A special series of online podcasts featuring rare and intimate conversations with the label's legends, producers, songwriters and singers, are now available at www.classic.motown.com. The podcasts are also available on iTunes.

These exclusive podcasts are just part of a year-long celebration of Motown's 50th and its lasting legacy, which included the Dec. 9 release of Motown: The Complete No. 1's, a 10-CD box set in the shape of the label's famed "Hitsville U.S.A." birthplace in Detroit, featuring more than 200 classic songs from 50 Motown artists that topped charts around the world, ...

Gwyneth Paltrow And Huey Lewis' rendition of Cruisin' in 2000 movie Duets has been voted the worst vocal collaboration of all time, by an online music magazine. The pair played karaoke champs in the film, and went on to release the Smokey Robinson cover as a single.

It reached the number one spot in Australia, but has been singled out as the top flop duet by editors of Spinner.com.

Paula Abdul's pairing with MC Skat Kat for Opposites Attract was named second worst, followed by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's 1982 release "The Girl is Mine."

No legend is spared in the top...

New York socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein has beaten Donatella Versace and former Kiss star Ace Frehley in a new "Scariest Celebrity Faces" poll. Wildenstein, dubbed "The Cat Woman" for her feline-like cosmetic surgery-enhanced features, topped Maxim.com's Halloween-flavored list.

The top 10 are:

1. Jocelyn Wildenstein

2. Donatella Versace

3. Ace Frehley

4. Gary Busey

5. Diana Ross

6. Wayne Newton

7. Smokey Robinson

8. Michael Jackson

9. Burt Reynolds

10. Willem Dafoe

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

Thelma Houston, the dynamic voice behind the disco anthem "Don't Leave Me This Way," is back with her first album in over 17 years. In a clever twist, Houston uses A Woman's Touch to transform songs made famous by some of the biggest singers - male singers - in R&B and pop.

The new CD was entirely conceived by Thelma Houston, as well as executive produced by Thelma in association with Stephen Ford of Diva Central, Inc.

A Woman's Touch is filled with songs she has long been a fan of. "They are songs I always wished I had recorded," she explains, "and I loved doing them from a w...

Queen Latifah's new album Trav'lin' Light will be released by famed jazz label Verve Records in conjunction with Flavor Unit Entertainment on September 25.

Produced by three-time Grammy® winner Tommy LiPuma and by Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair, the album is the long-awaited follow-up to Latifah's critically-acclaimed and Grammy® nominated release The Dana Owens Album (2004).

Trav'lin' Light is Latifah's second foray into the realm of jazz, soul, and blues. Once again, she embraces a sultry and saucy mix of fabled female vocalists who've inspired her. Exploring the songbooks of ...

LOS ANGELES - The Very Best Of Mick Jagger, the first overview of his distinguished solo career, is set for release in the U.S. on October 2, on Atlantic/Rhino Records. It's a vivid reminder of the compelling gifts that brought Jagger fame in the first place. As an embodiment of all that rock 'n' roll can mean, he is virtually without peer and that is made plain on this compelling 17-track collection, which includes three previously unreleased performances.

But Mick, for better or worse, is also one of those figures who has far eclipsed the realm of rock 'n' roll to become one of the m...

The final entry in the 40th anniversary restoration campaign of the great album discography of the first golden decade of Sly & The Family Stone - which kicked off with the spring release of the expanded editions of their seven original studio albums on Epic Records (1967-1974) - now comes full circle as Greatest Hits arrives in stores Aug 28th on Epic/Legacy, a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Sly & The Family Stone - the first hitmaking interracial, mixed-gender rock and soul band - recorded and released their first album 40 years ago in 1967, A Whole New Thing. It introduc...

Forgotten R&B supergroup Boyz II Men are planning a major comeback with an album of Motown covers. The vocal group will release Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA as their first album for new label Decca.

The album was produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and features a guest spot by soul star-turned-DJ Brian McKnight.

Motown classics covered on the new album include Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me and Smokey Robinson's soul standard Tracks of My Tears.

-Boyz II Men Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

Soul singer Smokey Robinson fears his addiction to golf is getting out of hand - he wakes before dawn to play. The Motown legend, 67, is so passionate about the sport he'd rather play a round than sleep.

Robinson says, "I love golf more than any other sport I've ever done. Golf is the heroin of sports. There is nothing else you could call me at 4.30 in the morning and say, 'Smokey, let's get up and do this,' and I would say 'Where?'"

-Check out Smokey Robinson's Biography

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

The classic Motown Sound and modern Latin grooves are heard side-by-side at nightclubs and house parties every day in just about every corner of America. Now, for the first time, they truly come together with Motown Remixed Volume 2.

Featuring 11 of Motown's biggest and most popular hits remixed by 10 of the most creative studio forces in contemporary Latin music, Motown Remixed Volume 2 is the latest innovative exploration of the timeless, genre-smashing nature of Motown's greatest artists and songs. The compilation follows the success of 2005's Motown Remixed project that brought the...

