You may have seen her wrench America’s hearts out when she performed her song “Jar of Hearts” on So You Think You Can Dance. You may have seen him team up with the Biebs and Ellen DeGeneres to cover Lady Gaga on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Now, you have the chance to see Christina Perri and James Blunt together at The Wiltern on May 4th! You can expect to get a good look into the heart and soul of 24 year old singer/songwriter Perri followed by the thoughtful, soft-rock style of British singer/songwriter James Blunt. This will be their second stop in a sweep through the west coast to end their tour.

James Blunt – Stay the Night (Official Upload) by James Blunt

Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts by Xesxpress

We must have done something good somewhere in our lives, because one of our favorite Britpop bands Pulp (pictured) has confirmed that they are reuniting for a host of festival dates in 2011! The sweet, sweet hotness of Jarvis Cocker will front the original lineup, the first time this has happened since 1996. And we love that Cocker is being real, saying that money definitely was a factor in performing again.

Lil Wayne is out of jail, and he was ready for some fan-love this weekend, considering he jumped on stage with his fellow Cash Money man Drake in Las Vegas. “I’m back. It feels good to be back. If you love me like I love you, please make some motherfucking noise,” Lil Wayne told the crowd. Sidenote: Good God, look at those guns!

For those of you that didn’t get to watch the MTV EMAs last night, Lady Gaga was the big winner of the night, accepting three awards for “Bad Romance” via satellite from Budapest. Other winners included Paramore, newlywed Katy Perry and Shakira.

Lady Gaga (pictured) has postponed a host of Paris shows as a part of her “Monster Ball” tour due to rioting in the capital. The ongoing protests are due to French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s push to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62. Apparently due to the riots, Lady Gaga cannot safely fly into the country.

Ari Up, frontwoman for the British punk band The Slits, passed away Wednesday after an illness. Up, who was 48, has been an important part of the riot grrrl movement, as well as a pioneer in punk rock. Her stepfather Johnny Rotten announced the news on his website.

After a rumor went around on the internet yesterday — started by US Weekly — that Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z were pregnant, the singer’s mom Tina Knowles went on Ellen to tell the world that it’s just not true.

Even though Chris Chu didn’t win our “Best in Show” contest for May, we’re still mighty in love with the Morning Benders (pictured) frontman. And happily, the Berkeley band keeps feeding the fires of our love with a newly released video for their song “All Day Day Light” directed by Jack Ferry. We dig the big, bold aesthetic, and the kind-of-closed-captioning, because we always like some good lyrics.

Say what you want about Lady Gaga, she’s one smart and entertaining performer. And nothing’s smarter or more awesome than bringing the Scissor Sisters on board for the next leg of her Monster Ball tour, which begins next year. They’re going to tear up the U.S., for sure.

Finally, rapper T.I., recently on probation after a 10-month stretch in prison for gun charges, was arrested with his wife last night for possession of a controlled substance. The couple were released this morning on bail, but this definitely doesn’t look good for the rapper.

We haven’t had any new studio albums from Lauryn Hill (pictured) since 1998, and boy, has that made us sad. At a recent stop in NYC for the Rock the Bells tour, Lauryn Hill told MTV that she had a whole lot to say, and an album may be in her future. “We’re getting closer. That’s all I can say,” she told MTV.

Seems like veteran Irish rockers the Pogues are calling it quits again. They broke up in 1996, and reunited in 2001, and now the Pogues will stop touring after this holiday season. So far they’ve got stops in England and Scotland as a part of their farewell tour, but we can hope that they’ll make it stateside.

Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band will be celebrating what would have been John Lennon‘s 70th birthday with a couple of super-star-studded concerts in L.A. in October. Performers like Lady Gaga, Iggy Pop, Perry Farrell, RZA and many more will honor the late singer.

We’re so gleeful to read that R.E.M. (pictured) has recently wrapped up recording their 15th studio album in Berlin. The alt-rock veterans have been recording at Hansa studios since early May. While the album will tentatively be released in spring 2011, their manager Bertis Downs won’t comment on the album’s sound: “I will not report on the sound or the dimension of the recordings so far, to my ears it all sounds like quite a wonderful set of songs.”

Meanwhile, hot-mess chanteuse Amy Winehouse is promising a new album in the next six months. The singer is still facing visa issues when it comes to her new project with ?uestlove, but still wants to give fans some new tunes. Mark Ronson, who worked with her on her breakthrough album Back to Black, is rumored to be a part of the album.

M.I.A. has been stirring up some trouble with public opinions on everyone from Lady Gaga, the New York Times, and Justin Bieber, so it’s nice to see her rocking out her song “Born Free” on Letterman Tuesday night. Check out this awesome performance, with M.I.A. backed up by ten of her… er, girls that look like her.

