Ringo Starr Exhibit to Open at Grammy Museum

Ringo Starr in Brisbane, Australia.

Ringo Starr's drumkit from the Beatles' performances on the The Ed Sullivan Show and the red jacket he wore at the band's final performance atop Abbey Road Studios are part of a new exhibit opening July 12th at the Grammy Museum in L.A., the Los Angeles Times reports.

The museum's third exhibit to focus on the life and career of a Beatle (John Lennon and George Harrison were the other two), "Ringo: Peace and Love" is being touted as both "the first major exhibition to explore the life of Ringo Starr," as well as the first in the U.S. to focus specifically on a rock drummer. The exhibit will run through November, while a tour through select cities will follow with dates to be announced later.

Photos: Heavy Hitters: Ringo Starr

The exhibit will include a slew of never-before-seen photos, correspondence and film footage, along with memorabilia from throughout his career, including his costume from the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The exhibit will also include an interactive feature that will allow visitors to pick up a few drumming tips from Starr himself.

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Ringo Starr Exhibit to Open at Grammy Museum

Ringo Starr in Brisbane, Australia.

Ringo Starr's drumkit from the Beatles' performances on the The Ed Sullivan Show and the red jacket he wore at the band's final performance atop Abbey Road Studios are part of a new exhibit opening July 12th at the Grammy Museum in L.A., the Los Angeles Times reports.

The museum's third exhibit to focus on the life and career of a Beatle (John Lennon and George Harrison were the other two), "Ringo: Peace and Love" is being touted as both "the first major exhibition to explore the life of Ringo Starr," as well as the first in the U.S. to focus specifically on a rock drummer. The exhibit will run through November, while a tour through select cities will follow with dates to be announced later.

Photos: Heavy Hitters: Ringo Starr

The exhibit will include a slew of never-before-seen photos, correspondence and film footage, along with memorabilia from throughout his career, including his costume from the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The exhibit will also include an interactive feature that will allow visitors to pick up a few drumming tips from Starr himself.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

Ringo Starr Exhibit to Open at Grammy Museum

Ringo Starr in Brisbane, Australia.

Ringo Starr's drumkit from the Beatles' performances on the The Ed Sullivan Show and the red jacket he wore at the band's final performance atop Abbey Road Studios are part of a new exhibit opening July 12th at the Grammy Museum in L.A., the Los Angeles Times reports.

The museum's third exhibit to focus on the life and career of a Beatle (John Lennon and George Harrison were the other two), "Ringo: Peace and Love" is being touted as both "the first major exhibition to explore the life of Ringo Starr," as well as the first in the U.S. to focus specifically on a rock drummer. The exhibit will run through November, while a tour through select cities will follow with dates to be announced later.

Photos: Heavy Hitters: Ringo Starr

The exhibit will include a slew of never-before-seen photos, correspondence and film footage, along with memorabilia from throughout his career, including his costume from the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The exhibit will also include an interactive feature that will allow visitors to pick up a few drumming tips from Starr himself.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Jack White Talks 'Blunderbuss,' Hidden Tracks and Bob Dylan at the Grammy Museum

Speaking with Iggy Pop prior to the 2009 death of Ron Asheton, Jack White described how he might go about producing a new Stooges album. One idea? Having the legendary Detroit proto-punks rent a house and live together, Monkees-style. "There was silence on the phone call for about 10 seconds," according to White, before Iggy Pop replied, "I’m gonna have to think about that."

The Stooges story was one tidbit White revealed Friday afternoon in an hour-long conversation at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where the former White Stripes frontman touched down this weekend for two shows at the Shrine Auditorium in support of his first solo album, Blunderbuss. Following the Grammy talk he also played a surprise 20-minute set at Mariachi Plaza in L.A.’s Boyle Heights neighborhood; White pulled a similar stunt last Wednesday at an auto-body shop in Denver.

Dressed in checkered slacks, a dark button-down shirt and a gray fedora, White told the Grammy Museum’s executive director, Robert Santelli, about learning to play drums at the age of 5 in the attic of his family’s home and how he only picked up the guitar when none of his pals would: "I said, 'All right, well, I’ll play guitar so we can play.'" He also described his earliest live act, in which he performed the songs from Bob Dylan’s self-titled 1962 debut – in their original order – at coffee shops around Detroit. (Asked by Santelli what it’s been like to get to know Dylan in recent years, White laughed and said, "He’s very good at making sure you don’t know him.")

