Rihanna
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Between the commercials, the halftime extravaganza and lingerie-clad counter-programming, it's hard to remember that the reason the Super Bowl is the most-watched TV event of the year is because of, you know, the football game.

Music has increasingly become the biggest distraction from the gridiron action, and this year, that's truer than ever, with a Grammy-night-worthy roster of acts lining up to get a bit of shine on football's biggest day.

There is, of course, the prime-time halftime slot, which has become a haven for classic-rock acts, with one of the biggest one taking the stage this year: the Boss. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will run onto the field between halves — two days before their latest album, Working on a Dream, drops — but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Faith Hill will sing "America the Beautiful" before the game on Sunday, and Jennifer Hudson will give her first public performance since the murders of her mother, brother and nephew when she sings that national anthem at the game.

On Thursday, the Pepsi Smash concert will air live from the Ford Amphitheatre on VH1, with sets from Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and Lifehouse, with actor Jerry O'Connell hosting. The next night, Enrique Iglesias will headline Pepsi Musica Super Bowl Fiesta at the Ford on Telemundo, which will air Saturday. Friday night will also bring the Miller Lite Super Party in St. Petersburg at Williams Park starring Hoobastank, and the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration at the USF Sun Dome.

Saturday night boasts the Hard Rock Hotel's Rock & Soul Super Saturday Night show featuring the ubiquitous Will.I.Am and DJ Ruckus, with possible appearances by invited guests including Paris Hilton, Brody Jenner and the Kardashians.

That's not to be confused with the Seminole Hard Rock Revolution party on Friday night, hosted by "Entourage" star Kevin "Johnny Drama" Dillon and Khloe Kardashian, with music from DJs Colleen Shannon and Selfborn.

If you're in Florida, you gotta see Flo Rida, right? You're in luck, because the "Low" rapper is playing at the Green Iguana in Tampa as part of a Low Dough Pregame Show. Celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson will take to the decks at another Green Iguana outlet in Tampa, in the Westshore Hotel, following the game for a Celebrity Postgame Show, and Tampa's Club Underground is promoting the I Am Legend Super Bowl party, hosted by Jay-Z, on Saturday night.

Not to be outdone, Diddy, NFL legend Deion Sanders and boxer Winky Wright are hosting what's being called a three-day, star-studded party leading up the game called the Good Life Experience at the Venue in St. Petersburg from January 29-31. Among the guests promised to drop by are comedian Dane Cook and football legend Warren Sapp, and Diddy is set to host the final night's events, called the Icons of the Good Life Diamonds and Pearls Gala.

And just like you can't have a party without Will.I.Am, you can't host an event without the equally everywhere-at-once Dave Navarro, who will be MCing the Rock-N-Babes gig at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Saturday with J-Mello. Another party staple, DJ AM, will be spinning with DJ Jazzy Jeff at a Super Bowl kickoff party at AJA on Thursday night in Tampa. Journey and John Legend will also be part of the pregame festivities, performing adjacent to Raymond James Stadium at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Some other random acts making the scene: DJ Kid Capri at the 2009 Players After Party; Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander at the Band Together charity show on Saturday at the Sirata Beach Resort in St. Petersburg; actor Kevin Costner with his band, Modern West, at the Super Sunday HQ party on Saturday night at TPepin Hospitality Centre with New York Giants legend Michael Strahan; Nelly and Jermaine Dupri co-hosting the Under the Veil 2 party on Saturday night at the Museum of Science and Industry; and Nick Lachey teaming up with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for the Super Skins Party at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Friday, followed by the Super Skins Celebrity Golf Classic the next day.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Snoop Dogg is performing at the Anheuser-Busch-sponsored pregame Bud Bowl concert at Channelside in Tampa on Friday night, with 3 Doors Down playing the next night.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Snoop Dogg
• Rihanna
• John Legend
• Will.I.Am

Daniel Powter
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/ Getty Images

Do you want to strangle little James Blunt when you hear "You're Beautiful"? Are you, like, totally over Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten"? Does Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" make yours worse?   If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, then you are certainly not tuning in to your local adult-contemporary radio station.

While those songs are cringe-inducing reminders of way back when we feared the bird flu (and the Steelers!) for the typical top-40 fan, they're current hits on the AC radio format, where "current" is a relative term.