Recently Sean Lennon, son of John and Yoko Ono, took Lady Gaga (pictured) to his mother’s house, where Gaga sat down at John Lennon‘s white piano and did what people do at pianos: played and sang a little. When Sean posted a photo to his Twitter, there was an immediate outcry from Beatles fans who considered the singer not worthy of the instrument. Sean defended Gaga, but still took down the photo.

Carlos Santana proposed to girlfriend and acclaimed drummer Cindy Blackman at his Chicago tour stop this weekend. Blackman, who had just finished her “virtuoso drum solo,” said yes. “Cindy and I are blessed to have found each other,” said Santana in a press release. “Being in love is a gift from the universe, and the spirit and vibrations that come with it are infinitely powerful.  I look forward to expressing that incredible energy through my music, and in helping to tip the balance toward more love in the world with what Cindy and I share.”

If you’ve been holding out for a full-on Police reunion, forget about it, kids. Sting has officially killed all hopes for the reunion of the ’80s hitmakers. “People reacted to The Police coming back as if mum and dad had got together, you could see that emotion in the audience,” Sting told Contact Music. “But who really wants to go and live with the wife you divorced? I won’t do it again. But I don’t need to I’ve done it now.”

We all know how musicians affect us, but it’s nice to see that we touch their lives, too. Morrissey (pictured) recently took to the Morrissey zine True to You to write a tribute to Melinda Hsu, a recognized fan who recently passed away. Hsu traveled to countless Morrissey concerts, and was often singled out by Morrissey at shows. The singer wrote of her: “Mel was a smiling face who lent strength to every single concert, even when events were going somewhat pear-shaped. I felt as if I knew Mel because she was always there — regardless of wherever ‘there’ happened to be; no snowbound landscape too far, no off-the-beaten track too untrekkable.”

Christina Aguilera‘s video for her comeback single “Not Myself Tonight” went live Friday, and the singer is definitely looking and sounding hot. It’s for sure referential — MTV has this amazing “Pop-Culture Cheat Sheet” — ranging from probably more than a passing nod to Lady Gaga, Madonna and even Leigh Bowery. Let’s see if she’ll set some trends with the rest of her new album Bionic, versus ripping them off.

In other former Mouseketeer news, Britney Spears‘ supposed demo for “Telephone” has leaked. Before Lady Gaga became famous, she had written the song for Spears, but it was never released. Good thing for Gaga, eh? The Spears camp has neither confirmed or denied the rumors.

The time has arrived: Lollapalooza has answered our requests — all right, whiny and pretty pitiful begging — to know who the heck is playing the Chicago festival. Be prepared to fork over good money, because this is going to be one hell of a show: Arcade Fire (pictured), Lady Gaga, Phoenix, MGMT, Erykah Badu, a reunited Soundgarden and so many more will pack into the Windy City August 6 through 8.

Rihanna has decided to take on summer 2010 with a bang, and will be touring America’s stadiums and amphitheaters with Ke$ha as well as Nicki Minaj. All this girl power: we’re having flashbacks to a freakier Spice Girls. Hopefully Rihanna has the stage energy to fill a venue that large.

Speaking of tours you can also catch the pretty rad L.A.-based Princeton touring this month with Camera Obscura (April 16 at Rickshaw) and Love Is All. And on the 17th Princeton will be performing in Santa Cruz with rising stars Phoenix, who are on the Lollapalooza lineup; it all comes full circle, doesn’t it?

It’s hard not to love Bay Area band Pomplamoose that became YouTube sensations last year due to their quirky cover videos that show their recording process. It’s not that they just press record and start playing music, it’s that they use a gazillion different camera angles and cover the songs extremely well. In the latest edition of Pomplamoose updates they show the world that even Lady Gaga songs can be good.

Make sure you check out their website for some free downloads, and Amazon if you just can’t get enough of this awesomeness.

To preview the songs or go grab the album, just click on the cover art, yo.

Nashville electronic indie band Paper Route is about to go on the road with Owl City (I mean the Postal Service, part 2), and in celebration they release a 5-track remix disc of songs from Owl Mag 2009 favorite Absence. This one includes remixes from members of Passion Pit, Son Lux, and more.

Dum Dum Girls is a lo-fi girl band that sometimes comes off as punk, sometimes as sappy ballad, but is most certainly RETRO. And when we say retro, we mean that this would sound really good on your record player. It’s a simple, straightforward record that’s hooky and fun, and highly recommended by well known music blogger largehearted boy.

Turin Brakes is a male folk duo that has produced a Travis-sounding record, full of strings, poppy songs, and something enjoyable to listen to if you’re into acoustic guitars and sweet singing dudes. Layers upon layers of harmonies and vocals are all over this record making us wonder is it really just two guys?

