The Week in Music: Bob Seger Opens Up and Ricky Gervais Speaks Out
This week was all about endings. Rob Sheffield covered the final concert by LCD Soundsystem at Madison Square Garden, David Browne reexamined the last days of the Beatles in 1970 and in very candid interview with Rolling Stone, rock legend Bob Seger opened up about preparing for his new tour and realizing that he is entering the final years of his long career in music.
Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone, Round Two: Vote by April 14!
Also, the second round of our Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone contest is almost over. Eight bands are competing to not only appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, but also win a contract with Atlantic Records and make their debut television appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Familiarize yourself with each band by watching videos of live performances and interviews and downloading free songs recorded during recent studio sessions with top producers, and vote for your favorites. Voting for the second round of the contest will close on April 14th.
Photos: Rolling Stone Cover Contest Bands Take NYC
We also counted down the Top 10 best apocalyptic pop music videos, analyzed this week’s pop charts and looked back on this week in rock history. Plus, Gym Class Heroes rapper Travie McCoy came to our studio to play some songs from his solo album, the Baltimore art-rock quartet Ponytail was named our latest Band to Watch and as always, we reviewed all the week’s biggest new releases.
Photos: Bob Dylan’s First-Ever China Concert
The new issue of Rolling Stone features an in-depth profile of Ricky Gervais, one of the most innovative, beloved and controversial figures in contemporary comedy. In addition to that article, in which he speaks frankly about his athiesm and his widely-criticized monologue at this year’s Golden Globe awards, we’ve collected Gervais’ Top 10 best zings, looked back at his long, funny career in comedy and counted down the 11 best comedian-musicians. We also acknowledged Gervais’ influence in the world of comedy podcasting by listing off the 10 best comedy podcasts of the moment.
Gallery: Rihanna’s Top 10 Music Videos
On the pop culture front, Peter Travers praised Hanna, an excellent new movie about a teenage assassin, but tossed Russell Brand’s horrible remake of Arthur and Danny McBride’s unfunny fantasy spoof Your Highness into the Scum Bucket. Also, Mallika Rao commented on the contestants’ savvy PR moves and the troubling dismissal of Pia Toscano on this week’s episodes of American Idol.
The Hottest Live Photos of the Week
We also posted a gallery of your Top 10 favorite songs of the Sixties, as determined by your votes on Facebook and Twitter. Our question for you this weekend is: Who is the best lead singer of all time? You can answer on our website, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter with the #weekendrock hashtag.
LAST WEEK: Rihanna Opens Up, Rebecca Black Fights Ark Music Factory and More