Music News & Notes

Susan Boyle smashes record with debut album release

Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle is riding high after her debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, sold a record breaking 410,000 copies during its first week of sales making her album the biggest selling debut release by a female artist in the UK of all time.

The 48-year-old Scot beat off stiff competition from younger rivals including Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and Rihanna to clinch the top spot in the UK album charts. Susan also entered the singles chart at number 9 with a cover of the Rolling Stones classic, Wild Horses.

After the colossal number of records sold this week, Susan now also holds the record for the fastest selling album of the year in the UK.

The former church volunteer was catapulted to fame on the TV talent show, Britain’s Got Talent. Her audition tape was seen across the world on Youtube and made her a global star. The Scottish singer has a strong fan base in the US thanks to popularity of her internet clip, and performed to a massive crowd on the final of America’s Got Talent. Her album is also expected to be a smash hit across the pond.

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The Strokes scheduled To Play U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival

The Strokes have announced their first gig in over three years, grabbing the Saturday night headlining slot at the U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival on June 11-13, 2010. New York City acts will have a big presence at the fest across the Atlantic as both Jay-Z and Blondie are also on the bill. Pink, Orbital and Squeeze will also perform at the fest.

Pending the announcement of any more dates, it’ll be the NYC quintet’s first gig since October 2006. Following their tour behind First Impressions of Earth, the bandmembers splintered into offshoots like Nickel Eye, Little Joy and Albert Hammond Jr. and Julian Casablancas’ namesake solo projects, but now there’s finally confirmed evidence that the Strokes’ long hibernation may be coming to an end.

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Sir Paul A Sellout

All of the tickets for Paul McCartney's December 22 show at London's O2 Arena were sold out in four seconds.

Sir Paul was surprised by the fast sales, telling BBC6:

"I was doing an interview with some guy and he said, 'I heard you sold out in four seconds'. I said, 'No. That’s four minutes, are you kidding?'"

He added that it is still comforting to know that people want to still see him.

"I think, 'I love playing to them, and they’re going to actually like hearing me, so what can I do so that we can have fun?' It’s more of a mutual motivation now."

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Lips To Play Floyd

It's being reported that The Flaming Lips will perform their cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon during their New Year's Eve Freakout at the Cox Center in Oklahoma City. The studio version of their cover is expected to be released next year, possibly as an iTunes only download.

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Allman Brothers Museum Opens

"The Big House" in Macon, Georgia, where members of the Allman Brothers lived and wrote many of their songs in the early-70's, has been turned into the Allman Brothers museum after five years of fundraising and two years of renovations. The soft opening was held this past weekend with a grand opening set for early next year.

The museum was the idea of Kirk West, the band's road manager, who had lived in the house with his wife Kirsten until 2003. At that time, they looked into selling the building but a possible buyer suggested that it would be the perfect place for a museum honoring the group.

In the early 70's, the home was occupied by bassist Barry Oakley and his wife Linda along with Duane Allman and his family. The rest of the band regularly hung out there where they wrote and played music.

The museum is at 2321 Vineville Avenue in Macon and will be open weekends until the grand opening when it will take on a more regular schedule.

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Liam Gallagher May Continue Fronting Oasis - His new band are considering keeping the name...

Liam Gallagher has admitted that his new band may keep the Oasis moniker.

The singer and clothes designer is currently working on new material with his former Oasis bandmates Gem Archer, Zak Starkey and Andy Bell and plans to release a record by next July.

Speaking to The Evening Standard, Gallagher said of the Oasis name:

"We're not using it at the moment, but if we don't come up with something else by the time we're ready to release the album it'll be Oasis.

"I'm not going to call myself something ridiculous just for the sake of it. We're trying lots of new names right now, but nothing's sticking so we're just plugging on with the music. Obviously we won't be playing any of Noel's songs."

Asked whether the material will be radically different to Oasis material, Liam added: "Nah, not radical. No way, man. It's a little bit different, but not too much.

“It's the kind of music our fans have always liked, you know? But we'll see. I'm not forcing this down anyone's throats. That's not good for the soul."