Kelly Clarkson

We all have those parts of ourselves that we’re too scared to reveal to those we love. In the video for her new single, “Dark Side,” Kelly Clarkson asks if her partner could still love her once he sees that side of her?

Whether it’s the various situations depicted in the clip— body image issues, alcoholism and other addictions, war injuries— or our own different demons, Clarkson’s performance in the clip perfectly captures the vulnerability that comes with showing people our whole selves.

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Bruce Springsteen

Credit: AP Photo

Bruce Springsteen has had a strange relationship with videos. As someone who came into prominence before the MTV era, he’s always seemed to be a bit uneasy in clips and a little embarrassed to be there at all. Plus, as he is very well aware, no video is going to capture the magic that is the Boss as much as a live performance.

For  “Rocky Ground,” the second single from “Wrecking Ball,” he stays with the black and white motif he used for the album’s first single/clip, “We Take Care of Our Own”: black and white, stark images unified to tell a story rather than any kind of linear narrative.

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Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on last night's "American Idol"

Credit: AP Photo

Aerosmith has a pretty good track record with songs in Bruce Willis movies. Remember a little hit called “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” from 1998’s “Armageddon?” The song gave the band its first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

They are reuniting with Willis for “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” which will feature Aerosmith’s “Legendary Chid,” both within the movie and as the end title. They band debuted the crunchy rocker (embedded below) on Wednesday night’s  “American Idol” finale with little fanfare and no announcement about its tie in with the movie. Undoubtedly, this was because the same day the group was officially set to announce the news, Paramount said it was  pushing the movie’s opening from June 29 to  March 29, 2013 in order to convert the film to 3D.

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“Somebody That I Used To Know” continues its residency at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 as the Gotye tune, featuring Kimbra, logs its sixth week in the top spot.

The tune holds off a charge from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”  which rises two spots to No. 2, leapfrogging over Maroon 5’s “Payphone,” featuring Wiz Khalifa (2-3) and Fun.’s “We Are Young” featuring Janelle Monae (3-4).

It’s a week of small moves on the chart. There are no new entries in the Top 10 and no title moves more than two spots one way or the other. Rounding out the top 5, Nicki Minaj’s “Starships”  rises 6-5.

The bottom half of the top 10 proves even more static. Flo Rida’s “Wild Ones” featuring Sia flip flops with “Starships” to lands at No 6, then the song remains the same for the next four slots as last week: One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”  is No. 7, The Want’s “Glad You Came” is No. 8, Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” is No. 9 and Train’s “Drive By” is No. 10.?
 

Beck

Beck will release “I Just Started Hating Some People Today” backed with “Blue Randy” on May 28 via Jack White’s Third Man Records Blue Series.

The long-absent singer recorded the tracks last year in Nashville while working on his new album. The pair of songs “spontaneously came together...on Beck’s final day in Nashville,” according to a press release. Still no word on a release date for the new album.

The tunes, available on iTunes and thirdmanrecords.com digitally, will also be available on vinyl, including a limited run of 100 Tri-Color 7-inches exclusively sold at Randy Records in Salt Lake City on June 2. Another 50 will randomly be inserted in mail orders for the single placed through Third Man.  

In addition to producing the two songs, White plays drums on the tunes as well.

While it’s been four years since Beck’s last full album, 2008’s “Modern Guilt,” he’s been teasing fans with one-off dates and scattered song. He recently contributed a cover of the song “Corrina, Corrina” to a compilation for maternal-health advocacy organization  Every Mother Counts, as well as contributed a song, “Looking for a Sign,” to the movie, “Jeff, Who Lives At Home.”

Beck will play the Aug. 10-12 Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park this summer, along with fellow headliners Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Metallica, Jack White, Foo Fighters, and Stevie Wonder.

Justin Timberlake

Credit: AP Photo

Justin Timberlake has added composer to many hats. Even though it’s been six years since his last album and he’s long grown tired of answering the question about when/if he’ll record again, he is returning to music to score the soundtrack to “The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea.”  He will also act as music supervisor.

The film, which is slated to begin shooting in the fall, stars his fiancee, Jessica Biel; as well as Chloe Moretz and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Bill Purple will direct, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The movie chronicles Morgan’s character after he loses his wife, played by Biel, as he helps a young girl (Moretz) build a raft to sail across the Atlantic Ocean.

No word on whether Timberlake will appear in the film. He has a number of upcoming film projects, including Clint Eastwood’s “Trouble With the Curve.” 

Justin Bieber

Credit: AP Photo

Three months after the release of June 19’s “Believe,” Justin Bieber will hit the roads with a headlining arena tour.  The first leg will open Sept. 29 at the Jobing.com Arena (Ok, that’s a case of naming rights gone really wrong) in Glendale, Ariz. before winding down in Miami at the American Airlines Arena on Jan. 26. 2013.

Bieber is pulling a Madonna (or a Prince, depending upon your reference point) as fans will be able to pre-order “Believe” with purchase of concert tickets. An American Express pre-sale starts tomorrow. General on-sales start June 2. (Beliebers already know about the fan club presale that is going on right now!)

The tour, presented by AEG Live, features Carly Rae Jepsen as the opener.

