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.

Katy Perry Ties Billboard Record

Katy Perry joins Janet Jackson and George Michael to tie for the record for having six top-five hits from a single album on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard history.

Thanks to Katy’s latest Teenage Dream single, “The One That Got Away,” jumping five spots from #9 to #4, she tied the two pop stars.

It’s been a while since anyone matched George and Janet. Michael did it in the mid-’80s with his album Faith, which included hits like the title track, “I Want Your Sex” and “Father Figure.” Jackson followed him several years later with Rhythm Nation 1814, which launched hits like “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” “Escapade” and “Black Cat.”

This is hardly Perry’s first Billboard record. She previously tied with Michael Jackson and his Bad album when she notched five #1 singles from her 2010 album. Those five chart-toppers are “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework” and “E.T.” And now, she’s set her latest record with “The One That Got Away.”

“This song shows a very different side of me that I haven’t shown with my past singles on this record,” Perry has previously said about the Teenage Dream midtempo track. “I think that everyone can relate to this song. I wrote this song about when you promise someone forever, but you end up not being able to follow through. It’s a bittersweet story — hopefully, the listener learns from hearing it and never has to say they had ‘The One’ get away.”

Adele on Top of Rolling Stone’s Album and Single List

Rolling Stone magazine named Adele’s album “21″ and single “Rolling In The Deep” the best of 2011.

Adele recently received six Grammy nominations and was chosen by Rolling Stone editors for her multi-platinum selling sophomore album, which was officially the U.K’s best selling album of the 21st century and 2011′s best-selling album in the United States.

” ’21′ was this year’s most stunning pop success, transmuting the young Brit’s personal sorrow — the collapse of an 18-month relationship — into a 13-million-selling smash that leapt across borders and oceans and united everyone from teeny-boppers to baby boomers to hip-hop-heads,” said Rolling Stone editors.

Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch The Throne,” came second on the album list, followed by Paul Simon’s “So Beautiful or So What” at No. 3, Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues” at No. 4 and Radiohead’s eighth studio album “The King of Limbs” rounding out the top five.

Adele’s song “Rolling In The Deep,” was named the best single of 2011 by the magazine, as editors described it as the “breakup scorcher to beat all breakup scorchers.”

Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Ni**as in Paris” clocked in at No. 2, while Britney Spears’ “‘Til The World Ends” made No. 3 on the list, Foo Fighters’ “These Days” at No. 4 and Paul Simon’s “Rewrite” at No. 5.

The full list will be available on newsstands and online on December 9.

Rihanna Expects New Album to “Change Music”

Rihanna had great success with Grammy-nominated Loud, and is looking to change music with her sixth full-length album, Talk That Talk.

Def Jam’s VP of A&R, Bu Thiam, talked about how the next album with Rihanna needs to do no less than “change music.”

“My job as an A&R is to always bring her different records that are hit records but doesn’t sound like anything she’s done in the past,” Thiam said. “Her whole thing is, ‘How can we be different? How can we change music? How can we go from having a great album like Loud and still come with a better album and keep pushing and keep hitting the bar?’ The good thing about Rihanna,” he said, “is that she doesn’t want to be in the same realm as anybody else. She wants to be in a zone where when you think of Rihanna, you think of new, you think of different.”

“Different” meant bringing well-known DJ Calvin Harris into the creative process. Producer Harris collaborated with the singer on her tracks, “Where Have You Been” and “We Found Love,” giving Rihanna the 11th #1 single of her career.

The growing popularity of DJ culture in pop music helped get Harris involved with the album, but the Rihanna’s desire to create a new sound was ultimately what made it happen. “It’s a different sound and that’s what she wanted to go with,” Thiam said. “She wanted to change music. I have to salute her for taking a chance ’cause most artists wouldn’t have done that.”

Swift Discusses New “Different” Album and Working with Minaj

After another big year from Taylor Swift, the country pop crooner discusses her new upcoming album, saying that her new songs are not about “moving on” and this fourth release will be a much different feel than her other three albums.