Of Blunderbuss, White said he’d begun work on the album one day when RZA called at the last minute to cancel a recording date they’d set at White’s Third Man Records complex in Nashville. "I had all these musicians in the studio and needed something to do," he explained. "So I just wrote a couple of songs."

White earned the biggest reaction from the audience – which numbered approximately 200 fans and various music-biz types – with a demonstration of where he’d hidden a secret track on the vinyl edition of the Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards album. (It’s etched into the record’s center label.) Yet despite his well-documented love of old music and old technology, White was quick to denounce what he called the "all those words that start with R-E: retro, recreate, reinterpret."

"It’s kind of ridiculous to try to emulate a certain time period or person or what they did," he said. "You could go onstage and be like, 'I love Robert Johnson so much, I’ll try to sing and play like Robert Johnson.' That doesn’t do anybody any good, and you can’t do it anyway. You need to be yourself."

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Jack White Talks 'Blunderbuss,' Hidden Tracks and Bob Dylan at the Grammy Museum

Speaking with Iggy Pop prior to the 2009 death of Ron Asheton, Jack White described how he might go about producing a new Stooges album. One idea? Having the legendary Detroit proto-punks rent a house and live together, Monkees-style. "There was silence on the phone call for about 10 seconds," according to White, before Iggy Pop replied, "I’m gonna have to think about that."

The Stooges story was one tidbit White revealed Friday afternoon in an hour-long conversation at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where the former White Stripes frontman touched down this weekend for two shows at the Shrine Auditorium in support of his first solo album, Blunderbuss. Following the Grammy talk he also played a surprise 20-minute set at Mariachi Plaza in L.A.’s Boyle Heights neighborhood; White pulled a similar stunt last Wednesday at an auto-body shop in Denver.

Dressed in checkered slacks, a dark button-down shirt and a gray fedora, White told the Grammy Museum’s executive director, Robert Santelli, about learning to play drums at the age of 5 in the attic of his family’s home and how he only picked up the guitar when none of his pals would: "I said, 'All right, well, I’ll play guitar so we can play.'" He also described his earliest live act, in which he performed the songs from Bob Dylan’s self-titled 1962 debut – in their original order – at coffee shops around Detroit. (Asked by Santelli what it’s been like to get to know Dylan in recent years, White laughed and said, "He’s very good at making sure you don’t know him.")

Of Blunderbuss, White said he’d begun work on the album one day when RZA called at the last minute to cancel a recording date they’d set at White’s Third Man Records complex in Nashville. "I had all these musicians in the studio and needed something to do," he explained. "So I just wrote a couple of songs."

White earned the biggest reaction from the audience – which numbered approximately 200 fans and various music-biz types – with a demonstration of where he’d hidden a secret track on the vinyl edition of the Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards album. (It’s etched into the record’s center label.) Yet despite his well-documented love of old music and old technology, White was quick to denounce what he called the "all those words that start with R-E: retro, recreate, reinterpret."

"It’s kind of ridiculous to try to emulate a certain time period or person or what they did," he said. "You could go onstage and be like, 'I love Robert Johnson so much, I’ll try to sing and play like Robert Johnson.' That doesn’t do anybody any good, and you can’t do it anyway. You need to be yourself."

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The Creative Director Behind Nicki Minaj's Blasphemous Grammy Production

Laurieann Gibson is the creative director and choreographer behind Nicki Minaj's Grammy Awards performance.Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording Academy; ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

What goes into directing a pop spectacle like the one Nicki Minaj unveiled at the Grammys? Meet creative director Laurieann Gibson, who has created and choreographed some of the most visually stimulating stage shows in the pop world.

Gibson woke up in South Korea Wednesday morning (Tuesday night in the U.S.) to find herself at the top of the U.S. headlines. Overseas, the Alvin Ailey-trained dancer is putting together the stage show for K-Pop sensation BigBang (check out their takes on Maroon 5's 'This Love' and Mariah Carey's 'We Belong Together'), but stateside Gibson has gained notoriety as the creative engine behind Minaj's controversial Grammy performance.

