It was billed as “the celebration of women in music.”
Sarah McLachlan was the hostess. And Mary J. Blige was the life of the party when Lilith, the female-fronted roadshow formerly known as Lilith Fair, returned to Blossom Music Center on Tuesday (July 27th), following an 11-year break.
The eight-hour extravaganza showcased a variety of musical styles, from introspective singer-songwriter fare to uptempo electro-pop. Women dominated not only the spotlight, but the audience of 5,000-plus fans.
Blige stole the show with her charismatic performance. Accompanied by a 10-piece band (including four backing vocalists), the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul had concertgoers on their feet for “Real Love,” “No More Drama,” Be Without You” and other empowering hits.
Blige also put her stamp on a couple of classic rock songs. She belted out U2’s “One” with gospel-style fervor and breathed new life into the Led Zeppelin warhorse “Stairway to Heaven,” which made for a stunning highlight.
Pop & Hiss was privy to a top secret recording session Tuesday (Feb. 2) night involving a supergroup of sorts covering one of the most recognized songs in rock history: Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven.” The players? Soul queen Mary J. Blige on vocals, guitar god Steve Vai and his pop protégé Orianthi on rhythm and lead guitars, respectively, Travis Barker on drums and “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson on bass, with producer Ron Fair (Christina Aguilera, Pussycat Dolls) handling piano, the arrangement and all-star recruitment. The track’s destination: Blige’s 10th studio album, due out later this year.
“What people don't know about me is I've been a rock 'n' roll fan for years,” Blige said after wrapping her 17th vocal take at Capitol Records Studio A. “I loved soft rock as a child. I'm full of this stuff, naturally.” She also had one massive international hit with a rock song, a cover of U2’s “One,” which Blige performed with Bono on the 2007 Grammy Awards, but it never had the same success stateside that the single saw in Europe.
Still, ever since the collaboration, it’s Bono who’s been pushing Blige to embrace her inner rock star, so blame him if you hate the concept. “Some people might consider it blasphemy, but Mary’s voice really is a nice match [for the song],” said Fair. “Robert Plant’s high-pitched blues thing is right in step with Mary's vocal range, and she brings the soul music to it, which is what Plant was going for in the first place.”
Indeed, Blige had no trouble hitting “Stairway’s” sweet spots and making its boldest moments her own, but she was also keenly aware of not just replicating the original. “You approach it as yourself, you don't try to be the artist,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by the various players in the room, who found themselves strangely star-struck by one another. In one corner, Jackson sang the praises of Blige (“She can do anything, Mary is the truth!”), in the other, Orianthi was admiring Jackson and “what a monster bass player he is,” while Blige was ogling over Orianthi, whom she remembered seeing in "Michael Jackson's This Is It” movie. “What a surprise it was for Ron to bring her here,” said Blige. “I really love how she plays.”
Because the track was recorded backward, with the drum-heavy second half finished before the four-minute acoustic first act, Barker was out early, around 5 p.m. And amazingly, though they only started working at 3 p.m., the mostly live recording was pretty much finished by 7 p.m. “This is how records used to be made, and I love it,” said Orianthi, who also participated in Monday’s “We Are the World” remake. “Everyone comes in, you do your best, put everything into it, and by the end of the day, you have a song.”
Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean and Whoopi Goldberg were getting behind a fundraising event for Haiti (Monday, February 8) in New York.
"Hope Help & Relief Haiti" was put together by fashion designer Donna Karan and her Urban Zen Foundation.
The evening was designed as a "Night of Humanity" including a live performance by Blige, an address by Jean and an auction conducted by Goldberg.
The immediate goal of the fundraiser was to provide up to 50,000 tents for homeless families in Haiti. But Karan said the idea was not to limit the effort to just one night but to use it as a launch for a series of events, with the long term goal of helping re-build a permanent, sustainable community in Haiti.
Even as earthquake relief efforts are underway in Haiti, celebrities continue to remind us that support is still needed.
Billboard: What was your mind-set when you began working on "Stronger?"
Mary J. Blige: I always say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I honestly believe that. And I'm the type of celebrity who can't not talk about the trials I've been through. No matter how successful you become, you always end up finding out there's something in you that needs to be purged. You hit a valley, another trial. It hurts so bad that you have to go through something like this again.
But people are people, and you will have to go through things as long as you live on planet Earth. When you go through these situations, it's what you learn about yourself that gets you out of them as well as the responsibility you take about that particular lesson. And once you come out of that, you're definitely a stronger individual than you were before. The strength in that is learning how to forgive and move on. That's a serious lesson. As is learning how to love yourself even more to another level, where you don't expect or need anybody to make you feel good about yourself. That's why I named the album "Stronger." That's what I had to learn from this trial I was in, another self-love trial.
