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Beyonce Knowles couldn’t be with fellow musicians at the Shrine Auditorium on June 26 for 2011 BET Awards, but it didn’t stop her from celebrating music as well as black
entertainment. The R&B diva rocked the show from across the pond.
Wearing gold sequin outfit, Beyonce pulled a double duty by serving as a musical guest at Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage and catered BET audience via satellite.
On stage at the Glastonbury Music Festival, Beyonce said that it was “her dream” to be there performing.
Following this performance, she’ll be in the dreams of thousands of British music fans for a long time to come.
The R&B star, the first female headliner in the history of the festival, brought down the house Sunday night, wowing a screaming audience of 170,000+ fans. The bright lights of what is considered by some to be the biggest music festival in the world were no match for the singer, as she ran through some of her biggest hits, opening with “Crazy Like That” before moving on to songs like “Single Ladies,” “Irreplaceable,” and a medley of Destiny’s Child favorites, including “Survivor” and “Say My Name.”
She also sang her new single, “1+1,” as well as “At Last,” the song she sang during President Obama’s inauguration in 2009. That performance came with a special civil rights-themed video montage — which included video of that very inauguration. See her complete setlist here.
Her husband, Jay-Z, watched from the side of the stage alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, whose husband Chris Martin performed earlier with his band Coldplay. Jay-Z, in 2008, was the first hip hop act to play the festival.
The 2011 BET Awards is under way. Here’s what’s happened so far.
8 p.m. – Mary J. Blige opens the show. Anita Baker makes an appearance on stage. I love you, ladies! Settle for nothing less than real love!
8:07 – Host Kevin Hart takes the stage with a pretty intense step routine. His backup dancers? A bunch of cute kids. I’m impressed.
8:10 – Opening monologue from Kevin Hart. “Nobody’s safe tonight,” he says. He’s all about honesty, poking fun at Jamie Foxx for getting in a fight at an Usher concert. He says it’s time for Puffy — er, Diddy, or whatever — to be “grown.” I agree. You get to a certain point in life where you’re only allowed one name.
8:15 – Best Male R&B Artist goes to Chris Brown. I sense some Breezy domination on the horizon. “All my fans are everything to me,” he says.
8:23 – Well hello, Rick Ross. He performs “Aston Martin Music,” and then is joined by Lil Wayne, Ace Hood and DJ Khaled for “Hustle Hard.” I’m not sure it was the best idea for Rick Ross to expose his stomach. It’s a little, um, intense.
8:29 – Malcolm-Jamal Warner has a new show! Woo hoo!
8:30 – Best Young Star is a tie between Jaden and Willow Smith. They kind of HAD to do that, right? In the name of avoiding sibling rivalries?
8:35 – I spy Justin Bieber in the audience.
8:36 – Host Kevin Hart pokes fun at Rick Ross’ bare chest. He says Rick needs a fourth bra. Funny but true.
8:37 – Hart introduces a fake reality show, “The Real Husbands of Hollywood.” Nick Cannon makes an appearance in the pre-filmed clip. I want this show to really happen.
8:40 – Best Female Hip-Hop Artist is Nicki Minaj. Her hair actually looks somewhat normal tonight. I wanted a green wig. “I love my team,” she says. She brings a full entourage on stage with her, including Lil Wayne and Drake.
8:45 – Jill Scott performs “Rolling Hills.” The stage is set up like a really cool jazz club. She has a little dramatic exchange with Idris Elba. I’m loving the whole theater thing.
8:52 – Is there really an “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” movie?
8:54 – Woo hoo! Come on, I know you love “The Five Heartbeats,” too. Great performance.
8:56 – Best Group is Diddy Dirty Money.
8:58 – Tonight’s show will feature some emerging artists. First up: Mali Music, from Savannah, Ga.
9:04 – Chris Brown performs! He starts off with “She Ain’t You.” Um, what’s up with his pants? I get my answer when he removes his first getup — a suit — to perform “Look at Me Now.” The censors stay very busy. Hello, Busta! After that brief interlude, Breezy goes into a major dance sequence. No crying this year, but he definitely knows how to take command of the stage.
9:12 – Best Collaboration is Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes for “Look at Me Now.” Best acceptance line from Chris Brown: “Public speaking is not my strong suit.”