Photos: Nicki Minaj's Wildest Looks

"I woke up this morning like, 'huh?'" Gibson tells Rolling Stone, seemingly puzzled by the way Minaj's performance at the 54th Grammys seemed to overshadow everything on the busy show, from Jennifer Hudson's emotional tribute to the late Whitney Houston to the reunited Beach Boys and Adele's astonishing six-award sweep. Minaj performed the new track "Roman Holiday" as her nihilistic alter-ego Roman Zolanski, executing the first-ever mock exorcism on the Grammy stage. Critics were quick to pan the performance for its over-the-top religious overtones and similarities to other church-baiting performances in the name of pop music, among them Madonna's "Like a Prayer"  and Lady Gaga's "Judas" video, which Gibson co-directed. The Catholic League blasted Minaj's performance on their website for its "vulgar" choreography, taking special exception to "a scantily clad female dancer stretching backwards while an altar boy knelt between her legs in prayer."

"To be honest, no, we didn't do anything for controversy," Gibson claims. "We never had that conversation at all. Nicki just truly wanted Roman to be exorcised, and I just went to work."

For her part, Gibson was tasked with marrying Minaj's idea of the exorcism and the Hype Williams-directed video that accompanied the performance. Titled 'The Exorcism of Roman,' the video borrowed imagery from the 1973 classic The Exorcist and more recent horror flicks like The Devil Inside.

A self-described "believer" and Catholic, Gibson says she never watched The Exorcist as a child because it "scared the boots" off her. To adapt Minaj's ideas for the stage, she looked to the House of Borghese and the Vatican for inspiration. "I love the inspiration of those colors and that architectural world," Gibson says. "I personally chose to stay away from any religious moves. There were no crosses. There were no religious symbols. We made sure we were very respectable. The bishop was a symbolic figurehead. He was not [intended] in a negative light, but in a position of authority."

Gibson assumes the reason Minaj's performance drew so much attention is simply because Catholic imagery alongside pop music just does. "You don't get press on the other stuff," she says. "As far as the theatrical and dramatic performance, it's entertainment. If you are going to rise up about a performance that is not literal or harming from two people that are believers, then we need to see that anger being used to make a change."

This isn't the first time Gibson has been attacked by the Catholic League for her choreography. It happened with her work on Lady Gaga's "Judas" video. On YouTube the video, which begins with Gaga riding with a biker gang made up of Jesus' apostles, has more than 127 million hits.

Photos: Grammys 2012: Best and Worst Red Carpet Fashion

"I loved the idea of Jesus being on a motorcycle bringing them from Damascus to face a situation that might not be so favorable," Gibson says. She doesn't see similarities between the Gaga video and Minaj's Grammy performance. "They are two completely different stories. As far as what I do and the execution of it, that's great that it is at that level where people recognize the similarities and how I execute for an artist. But 'Judas' was a completely different experience. Nicki is extremely unique – it's a different genre of music. What people are feeling is the similarity in what I do and how I'm capable of breaking a new artist into a competitive field.

"People can't wrap their head around the fact that Gaga did not do that on her own. She didn't. There was a Laurieann Gibson. There was someone to execute at a high level in a short period of time. There are a lot of great artists, and the fact that we did that in such a short period of time was a huge blessing."

Before choreographing the grand entrances and videos for "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Paparazzi" and a huge chunk of Gaga's work prior to 2011's "You and I," Gibson was a Fly Girl on In Living Color in the Nineties. She went on to choreograph dance moves for Missy Elliott, Diddy, Alicia Keys and the Jonas Brothers before becoming a creative director. "A choreographer deals with the movement that you create," Gibson explains, "and with a creative director it's about the story, the stage, the lighting, the costuming, executing someone's idea, choosing how far to go or how little to go, and blending it so that you feel it, you're emotionally effected."

Asked if she feels she is molding the pop stars she works with, Gibson says, "Molding them from a place of love and wanting to see their dreams come true. With Lady Gaga I really stretched myself as a creative director, and because I was with this artist from before she got signed I was able to really take control of the opportunity and execute as a creative director." The two stopped working together in 2011 after Gibson's work on Gaga's "You and I" video, ending their professional relationship due to "creative differences."

Gaga had simply gotten to the point where she wanted to be her own creative director, she says. "Instead of fighting, I had to say, 'Go ahead. It's all good. We got here. Thank you,'" Gibson says. "I had a great time. I got to do so much. You don't want to fight with someone you love and you have fun with. So it's OK if they want to run their creative. I wish her luck."

As for Minaj's Grammy performance, the negative publicity has paid off, boosting anticipation for the femcee's next single, "Starship," which dropped yesterday. After all, a little controversy never hurt fellow rappers like Eminem or Kanye West.

