Music | featured news

President Barack Obama is honoring the brainpower behind the unforgettable tunes "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Close to You," and others recorded by artists spanning Dionne Warwick, the Carpenters, Alicia Keys and the cast of "Glee."

Michael Jackson became so paranoid at one point he ordered his minders to shoot his older brother Randy, former bodyguard Matt Fiddes said.

Creator Matthew Weiner paid a hefty licensing fee to use the "Tomorrow Never Knows" in last Sunday's episode of the hit show.

Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch has died at the age of 47, his New York publicist has confirmed. The star was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 but it is not clear whether his death was connected with the illness. Yauch had surgery and radiation therapy but said last year "reports of my being totally cancer free are exaggerated".

The music video for Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” was finally released Thursday, revealing that we’ve all been bamboozled. Or should I say Bieboozled. (Never say that again? OK.)

Mick Jagger will test his comic chops later this month as host of the "Saturday Night Live" season finale. The Rolling Stones frontman has been a musical guest twice before on the long-running NBC show, and the network said Thursday he will perform musically on the May 19 finale. But he has never been host before, a job that usually requires participation in several comic skits.

Carrie Underwood promised that her fourth album, “Blown Away,” would be “darker” than the country-pop sun rays she’s been known to radiate. False alarm. This is merely a trans-faux-mation — that thing pop stars do when they dabble in minor-key melodies, frowny lyrics and/or smoky eye shadow, hoping their listeners will mistake a superficial shift in tone for a meaningful artistic left turn.

Pepsi is tweeting to a new generation of music lovers. The No. 2 soda company is partnering with Twitter to provide streaming videos of live music concerts to Pepsi's followers on the social networking site.

Jay-Z and Kanye West's recent hit "Niggas in Paris" is about them. They rap about being so phenomenally rich, about how they "ball so hard," buy Rolexes and cars, pop gold bottles with models in Paris nightclubs, that the rest of us slobs couldn't fathom their lives.

People magazine has named Beyonce as the World's Most Beautiful Woman for 2012. The 30-year-old singer tops the magazine's annual list of the "World's Most Beautiful" in a special double issue. The announcement was made Wednesday. Commenting on her selection, Beyonce tells People: "I feel more beautiful than I've ever felt because I've given birth. I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this Earth."