"Unwritten" is the #1 single on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks this week, and it's been on the chart 34 weeks. "Bad Day" is #3 after 43 weeks, followed by KT Tunstall's "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" (25 weeks). "You're Beautiful," at #10, has spent 63 weeks on the chart, topped only by the #9 single, Lifehouse's "You and Me," with 70 weeks. (Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You," Nick Lachey's "What's Left of Me" and Rob Thomas' "Ever the Same" are also in the top 10.)

In other words, AC stations are where pop songs go to die a very long death. Or, to optimists, to get a second life. "Right now I'm starting to look at this Gnarls Barkley record, 'Crazy,' " said Gary Berkowitz, a radio consultant who specializes in the adult-contemporary format. "Pop-radio people are probably sick of it, but to my wife, it's a new song."

For the record, "Crazy" hit the Hot 100 25 weeks ago. "I used to pride myself on picking the hits," Berkowitz said. "Now, I don't do that. I play the hits."

Since the adult-contemporary format was created in the mid '70s to appease advertisers frustrated by the teen-targeted top 40, it's always been a chameleon format, playing what 25- to 54-year-olds would like from a variety of genres.

AC peaked in the mid '90s with Sarah McLachlan and the Lilith Fair acts, but as Berkowitz noted, "The format [has] never been known for making its own hits. As I always say, AC listeners know what they like and they like what they know. Familiarity and comfort-ability is really important in this format, and what we've discovered is new music is not that important to our listeners."

Still, other factors have influenced the staleness of the format in recent years, beginning with the decline of the boy bands at the end of the '90s. While Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC crossed over, providing AC with dozens of hits, today "pop radio is all about hip-hop and R&B, or hard rock, and none of that is compatible," Berkowitz said.

Clarkson and Lachey are exceptions, but otherwise, there's little competition for adult-leaning acts like Rob Thomas and Lifehouse. "Over the last six years, I don't even know if we've added 10 new records a year in the format," Berkowitz said.

"There's definitely a lack of product being released into adult contemporary," added Steve Hunter, operations manager for several stations in Tulsa, Oklahoma, including the AC format Mix 96. "I do wish the songs would move a little faster, but I also think the record companies sometimes don't release the right singles. I mean 'Bad Day' wasn't supposed to be released and look what happened to that record," he said, referring to the song that shot to popularity after it got its shot on "American Idol" (see " 'Bad Day' Singer Powter Says He Doesn't Watch 'American Idol' "). "Michael McDonald's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' was released for that format and did well, but there are very few records that are released directly for adult-contemporary radio."

So why don't more record labels go after what seems to be airplay for the taking? Well, apparently a loyal AC listener doesn't translate into a loyal fan. "Let's put it this way," answered Roy Trakin, senior editor at radio trade magazine Hits. "It's a song-based format, it ain't a personality-based format. There's no guarantee that the next James Blunt or Daniel Powter single is going to go on right away. Probably half the people don't even know who the artists are when they're listening. They just know the song, and the songs are fairly indelible."

"A lot of the artists playing on adult contemporary radio right now are one-hit wonders and it's unfortunate," Hunter added. "They're not really building that bond. I don't know if our listeners are going out and buying the album or if they're downloading the single. My guess is that they're downloading the single, but they're not making that connection. Where in country, Toby Keith is going to put out another hit record, and one right after that."

Playlists are getting tighter in all formats, however, and Trakin believes that's just a sign of the times. "No one wants to take a chance on putting new stuff out there," he said. "Programmers feel hamstrung, so they find something that's successful and they beat [you] over the head [with it]. The stakes are that much higher because you have more choices. People will click away in a second. That's the Internet mentality."

AC programmers also back their low turnover with market research, which includes testing for "burnout," the industry term for overplayed. At Mix 96, for instance, the station tested 100 songs and "You're Beautiful" was the most popular.

"We spend a lot of money on research," Hunter said. "And we tested the Fray and Snow Patrol, but it takes so long for those songs to test well. We find out what the listener wants and we give it to them. It's not the music director's favorite songs or the disc jockey's favorite songs."

For artists, there is a silver lining to the AC format, according to Berkowitz: "If your song does make it in AC radio, it's probably going to be there forever."

• Gnarls Barkley
• Kelly Clarkson
• Rob Thomas
• Natasha Bedingfield
• James Blunt

Lifehouse (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Scott Gries

Hey, quick: Take a guess who'll have the #10 album on the Billboard albums chart next week. Go ahead. Maybe Eminem? Usher? Gwen Stefani? Wrong on all counts. The owner of the #10 slot, scoring the week's third-highest debut, is none other than Lifehouse.