As for Zolanski, this isn't the last we've seen of that character. Minaj is currently writing a story and movie about her alter-ego, and Gibson confirms that they have other projects lined up together.

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Dave Grohl Clarifies Grammy Rant

Dave Grohl gives his acceptance speech at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

Dave Grohl is making a point of clarifying comments he made while accepting a Grammy on Sunday night for the Foo Fighters' most recent album, Wasting Light. Grohl has taken heat for complaining about a lack of "human element" in contemporary music, which has been widely interpreted as a broadside against all manner of non-rock music.

"I love ALL kinds of music," Grohl said in a statement released earlier today. "Electronic or acoustic, it doesn't matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician's personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and . . . human."

He went on to explain he was talking about technology, not styles. "That's exactly what I was referring to, the 'human element,'" he said. "That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became 'bad' things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily 'fixed.' The end result? In my humble opinion . . . a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.

"I try really fucking hard so that I don't have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song," Grohl said. "I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that's what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real."

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Dave Grohl Clarifies Grammy Rant

Dave Grohl gives his acceptance speech at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

Dave Grohl is making a point of clarifying comments he made while accepting a Grammy on Sunday night for the Foo Fighters' most recent album, Wasting Light. Grohl has taken heat for complaining about a lack of "human element" in contemporary music, which has been widely interpreted as a broadside against all manner of non-rock music.

"I love ALL kinds of music," Grohl said in a statement released earlier today. "Electronic or acoustic, it doesn't matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician's personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and . . . human."

He went on to explain he was talking about technology, not styles. "That's exactly what I was referring to, the 'human element,'" he said. "That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became 'bad' things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily 'fixed.' The end result? In my humble opinion . . . a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.

"I try really fucking hard so that I don't have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song," Grohl said. "I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that's what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real."

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Dave Grohl on the Foo Fighters' Grammy Success and Going Analog

Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel of The Foo Fighters backstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording Academy

The Foo Fighters took home five Grammy awards Sunday night, including Best Rock Album, and delivered two memorable performances, one of them rocking with Deadmau5 on the first ever EDM segment of the Grammys. But their biggest triumph of the night may have been Dave Grohl's  Best Rock Performance acceptance speech, which has taken the web by storm. "Dave Grohl Grammy Speech" is the second subject that comes up when you type his name into Google.

Accepting the award, Grohl said, "To me, this award means a lot because it shows the human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most impotant thing for people to do...It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]."

When Rolling Stone spent some time with Grohl at various Grammy events over the weekend, he echoed those sentiments as he talked about the bare bones recording of Wasting Light, which was recorded in analog in a garage. "To me the biggest advantage of going analog is the restrictions that it implies, which gets you to perform in a way that you’re actually being a human being," Grohl said. "We thought about heart and performance. And I would rather people not tune their vocals, I would rather people not grid their drums."

Will their success then Sunday night inspire other bands to pick up that challenge? Emily Lazar, who mastered the album and became the first woman ever nominated for mastering a Best Album nominee, hopes so. "I think that would be a phenomenal response because there’s nothing like real organic old-school rock and roll," she told us. "I think part of the charm and integrity of this record and the reason it rocks so hard is because it’s real and there are moments that are not perfect. They’re absolutely fantastic musicians, each and every one of them, but there are still human moments. And that’s what makes it so wonderful, to me anyway."

When we first discussed this on Wednesday night we joked that the one problem is that most rock bands can't play like the Foo Fighters. But Lazar doesn't think that should stop other bands from at least trying the analog approach. "I think a lot of bands can do it," she says. "They might not be able to achieve the mass appeal that Foo Fighters did, but I think there are a lot of bands that can do it, I’d love to hear them try."

Grohl, for one, definitely concurs analog brings back the raw sound." I would rather that bands sound like bands and when you go analog that’s kind of what you get."

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Dave Grohl on the Foo Fighters' Grammy Success and Going Analog

Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Nate Mendel of The Foo Fighters backstage at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording Academy

The Foo Fighters took home five Grammy awards Sunday night, including Best Rock Album, and delivered two memorable performances, one of them rocking with Deadmau5 on the first ever EDM segment of the Grammys. But their biggest triumph of the night may have been Dave Grohl's  Best Rock Performance acceptance speech, which has taken the web by storm. "Dave Grohl Grammy Speech" is the second subject that comes up when you type his name into Google.

