MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Evanescence

+ Rihanna and Coldplay will join forces during the Grammys where they'll perform together. "#Rihannanavy My friends @Coldplay and I will be sharing the stage for a performance at this year's annual Grammy Awards! #Bonkers," she tweeted last night. (Neon Limelight)

+ Justin Bieber's helping his Stratford, Ontario, hometown with a fund-raiser to renovate a skateboarding park. He autographed a car to help raise funds; it will premiere for auction on eBay this Friday. (Billboard)

+ Welp, leave it to the Biebs and GF Selena Gomez to redefine "fridging." The adorbs couple got a bit frisky, macking against a fridge at a Jamba Juice. (E!)

+ Kelly Clarkson asked fans to make recommendations for songs to play on tour. Some are covers. Watch her perform Coldplay's "Fix You," Carrie Underwood's "I Know You Won't" and Cee Lo Green's "Forget You." (Idolator)

+ In case you're wondering, Nick Jonas would consider appearing naked if a role required it, and he's not opposed to gay marriage, either. "My thoughts on gay marriage are that everyone has the right to love and be loved," he said in an interview. #yougonickjonas (E!)

+Evanescence takes us behind the scenes of their "My Heart Is Broken" video, which debuts Tuesday. "'It's on my heart,' just imagining being in such a trapped place and how that might feel," said Amy Lee of the song's sex trafficking subject matter. (MTV News)

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy on Twitter

Tags Amy Lee, Buzz Bites, Carrie Underwood, Cee-Lo Green, Coldplay, Evanescence, justin bieber, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Rihanna, Selena Gomez

The year 2011 is quickly, sadly, drawing to a close. Except it's not sad! We're moving ahead with the speed of an iPhone 4S! And before you let separation anxiety and fear of change get the best of you -- no one looks adorable pouting in a party hat -- let's take a moment to reflect on the year in pop music. Being MTV Buzzworthy, the home of all things pop, we took an exhausting, in-depth look the biggest trends in pop music in 2011. It wasn't an easy job, but... it's actually our job! So, here are the songs, sounds and stars who were all over pop music in 2011.

EPIC COVERS
+ Everyone covered and/or remixed "Marvin's Room": Drake did it first, but Chris Brown remixed it, Teyana Taylor covered it, and R&B singer Sammie covered it. Paula DeAnda put out "I Can Do Better," and even CODY SIMPSON put his spin on "Marvin's Room" with "Evenings In London." But no one did it better than JoJo. Even Drake agreed.

+ Everyone covered Lil Wayne's “How to Love”: Justin Bieber made an acoustic remix of "How To Love", Demi Lovato covered "How To Love" on VH1's Top 20 Live, pop solo singer Tinashe and R&B singer Brandon Hines (who is INCREDIBLE, btw) all covered Weezy's heartbreaker.

+ Taylor Swift covered EVERYONE: Over the course of her seemingly endless "Speak Now" tour, Taylor covered Britney, T.I.'s "Live Your Life," Eminem, Nelly, Usher, Bieber, Shawn Colvin, Jimmy Eat World, Switchfoot, Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida, Uncle Kracker (!!!) and even Bryan Adams, often bringing out artists as surprise guests.

EPIC VIDEOS
+ Pop stars put out videos like MACHINES: Beyonce put out SIX official videos this year! Eight if you count her Live At Roseland DVD performance videos. Rihanna and Pitbull put out five videos, six if you count "Fly" with Nicki Minaj. Britney put out four videos, Lady Gaga put out FOUR videos (probably five, since "Marry The Night" is due out any minute, and six if you count her "The Lady Is A Tramp" duet with Tony Bennett, Bruno Mars released four videos, and Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj put out three videos each.

+ Everyone made SUPER dramatic, cinematic videos: Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away" video featured a heartbreaking ending we didn't see coming, Dr. Dre's "I Need A Doctor" video featured a car crash, death and a return to life, Britney's "Criminal" video was shot like a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde, and Rihanna's "We Found Love" terrified us in a very Darren Aronofsky kind of way.