Remember them?

Back in 2001, they burst on the scene with "Hanging by a Moment," the omnipresent modern-rock track that drove sales of their debut album, No Name Face, to double-platinum status. One year later, they dropped their sophomore album, Stanley Climbfall, which, by the band's own admission, didn't exactly set the world on fire.

"Obviously, after 'Hanging by a Moment,' we did the second record and a lot of people said it didn't do as well as well as the first one," frontman Jason Wade explained. "So when we started making this new record, it was kind of nice, because we had already gotten that sophomore jinx off of our chests."

Still stinging from Climbfall's frosty reception, the band — Wade, plus bassist Bryce Soderberg and drummer Rick Woolstenhulme — hightailed it out of the L.A. music scene and went about as far away from it all as a double-platinum-selling rock act could: Eastern Maryland. There, they (literally) shacked up with veteran producer John Alagía, famous for his work with John Mayer and the Dave Matthews Band. And under his chilled-out tutelage, they began to shake off the stress of the previous couple of years.

"When we walked into John's house, we didn't know what to expect, and we get in there and the mixing board is in the living room, the B3 [organ] is in the kitchen and the piano is over there," Wade said. "And he's so nonchalant about all his stuff — there'd be a triple-platinum Dave Matthews Band plaque sticking out from under the bed.

"It was really laid back," he continued. "Like, you'd get up, have breakfast and start making music. We'd take a break every day at 5 p.m. and go to the crab shack. When you're in an L.A. studio, you can see money being burned into thin air — it's so expensive. So it was great not to have any pressure or time restraints. We could record all night if we wanted to. There was no 'You have to finish this by this time, or else.' "

Lifehouse wrote and recorded more than 50 songs with Alagía, then culled through the tapes to select the twelve tracks that would make up their self-titled third release. The criteria was simply the songs they believed in the most ... including the current single (and ballad supreme) "You and Me," which does little to dispel the adult-contemporary tag they might have earned.

Wade could care less.

"I think we might have shied away from releasing a ballad a few years ago, but part of this whole rebirth for us has been trying not to overthink anything," he said. "To write love songs that people connect to is not a bad thing. Nothing bothers me anymore, as long as people listen to us. I really feel like there are certain things that are beyond your control, like who's going to listen to your music. We don't care about who comes to our shows, we're just going to give it 100 percent."

The band will hit the road in support of their new album on April 15, and they're also slated to appear in a very special prom episode of the WB's "Smallville" on April 20. It's all in a day's work for a band trying to make its way back to the big time.

"We know there are all these things we have to do. Touring, stuff like that. But we're all okay with it now," Wade laughed. "When you're finally comfortable in your own skin — and comfortable with what you do — then you can't help but do it the best you can."

• Lifehouse

Weezer
Photo: Interscope

Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's the soundtrack to "Smallville."

Weezer, Ryan Adams, Lifehouse and the Flaming Lips are among the artists on Smallville Soundtrack: The Talon Mix, an audio companion to the hit WB television series, due February 25. All the music on the 12-track LP — whose title references the coffeehouse where a young Clark Kent, Lana Lang and the gang hang out — either has been or soon will be featured on the show, according to an Elektra Records spokesperson.

The Flaming Lips donate "Fight Test," from their Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002), while Weezer contribute "Island in the Sun," from Weezer (2001). Five for Fighting's "Superman (It's Not Easy)" offers a sympathetic view of our hero, and Remy Zero appropriately kick things off with "Save Me," the program's theme song.

The CD allows fans to access a virtual Smallville online and a 3D tour of the Man of Steel's hometown, including a visit to the Luthor mansion, the Kent farm and the Talon. The sold-out premiere issue of DC Comics' "Smallville" and previews of "Smallville" novels, to be published by Little, Brown and Co., are also available.

Smallville Soundtrack: The Talon Mix raises the bar for corporate synergy. The album's first single is the burgeoning radio hit "Inside Out" by VonRay, whose self-titled debut album is due April 22 on Elektra Records. Elektra and the WB television network are subsidiaries of media powerhouse AOL/Time Warner. Additionally, Elektra artist Steadman will appear in the February 18 episode, performing at a benefit event where the album is on sale. Additionally, America Online will offer a sneak peek at the record, and a coupon to try the magazine Teen People (another AOL/Time Warner holding, along with DC Comics and Little, Brown and Co.) is included in the album's packaging.

