Chris Brown to Perform at Grammys

Chris Brown is reportedly going to perform at this year’s Grammys. This will be Brown’s first appearance at the Grammys since his 2009 assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna during Grammy weekend.

Despite being nominated in years since, Brown has not attended the ceremony. The performance is not meant to be formally announced prior to the show.

Brown is up for three Grammys, including Best R&B Album for his 2011 opus, F.A.M.E., as well as Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for his track “Look at Me Now,” which also features Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes.

Jack White, Beck and Bon Iver Lead Sasquatch! Lineup

Jack White, Beck and Bon Iver top the lineup for the 2012 Sasquatch! Music Festival, set for Memorial Day weekend (May 25 to 28) at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state.

Joining them is a mouthful of top indie talent, including the Shins, Beirut, Girl Talk, Feist, St. Vincent, Silversun Pickups, Metric, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Spiritualized, Tune-Yards, Kurt Vile, and many more. The Roots, Childish Gambino, Shabazz Palaces and AraabMuzik are the hip-hop performers, and Nick Kroll, Todd Barry and Rob Delaney will provide the comedy.

For the full Sasquatch! lineup, check out the official site. Four-day passes — which include camping and parking — go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. PT through the same site.

White’s headlining slot is his first confirmed gig since announcing earlier this week he was going solo with the premiere of a brand-new song, “Love Interruption,” and an upcoming album, Blunderbuss. Not to be outdone, White’s fellow headliner Beck will be making his first high-profile appearance in nearly three years at the fest.

Nora Jones Works With Danger Mouse on New Album

Norah Jones has teamed up with super-producer Danger Mouse for her next album, “Little Broken Hearts,” the singer-songwriter’s fifth full-length, which will be released this spring on Blue Note/EMI.

Jones and Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton) recorded the album at Burton’s Los Angeles studio last fall after Jones contributed vocals to Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi’s “Rome” project last year. “Little Broken Hearts” was entirely produced by Danger Mouse and co-written by Jones and Danger Mouse, and the pair also handled the majority of the instrumentals.

According to a press release, Jones plans to tour “extensively” in 2012, and the singer-songwriter has already announced a pair of dates: June 29 at the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater in Rochester, N.Y., and Aug. 10 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Jones’ last full tour came in 2010, when she supported “The Fall” with a 74-date world trek.

LL Cool J to Host Grammys

Rapper and actor LL Cool J will be the first official host of the Grammy Awards in seven years, the Recording Academy said on Wednesday.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of music’s biggest night,” said the two-time Grammy award winning host. “I will always have fond memories of my first Grammy Awards and to now be hosting the Grammy show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true.”

LL Cool J, who has been the host of the Grammy nominations concert since its first live broadcast in 2008, is the first emcee of the awards program since 2005 when Queen Latifah headlined. Since then, music’s biggest night has not had a host.

The 54th annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 12 in Los Angeles, and broadcast live on CBS.

Nicki Minaj and Foo Fighters to Perform at Grammys

Rapper Nicki Minaj will make her debut Grammy performance next month, joining Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars and country singer Jason Aldean on the list of artists who will take to the stage on the recording industry’s biggest night.

Grammy organizers said on Thursday that Minaj, who has four Grammy nominations, will perform at the February 12 awards show, as well as country sensation Taylor Swift, and Kelly Clarkson.

Rapper Kanye West, who leads this year’s Grammys with seven nominations, is also yet to be confirmed as a performer at the live awards show in Los Angeles.

Organizers said additional performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Adele, Bruno Mars and Kanye West Lead Grammy Nominations

Announced Wednesday were the Grammy nominations, and leading the lineup was Kanye West with a total of seven nominations, mostly for the song, “All of the Lights.” His album was left off of best album contention.

Following Kanye are Adele and Bruno Mars, each competing for album, record and song of the year. Both singers earned six nominations each.

Rock superstars the Foo Fighters also racked up six nominations, most notably for Album of the Year for “Wasting Light.” Also up for top album honors, aside from Adele’s “21″ and Mars’ “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” is Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Rihanna’s “Loud.”