EPIC TOURS
+ 30 Seconds To Mars played everywhere: Seriously, these guys played 135 shows in 2011 alone. By the time December 7 rolls around, they'll set a world record for most shows played within a single album cycle. Top that.

+ Britney Spears lap-danced everyone: Every seat in the house on Britney's "Femme Fatale" tour is a good seat, but one seat in particular was the best seat in the house. The chair (actually, it's a bed?) Britney put centerstage, upon which very special guests were treated to a lap dance. Very lucky fans got a lap dance from Britney, and so did some celebrity VIPs: Britney gave Joe Jonas a lap dance, Jason Trawick got a special ride, and DJ Pauly D enjoyed a lap dance from Britney too.

EVERYTHING GOT EMO AND/OR OKAY
+ Hip-hop got introspective: For every swag-brag record there were real-talk, real-problems introspective tracks, like Jay-Z and Kanye West's “Welcome To The Jungle” (and most of Watch The Throne, for that matter), Eminem/ Bad Meets Evil's "Lighters," and Lil Wayne's "How To Love," plus sad songs by Drake (most tracks, but especially "Doing It Wrong"), Kid Cudi's 2 Be Continuum's navel-gazey "No One Believes Me," and Lupe Fiasco's conscious "Words I Never Said."

+ Pop music got introspective: I'm okay, you're okay, we're all okay, okay? was a recurrent theme in pop music, from Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" to Demi Lovato's epic "Skyscraper" to  Pink's "F****** Perfect" reminded us that we all have insecurities, and that we're all perfect the way we are.

Check out more of the biggest pop music trends of 2011 after the jump!

Read more...

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags 30 Seconds To Mars, Adam Levine, Adele, ASAP Rocky, Best Of 2011, Beyonce, Big K.R.I.T., Blink-182, Brandon Hines, Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Chris Webby, Cody Simpson, Coldplay, Curren$y, Danny Brown, Demi Lovato, Drake, Eminem, Enrique Iglesias, Evanescence, Foo Fighters, Foster The People, Gym Class Heroes, Hot Chelle Rae, Incubus, J. Cole, JoJo, justin bieber, Katy Perry, Kreayshawn, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Ray, Lil Wayne, Lil' B, LMFAO, lou reed, Lupe Fiasco, M83, Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly, Macklemore, Marc Anthony, Metallica, Mike Posner, Missy Elliott, Nicki Minaj, Odd Future, Pitbull, Rebecca Black, Rick Ross, Rihanna, Scrillex, Selena Gomez, Snoop Dogg, Teyana Taylor, Theophilus London, Tony Bennett, Trey Songz, Tyler The Creator, Usher, White Gun Kelly, Will.i.Am, Wiz Khalifa

OK, true, we gave you like, a bajillion (29) upcoming fall albums to choose from in our "Which Fall 2011 Album Are You Most Excited About?" poll. From high-profile releases from Drake, Britney Spears and Rihanna to promising newcomers such as Cody Simpson, Dev, and I Fight Dragons, you guys voted for your faves and made your voices heard. In fact, we received more than 230,000 votes! (Why don't they just do presidential elections online?)

But there can be only one winner. And the 2011 fall album Buzzworthy fans are most excited about is...

ALLSTAR WEEKEND, ALL THE WAY

With more than 33 percent of the overall votes, it's clear that Allstar Weekend's All The Way is the soundtrack to your fall season. But we also need to shout out to Evanescence's highly anticipated third album Evanescence, which garnered a little more than 32 percent of the votes, as well as Cody Simpson's Coast To Coast and Patrick Stump's Soul Punk, which brought in 7 and 6 percent, respectively.

While we can't wait for all of the fall albums (um, hiyeee, we're a music blog), congrats again to Allstar Weekend! Check out more of the fall albums we're excited about in Buzzworthy's Fall Music Preview 2011, and let us know what you can't wait to hear!