Soul is at the heart of hip-hop, providing the inspiration for today's chart-topping hip-hop tracks. Now four new compilations present the best of soul--a total of 67 recordings, every track a #1 (nearly all on the R&B chart)--from the '60s to the '90s. Each of the Hip-O/UMe Soul Number 1's albums in the new UMe Number 1's series is released April 3 and packaged in a ground-breaking environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable.

In the '60s, soul was cool. '60s Soul Number...

Great pop songs are ones you not only remember forever but remind you of the feelings you had when they shot up the charts. On three decade by decade--the '60s through the '80s--Hip-O/UMe Pop Number 1's albums in the new and ongoing UMe Number 1's series, those #1 songs and the feelings they recall are back. Love Songs Number 1's, also released April 3, 2007, brings together the ultimate love songs that topped the charts. All titles will be released in a ground-breaking environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) w...

Tony Bennett, Wyclef Jean and Smokey Robinson are among the stars who will salute Stevie Wonder in song when the soul man is honoured with the inaugural American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) American Troubadour Award.

Wonder will claim the top prize at ASCAP's annual Songwriter Night in Washington, D.C. tonight.

The prestigious new honor is being presented to 26-time Grammy Award winner Wonder in recognition of his music, activism and leadership.

Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, Brian Mcknight and Joan Osborne will also be among the performers singing classic...

Legendary record label Motown has received a public apology from the makers of Academy Award nominated musical Dreamgirls, in two advertisements which stress the film is "fictional".

Movie studio DreamWorks placed the full-page ads in trade papers Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and apologized to Motown boss Berry Gordy for "any confusion".

Motown and some of its artists, including Smokey Robinson, had complained Dreamgirls negatively misrepresented the soul label, while many saw the movie as thinly-veiled reconstruction of the career of Motown group The Supremes.

Th...

Happy Birthday to Norwegian singer Maria Mena (1986), "Napoleon Dynamite" actress Haylie Duff (1980), Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro (1967), "Family Ties" actress Justine Bateman (1966), British singer Seal (1963), British actor Ray Winstone (1957), late Austrian singer Falco (1957; d. 1998), "Dumb and Dumber" actor Jeff Daniels (1955), Italian actor Massimo Troisi (1953; d. 1994), actor Stephen Nichols (1951), Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi (1948), R&B singer Smokey Robinson (1940), director John Frankenheimer (1930; d. 2002), "The Dirty Dozen" actor Lee Marvin (1924; d. 1987), It...

Mary J. Blige and Ludacris will team up with funk legends Earth Wind & Fire to fill the final performance slot at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.

The three acts will join forces to present a tribute to funk and hip-hop at the star-studded show, which will also feature collaborations between Shakira and Wyclef Jean, Lionel Richie, Chris Brown and Smokey Robinson and Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts.

Also new to the Grammys line-up is James Blunt and rapper T.I., who will join the likes of Justin Timberlake, the Dixie Chicks, Christina Aguilera and the reunited Police among the night...

International superstar and Grammy Award nominee Shakira will perform, along with nominee Wyclef Jean; nominees Chris Brown, Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson team for a special tribute to the tradition of great male R&B artists; and nominee Rascal Flatts will join previously announced nominee Carrie Underwood in a tribute to country rock, on "The 49th Annual Grammy Awards," live from Staples Center in Los Angeles, Sunday Feb. 11 (8:00-11:30PM live ET/delayed PT) on CBS.

Added to present are current nominee Natasha Bedingfield, current nominee and 12-time Grammy Award winner Tony Benne...

Shakira and Wyclef Jean, Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson and Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts are hoping to make this Sunday's Grammy Awards a collaborative affair after signing up for a series of live duets.

Shakira and Wyclef are expected to perform their Latin-themed hit Hips Don't Lie at the music industry's annual Oscars, while Richie and Robinson will perform a tribute to the R&B greats and Underwood and Rascal Flatts will team up for a tribute to country-influenced rock.

John Mayer, Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend have already announced they'll collaborate onstage.
...

This year’s United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) "An Evening of Stars Tribute to Aretha Franklin" (AEOS) kicks off Black History Month with national broadcasts. The program marks the first time in 28 years a woman has been honored for her longstanding and generous support of UNCF’s mission to provide deserving students with access to higher education and scholarship support. Additionally, Franklin is also respected for her well-known activism and philanthropy on behalf of numerous other causes.

The program features stellar performances by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including rec...

Jessica Simpson has asked producers to pull her portion of a tribute to Dolly Parton at the Kennedy Center Honors out of the upcoming televised show. Simpson drew unwanted attention earlier this month when she flubbed the words to Parton's song "9 TO 5" during a taping and grew flustered and fled the stage.

Producers gave her a second chance to sing the song, but after she saw a tape, she requested that the second attempt be pulled from the show, which airs on December 26 on CBS.

Simpson's spokeswoman, Cindi Berger says, "She really wasn't happy with her performance and she did ...

Former Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless is launching a singing career after developing her talent on the reality competition "Celebrity Duets." The 38-year-old star discovered her love of singing while competing on the show and has decided to hit the road.

