Lionel Richie

Lights, Camera, Headaches

The quickest way to ruin a music festival? Get actors to show up.

UPDATED: Is ACL Festival Ignoring Houston? Does It Even Matter?

UPDATED (Thursday, 2:50 p.m.) to reflect the Houston-area roots of a few ACL performers this year, as pointed out by reader comments. We stand by our original point, though. As most of our readers no doubt know by now, the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its 2013 lineup at the stroke of ... More >>

Depeche Mode, The Cure, Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Lionel Richie Head 2013 ACL Fest Lineup

Moments ago, Depeche Mode, The Cure, MUSE, Kings of Leon, Atoms For Peace (featuring Thom Yorke and Flea), Lionel Richie, Phoenix, Wilco, Vampire Weekend, The National, and Eric Church were announced as the headliners of the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival, which plans to expand to identical ... More >>

Friends In High Places: 5 Weird Actor/Musician Friendships

You or I may not be a fan of Justin Bieber, but you know who is? Mike Tyson, that's who. As Iron Mike explained a little while ago, he thinks Bieber is "pretty awesome." Apparently the ex-heavyweight champ got turned into a Belieber through his wife, who hooks Tyson up with most of his music. This ... More >>

The Day The Muzak Brand Died

Muzak is dying. Long live Muzak. That great musical mainstay of elevators, shopping centers, and other hellish waiting places is getting consolidated by its owner Mood Media, melding inside their own longstanding multi-sensory brand simply called Mood. By far my favorite Muzak tune was Lionel Ri ... More >>

What Was Your Favorite Concert at The Summit?

It must be music-venue day today. Rocks Off would like to thank Jon Harvey of Houston (@oompahead) for alerting us via Twitter to the fact that on this day in 1975, when I was a few weeks away from turning one year old, the sports and entertainment arena then known as the Summit opened in Greenway P ... More >>

Kenny Rogers' Luck: The Gambler's Story More Than Breaks Even

Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir By Kenny Rogers William Morrow, 304 pp., $27.99 Having recently produced a television special commemorating his 50 years in show business, this memoir from the Gambler seems long overdue. And indeed, during his '70s and '80s heyday, Kenny Rogers was an artist t ... More >>

10-Plus Vinyl Albums You'll Always See at Thrift Stores

I have been cursed with an affliction to mindlessly buy vinyl at thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales, without regard for how much room I have at home. The problem now encompasses compact discs too. It's a genetic trait. My father collects containers. His garage looks like the ... More >>

Hearing Garth Brooks' No Fences for the Very First Time

Twenty-two years ago this week, Garth Brooks' second album, No Fences entered the charts and made itself comfortable. It was a titanic, monumental record for country music, eventually going platinum 17 times over on its way to becoming a global smash. No Fences is often credited with ushering in a ... More >>

10 More Black Stars Who Should Try Country

Country Time is a new biweekly column for our sister music blog in Seattle, celebrating that city's favorite musical genre: Mainstream country. BY MIKE SEELY With the nation's major-party political conventions drawing to a close last week with a rousing reelection appeal from the nation's first bl ... More >>

(UPDATED) Incubus' Brandon Boyd Played Dallas, Um, Houston Last Night

Look, I am sure it happens. You are in a touring rock band -- a major one at that -- and the days they run together. Hours pass by and the next thing you know it's two months later, and you have maybe changed your pants twice, plus you are somehow divorced. Last night during his band's opening set ... More >>

Incubus, Linkin Park

Kool & the Gang: "Houston Better Be Ready"

With more than 70 million records sold, the men of Kool and the Gang stand as some of the most commercially successful funksters of all time. Born in Jersey City, N.J., the band was essentially just a group of friends with a jones for Miles Davis and James Brown. But they hit the big time in 1973 wi ... More >>

Laura Bryant: Waco Nurse Lives Vegas High Life At ACM Awards

You win a contest, all expenses paid, to a major country-music awards show in Las Vegas. What happens next? Rocks Off will admit we had never even pondered that question until someone from Reliant Energy offered us a chance to interview the winner of Reliant's "Dream Trip of a Lifetime." The packag ... More >>

Lionel Richie Vs. Chuck Norris: Who Would Win?

So far the musical comeback of the year has been Lionel Richie, hands down. Last week the Alabama-born crooner's new album in three years, Tuskegee, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with sales of almost 200,000 copies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, if about 185,000 copies of Madonna's MD ... More >>

15 Things Rocks Off Learned Watching The ACM Awards

Sunday nights, I usually like to watch The Amazing Race after 60 Minutes. I don't usually watch much reality television at all, but something about the combination of total incompetence, vicious backstabbing and exotic locales as several, two-person teams race around the globe is completely intoxica ... More >>

Promised Land

SXSW 2012, from Bruce Springsteen to Buxton.

RodeoHouston Wants To Send You To Vegas

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is well on its way to drawing a couple of million more (mostly) country-music fans to Reliant Stadium again this year. Now the rodeo and Reliant Energy want to send one lucky fan to the Academy of County Music Awards in Vegas April 1. No foolin'. All the couple hu ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Wednesday 3/14/2012

​If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the bright, scintillating chaos, Village Voice Media's roving musi ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead -- 50 Cent And Much More

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Dear Obama: You'd Make A Great Goth Musician

Dear President Barack H. Obama, I want you to know that I am very impressed by your recent musical endeavors. While it's clear that you could use some practice and professional vocal coaching, it's equally clear that you possess more than enough raw talent to excel as a musician. I know right now, ... More >>

Yahoo Answers Chooses The Best Valentine's Day Songs

Photo by Cheryl ReedOne of the top Yahoo! Answer contributors​We just read today that the most famous song for Valentine's Day is "Let's Get It On" by Barry White. It literally read, "Prally barry white lets get it on. it was voted the most romantic song of the last century." Yahoo Answers is ... More >>

