Songs For Japan Includes Eminem, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga And More

Benefit album is now on iTunes, with proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
By James Montgomery


Songs For Japan Cover Art
Photo: EMI Music Group

On Monday, we learned the names of some of the stars set to appear on Songs For Japan, a compilation album to benefit the ongoing disaster relief efforts in the earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged nation. And on Friday (March 25), not only was the full roster of artists and songs revealed, but the album was made available for purchase on iTunes.

Lady Gaga, Eminem, Beyoncé, Madonna, the Kings of Leon and Katy Perry joined a list of already-announced artists like Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna on the album, which is available worldwide on the iTunes Store for $9.99. Proceeds from the sale of Songs for Japan will benefit the Japanese Red Cross Society.

All in all, 38 artists lent songs to the album, including legends like Bob Dylan, U2, Bruce Springsteen and the late John Lennon; country acts like Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum; rock artists like the Foo Fighters, R.E.M. and Bon Jovi; pop icons like Madonna and Pink; and top hitmakers like Bruno Mars and David Guetta.

All acts appearing on Songs for Japan — and their labels and music publishers — have waived their royalties and proceeds from the worldwide sales of the album to insure the Japanese Red Cross Society receives as much support as possible. The JRCS will use funds from the album to support its ongoing relief efforts and for eventual recovery assistance to the areas hardest hit by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis. iTunes will also donate its proceeds from the album's worldwide sales to the benefit of the JRCS.

The track list for Songs for Japan, according to Apple:

1. John Lennon, "Imagine"
2. U2, "Walk On"
3. Bob Dylan, "Shelter From the Storm"
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Around the World"
5. Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"
6. Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable"
7. Bruno Mars, "Talking to the Moon"
8. Katy Perry, "Firework"
9. Rihanna, "Only Girl (In the World)"
10. Justin Timberlake, "Like I Love You"
11. Madonna, "Miles Away"
12. David Guetta, "When Love Takes Over"
13. Eminem (featuring Rihanna), "Love the Way You Lie"
14. Bruce Springsteen, "Human Touch"
15. Josh Groban, "Awake"
16. Keith Urban, "Better Life"
17. Black Eyed Peas, "One Tribe"
18. Pink, "Sober"
19. Cee Lo Green, "It's OK"
20. Lady Antebellum, "I Run to You"
21. Bon Jovi, "What Do You Got?"
22. Foo Fighters, "My Hero"
23. R.E.M., "Man on the Moon"
24. Nicki Minaj, "Save Me"
25. Sade, "By Your Side"
26. Michael Bublé, "Hold On"
27. Justin Bieber, "Pray"
28. Adele, "Make You Feel My Love"
29. Enya, "If I Could Be Where You Are"
30. Elton John, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
31. John Mayer, "Waiting on the World to Change"
32. Queen, "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)"
33. Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
34. Sting, "Fragile"
35. Leona Lewis, "Better in Time"
36. Ne-Yo, "One in a Million"
37. Shakira, "Whenever, Wherever"
38. Norah Jones, "Sunrise"

Will you download the benefit album? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1660688/songs-japan-includes-eminem-justin-bieber-lady-gaga-more.jhtml

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Lady Gaga Surprises Drag Queens At Louisville Bar

After performing her Monster Ball in Kentucky, the pop star joins a Gaga impersonator at a nearby club.
By Gil Kaufman


Lady Gaga performs in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday
Photo: Gil Kaufman

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The concourse at the KFC YUM! Center was packed with Lady Gaga impersonators — male and female — during her show at the venue on Saturday night. There were drag queens in towering heels, caution tape and not much else, and an endless sea of ladies in neon-colored wigs strutting their stuff in a variety of homebrewed costumes based on Gaga video looks, from the soda-can-in-the-hair 'do to skull face-paint, hot pants, fishnets and lots of glitter.

One venue employee said that at a pre-show meeting to discuss appropriate attire for attendees, they were told "anything" goes, as long as underwear of some sort was involved.

But even after a nearly two-hour Monster Ball extravaganza that featured the usual compliment of fire-belching pianos, sexy, nun-stocked subway cars and an attack by a giant angler fish puppet, Gaga had still not had enough. According to a video posted on TMZ, Mother Monster popped up unexpectedly at a Louisville gay bar called Connections at around 1:15 a.m. to show the girls how "Born This Way" should sound.

The instantly iconic gay anthem — which she'd done onstage as both a moving piano ballad and as a show-stopping, night-capping encore — was being performed by a queen at the club when the Gaga walked out unannounced, wearing fishnets and a black leotard, and proceeded to make the club go nuts by singing the song live over a pounding remix.

Gaga performed an impromptu dance duet with her doppelganger, a 6-foot-plus queen in a spangled bikini and long blonde wig, and then did a mini-stage dive into the crowd before strutting off stage three minutes later amid screams of delight from her stunned followers.

