Christopher Lee Releases Metal Abum to Celebrate 92nd Birthday

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Rock, New Releases,

Christopher Lee has released a heavy metal album to celebrate his 92nd birthday.

The legendary actor reached the enviable age yesterday, and to mark the special occasion has brought out Metal Knight, a seven track collection which features two covers from the Man Of La Mancha musical which is based on the fictional character Don Quixote.

Speaking about the inspiration for the LP, Lee revealed, "As far as I am concerned, Don Quixote is the most metal fictional character that I know. Single-handed, he is trying to change the world, regardless of any personal consequences. It is a wonderful character to sing."

Lee - who is famous for his portrayal of Count Dracula in several Hammer Horror films and roles in the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises - has posted a video on YouTube in which he explains the motivation for the tracks with of the featured songs being a metal cover of Frank Sinatra classic "My Way."

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Idris Elba Directs Short Film for New Song

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music Videos, Videos, Electronic, New Releases,

Idris Elba has directed a new short film for a track produced by Dutch DJ R3hab.

The actor chose to work on the promo for the song "Unstoppable," featuring Eva Simons, which will be included on the Pepsi Max Beats of the Beautiful Game album to celebrate the World Cup this year, because he loved the idea of being unstoppable. Idris, who has also achieved success as a DJ, said, "When I first heard the song I really loved the idea of being unstoppable ... it's self belief, its someone that just says, 'Guess what? I can do anything I want to do.'"

The six-minute video (seen after the jump) is set in the 1970s and features a group of teenagers on a school bus, outlining "the nerd," "the lads" and "the popular girls," who are all in different social circles. The promo tackles bullying and eventually shows the school nerd throwing away his glasses, standing up for himself and showing off his skills in a game of football as the girls watch one.

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Johnny Depp to Reform Rock Band

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Reunions, Rumors, Rock,

Johnny Depp is planning to reunite with his old band.

The 50-year-old star is reportedly planning on putting his acting career on hold so that he can get back together with his former band The Kids, whom he split from 30 years ago.

"It's something he's wanted to do for a while. He's a frustrated rocker and for all the success he's had as an actor, he still wishes he could make it in the music world," a source said.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor is said to have been encouraged by his new fiancee Amber Heard, whom he met on the set of 2011 film The Rum Diary, to reclaim his position as lead guitarist in the rock band. "This will be his chance to live out his fantasies and see what might have been. But he's nervous the music critics might give him a hard time. The Kids decided to part ways in 1984 after moving from Florida to Los Angeles when Johnny landed a role in A Nightmare On Elm Street," the source said. "They've played the odd gig since but it's 30 years since they officially called it a day. Johnny thinks it's the perfect opportunity for them to go on tour and maybe even record an album. The band changed their name to Six Gun Method before they split so it will probably be under that name."

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Jared Leto Finds Juggling Acting and Music Easy

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Alternative, Rock, New Releases,

Jared Leto doesn't find it difficult switching from his role as a frontman to being an actor.

The Thirty Seconds to Mars singer, whose recent performance in Dallas Buyers Club as transgender AIDS victim Rayon has seen him win a string of awards, insists moving between the two professions comes naturally to him.

"You could stick me in front of a pile of rubbish, and I'll make something out of it. It all comes from the same place, I'm a creative person, I find creative solutions to problems, and the difference is process. The process of making music is very intimate, because at least for me, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, I write the songs, my brother [Shannon] plays the drums, and we have so much responsibility from the music to the production to the videos to the design to the marketing to the tours and the production of the tours ... everything."

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RJ Mitte Plans Music Career

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases,

Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte wants to start a music career.

The 21-year-old actor - who played the character of lead actor Bryan Cranston's son, Walter Jr., in the recently concluded hit TV series - has aspirations to record some of his own songs and has been brushing up on his instrumental skills.

"I'm working on it right now, I'm learning guitar, I'm learning piano. I have a little bit of an issue, I have one good hand, the other hand is a little stiff and rigid, but I'm getting control over it. I love music, at one point I had close to half a million songs on a hard drive. My house is constantly being filled with music, every music, vinyl, everything. It's really brilliant."

Although RJ suffers from cerebral palsy (CP) - a condition which normally occurs before or during birth for a number of reasons, usually due to a lack of oxygen to the brain - through "tons of yoga" and exercise, he has the condition under control, and had to accentuate its characteristics for the series. "It took a little bit of convincing [to get the part], as at first Vince [Gilligan, show creator] thought I was actually too able-bodied. I can't tell you the last time I've gone to a doctor for my CP. I have it under control for the most part," he previously said.

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James Franco Releases Debut Album

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases, R&B / Soul,

James Franco is hoping to carve out a new career as a rockstar. The actor will release his debut album MotorCity under the name "Daddy" on Tuesday.

"I know I do a lot of things. I'm very aware of that. I'm sure there are a lot of skeptical people, hearing about me doing music. To me, it all comes from a similar place. It's like using different tools to express things in different ways," he told Rolling Stone.

James has teamed up with his artistic college friend Tim O'Keefe for the album and it also features guest vocals by Motown singer Smokey Robinson who decided to collaborate with the actor after meeting him on a flight. The duo have just unveiled their romantic new music video for "Love in the Old Days," which was directed by James.

The 34-year-old star revealed he wrote and produced MotorCity while filming the Oz: The Great and Powerful in Detroit.

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Bruce Willis to Sue Apple?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Industry News, Rumors, iTunes,

Bruce Willis is considering taking legal action against Apple.

The 57-year-old actor wants to leave to his huge digital music collection to his daughters - Rumer, 24, Scout, 20, and 18-year-old Tallulah, whom he has with ex-wife Demi Moore - after he dies but iTunes customers are only allowed to "borrow" tracks rather than own them outright.

Digital campaigners Open Rights Group are backing Bruce in his challenge. "You can't resell downloads to friends - and are not allowed to leave them in your will. It's great that Bruce Willis is challenging it," said Jim Killock, of Open Rights Group.

Bruce - who also has five-month-old daughter Mabel with wife Emma Heming - has spent thousands on his music collection, which reportedly includes songs by The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and downloaded his tunes onto "many, many iPods." The Sixth Sense actor is thought to be thinking of asking his legal team to suggest to Apple that family trusts could be the "holders" of his downloaded music.

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Marilyn Manson Amused by Johnny Depp Track

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Collaborations, Covers, Rock, New Releases,

Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp found covering "You're So Vain" "amusing."

The rocker and the actor have collaborated on a version of Carly Simon's classic song - which features as bonus material on the "Beautiful People" hitmaker's new album Born Villain - and Manson thinks the track is a perfect representation of how people think of himself and his pal, who plays drums and guitar on the recording.

"We started jamming - I don't even like to use that word because I think it sounds too musical and I consider myself to be more of a problem-maker than a musician. We ended up thinking, what could we do that would be really amusing to both of us because of what people think about us? 'You're So Vain' really says it all," he explained.

Marilyn Manson's last two albums, Eat Me, Drink Me and The High End of Low, received disappointing reviews and poor sales, and the singer admits he went through a "confusing" time but is now confident with himself again.

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