Ne-Yo, who has been mourning the loss of his friend, collaborator and idol, Michael Jackson, was back to work on July 7 with a show at Marquee in Cork, Ireland.
Posts Tagged ‘ne-yo’
Life Goes On For Ne-Yo
July 8th, 2009 / Author: Oliver Coleman
Chris Brown Working on Relationship & New Album
March 2nd, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff
It looks like <a href="http://okmagazine.com/search/brown" target="_blank"><strong>Chris Brown</strong></a> is up to more than just trying to reconcile with <a href="http://okmagazine.com/search/rihanna" target="_blank"><strong>Rihanna</strong></a> while the two hole up in <a href="http://okmagazine.com/search/diddy" target="_blank"><strong>Diddy</strong></a>’s Miami mansion.
According to <a href="http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b102220_chris_brown_reconcilingand_recording.html" target="_blank">Eonline.com</a>, Chris has been spending his nights at the Hit Factory recording studio in Miami working on songs for an upcoming album.
Chris hasn’t recorded an album since 2007’s smash hit Exclusive, which scored the singer a Grammy nomination for "Kiss Kiss." Ironically, he lost out on that Grammy to — you guessed it — Rihanna for her breakout single, "Umbrella."
Ne-Yo Shares Deep Thoughts
December 28th, 2008
Ne-Yo is a thoughtful guy.
After all, he’s penned love songs for Rihanna, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Michael Bolton, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.
But the best advice the 26-year-old singer-songwriter sensation has gotten is from his mother.
“She said ‘don’t focus on the things that you want – the things that you want are trivial. When you get what you want, you don’t want it anymore. Focus on the things that you need, and you will always be happy.’”
His prayers are with Jennifer Hudson – who lost her mother, brother and nephew in October — during this holiday season.
“I still haven’t gotten a chance to talk to her yet,” he tells me. “In situations like that, you don’t want to bombard anybody. I’ll reach out and tell her that my prayers are with her and I’m sorry for everything that went on and fall back and wait on her to reach out to me. I’m not going to keep pressing. In situations like that, she may need to be by herself. I’m going to fall back.”
Stars Remember Best Holiday Gifts
December 25th, 2008
With Christmas in full swing, everyone loves to show off their presents. So, what are the best gifts the stars have received? (Psst. They aren’t what you’d expect!)
“It probably was my bag,” Rihanna, who is dating Chris Brown, tells me. “I had a pink bag. The flap was a dog face with hair and stuff, but that always sticks out in my head. Maybe that’s the best one.”
Ne-Yo says, “An uncle of mine gave me a box with nothing in it one year. He really had me thinking for a good six hours that I didn’t get anything, and then later on that night, we went over to his house and he had a bicycle for me. He let me cry and everything. ‘Sorry – you shouldn’t have been bad this year.’ All right.”
Martina McBride says, “I got a puppy one year named Jingle Bells. I don’t think you can beat getting a puppy for Christmas when you’re six years old. That was my best.”
Reba McEntire tells me, “My little sister gave me a pair of my basketball shoes that I wore in high school that she found in our old closet at home. She wrapped them up and gave them to me, and I sat there and cried.”
Julianne Hough’s boyfriend Chuck Wicks says, “I got a nice letter from my dad one time. He described our relationship. Me and my dad are good friends, and anytime you get a letter from your mom or dad that says ‘hey, I love you and you’re my son,’ it was really in-detail things that we experienced growing up. Playing baseball with him in the backyard and football and sports. He’s such a big supporter of what I’m doing – and so is my mom – but I got a letter from him one Christmas, and I’ll never forget that.”
Cody Linley says, “Best Christmas gift was an Emmitt Smith jersey from 1997 because I wore it every single day after that. It was the first time I ever went to a Dallas Cowboys game, and my stepbrother Scott – who is 18 like me – got a Deion Sanders jersey that was just like it. I just have a lot of close memories and of my stepdad Brian. I actually still have that jersey, and the sad thing is, it still fits. It was so big on me at the time – it was.”
“Right after Idol, Ford gave me my mustang, which I got semilate, but it was for Christmas,” Diana DeGarmo tells me. “I have a black-and-pink mustang, and she’s my baby. I haven’t even had her hit 10,000 miles with her, so she’s actually here with me in Nashville. I towed her up from Atlanta. That was officially the best Christmas gift ever-ever.”
Why was it so important?
“Well, as a kid – my mom and I never drove new cars,” Diana continues. “We always drove beaters and things that had four hundred thousand miles on them and would fall apart. That was my very first new car I ever got to sit in and drive. At the time, to be 17 with a brand-new car, it was ridiculous.”