9:18 – Alicia Keys debuts a new song, “Typewriter.” I’m a little leery of the new track, but I’m totally digging the Alicia Keys/Bruno Mars duet to “A Woman’s Worth.” Then Rick Ross is suddenly on stage. Before I can even analyze his random appearance, Alicia Keys busts out some “Fallin.'” I assume I’m not the only one singing along at home.
9:25 – Nicki Minaj represents Team Barbie, Justin Bieber represents Team Bieber. Don’t ask.
9:27 – Best Male Hip-Hop Artist is Kanye West. He couldn’t make it to the show.
9:32 – Time to recognize some everyday heroes. No, Rick Ross is not among the honorees.
9:34 – Time for a performance by Big Sean and…Chris Brown. They sing “My Last.”
9:38 – Another emerging artist: Kimberly Nichole
9:45 – Cherelle and Alexander O’Neal perform “Saturday Love.” Story of my life.
9:48 – Best New Artist is Wiz Khalifa. He thanks all the young people who “promote positivity
Between 1997 and 2005, Missy Elliott put out six studio albums, never pausing for more than two years between LPs. But it’s been six years since The Cookbook, and though the innovative rapper/producer guested on a handful of tracks including Ciara’s “Work” and kept up with fans via Twitter, we haven’t seen that much of Miss E for a very legitimate reason: She’s been battling Graves disease, an incurable autoimmune disorder caused by an overactive thyroid.
Elliott will open up about her experience with Graves and other sticky subjects in a new episode of VH1’s Behind the Music next week. In the latest issue of People, she explains she was diagnosed in 2008 after a scary moment in her car: “My leg was jumping,” she said. “I couldn’t keep the brake down and almost crashed.” Graves symptoms include muscle tremors, mood swings, bulging eyes, and hair loss, and Elliott said her nervous system became so spastic, she couldn’t even hold a pen to write music — a crushing situation for an artist as prolific and wildly creative as Missy.
After receiving radiation and taking medication with unpleasant side effects like weight gain, Elliott’s condition has stabilized and she’s even shed the 30 extra pounds she picked up from her treatment. She has told fans on Twitter a new single is coming soon, and reminded them she hasn’t been totally inactive the past few years: “I’m always making music:) yall gotta start peeping the credits on these cds:).” She promises she’s not rusty, telling People, “My ear ain’t gone bad yet!”
Elliott’s Behind the Music will also address the sexual abuse she endured as a child, a topic the rapper hasn’t spoken about much publicly before. By sharing her story, “I felt that I would be able to help other people,” she told the magazine. Timbaland, Ciara and Mary J. Blige will chat about their friend and collaborator in the special, which premieres on VH1 Wednesday, June 29th at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen’s longtime saxophone player and a legend in the music industry, died Saturday from complications following a stroke he suffered about a week ago.
Clemons’ sax has been one of the most defining elements of the E Street Band’s sound. He has suffered from numerous ailments over the last few years. He had double knee surgery and even had to perform from a wheelchair at one point.
But his health seemed to be improving. Just last month, he performed with Lady Gaga on the season finale of “American Idol.”
Clemons scored a Top 20 hit in 1985 with the song “You’re a Friend of Mine,” a duet with Jackson Browne that appears on Clemons’ album “Hero.” Clemons was 69 years old.
The Newark Star-Ledger reports that: “Springsteen’s oft-told story of his initial meeting with Clemons felt Biblical: with a lightning storm raging outside, the Big Man tore the door off an Asbury Park club, strode onstage, and made magic. Springsteen would later immortalize this meeting in “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” a song on “Born to Run.””
Clemons was born in Norfolk, Va., to a Baptist minister who had no love for rock ‘n’ roll, The Star-Ledger reports. However, he got a saxophone at age 9, and when a car accident ruined his budding football career after college, he dedicated himself to music.
Destiny Mathis, a young woman in Indiana, reached out to President Obama for a sign of hope in tough economic times, and was initially thrilled to receive a handwritten reply from the president. Now, however, the same economic hardships that prompted her to write to Obama last November have prompted her to put up the letter for sale on an auction website–marking the ninth such sale of an Obama letter that the online auction service has handled.
Mathis, a single mother of three from Indiana, wrote to the president that even though she graduated at the top of her college class and worked for years as a surgical technologist, she had lost her job in January after complications with her pregnancy. “I am so afraid this dreaded economy is going to have my family homeless,” she wrote, according to NBC5, Mathis is now weeks away from being evicted from her home.
The president wrote back a handwritten note on White House stationery. “Please know that things will get better for you and your family,” he said. You can watch the NBC5 report on the letter’s below.
