Grammys 2012: Paul McCartney feted as MusiCares Person of the Year

This post has been updated. See the note at the bottom for details.

Is anyone surprised that Friday night’s MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Paul McCartney shattered the record for the fund-raising event, generating more than $6.5 million for the Recording Academy’s division that provides medical care and other support for musicians in need?

For the price of a ticket (2,800 people paid a minimum of $1,500 to attend), audience members got to hear McCartney perform a handful of numbers as well as a cadre of peers sing his songs, from 25-year-old pop princess Katy Perry to 85-year-old pop music institution Tony Bennett, with the Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Alison Krauss, Duane Eddy, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, James Taylor, Diana Krall and Sergio Mendes joining them.

PHOTOS: MusiCares Person of the Year gala | Show

The entertainment started with a presentation by what appeared to be the full Cirque du Soleil cast of the Beatles “Love” show in Las Vegas, after which McCartney and his regular touring band appeared and started the live music with his Wings-era single “Junior’s Farm.”

The Foo Fighters took on “Jet,” Keys sang “Blackbird,” Krauss handled “No More Lonely Nights,” Bennett and his combo turned “Here, There and Everywhere” into a swinging jazz tune, Eddy brought his deep twang guitar to “And I Love Her,” Jones took “Oh! Darling,” Perry sang “Hey Jude,” Young bashed through “I Saw Her Standing There,” Mendes emphasized the Latin groove in “The Fool on the Hill,” Coldplay did “We Can Work It Out,” Krall sang “For No One” and Taylor crooned “Yesterday.”

Grammys 2012: Katy Perry added to Grammys, McCartney gala

When it comes to the Grammys, pop star Katy Perry has strutted around a stage outfitted with giant fruit, while last year, she took a more solitary and serious route, albeit on a glittery swing for a medley that included "Not Like the Movies." The artist of extremes is back for the 2012 ceremony, with a record of the year nomination for "Firework," but perhaps Grammy producers have some surprises up their sleeves too.

Not only is Perry performing during the Feb. 12 awards show telecast, but she's also been added to the impressive roster of artists who will pay tribute to Beatle Paul McCartney on Feb. 10 at the MusiCares Person of the Year Ceremony.

MusiCares represents the charitable art of the Record Academy, and the sold-out gala will also feature Tony Bennett, Coldplay, the Foo Fighters, Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Duane Eddy, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, James Taylor, Diana Krall, Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Sergio Mendes. Whew. 

PHOTOS: Grammys 2012: Top nominees

McCartney will perform at both the MusiCares dinner and the Grammys. No doubt there will be some overlap between those paying respects to the legend on Feb. 10 and those performing with the Beatle on Feb. 12. 

Review: Katy Perry with Jon Brion, 'The One That Got Away'

What will resourceful Katy Perry try next in order to stick one more single from “Teenage Dream” at the top of the charts? An acoustic retooling from famed instrument-savant Jon Brion, it turns out.

The slick version of “The One That Got Away” with Dr. Luke and Max Martin has failed to launch, peaking instead at No. 3, so now Perry’s jettisoned the song’s original gloss for a strummed, piano-laced take that’s subtly detailed but still marred by Perry’s hammy singing. When she stretches out the title phrase toward the end, apparently in an attempt to communicate heart-wrenching angst, you can’t tell if the frustration is directed at wayward husband Russell Brand or simply the capricious whims of the charts that prevented “The One That Got Away” from getting to the top in the first place. Naked ambition is a turn-off sometimes, this rejiggered song being case in point.

U2 is tops again in concert and music-sales revenue

The Irish band tops Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga for concert and music-sales revenues.

Demonstrating that there's no substitute for the live concert experience, U2 has once again taken the crown in Calendar's annual Ultimate Top 10, a ranking that combines concert revenue with sales of recorded music.

U2 amassed $160.8 million for 2011, well ahead of runner-up Taylor Swift, whose combined earnings came to $126.8 million. Lady Gaga was the only other act to top $100 million, posting $109.4 million to place third. Country music road warrior Kenny Chesney landed in fourth place with $98.5 million. The year's blockbuster album and singles sales champ, Adele, pulled in at fifth place with $92.8 million, a figure that certainly would have been higher if vocal cord problems hadn't forced her to cancel big chunks of her 2011 tour itinerary.

Figures are drawn from Pollstar's recently published tallies of North American box office revenues and Nielsen SoundScan's tracking of retail music sales in the U.S. The Ultimate Top 10 uses figures from North America because they are tracked more reliably than in many other parts of the world. But most of these musicians pulled in even more than these totals with ever-expanding ancillary income sources such as tour merchandise, product endorsements, video game sales, ring tones and clothing and jewelry lines.

Adele logs top-selling album and song of 2011

To the surprise of virtually no one, Adele’s “21” is officially the top-selling album of 2011, with a final tally of 5.82 million copies, while the British soul singer’s single “Rolling in the Deep” was the year’s bestselling song with 5.81 million copies, according to Billboard, based on Nielsen SoundScan's year-end sales report.

Adele’s album has not dropped out of the Top 10 since it entered the chart at No. 1 in February. It is now in its 14th non-consecutive week as the nation’s top-selling album.

Michael Bublé’s latecomer holiday entry “Christmas” was the No. 2 selling album of the year with nearly 2.5 million copies, followed by Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” (2.1 million), Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” (1.9 million) and Jason Aldean’s “My Kinda Party” (1.6 million).

The remainder of the top 5-selling digital songs behind “Rolling In the Deep” are LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” (5.5 million), Katy Perry’s “E.T.” (4.8 million), Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” (4.1 million) and Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” (3.9 million).