In other "Smallville" news, actor Christopher Reeve, who portrayed the son of Jor-El in four films, will make a guest appearance on the show February 25. Reeves will play a scientist who helps Kent understand some of his past.

Smallville Soundtrack: The Talon Mix track listing, according to Elektra:

• Remy Zero - "Save Me"
• VonRay - "Inside Out"
• Weezer- "Island in the Sun"
• Five for Fighting - "Superman (It's Not Easy)"
• Ryan Adams - "Nuclear"
• Phantom Planet - "Lonely Day"
• The Flaming Lips - "Fight Test"
• Sixpence None the Richer - "Don't Dream It's Over"
• Steadman - "Wave Goodbye"
• AM Radio - "I Just Wanna Be Loved"
• Lifehouse - "Everything"
• Eva Cassidy - "Time After Time"

• Weezer
• Ryan Adams
• Lifehouse

Lifehouse
Photo: Eufloria

Will Lifehouse's new single, "Spin," get as much love as their 2000 hit "Hanging by a Moment," which received more radio airplay in 2001 than any other song?

If the public's appetite for poppy hard rock hasn't waned, "Spin" should soon be blasting over the airwaves and propelling the band's second album, Stanley Climbfall, to stratospheric heights when it arrives on September 17 (see "Lifehouse Giving Birth To Stanley This Fall" ).

The song is a little more involved than the band's debut single, blending Led Zeppelin groove and trippy Beatles-y arpeggios within the group's standard Stone Temple Pilots-meets-Matchbox Twenty foundation, but the track could still have been called "Still Hanging by a Moment."

Note the lyrical similarities: "Forgetting all I'm lacking/ Completely incomplete/ I'll take your invitation/ You take all of me" ("Hanging by a Moment"). " 'Cause I know I'm not sure about anything but you wouldn't have it any other way/ When the world keeps spinning round and my world's upside, and I wouldn't change a thing" ("Spin").

However, "Spin" was written before "Hanging" — waaay before. Vocalist Jason Wade penned the tune when he was 16, and the track almost didn't make the album. Producer Ron Aniello (Days of the New) greeted it lukewarmly when it was first played for to him at a barbecue and he later warmed up to it, the band's publicist said.

A video for the song, directed by Dave Meyers (Pink, Creed), was shot in Los Angeles on August 2 and 4 and should be ready to air within the next three weeks. The clip captures definitive moments in the lives of various people and binds them together with shots of the band performing in a nightclub and on a freeway overpass.

Shots include kids goofing around in a sandbox, a playground fight, teenagers playing the drinking game quarters, a young couple slow dancing, soldiers at boot camp, a man admiring a beautiful sunset, young people splashing around in a community pool, an old woman checking her mail, newborn babies in hospital beds and an elderly person who has just died.

Lifehouse are in the middle of a U.S. tour that ends September 7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In October, the group will head to Australia.

• Lifehouse

Lifehouse
Photo: Eufloria

Lifehouse have finished recording their second album and ... honestly, singer Jason Wade has no idea if he has written another "Hanging By a Moment."

"If I knew how to do it again, I would," Wade said Friday, phoning from his Los Angeles home. "I didn't even know that song was going to be so big. I'm just hoping one of these songs will turn out big. If it doesn't, if it is half as successful, I will be happy. With the last record, everyone said not to expect much airplay because radio was playing heavy, rap-rock stuff. So maybe it was just a fluke."

Fluke or not, "Hanging By a Moment" — the most played song on radio last year — catapulted Lifehouse to rock star status, helping their debut No Name Face go double platinum and keeping the band on the road for nearly two years. If Lifehouse's new album, Stanley Climbfall, due September 17, doesn't have another smash single, it's not for lack of trying.

"I never stopped writing while we were on the road," Wade said. "I had a little four-track [studio] in the back of the bus. I just remembered everyone saying, 'You have your whole life to write your first record and four months to write your second.' So I just kept writing and by the time we were ready, I had parts of like 70 or 80 songs to go through."

Still, Wade and producer Ron Aniello (Days of the New), who also worked on No Name Face, continued to write new material while in the studio. One of those tracks, "My Precious," turned out to be Wade's favorite.