Billboard: Was there anything in particular that set this trial in motion?
Blige: I don't want to go into any details about that. But I do have days when I'll run around like my life is over. And what makes me happy is when I can come out of those situations feeling like I've learned something.
01 I Am (produced by Stargate, written by Johnta Austin & Ester Dean) 02 The One ft. Drake (produced by Rodney Jerkins) 03 Good Love ft. T.I. (produced by The Stereotypes) 04 I Love U 05 In The Morning 06 Kitchen 07 Hood Love ft. Trey Songz (produced by Bryan-Michael Cox, written by Johnta Austin) 08 Said And Done (produced by Ryan Leslie) 09 Feel Good 10 Tonight 11 Each Tear (produced By Stargate) 12 I Can See In Color (featured in the movie 'Precious')
Mary J. Blige - 'Stronger With Each Tear' on Matriarch/Geffen/Interscope in-stores December 21.
Rihanna. Ne-Yo told us that the "R" in her "Rated R" stands for either "remarkable" or "really, really sexy." Not quite sure if it completely hit both of those notes, but it was definitely over too soon. Performing in a sort of sci-fi junkyard, Rihanna came onstage in what could have been a torture device. Like Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna is definitely tapping into the cyborg pop mentality that's all the rage at the moment (nice spikes on the shoulders). She gave us snippets of two songs from "Rated R" -- "Wait Your Turn" and "Hard" -- but it would have been better to just stick with one. To her credit, she sounded sharp, metallic and owned the songs. The night's best performance thus far. A-
The Black Eyed Peas. The Los Angeles popsters received a showcase performance, getting to offer live takes of "Meet Me Halfway" and "Boom Boom Pow," two of the most ubiquitous songs of the year. Viewers were reminded of this fact repeatedly, with their sales constantly hyped, and the Black Eyed Peas declaring themselves "the new kings" at the end of their performance. On record, "Meet Me Halfway" is all electronic futurism. Live, it was a bit messier, but there was plenty of eye candy in this extended performance. Crazy wigs and stereo outfits and some crowd-pleasing samples of C+C Music Factory and Nirvana. It was all pop-culture nonsense, and that's what the Black Eyed Peas excel at. B+
Alicia Keys. Getting a chance to redeem herself for her earlier performance, Keys drops her new single, "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart," in her second performance of the evening, touching on a bit of '70s R&B vibe. Her gold-draped jacket will dominate the gossip sites Monday, and the single's good too. Keys doesn't belt at the top of her lungs here, and though I prefer her when she's at the piano (she sat down and played in the song's final moments), she's softly restrained for much of the song. The background dancers, copping some vintage "West Side Story" Broadway moves, were cute to boot. B+
Mary J. Blige. Her "I Am" isn't a knock-out on par with "I Can See in Color," but it's the type of ballad Blige can perfectly deliver in her sleep. On a night were futuristic flash and bare skin were all the rage, Blige kept it lovingly old school. B
Janet Jackson. So, supposedly the American Music Awards were going to open with a performance from Janet, and that's technically what happened. Except Janet's performance was largely a commercial for her "Number Ones," in which the singer, in a tan outfit that looked like it was ripped straight from the racks at REI, performed a medley of her hits. Imagine going to Amazon.com and clicking on a bunch of song samples from her two-disc set. That's largely what this performance was -- it's "Miss You Much"! and now it's "What Have You Done for Me Lately"! -- and if you were a Janet fan, you surely enjoyed this swift little medley. It was a safe and solid opening, and it gets a slight bonus for focusing entirely on Janet and not becoming another Michael tribute, so B-.
Following in Usher's street date foot steps, Universal Music Group has decided to stage their key releases to come out the week of Christmas on Monday, December 21.
12/21 new releases are as follows:
December 21, 2009 Usher - Raymond vs. Raymond (Jive/Zomba/Laface) Young Money - We Are Young Money (Universal/Motown/Young Money) Mary J. Blige - Stronger With Each Tear (Geffen/Matriarch) Eminem - Relapse: Refill (Interscope/Shady/Aftermath) Lil Wayne - Rebirth (Cash Money/Universal)
This is a very usual move by the major labels that is not typically seen from previous holiday selling seasons.
Some of these artists/releases don't even have a radio picture built yet which normally goes along with each release's set up for the marketplace.
As this year's economy has taken a toll on the populous pocketbook, the major labels probably figure if anyone is going to spend any of their hard earned cash it would be the week of Christmas.
Do you think the major labels are doing a good thing by releasing their biggest titles the week of Christmas?