Jake Owen says, “It was a journal because it was one of the most thoughtful things I was ever given. Christmas seems to be – everybody tries to outdo and get big gifts. And I think the person that gave me the journal, it meant a lot, and me being a writer, they knew that. It was something that was really special. I was like ‘wow, this is something I can use every single day.’ And it’s all about giving.”
Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott tells me, “When I was little and I got a Barbie car for Christmas, that was my favorite thing ever. I used the fire out of it. I drove it till it wouldn’t go anymore. That’s probably my most memorable growing up. Lately, it’s just been clothes and a pair of Uggs.”
Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild says the best Christmas gift she’s ever received is her husband. “He’s the best gift in my life,” she tells me.
Darius Rucker tells me, “When I was nine or ten, I got my first acoustic guitar. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, and I just remember thinking how great it was that my mom had gotten me a guitar. That was pretty big.”
Jason Aldean seconds that one. “Best Christmas gift I ever received was probably a guitar,” he says. “I got a guitar when I was about 13 years old, and that started this whole craziness of me pursuing this career in music. I definitely think that that was probably the best gift I ever got, and definitely the one that helped me get to this point.”
Brody Jenner shares his biggest holiday blunder.
“Maybe not appreciating a gift when I should have when I was really little, maybe that was embarrassing. But I feel like Christmas is a time to be yourself no matter what happens. Your family and you – there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Perhaps he received a not-so-hot gift? Kelsey Grammer once gave his wife Camille 18 garbage cans – one for each room in their new home. “It was a special, extra-thoughtful gift. Practical, and also very artsy.” Camille adds, “They were attractive.” Kelsey says, “Some were, some weren’t.”
Happy holidays, everyone!
How The Stars Are Spending Christmas
December 24th, 2008
Just like families around the globe, the stars have holiday traditions and make every effort to be with their loved ones during this special time of year.
“We have Santa Claus, and Santa Claus, and gifts and more Santa Claus and open fires and a lot of food,” Kate Winslet says. “Nobody gets out of their pajamas for about a week.”
Nicole Kidman is celebrating Sunday Rose’s first Christmas. “We’re having our family come over,” Nicole, who is married to Keith Urban, says. “Lying low. Taking it easy. Lots of food and carols. He plays carols.”
Miley Cyrus hopes to be with boyfriend Justin Gaston. “I love to spend the holidays with all my friends, so that would be nice for us to all have a party,” she says. How will Justin make it special? “Say some prayers and hope she has a good time,” he tells me.
Lavishing six-year-old daughter Sy’rai with gifts is not on Brandy’s agenda. “She’s not going to be spoiled this Christmas because she already has gifts from last Christmas that she has not yet opened. We’re in a recession right now. She’s going to have to chill.”
Maria Menounos will dress up her dogs. “I always dress them up for the holidays,” she says. “They all have their Christmas costumes. I’ve omitted the antlers from my German Shepherd because he took pictures last year and he looked depressed, and my entire family hated me for it. They’re like ‘why did you emasculate him?’”
Ralph Macchio – celebrating on the East Coast — gets two days of Christmas. “We open gifts on Christmas morning, so it’s really old-school. Christmas Eve is at my in-laws, it’s the big Italian fish dinner, and Christmas Day is at my parents with 7,000 grandchildren running around.”
Yonkers Joe star Chazz Palminteri tells me, “Christmas is a holiday I like to have at home. I always have it in my house. I enjoy that. I like having all the family over, and have pasta. My mother-in-law cooks the turkey. I think it’s great. The kids all open up the presents. It’s a great time of the year.”
Lena Olin is trying something new. “We’re going to go to Switzerland – the whole family. We’ll go skiing and have hot chocolate. This is our first year we’re doing that. We always go to Vermont, but this year we want to start a European tradition too.”
Gabrielle Union and Diddy enjoy NYC this time of year. “I love going out to Rockefeller Center and watching people fall on the ice skating rink,” Gabrielle says. Diddy adds, “I keep it shopping at FAO Schwarz.”
Julianne Hough plans to meet up with her famous friends in Tennessee. “There’s a bunch of parties in Nashville, and songwriters will throw parties at their houses and stuff. That’s where I hung out with Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler for the first time last year — at a Christmas party. We’ll probably all bump into each other at some point.”
WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THE CELEBS THIS CHRISTMAS? Cynthia Nixon is off to California “to get out of the cold weather.” She’ll celebrate with “the usual” traditions. … Wizards of Waverly Place star Jake T. Austin will be in New York play football with his uncle at home. … Ashanti will “probably” see boyfriend Nelly for the holidays. “I’ll be on the beach somewhere,” she tells me. The guys of Lady Antebellum are returning to Georgia while their lead singer Hillary Scott is staying in Tennessee. … Ne-Yo is whooping it up with his sister, mom and grandma in Atlanta. “Last year I ended up having to do a show, and mom’s never going to let me forget that. Mom’s like ‘oh no, no, no,’” he says. “This year was extra important that I got home. It’s going to be our first time spending it in Atlanta, which is our new home.”