Related Content Fall Music Preview 2011, Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Allstar Weekend, Britney Spears, Cody Simpson, Dev, Drake, Evanescence, Fall Music 2011 Preview, I Fight Dragons, Patrick-Stump, Rihanna

Today we shared our favorite fall albums in Buzzworthy's Fall Music 2011 Preview. The lineup of 29 new albums includes heavy hitters -- Drake's Take Care album, Britney's B In The Mix: The Remixes 2 remix album and Rihanna's untitled sixth studio album, due out this November -- solo efforts from Patrick Stump and Joe Jonas, and small-but-strong up-and-comers like I Fight Dragons and Allstar Weekend.

And now we wanna hear from you! Which new fall album are you most excited about?

Lovatics already sent Demi Lovato's Unbroken to No. 1. Rihanna's personal military will surely rally the troops for her upcoming sixth studio album. Meanwhile Britney Stans are breathing heavy in anticipation of Britney's B In The Mix: The Remixes 2 album. And artists like YelaWolf and J. Cole are releasing their debut albums but already attracted legions of die-hard fans.

Gym Class Heroes fans have been waiting three years for a new album after 2008's The Quilt, and Evanescence fans have been waiting HALF A DECADE for the band's third studio album. Blink-182 fans might've thought they'd never see the day that Travis Barker, Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge would reunite for their Neighborhoods album, eight years after releasing Blink-182.

So which fall album will you have on repeat all season long? Vote in our fall 2011 album poll. We'll announce the album with the most votes on Tuesday, Oct. 4!

+ VOTE AFTER THE JUMP!
Read more...

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Allstar Weekend, Bjork, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Cody Simpson, Coldplay, Demi Lovato, Dev, Drake, Evanescence, Fall Music 2011 Preview, Florence and the Machine, Gym Class Heroes, I Fight Dragons, J. Cole, Jason DeRulo, Joe Jonas, Kelly Clarkson, lou reed, Mayday Parade, Metallica, Monica, New Found Glory, Nicole Scherzinger, Patrick-Stump, Poll, Rihanna, Saves The Day, The Ready Set, Travie McCoy, Yelawolf

It's officially fall, y'all. Which means pumpkin lattes (unnecessary yet impossible to resist), bowls of free candy (dooon't mind if I do) and a superabundant stream of new albums vying for any remaining space on your iPod. So here at Buzzworthy, our music writers -- Tamar Anitai, Nicole James, Jason Newman, Jenna Rubenstein and Brad Stern -- harvested 29 of our favorite new and upcoming albums into a fall-friendly guide that's easier to digest than those weird brown candy corns.

The fall music forecast calls for dance floor fillers such as Jason Derulo's Future History, Patrick Stump's Soul Punk and Joe Jonas' Fast Life (two highly anticipated solo missions!), with high chances of comebacks like Blink-182's Neighborhoods, Evanescence's self-titled album, Gym Class Heroes' The Papercut Chronicles II and Demi Lovato's Unbroken. Expect new music by overachievers too: Britney released Femme Fatale six month ago, but that's not stopping her from dropping her remix album next month. And Rihanna will debut her sixth studio album almost a year to the day she released her Loud album, which is still riding high on the charts.

So, without further adieu or belaboring, check out Buzzworthy's Fall Music Preview 2011 -- 29 new fall albums on our radar that need to be on yours too! And vote for the fall album you're most excited about!

SAVES THE DAY, Daybreak: Saves The Day's been playing a serious game of musical chairs and contending with a constantly shifting lineup. Case in point? The band's latest album, Daybreak (featuring the title track, which is an 11-minute rock opera), is the first without longtime guitarist David Soloway and their first (and last) with temporary drummer Spencer Peterson. But Daybreak leaves no room for skeptics. There's "1984," an homage to old-school garage rock, and "O," an unassuming ballad that features lead vocalist Chris Conley literally begging to be with his woman (we'll pause for the collective "Awww"). Instant classic. -- Jenna Rubenstein
Standout songs: "1984," "O," "Undress Me"
Release date: Sept. 13

