• Rock in Rio Las Vegas Adds Sam Smith, Charli XCX and Jessie J to Pop Weekend Already Featuring Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran

    The biggest music festival debut in the United States this year may very well be Rock in Rio, which will head to Las Vegas for two huge weekends in May. The festival added more firepower to a show already featuring headlining sets from Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Metallica and more. Sam Smith, Charli XCX, Jessie J, Bleachers, Tove Lo, Empire of The Sun and Echosmith are the latest performers to be added to the lineup as of Tuesday.
  • Mark Ronson Talks Bruno Mars Collaboration on 'Uptown Funk': Success Has 'So Much to Do with Bruno'

    Mark Ronson is taking over the pop world with his new single "Uptown Funk" from his fourth studio effort "Uptown Special," out today, Jan. 13. The producer invited a slew of artists to join in on the album, but the biggest addition was Bruno Mars, who worked on the lead single. Ronson and Mars have met before on the latter's 2012 release "Unorthodox Jukebox"= and even performed a tribute to Amy Winehouse — another Ronson artist — at the 2011 MTV VMAs. It is a partnership that has been pretty good to all parties involved.Ronson, in modest fashion, gave all the props to Mars for the surprise success of "Uptown Funk" in a recent Q&A with the Associated Press."I know of course it has so much to do with Bruno," he said. "It's like even if the record was garbage, it's Bruno Mars, you're guaranteed a certain level of attention, right? ... I'm as proud of ['Uptown Funk']. ... It's awesome, but at the same time it almost feels like it's happening to somebody else."The producer also talked about sharing the stage with the pop star, who is known for his high energy and showmanship.
  • Mark Ronson Talks Amy Winehouse, 'Uptown Funk' Success in New Interview Ahead of 'Uptown Special' Release

    Mark Ronson gave the public a small taste of his upcoming fourth album "Uptown Special" with the single "Uptown Funk" featuring Bruno Mars. The pair performed the tune on "Saturday Night Live" at the end of 2014, and it even climbed to No. 1 on the United Kingdom's singles chart and No. 2 on "Billboard's" Hot 100. The musician/producer took some time to reflect on his year with "The Guardian" as well as one of his favorite collaborators, Amy Winehouse.While he was in the studio working on the new album, due out later this month and which features guest spots by Stevie Wonder, Ronson claimed his health declined due to his exhaustive work effort. In one instance, he even fainted."We did 45 takes of it and I just couldn't get it, it sounded like horrible bulls--t, so we went to lunch, walked down to a restaurant. Everyone was saying: 'Dude, what's wrong with you? You've gone totally white.' Because I was going on pretending everything was just fine; you don't want to admit that you're just not there, you're not where you want to be. And I went to the toilet and just ... fainted. I threw up, and fainted. They had to come and carry me out of the toilet," he said.The album will be a follow-up to his 2010 release "Record Collection." Ronson has kept busy in recent years, working on albums by Paul McCartney, Rufus Wainwright and Mars. Still, Ronson's greatest contribution to pop music might be Winehouse's groundbreaking 2006 release "Back to Black."
  • Music Times 25 Best Songs of 2014: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, St. Vincent & More

    2014 was the year of a thousand controversies: Taylor Swift pulled all of her music from Spotify, Sun Kil Moon started a feud with The War On Drugs, Jack White accused The Black Keys of ripping him off (again), and almost nobody went platinum. When you put all of that aside, however, what you're left with is a bunch of incredible songs, which is really what it's all about. Here are the 25 best songs from 2014, as determined by Music Times writers Ryan Book, Caitlin Carter, Joey DeGroot, Kyle Dowling, and Carolyn Menyes.
  • Mark Ronson Reveals Tracklist, Artwork For Upcoming Album 'Uptown Special' [PHOTO]

    Mark Ronson's latest single "Uptown Funk" featuring Bruno Mars has been one of the highlights of pop radio in 2014, and on Jan. 12, Ronson will be releasing the song along with 10 other tracks on his Uptown Special album. In anticipation of its release, Ronson has shared the album's cover and tracklist, revealing some exciting guest appearances, including Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, Mystikal, Andrew Wyatt, and Stevie Wonder, among others.
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