Backstage at Z100’s Jingle Ball
December 15th, 2008
Katy Perry sniffs her armpits when she’s offered a membership to New York Health and Racquet Club during the H&M Artist Gift Lounge held Friday before Z100’s Jingle Ball in NYC.
The I Kissed A Girl singer says gift lounges are one of the best perks of being famous.
“You want to leave a Paul Newman legacy,” she tells me. “We get a lot of stuff, and we get to give it back. I know that my girlfriend backstage has a real cracked-out Blackberry, and I got a new Blackberry. She’s getting it.”
As members of Paramore shop around, Sean Paul tells me he can’t wait to use the SodaStream soda maker, Canon PowerShot digital camera and Blackberry Pearl Flip Smartphone in the recording studio.
I bump into Brody Jenner in the hallway before the Madison Square Garden concert featuring Kanye West, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Leona Lewis begins. He had a last-minute wardrobe switcheroo. “I had my Dickies on before I came here, and my manager told me to take them off and put my jeans on,” he says.
Ashley Tisdale enters the press room, sporting brunette locks instead of her trademark blonde. How does being a brunette compare to being a blonde?
“I’m naturally brunette, so I feel back to myself, I guess,” the High School Musical star tells me. “Being blonde, it was so much fun. I think blondes and brunettes have so much fun, but I feel like Sharpay really owns the blonde, so I kind of feel back to Ashley in a way, so it’s exciting.”
Ne-Yo plays it cool when asked what he thinks about the rumor that Rihanna is expecting with boyfriend Chris Brown.
“Really?!” he says. “That’s a new one on me. I just heard that. OK. If she is, congratulations, and if she isn’t — come on guys, cut it out.” (Psst. Eyewitness acccount: Her stomach is totally flat.)
David Archuleta giggles through American Idol questions, but when Hayley Williams of Paramore is asked to pose alone for a fashion shot, she declines. “I’m not very fashionable,” she shrugs, ducking off with the boys. (Hm, Demi Lovato would disagree.)
Veronicas singer Lisa Origliasso says they taught the Jonas Brothers “everything they know” when the boys opened for the girl group in 2006.
“I think people look at them like they’re good boys, and they are good boys, but they’re very rock-and-roll,” her twin Jessica Origliasso tells me.
Here is Lady GaGa, who looks like a Muppet in her long blonde hair and super-long eyelashes. “It’s not a persona,” she tells me. “This is who I really am — in all my origami glory.”
Up next is Jesse McCartney, who plays coy when it comes to dating. “The microphone has been my girlfriend for the last year,” he says. “I haven’t really done much.”
Get this — Brandy doesn’t want to leave the press room when she’s asked to move along. Her new Rodney Jerkins-produced single is called Right Here (Departed). “It’s about being there for the people that you love,” she says. “Everybody needs somebody, so I thought it was a great song to reintroduce me back to the world.”
Catch more coverage of Z100’s Jingle Ball in the OK! on stands everywhere this Thursday.
Inside Beyonce’s Private World
December 5th, 2008
All eyes are on Beyonce during her Cadillac Records premiere held at AMC Loews 19 in NYC. It’s great to see the Destiny’s Child songbird in the musical drama about Chess Records, where Ralph Bass, the grandfather of OK!’s fabulous Shauna Bass, worked. (He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his accomplishments there.)
The Single Ladies sensation grants costars a peck on the cheek when she mingles pre-screening, but one VIP guest is noticeably missing. Hubby Jay-Z, donning nerd glasses, makes a separate entrance with Ne-Yo long before his leading lady hits the floor.
For Beyonce, one perk of playing Etta James is stepping into someone else’s shoes.
“I learned so much about myself,” Beyonce, who has a slight Southern accent, says. “The most fun thing was that I could use all the profanity I wanted, and I couldn’t get judged for it because I was playing Etta.”
For the role, Beyonce packed on 15 lbs. How did she lose it?
“Well, if you’ve seen the video Single Ladies, it has a lot of choreography. That helped!”
Stylist Ty Hunter says it took the singing sensation only 30 minutes to choose her dress and get ready tonight. What styling tips does he give her?
“For a woman to know her body and know what really works for her, I think that’s a plus,” he tells me. “Some people just throw things on and they’re not so sure what works for them.”
He says she lost the weight by working out and cutting back on food.
Hey, look! It’s the always-affable Diddy, and here’s the cuddling Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos. Whoops! A reporter asks whether Rosie O’Donnell and Barbara Walters should bury the hatchet. “Oh my gosh, I’m not answering that,” the mom of three shoots back. Rrr. They’re rushing Adrien Brody through. No questions.
