Katy Perry To Perform New Song at MTV VMAs

Check out the lyric video for Roar here.

Lady Gaga Releases New Song Early Following Online Leak

(popmusiclife) Following a series of online leaks, Lady Gaga has issued an early release of the song "Applause", the lead single from her forthcoming album, "ARTPOP".

Originally scheduled for release on August 19, the pop icon alerted fans that "Applause" was now available. "A pop music emergency is underway 911 - 911 summon the Monster troupes," posted Gaga.

"Due to hackers an abundance of low/high quality leaks ...we issue this pop music emergency...Monsters spread the word. My new single 'Applause' is out today."

Gaga will deliver the debut performance of the new track at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York on August 25. Check out the new song here.

John Mayer Streaming His Entire New Album Online

John Mayer has teamed up with iTunes to give fans an advance listen to his entire forthcoming album, "Paradise Valley," ahead of the album's release next week.

iTunes launched the full album stream yesterday (Monday, August 12th) and will be streaming the effort in it entirety up until it is released next Tuesday, August 20th. You can check out the stream here.

On the eve of the album's release, Mayer will be taking part in a "Live on Letterman" webcast concert where he will perform some of the new songs along with old favorites.

The webcast will be streaming live here and will also be released after the broadcast on demand via Vevo and CBS.com.

Fans can tune into the Late Show With David Letterman TV broadcast later that night to watch Mayer perform the album single "Wildfire."

Meanwhile, Mayer continues his Born and Raised World Tour 2013 which is currently visiting cities in North America (with a few South American dates including Rock in Rio) before heading to Europe in October. more on this story

Fan Found Dead at ICP's Gathering of the Juggalos

(Radio.com) For 14 years, Insane Clown Posse have hosted their annual festival, Gathering of the Juggalos. This year though, it wasn't the music or the abundance or Faygo showers made headlines but the death of a 24-year-old man.

On Friday, Cory Collins of Harrisburg, Illinois, was found dead in a tent on the festival grounds in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois. While many including the Village Voice are speculating his death was the result of a heroin overdose, Hardin County Coroner Jessica Cullum said she is still waiting toxicology reports, which could take weeks.

"We are just waiting," Cullum told Radio.com. "I don't have the autopsy report. We're waiting on the toxicology which will take a couple of weeks before we get all the reports back." She added that Collins' death is currently under investigation by Illinois State Police.

Countless overdoses and deaths are not surprising for the festival. Illinois newspaper The Southern, reports three deaths in previous years, one heat-related, another drug-related, and a third a drowning.

"Arrests have been made this year on charges involving drugs, theft and aggravated battery," The Southern reports. "The drug of choice this year seems to be 25I-NBOMe, aka 25i or N-Bomb, a designer drug that can cause hallucinations, according to the sheriff's department. Emergency responders have dealt with double-digit calls for apparent overdoses."

Update: Lieutenant Brad Lacey of the Illinois State Police further explained that the 911 call came from inside the campground and Collins was dead upon police arrival. more details.

Stephen Colbert Addresses Daft Punk VMAs Fiasco

(Radio.com) Stephen Colbert is setting the record straight about the whole Daft Punk VMAs fiasco. As it turns out, the whole thing was definitely not a publicity stunt.

Last week, Colbert announced that the French electronic duo could not appear as scheduled on his show, The Colbert Report, because of a contractual obligation with MTV. The host then went on to announce that Daft Punk would be performing at the VMAs on Aug. 25. The thing was, it was supposed to be a secret.

Many wondered if Colbert, always the jokester, was just helping MTV with their promotion seeing as how both networks are owned by the same parent company, Viacom.

But on the most recent episode of comedian and Daily Show writer Paul Mercurio's podcast (via Pitchfork), Colbert tells the full story of what actually happened that night.

Six weeks ago Colbert was approached by his booker, who asked him if he wanted to have the band on his show. He said yeah, because the band never appears on shows. Apparently, the band agreed to come on the show because they were fans, but said they would not perform or be interviewed. Daft Punk would just come on the show and have a little fun with Colbert.

The host, seeing this as a challenge, agreed and came up with the idea of doing a six-minute monologue that would be a think piece on Random Access Memories. The two members of Daft Punk–Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter–would stand by his side just nodding their heads.

But Daft Punk wasn't that into that idea, so they thought of some different ideas. Some of the suggestions, Colbert said, were really funny. Robots might not have feelings, but they get humor.

Unfortunately, after all this work MTV decided the day before the duo was set to appear that they actually could not appear. It was a surprise to everyone, including Daft Punk's camp. Colbert tried to talk it out with Van Toffler, the head of President of MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, to get them to agree to let them appear. But unfortunately at the last minute–an hour before the show was set to film–MTV pulled the rug out from under the idea.

Colbert explained his decision to spill the beans about Daft Punk by saying: "All I want to do is accurately explain what happened and then embody my character's emotional reaction to it. I'm also in character when I'm doing this. As much as this mattered to me as a producer, my character can't ever lose." More.

Selena Gomez Talks New Album, Growing Up, New Family Member

(Radio.com) Selena Gomez has a big year ahead of her. From her new album "Stars Dance" to her first world tour, this 21 year-old kind of makes the rest of the young adults of the world wonder what they're doing with their lives.

When Selena performed for our Money Can't Buy Experience, she also took some time to chat with 92.3 Now's Zann about her new, more mature outlook on life.

"I think overall it's just been really fun for me to experience growing up and experiencing different things from love, to friendship, to just figuring it out," Gomez said. "I'm in my twenties now, for goodness sake. I think the most important thing is being able to figure out and be comfortable in my skin as a woman."

Selena has managed to balance her work life and new developments in her personal life. Namely, welcoming a new family member! "I'm a big sister now, so I've just been being a big sister," she said. "I've definitely been just obsessed with her and that's my main focus."

Gomez said most of her time is being spent getting in shape for her tour, and while she loves all of her songs, she has a special connection a few of them.

"I really like to perform 'Who Says,'" she said. "I just think it's just a great moment for me and my fans. It's such an inspirational song lyrically. I feel a really powerful connection between me and my fans when I perform that song."

Selena has separated herself from her young, hot Hollywood counterparts in a few ways. See what she had to say here.

Early Kanye West Recording Goes Online

(Radio.com) Before Kanye West was taking hip-hop to the next, next level with Yeezus, he was a member of the Chicago-based hip-hop group the Go Getters. And now fans can take a listen to 13 tracks the group recorded together back in 2000.

The group was put together by a local Chicago music company called Kon-Man productions and featured three other members: Timmy G, producer Arrowstar, and GLC, who appears on the track "Spaceship" from 2004′s The College Dropout and was signed to West's G.O.O.D Music label.

Though the group never put out an official album, they did release a compilation called World Record Holders about 10 years ago. Over the years those songs have made their way onto the Internet, but now Chicago hip-hop blog Fake Shore Drive has them available on their site in the form of one nice little free download, according to Consequence of Sound.

The 13-song compilation features Kanye getting real about his hometown of Chicago. Definitely no lines about croissants on this one. Listen to a playlist of the songs here.

One Direction Twerk Their Way To The Top of Teen Choice Awards

(Radio.com) The Teen Choice Awards: The only night of the year when millions of fans can tune in to see pink-haired ballerinas, on-stage fire pits and most importantly, an up-close-and-personal view of Harry Styles' butt.

One Direction took the stage with their latest single "Best Song Ever" to open Sunday's (Aug. 11) show, which honored entertainers in categories covering music, television, movies, sports and more as voted by actual teens.

The Pop Art-themed set filled with a flurry of red and yellow confetti as Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson slapped hands with the screaming fans who surrounded the stage.

The group scored big, taking home awards for Choice Music Group, Choice Group Single for "Live While We're Young," Choice Love Song for "Little Things" and Choice Summer Tour.

Hosts Darren Criss (of Glee) and Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale zeroed in on Styles after the band's performance, asking him to take part in breaking the world twerking record. He begrudgingly obliged. More including video

Mike Posner Explains Why New Album Will Be Called Pages

(Radio.com) Mike Posner is back in writing and recording mode. Quite literally in that order; the concept for his next album, Pages, focuses on what he's been jotting down in a notebook he's been carrying around everywhere he goes.

The first single off of Mike's Pages, "The Way It Used To Be" is an uptempo track that Mike says is "just a fun, fun song. Strong melodies… and it's about the girl that got away."

