Prince

CD » When he wasn't filming a TV series and film or touring across the world with the Jonas Brothers, the youngest brother found time to create a side band and release "Who I Am," from Nick Jonas and The Administration. Reportedly recorded in two weeks, Jonas -- the most talented of the trio -- drops puppy love songs and delves into more mature themes. His band, which includes three former members of Prince's New Power Generation, plays retro-soul jams the 17-year-old has written.  

Half-way through the Saints win during Super Bowl XLIV last night, The Who took the stage in Miami to perform the hits. Now, I wouldn't consider them crossover artists by any means, but I'm at least aware of them and willing to argue that everyone who's ever watched TV or a movie has heard, "Who Are You" and "Baba O'Reilly" but following people's reactions on Twitter, thoughts and opinions were clearly split along racial lines. One side raved about the band, 'still having it' and the lights ...  

Pop singer Ke$ha said before hitting it big, she once paid a gardener to let her into the home of fellow performer Prince. The 22-year-old singer said after learning where the "Purple Rain" star lived, she bribed the gardener and used an unlocked side door to enter his home in order to come face to face with Prince, the New York Post reported Saturday. Ke$ha said the incident, the date of which was not reported, ended with her leaving a demo for Prince before fleeing the premises.  

"On Fire" sounds more like pre-Purple Rain Prince than rock, "I'll Die For You" (one of two bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of the album) is more of a pop/rock song than the more hard rock-oriented material on the album, and there is at least one track in Wayne's old style ("Drop the World", performed with Eminem). But Wayne's vision/version of rock as at least guitar-oriented music with sung rather than rapped vocal parts is there, and it is obvious through his performances that he is enjoying ...  

Segmenting and separating music, with its myriad styles, has been very cut and dry until recently. Even the more artistic musicians generally picked a genre and stuck with it as crossing sonic borders tended to raise eyebrows of existing fans and stoked the ire of critics who found such moves more business driven than artistically developed. Prior to the fusion boom of the new millennium though, there were some artists who could traverse and combine style at will and one of the best was Prince Rogers Nelson.  

A long, long time ago the Brit awards were notorious for producing what, at that time, was regarded as an all time low point in the history of television when they allowed diminutive airhead Sam Fox and misanthropic air guitarist Mick Fleetwood present a stilted, unrehearsed show live on national television. It would have been incomprehensible for anyone to even entertain the idea that over 20 years later we'd be looking back on that event as a high water mark in the reputation of the Brits and ...  

Despite the protests of some children's advocates who need to get their facts straight, Pete Townshend will be playing at this weekend's Super Bowl Halftime Show. He and Roger Daltrey will dust off The Who hits for a stadium full of jocks. Townshend is a famous non-jock. If he weren't playing, the man wouldn't be within 100 miles of football stadium.  

2. Prince (Super Bowl XLI, 2007): While several big-name artists have had trouble adapting to the medley-heavy Super Bowl halftime format (Bruce Springsteen comes to mind), Prince seemed completely at home in the over-the-top glitz of the performance. Drenched by a rainstorm, he played Jimi Hendrix and Foo Fighters covers along with three "Purple Rain" songs. 1.  

In 2007, Prince took the halftime stage -- only three years removed from the Janet Jackson Nipple-Gate controversy -- and played a seemingly innocuous rain-soaked setlist consisting of "Let's Go Crazy," "Baby I'm a Star" and "Purple Rain." Prince seemed to avoid any controversy -- he resisted the urge to perform "Darling Nikki" or "Sexy MF" -- but, as the camera panned above The Purple One, his love symbol shaped guitar cast a giant shadow phallic symbol across the stage. Minor shadow-phallus aside, ...