Songwriter Sean Garrett says former 'NSYNC star's success inspires Bieber's new project and also dishes on Beyoncé's album.
By Mawuse Ziegbe
Justin Bieber
Photo: Getty Images
Justin Bieber may have declined the chance to join Justin Timberlake's label, but according to a songwriter in the know, the former 'NSYNC crooner is the inspiration for the teen sensation's upcoming album.
Songwriter Sean "The Pen "Garrett, who has been working with Bieber on the follow-up to the chart-ruling My World 2.0., spoke with Billboard about the direction for the teen superstar's forthcoming album, saying the project will feature more grown-up fare.
"What we're trying to do with Justin is to segue him into young adulthood," Garrett said of the project, which is also slated to feature production from hitmaker Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. "The one great thing about Justin Bieber is the fact that his fans are going to grow with him. So we want all the fans that started out with him to still be intrigued and excited about him, but we want to also stretch out a little bit and make the fans that are 22-23 years old love Justin as well. When Justin Timberlake went from the last album of *N Sync to his first solo album -- I want to say [we're aiming for] that level. That's the bar for the type of song, that level of 'Cry Me a River,' big records."
Garrett, who has crafted records for stars like Chris Brown and Bieber's mentor Usher, also said he's hard at work on Beyoncé's next project. However, the songwriter didn't divulge too much information, only revealing that he's "been working with her extremely hard ... she's my favorite."
While Garrett said the plan for his next outing is to angle Bieber toward a swiftly maturing audience, Bieber himself has refused to categorize his music, insisting to MTV News in December that he's just focused on creating quality records.
"Whatever comes out of my mouth is just what you guys are going to hear," Bieber explained of his hits. "I don't know, it's not a specific type of music. Whatever music I write, I wouldn't say I'm pop or R&B or country or anything: I would just say it's just good music,"
What do you think Justin Bieber's new music is going to sound like? Let us know in the comments!
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Songwriter Claude Kelly says Jonas Brother is 'willing to take chances.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Joe Jonas
Photo: Gustavo Caballero/ Getty Images
Joe Jonas promised that on his forthcoming solo album, he's going to be singing about his life, and that means songs about some very famous ladies might make the final cut. Songwriter Claude Kelly, who has been working with Joe in a New York studio, said that nothing is being held back.
"My process when I go in with an artist is to ask them right off the bat, 'What's going on in your life?' ... and he hasn't held back at all," Kelly dished to MTV News. "He's like, 'I want to talk about this girl or how hot she is or we're breaking up or we're together.' He'll say it, and he'll put his life in the song, which makes the best songs."
With names like Taylor Swift, Ashley Greene (who he very recently broke up with) and Camilla Belle floating around in Joe's dating past, it seems that this inside scoop will make for some fun listening. "It's gonna be good, absolutely," Kelly added. "And that's the fun part: to let [fans] figure it out and let them listen to it over and over and dissect those parts. So, I was blown away about how together he was on this record and how willing he was to take chances."
Kelly and Joe have worked on two songs together, and Kelly said he's eager to see what the two of them can cook up next. "I was really impressed with his artistry," he said. "He really knows what he wants. His vocals are really awesome, range-wise."
Joe, who already has legions of girls drooling over his hunkiness, plans to up that hot-guy ante on this record. "Obviously, he's a sex symbol already, but he's really gonna play into a sex-symbol role and get the girls on his side," Kelly revealed. "He's doing edgier, more urban music. I've been working with [producer] Danja. It's edgy, urban pop where he can showcase his voice in a way people haven't heard him before. So, he's singing more edgy things and the music is more mature, but fun still."
Are you excited for Joe Jonas' solo album? Tell us below!
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Singer left behind more than $400 million in debt.
Michael Jackson
Photo: Time Life Pictures/DMI/Time Life Pictures/Getty Im
Between album sales, movie profits, licensing arrangements and lucrative deals for Cirque du Soleil shows, the estate of late King of Pop Michael Jackson has raked in more than $300 million since the singer's shocking death in June 2009.
According to TMZ, legal documents released on Thursday reveal that executors of MJ's estate have managed to make a major dent in the more than $400 million in debt that Jackson owed at the time of his death.
