The Week in Music: Katy Perry and Bob Seger Plan Big Tours, The Game Drops a Hit Mixtape
It was a big week for tour announcements at Rolling Stone. We talked to Katy Perry about her California Dreams world tour, which promises to be huge spectacle for the eyes, the ears and — perhaps most surprising — the nose. We also learned the details of Bob Seger‘s upcoming arena tour and the epic Big 4 festival, which will reunite metal icons Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax in California for one day in April.
The Hottest Live Photos of the Week
In other music news we talked to rapper The Game about his smash-hit mixtape Purp and Patron, found out how Bruce Springsteen came to make a guest appearance on the Dropkick Murphys’ new album Going Out in Style and looked back on Bob Dylan‘s arrival in New York City 50 years ago and an old cover feature about Nirvana that ran not long before Kurt Cobain died in 1994.
We also kept tabs on Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s ongoing feud with the members of Kings of Leon, Van Halen‘s return to the studio with original vocalist David Lee Roth and the Decemberists‘ surprise chart success. Plus, we named the Joy Formidable our Band of the Week, and reviewed all the hottest new albums and tracks that came out this week.
Photos: The Decemberists Perform Live in New York City
Over on Rolling Stone‘s new video blog, we premiered exclusive live sessions with Darius Rucker, Apex Manor and the Duke Spirit, and featured new clips by Sleigh Bells, Nicki Minaj, Young the Giant, Adele, Destroyer and Ke$ha.
Photos: Rockers at Sundance
On the pop culture front, movie critic Peter Travers voiced his disapproval of this year’s Oscar nominations, responded to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s thoughts on his review of The Social Network, and slammed new pictures starring Anthony Hopkins and Jason Statham. (He liked Greg Araki’s new film Kaboom, though.) Also, Halle Kiefer kept us up to date on Jersey Shore and Mallika Rao recapped both episodes of American Idol that aired this week.
Photos: Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber Team Up for a Superbowl Ad
We also ranked the Top 50 tweeters in music, counted down the 15 most ground-breaking gay roles on television, asked you to submit questions to the always-adorable Justin Bieber and made a list of the Top 10 best debut albums of all time as determined by our readers on Facebook. This week we’ve got a brand new weekend rock question — check it out here or on Facebook and let us know your thoughts.
Photos: Van Halen Through the Years
See you Monday.
LAST WEEK: Lil Wayne on Life in Jail, Pearl Jam’s Anniversary Plans, ‘American Idol’ and More