Chris Azzopardi
Hear Me Out... for the holidays
Michael Buble, 'Christmas' The crooner's sex appeal isn't just surface hotness, though no one's going to fault his boyish features. It's all over "Santa Baby," taking the typically-for-chicks tune and adding some machismo to it – baby becomes [...]
Simon says
Sex. Pop music thrives on it, and so does up-and-comer Simon Curtis, who explores his submissive side on "Flesh," a track from his latest album, released this past summer. Tied up, begging a lover to throw him down and have his way with him, it's a [...]
Hear Me Out: Florence + the Machine's fantastically dark 'Ceremonials'
Florence + The Machine, 'Ceremonials' The dog days are over for Florence Welch, so it's onto a different animal: this behemoth of supersized songs that sound big enough to swallow the world whole. Eternal happiness is still her resting-place – how [...]
LeAnn Rimes: Country Star Who Cares
LeAnn Rimes was a free-spirited 13-year-old when, on one of her biggest songs, she threw caution to the wind and bought a one-way ticket on a westbound train. You know, "to see how far I can go." Pretty far, it turned out. That ticket took her [...]
Teased and tortured
The tragic suicides of bullying victims in the last couple of years have been worst-case scenarios of what happens when someone reaches rock bottom. But for those hanging onto hope that it does, indeed, get better, it can still be a living [...]
EXCLUSIVE: LeAnn Rimes Talks Equality, Motherhood and 'Gay' Ex Rumors
Photo: Adam Bouska LeAnn Rimes was a free-spirited 13-year-old when, on one of her biggest songs, she threw caution to the wind and bought a one-way ticket on a westbound train. You know, "to see how far I can go." Pretty far, it turned out. That [...]
Hear Me Out: Kelly Clarkson keeps the diss songs coming
Kelly Clarkson, 'Stronger' If Kelly Clarkson wasn't making music, you have to wonder: Where would she take out her wronged-woman rage? It's a scary thought, considering how much the reigning "American Idol" – it's been nearly 10 years since she [...]
Kids in the Hall' Comic to Bullied Youth: 'Grow a Pair'
Scott Thompson is still a kid in the hall, but his outlook on life – it doesn't always get better, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" ruined our community and "the world isn't kind to us" – is very much of a grown-up who's been gay for a while. [...]
DVD Lowdown: Bette, Bridesmaids, Jem and the Holograms
Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On "I'm alive!" Bette Midler joyfully proclaims at the onset of her appropriately glitzy, gay and all together fab Vegas show. Unless you were aware that the Divine Miss M spent two years (180 shows!) at Vegas' [...]
Hear Me Out: Björk's weirdly wonderful return, 'Biophilia'
Björk, 'Biophilia' Breaking down Björk isn't easy. The Icelandic dancer in the dark's unpredictable output, ever since 1993's electro-pop "Debut," has been high-concept art that's challenged and provoked, concerned more with experimenting than [...]
Joss Stone: 'I've Snogged Girls But I'm Not a Lesbian'
"Yell at me like I pissed you off," Joss Stone insists, trying to hear me over the poor reception. And then it's just downhill from there: Her dog is eating her clothes, and an incessant beeping ends our conversation. When Stone calls back, she's [...]
Hear Me Out: Erasure succeeds with new sound
Erasure, 'Tomorrow's World' Over 25 years ago, when Erasure came together, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell were on the cutting-edge of the synth-pop music scene. Their songs were, well, today's world. Again, with their 14th album, they're looking [...]