Week’s End Digest: Lisa Marie Presley, Glastonbury, Sade, Lil Wayne, Erykah Badu, Glee

Posted October 23, 2010 by J Matthew Cobb in Features

News you can really use. This ‘Week’s End Digest’ features reports on Lisa Marie Presley’s interview with Oprah, Sade’s 2011 tour, Glastonbury’s record-breaking sale out, Katy Perry’s marriage to Russell Brand, Lil Wayne’s #1 album, Kanye West album cover(s), Erykah Badu’s ranting Tweets, Glee’s GQ photospread and more.

A lot can happen in a week. Here’s news you can really use.

Lisa Marie Presley Opens Up About MJ to Oprah

In an exclusive interview with the King’s Princess and King of Pop’s ex, Lisa Marie Presley sat down with Oprah Winfrey to discuss the similar parallels of her father, Elvis Presley, and her ex-husband Michael Jackson. She broke her silence for the first time on camera since the passing of Jackson. Chilling revelations from Presley revealed that Jackson knew that he was destined to die early and that she suspected the pop icon of heavy drug use after the two separated. “I know it’s naive to think that I could’ve, but I wanted to,” Presley said on The Oprah Winfrey Show Thursday, where she opened up about the death of her ex-husband. “Had I just said, ‘How are you?’ Can I try to make a phone call? I really… regret that I didn’t.” The last conversation Presley had with Jackson was in 2005. “He was trying to throw a line out to see if I would bite emotionally, and I wouldn’t,” she said. Presley now lives in England with her guitarist husband Michael Lockwood and her four children. Read more (CNN) // click here

Glastonbury 2011 Sells Out In Record Time

Concert sales and big summer festivals may be feeling the pinch of a sour economy in the US, but U.K.’s super-festival, Glastonbury, announced that they sold out of tickets for next year’s dates in a matter of four hours. Tickets went on sale Oct. 3 and were gone in an instant; beating last year’s time of a sell-out in twelve hours according to the event’s organizers. Last year’s lineup included performances from Gorillaz, Muse, Scissor Sisters and Stevie Wonder. Word’s on the street that U2 may be one of the major attractions to headline next year’s lineup.

Sade Preparing for U.S. Tour in 2011

After selling well over a million units with their comeback album Soldier of Love, Sade is gearing up for a 35-city US tour staged at a arenas and stadiums. This will be the band’s first tour since 2001. The band, led by lead singer Helen Sade Adu, kicks off their first tour date on June 16 in Baltimore, MD and will flow to cities like Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Currently Sade and her band are touring the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Lil Wayne Sails to #1

Johnny Cash did it with At Folsom Prison in 1968. Tupac did it in 1995 with Me Against the World. And Lil Wayne just did it with I’m Not a Human Being. The new album from the hip-hop rapper, now serving a year-long sentence at Rikers Island on a gun charge, managed to swoop its way to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200; selling well over 125,000 units. The album’s digital version was released a week prior; giving it the #2 spot with Kenny Chesney taking the coveted spot with his new album Hemmingway’s Whiskey. The launch of the compact disc version helped elevate the album to #1.

Katy Perry and Russell Brand Looking to Tie the Knot

Pop diva Katy Perry and her beau, comedian/actor Russell Brand will be gearing up for their Hindu wedding ceremony on Saturday. The two are expected to tie the knot at a private luxury resort outside the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in the Indian state of Rajasthan, a local tour operator said. They also plan to celebrate their day of holy matrimony with a six-day honeymoon and a wedding conducted by a local priest at the Sher Bagh resort. Perry’s nerves are “frayed,” according to a source close to the star. But it has nothing to do with Brand and everything with the fear of wedding mishaps.

J Anthony Brown Murders Hezekiah Walker With Eddie Long Paraody

Funnyman J Anthony Brown revealed his most recent “Murdering The Hits” segment on the Tom Joyner Morning Show; a popular syndicated radio show in urban markets. The song, a parody about Bishop Eddie Long’s now-infamous Jheri curled-taupe set to Hezekiah Walker’s gospel hit “I Need You To Survive,” got a huge load of chuckles from the TJMS crew and has now gone viral through networking websites like Twitter and Facebook. The song’s comedic executions have been compared to “Booty Meat;” his parody of Erykah Badu’s controversial song and video “Window Seat.” Eddie Long, the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, is currently being sued by four young men who allege he used his position, lavish trips, jobs and gifts to coerce them into sexual relations.

VIEW & HEAR J. ANTHONY BROWN’S “DON’T WEAR YOUR CLOTHES SO TIGHT” (AUDIO ONLY)

‘Glee’ Hits Controversial Fan with GQ Cover and Photospread

Magazine cover of GQ; featuring 'Glee' cast

Critics are trying to dissect the latest buzz surrounding “Glee” after a photo spread and magazine cover for GQ Magazine reveals the FOX sitcom’s cast in what has been labeled “hyper-sexualized” and “border pedophilia.” The popular sitcom, which targets a wide age group of viewers as young as 8, focuses on a high school glee club that are played by actors over the age of 20. Although the crime isn’t being pinned on the actors, viewers and a host of concerned parents are shocked over the idea to place the young adults, who play teens on the show, in a bold, sexual setting. The front cover of GQ features cast members Dianna Agron, Cory Montheith and Lea Michele. Agron has since apologized on her personal blog, apologizing to anyone who might be “hurt” or “uncomfortable” by the shot. She stressed, “We are not the first” public figures to pose provocatively. Read more (Us) // click here

Kanye West’s “Twisted Dark” Album Cover Grows to 5

After Def Jam announced their decision to ban the controversial album cover okayed by their client for an upcoming album release, Kanye West decided to go back to the drawing board to construct four more covers. One cover, containing a painted image of a ballerina, has since been revealed by Amazon.com. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Dream plans to hit stores November 22. A 45-minute film titled ‘Runaway’ is expected to accompany the LP on release date.

Erykah Badu Rants About Hip-Hop and Pop Music

Hip-hop/neo-soul singer Erykah Badu vented her frustrations over the number of rappers and emcees dropping their trademark styles for “techno pop” via Twitter. “How ya’ll gone stand by and let our music turn into pop techno cornball ass music?” she questioned. “We don’t own our own music no more. Come to think of it, did we EVER own it?” While she slams the pop genre and her fellow hip-hop contemporaries without naming them individually, she comes back and tries to defend house and techno music. Badu explained that she does love house and techno music “as a side dish” but that she feels it is being served as “the main course.” Earlier this year, the Grammy-award winning singer was met with a smorgasbord of controversy and media buzz over the music video for “Window Seat.” For more (MTV) // click here