"We were in the middle of tracking another song and I went in the other room and picked up a guitar and, in the spur of the moment, was inspired to write a song," Wade explained. Once finished, he invited guitarist Sergio Andrade and drummer Rick Woolstenhulme into the room to play it for them and they picked up their instruments and played along. Aniello hit "record," and that version of Lifehouse playing the song for the first time made the new album. "I'm really proud of that one," Wade added.

Aniello also convinced Wade to try experimental writing techniques, including one random method that yielded Stanley Climbfall's title track and at least another one of the 14 out of 20 recorded tracks that will make the album.

"Instead of actually trying to write the lyrics, we set up a tape recorder and let the tape roll and I was kind of mumbling and [Aniello] was decoding what I was saying, making lyrics out of mumbo jumbo," Wade said. "All of the sudden we had a song."

The title "Stanley Climbfall" stems from the verse in the song, "Stan climbs, falls/ You can't carry the world if you can't carry your own." The band couldn't think of a name for it, so Wade abbreviated it "Stan Climb Fall." "Then it sort of took on its own personality," Wade said. "So we started joking around and calling it 'Stanley Climbfall.' It ended up being the most creative song we recorded."

Wade called the titled track "an album song," and said the first single will be the more up-tempo "Spin," which he likened to some of the live favorites on No Name Face. The new album, in general, is more rocking than Lifehouse's previous, and has a bit of British rock influence the last one didn't.

"We've been listening to Radiohead, Coldplay and Travis," Wade said. "I've been getting into Pink Floyd. I've always been a big Beatles, Elliott Smith fan, but then [I'm also into] the Seattle bands — Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden — so it's kind of an interesting mix between those sounds."

Lifehouse took off for Atlanta on Monday to mix Stanley Climbfall with Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, U2), who also mixed No Name Face.

Afterward the trio will return to Los Angeles to look for a new guitarist, whom they will test out on the road with a tour of summer festivals and fairs. A headlining fall outing will follow, which Wade said will have more lighting and production than their previous tours.

Lifehouse tour dates, according to their spokesperson:

• 7/3- Del Mar, CA @ San Diego County Fair
• 7/5- Chautauqua, NY @ Chautauqua Amphitheatre
• 7/6- Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
• 7/7 - Indianapolis, IN @ Indy Summer Stages Festival
• 7/18- Joplin, MO @ Route 66 Country Music Fest
• 7/20 - Comstock, NE @ Second Wind Ranch
• 7/21 - Eau Claire, WI @ Summer Jam at Country Jam USA
• 7/25- Troy, PA @ Troy Fair
• 8/4 - Bethlehem, PA @ Bethlehem Musikfest
• 8/6- Jackson, MI @ Jackson County Fairgrounds
• 8/7- Columbus, OH @ Celeste Center- Ohio State Fair
• 8/9 - Kings Island, OH @ Paramount's Kings Island
• 8/10 - Charlotte, NC @ Paramount's Carowinds
• 8/11 - Doswell, VA @ Kingswood Amphitheater Kings Dominion
• 8/13- Lewisburg, WV @ State Fair of West Virginia
• 8/15 - Aberdeen, SD @ Brown County Fair
• 8/16 - Imperial, NE @ Chase County Fair
• 8/17 - Pueblo, CO @ Colorado State Fair Event Center
• 8/19 - Boise, ID @ Western Idaho Fair
• 8/21 - Sacramento, CA @ California State Fair
• 8/23- Salem, OR @ Oregon State Fair
• 8/30- Shawano, WI @ Shawano County Fair
• 9/1- Seattle, WA @ Memorial Stadium
• 9/2- DuQuoin, IL @ DuQuoin State Fair
• 9/7- Albuquerque, NM @ New Mexico State Fairgrounds

• Lifehouse

R. Kelly, Lifehouse and Gloria Estefan have been added to the list of performers for the Olympic Winter Games events. Kelly will sing at opening ceremonies Friday (February 8), Lifehouse will play at Olympic Medals Plaza on Sunday and Estefan will partake in closing ceremonies on February 24. ... Title TK, the Breeders' first album since 1993's Last Splash, will hit stores May 21. Sisters Kim and Kelley Deal and their new band, currently in the midst of a club tour, will launch another outing come summer, according to Elektra Records. ... Henry Rollins, X frontwoman Exene Cervenka and MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer will share the bill next month in Los Angeles to benefit three young Arkansas men convicted of murder. The show, set for the Troubadour on March 8, will benefit the legal defense fund of the West Memphis Three, whose case was chronicled in the 1996 documentary "Paradise Lost." ...

