The singer, who was delivering her acceptance speech for album of the year, was abruptly cut off and escorted off stage by show host James Corden. As a result, she delivered another, much more unpleasant, message to the producers of the show. ITV has since released a statement explaining their actions and apologizing to the singer herself.

“The Brits is a live event,” they say.  ”Unfortunately, the programme was over-running and we had to move on. We would like to apologise to Adele for the interruption.”

The singer has also apologized to anyone who might have been offended by the gesture.

Obama had hosted a night of performances dedicated to the blues, featuring musicians Jeff Beck, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Gary Clark Jr., Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Booker T. Jones. President Obama was encouraged to sing by Buddy Guy, who told the President, “You started something, you got to keep it up,” referring to his Al Green impersonation. Obama joined the all-star cast, singing “come on, baby don’t you wanna go,” then having B.B. King chime in with “same old place.” Obama took the mic back and finished out the song with “sweet home, Chicago” before flashing the camera his signature smile and exiting the East Room to cheerful applause.

You can check out the full coverage of the event here.

Honey Brown

Honey Brown hails from College Park, GA, just south of the ATL, and her music is infused with Southern culture. Blending R&B, soul, gospel and pop, Brown delivers rich and rhythmic melodies about anything from poverty to revelry and all points in between. “Ghetto Story” is a laid-back R&B jam with lushly layered vocals. Even though the subject’s heavy—life on the streets isn’t peaches and cream—Brown’s powerful vocals are a panacea for the pain. The mood gets lighter with Feelin Good,” where quicksilver synths, the deep roll of bass, and a soulful chorus of voices sets the mood for a night out on the town. On “Co-Star” the Atlantan shows her cinematic side with lyrics like “I’m your leading lady / I’m your Sharon Stone.” You heard that, Mr. DeMille? Honey Brown is ready for her close up.

In the age of the playlist, everyone has access to collections of songs hacked together due to arbitrary similarities. But what does that accomplish other than aid our forever shortening attention span, while making the idea of an “album” obsolete? SoundTrax is here to provide you with playlists that are more thought out, but still provide you with that instant gratification.

Do you remember that scene from Season 5 of Entourage when the boys take a “trip” out to Joshua Tree, eat a bag full of shrooms and embark on their weekly thirty-minute hijinks filled adventure? It’s hard to forget, as one of the funniest episodes from the show’s eight-year (three too long in my opinion) career. What viewers often do forget four years after the episode premiered, is that the boys went out to Joshua Tree because Vince had a big decision to make regarding which movie role he would embark on, and they didn’t feel like such a monumental decision could properly be made in a big city.

Escaping the hustle and bustle of our daily lives is a universally appealing thought, but often disregarded as an irresponsible adolescent ideal. At SoundTrax we say “Screw that!” Take a day off from work, hop in your car and head out to your nearest Joshua Tree (an open field will do just fine). Forget the cell phone and laptop, all you’ll need is a sleeping bag, a handful of good friends and maybe a flashlight or two. While we do condone playing hooky from work, we can’t advocate drug use, so maybe lay off the magic mushrooms.

SoundTrax: Running Free from OurStage on 8tracks.

The music found on this playlist features bombastic, sprawling arrangements, often highlighting a heavy use of strings, with guitar riffs that chug along in repetition until they’re engrained in your soul. This is music made to run through open fields, arms outstretched, head to the sky, screaming at the top of your lungs, just because you can. And when you’re done, sprawl out on your back and watch the stars and moon swirl above you. Each song builds to a climax much greater than the sum of its parts, pulling the listener on an emotional and sonic journey that has a clear trajectory, but one that is open enough for the listener to fill in their own story.

Now that I’ve fulfilled your daily quota of thoughtful hippie musings, take a break from your stressful day and enjoy this stellar collection of tunes.

SoundTrax veteran Sigur Rós kicks off this sonic journey with a fuzzy rock epic featuring a string section that sounds like it’s being played by the planets themselves. OurStage band Sleeperstar picks up the momentum with their riff-driven song “Everything Must Find Its Place”, before Damien Rice, OurStage act Paper Hours and Gary Go bring the energy level back down a bit. Funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers take us on a trip back in time with this psychedelic-sounding tune, that seems rather static until all the pent up energy releases into one of the most inspired yet simple guitar solos in modern rock music. Relatively unknown band The Kin provide us with another tune full of forward momentum, but they achieve this through a march-like drum pattern and an excellent vocal performance. As the sun comes back up, this edition of SoundTrax closes out with something a bit different than the vibe that has already been established, but provides a nice resolution to all the tension that has been building. OurStage band Gentleman Hall provide us with a bass driven, synth-laden tune, that features an irresistible hook that will make you want to sing-a-long with all your friends, and run across the open field, if you haven’t started already.