The 26-year-old is now selling the note to Gary Zimet, who has sold eight other letters from the president so far for up to $20,000 on his site, Moments in Time. He’s asking for $11,000.
A Michigan woman sold a letter from Obama in October for $7,000 to help pay for her cancer treatment and for a downpayment on a house. “Thanks for the very kind and inspiring letter,” Obama wrote to Jennifer Cline, after she told him in a letter that she was struggling to make ends meet and had lost her health insurance. “I know times are tough, but knowing there are folks out there like you and your husband gives me confidence that things will keep getting better!”
The 17-year-old daughter of former NBA star Robert Horry died Tuesday after battling a rare genetic condition.
Ashlyn Horry was born in Houston in 1994 and eventually diagnosed with the 1p36 Deletion Syndrome, a rare chromosome disease that is characterized by intellectual disability, delayed growth, seizures and respiratory problems. Texas Children’s Hospital spokeswoman Nicole Terry says Ashlyn Horry died there.
Robert Horry and Ashlyn’s mother, Keva, set up a foundation in 2008 to provide support to families with children coping with similar illnesses. A message was left at the foundation’s office seeking comment.
Robert Horry won seven NBA championships with three teams in 16 NBA seasons. He earned the nickname “Big Shot Bob” for hitting several clutch shots in the playoffs and holds the record for three-pointers made in the NBA finals (53).
The Houston Rockets selected Horry out of Alabama with the 11th overall pick in the 1992 draft. Horry helped the Rockets win NBA championships in 1994 and ’95.
“My deepest condolences go out to Robert and his family on the tragic passing of his daughter, Ashlyn,” Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said in a statement. “Ashlyn was born in Houston during Robert’s time with us and I know he shared a special bond with her. The entire Rockets organization is saddened by her passing and our thoughts are with Robert and his family during this trying personal time.”
Horry played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996-2003, and was a member of three more championship teams there. Former Lakers star Magic Johnson offered condolences on his Twitter account.
“My thoughts go out to Robert Horry and his family as they deal with the tragic loss of his daughter Ashlyn,” Johnson tweeted.
Horry finished his playing career in San Antonio, and won two titles with the Spurs to become the ninth player in league history to earn at least seven championship rings.
Our Thoughts And Prayers Go Out..
MIAMI BEACH—
The South Florida rap artist and entertainer who goes by the name of Flo Rida was arrested early Thursday in Miami Beach on a drunk driving charge, WTVJ-Ch. 6 reported.
The 31-year-old singer whose real name is Tramar Dillard, of Miami Gardens, was arrested on South Beach about 4 a.m. on charges of DUI and driving with a suspended license, the station reported.
Sean Kingston’s jet ski passenger, long time friend Cassandra Sanchez spoke out about their recent crash that could have killed them both…Cassandra says she and a female friend arrived in Miami to ride jet skis with Sean and a buddy of his. The two jet skis pulled out of the dock at the same time, but Cassandra says Sean was going so fast they “blasted past them” in a few minutes. The two were racing towards a low lying bridge and Cassandra began to get nervous, because she knew they couldn’t fit underneath and screamed out “We can’t fit under there! Are we going to try and go under there? Sean stop!”
Cassandra believes that Kingston tried to turn away at the last second, lost control and hit the bridge. She woke up in the water to see Sean bleeding from his mouth as her friends from the other jet ski positioned him so he wouldn’t swallow anymore water.
“[Sean] was coughing up blood, foam and pink stuff” … and when he finally opened his eyes, he kept repeating the words, “I’m hurting. I’m hurting”
Cassandra says she’s still a little sore, but overall her injuries are minor compared to Kingston who has a tube going down his throat and can’t really speak. She says the doctors plan to keep him in the hospital “for a couple more weeks.”
And you thought Rihanna was mad in that music video.
The Barbadian popstar’s new video for the single, “Man Down,” drew calls of outrage and protest on Wednesday, as the Parents’ Television Council and a former BET star released a statement criticizing its depiction of Rihanna, as a victim of domestic violence, shooting down her assailant.
Late Wednesday and into Thursday, Rihanna shot back, going on a Twitter spree that defended her video and thanked her supporters. Her defense was a mixture of claiming artistic freedom, youth and desire to inspire.
