NFL season kicks off with free NYC concert

NEW YORK (AP) — Usher, Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield are kicking off the NFL season with a free concert that's expected to draw thousands to Manhattan's Columbus Circle.

They are scheduled to perform Thursday afternoon. A video about the Super Bowl champion New York Giants will be shown before the NFL Kickoff show.

Traffic at the busy intersection at the foot of Central Park is expected to come to a virtual stop as fans and speakers — including Mayor Michael Bloomberg — turn out for the event.

The NFL will air portions of the concert live on its network prior to Thursday night's game between the Giants and the Washington Redskins at Giants Stadium.

source from : yahoo music

Christina Aguilera Reaches Target Audience

Ain't no other retailer for Christina Aguilera.

The petite vocal powerhouse has inked a deal to sell her upcoming compilation album, Keeps Gettin' Better—A Decade of Hits, exclusively through Target.

She joins John Legend, whose Live From Philadelphia is a Target exclusive, Carrie Underwood and Alicia Keys among the artists who've enlisted the big-box retailer to peddle their musical wares. Groups such as the Eagles, AC/DC and Journey have made similar arrangements with Wal-Mart.

Aguilera's greatest-hits collection, which also features two new songs, will be available in stores and on Target.com starting Nov. 11.

"I can't believe it's been over 10 years since my first album, and it was really exciting to put all of my favorite songs in one collection for my fans," said the 27-year-old "Genie in a Bottle" singer, who's also busy pushing a new signature fragrance, Inspire, and mothering her 7-month-old son, Max.

source from: Yahoo music

Library of Congress to honor Stevie Wonder

The Associated Press

The Library of Congress will honor Stevie Wonder with its second Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Librarian of Congress James Billington, who announced the prize Tuesday, noted that the prize honors an artist whose work transcends musical styles to bring diverse listeners together and foster mutual understanding. It recognizes a musician's lifetime of work.
Wonder, 58, will receive the award on Feb. 23, 2009. The first Gershwin Prize was awarded in 2007 to Paul Simon.
Self-taught on piano, harmonica and other instruments, Steveland Morris was just 12 when he first wowed national TV audiences on shows like Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." He was "Little Stevie Wonder" back then, a name he says someone at Motown Records — he can't remember exactly who — came up with.
From his earliest days as a prodigy covering Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" through such songs of his own as "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," "My Cherie Amour" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours," his music has sought to uplift and inform as well as entertain.
Among his albums: "Talking Book," "Innervisions," "Fulfillingness First Finale" and "Songs in the Key of Life," the last of which included his classic single "Love in Need of Love Today."

review from : Yahoo Music