The simmering centerpiece of Keith’s “Defying Gravity” album has been a favorite since the album’s release, so much so, that the Keith-focused Urban Country Blog site started a petition to demand its release as a summer-time single.
The season has already come and gone, but now “Til Summer Comes Around” is indeed a single. It’s actually [...]

The pop charts love her, yet Paris Hilton hates her.
Who is this outrageous dance-pop party girl behind the smash hit “TiK ToK” and why does she spell her name with a dollar sign?
“It was me taking the piss out of the fact that I was broke while being on a No.1 record. (She sang on [...]

Alicia Keys has established herself as an increasingly rare thing in pop music: “The class act.” It’s made her a consistently gratifying album artist, if not always an immediately dazzling one.
The Element of Freedom’s fist single, the pensive love-is-the-drug ballad “Doesn’t Mean Anything,” seemed to get lost among its more aggressive chart peers when it [...]

This jazz-pop star travels a rock-ier route on her fourth album, “The Fall”.
Since her last record (2007’s double platinum “Not Too Late) was released, she has since broken up with her boyfriend and bassist Lee Alexander, and therefore “The Fall” doesn’t’ seem to have many happy love songs.
So, how autobiographical is the album?
“Maybe half and [...]

Leona Lewis has a voice like a monolith; a shiny, towering monument to the perfect sound.
But, it can be difficult to connect with the woman who wields it, even with the help of pop-chart pros like Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, and Justin Tmberlake.
Too much of “Echo” is mired in soppy balladry and standard issue dancery [...]

This is Shakira’s third English-language album, which features scratchy funk guitars, an elastic bass line, and a steady house pulse behind her lyrics.
This Columbian star dives headfirst into the omnivorous disco style she’s often flirted with in the past.
A team of producers led by the Neptunes (back in peak form after a recent lull) surrounds [...]

Gretchen Wilson knows what her fans want. Her newest track “is another one of my girl-power songs…an anthem for the working-class American female.” she says. “It has the kind of beat that gets people to get off of their butts and start bouncing.”
John Rich and songwriter Vicky McGehee co-wrote the track with Wilson, whose upcoming [...]

Tim’s latest album, “Southern Voice” just hit stores, and is already breaking records.
He is also currently starring with Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side, which came out November 20.
So which does he prefer?  “Music and movies have a lot in common.” he said.
“Acting makes me a better musical artist, and vice versa. It’s the same [...]

Carrie Underwood’s latest chick-power anthem (co-written by “Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi) puts someone on notice: “You stole my happy/You made me cry/Took the lonely and took me for a ride.”
Girl, we hear you! That is so “right on!”

Michelle Turley grew up on a ranch in Deming, New Mexico, where music was an integral part of her family life. Her dad fronted a band called “The Playboys” and her mom, and accomplished vocalist, taught piano.
When Michelle was in her teens, she was spotted by a scout for the famed Ford Modeling Agency. [...]