Accepting the award, Grohl said, "To me, this award means a lot because it shows the human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most impotant thing for people to do...It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]."

When Rolling Stone spent some time with Grohl at various Grammy events over the weekend, he echoed those sentiments as he talked about the bare bones recording of Wasting Light, which was recorded in analog in a garage. "To me the biggest advantage of going analog is the restrictions that it implies, which gets you to perform in a way that you’re actually being a human being," Grohl said. "We thought about heart and performance. And I would rather people not tune their vocals, I would rather people not grid their drums."

Will their success then Sunday night inspire other bands to pick up that challenge? Emily Lazar, who mastered the album and became the first woman ever nominated for mastering a Best Album nominee, hopes so. "I think that would be a phenomenal response because there’s nothing like real organic old-school rock and roll," she told us. "I think part of the charm and integrity of this record and the reason it rocks so hard is because it’s real and there are moments that are not perfect. They’re absolutely fantastic musicians, each and every one of them, but there are still human moments. And that’s what makes it so wonderful, to me anyway."

When we first discussed this on Wednesday night we joked that the one problem is that most rock bands can't play like the Foo Fighters. But Lazar doesn't think that should stop other bands from at least trying the analog approach. "I think a lot of bands can do it," she says. "They might not be able to achieve the mass appeal that Foo Fighters did, but I think there are a lot of bands that can do it, I’d love to hear them try."

Grohl, for one, definitely concurs analog brings back the raw sound." I would rather that bands sound like bands and when you go analog that’s kind of what you get."

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Stars Pay Tribute To Whitney Houston On Grammy Red Carpet

Bob Seger arrives at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

Rememberances and tributes to the late Whitney Houston at yesterday's Grammy Awards weren't limited to just the telecast. On the red carpet before the show started, veteran rocker Bob Seger, who came out with his family to see Adele sing live, admitted Houston's sudden death on Saturday put a damper on the celebration. Seger was one of several acts to share their thoughts and memories of the singer with Rolling Stone on the carpet.

Seger:  "I met her at a Grammys in '86 and I happened to be seated next to her and her mother, Cissy, was on the other side of her. She was only 21 years old and just beautiful and wonderful voice, it’s just sad. [But] I just choose to remember her fantastic vocal performances, like 'I Will Always Love You,' 'The Star Spangled Banner' and all those wonderful things that she did."

Rick Ross: "We lost an icon, maybe the most talented singer of our time. Just to reflect on her accomplishments she sold over 170 million albums when today going gold is a feat. And I just pray we all remember her for her positive impact on the culture. My condolences go out to her whole family, words couldn’t express it. We’ll remember her for her accomplishments."

Booker T. Jones: "It’s a tragedy, it’s a huge loss. [And] not only was Michael Walden her producer and he’s a close friend of mine, Cissy worked in the studio with us back in New York and Memphis before Whitney was even thought of. I’m 67, I’ve been doing this a long time, so before Whitney was born the Houston’s were huge and still are."

Wiz Khalifa (Who performed Saturday night at Clive Davis party where Houston was honored): "I never had a chance to meet Whitney and last night was gonna be a great chance to at least perform in front of her and let her feel the vibe. But she’s up there, so she got to feel it anyway."

Kirk Franklin: "To be honest with you, with the climate of losing such a great talent like we did last night I don’t really know how to feel right now. It’s a very unfortunate thing because I think that the entertainment community, especially after Michael [Jackson], needs to make sure these celebrities that we love and we love their gift are doing good on the inside. We [have to] realize that they’re human beings, they’re human freaking beings. And we gotta make sure there’s a balance in their life. Somebody’s got to say no to some things. And somebody’s gotta have the cajones to even tell Whitney no, to tell Michael no. We’ve gotta love the person more than the talent."

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Week in Review: Oddsmaking the Grammy Awards

Adele performs at the The 28th Annual MTV Video Music Awards Los Angeles.

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles this Sunday night. In anticipation of the record industry's biggest night, Rolling Stone checked in with a top Las Vegas oddsmaker and a panel of pop stars, including Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, to determine who is most likely to win big this year. You can see if their predictions check out on Sunday night while following Rob Sheffield's interactive live blog of the event, which will kick off a half hour before showtime at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Photos: Skrillex Live in Las Vegas

Rolling Stone also talked to Gary Cherone about his time in Van Halen, learned about the newly-reunited Luscious Jackson's plans to record a new album and chatted with Karmin about their appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Plus, we reported on concerts by Skrillex, Van Halen, the B-52's and Mötley Crüe, analyzed this week's charts, looked back on this week in rock history and reviewed all the hottest new releases.