That '80s show: Synth-poppers Depeche Mode have announced a special "One Night in Paris, the Exciter Tour" Pay-Per-View concert debuting Friday, March 8 on iN, TVN, Echostar and DirecTV. Directed by Grammy-nominated Anton Corbijn, the show was recorded at the sold-out Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy during the band's 2001 Exciter world tour. ... On Wednesday, an L.A. Superior Court judge ruled that ex-Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy must stop using the band's name and logo. The judge also ruled that Pearcy must hand over all the money he earned while billing himself as "Stephen Pearcy and Ratt" to his former bandmates, who have also been touring as Ratt. Ironically, the decision stemmed from a suit Pearcy filed last year to gain sole ownership of the name. The judge determined that Pearcy's claims against his former comrades were without merit because he vacated the band of his own accord, leaving guitarist Warren DeMartini and drummer Bobby Blotzer as the sole holders of the Ratt trademark. ... Rhett Miller, frontman for the alt.country outfit Old 97's, has announced plans to begin recording his first solo album. ...

• R. Kelly
• Lifehouse
• The Breeders
• Henry Rollins
• Gloria Estefan

Alicia Keys
Photo: J

Ludacris, O-Town, India.Arie, Lifehouse and Nelly Furtado are the latest crop of presenters confirmed for the 29th annual American Music Awards, taking place January 9 in Los Angeles, while Lenny Kravitz, Toby Keith and Yolanda Adams have come aboard as performers.

Also slated to dole out the show's 21 awards to winners — which will be determined solely by fan votes — are Blu Cantrell, Melissa Etheridge, Ginuwine, Method Man, Nelly, Jamie O'Neal, Redman, LeAnn Rimes, Shedaisy, Trick Pony, Tyrese, Luther Vandross and Master P. with his son Lil' Romeo, according to an AMA spokesperson.

Previously announced performers include Kid Rock, Cher, Shaggy and Brooks & Dunn.

Additional performers and presenters are forthcoming.

Alicia Keys, who'll also present an award, leads the pack of nominees with five, including nods for Favorite Female Artist and Favorite New Artist in both the Pop/Rock and Soul/R&B categories (see "Alicia Keys Leads List Of American Music Awards Nominees"). P. Diddy will serve as the show's host.

Among the non-musical presenters are comedian Cedric "The Entertainer," actor Chris Klein, "Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz and supermodels Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Niki Taylor.

The show will be broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium on ABC, except on the West Coast, where it will be tape-delayed.

• Ludacris
• O-Town
• Lenny Kravitz
• Kid Rock
• Lifehouse

Lifehouse
Photo: Eufloria

Lifehouse are nearly ready to hang up "Hanging by a Moment" and the other songs on No Name Face to focus on new material.

The Los Angeles rockers have written their second LP and will enter the studio in March.

"It's a lot more up-tempo than this last one," singer/guitarist Jason Wade said Friday at rehearsals for Sunday's My VH1 Awards. "This last record has a lot of ballads and mid-tempo, soul-searching-type songs. This [new] one is a little more upbeat. We'll make our live set a lot easier. It's hard to play all these slow songs."

Wade described the new material as "U2 meets Coldplay" and said Lifehouse tested out two of the new songs — "Climb" and "Take Me Away" — on the road this fall.

Ron Aniello (Days of the New, Jude), who produced No Name Face, will man the boards for the as-yet-untitled record, Wade said. "We're keeping it in the family."

Fans can expect an August or September release for the disc, according to drummer Rick Woolstenhulme.

Lifehouse performed an acoustic medley of "Hanging by a Moment" and their new single, "Breathing," at Sunday's awards, where they were nominated for Your Song Kicked Ass but Was Played Too Damn Much and Welcome to the Big Time (see "Dave Matthews Band Bathes In Fan Flattery At My VH1 Music Awards"). On Friday they successfully predicted an Alicia Keys win for the latter award. "It's all political," Wade joked of the awards, which were voted on by fans.

Following a December tour that includes five radio festivals, Lifehouse will head to Japan and Australia, Wade said. The band has toured nonstop since No Name Face's October 2000 release, but the guys said the work has been worth it.