When asked what experiences stirred such an emotional album, Swift said, “I can’t tell you, because it’s a secret. It will be unveiled when it all comes out, because they all seem to have a theme to them, the records that we’ve put out so far, and this one is no different. It’s very different in what it’s about, but it’s no different in the fact that it has its own name.”

In speaking of Nicki Minaj, who she had a chance to perform with, Swift said, “I love her. One of my favorite moments of the tour was when she came out at the Staples Center and sang ‘Super Bass’ with me, which was, like, the coolest thing. It was like a dream come true, so it’s amazing to get to run into her and see her around, and I’m just such a fan.” When asked if Swift would ever collaborate with Minaj, she answered, “I mean, we’re not working on anything right now. But I would love to at some point. That would be amazing.”

Lady Gaga’s New Video “Marry The Night” Leaked

Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated music video for her single “Marry the Night” was leaked Thursday, and has since been causing quite a buzz. The video features Gaga in multiple scenes, wearing latex while performing ballet, naked thrashing while pouring cereal on herself, dancing, exploding cars — all somewhat autobiographical, according to Gaga, who directed the video herself.

Check out the video below and let us know what you think!

Lady Gaga Says “Marry The Night” Breakdown was Real

Lady Gaga’s most recent music video release “Marry the Night” graphically depicts Gaga’s journey from an early career trauma to her eventual international success as a pop star.

What left Gaga so traumatized? She explained it all to E! News before the video’s premiere. Gaga claims that the video is a metaphor for how she felt when she was dropped from her first record label, Island Def Jam, before coming to her current spot at Interscope.

“It was one of the worst days of my life and it happened quite quickly. But in my mind, when I think back on that period of my life, it all happened very slow,” she explained. “It is my personal way of seeing things. I am the artist of my own life. I choose to tell you what happened,” she continued. “If you give up after something like that, you were never destined to be an entertainer.”

In the video, after hearing from her ballet director that she should quit, she restructures her goal and plots her rise to pop stardom. “In order to be great writing music or at fishing or at being a mechanic or designing buildings, you have to acknowledge what is wrong with your work, or what is dishonest about it,” she said. “What have I not been really great at?” Those obstacles, she says, are a big part of what makes her who she is now. “I love the obstacles,” she said. “To marry your obstacles means I, the artist, wholeheartedly accept everything you throw at me. I am destined to struggle, I am destined to write music about the struggle and I accept it willingly.”

There are several scenes where Gaga is naked and experiencing a mental breakdown in her apartment. “Well, I was naked in real life when it happened,” she said, referring to the moment she found out she’d been dropped. “That’s probably the most honest moment in that video of everything I’ve ever done.”

“It was intensely important to me that it was not too beautiful,” she added. “It was an incredible experience. It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. In essence, it’s insight into my entire creative process and the way that I view things.”

Tim McGraw Released from Record Label

Country singer Tim McGraw is now free to sign with a new record label or record for his own company, releasing him from Curb Records.

After a long court battle, Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor Russell Perkins ruled in favor of McGraw over the unreleased album “Emotional Traffic” that the singer completed but which the record label believed was not ready for release.

McGraw, a Grammy winning artist whose hits include “Live Like You Were Dying,” and “Something Like That,” signed with Curb Records in the early 1990s and has never recorded for another label.

Wednesday’s ruling means McGraw can now move forward with his recording career, and another hearing was set for July 2012 on the damages portion of the lawsuit.

Ironically, Curb released a new McGraw single on Wednesday from “Emotional Traffic” called “Better Than I Used To Be,” saying it is the first new music from the singer in 11 months.

McGraw’s prior single, “Felt Good On My Lips,” was a three-week No. 1 hit, and originally turned in as part of the “Emotional Traffic” album. However, the song, was released as part of a “Number One Hits” package.

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!

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