CODY SIMPSON, Coast To Coast: Perhaps best known as Australia's answer to Justin Bieber (start screaming now!), 14-year-old heartthrob Cody Simpson's about to set dozens of young hearts ablaze with the release of his second stateside EP, Coast to Coast, on Sept. 20. Channeling all the best young blond crooners -- from Jesse McCartney to Aaron Carter -- Cody Simpson's bringing straight-up R&B-pop on his latest EP, including his swoon-y springtime single "On My Mind" and his most recent release, the breakup ballad "Not Just You." With album production credits that include Danja, The Messengers and Adele hitmaker Fraser T. Smith, his musical team is more top talent than teenybopper. -- Brad Stern
Standout songs: "On My Mind," "Angel," "Not Just You"
Release date: Sept. 20

DEMI LOVATO, Unbroken: On Unbroken, her third album, Demi Lovato comes clean, inspires and experiments with something totally healthy: musical styles. Though Unbroken reflects her time getting sober and getting healthy after entering rehab in late 2010, Unbroken's both confessional and cathartic. Pulling in Timbaland, Missy Elliott and Iyaz, Demi goes dance-pop on party tracks such as "All Night Long" and "Who's That Boy" (featuring Dev) while going beneath the surface into personal territory, like on her revelatory, Phoenix-rising redemption song, "Skyscraper." Demi's definitely on the right track: Unbroken went to No. 1 within the first HOUR it was released. -- Tamar Anitai
Standout songs: "Skyscraper," "Give Your Heart A Break," "Who's That Boy"
Release date: Sept. 20

++ READ THE REST OF BUZZWORTHY'S FALL MUSIC PREVIEW 2011 AFTER THE JUMP! ++

Read more...

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Adam Levine, Allstar Weekend, Bjork, Blink-182, Britney Spears, Cody Simpson, Coldplay, Demi Lovato, Dev, Drake, Evanescence, Fall Music 2011 Preview, Florence and the Machine, Gym Class Heroes, I Fight Dragons, J. Cole, Jason DeRulo, Joe Jonas, Kelly Clarkson, lou reed, Mayday Parade, Metallica, Monica, New Found Glory, Nicole Scherzinger, Patrick-Stump, Rihanna, Saves The Day, The Ready Set, Travie McCoy, Yelawolf

After a 20-month hiatus from the world of performing, Evanescence returned last month to perform their new single, "What You Want," from the band's much-anticipated comeback album, Evanescence on "MTV First: Evanescence." Today the band released the official video for the song, and it's sure to leave fans ready for more.

Shot in New York and directed by Meiert Avis (U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name"), "What You Want" leads us through a virtual time machine of Evanescence's history. From their early days of small club performances to sweeping views of the New York City skyline, lead singer Amy Lee takes us through Evanescence's rise to fame as somber shots of her walking solo down the Brooklyn Bridge are interspersed between the flashbacks. At the end of the clip, Amy jumps off of the bridge and falls to a safe landing, where the rest of the band meets her to march off together in their metaphorical new musical direction. Rock videos + themes = the only kind of math I like.

Fans will note a decidedly harder sound on the track but a standard booming Evanescence chorus is still present on "What You Want": "Hello, hello, remember me?/I'm everything you can't control." You jump off bridges and survive, Amy. We're pretty sure you're the one in control here.

"What You Want" is the lead single off of Evanescence's third album, Evanescence. The band will kick off a 15-city North American tour this October in Oakland, California.

+ Watch Evanescence's "What You Want" video.

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Evanescence

Did you miss Lady Gaga's latest "thing"? No, she didn't make a dress out of live babies. (Yet...) But she did transform herself into a guy -- like, very, very convincingly and artfully -- for the cover of her "You & I" single. What being a guy has to do with schlepping all the way from New York to Nebraska on foot, I do not personally know, but I'm open to learning about new ways of doing things. And I'm also pretty sure that's not actually Lady Gaga in drag. It's her alter ego, Jo Calderone, who's an auto mechanic from Italy. And on this week's episode of "Bigger Than The Buzz" -- MTV's new weekly pop music show --  James Montgomery and I discuss this gender-bending transmogrification and debate the merits and relative hotness of a male Gaga versus Jo Calderone versus our own personal tastes and desires. And somehow John Travolta got involved. And James confirmed that the members of Evanescence are, in fact, the nicest people on the planet and that if their music is not featured in "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" then there probably will be blood. You NEED to watch!

