Lady Gaga Announces “The Born This Way Ball” Tour

Lady Gaga released dates today for her Born This Way Ball tour in Southeast Asia/Australia and those shows will be followed by the rest of the world including dates in Europe, Latin America and North America.

Live Nation Global Touring CEO Arthur Fogel and his team will steer the tour, as they did the bulk of the “Monster Ball” tour of 2010-2011, which grossed $188 million from 167 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Gaga leaked news about the tour on Twitter.

The tour will first hit Southeast Asia and Japan through early June, mapping out 15 shows at stadiums and arenas. Gaga will then play about 15 shows in Australia, ending in July. Beyond that, current plans call for her to tour Europe in August, followed by Latin America towards the end of the year, and then North America in Q1 2013, beginning in January and running into March.

“The ‘Born This Way Ball’ will perform 110 shows around the world,” she announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Lada Gaga’s Parents Open Italian Restaurant

Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta, the parents of Lady Gaga, have opened a Manhattan restaurant, Joanne Trattoria, the New York Times reports.

Some fans have already sought it out thanks to a Gaga appearance there on New Year’s Eve, but her parents are hoping the eatery won’t be overwhelmed with her millions of little monsters. Instead, Joanne will offer more of a neighborhood feel, albeit one with $25-$30 entrees.

“If they’re expecting to come in here and see Grammys and pictures and stuff like that, it’s not going to happen,” Joseph said, adding that his daughter “generates a lot of sizzle.”

Gaga told ABC News in November that “My dad and I opened up a restaurant together,” but her father told the Times that the singer is in fact not an owner of the new eatery.

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation Kicks Off Feb. 29th

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation will kick off on Feb. 29.

The nonprofit will kick off its mission with an event at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society has partnered with Gaga for the new nonprofit, as has the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the California Endowment.

The new foundation will focus on “issues like self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development.”

Her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, will co-direct the foundation.

Madonna Wins Golden Globe, Elton John’s Husband Reacts

At the Golden Globe Awards, Madonna and Elton John were both up for best original song, and traded insults on the red carpet, but after Madonna won, John’s husband David Furnish lashed back on his Facebook page.

“Madonna. Best song???? F**k off!!!” Furnish said on Facebook, according to TMZ. “Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism.”

He also called Madonna’s recent criticism of Lady Gaga “desperate.”

Furnish may have been referring to several aspects of Madonna’s speech, which came after her song “Masterpiece,” from her film “W.E.,” beat out John’s “Hello Hello from “Gnomeo and Juliet.”

Before the night’s festivities, Elton told NBC’s Carson Daly that Madonna “doesn’t have a f***ing chance of winning tonight.” After laughing, Daly asked if those were “fighting words” but Elton called them “accurate words.”

When Daly told Madonna about Elton’s jab, she asked, “Was he wearing a dress?’ … adding, “may the best man win.”

According to Us Weekly, Madonna voiced her hopes backstage that she and Elton could patch things up. “I hope he speaks to me for the next couple of years,” she quipped. “He’s been known to get mad at me so I don’t know. He’s brilliant and I adore him so he’ll win another award. I don’t feel bad!”

Madonna Makes Rather Cold Comments on Gaga’s Career

Madonna made some rather lukewarm comments in U.S. interviews released on Friday, calling her influence on Gaga’s music “interesting” and “amusing.” Sometimes.

“I certainly think she references me a lot in her work. And sometimes I think it’s amusing and flattering and well done,” Madonna, 53, told ABC News in a television interview.

“There’s a lot of ways to look at it. I can’t really be annoyed by it…because obviously, I’ve influenced her,” the pop star told ABC.

The comparisons between the two divas, both known for combining provocative stunts with catchy dance-pop hits, came to a head when Gaga released her “Born This Way” single last February.

The song was instantly likened to Madonna’s 1989 hit “Express Yourself”.

“When I heard it on the radio .I said that sounds very familiar,” Madonna said. Asked if that felt annoying, Madonna responded, “It felt reductive.”

