Bruno Mars

Credit: FOX

1. Bruno Mars: It took awhile and a big boost from Amazon, but Mars is locked out of the top spot on the Billboard 200 no more as “Unorthodox Jukebox” reaches No. 1 12 weeks after its release.

2. Carly Rae Jepsen: She and Train both pull out of playing the Boy Scouts Jamboree over the organization’s band on allowing  openly gay members. Add in her great mash up of “Call Me Maybe” with Nine Inch Nail’s “Hole in My Head” and we bet  Canada’s sweetheart’s phone was ringing off the hook.

3. Justin Bieber: Between getting sick at his Thursday night show, fighting with paparazzi, and leaving his own birthday party, he’s had a tough time since he turned 19. Being an adult is no fun. Even when you can afford all the toy.

4. Randy Blythe: The Lamb of God lead singer is acquitted of manslaughter in  the Czech Republic, following the death of a fan whom he allegedly pushed off the stage.

5. Mariah Carey: The “American Idol” judge unveils not only the video for “Almost Home,” but for her 12th fragrance “Dreams.”  Soon, her  number of perfume lines will surpass her No. 1s.

6. Rolling Stones: As they continue into their 50th year, they get thisclose to announcing what will likely to be around 18 U.S. dates, plus headlining UK’s Glastonbury festival.

7. Bruce Springsteen: A year after the city of London rudely interrupts his and Sir Paul McCartney’s duet mid-song, The Boss agrees to go back and play Hard Rock Calling. We bet no one pulls the plug this time.

8. Marco Rubio:  In this week’s strangest moments, Florida Senator Marco Rubio name drops Wiz Khalifa and Jay-Z , heralding them as “modern day poets” while he filibustered.  So hilarious, yet so, so wrong.

9. Apple: Eager to get its long-expected internet radio streaming service off the ground, the giant offers labels a royalty rate of .06 cents per stream, half of what Pandora pays. Labels consider the deal rotten to the core.

10. Bleecker Bob’s: After 45 years, the quintessential indie record store is closing. The New York space will become a frozen yogurt outlet because there aren’t enough of those already on every damn corner.

Luke Bryan

Credit: Jeff Bottari/AP

Country artist Luke Bryan scores his first Billboard 200 No. 1 next week as “Spring Break... Here To Party” looks like a lock for the top spot. However, the big news is who comes in at No. 2:  Jimi Hendrix.

Bryan’s set will sell up to 130,000, while Hendrix’s “People, Hell & Angels,” a new set of unreleased studio tracks, will likely sell up to 70,000 copies, more than 40 years after the guitar legend’s death.

Those are the only two debuts in the Top 10:  Last week’s No. 1, Bruno Mars’ “Unorthodox Jukebox” drops to No. 3, while Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” is No. 4. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s “Heist” will be No. 5 with sales of up to 30,000.

Rihanna’s “Unapologetic looks good for No. 6. However, after that--and with three days left before the chart closes--it’s too close to call for Nos 7-10: Florida Georgia Line’s “Here’s To The Good Times,”  Now 45, Imagine Dragons’ “Night Visions” and Andrea Bocelli’s “Passione” are all slated to sell between 22,000 and 25,000, according to Hits Daily Double.

 

John Mayer

B.B. King has his Lucille, John Mayer wants his Olivia. In Mayer’s new video for the gently swaying “Something Like Olivia,” it’s never clear if he’s longing for a woman or a guitar (or perhaps both).  Should Katy Perry be jealous? 

[More after the jump...]

Snoop Dogg

Credit: AP Photo

Snoop Dogg has released a new track that laments all the people he has lost in his life over the years. “Heaven,” which opens with a calliope organ before giving way to Snoop’s very autotuned vocals, is a tribute to his No Limit Records buddy Mr. Magic, as well as to Nate Dogg and Tupac Shakur. Mr. Magic, (a.k.a. Atwood Johnson) and his wife, Chastity, died in a car accident over the weekend.

[More after the jump...]