Sep 29             Glendale, AZ               Jobing.com Arena                 
Sep 30             Las Vegas, NV            MGM Grand                          
 
Oct 2               Los Angeles, CA         STAPLES Center                  
Oct 3               Los Angeles, CA         STAPLES Center                  
Oct 5               Fresno, CA                  Save Mart Center                  
Oct 6               Oakland, CA               The Oracle Arena                  
Oct 8               Portland, OR               Rose Garden                         
Oct 9               Tacoma, WA               Tacoma Dome                       
Oct 12             Calgary, AB                Scotiabank Saddledome       
Oct 15             Edmonton, AB            Rexall Place                           
Oct 16             Saskatoon, SK            Credit Union Centre               
Oct 18             Winnipeg, MB             MTS Centre                           
Oct 20             Minneapolis, MN         Target Center                         
Oct 21             Milwaukee WI             BMO Harris Bradley Center  
Oct 23             Rosemont, IL              Allstate Arena                        
Oct 24             Rosemont, IL              Allstate Arena             
Oct 26             Kansas City, MO        Sprint Center                          
Oct 27             St. Louis, MO              Scottrade Center                   
Oct 29             Dallas, TX                   American Airlines Center       
Oct 30             Houston, TX                Toyota Center                        

Nov 1              Memphis, TN              FedExForum                          
Nov 2              Louisville, KY              KFC Yum! Center                  
Nov 4              Philadelphia, PA          Wells Fargo Center                
Nov 5              Washington DC           Verizon Center                       
Nov 9              East Rutherford, NJ    IZOD Center                          
Nov 10                        Boston, MA                 TD GARDEN                         
Nov 12                        Brooklyn, NY              Barclays Center                     
Nov 20                        Pittsburgh, PA             CONSOL Energy Center      
Nov 21                        Auburn Hills, MI          The Palace of Auburn Hills    
Nov 23                        Kanata, ON                 Scotiabank Place                   
Nov 26                        Montreal, QC              Bell Centre                             
Nov 28                        New York, NY             Madison Square Garden       
 
Dec 1              Toronto, ON                Rogers Centre                       

Jan 5               Salt Lake City, UT      EnergySolutions Arena          
Jan 7               Denver, CO                Pepsi Center                          
Jan 9               Tulsa, OK                    BOK Center                           
Jan 10             N. Little Rock, AR       Verizon Arena                        
Jan 12             San Antonio, TX          AT&T Center                          
Jan 15             New Orleans, LA        New Orleans Arena               
Jan 16             Birmingham, AL          BJCC Arena                          
Jan 18             Nashville, TN              Bridgestone Arena                 
Jan 19             Greensboro, NC         Greensboro Coliseum 
Jan 22             Charlotte, NC              Time Warner Cable Arena    
Jan 23             Atlanta, GA                 Philips Arena                                   
Jan 25             Orlando, FL                 Amway Center                      
Jan 26             Miami, FL                    American Airlines Arena        ?
 

Michael Jackson

Who’s bad? Michael Jackson, that’s who.  To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the King of Pop’s mega-million-selling 1987 set, “Bad,” Eplc/Legacy will release a 3-CD box set on Sept. 18.

The collection will include the remastered original album, a CD of unreleased demos recorded around the same time, and the audio from Jackson’s July 16, 1988 performance at London’s Wembley Stadium, according to Billboard.

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Though it’s totally coincidental, Kris Allen has picked the perfect time to release his second album, “Thank You Camellia.”

A lot has changed at radio since the “American Idol” season 8 winner released his debut in 2009. Back then, his soft- rock, The Fray-type gentle pop ramblings were out of favor with what was happening at Top 40 (although he managed to have a very nice-sized AC hit with “Live Like We’re Dying.”)  This time, we are in a full-blown pop revival, so it should help him, especially on the album’s opening tune, the peppy “Better With You, “ which sounds like it could be straight off of One Direction’s current album, “Up All Night.” "Thank You Camellia" comes out today.

Allen’s music is non-challenging and perfectly pleasant and, depending upon what you want from your music, that’s either just fine or the worst indictment anyone could write. But regardless of how you feel, there’s no denying that he is one artist who does not seem to be trying to be anything other than who he is: A straight-down-the-middle pop singer, who has a love and knack for a simple melody. There's a loping sincerity to everything he touches and an extreme likeability.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Black Keys, and Jack White are among the artists who will headline the Austin City Limits Festival, which takes place in the Texas capital Oct. 12-14.

If that lineup sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it looks a lot like the roster for Lollapalooza, which takes place in Chicago:  The RHCP, Black Keys and Jack White are all playing the Aug. 3-5 festival as well.

Among the other acts the two festivals will share are Florence + The Machine, The Shins,  Avicii, Bassnectar, M83, Childish Gambino, Alabama Shakes, Delta Spirit, and Kopecky Family Band.  That’s bound to happen when both events feature more than 120 acts, but we don’t remember ever seeing this many big names playing both in the same year.

Among the other acts performing at ACL’s Zilker Park will by Gotye, The Afghan Whigs, The Civil Wars, Patterson Hood, Big K.R.I.T., Kimbra, The Avett Bros., and Iggy & The Stooges.

Tickets are on  sale now at www.aclfestival.com