J. Cole

J. Cole

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2019 NBA All-Star Game Drafts J. Cole, Meek Mill, Carly Rae Jepsen & More

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Anthony Hamilton will perform the U.S. anthem and Jepsen will sing the Canadian anthem
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 30, 2019 - 12:50 pm

The 2019 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 17 is shaping up to supply exciting musical entertainment in addition to its basketball thrills. On Jan. 29, the NBA announced rapper J. Cole will perform the game's halftime show. Cole's album KOD reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on May 5, 2018, his fifth time at the top spot.

As announced on Jan. 30, Meek Mill will be introducing the players and the national anthems of the U.S. and Canada will be sung by GRAMMY-winning R&B singer Anthony Hamilton and Carly Rae Jepsen respectively.

The 2018 NBA All-Star Game was the first time vote leaders from each conference were free to select players from either conference, and Team LeBron were the winners. LeBron James, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, is coming back with a new team this year facing off against the players chosen by Giannis Antetokounmpo, forward for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The game will be held at Charlotte, N.C.'s Spectrum Center. J. Cole's home town of Fayetteville is about 130 miles east of Charlotte, supporting the NBA's boast that the "North Carolina native ... will take the court in his home state."

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Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

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Childish Gambino And Kacey Musgraves To Headline Outside Lands 2019

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Lineup for August is filled with artists prominent at the 61st GRAMMY Awards
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 26, 2019 - 5:29 pm

The Outside Lands festival is coming to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on the weekend of Aug. 9–11. They announced their lineup this morning including 61st GRAMMY Awards Record Of The Year winner Childish Gambino and Album Of The Year winner Kacey Musgraves. Gambino aka Donald Glover also won for Best Music Video, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Song Of The Year. Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour also won Best Country Album. Her track "Space Cowboy" won best Country Song and "Butterflies" won Best Country Solo Performance. The overlap between Outside Lands and winning at the 61st Awards doesn't stop there.

Other 61st winners in Outside Lands' lineup announced on March 26 are Leon Bridges, Lauren Daigle, Ella Mai, PJ Morton, and Anderson .Paak. Nominees from this year's show include Bebe Rexha and Tierra Whack. Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 61st as well.

The Outside Lands lineup is filled with winners of GRAMMY awards from other years as well. The list includes Edie Brickell, Flume, Lil Wayne, Paul Simon, and Mavis Staples. Blink-182, Counting Crows, Hozier, the Lumineers, and Bob Moses are among the artists in the lineup who've previously been nominated for GRAMMY awards.

GRAMMY wins and nominations are recognition for artists but the lesser-known acts coming to Golden Gate Park in August are also exciting and well worth a listen. We've covered San Holo, Yaeji and others. With a lineup this entertaining, the experience in the park this summer is bound to be fantastic.

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Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

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Songs To Wake Up & "Roar" With From Katy Perry, Aretha Franklin And More

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Power up for the day with this energizing playlist, including songs by the Christina Aguilera, Bill Withers, Kanye West, Britney Spears and more
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 20, 2019 - 4:37 pm

On March 20, O magazine published a playlist meant to wake you up and start the day off right. It credits research in psychology for revealing that "songs with a slow build, a positive message, and a strong beat" can confer mood-enhancing benefits. Just for fun, we also took a look at how GRAMMY recognition shines a spotlight on some of these tracks. It's no surprise that the Queen of Soul herself stood out, as Aretha Franklin's "Respect" took two wins at the 10th GRAMMY Awards.

Other GRAMMY winners in the selection include Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful," Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "Stronger" by Kanye West. With Britney Spears' song "Stronger" making the list as well, from her Oops!...I Did It Again album, a double-shot might give you twice the energy.

At the 45th GRAMMY Awards, Sheryl Crow was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Soak Up The Sun," and Vanessa Carlton drew three nominations for her "A Thousand Miles," including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. Two songs from O's list received nominations at the 56th GRAMMY Awards, Katy Perry's "Roar" and "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. The latter topped the playlist and its curator reassured us that if you give it a morning listen, "You'll believe you can conquer anything."

Beyoncé made the list twice, once for her solo "Run the World (Girls)" and again for Destiny's Child's "Happy Face." Lady Gaga offers "The Cure" and Kirk Franklin's "I Smile" might help you tackle your day smiling, too. Two songs to help you find up when you're down are "No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande, from her 2018 album Sweetener, and Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper." 

Whether you say "Hello, Good Morning" with P Diddy or have a "Lovely Day" with Bill Withers, prepare to get out of bed with a spring in your step. Spring is almost here. Check out other songs ready to assist at O — from Earth, Wind & Fire, Ice Cube, Lil' Duval, and Bob Marley.

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MySpace

Photo: Erik Freeland/Corbis

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MySpace Claims To Have Lost Years Of User-Uploaded Music

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"We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest that you retain your backup copies," the site shared in a message
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 18, 2019 - 4:09 pm

People old enough to remember the earliest days of social media will recall a time when networking platform MySpace was the top destination on the Internet, even bigger than Facebook and Google. In fact, there once was a thing called the "MySpace Generation," which helped launch the careers of artists including Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys.

Indeed, for a time, MySpace operated as a platform for blossoming musicians to upload songs, where fans could then go and organically discover them, minus any industry middlemen. But now, in a sad erasure of digital memories, a MySpace "server migration" has resulted in a massive, irrecoverable data loss.

"As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos, and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from Myspace," the site informed its users with a banner message on March 18, as reported by The Guardian. "We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest that you retain your backup copies. If you would like more information, please contact our data protection officer."

Rumors and reports surrounding uploads that were no longer available have been circulating for more than a year, and Ars Technica summarized some of the support messages that assisted in letting users know whether their "content is no longer available and cannot be retrieved."

Despite its arguable irrelevance in today's social-media and music-discovery sphere, MySpace was at one point home to more than 14 million musicians, who uploaded more than 50 million tracks, all of which has been lost. (Unless they backed up their work, which sincerely we hope that they did.)

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Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Photo: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

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Glastonbury Festival 2019 Announces Headliners Janet Jackson, The Killers & More

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Other performers include the Cure, Diplo, Sheryl Crow, Lauryn Hill, Janelle Monáe, Tame Impala, and Vampire Weekend
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Mar 15, 2019 - 12:05 pm

England's Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts revealed their initial lineup for 2019's June 26–30 event, held at Worthy Farm outside Pilton, Somerset. In addition to five-time GRAMMY winner Janet Jackson and previous nominees the Killers, 2019 Glastonbury is filled with a curated combination of the famous and emerging. Other GRAMMY winners on the lineup include the Chemical Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Diplo, Lauryn Hill, Mavis Staples, and Vampire Weekend.

In addition to the Killers, previously nominated artists performing this summer include Bastille, Neneh Cherry, the Cure, Miley Cyrus, Fatoumata Diawara, Liam Gallagher, Jon Hopkins, Hot Chip, Hozier, Janelle Monáe, Jorja Smith, Tame Impala, and Wu-Tang Clan.

One of the joys of a curated festival like Glastonbury is experiencing new acts, from the established to those just on the radar. Two accomplished artists who stand out are the band Interpol and British rapper Stefflon Don. Others include Anne-Marie, Billie Eilish, Michael Kiwanuka, Lizzo, Pale Waves, Cat Power, Latin GRAMMY winner Rosalía, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile & The Violators, and Kamasi Washington.

Although Glastonbury 2019 has already sold out, the festival encourages those wanting to attend to register at their website for an April ticket resale.

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