It’s a good thing the members of Lady Antebellum have their day jobs because, as their new video for “Downtown” proves, Hillary Scott makes a lousy felon, and Charles Kelley and David Haywood make donut-obsessed, hilariously inept cops. (Plus, why the boys are trying to do New York accents when they’re in Los Angeles is beyond me, but that would be thinking about it way too hard).

[More after the jump...]

Dave Grohl has has plenty to say for  his new documentary, “Sound City,” about the vaunted Los Angeles studio where such classics as Nirvana’s Nevermind” were recorded. But on “Mantra,” he lets the music do the talking.

[More after the jump...]

Credit: RCA Nashville

Tate Stevens, “The X Factor’s” season two winner, will release his self-titled Syco/RCA Nashville set on April 23. Today, he revealed the album art and track listing.

As the listing reveals, the country singer co-wrote three of the 11 tracks on the set. For many of the other selections, he corralled in some of Nashville’s top songwriters, including Rivers Rutherford, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip for “That’s How You Get the Girl,” as well as Bradley Gaskin, a performer in his own right, for first single,  “Power Of a Love Song.”

“Since winning ‘The X Factor,’ we’ve listened to hundreds of songs and set a ton of writing appointments with some of Nashville’s best songwriters. The outcome is a collection of 11 songs I’m really proud of, and I can’t wait to get this record out there.” Blake Chancey produced the set.

"Tate Stevens" track listing

1. "I Got This"
Tate Stevens/Joe Diffie/Wade Kirby/Phil O'Donnell
 
2. "Can't Get Nothin' Done"
Tate Stevens/Ashley Gorley/Wade Kirby/Phil O'Donnell
 
3. "Ride It Out"
Tate Stevens/Shane Minor/David Lee Murphy
 
4. "Power Of A Love Song"
Jeremy Bussey/Bradley Gaskin/Marcus Franklin Johnson
 
5. "Sweet"
Kelly Garrett/Kendell Marvel/Tim Owens
 
6. "That's Where We Live"
Carson Chamberlain/Wade Kirby/Phil O'Donnell
 
7. "El Camino"
Chris Hennessee/Donny Lowery
 
8. "That's How You Get The Girl"
Dallas Davidson/Ben Hayslip/Rivers Rutherford
 
9. "Ordinary Angels"
Victoria Banks/Phil Barton/Emily Shackleton
 
10. "The Last Thing I Do"
David Lee Murphy/Kim Tribble
 
11. "Holler If You're With Me"
Jeremy Bussey/Drew Davis
 
 

Credit: Mad Decent

Years from now when folks look back at what was No. 1 this week, will they even remember “Harlem Shake?” Regardless, Baauer’s viral video sensation makes it three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

Its popularity, despite even “The Simpsons” paying homage, seems to be waning as its streaming decreases by 45% this week.  Additionally, digital sales slip by 23%. However, the song,  is building at radio (though it’s hard to imagine it can go very far there given there’s not really a full-length song there). It enters the Pop Songs radio airplay chart at No. 38, according to Billboard.

Similarly, the songs at Nos. 2-4 stay the same this week: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Thrift Shop,”  Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
Rihanna’s “Stay” featuring Mikky Ekko rises 7-5, swapping places with will.i.am and Britney Spears’ “Scream & Shout,” which falls  5-7.  Drake’s “Started From the Bottom” holds at No. 6, Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” hangs in at No. 8, while Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” stays locked at No. 9. Swedish House Mafia’s “Don’t You Worry Child” featuring John Martin climbs 12-10.

Other songs of note: Demi Lovato’s “Heart Attack” storms onto the chart at No. 12, driven primarily by strong sales of 215,000 copies.

Justin Timberlake has already proven that he will go down among the great “Saturday Night Live” hosts, alongside Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

[More after the jump...]

Before the Sound City Players head to South By Southwest next week for a March 14 performance at Stubbs BBQ, Dave Grohl, the rest of the Foo Fighters, and John Fogerty put on a ferocious performance of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s classic, “Fortunate Son” for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday night (March 5).

[More after the jump...]