Arch MUSIC NEWS for 9/6/12

Arch Music News compiled by Jay Philpott

Def Leppard‘s Phil Collen is parting ways with one of his guitars.  Collen is contributing to the fight against cancer by auctioning off the instrument on eBay. He received the guitar earlier this year from music store owner Jake Willoughby, who appealed to him to raise money for the cause. Artist Mike Learn put a custom paint job on the guitar, which they dubbed “Wings” to reflect the spirit of hope. Phil has been playing the guitar this summer during Def Leppard’s “Rock of Ages” tour. Bidding started Wednesday morning at one-thousand-dollars, and in a matter of hours surpassed the six-thousand mark. The auction closes on September 15th. Money raised will go to The Gerson Institute, which promotes holistic treatments for cancer.

Madonna‘s seeing big returns from her summer European tour. Billboard.com says the pop superstar raked in $115-point-seven-million-dollars with her overseas trek. The road trip spanned 12 weeks, during which she played 33 shows in 21 countries. Dates ranged from an intimate club appearance in Paris for an audience of just over 25-hundred to a stadium show in Helsinki, Finland before a crowd of nearly 43-thousand. Madonna also made headlines with some of the more controversial elements of her show, which included the use of fake guns and swastikas as props, as well as for her on-stage commentary.

The man who broke into Jon Bon Jovi‘s home will be going to prison. Prosecutors have reached a plea deal with Nicholas Tracy, who has pled guilty to three counts of second-degree theft and one count of third-degree burglary. As part of the agreement, Tracy is expected to be sentenced to five years in the New Jersey State Prison. Authorities say the break-ins took place in the spring of 2011. Tracy has admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from Bon Jovi’s home, which was one of several homes he hit. In total, Tracy took more than 300-thousand-dollars worth of jewelry and other personal items from his victims. His sentencing hearing is set for October 12th.

MTV‘s Video Music Awards kick off this evening in Los Angeles with a new start time – 7:00 pm St. Louis time. The network decided to move the awards show up one hour so it would not get in the way of President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight. Hosted by Comedian Kevin Hart, the VMAs are looking to top last year’s explosive showing. Big performances are expected as the music industry’s elite descend on the Staples Center in Los Angeles. While there are sure be many surprises it will be hard to top last year’s jaw-dropping moment when Beyonce announced her pregnancy. The 31-year-old singer surprised everyone when she revealed her baby bump during a performance at last year’s VMAs.

As always, the VMAs are boasting a rock-star line-up of performances. The awards will feature performances from artists Rihanna, Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, Green Day, Alicia Keys, and British boy-band One Direction. Apart from the elite performances, many other stars are set to shine as VMA presenters. The diverse cast of celebs set to present range from comedians to actors to music legends. Actor-comedian Andy Samberg will be presenting as well as Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller. The Fierce Five Women’s gymnastics team from the 2012 Olympics are also slated to present.

This year Rihanna and Drake have the best chances of picking up a several of Moonmen. The two are each nominated for five awards, leading all other performers. Katy Perry is not far behind with four nominations. A number of artists, including Beyonce, M.I.A., and Coldplay, have three nominations.

Nominations for 2012 VMAs:

Video of the Year:

Katy Perry, “Wide Awake”
Gotye, “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Rihanna, “We Found Love”
Drake feat. Rihanna, “Take Care”
M.I.A. “Bad Girls

Best New Artist

Fun feat. Janelle Monae, “We Are Young”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
Frank Ocean, “Swim Good”
One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
The Wanted, “Glad you Came”

Best Hip-Hop Video

Childish Gambino, “Heartbreak”
Drake feat. Lil Wayne, “HYFR”
Kanye West feat. Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz, “Mercy”
Watch The Throne, “Paris”
Nicki Minaj feat. 2 Chainz, “Beez In The Trap”

Best Male Video

Justin Bieber, “Boyfriend”
Frank Ocean, “Swim Good”
Drake feat. Rihanna, “Take Care”
Chris Brown, “Turn Up The Music”
Usher, “Climax”

Best Female Video

Rihanna, “We Found Love”
Katy Perry, “Part Of Me”
Beyonce, “Love On Top”
Nicki Minaj, “Starships”
Selena Gomez and The Scene, “Love You Like A Love Song”

Best Pop Video

One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Fun feat. Janelle Monae, “We Are Young”
Rihanna, “We Found Love”
Justin Bieber, “Boyfriend”
Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa, “Payphone”

Best Rock Video

Coldplay, “Paradise”
The Black Keys, “Lonely Boy”
Linkin Park, “BURN IT DOWN”
Jack White, “Sixteen Saltines”
Imagine Dragons, “It’s Time”

Best Electronic Dance Music Video

Duck Sauce, “Big Bad Wolf”
Calvin Harris, “Feel So Close”
Skrillex, “First Of The Year (Equinox)”
Martin Solveig, “The Night Out”
Avicii, “Le7els”

Best Video With A Message

Demi Lovato, “Skyscraper”
Rise Against, “Ballad Of Hollis Brown”
Kelly Clarkson, “Dark Side”
Gym Class Heroes, “The Fighter”
K’Naan feat. Nelly Furtado, “Is Anybody Out There?”
Lil Wayne, “How To Love”

Lady Gaga will begin the North American leg of her “Born This Way Ball” tour in Vancouver, British Columbia on January 11th. The itinerary runs through March and includes 26 dates in both the U.S. and Canada. Wasting no time, Gaga is already at work on her next album, “ARTPOP.” She recently announced the title by posting a Twitpic of the album title tattooed on her forearm. The singer said she has been channeling her inner “stoned Disney princess” for the album.  The St. Louis date is February 2^nd at the Scottrade Center.

Recent reports of Katy Perry and John Mayer being broken up may not be all true. The singers were spotted Tuesday night leaving a dinner date at Los Angeles’ Little Door Restaurant. The outing comes just days after Perry and Mayer were seen arm-in-arm at the FYF concert in Los Angeles over the weekend. It was reported that the pair split in August after a brief romance and that Mayer ended the relationship over e-mail. The “Firework” singer has reportedly been having a tough time getting over Mayer. “The New York Daily News” quotes sources who say Perry has been drunk texting Mayer, begging him to take her back. Mayer and Perry first became involved in June.

“Forbes” magazine has published its list of the top ten hip-hop artists, and topping the list of the highest paid hip-hop celebrities is Dr. Dre. The rap legend earned a whopping 110-million dollars last year, according to “Forbes.” Most of that cash came from his headphone line, “Beats by Dre.” Sean “Diddy” Combs came in at number two with 45-million dollars in earnings last year, most of it from his shares in Ciroc Vodka. Jay-Z is number three with 38-million dollars in earnings. The rapper banked big bucks from his stakes in various business ventures including the cosmetics company Carol’s Daughter, the advertising firm Translation, and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Jay also has a joint venture with the battery Duracell.

“Forbes” Top Ten Hip-Hop Moneymakers:

1. Dr. Dre – $110 million
2. Sean “Diddy” Combs – $45 million
3. Jay-Z — $38 million
4. Kanye West — $35 million
5. Lil Wayne — $27 million
6. Drake — $20.5 million
7. Birdman — $20 million
8. Nicki Minaj — $15.5 million
9. Eminem — $15 million
10. Ludacris — $12 million