Emmanuelle Chriqui calls Beyonce’s performance “incredible.”
“She really tapped into her essence. She went for it and really transformed. It’s astonishing.”
But don’t expect the Entourage star to start wearing ‘50s fashion. “I’m not a very buttoned-up person, but it would be a fun look. It depends.”
What makes someone beautiful?
Gabrielle Union offers up a decent blind item.
“I’ve seen probably the world’s most attractive people — until they open their mouth,” Gab says. “You need to have what comes out of your mouth match the visage. You get so ugly if you talk smack, or say awful things. I prefer no double negatives, but that’s just me — not everyone has that hang up.”
The walls go up when it comes to the ultra-private Beyonce and Jay-Z.
“I know them both,” Mos Def, who plays Chuck Berry, says. “But I don’t want to talk about it.” He calls Beyonce “dedicated, professional and hard-working.”
Eamonn Walker doesn’t want to go there either. “I don’t know her husband, really. What husband? Where? No, I admire both of them very much. I don’t know. Flummoxed.”
Akon calls Jay-Z “a nice guy,” but admits, “No one knows too much about their personal life. Not even me.”
Luckily, Beyonce’s performance has the blessing of Etta James, 70, who attended the L.A. premiere.
“Etta was lovely, she was frail, but I could see that she had been captured,” Eamonn says. “She felt that her life had been captured and honored by this movie.”
Of Beyonce’s fuller figure in the film, he cautions, “You won’t notice her weight. You’ll notice how good of an actress she is, because at the end of the day, she throws down no matter what size she is. You’ve never seen Beyonce act better.”
PARTY TIME: OK!’s Oliver Coleman reports that Beyonce and Jay-Z couldn’t have been more different from Adrien and his girl Elsa Pataky during the afterparty held at Marquee. While Adrien and Elsa can’t keep their hands off each other, B&J keep it G-rated by dancing in their seats and chatting cheerfully. Psst! Leonardo DiCaprio makes an appearance. He chats with Kevin Connolly while Russell Simmons puts the moves on Marisa Miller.
Plug time: Why should we see this film?
“It’s going to introduce a whole new generation to this time and this music, and make people understand that this is the music that influenced Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Who – all these great bands you know and love,” Eamonn says. “They all got their inspiration from this. You should see this film because if you don’t know the beginning, you won’t know the end.”
Cadillac Records is in theaters now.
Grammy Nominations Announced
December 3rd, 2008
The countdown to music’s biggest night has officially begun! On Wednesday the list of nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards were announced with artist Lil Wayne leading the pack of diverse artists.
Lil Wayne earned eight nominations, followed by Coldplay with seven and Jay Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West taking six.
Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Ney-Yo, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Radiohead are all up for the coveted Album of the Year.
The pool of nominees for Best New Artist include Adele, Duffy, Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum and Jazmine Sullivan.
The Grammys will air live on CBS from the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2009.
Rihanna, Ne-Yo Do UNICEF Snowflake Lighting
November 28th, 2008
Rihanna shivers her way through UNICEF’s Snowflake Lighting held at NYC’s Grand Army Plaza.
Moments after the HIV-positive muppet Kami does interviews – with actual human being sitting on the floor beneath her doing the talking (weird!) – the Umbrella singer, 20, struts through at 5:55pm.
What does she wish for this holiday season?
“I just want to have fun,” the Gucci-clad girlfriend of Chris Brown says. “This is my first time I may spend it — maybe, I’m not sure yet – in America. [shivers] This weather tonight is not helping me say yes.”
She dived “head-first” into helping with the charity when she found out proceeds would benefit kids all over the world.
Here comes Ne-Yo, who tells me he’s reaching out to Jennifer Hudson after her family tragedy.
“I sent countless e-mails, I’ve tried to call a few times – of course, I’m not expecting her to answer the phone, going through what she’s going through,” the singer/songwriter, 26, tells me. “But I’ve sent her countless e-mails letting her know that my prayers are with her and her family, and just hold your head up. God has a plan for everything.”
While Ne-Yo can have almost everything these days, two things he can’t get these days are time with his young son — or a dog.
“I’ll definitely send a gift to him, but legally I’m not even allowed to be over there,” he tells me of life with his son. “It’s a long story. Maybe later on I’ll put out a press release, but as of right now, I’m not allowed to see him.”
And, about that dog?
“I want one, but I’m never in one place long enough to have one. And I don’t want a little dog that you can carry around with you. That’s not for me. I want a Rottweiler. I want a dog you can ride like a horse. But you can’t take a Rottweiler on the plane with you. It would be bad.”
Ne-Yo reaches behind my ear and electric-shocks me on the way out. Now there’s a trick to remember.