The first accounting from the executors shows that they have already spent around $159 million paying back various debts, income taxes and other expenses, which include providing support for the pop star's mother, Katherine Jackson, as well as his three young children.
"Although there remain unresolved creditor claims, pending litigation and additional challenging business, tax and legal issues, and the estate is not yet in a condition to be closed, the executors have made substantial progress in reducing the estate's debt," the documents state, according to a Reuters report. Two of Jackson's longtime confidants, attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, were named as administrators in a will sign by the pop icon.
In addition to paying to make "substantial improvements" to the Jackson family's Havenhurst estate in Encino, California, the executors also spent an undetermined amount of money on "last illness and funeral and memorial service expenses." Those costs included a $900,000 payment to the Forest Lawn Memorial cemetery where Jackson is buried and $35,000 on expenses described as "costume for memorial."
TMZ reported that not only did the famously cash-strapped Jackson have more than $400 million in debt, but his estate also owed more than $40 million to concert promoter AEG tied to the scuttled This Is It Tour, for which MJ was rehearsing when he died unexpectedly. They've also paid $27.2 million in taxes and $4 million in mortgage payments on Jackson's properties.
Despite the solid sales of the Michael album and millions of units of the singer's back catalog being sold, as well as the box office of the "This Is It" movie and DVD sales, the estate is not nearly out of the woods. TMZ noted that the administrators have received more than 65 creditors' claims, some of which are subject to "extremely high" interest rates, and there are several outstanding lawsuits against the estate in several countries.
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Conrad Murray's trial slated to start March 28.
By Gil Kaufman
Dr. Conrad Murray appears in court on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California
Photo: Irfan Khan-Pool/ Getty Images
Michael Jackson's former personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the pop star at his arraignment on Tuesday morning (January 25).
According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by judge Michael Pastor how he pleaded to the charge, Murray said, "Your honor, I am an innocent man." When Pastor interrupted and asked Murray what his plea was, the cardiologist said, "Therefore, I plead not guilty."
The brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court ended with Pastor setting a March 28 date for the start of a trial in the case. Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, and the Times noted that he surprised the judge by invoking his right to a speedy trial, which meant the case would have to begin by late March. Pastor noted the rarity of a defendant asking to have a speedy trial, then set jury selection for the week of March 28 and said he was inclined to allow television coverage of the trial that the defense expects will last two months.
Lawyers for Murray have maintained his innocence all along, saying he did not do anything that "should have" caused the 50-year-old pop icon's death. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office determined that Jackson died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with a cocktail of other sedatives.
Murray has admitted to administering propofol to Jackson in the hours before the singer's death, but the defense appears to be gearing up to claim that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of the drug after he woke in a panic from a fitful night of sleep.
During a preliminary hearing earlier this month to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Murray over for trial, the physician's attorneys said that there was evidence Jackson injected or drank a fatal amount of the drug when the doctor was not looking.
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Critic calls troubled actor's performance 'absurd and darkly unsettling.'
By Eric Ditzian
Mel Gibson in "The Beaver"
Photo: Summit Entertainment
"The Beaver" would have probably been your standard feature film about a suicidal man who uses a hand puppet as a way to better interact with the world around him had its star, Mel Gibson, not uncorked a few hate-filled rants that would ultimately lead to the actor being charged with spousal abuse.
To say "The Beaver" entered the South by Southwest film festival with some baggage, then, doesn't capture the half of it. The spectacle of watching an actor in the midst of a meltdown portray a man in the midst of a meltdown is hard to resist. But it's going to be a while until the masses get to check out the action, as Summit Entertainment has pushed back the movie's release date until May. Until then, check out what critics at SXSW had to say after the film's premiere Wednesday.
