Pop & Hiss - latimes.com

What Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio bring to 'X Factor'

By Gerrick D. Kennedy — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:26:00 PDT

News that Simon Cowell has tapped R&B singer Kelly Rowland and Latin superstar Paulina Rubio to join him as judges on Season 3 of “The X Factor” doesn't come as a surprise. Along with dozens of others, their names had been floated around for some time as potential replacements for Britney Spears and L.A. Reid.

Health's Jake Duzsik on the Doors' Ray Manzarek

By August Brown — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:45:00 PDT

The death Monday of Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek was a sad mark in the ledger of L.A. rock history.

Five things we learned from the Rolling Stones' last SoCal show

By Mikael Wood — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:06:00 PDT

The Rolling Stones rolled into Staples Center on Monday night for what Mick Jagger described as the band’s last show in Southern California -- “for a while, anyway.” Following an earlier Staples gig, two at Anaheim’s Honda Center and a warm-up throwdown at the Echoplex, Monday’s 2½-hour concert concluded the group’s extended stay in the region Jagger said he and his mates had been visiting since 1965.

Ray Manzarek dies at 74; keyboardist for the Doors

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:29:00 PDT

Manzarek, who was influenced by John Coltrane, added a jazz component to the band's rock sound and filled the role of bassist. The band charted 15 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 starting in 1967.

When the Doors were still a fledgling quartet, and the band members were honing their chops playing five sets a night at the London Fog club in Hollywood, it wasn't rock stardom on keyboardist Ray Manzarek's mind as he and his three band mates laid down an extended jam for their debut album that ran more than seven minutes.

Album review: The National's melancholic 'Trouble Will Find Me'

By Todd Martens — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:00 PDT

Here's some important background information for anyone considering the sixth album from Brooklyn-based masters of rock 'n' roll despair the National: "I am not," singer Matt Berninger declares late in the album, on "Graceless," "my rosy self."

Eve's bite is as sharp as ever

By Gerrick D. Kennedy, Los Angeles Times — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:00 PDT

She shows the same swagger on her new album, 'Lip Lock,' as she had in her Ruff Ryders days.

When Eve's last album was released, Kanye West was known only as a producer, Drake was playing an awkward teenager on Canadian TV and waitress Nicki Minaj was slinging Red Lobster's famous cheddar biscuits. To say a lot has changed is an understatement.

Ray Manzarek, the Doors' keyboardist, dies at 74

By Randy Lewis — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:09:00 PDT

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, the founding member of the Doors whose piercing electric organ sound defined their career-establishing hit “Light My Fire” and most of the L.A. group’s cornerstone songs, died Monday in Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer, his publicist said. He was 74.

Ray Manzarek: Three enduring examples of his artistry

By Mikael Wood — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:27:00 PDT

Though Jim Morrison drew much of the attention (and nearly all of the eyeballs), Ray Manzarek of the Doors did as much as any of his bandmates to define the sound of the legendary L.A. group, which helped push 1960s rock to trippy new extremes.

Cee Lo Green announces plans for three albums

By Gerrick D. Kennedy — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:59:00 PDT

Who needs sleep when you’re Cee Lo Green?

Kanye West brings explosive 'Black Skinhead,' 'New Slaves' to 'SNL'

By Mikael Wood — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:19:00 PDT

"I'm doing 500 / I'm out of control now," Kanye West growled halfway through "Black Skinhead," one of two new songs the rap superstar performed on "Saturday Night Live."