• Sam Smith 'In the Lonely Hour' Goes Platinum

    Sam Smith's month keeps getting better. After earning six Grammy nominations for his album "In the Lonely Hour," Sam Smith has reached another major milestone. The album has at last sold a million copies and has been certified platinum by the RIAA, according to a press release. In addition to selling 1 million copies with physical and digital download sales, the album has eclipsed that mark and sold an additional million when factoring track and album stream equivalents as computed by Nielsen SoundScan.Sam Smith has been arguably the biggest breakout artist of 2014. First tabbed by Disclosure to sing on their hit single "Latch" in 2012, the 23-year-old started to build a fan base in 2013, before his single "Stay with Me" was released earlier this year in April and has since gone four times platinum and stayed near the top of the charts for the better part of the year.He was nominated for six Grammys: two for "In the Lonely Hour" for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album and three for "Stay with Me," which garnered nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. He was also nominated for Best New Artist.

  • 10 Best Cover Songs Of 2014: Lorde, Sam Smith, Miley Cyrus, And More [LISTEN]

    Because cover songs don't garner nearly as much traction on the radio or the charts as they once did, artists these days treat them more like fun little experiments, where they can try out things they normally wouldn't on one of their albums or original singles. This has resulted in plenty of inventive and fascinating covers, especially this past year. Here are the year's 10 best cover songs (in no particular order).

  • They May Not Have Made $72 Million, But They Were at No. 1 Before High School: Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and More

    Today's hot story: A student at the esteemed Stuyvesant High School has reportedly made more than $72 million while playing the stock market during his lunch break. The Queens resident, who is being referred to as the "Teen Wolf (of Wall Street)" is also rumored to have already bought a BMW with the payouts, although he doesn't have a license to drive it. It's tough to compare big time investors such as this prodigy will probably become with musicians, because investors just make more money. Period. We can compare this young man to those in the music industry who got their starts at an incredibly young age.

  • Black Tusk, Black Label Society Continue Tour Plans After Bassist Dies in Motorcycle Crash

    Black Tusk was set to embark on a 2015 international tour with Black Label Society and Crobot when bassist Jonathan Athon was killed in a motorcycle accident this November. After roughly a month of grieving, the band has decided to move on with the tour as planned, citing Athon as their inspiration.Here is the message from the band's Facebook page:"It's been an incredibly trying time for us over the past month and we want to thank everyone for their support. We had confirmed the European tour with Black Label Society and finished the new album before Athon's accident and Athon, specifically, had been very excited about the opportunity to tour with BLS and we feel there's no way he'd want things to end on this note. Corey Barhorst, formerly of Kylesa and currently of Niche, will be stepping in for Athon for the time being. All of us go back over 10 years and Corey seemed the natural choice to carry on for Athon."

  • Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood Shares 'Inherent Vice' Soundtrack, Paul Thomas Anderson Movie Is Out Now [LISTEN]

    Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood put together the music for Paul Thomas Anderson's next movie, "Inherent Vice," which is out now. The soundtrack features original Greenwood compositions, an unreleased Radiohead track and a Neil Young tune. It will be released tomorrow, Dec. 16, via Nonesuch Records, "Consequence of Sound" reports.The soundtrack marks the third collaboration between Greenwood and Anderson. The pair teamed up for 2007's "There Will Be Blood" and 2012's "The Master." Check out the tracklist and stream the soundtrack below."Inherent Vice" stars Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Martin Short. It is based on the 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon in which a detective looks into the disappearance of a former lover.

  • System of a Down US Show: Group Announces First American Gig of 2015

    When System of a Down released their Wake Up the Souls Tour schedule this fall, it was monumental given their first-ever Armenian show — on the 100th anniversary of the country's most horrific event, no less. There was one issue with the landmark tour, though: It did not include any U.S. dates.Now, Serj Tankian and Co. are rectifying the omission with a newly scheduled show for April 6 at the Los Angeles Forum that will kick off the stretch of international gigs."We said we should celebrate the fact that we're here on stage, on the radio telling you about [the Armenian genocide]," bassist Shavo Odadjian told KROQ, via radio.com. "We got to that level. Let's not mourn 100 years what has already happened. By educating, you raise awareness. By raising awareness, you grow people's minds."
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