14 Notable Female Rock Drummers

girlscantwhat.com​Last week, we rounded up a list of our favorite female rock bassists. We'd like to continue the trend of honoring rock's finest females, by next recognizing 14 notable female rock drummers. As usual, we will focus on the live-performing, touring drummers over time, rather tha ... More >>

The Five Worst Music Movies Ever*

* That aren't actual musicals *eye roll*​It would be easy to pick out a bunch of terrible musicals to make fun of. First off, most musicals seem stuck in the 1930s, when every song everywhere sounded like a show tune, and therefore stank. Second, we're afraid of polarizing our audience. You ... More >>

Star Chef Faces Child-Sex Charge

Will plead insanity

Comment of the Day: An American Psycho

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Grant Haze: Guy Who Allegedly Dismembered Ex-Wife Talks of Being Inspired By Sting & Lionel Richie

Grant Haze wants to be an inspiration to his kids​Last week, Grant Haze was just another bland singer-songwriter with a tremendous ego and hoop earrings. Now he's charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, dismembering her corpse, stuffing the body parts in ice chests, and driving them from his N ... More >>

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

Idol Beat: Detroit, Shlock City

​In spite of Idol Beat's absence last week (I was undergoing treatment for nose hemorrhoids), Fox's karaoke juggernaut steamrollered on, topping the ratings once again for Wednesday and Thursday night. Last week's casualty, MySpace's Karen Rodriguez, wasn't much of a surprise. I mean, the bili ... More >>

Idol Beat: I'm About To Have A Nervous Breakdown

​My head really hurts...sorry, after last night's shenanigans, I couldn't help breaking out the Black Flag. Have you ever had one of those really bad nightmares, the kind that is so horrifying it wakes you up multiple times during the night? And even though your subconscious is trying to offe ... More >>

Justin Bieber Movie Reveals Pop Star Shaves, Has Hot Mom

"OMG you can reach and touch his face" ​Thursday night, Rocks Off went to the first midnight screening of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, in 3D no less. Yes we had a chaperone, but the late hour and the theater's location wasn't conducive to masses of screaming girls. The location we saw it ... More >>

10 Uncool Artists Primed For Hipster Rediscovery

Tumblr"Aw, dammit, I grabbed Dad's iPod by mistake. Paul Simon... is that one guy, or two Beatles?" ​Remember emo kids? Only a few short years ago, the nation's venues of the nation were filled with kids in all black, wearing ultra-skinny jeans, eyeliner, white belts, and identical chopped-mea ... More >>

The Glamour Boyz: Beware Of Found Footage

Every day Rocks Off trolls the tubes of you in search of videos to share. If you have something that you think deserves to be video of the day, send a link to jef_rouner at yahoo dot com. ​One of your daily video guide's favorite people is Rocks Off's own Craig Hlavaty. His articles are well- ... More >>

Why The Second Amendment Goes Entirely Too Far

​Unrestricted gun ownership is a hazard and a danger to the lives and safety of all Americans. The decision handed down by the Supreme Court on Monday called tough local laws against gun ownership unconstitutional in an extremely vague 5-4 ruling. Exactly what the repercussions will be from th ... More >>

4 Summer-Movie Soundtracks We Already Hate

​Last week, we told you of some upcoming summer-movie soundtracks that look like they're going to be fantastic. If positivity is your thing, go read that article. This one is going to be all about the upcoming soundtracks that make us wince so hard it feels like someone's chopping our balls with a ... More >>

Five Artists To Watch From Houston's G.O.A.T. Entertainment

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it back to Houston with occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​G.O.A.T. Entertainment is an indie record label based here in Houston. Despite the weird nam ... More >>

Libbie Masterson: "STILL"

The Houston photographer captures Texas, big and small

Local Mayoral Campaigns Use Social Media, and Apparently That's News

​If you don't have eyes, ears, or a television set with that nonsensical converter box, you may not be aware that today kicks off early voting for stuff that's pretty crucial to the Houston political agenda. Not only can you stick your ballot in the box for City Council, City Controller, comm ... More >>

An Exercise In Pain: Six Songs of Radio Phil Collins

John Seaborn Gray​ Inspired by Seanbaby's wonderful article using Pandora via Phil Collins as musical gaydar, Rocks Off logged on to our Last.fm account to see where a similar journey with the Genesis drummer and noted Texas history buff might take us. After all, it's not really scientific unless ... More >>

Celebrity Death Is The Death Of Us All

A friend of mine wrote a witty Facebook status update that referenced the passing of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on the same day.  "First the 70s died. Then the 80s. Better watch your back, Spice Girls."I chuckled at the same time that I realized that in a matter of seconds, dozens of my ... More >>

Idol Beat: The Top Seven

Michael Becker/ Fox Somehow Still Hanging Around: The bloom is off Lil Rounds' "Rose."Perhaps delusionally, I nursed a desperate hope that this week's American Idol theme would be "songs used in Quentin Tarantino movies." Seriously, I even worked up a sort of dream list of songs I thought the ... More >>

Musical Food Groups

If singers were cheese, what kind of cheese would they be?

A Legendary Outing

Twilight Princess is the best Zelda ever.

Through Thicke and Tim

Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake face off -- again

Rock and Roll Bestiary

You already know all about this year's crop of wolf bands. We examine the tiger, bear, shark and lion bands, and offer up a rock zodiac.

Sondre Lerche

Faces Down (Astralwerks)

Houston, Humor Hotbed

Houston Comedy Festival

Easy on Friday Night

Rotation

Charles in Charge

A new collection confirms Ray Charles's position as the architect of soul