And remember Steve URKEL! WHO could forget America's most beloved and endearingly adorkable next-door neighbor of the 1990s? Well he popped up in Cee Lo's new video, "Cry Baby," and you best believe we chatted about that. And then we discovered that Urkel's got a long-lost identical twin. And you'll never guess who it is.

+ Watch Episode 3 of "Bigger Than The Buzz"! And check out episode 2 -- featuring a cat with a job -- and episode 1, where we kill owling dead. And if you can handle it, check out the "Bigger Than The Buzz" pilot if you think you can handle Trishii.

Read more...

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Bigger Than The Buzz, Buzzworthy Exclusive, Cee Lo, Evanescence, Lady Gaga, video

Evanescence fans, brace yourself. Because at exactly 7:54 p.m. ET/PT TONIGHT, Evanescence will perform their brand-new song "What You Want" live — for the first time anywhere in history — on "MTV First: Evanescence."

Evanescence's self-titled album, out October 11 on Wind-Up Records, (yes, it's eponymous, and yes it's their third studio album), features the singles "Lost In Paradise" and "The Other Side," which Amy Lee previewed with MTV News' James Montgomery earlier this summer. But tonight's performance of "What You Want" will be your first chance to hear the song live. And immediately following the exclusive MTV performance, the entire band will sit down with James Montgomery, live in Nashville, for an exclusive interview and Q&A session, so stick around after the performance, because there's more much more Evanescence and MTV.

+ Watch "MTV First Evanescence" to see Evanescence perform "What You Want" live, followed by an interview and Q&A with the band below at 7:54pm tonight!

Related Content Watch Evanescence Videos, Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Amy Lee, Evanescence, video

Credit: James Montgomery/ MTV News

We have Evanescence fever over here, guys. MTV News' James Montgomery caught up with Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee at her studio in Nashville as the band prepares for the October release of their upcoming self-titled album, and if you haven't heard these exclusive previews of Evanescence's new music, then you haven't had a truly well-rounded week, because it's some pretty major stuff.

In the video below, Amy Lee gives MTV News' James Montgomery an exclusive and poignant sneak peek at their new song, "Lost In Paradise." If it feels a little Björk-esque, that's because Amy explained that "Joga" was a major influence.

As for why the new album, which comes to us almost four years since their last release, The Open Door, is self-titled, Amy had this to say: "It's about the band; it's more of a band record. But I started thinking about it, and it's also that this whole record... is about falling back in love with this thing, with Evanescence, with what I've obsessed over for a decade, longer than that."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Because if we could, we'd be Evanescence.

+ Watch Amy Lee share a sneak peek of the new Evanescence song, "Lost In Paradise," and watch more exclusive MTV News videos with Amy Lee as she discusses the band's upcoming album, Evanescence.

Related Content Follow Buzzworthy On Twitter

Tags Amy Lee, Bjork, Evanescence, video

(Credit: Circe Baumgartner/MTV)

More rock and roll from Florida! It feels like every awesome new band we come across these days come from the Sunshine State. Hey Monday, Orange Avenue and now Port St. Lucie (winter home of the New York Mets!) group VersaEmerge.

On their debut full length, Fixed At Zero, VersaEmerge, led by enigmatic singer Sierra Kusterbeck, alternate between Paramore-style rave ups and more dramatic and sweeping tracks, a la Evanescence.

We sat down with VersaEmerge to chat with them about the origins of their band name, the path Sierra took from would-be Broadway star to VersaEmerge singer and her propensity to get herself lost during last year's Warped Tour. Plus, Devin Ingelido fills you in on the genesis of the name VersaEmerge, in case you didn't know what it means, and Blake Harnage shares his love for Disney World.

Check out VersaEmerge's MTV video interview, watch their "Fixed At Zero" video, and watch a video sneak peek of VersaEmerge's appearance on MTV's "World Of Jenks." The episode airs Monday, Oct. 18, at 10/9c. Plus, check out brand-new MTV photos of VersaEmerge.

Tags Evanescence, Hey Monday, Orange Avenue, Paramore, Sierra Kusterbeck, VersaEmerge, video, World Of Jenks