Getting Past the Spectacle, Part I "Those echoes of Mel Gibson's well-publicized breakdowns are impossible to ignore in an opening sequence introducing us to his character Walter Black, who first appears floating in a pool, arms outstretched like Christ's. A few shots later, we see this 'hopelessly depressed man,' who has tried everything to remedy his condition, flagellating himself like a Catholic penitent. Whether intentional or not, this front-and-center reminder works almost as an inoculation to viewers for whom controversy might be a distraction from drama: Having put it out there frankly (much as the protagonist will soon do, in more outlandish ways, with his own issues), the movie kills a bit of our morbid curiosity; our awareness that this depressed character is being played by a troubled actor never vanishes, but it is allowed to inform the story at hand." — John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
Getting Past the Spectacle, Part II "Casting Mel Gibson is both a blessing and a curse. Not since 'I'm Not There' have I spent more time during a film having a meta-textual conversation with myself. What were the people on set thinking as they watched Gibson crack? Did making this film help Gibson's mental health, or make it worse? Truth be told, this extra dimension only aids the film." — Jordan Hoffman, UGO
Mel's Performance "His solo scenes are both absurd and darkly unsettling for several reasons, some of which depend on your tolerance for watching the notoriously bad-tempered actor, well, lose his temper: Whether awkwardly failing to hang himself in a bathtub or beating himself up with a guitar, Gibson demonstrates an expansive madness that suggests a much darker, more involving psychological transition." — Eric Kohn, IndieWire
The Big Picture, Part I "It may surprise some of you to learn that the story is more of a drama than a comedy. As you might expect, there are comedic moments that come from the puppet's inclusion in various situations. But the story aims more for drama than comedy. 'The Beaver' is too ridiculous to be taken seriously, and too melodramatic to be funny. Foster wrestles to capture the right tones, but the shifts are messy from scene to scene, and it never seems to find the right fit." — Peter Sciretta, SlashFilm
The Big Picture, Part II " 'The Beaver' is not a comedy, it's true, but it is a deft exploration of the ways we struggle to express something as ineffable as depression, and the lengths we will endure to save our families. It is a potent reminder of why [director] Jodie Foster should have made more movies by now. And it is a strong beginning for screenwriter Kyle Killen." — Drew McWeeny, HitFix
Check out everything we've got on "The Beaver."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
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Raising Sand, from Led Zeppelin vet and bluegrass superstar, wins five Grammys on Sunday night.
By James Montgomery with MTV News staff
Alison Krauss and Robert Plant accept the award for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards on Sunday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
"I'm bewildered," Robert Plant said onstage as he accepted the Grammy Album of the Year award with Alison Krauss on Sunday night. "In the old days we would have called this selling out, but it's a good way to spend a Sunday."
He was probably one of the few who were surprised, because Raising Sand, which won five trophies at Sunday night's show, is in many ways the perfect Grammy album. It features two respected veterans, a critically lauded producer, some sandpaper-and-velvet vocals and a baker's dozen of time-tested standards.
You're probably familiar with Robert Plant from his Led Zeppelin days, and you might be aware of producer T-Bone Burnett's work on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack (it won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002). And if you don't know who Alison Krauss is, she possesses a haunting set of pipes and is one of the meanest fiddle players in the world. Oh, and she's won 21 Grammys, more than any other female artist and the seventh-most in history.
Really, she's the key to Sand's success, and not just because of her voice (or her fiddle playing). She and Plant first met in 2004, at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to legendary bluesman Leadbelly, and the former Zeppelin man was amazed by her knowledge of American Roots music — so much so that they began kicking around the idea of recording an album together. Three years later, Sand was released.
And while Plant possesses the more famous voice, the album's finest moments radiate from Krauss. Whether she's getting bluesy on Little Milton's "Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson" or entwining with Plant's husky voice on songs like "Please Read the Letter" and Roly Salley's winsome "Killing the Blues," she more than carries her end of the bargain.
And perhaps that's also due to producer Burnett, who handpicked the 13 songs the duo cover on Sand. His arrangements are sparse — giving the two voices ample room to breathe — yet dense, warm and crackling at the same time. It's a testament to his work that he's often given just as much billing as Plant and Krauss on the project ... and it's certainly justified.
To date, Sand has sold more than 1 million copies, heaped tons of acclaim and actually earned a Grammy last year — "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" took home the award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
One expert was surprised not by the album's success, but by the fact that it's actually quite a good album.
"At first, the album seemed like a vanity project. ... Two names, clearly a one-off record, didn't have to be any good, you know?" New York Times music critic Jon Caramanica said. "Led Zeppelin fans would buy it because of Robert Plant, Alison Krauss would get a check. But it actually turned out to be a really thoughtful, really good record. So when you combine all that with the fact that the Grammys love to lionize one of their own, I could really see it taking home some awards."
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