Taking the straight-up band-biography approach, Days of Our Lives aims to be the definitive documentary on Queen, and succeeds through careful attention to the details of the band’s story, in-depth interviews with the primary parties and a wealth of fascinating footage. It was originally created as a two-part documentary for the BBC, aired in 2011 to commemorate Queen’s fortieth anniversary, and the DVD and Blu-Ray versions add extra material to sweeten the deal even further. We get a long view of Queen’s climb, digging into the details of guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor‘s pre-Queen band, Smile, and chronicling Zanzibar-born art student Farrokh Bulsara’s evolution into flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury. We get a worm’s-eye view of the group’s ascent to superstardom, via candid conversations with May and Taylor, as the story moves through each era of the band’s development, from the hard-edged art rock of the early albums to the unabashed eclecticism and commercial breakthrough of A Night at the Opera, to the incorporation of dance-music influences in the early ’80s with The Game and Hot Space. The most emotional moments, of course, come towards the end, as we watch Mercury slowly succumb to AIDS and hear the intimate recollection of his friends and bandmates about the final chapter in the singer’s life. Among the extras on the DVD, a wealth of British TV performances will be particularly tasty treats for hardcore Queen aficionados.

Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman takes on the legacy of a band just as iconic as Queen, but instead of trying to document The Doors‘ entire career it takes a tight focus on the final album by the original lineup (history has kindly forgotten the two albums the surviving members made without Jim Morrison in the early ’70s). Like the Queen documentary, this too was made to mark a fortieth anniversary—that of the  aforementioned album, L.A. Woman. Stories of notorious rock & roll enfant terrible Morrison’s antics are legend, but while this documentary doesn’t shy away from the singer’s talent for troublemaking, it only incorporates that aspect of the story as it pertains to the topic at hand—the music itself. Following 1969′s Soft Parade album, which was considered by many to be overreaching and overproduced, L.A. Woman brought the group back to basics—playing together in a room, with the blues as a musical foundation and Morrison’s evocative lyrics taking things further out. Today “Riders on the Storm” and the title track are ingrained in the collective consciousness as classic-rock radio staples, but in 1971, these dark, dreamy pieces combined the urban and the ethereal in an unprecedented way. For those who are intimately familiar with the album, it’s especially intriguing to hear, for instance, keyboardist Ray Manzarek reveal that his solo on “Hyacinth House” quotes a classical piece, and explain how “Riders” evolved from jamming on classic cowboy song “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” But for anyone with even a passing interest in the band, Mr. Mojo Risin’ helps illuminate exactly what made them special.

Of course, The Doors weren’t the only Southern Californians pushing the musical envelope in the early ’70s. From Straight to Bizarre stands apart from the Queen and Doors docs in that it shines a light on a little-heralded corner of rock history, but the story nevertheless involves some legendary figures, including Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper and Captain Beefheart. At the end of the ’60s, Zappa was bedeviled by label conflicts to the degree that he decided to start his own imprints, Straight and Bizarre. The latter would mainly release Zappa’s own work, while Straight would feature recordings by other artists. Bizarre boasted some of Zappa’s finest albums with and without The Mothers, including Hot Rats, Chunga’s Revenge and Just Another Band From L.A., but the focus of this film is in fact the dazzling array of artists and albums on Straight. Zappa’s intention was to provide an outlet for left-field music that might otherwise have gone unheard, and the Straight discography ultimately included such eccentric masterpieces as Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off, Baby and Tim Buckley’s Blue Afternoon and highly experimental Starsailor, as well as the first two—arguably freakiest—albums by Alice Cooper. You simply can’t half-ass a documentary about this kind of thing, and Straight to Bizarre goes all the way in, interviewing many of the principals and taking a comprehensive look at everything Zappa’s labels accomplished in the late ’60s and early ’70s. It’s the sort of thing that gives music geekery a good name.

