• 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).

  • Jay-Z Joins Justin Timberlake Onstage at Brooklyn Show, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Dance in the Crowd [WATCH]

    Justin Timberlake took over Brooklyn last night, Dec. 14, for a huge concert at the Barclays Center. Collaborator and rap great Jay-Z joined the singer onstage to perform his 2013 hit "Holy Grail." Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were hanging out in the crowd and, during the performance, the two were spotted singing and dancing together, MTV News notes. The concert capped off a special weekend for Swift, who celebrated her 25th birthday with a slew of famous artists.Jay and Timberlake worked together on "Magna Carta Holy Grail" and The 20/20 Experience last year before taking their musical friendship on the road for all to see. Hova decided to give Timberlake the royal treatment while he was in New York, too. Check out the live collaboration below:

  • Sam Smith's "Like I Can" Music Video Features the 'In The Lonely Hour' Singer Owning New York City in a Tuxedo [WATCH]

    The world is Sam Smith's. It's been a benchmark year for the singer-songwriter - he's had two top 10 singles with "Stay With Me" and "I'm Not The Only One," his album In The Lonely Hour has been deemed one of the year's best and (to cap it all off) he's been nominated for six Grammys. It seems as though he knows everything is at his feet, if the new music video for "Like I Can" is any indication.

  • 'Frozen's' 'Let It Go' Synced to Christmas Lights: Disney Hit Performance Would Make Clark Griswold Proud [WATCH]

    For years, Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold was the champion of holiday exterior illumination when he wrapped his home in thousands of Christmas lights for "Christmas Vacation." Since the 1980s, though, we have had a few technological advances in the area of Christmas lights. A few years ago, Miller Brewing Co. synced some lights to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizards of Winter" and people have been beefing up their displays ever since. The most recent home display features a marvelous performance of "Let It Go" from Disney's "Frozen."The video comes from listentoourlights.com, and it is one of the better light performances around. The centerpiece is the front yard that contains two large trees and some smaller decorations. Huge snowflakes on the house illustrate a "storm" backdrop as they "fall" to the ground. The cactus in the window kind of threw me off, though.Either way, it is a terrific display for fans of the movie or those fond of Christmas lights. Check it out below.Frozen's soundtrack was recently named the best-selling album on the "Billboard" 200 chart for 2014. It beat out releases by Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean. The effort spent 13 weeks at the No. 1 spot, making it Disney's longest, best-selling soundtrack ahead of "The Lion King."This year has not been great for record sales, but Frozen was the first album to hit the platinum mark for 2014. Swift's "1989," Ariana Grande's "My Everything" and Aldean's "Old Boots, New Dirt" also surpassed 1 million sales. Smith's "In the Lonely Hour" is expected to join the club before year's end.

  • Taylor Swift and '1989' Still on Top; Pentatonix Still Challenging, AC/DC Debuts New Album 'Rock Or Bust'

    Taylor Swift keeps on trucking following the Thanksgiving sales binge, keeping her no. 1 spot for 1989 for a fourth week with 244,000 equivalent sales. All told, Swift has been atop the Billboard 200 for 29 total weeks through her career. The only women ahead of her are Mariah Carey wit h30 weeks and Whitney Houston with 46, and it seems Swift could catch the former act next week if 1989 keeps its sales up.

  • Sam Smith Sings "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" Following Grammy Nominations [LISTEN]

    2014 has been a landmark year for Sam Smith, and as of last week, he is officially a six-time Grammy nominee. With the holiday's soon approaching, he chose to sing a stripped-down cover of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," which was made famous by Judy Garland in the 1994 musical Meet Me In St. Louis. Smith stays faithful to the original against sparse chords on a grand piano with his voice angelic as always. The song is now available on iTunes.

  • Beyoncé Faces Stiff Competition for Grammy Album of the Year

    The Grammys announced several award nominees on Friday morning, but kept "Album of the Year" under wraps until its "A Very Grammy Christmas" broadcast during primetime. Without further ado, let's break down the tale of the tape. Here are your nominations.
View More
Festivals
Popular Now
Real Time Analytics