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Ke$ha claims she will "resurrect" rock with her new album.

"People say that rock and roll is dead, and it is my mission and my goal to resurrect it in the form of my pop music," she told MTV News "That's the goal. We'll see what happens."

A foray into the rock world for the pop singer seemed inevitable after a run of rock-related stories through 2011. In May, sheclaimed to be obsessed with rock n' roll, and later joined Alice Cooper on stage for the second time to perform "School's Out."

"I’ve been pretty much in this 70’s rock and roll kick and I want to capture some of the true essence of what rock and roll is, and that’s just irreverence and sexiness and fun and not giving a f--k, so we’ll definitely put a bit of rock and roll in it," she said in May. She added that there may be some collaborations with her rock heroes, though the official tracklisting is yet to be confirmed.

Ke$ha is not the only pop princess to have made steps towards the world of rock. Lady Gaga has also been snapped backstage alongside Iron Maiden, later claiming that the band changed her life. It's almost as if the pop industry saw U2's record-smashing 360 tour revenue and decided to arrange a concerted move towards live rock performances so they can get a slice of the pie.

Cynical? Perhaps, but you might say that the signs are pointing towards a rocking 2012, both on and off the charts. 

- Ultimate-Guitar 

Once again, Lady Gaga has declared her love for heavy metal.

Speaking to SiriusXM, Gaga talked at length about bands includingBlack Sabbath and Iron Maiden, which you can see in the player below:

"I just saw Iron Maiden on their 'Frontier' tour and it totally changed my life. It was my first Maiden experience and I just realized in that moment in the show that that was the kind of artist I wanted to be.

"I didn't want people… 30 years from now coming to see my show to see if I've still got it. But rather I wanted them to be fully unified, fists in the air, wanna hear every song. Iron Maiden's a lifestyle and those fans… live and die by Maiden."

We last reported on Gaga attending an Iron Maiden gig, where we shared a photo of the pop star posing with drummer Nicko McBrain, but now a new backstage image of Gaga with Bruce Dickinson has surfaced which you can see below.

The feeling between metal and pop seems to be mutual here. Ozzy Osbourne was quoted as saying "She's very clever, very interesting. She's wacky and I like the zaniness of that woman."

 

- Ultimate-Guitar

(week starting 6th June)

Rock & Pop

• Cults - Cults
• Depeche Mode - Remixes 2 (81-11)
• Iron Maiden - From Fear To Eternity
• Arctic Monkeys - Suck It & See
• All Time Low - Dirty Work
• Eddie Vedder - Ukelele Songs

OST

• OST Green Lantern 

Asian

• Lin Zi Xiang (George Lam) - Lamusique Vintage
• Red Flower - Sense of Security

According to Billboard.com, IRON MAIDEN ranks third — behindLady Gaga and Prince — on the latest Hot Tours list, with totals reported from its "Final Frontier World Tour" that began in June 2010 and included dates in both North America and Europe.

The tour resumed in 2011 with a February 11 concert in Moscow at Olympiski, a massive indoor arena built for the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Attendance for the performance in Russia was 16,439 with ticket sales topping $2 million (US$).

A show in Singapore followed on February 15 with 9,785 in the house at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the country's largest indoor entertainment venue.

Iron Maiden was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance" category in the pre-telecast ceremony at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, which was held on February 13 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Iron Maiden was nominated for the track "El Dorado", from the band's 2010 album "The Final Frontier".

Read more at Blabbermouth.net. 

 

Something I'm sure many metal fans in Singapore could never have imagined. The Gods of metal, Iron Maiden, setting foot on Singapore with their very own Ed Force One.



Definitely the biggest metal concert in Singapore to date with the 12,000 strong crowd! With a setlist identical to the one in Moscow, the band played a fair amount of songs from their latest release, The Final Frontier. Bruce mentioned before that the songs on this album sounds so much better live, and hell was he right.

METALHEADS, brace yourselves: British heavy-metal legends Iron Maiden will finally play a long-overdue gig in Singapore.

The concert - part of the band's 2011 Final Frontier World Tour - will take place on Feb 15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, organisers LAMC Productions said in a statement yesterday.

Their current line-up comprises vocalist Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain and the "three amigos" - guitarists Janick Gers, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith.

And in true rock-star fashion, Iron Maiden will be arriving here in style. They will fly in on their specially-customised private aeroplane, called Ed Force One.

The Boeing 757 airliner, piloted by 52-year-old Dickinson (a qualified commercial pilot who has hosted aviation shows like Flying Heavy Metal), will transport the band, crew and their entire 10-tonne stage production for the duration of the tour.

The 66-day tour (in support of their 15th studio album, The Final Frontier) will take the sextet to 26 cities in 13 countries, including Russia and Brazil. Besides Singapore, their only other Asian stop is Indonesia.

Andre Alabons, LAMC's promotions manager, told my paper: "Iron Maiden will be the biggest heavy-metal band to come to Singapore in the last 15 years. This will definitely be a milestone concert that will have fans talking for years to come."