So whether you want to delve deeper into one of rock’s most revered albums, chart the development of an iconic band or peer into into an intriguing, esoteric corner of the musical universe, there’s a new DVD—or Blu-Ray if you’re so inclined—that will do the job for you. And by the time you read this, it’s likely that at least twice as many more new music flicks will be floating around out there for your edification, so we may have to reconvene for another roundup somewhere down the line.

Lil Kim had some choice words for Nicki, and used the performance to rekindle their feud.  During an appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens: Live, Kim bashed the Young Money maven, calling her music’s most overrated artist.

“If you have to make a song called ‘Stupid Hoe,’ you must be the stupid hoe,” she said in reference to Minaj’s current record-breaking single.  She went on to compare Minaj to “Fire Marshall Bill” a character from the hit ’90s television show, In Living Color.

But Kim isn’t the only one firing shots at Nicki.  Last week, the Catholic League’s President, Bill Donahue, released the following statement:

“Nicki Minaj, fresh off looking like a fool with Madonna at the Super Bowl, showed up last night (February 12) on the red carpet at the GRAMMYs with a guy dressed like the pope. This was just a prelude of what was to come. Minaj’s performance began on stage with a mock confessional skit. This was followed by a taped video depicting a mock exorcism. With stained glass in the background, she appeared on stage again with choirboys and monks dancing. Perhaps the most vulgar part was the sexual statement that showed a scantily clad female dancer stretching backwards while an altar boy knelt between her legs in prayer. Finally, “Come All Ye Faithful” was sung while a man posing as a bishop walked on stage; Minaj was shown levitating.”

His sentiments echoed any voices across the country who called Minaj’s performance “disrespectful, demonic, and over the top” prompting her to defend herself and her motives. She told the Associated Press, “I don’t know what is the big issue?”

Minaj has made no secret of her passion for acting, and she explained the display as a segment of a larger project for the future. “You know how people write plays and movies? That’s what I did,” she said. “I wrote that and I gave the world a tiny little preview of what was to come. And so I have to perform it on the set in which it would be in the movie, right?”

Of course, when Lady Gaga hit the stage covered in blood and hanging from the ceiling, apparently dead; no one batted an eyelash.  However, Minaj’s portrayal of an onstage exorcism apparently sent people over the edge.

While I can understand how the Catholic League may take offense to a large-scale portrayal of priests and choirboys on the GRAMMY stage; I’m puzzled by the reaction of Minaj’s fans. Anyone who has followed her career, or listened to her albums shouldn’t be surprised by the exorcism/ multiple personalities concept.  She has been gearing up for this kind of roll out since she started doing press.  She has referred to “Roman Zolanski” numerous times, as the devilish little boy who says what she can’t—who surfaces when provoked.  The character of his British mother, “Martha” has also made numerous appearances; constantly pleading with Roman to behave, as she did in the stage performance.  Minaj has also made no secret that her sophomore album will be centered around Roman’s character; making this kind of teaser completely appropriate and relevant.  If anything, it was characteristically Nicki.

Although her detractors have been flooding the Internet with their criticism, others have come to Minaj’s defense.  Her label mate, Lil Twist, told XXL, “”I love Nicki’s whole swagger. She doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. That’s what I really love about my sister and how she goes about herself. That performance was Nicki. That’s all I can, say—it was so Nicki.”

Now, Minaj is gearing up for her NBA All-Star game appearance.  She will perform a medley of her hits while the players are introduced during the big game.  She’ll also be joined by some other heavy-hitters including Mary J. Blige, who will perform the National Anthem, as well as Ne-Yo, and Pitbull who will take over the half-time show. We’ll see how this next performance compares to the GRAMMY’s.

A tweet from Lambert yesterday afternoon confirmed the rumor: “As many suspected, I can finally confirm: I have been invited by Queen to sing one very special concert! Sonisphere at Knebworth July 7th!”

Lambert made a name for himself on American Idol with his Bohemeian Rhapsody audition, and subsequent performance with Queen later in the season. He also gave a well received performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2011. Lambert, like Freddie, is known for his over-the-top performance tactics and immense vocal range. Good luck, Adam, you’ve got big shoes to fill!

Check out some videos of Adam and Queen after the break.

And some classic Freddie for your viewing pleasure…

Other bands scheduled to join Blur at the closing ceremonies are New Order and the Specials, making the event an iconic night for British music.