"My album is called 'Pages' because I write all my songs, and my poems and my goals in life in this notebook. So I titled the album 'Pages,'" Mike says, "because it's really just a few pages from my notebook that turned into the album."

"I write letters, sometimes," Mike explains. "When I jump off the stage I feel like there's no way for me to really repay what I've got and I feel so grateful and blessed – so I try to just say 'thank you. ' Sometimes I write a letter to the city, to the fans and I post that on Twitter."

Right now there is no schedule for the release of Pages, but Mike is looking forward to a late fall date.

Long Time Willie Nelson Guitarist Jody Payne Dead at 77

(Radio.com) Jody Payne, who for 35 years played lead guitar in Willie Nelson's band The Family, died this past Saturday (Aug. 10), from heart complications. He was 77.

"Our friend will be missed," read a note from Nelson on his Facebook page. Payne had retired from Nelson's group in 2008 and was leading a relatively quiet life in Stapleton, Alabama, teaching guitar and playing out occasionally.

"We created musical history," he said in a 2011 interview regarding the decades he spent in Nelson's Family Band. "I was just a small part of something people wanted to hear, and we entertained them."

A native of Kentucky, Payne began playing music as a kid, and as a teenager he wound up backing country legend Charlie Monroe (brother of bluegrass founder Bill Monroe). During the 1960s, Payne played with more country greats including Merle Haggard, Ray Price, and Hank Snow.

He eventually married singer Sammi Smith, who became a country sensation thanks to her cover of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through The Night," a massive No. 1 hit in 1971. The two eventually divorced, and Payne remarried in 1980. more on this story

Imagine Dragons Remember Their First Time

(Radio.com) Imagine Dragons can chalk the first time they heard themselves on the radio up to some very fast, and most likely unsafe driving. The band was filming their music video for "It's Time," from their 2012 debut, Night Visions, out in Barstow, a city in California that is located halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

They knew that "It's Time" was going to play on the radio that day, but they weren't quite sure when. They weren't even sure if they'd be able to get the station on their car stereo since they were so far out of range.

Immediately after the shoot wrapped, the four guys got into a car and booked it back to Los Angeles. "We were driving as quickly as possible and we managed to hear the second chorus through the static," bassist Ben McKee told Radio.com hours before the band took the stage at Lollapalooza. "It's a moment I think we'll never forget."

Frontman Dan Reynolds agreed: "I don't think any of us expected last year to blow up exponentially like this, but I think we're all just delightfully surprised."

While they've only released one record, the Las Vegas-based band has been around since 2008 playing shows along the Vegas strip. The shows, which were half originals, half covers, barely paid them enough money to cover their rent.

"I think it was good that it came four years after struggle. We were a little more prepared for it than if it was after a year or something," Reynolds said. "It's kept our head a little more grounded." Read about some of those struggles and more here.

Nelly Explains His Respect For Macklemore

(Radio.com) Nelly stopped by the Kiss 95.1 studios before descending on LABEL Charlotte on August 8, talking to night show host Jay Sparxx and afternoon host Otis & The O Show about the future of the new Charlotte Hornets and even gave a quick thought about two major artists on the charts right now: Macklemore and Justin Timberlake.

Charlotte has become Buzz City after Michael Jordan officially announced the movement of the Charlotte Bobcats into the Charlotte Hornets. If you didn't know, Nelly is part owner of the basketball franchise so of course Jay Sparxx asked about the new change and what it means for the team and its fans. "I just felt like the Bobcats name never inspired the city," the rapper admits. "The slightest little thing could throw it off like a name." He's confident the new look, feel and spirit of the basketball team will inspire the city like never before.

And if there's anything Nelly knows, it's inspiration. When asked about how he feels about new powerhouse Macklemore, he's quick to share his thoughts on the artist. "You know why I like him? Because he's independent," he says truthfully before continuing.

"I respect hustle… I know what it's like to sit there and have labels tell you that your talent isn't good enough to make it." Nelly has been turned down nearly 10 times before finding his home on Republic Records and Macklemore's persistence caught Nelly's eye.

"For someone like Macklemore to do it independently and to really just give the middle finger up to the labels now, it's awesome." What about Timberlake?

Wait there is more!