Long-time Iron Maiden fan Ryan Peters, who works in film production, was elated to hear the news.

He had been planning to fly to Bali to attend the band's concert there if they did not make it here.

"Come February, I finally get to live my dream among the thousands of screaming fans...singing along to Maiden's legendary anthems," said the 26-year-old.

Indeed, the band have reached great heights in their illustrious 30-year career - hell, Iron Maiden have sold over 85 million albums worldwide.

The Final Frontier, reached the No. 1 spot in 28 countries.

So, getready to be rocked, Singapore. 

- My Paper (Victoria Barker) 

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN have posted a new graphic on their official web site (see below) of the band's mascot, Eddie, holding the Earth in his right hand with the main focus being the region between Asia and Australia, fueling speculation that the band will officially confirm previously rumored tour dates in Indonesia and surrounding countries.

The Jakarta Post reported earlier this month that IRON MAIDEN will perform in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bali in February. "They [IRON MAIDEN] have confirmed it," stated Tommy Pratama, a promoter from Original Production, according to TempoInteraktif.com.

The Jakarta show will likely take place on either February 17 or February 18, with the Bali concert to follow two days later.

The official announcement will be made on Tuesday, November 2 at 6 p.m. GMT.

IRON MAIDEN is scheduled to headline the 2011 edition of Australia's Soundwave festival, set to take place in late February/early March.

Rod Smallwood, IRON MAIDEN's longtime manager, told The New York Times that more than 800,000 copies of the band's latest album, "The Final Frontier", had been shipped to retailers around the world by the end of August, with the group having sold about 85 million records in its 30-year career.

"A lot of bands could learn a lot from MAIDEN," Smallwood said. "MAIDEN is essentially about the relationship with the fans, and nothing comes between that. They don't want to be rock stars. They just enjoy playing for the fans."

According to David Kassler, chief operating officer of EMI for Europe, digital tracking services showed only small levels of illegal downloading of "The Final Frontier", which is attributable in part to the fact that IRON MAIDEN's songs do not fit the mold of a radio single — three of them, on the newest release, are more than nine minutes long.

"You'd expect some people to be pirating, but they don't," Kassler told The New York Times. "They want the physical album. They love the artwork, the lyrics. It's something they want to show their friends and family."

- blabbermouth

Steve Harris’s West Ham are nice enough to be the only team in the league lower than Liverpool and now Bruce Dickinson has flown the team to Naples. Up the Irons! Get the full story inside!

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has flown the team and other members of the Liverpool FC team to Naples for their Europa League clash with Napoli.

Commented Dickinson: “We’ve done a lot of footballers.

“We’re one of very few airlines to have the FA cup on board. We flew the trophy back from Cardiff and it had its own seat.”

Dickinson told BBC News, “I was originally supposed to be going to Iceland and flying down to Las Palmas and Tenerife, but this looked a lot more interesting so I’m flying the team down to Naples.

“People ask me, which do you enjoy more and I honestly can’t say, but what I can say is that I am never, ever going to give up singing.

“That’s been my life and fortunately I’m in a job where I can get the time off to do it.”

- Metal Hammer 

The Jakarta Post reports that British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDENwill perform in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bali in February 2011, a local promoter said on Sunday. "They [IRON MAIDEN] have confirmed it,"Tommy Pratama, a promoter from Original Production, according toTempoInteraktif.com.

The Jakarta show will likely take place on either February 17 or February 18, with the Bali concert to follow two days later. 

Rod Smallwood, IRON MAIDEN's longtime manager, told The New York Times that more than 800,000 copies of the band's latest album, "The Final Frontier", had been shipped to retailers around the world by the end of August, with the group having sold about 85 million records in its 30-year career.

"A lot of bands could learn a lot from MAIDEN," Smallwood said. "MAIDEN is essentially about the relationship with the fans, and nothing comes between that. They don't want to be rock stars. They just enjoy playing for the fans."

According to David Kassler, chief operating officer of EMI for Europe, digital tracking services showed only small levels of illegal downloading of"The Final Frontier", which is attributable in part to the fact that IRON MAIDEN's songs do not fit the mold of a radio single — three of them, on the newest release, are more than nine minutes long.

"You'd expect some people to be pirating, but they don't," Kassler toldThe New York Times. "They want the physical album. They love the artwork, the lyrics. It's something they want to show their friends and family."

- Blabbermouth 

(week starting 16th Aug)

Rock & Pop

• David Gray - Founding

• Iron Maiden - Final Frontier

Classical & Jazz

• George Duke - Déjà Vu

• Esperanza Spalding - Chamber Music Society

Dance & Soul

• Various Artists - Kitsune Ponystep with Tote Bag

Asian Pop

• OST - Taipei Swings (Au Revoir Taipei)

• Jolin Tsai 蔡依林 - Myself

• Lee Hom 王力宏 - 18th Martial Arts <十八般武藝>