Photos: Fans' Bad and Bad Ass Rock Tattoos

In pop culture, we talked to Flight of the Conchords comedian Bret McKenzie about his Oscar nomination for writing a song for The Muppets, Peter Travers praised Chronicles and Rampart, and we recapped the latest episodes of Glee, Smash, American Idol, The Voice and Jersey Shore.

Photos: Random Notes

Our question for you this week is: What is the best Paul McCartney song of all time? You can answer on our website, at facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekendrock hashtag.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Live-Blogging the 2012 Grammy Awards

Kevin Mazur/Imeh Akpanudosen/Ian Gavan/Kristian Dowling/Getty Images

Will Adele sweep? Will Bon Iver or Skrillex take the Best New Artist category over established star Nicki Minaj? Will this Beach Boys/Foster the People/Maroon 5 performance be a total train wreck? Find out the answers to all of this and more as Rob Sheffield Live-Blogs the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 12th. The festivities start at 7:30 p.m. EST and launch into high gear as the ceremony kicks off at 8:00 p.m. EST. This is an interactive experience, so feel free to join in on the conversation!

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Live-Blogging the 2012 Grammy Awards

Kevin Mazur/Imeh Akpanudosen/Ian Gavan/Kristian Dowling/Getty Images

Will Adele sweep? Will Bon Iver or Skrillex take the Best New Artist category over established star Nicki Minaj? Will this Beach Boys/Foster the People/Maroon 5 performance be a total train wreck? Find out the answers to all of this and more as Rob Sheffield Live-Blogs the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 12th. The festivities start at 7:30 p.m. EST and launch into high gear as the ceremony kicks off at 8:00 p.m. EST. This is an interactive experience, so feel free to join in on the conversation!

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

Week in Review: Oddsmaking the Grammy Awards

Adele performs at the The 28th Annual MTV Video Music Awards Los Angeles.

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held in Los Angeles this Sunday night. In anticipation of the record industry's biggest night, Rolling Stone checked in with a top Las Vegas oddsmaker and a panel of pop stars, including Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert, to determine who is most likely to win big this year. You can see if their predictions check out on Sunday night while following Rob Sheffield's interactive live blog of the event, which will kick off a half hour before showtime at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Photos: Skrillex Live in Las Vegas

Rolling Stone also talked to Gary Cherone about his time in Van Halen, learned about the newly-reunited Luscious Jackson's plans to record a new album and chatted with Karmin about their appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Plus, we reported on concerts by Skrillex, Van Halen, the B-52's and Mötley Crüe, analyzed this week's charts, looked back on this week in rock history and reviewed all the hottest new releases.

Photos: Fans' Bad and Bad Ass Rock Tattoos

In pop culture, we talked to Flight of the Conchords comedian Bret McKenzie about his Oscar nomination for writing a song for The Muppets, Peter Travers praised Chronicles and Rampart, and we recapped the latest episodes of Glee, Smash, American Idol, The Voice and Jersey Shore.

Photos: Random Notes

Our question for you this week is: What is the best Paul McCartney song of all time? You can answer on our website, at facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter using the #weekendrock hashtag.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Grammy Showdown: 2012

Kevin Mazur/Ian Gavan/C Flanigan/Michael Stewart/Getty Images

Can Adele pull off a clean sweep? Will Kanye West win solo or with big bro Jay-Z? Our all-star panel – and a Las Vegas oddsmaker – break it down.

Panel of Experts: Adam Lambert, Common, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, producer-DJ Avicii and Kelly Clarkson

After owning the charts for more than a year, Adele's hit-stacked LP is all but guaranteed to take the prize.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Grammy Showdown: 2012

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Grammy Awards 2012: Complete Coverage

Adele, Kanye West, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars stand to win big at the 2012 Grammy Awards. This year's show airs on Sunday, February 12th at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. From predictions to favorite moments, we've got all of the Grammys coverage you'll need right here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Grammy Awards 2012: Complete Coverage

Adele, Kanye West, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars stand to win big at the 2012 Grammy Awards. This year's show airs on Sunday, February 12th at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. From predictions to favorite moments, we've got all of the Grammys coverage you'll need right here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »