JAMES VALENTINE MUSIC

Maroon 5’s James Valentine is also in a band called JJAMZ and they’re offering a free download of one of their tunes. You can head to JJamzMusic.com to get a free mp3 of their song “Heartbeat.” Their debut album, Suicide Pact, is out on July 10^th. 

HANG WITH ONEREPUBLIC

You have a chance to hang out with OneRepublic. 20 lucky fans will get the opportunity to rub shoulders with the Ryan Tedder-fronted band in Las Vegas from June 1^st to the 3^rd. How can you win? Well, head over to HangWithTheBand.com to bid on the auction, which includes two nights in a luxury hotel, a dinner with the band, tickets to their show, a photo with them, an autograph and more. The auction ends Sunday at 4 PM Eastern.

COLBIE CAILLAT ON AMERICAN IDOL

Colbie Caillat is on vacation right now and she’s taking that extra free time to catch up with this American Idol season. Caillat is cheering for Jessica Sanchez, and the “Favorite Song” singer posted on Twitter that she thinks Sanchez is “one of the best singers on the planet.”  Follow the Colbie on Twitter @ColbieCaillat and follow Jessica @JSanchezAI11.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD’S BLOWN AWAY IS HERE!

Carrie Underwood’s fourth studio album, Blown Away, hits stores today. Her new project has a little something for everyone, and according to Carrie, she was inspired by some of her recent collaborations with artists like rocker Steven Tyler.  Carrie will return to the American Idol stage Thursday night to perform during the live results show, which airs at 8 PM Eastern on FOX.

SUGARLAND MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE FOR UPCOMING SINGER

Sugarland introduced their fans to an aspiring 11-year-old country singer named Alana Springsteen during their recent show in Virginia Beach, Virginia. According to WVEC-TV, Alana and her family have been taking trips back and forth from Nashville to meet with music executives, which is how she met the duo’s Kristian Bush. Alana says Kristian told her, “You have the opportunity to sing ‘Baby Girl,’ with us, are you ready?” She said yes with no hesitation, and took over every verse in the song.

• RELATED LINK: Fans can watch Alana perform “Baby Girl” with Sugarland here http://bit.ly/IL0Aaa.

AN AEROSMITH ALBUM UPDATE FROM STEVEN TYLER

Aerosmith have been hard at work on their latest album.  The yet-to-be-titled record was supposed to come out before the band’s North American tour this summer but now will be hitting shelves just after it, in September.  Singer Steven Tyler filled us in on how things are going with the new music and how he wants it to be perfect.

“We’re doing an album right now and I’m losing my mind… I’m losing my throat because there are songs that I love to sing that I just wrote but are they the just right songs.  I should say I don’t give two you-know-whats, but I do.  I like to write that song that, it’s beautiful, you know, I never know what it’s going to be.  It’s a craps shoot but we’ll see, we’ll see.”

You can stay up to date with the band at Aerosmith.com and check out Steven weekly on American Idol, Wednesday and Thursday nights on FOX. 

• TIDBIT: Aerosmith’s last album of all original material was 2001’s Just Push Play.

GEORGE HARRISON’S MOTHER’S INFLUENCE

The late great guitarist George Harrison was pretty prolific when it came to recording, so when he passed away, he left a slew of demos and early versions of classic songs.  Today, ten of those recordings come out on the album Early Takes Volume 1.  George told us he has his mother to thank for his career choice.

“My parents didn’t object to… they both liked music, they used to go out dancing a lot.  And when I first wanted a guitar, my mother bought me this very cheap guitar, it cost three-pounds, ten-shillings, it was probably about six dollars or something and she didn’t mind, I used to stay up until 2 in the morning, polishing my guitar and trying to learn how to play it and later, when I got to know John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney], she used to love having them around, singing in the back room.  She was very encouraging about that.”

All of the songs on Early Takes Volume 1 appear in the Martin Scorsese documentary about George, Living in the Material World, which comes out on Blu-ray and DVD today.  Learn more at GeorgeHarrison.com.

• TIDBIT: Songs on the album include eight demo versions of Harrison’s music and two covers – one of Bob Dylan’s “Mama You’ve Been on My Mind” and one of The Everly Brothers’ “Let It Be Me.” 
• TALKING POINT: How many volumes of Early Takes do you think will come out?

CHARTS: JACK WHITE NUMBER ONE IN THE U-K!

Jack White’s new album Blunderbuss has debuted at number one in the U-K. The debut solo record from the ex-White Stripes singer has beat out Adele’s 21 album for the top spot. Adele lands in the number two, followed by Lana Del Rey at three with her Born To Die record. We’ll know where Jack lands on the Billboard 200 chart when it is released on Wednesday.