Have you been to the Monster Ball? Share your favorite moments in the comments!

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Lady Gaga To Direct 'Judas' Video With Laurieann Gibson

During Google fan interview, the pop star also talks about Born This Way cut inspired by the death of her grandfather.
By James Dinh


Lady Gaga
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

As promised, Lady Gaga joined forces with Google on Tuesday to answer a string of fan-generated questions for an hour-long interview posted on YouTube called "Musicians@Google Presents: Google Goes Gaga."

While the pop star dished on a range of topics, including her upcoming album, Born This Way, and aspiring-singers-turned-viral-YouTube stars (yes, she mentioned Rebecca Black), the most exciting news she shared with her fans was that she'll be directing the video for her next single, "Judas," alongside creative director Laurieann Gibson.

"I'm very excited. Actually, I can exclusively reveal here at Google that I will be making my directorial debut with Laurieann Gibson, directing this video with her ourselves," the singer said to the cheers of the interview's live audience.

Keeping in line with the song's title, Mother Monster also admitted that the clip will include religious imagery. "It's no surprise, I'm sure, to many of you, that Judas is a man of the biblical senses, so expect to see some symbolism in this video," she said.

Gaga also gave fans a taste of the club track's lyrics by offering a few lines from the song. "When he comes to me, I am ready/ I'll wash his feet with my hair if he needs/ Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me/ I'll bring him down, a king with no crown," she recited.

Gaga explained that "Judas," which she produced along with RedOne, talks about confronting one's demons. "You have to look into what is haunting you and you need to look into forgiving yourself in order to move on," she said. "And it's really fun to dance to and sounds like it could be a pop priest record."

She also described a track off her "avant-garde techno rock" LP called "Edge of Glory." Recalling the loss of her grandfather last year, Gaga revealed that she wrote the tune at an emotional moment at the piano while taking tequila shots with her father. "The song's about your last moment on Earth, the moment of truth. The edge of glory is that moment right before you leave the Earth," she said.

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Deadmau5 Brings Dance Music To The 'Masses,' Wolfgang Gartner Says

'He has a major role in the younger generation to this music,' producer/DJ tells MTV News of his collaborator.
By Adam Stewart


deadmau5
Photo: Charley Gallay/ Getty Images

It's no secret that 2010 was a pivotal year for electronic dance music here in the States. With deadmau5 and Swedish House Mafia becoming household names, the genre's momentum shows no signs of slowing down. Using a conduit of collaboration, artists such as deadmau5 (a.k.a. Joel Zimmerman) have paired up with various underground acts to further the rapid expansion of the genre.

Perhaps one of the most notable movers and shakers of the year is now-Grammy-Award-nominated producer and DJ Wolfgang Gartner, who recently sat down to chat with MTV News about deadmau5 and dance music's rise to the top.

"He has a major role in the younger generation to this music," Gartner says, "but there have been certain artists that have been instrumental in helping it cross over and reach the mainstream — which I think is a good thing. I think rap artists using dance beats is a great thing. I think it just brings more people towards this music that we all love."

Thanks to several key moments, such as deadmau5 taking the helm as house DJ (well, technically "House Artist") for the 2010 VMAs, dance music has been thrown into the forefront of America's youth, a key demographic for any genre.

"Everybody knows who he is now and he's kind of exposing the masses to dance music. These little five-, six- and seven-year-old kids latch on to this 'mau5head' logo — they get into the music and he's bringing this tiny young generation into this music that probably wouldn't be exposed to it."

Gartner certainly doesn't mind the exposure either. Unless you were living under a rock for the past six months, you probably heard one of this past summer's hottest anthems, "Animal Rights," a collaborative effort brought forth by deadmau5 and Gartner.

"It was interesting because I kind of had a preconceived notion about how he would be to work [with]," said Gartner. "I think our sounds are really similar, so I figured he would work in a similar way to me, but the way that he writes music is actually completely different to me. But he achieves kind of the same sound through a completely different process."

Recorded in deadmau5's favorite Los Angeles studio — that would be rocker Tommy Lee's House — "Animal Rights" is a thumping progressive house anthem that melds Wolfgang's unmistakable harmonics and funk riffs with the driving bass line and wobbly synths that make deadmau5 one of the unique forces in the dance music world.

"[Deadmau5] writes these rich complex chord progressions and he does it by drawing these little bars on a grid, which is just amazing that you can do that and get that result," Gartner goes on to say. "It just proves you don't have to be able to play keyboards to write amazing music."

The two sound pioneers never cease to stop pushing the limits on what they are able to produce. Using drastically difference production approaches, deadmau5 and Gartner had the ability to play off each other's strengths while recording the track.

"I'd say the biggest thing is that I play everything in on a keyboard, like even my drums," says Gartner. "I play everything in live and he draws it in with notes on a mouse, which blew me away because his music is very musical."

What do you think 2011 will hold for deadmau5 and Gartner? Let us know in the comments below!

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