Arch MUSIC NEWS for 2/1/13

Arch MUSIC NEWS is compiled by Jay Philpott -

Journey will join country trio Rascal Flatts for an episode of “CMT Crossroads.” The two groups will share the stage at the New Orleans Sugar Bowl to tape the show Saturday night, and it’ll air that night at 10:00 p.m. STL time. Numerous other stars, including Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, will be on hand to take part in the revelry as well. Nola.com says the former Beatle is slated to walk the blue carpet Friday at “Rolling Stone” Live to help launch the three-night event. Meanwhile, Wonder is scheduled to perform at the party with Guy Clark, Jr. Saturday night. Other events will feature performances from Train, Cee Lo Green, Snoop Dogg, and Justin Timberlake. Super Bowl 47 will take place Sunday at the Superdome, featuring the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.

The Rolling Stones will be part of Super Bowl Sunday, in the form of a Mercedes ad. The band’s classic “Sympathy For The Devil” serves as the soundtrack to the commercial, featuring Willem Dafoe as Satan trying to entice a young man to buy a Mercedes CLA from him. A red carpet date with Kate Upton and the chance to swap dance moves with Usher are just some of the perks the devil offers in his contract. But just before the young man signs away his soul, he sees on a billboard that he can get the vehicle for a much lower price — just 29-thousand-900-dollars — and vanquishes the devil with his refusal. The Mercedes ad is among those slated to air during CBS’ coverage of Super Bowl this Sunday.

Sinéad O’Connor may have scored her biggest hit with a cover of Prince‘s song “Nothing Compares 2 U,” but that doesn’t mean she likes the guy. In the new issue of “Uncut” magazine, the Irish singer reportedly said she met the Purple One once, and things “got violent.” She added that they “detest each other,” but claimed she couldn’t offer any more details about the altercation. O’Connor did say, however, that “it is a very funny story,” and she plans to put it in her book when she’s an “old lady.” And it turns out Prince isn’t the only rock icon to feel Sinéad’s wrath. She also talks about trying to beat up Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. The new “Uncut” issue hit newsstands in England on Thursday.

Beyoncé is putting her lip syncing scandal to rest. The singer opened her pre-Super Bowl halftime show press conference in New Orleans Thursday with a live, unaccompanied rendition of the National Anthem, then asked the press gathered if they had any questions. The singer has been under fire for lip syncing the National Anthem at President Obama’s inauguration but said she would “absolutely be singing live” during Sunday’s Super Bowl half time show.

Jennifer Hudson will join 26 students from Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing “America The Beautiful” prior to the Super Bowl. Each student will represent one person who lost their life at the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December. Hudson has been personally touched by gun violence. In 2008 her mother, brother and seven-year old nephew were killed by her estranged brother-in-law in Chicago. After three months out of the public sphere following the tragedy, Hudson made her first public appearance at Super Bowl 43, where she performed the national anthem.

The Grammys will be paying special tribute to Whitney Houston, a year after her death brought a cloud over the 2012 ceremony. The Recording Academy announced on Thursday that CBS will be airing an hour-long special the night before this year’s Grammys called “The Grammys Will Go On: A Death In The Family” on February 9th.

Lady Gaga‘s star may be fading. A U.K.-based marketing agency that tracks search engine activity has named her the “Fallen Star of 2012.” AccuraCast says there was a significant decrease in people’s searches for Gaga. In fact, it says online searches for the pop star today are relatively the same in numbers as the searches conducted for Gaga back in 2008, shortly before she skyrocketed to fame with “Poker Face.” To her credit, Gaga did spend most of 2012 outside of the U.S. on her “Born This Way Ball” tour. She also wasn’t promoting an album, which could account for her slow year on the Internet.