Pressed by ABC interviewer Cynthia McFadden whether that was a good or bad thing, Madonna replied “look it up”.

In a separate interview in the upcoming issue of Newsweek, Madonna described “Born This Way” as “a wonderful way to redo my song.”

“I mean, I recognized the chord changes. I thought it was… interesting,” she added.

The Grammy-winning singer told U.S. talk show host Jay Leno in February that she was Madonna’s “hugest fan personally and professionally.”

Madonna Talks New Album Title and Working With Gaga

Madonna revealed the title of her 12th studio album: “M.D.N.A.”

In an interview with Graham Norton, Madonna talked about the album release, saying, “it’s soon — it depends how quickly people hack in to my server and leak it. Can people wait? It’s terrible.”

“M.N.D.A.” will be Madonna’s first studio release on Interscope, since leaving Warner Bros. Records and entering into an all-encompassing deal with Live Nation. Her final Warner Bros. studio set, “Hard Candy,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 740,000 copies stateside, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

According to Glamour, another reported topic of conversation between Madonna and Graham Norton in the interview was Lady Gaga, who is surely used to the Madonna comparisons by now. “When I first saw her [Gaga] I was really impressed by her and she was cool. She did remind me of me back in the day,” Madonna said. “I do think she is very talented.”

Allison Gray Releases “Break Me” Music Video

Singer/songwriter Allison Gray has released the highly anticipated music video for her moving, poignant new single, “Break Me.”

A beautiful song filled with emotion and a relatable message, “Break Me” showcases Allison’s incredible potential as an artist and her natural talent. The video is simple and beautiful, highlighting Allison’s musical talent and stunning natural beauty.

Be sure to check out the video and song from Allison Gray!

Digital Sales Beatout Physical Sales for First Time

Digital music purchases accounted for 50.3 percent of all music sales in 2011, marking the first time digital sales have outpaced physical album sales, according to data released by Nielsen SoundScan. Digital sales were up by 8.4 percent from 2010, while physical album sales declined by 5 percent.

Adele, the top-selling artist overall for 2011, was also the best-selling digital artist, with her album 21 moving 1,801,000 digital copies (out of a cross-format 5,824,000 total) and her singles “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” selling 5,813,000 and 3,750,000 downloads, respectively.

Other big sellers in the digital album format include Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne, Lil Wayne and Coldplay.

Rihanna Finds Milestone with “We Found Love”

Rihanna’s single “We Found Love” stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on Thursday for the 8th straight week, making it the singer’s longest-running No. 1 single of her career.

The singer’s single overtook Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” which stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks earlier this year, and beat her previous top-selling singles, 2007′s “Umbrella” and 2010′s “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Eminem.

“We Found Love” is the lead single from Rihanna’s sixth studio album “Talk That Talk,” and the singer will wrap her last concert on her “Loud” tour in London on Thursday.

Justin Bieber Releases New Song, “Be Alright”

Justin Bieber is treating his fans to some new music right in time for the holiday season. On Wednesday night, the pop superstar debuted a new track called “Be Alright” to a jam-packed crowd during his Toronto-based TV concert special, “Justin Bieber: Home for the Holidays,” which airs Thursday night (December 22) on MuchMusic and CTV.

“You might hear this on my next album, you might not, but it’s a song I’m working on. I still haven’t really finished it,” Bieber told the screaming crowd, before unveiling the acoustic tune. “Basically, the concept is: Even though when times get hard with your girlfriend or boyfriend, when times get hard, you gotta just let them know that in the end, everything’s gonna be alright.”

Sitting beside his guitarist, the young singer soothed the audience with the new slow jam. “Across the ocean, across the sea/ Starting to forget the way you look at me now/ Over the ocean and across the sky/ Starting to forget the way you look in my eyes,” he sang.

After the holiday special, the teen singer took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the memorable evening, writing, “Tonight was special. No rules. Music, family, friends, fans, charity, and music. Thank you. #HomeForTheHolidays.”

“Be Alright” is just a taste of what may come from the singer’s next album release.

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