The surprise artist thrown in the mix is Bon Iver, an indie-folk singer who appeared on much of Kanye West’s album “Twisted Fantasy.” Iver is up for Record of the Year for “Holocene,” which also snagged a nomination for Song of the Year, and is competing against Nicki Minaj, Skrillex, J. Cole and The Band Perry for Best New Artist.

The 54th Grammys will be held Feb. 12 in Los Angeles on CBS. Tune in to see all the winners!

Adele’s Album Remains In The Top Spot

Superstar Adele, logged a sixth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the U.S. pop album chart on Wednesday following a sleepy post-Easter sales week that saw no new releases enter the top 10.

The English pop singer sold 124,000 copies of her second album, “21,” during the week ended May 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Total sales rose to 1.4 million after 10 weeks.

The Billboard 200′s highest new entry was from instrumental rock band Explosions in the Sky’s sixth album, “Take Care, Take Care, Take Care,” which started at No. 16 with 19,000. Things should brighten up next week, once a bevy of new sets from the likes of Beastie Boys and Jennifer Lopez reach the tally.

Back in the top 10, the Foo Fighters’ former chart-topper “Wasting Light” rose one to No. 2 with just 34,000 copies, while Mumford & Sons’ “Sigh No More” jumped four to No. 3 with 32,000. Britney Spears’ “Femme Fatale” rose one to No. 4 (30,000), swapping places with the Disney Channel’s “Lemonade Mouth” soundtrack (29,600).

Chris Brown’s “F.A.M.E.” rose three to No. 6 (28,000) and “Glee, the Music Presents: The Warblers” slid five to No. 7 (27,600).

The next three albums were separated by fewer than 300 units. Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” jumped three to No. 8 (23,800), Wiz Khalifa’s “Rolling Papers” rebounded three to No. 9 (23,600), and Paul Simon’s “So Beautiful or So What” dropped two to No. 10 (23,500).

Foo Fighters earn Their first No. 1 album in The U.S. Ever

The Foo Fighters finally got their first No. 1 album in the United States on Wednesday as their eighth studio album “Wasting Light.”

The band sold 235,000 copies of “Wasting Light” during the week ended Sunday, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. It ranks as their second-largest sales week, trumped only by the No. 2 launch of “In Your Honor” in 2005, which began with 311,000. Their last studio album, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace,” debuted at No. 3 in 2007 with 168,000.

Congrats boys!

Robbie Williams Pulls Out Of MTV Europe Music Awards Performance

Robbie Williams has pulled out of a scheduled appearance at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards.

According to a statement issued Friday by the U.K. singer’s spokesperson, the cancellation was “due to a scheduling conflict.” The statement went onto say that “all other promotional commitments carry on as planned.”

Wiliams was expected to perform alongside Jay-Z, Green Day, Tokio Hotel, Leona Lewis, Foo Fighters and Shakira at the awards ceremony, which takes at Berlin’s O2 World Arena on Thursday (November 5).

The singer — who recently ended a three-year hiatus with the single “Bodies” (Virgin/EMI) — is up for the award for best male at the ceremony. “Bodies” entered the Official U.K. Charts Co. singles rundown at No. 2 on October 25.

Williams’ new studio set, “Reality Killed the Video Star,” will be released internationally on November 9.

Williams also is set to receive the outstanding contribution to music prize at next year’s Brit Awards, which take place February 16 at London’s Earls Court.

Foo Fighters’ Greatist Hits Album

The Foo Fighters will be releasing ‘Foo Fighters Greatist Hits’ on November 3rd, 2009 to commemorate the group’s 15th anniversary. The album will include 2 new songs – ‘Word Forward’ and ‘Wheels.’

Interestingly, the release of their greatest hits album comes at a time when members of the band are off doing their own projects. Lead singer and founder Dave Grohl is working with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Josh Home of Queens of the Stone Age in a group called Them Crooked Vultures, whose debut album is expected to release sometime in October.