Industry -wide perhaps the best news in the year-end figures is that album sales increased over the previous year for the first time since 2004, up 1% to 330.6 million units, compared to 326.2 million in 2010. Overall music sales, including albums, singles, music video and digital tracks, increased nearly 7% in 2011 compared to a year earlier.

More from Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end report will be reported in Thursday’s Calendar.

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-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Adele's performance in February at the 2011 Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London. Credit: Joel Ryan / Associated Press.

Katy Perry to host 'Saturday Night Live'

Katy Perry noted during her acceptance speech at Sunday night's American Music Awards that she's about to wrap up her 122-date California Dream tour. But that doesn't mean she's planning to take the rest of the winter off. She's returning to "Saturday Night Live" on Dec. 10, this time as host.

Last time Perry was on "SNL," on the 2010 season premiere, she was there as musical guest. But more notable was her cleavage-focused appearance on "Weekend Update," playing off the then white-hot (well, maybe lukewarm) controversy over her axed appearance on "Sesame Street" for being too cleavage-y.

A lot has happened to Perry since then. She got married to Russell Brand, made her acting debut (as Smurfette in "The Smurfs") and became the first female pop artist to have five No. 1 singles off one album, "Teenage Dream."

Therefore, the writers and performers of "Saturday Night Live" will no doubt give her A material and treat her as a multi-dimensional human being and superstar.

Or they'll just make a lot more jokes about her boobs.

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-- Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: Katy Perry, right, accepts her American Music Award (and a little smooching) from presenter Heidi Klum. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Katy Perry to play free show Nov. 23 at Staples Center

Katy Perry will play a free show at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 23 to wrap up her "California Dreams World Tour," the singer announced during her appearance Friday on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Perry has dubbed it “Katy Perry Gives Thanks," adding the bonus performance on the heels of her sold-out Nov. 22 concert at Staples. Information on how the free tickets will be distributed is being posted on her Facebook page.

While talking to DeGeneres, she also unveiled the video for her new single, “The One That Got Away,” a video in which she’s traded the geeky glasses and orthodontic headgear of her “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” video for silver hair and wrinkles. (And just look at who was persuaded to costar.) She plays an elderly woman looking back with regret on a missed romantic opportunity. The video can be seen here:

 

If the new single reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, it would give the Santa Barbara-born pop star her sixth No. 1 hit from her multiplatinum “Teenage Dream” album.

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-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Katy Perry during a performance in Buenos Aires in September. Credit:  Victor R. Caivano / Associated Press.

MTV VMAs: Katy Perry doesn't feel like she's 'peaked just yet' [Video]

It's clear Katy Perry doesn't take herself too seriously: This is, after all, a woman who had whipped cream shooting out of her bra in the music video for "California Gurls."

But Perry, who took home three Moonmen at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, told reporters backstage that winning the video of the year prize for "Firework" held somewhat of a deeper meaning.

"I felt like I was in the right place tonight, especially with that award," the pop star said. "Because we all know 'California Girls' — it's a great song, but it's not gonna change the world or anything like that. But 'Firework,' to me, it feels like it's a movement. You can always sing [about] clubs and bubs and bitches and ho's, but I think it takes a little bit more to sing songs like 'Firework.' "

Asked what was next for her after sweeping the telecast, Perry said she would continue to focus her efforts on her ongoing concert tour.

"It's been really grueling, and I'm just trying to take that one day at a time and get through that and make sure I give the best damn performance every single time," she said. "But yeah, I don't want to feel like I've peaked just yet. I've got way too many outfits to go through."

Live review: Katy Perry at the Nokia Theatre

Teenagers have no shortage of opportunities for mortification via social media today. But just before Katy Perry’s fizzy two-hour set at the Nokia Theatre on Friday, they had a new one to worry about: the Smooch Cam. 

The camera trawled the audience looking for couples and prompted them to plant one on each other for the audience’s approval via jumbotron. Some were sweetly awkward, some were lascivious, and (as appropriate for a singer whose first hit extolled casual bisexuality as boyfriend-enticement) there was at least one three-way all-girl makeout. 

Perry’s music is a similar prompt to PG-13 bad behavior, but with a deep wink at the ways having fun is often a performance. In her single “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” she may lament that “pictures of last night ended up online, I’m screwed.” But who is she kidding? This is the generation of “Pics or it didn’t happen.” 

And needless to say, Perry takes a good photo. Her current pop persona lies somewhere between the pinups painted on WWII-era fighter planes and a knowing cute-overload culture in which grown men can watch “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” without ending up in a police database. 

Katy Perry makes Billboard history with 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)'

Katy Perry continues her hit-filled year, as the singer has notched her fifth No. 1 single from the platinum-selling "Teenage Dream."

With current single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" set to hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard's pop chart, according to the Nielsen BDS-based pop radio-airplay ranking, the singer's sophomore effort is the first album in the more than 15-year history of the Adult Top 40 mainstream chart to log that many No. 1 singles.

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," with its kooky '80s-inspired video, joins the Kanye West-assisted "E.T.,' "Firework," "California Gurls," featuring Snoop Dogg, and the title track, which was ranked the fourth-best single of 2010 by Rolling Stone -– "Glee's" version of the single also went on to become a huge hit. If "Last Friday Night" hits the top spot on the coveted Hot 100 chart -- it's currently No. 2 -- it would be only the second album to achieve that ranking. The other? Michael Jackson's 1987 disc, "Bad."

"Teenage Dream" leads Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" and Lady Gaga's "The Fame," which both featured four Mainstream Top 40 No. 1's.

Perry, who performs at the Nokia Theatre on Friday, recently received a leading nine Video Music Awards nominations, including video of the year.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
Twitter.com / gerrickkennedy

Photo: Katy Perry poses for a portrait in New York July 24. Credit: Lucas Jackson / Reuters