Don't forget to watch Chris Cornell at the Kennedy Center Honors gala on US TV tomorrow, Tuesday December 30. Chris performed the Who's classic rock anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again" live in front of the President in tribute to Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, two of this year's honorees. Other performers at the arts gala, recorded on December 7, include Dave Grohl, Rob Thomas, Beyonce, Queen Latifah and many more. The event screens from 9-11 p.m. on CBS.
Head over to Yahoo! Music Video Premiereson Monday December 15 to see an exclusive premiere of Chris Cornell's new video for "Scream", the title track from his forthcoming album. From Tuesday December 16, it will also be on chriscornell.com, YouTube, MTV, VH-1 and other TV and online media.
During a live acoustic radio session at Stockholm’s O Baren back in 2006, Chris Cornell unveiled a bold and bluesy new arrangement of Michael Jackson’s 80s dance anthem Billie Jean. Not so much a cover, more a reinvention, it swiftly became an underground favourite among fans and later surfaced in a full band version on his 2007 solo album Carry On.
Controversy followed when American Idol contestant David Cook drew praise from the judges when he used Cornell’s Billie Jean arrangement for his own spot on the show. It took a while for the judges to realise where the idea’s origins lay, but it helped Cook on his way to winning the contest – and the unexpected musical pairing went on to bear more fruit. Cook’s US single Light On, which debuted at #8 on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, was co-written by Cornell with producer/writer Brian Howes.
Since Cook’s success in the US, other hopeful TV contestants around the world have sought to replicate the Billie Jean effect. In Michael Jackson week on Britain's The X Factor, American Idol judge Simon Cowell chose the arrangement for his protegé Austin Drage. Even more recently, Teale Jakubenko performed the song on Australian Idol and 15-year-old Paulina Lenda gave the lyric a sex change on Poland's Got Talent. Most recently, popular recording artist Christos Dantis caused a scandal when he used Cornell’s arrangement for his guest performance on Greece’s version of The X Factor – and passed it off as his own.
Performances have resulted in a huge sales boost worldwide for Cornell’s version, which came about after his wife challenged him to think of the most unlikely cover version he could attempt. “And off the top of my head, the least likely thing I could think of was Michael Jackson," said Cornell, whose idea seems to have caught the imagination of aspiring singers right around the world.
Sometimes it’s the unlikeliest collaborations that catch the public imagination – something which Cornell’s own forthcoming album “Scream” with super-producer Timbaland is sure to underline. Set for release early in 2009, it's a groundbreaking work which looks set to spearhead a brave new world of cross-genre collaboration. Chris Cornell performs Billie Jean on MSN, May 2007
Chris Cornell and Linkin Park joined forces this summer during the Projekt Revolution tour, on a live version of Cornell's "Hunger Strike" and Linkin Park's, "Crawling". You can now own those never-before-released performances on "Songs From The Underground". The new CD, previously only available through Linkin Park Underground, will be sold at selected Best Buy locations starting Thanksgiving Day! This limited edition CD includes "Hunger Strike" (Live from Projekt Revolution 2008 featuring Chester Bennington) and comes with a free one month trial membership for LPU and access to a FREE download of "Crawling" (featuring Chris Cornell).
Chris Cornell and Timbaland will appear on the Sundance TV channel next month as part of a special new series called "The Inspiration Sessions", which will feature "four dynamic artist and producer pairings and the candid free-flowing conversation that ensues as they produce an album together". A new episode of "The Inspiration Sessions" will premiere each week during the 13-part series "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…", which also features behind-the-scenes footage of Costello's guests discussing the artists and the music that inspired them.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…" is sponsored by luxury automaker Infiniti and will be premiered in the US on Wednesday, December 3 at 9 PM ET. The series also will be broadcast on CTV in Canada and Channel 4 in the UK, beginning later this year.
Meanwhile some of the content featuring Chris and Timbaland is available to view HERE.
Don't forget to watch Chris Cornell at the Kennedy Center Honors gala on US TV tomorrow, Tuesday December 30. Chris performed the Who's classic rock anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again" live in front of the President in tribute to Roger Daltrey and Pete...» Full Story
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