“I must begin by thanking the Lord above for the opportunity to share the gift of music to the world.” So says Christina Aguilera, a teen star so sickly sweet she makes you want to gag.
She can certainly pout. She can also do a pretty good Whitney Houston impression.
It falters on more than one occasion certainly, and the ballad card is played perhaps a touch too often, but Stripped proves that she is a major talent
Inaudible. Cheap. Pap. These are the three words I would use to describe the Christina Aguilera watch worn by Steve Fanagan at the launch of his second album There Is Hope.
The MTV Europe Music Awards 2002 may have been a bit of a damp squib, but an electrifying Foo Fighters, a boards-sweeping Eminem and a nekkid Christina Aguilera prevented it from being a total washout.
A breathtaking variety of acts have come together - as Lennon might have put it - to focus attention on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, under the auspices of Amnesty International.
Having already conquered Ireland and the UK, SAMANTHA MUMBA is poised to join Britney and Christina at the top of the American pop chart. Not bad for someone who two years ago was fired from a panto by Twink! Now, with her new album Gotta Tell You ready for release, the Dublin singer talks candidly to JOE JACKSON about drugs, sex and the break-up of her parents marriage
Let us now praise famous women. 2003 was the year of the female condition in all its most gorgeous and gruesome. Sure, the boys – and men – acquitted themselves admirably, but this year oestrogen overload didn’t necessarily equate with PMT (Pro-Minstrel Attention).
Keyboardist Herbie Hancock achieved legendary status through his adventures with Miles Davis and a myriad other jazz outfits, although his profile as an innovator has been lower since his jazz fusion activities in the '70s.
Squeaky clean pop princess, MTV award-winning actress and all round nice girl Mandy Moore explains why she won't be flashing her knickers any time soon
2 Many DJ's is the new guise of Belgian band and DJs, Soulwax, who have just released one of the hottest remix albums ever. Here you get the chance to listen to a selection of tracks (and win a free copy of the album)...
Having done such a bang up job last year with Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese is turning his attentions to those other rock ‘n’ roll behemoths, The Rolling Stones.
Having down sterling work for the past decade in the States, Send A Piana To Havana makes its presence felt in Dublin on December 10 when it’s the subject of a Vicar St. fundraiser.
Dave Caplice is a man with a knack for being in the right place at the right time. So far, he’s recorded with Wizardz Of Oz, played at Washington’s White House and signed a five-album deal with Telstar, and he’s only just begun
I haven't seen the movie which spawned this soundtrack, but the music certainly stands up on its own and should prove another winner for Madonna's Maverick label.
Freebird Records owner Brian Foley explains why over the past 25 years his store has become a firm favourite with such luminaries as Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello and U2.
When Jackie Hayden popped in on Channel 6 presenter Jenny Buckley, he hadn’t been warned that her inappropriately-named dog Snuggles was actually a guard dog who had a slight aversion to strangers.
EMINEM s supposedly knowing take on the violence, homophobia and misogyny endemic to rap has lost its lustre with his wife s suicide attempt. Report: Peter Murphy
He may be trained to kill, but recently James Blunt has been seducing vast swathes of the population with his poignant love songs. Lured to the Hot Press Chat Room, he tells all about his number one album, the Queen, being shot at in Kosovo and lesbian swim parties.
The sleeve folds out into a poster of Nelly with his bling on display – talk about rubbing it in. It’s suspicious that he released two albums simultaneously last autumn, one representing his street side, the other his smooth side. And it’s disgraceful to combine the best songs eight months later with Sweat Suit, just to squeeze every last penny possible.
With the release of their hugely impressive Turbulence album, LA/Irish outfit Saucy Monky have emerged as genuine contenders. As the critical plaudits continue to mount up, twin lead vocalists and songwriters Cynthia Catania and Annmarie Cullen step up to the mic.
How the mafia did Noel a favour by twatting Liam; the U2 song Oasis might cover; the most he’s spent on cocaine; a great night out in Ireland’ and what it will say on his tombstone. Noel Gallagher answers the reader’s questions. Turning up the heat Stuart Clark.
She’s the post-modern starlet who is stalked by paparazzi wherever she goes but is as comfortable talking about Andy Warhol and John Updike as she is hanging with fashionistas. Say hello to Lady GaGa the good-time pop princess who went to school with Paris Hilton, cultivated a drug habit ‘cos that’s what David Bowie did in the ’70s, but thinks fame is just a game.
Pop star, movie star, UNICEF youth ambassador – Samantha Mumba has already packed a lot into her young life (including a secret boyfriend!) and the stakes are constantly being raised
The music industry will implode the moment you buy one, but if you don't mind committing grand theft audio www.web.ukonline.co.uk/boomselection will tell you - and the Anti-Piracy Squad - everything you need to know about the current craze for bootlegs
Age has not withered them. twenty years after they rose out of the new york underground, Sonic Youth have managed to grow old and stay hardcore. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon reveal how it’s done
Although under constant review, the word from the U2 camp is that they are still planning to go ahead with the return visit of the Elevation tour to North America.
Currently the hottest female property in music, Alicia Keys has come a long way from the little girl whose first record was kermit's 'it's not easy being green'. Admittedly, she's had some serious assistance from heavy friends - including music biz mogul Clive Davis - but mainly she can thank her own prodigious talent and spirit of independence. Matt Diehl hears how Alicia Keys came to share the grammy limelight with U2
Is she a manufactured pop act made to look like a rock chick? is she a rock chick who sells records like a manufactured pop act? or is she something else entirely? Why’d Avril Lavigne have to go and make things so complicated?
If ever a cause needed highlighting, it’s the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, Sudan, which in the recent words of Goal’s John O’Shea "the international community has all but abandoned".
Music Piracy is a continuing problem, and it s not just internet innovation which is fuelling its rise. COLM O HARE spoke to some of those trying to
preserve legitimate music
All Write Now, we said. And boy did you follow instructions! The entries poured in from all over Ireland, and further afield, in their thousands. We were snowed under – but, as the song says: That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, we like it…
