this video will have everyone talking.

"It's a phenomenal video: really powerful, really impactful," Gibson commented. "She's such a strong, committed artist. Her loyalty to me is something I will be forever grateful for. We're spiritually connected.

"We need each other ... and 'Judas' is ultimately a representation of our true bond."

Gaga will play Mary Magdalene, with Norman Reedus as Judas.

"I will tell you now, first off, I'm Christian, and my career is evidence of God in my life," Gibson said. "And I think that most people are already thinking that Gaga and the blasphemy and they're premeditating the approach, and I think they'll be very shocked to find out how huge and really groundbreaking the message is and how freeing the message is for all the right reasons. And it's really going to shock the world."

For those who can't wait that long, Gaga is set to perform the track on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Wednesday. It's not the only TV performance Gaga has lined up to get her fans excited for the May 23 release of Born This Way: Last week, it was announced that Gaga would perform on the May 21 episode of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by Justin Timberlake.

She'll also make a May 27 appearance on "Good Morning America" that will kick off the show's summer concert series, and the premiere of Gaga's highly anticipated HBO special, which was taped at New York's Madison Square Garden in February, will be May 7.

"JUDAS is about forgiveness and perseverance through struggle," Gaga tweeted on Easter Sunday. "Persevere today!"

Which of Gaga's upcoming TV appearances are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662577/lady-gaga-judas-music-video-premiere.jhtml

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