Australian brother and sister duo Angus & Julia Stone are quick to release another album just a year after their acclaimed debut A Book Like This; it’s quite impressive that they can release a new record so soon, and one that might even be better. If you’re a fan of heartbreaking love songs and stories of love lost, this one is for you.

Raleigh, North Carolina band Annuals takes off in May for nearly a 30-day tour throughout the left coast and some other states we’ve never heard of. To kick it off they release Sweet Sister, just a little EP summing up what they’ve always been good at — writing and performing songs that get your head nodding and your feet tappin’.

Not sure exactly what this album is exactly. But, I liked the cover. And their name. But as I previewed Paper Tongues, I’m quite confused. And it seems like they are as well. Every song is a different genre, a different vibe and, well, just a general history lesson of the past 20 years of music. We’d love to know your thoughts.

You may have caught Slow Club at SXSW down in Austin recently as they were showcased on quite a few stages for some pretty big folks. The duo from the U.K. writes kitschy songs, usually on top of acoustic guitars. The album Yeah, So is a re-release, with 9 extra songs on this limited edition album.

Can’t get enough of the Lady Gaga & Beyonce song “Telephone”? If you fit in that over-sized cruise liner, (the YouTube video hit 10 million views???), then you’ll probably blow your wad and mind on this 9-track CD of ALL “Telephone” remixes. That’s right, 9. No more, no less. Just think about all the dancing you could do in your apartment!

Rapper T.I. (pictured) has been released from his home confinement after completing ten months of a jail sentence for attempting to purchase firearms. Originally given 366 days, T.I. has been out of prison since December, when he entered a halfway house. Though the rapper will be on probation for the next three years and still has to wrap up a whole lot of community service, we’re glad to see he’s already working with Usher and Jamie Foxx.

Prefix Mag has a headline completely made of win on their website, so made of win, we’re copying and pasting it here just for you: “Because We’ve All Been Waiting, Donnie Osmond Finally Gives His Opinion Of Lady Gaga‘s ‘Telephone’ Video.” Donny Osmond hates the mini-movie, by the way. But he’s viewing it with his parent hat on as opposed to artist and musician. Says Osmond, “Unlike 20 years ago, in today’s modern, viral world in which content becomes instantaneously available irrespective of age, I wonder whether the music industry might need to rethink its marketing policies with regard to making an explicit music video containing profanity, sexual exploitation, nudity, and graphic violence available to anyone with Internet access.”

Despite an 11-year gap, Belle and Sebastian are teaming up again with ATP Concerts to bring the Bowlie Festival back to Britian! They’re headlining and curating the second installation of the intimate fest. Considering that back in 1999 they had performers like Sleater-Kinney, the Flaming Lips and the Pastels, we’re pretty stoked to see the talent that will join them this December.

Record producer and (possibly) bitter ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari is suing Lady Gaga (pictured) for 30.5 million dollars. Fusari claims that he was forced out of Lady Gaga’s career after she shot to stardom, even though he helped her become Gaga as well as co-wrote “Paparazzi” and “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich,” which appeared on her hit debut The Fame.

Solange Knowles has backed out of her SXSW appearance, citing obligations to her son’s busy school schedule. She apologized to fans on her Twitter: “Sorry to ALL that are asking me about my SXSW gigs being cancelled. I’m a mommy first, and Julez has school biz (business) I COULDN’T get out of!! There’s always next year…????”

In industry news Universal Music Group has plans to test reduced prices for CDs, considering the sales of CDs have dropped by more than half since 2000. Prices would go from ranging from $10 to $15 to ranging from $6 to $10. Honestly, we’re all over that.

U.S. duo MGMT (pictured) really want to thank them for the offer and opportunity, but forget about MGMT performing with the likes of U2 or Lady Gaga: they really don’t want to be pop stars. Ben Martin Goldwasser, half of the duo, told Contactmusic.com, “Well, we really do feel like we were blown out of proportion by everybody. We don’t feel like pop stars, we feel like a rock band. We don’t want to play arenas. It’s not our mission.”

The ever-ready-to-collaborate David Byrne has his sights set on St. Vincent. We’re excited to see how it pans out, considering the amazing success of the Dirty Projectors/Björk collaboration that both Byrne and St. Vincent were inspired by. No word on when their project will see public light.

We were worried some time ago that the Dixie Chicks were hanging up their guitars and zipping their not-ready-to-back-down mouths, especially since the Chicks’ Emily Robison and Martie Maguire had revealed their side project Court Yard Hounds, but it looks like after four years the trio is ready to tour again. They’ll be co-headlining with The Eagles and Keith Urban for a stadium tour. Back in a big way!

Who’s behind “Iamamiwhoami”? Not Christina Aguilera, says her camp.

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