She explains, "It almost has put paid to my acting career because it was too much fun! I went and did this singing show a couple of months ago. I sang with Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick and the most amazing people. It blew my socks off and that's all I can think about, it's like a total drug. I'm completely addicted to ...

Rapper 50 Cent plans to show off his soulful skills on his third album Before I Self Destruct after falling in love with Motown classics.

The In Da Club hitmaker is planning to shock fans next spring with his new sound.

He says, "I want the music to sound like something I haven't done before so I needed to change the guys I worked with on the last project. On my last album I stuck with what people have expected from me already but now I feel more comfortable to do something else. I've been listening to a lot of Motown stuff - Smokey Robinson - a lot of older music, so I got a lo...

The annual Christmastime visits of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman as well as the network television premiere of the hit theatrical comedy Elf, starring Will Ferrell, highlight CBS's festive holiday programming.

In addition to the yuletide animated classics, CBS will present the holiday specials "The 8th Annual A Home For The Holidays," featuring various musical performances, and "The 29th Annual Kennedy Center Honors," honoring Andrew Lloyd Webber, Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Smokey Robinson and Steven Spielberg.

CBS will also present holiday-themed episodes ...

Oasis, U2 and Arctic Monkeys all emerged triumphant at the 2006 Q Music Awards in London today, taking home two awards each. Oasis was named "Best Act In The World Today" while the band's Noel Gallagher took home the "Classic Songwriter" award at the Grosvenor Hotel ceremony.

U2 guitarist The Edge collected a prize for "Innovation In Sound." He also picked up the "Band Of Bands" award, given to U2 for collecting the most votes from the readers of the British magazine the lifetime of the Q Awards.

Arctic Monkeys received both "The People's Choice Award" and "Best Album" for Whate...

Legendary artist Smokey Robinson will guest star on NBC's hit daytime drama Days of Our Lives November 14 and 15 (1 p.m. in most markets) and will perform "I Love Your Face" from his recent album Timeless Love.

In the two-episode story arc, Marlena Black is lost in the snowy wilderness and is startled by a mysterious man carrying an axe. She learns it's none other than Smokey Robinson who just so happens to be vacationing at a secluded cabin nearby. He rescues her from the cold and brings her back to his place to recover in front of a warm fire and calls the authorities.

Later, ...

Musical theater composer and producer Andrew Lloyd Webber; conductor Zubin Mehta; country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton; singer, songwriter and producer Smokey Robinson; and film director and producer Steven Spielberg will receive honors for the year 2006, at “The 29th Annual Kennedy Center Honors” to be presented on Sunday, Dec. 3 and broadcast on CBS later that month.

The 2006 Honorees will be saluted by stars from the world of the performing arts at a gala performance in the Kennedy Center's Opera House, which will be attended by President and Mrs. Bush and by artists from arou...

Singer Marie Osmond has signed on to judge talent competition “Celebrity Duets.” Osmond will join rocker Little Richard and producer David Foster for the competition that pairs recording stars with celebrities not known for their singing.

WWE World Champion Chris Jericho, actress Lucy Lawless, actor Cheech Marin, 2004 Olympic Gold Medal-winning gymnast Carly Patterson, actor/director Alfonso Ribeiro, pop culture guru Jai Rodriguez, actor/comedian Hal Sparks and actress Lea Thompson are the eight celebrities who will compete weekly on "Celebrity Duets" premiering Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00...

Fifties legend Little Richard has signed up to be a judge on new talent show "Celebrity Duets." British music mogul Simon Cowell is producing the new program for Fox, which, similar to BBC show “Just The Two Of Us,” pairs professional singing stars with non-singing celebrities to perform duets.

WWE World Champion Chris Jericho, actress Lucy Lawless, actor Cheech Marin, 2004 Olympic Gold Medal-winning gymnast Carly Patterson, actor/director Alfonso Ribeiro, pop culture guru Jai Rodriguez, actor/comedian Hal Sparks and actress Lea Thompson are the eight celebrities who will compete week...

WWE World Champion Chris Jericho, actress Lucy Lawless, actor Cheech Marin, 2004 Olympic Gold Medal-winning gymnast Carly Patterson, actor/director Alfonso Ribeiro, pop culture guru Jai Rodriguez, actor/comedian Hal Sparks and actress Lea Thompson are the eight celebrities who will compete weekly on "Celebrity Duets" premiering Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Wayne Brady will host the show.

Each week, the celebrity competitors as long as they remain in the competition will be paired with a different recording superstar among Grammy Award-winning and No. 1 artists Clint ...

Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Randy Travis, Brian Mcknight, Macy Gray, Patti Labelle, Kenny Loggins, Chaka Khan, Richard Marx, Michael Bolton, Clint Black and Aaron Neville are among the Grammy-winning and number-one artists scheduled to perform on Celebrity Duets this fall on Fox.

Celebrity Duets pairs recording superstars with celebrities not famous for singing in hopes of their making beautiful music together. Each week, celebrity participants - as long as they remain in the competition - will be paired with a different recording superstar. The show will follow the ...