“I’m a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What’s up with everybody wantin me to be a parent? I’m just a girl, I can only be your/our voice!” she wrote early Thursday afternoon. “Cuz we all know how difficult/embarrassing it is to communicate touchy subject matters to anyone especially our parents!… And this is why!Cuz we turn the other cheek! U can’t hide your kids from society,or they’ll never learn how to adapt!This is the REAL WORLD!… The music industry isn’t exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! Its your job to make sure they dont turn out like US”
As for the criticism, the PTC used Paul Porter, the former BET voice and founder of think tank Industry Ears, to voice its complaints.
“‘Man Down’ is an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime. Viacom’s standards and practices department has reached another new low,” Porter said in the statement. “If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop. Rihanna should not get a pass and BET should know better. The video is far from broadcast worthy.”
Brown, of course, beat Rihanna, not the other way around.
watch video here:
Although he was one of the early pioneers of Miami Beach’s Memorial Day hip hop extravaganza, even Luther Campbell says he no longer makes his way to South Beach during that weekend because it’s become too rowdy.
“Just walk the streets, get drunk, be rowdy, go to jail,” Luke says.
Uncle Luke has a long history with the affair. Initially the weekend started in the Nineties as a fashion event for designers geared toward the African-American community. It continued to build over the years, with as many as 250,000 people descending on Miami Beach for the long weekend.
In 2001, however, the event went out of control – with fights breaking out on city streets. The police were overwhelmed. Campbell and others rallied to the city with offers of help. There argument was simple: South Beach clubs can only hold 7,000 people so events need to be planned for those who can’t get into the clubs.
Initially, he said, those efforts worked. But in recent years the city has frowned on large events and the weekend returned to its troubled past.
“The people that were originally coming down here were young professionals,” he said. “Then it became this free-for-all for the last five years where it became kids, thugs that type of element.”
This year the event ended in a barrage of gunfire. One person was killed in the melee that saw a dozen cops firing more than 100 rounds at the driver of a car that allegedly attempted to run down five police officers.
For many residents on South Beach, the Wild West scene was a call to action.
“It’s definitely something that has to end, after a decade of this we just need to say goodbye,” said Peter Tapia, a Miami Beach resident who created a Facebook page dedicated to ending the hip hop weekend street party.
In the first 24 hours more than 1,500 people signed up on his page. Currently there are nearly 4,000. Tapia and others are organizing a rally in front of Miami Beach City Hall Friday at 6 pm.
“It should not be on our streets, it’s just devastating,” Tapia said of the street party. “There’s looting. I took pictures of dozens of cars windows that have been bashed in. There have been sexual acts in the street. I’ve seen women get groped and they just keep walking; there is nothing they can do.
“We have to be serious,” Tapia continued. “Due to the violence and the hoodlumness to this event, it tarnishes the city’s image. I’ve seen tourists say they will never come back.”
Not everyone on Miami Beach agrees.
“If something bad happened for Calle Ocho we wouldn’t shut that down, if something bad happened at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival we wouldn’t shut that down,” said graphic designer Jeff Borg. “But something bad happens during Urban Beach Weekend and a lot of people want to shut it down. I think we know where that coming from and I think that is not us.”
That notion of a racial component to the criticism makes the issue extremely difficult for city officials and critics of the event.
“It has nothing to do with being black and I think that is something we have to let people know and be clear about that because there is nothing racist about that,” Tapia said.
Campbell says the problem rests with Miami Beach officials. He argues the city needs to be more involved in the planning of the weekend’s activities. Instead, they simply line the streets with cops and hope for the best.
“When I look at the event it should be no different than the Essence Music Festival [in New Orleans],” Campbell offered. “There should be events, concerts, comedy shows at the Jackie Gleason Theater. There should be concerts at the convention center. There should be food tastings on the sand. There should be people like Mary J. Blige and Aretha Franklin along with some quality hip hop artists brought in to perform.”
He said if the city and event organizers did that, then it would attract the type of crowd Miami Beach would want. As it stands now, Campbell complained, Miami Beach officials are running the risk of creating the perception that blacks are not welcome on the Beach.
“What I am worried about is the backlash,” Campbell said. “You have cities around America where African Americans know that they are not wanted because of some racial statement or some sort of ordinance that was put in to prevent African Americans from coming to that city. I don’t want that to happen to my town.”
Adding to the explosive nature of this issue is an upcoming election. The mayor and several commissioners up for re-election in November and the future of Memorial Day Weekend will likely become a major political issue in this year’s election.
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