NEW MUSIC: THOM YORKE PLAYS NEW ATOMS FOR PEACE SONGS AT DJ SET

Thom Yorke debuted new music from his Atoms For Peace band over the weekend. NME reports that the Radiohead frontman played new music from the band during his DJ set over the weekend in L-A. The tracks are thought to appear on the band’s upcoming debut album, which is scheduled to come out later this year. Yorke shares the band with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, longtime Radiohead producer Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco.

GOTYE WITH MORE ON GLEE

Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” was recently featured in Glee and the singer has voiced his unhappiness with the track being interpreted for the show. He is talking about his music on the show some more and tells NME, “At first I was quite hesitant. One by-product of how quickly I've gone from being an artist who no-one's really heard of to someone who seems fairly mainstream, certainly with that song, is that I'm still quite unsure about things like that." He goes on further, “I wasn't sure whether something so mainstream was right for my music and whether it reflected on my music in my bad way. But I think I realized that the song's so popular, it's kind of out of my hands, so when something like Glee comes along, why would I say no?”

FUN. ARE THRILLED TO PLAY THE 2012 MTV MOVIE AWARDS!

New York band Fun. are the first musical act announced for the 2012 MTV Movie Awards and the band is honored to be playing the annual event. Singer Nate Ruess tells MTV News, “It's one of the most flattering things that's happened to us on this rollercoaster ride of this song and this album, because I just remember watching all those award shows — like the Video Music Awards and Movie Awards — and you always wonder like how they're doing it, what their big reveal is going to be, all those other type of things.” Ruess goes on, "We've had meetings about how our set's going to be and what it's going to look like, and it's so exciting. It's so exciting how much effort MTV puts into this show, like, we have to show up and play the song, but they build this whole entire world around us, and it's so amazing." The 21^st annual MTV Movie Awards air live on Sunday, June 3^rd at 9 PM Eastern on MTV.

JUSTIN BIEBER ACCEPTS 2012 TRIBECA DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION AWARD

Justin Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun, were at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Friday to accept the 2012 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award for disrupting "the traditional gatekeepers of the music industry."  The 18-year-old noted that a lot of what he does is a reflection of his relationship with his fans, saying, "I don't think that I would be here without the Internet. The fans feel connected to me."  The award seems fitting, given how much Bieber's rise to fame has changed the way talent can be discovered via the Internet and proved how technology can be used to spread the word.  Bieber will release his album, Believe, on June 19^th. 

• TIDBIT: Bieber released his album cover on Friday.  It is a black and white photo of his face with “Believe” stamped on yellow caution tape in black letters underneath. 

LADY GAGA KICKS OFF BORN THIS WAY BALL IN SOUTH KOREA!

Lady Gaga kicked off her Born This Way Ball at Seoul, South Korea's Olympic Stadium on Friday in front of 45-thousand fans.  Despite protests from Christian groups saying Mother Monster was "obscene" and could "taint" young people with her performance, the concert went on without incident. Gaga's performance featured a lot of material from her Born this Way album, and her huge hits like "Bad Romance," Poker Face" and "Just Dance."

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball set list:

"Highway Unicorn"
"Government Hooker"
"Born This Way"
"Bloody Mary"
"Bad Romance"
"Fashion of His Love"
"The Queen"
"Just Dance"
"Love Game"
"Telephone"
"Just Dance"
"Heavy Metal Lover"
"Bad Kids"
"Hair"
"Yoü and I"
"Electric Chapel"
"Americano"
"Poker Face"
"Scheiße"
"The Edge of Glory"
"Marry the Night"

THE WANTED ARE SORRY THEY CALLED CHRISTINA AGUILERA A “TOTAL B***H!”

The Wanted recently performed their new single, "Chasing the Sun," on NBC's The Voice, and the members of the boy band said they received a less-than-warm welcome from vocal coach Christina Aguilera.  Group member Tom Parker is now sort of apologizing for calling the singer a “total b****h” during an interview.  MTV News reports that Parker says he shouldn’t have said that, but he still thinks manners are important and that people shouldn’t be rude.

A.J. McLEAN AND WIFE EXPECTING FIRST CHILD

Backstreet Boys’ A.J. McLean and his wife, Rochelle DeAnna Kardis, announced that they are expecting their first child.  The couple posted a video on YouTube Sunday telling fans the good news.  The two got married on December 17^th, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. 

JOHN LEGEND JOINS DUETS!

John Legend will join Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles and Robin Thicke on the new ABC music series Duets.  The show is hosted by former MTV VJ Quddus and will feature Legend, Clarkson, Nettles and Thicke in the search for the ultimate duet partner. They all individually set out across America looking for undiscovered talent worthy of being their duet partners. Ultimately, each star will choose two singers to be his/her partners. Together, the superstars and their partners take the stage each week and perform in front of a live studio audience. In the end, only one duet will be at the top of the charts, and the winning partner will receive a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Duets premieres on May 24^th on ABC. 

• STATEMENT: John Legend released the following statement: “I’m thrilled to be part of Duets and I’m looking forward to finding an undiscovered gem out there.  This is going be a lot of fun.”