"I just look at everything we're doing right now as good foundation work," Wade said. "It's going to be easier on our next tour to have more material to pull from."

Lifehouse tour dates, according to DreamWorks:

• 12/5 - Houston, TX @ Compaq Center
• 12/8 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Centre
• 12/9 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
• 12/10 - Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo
• 12/12 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 12/13 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden (Z100 Jingle Ball)
• 12/14 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center (Q102 Jingle Ball)
• 12/15 - Sacramento, CA @ Arco Arena (107.9 The End Jingle Ball)
• 12/17 - Seattle, WA @ Exhibition Center (KISS 106.1 Jingle Bell Bash)
• 12/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center (KIIS-FM Jingle Ball)

• Lifehouse

Alicia Keys
Photo: ImageDirect

You know an awards show is unique when Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 5 and the Beatles are nominees in the same category.

But one way next week's 2001 Billboard Music Awards is like the others is in its recognition of R&B newcomer Alicia Keys, who is the leading contender with nominations in eight categories.

Keys — whose "Fallin'" helped her debut album, Songs in A Minor, top the charts when it was released in June — was named Best New Artist at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, is the leading nominee in the American Music Awards (see "Alicia Keys Leads List Of American Music Awards Nominees") and is expected to hear her name multiple times when the Grammy nominations are announced in January.

At the Billboard Music Awards, which will air live December 4 on Fox from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Keys' nominations include Female Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Hot 100 Single of the Year for "Fallin'," according to Billboard.

Keys will perform at the ceremony, along with Shaggy, No Doubt, Incubus, 'NSYNC and Tim McGraw.

Shaggy has the second most nominees with seven, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Hotshot, which featured the smash hit "It Wasn't Me."

Destiny's Child, Ja Rule, Musiq Soulchild and Lifehouse have five nominations each, while Staind, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly, Janet Jackson, R. Kelly and Tim McGraw have four.

Comedian Bernie Mac will host the show, which will feature appearances by Destiny's Child, Sting, Janet Jackson, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Creed, Lifehouse, Blink-182, Pink, Joe, Aaron Carter, Godsmack, Mandy Moore, Ludacris, R. Kelly, Lil' Romeo, Lee Ann Womack, Jamie O'Neal and Petey Pablo.

Billboard Music Award nominations are announced so late because they are based on the magazine's year-end charts, which determine the year's top artists, albums and songs based on record sales and radio airplay statistics.

Nominees for the 2001 Billboard Music Awards:

Artist of the Year:

• Destiny's Child
• Jennifer Lopez
• Nelly
• Shaggy

Female Artist of the Year:

• Dido
• Janet Jackson
• Alicia Keys
• Jennifer Lopez

Male Artist of the Year:

• Ja Rule
• Lenny Kravitz
• Nelly
• Shaggy

Artist of the Year - Duo/Group:

• 112
• Destiny's Child
• Lifehouse
• Train

New Artist of the Year:

• Dream
• Alicia Keys
• Lifehouse
• Linkin Park

Album of the Year:

• Backstreet Boys - Black & Blue
• The Beatles - 1
• Shaggy - Hotshot
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 5

Albums Artist of the Year:

• Backstreet Boys
• The Beatles
• 'NSYNC
• Shaggy

Male Albums Artist of the Year:

• Ja Rule
• Tim McGraw
• Nelly
• Shaggy

Female Albums Artist of the Year:

• Enya
• Alicia Keys
• Sade
• Britney Spears

Duo/Group Albums Artist of the Year:

• Backstreet Boys
• The Beatles
• Limp Bizkit
• 'NSYNC

Hot 100 Single of the Year:

• Janet Jackson - "All for You"
• Alicia Keys - "Fallin'"
• Lifehouse - "Hanging by a Moment"
• Train - "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)"

Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year:

• Destiny's Child
• Janet Jackson
• Jennifer Lopez
• Matchbox Twenty

Male Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year:

• Ja Rule
• Jay-Z
• Nelly
• Shaggy

Female Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year:

• Faith Hill
• Janet Jackson
• Alicia Keys
• Jennifer Lopez

Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year - Duo/Group:

• 112
• Destiny's Child
• Lifehouse
• Matchbox Twenty

R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:

• Ja Rule
• Jay-Z
• R. Kelly
• Musiq Soulchild

Male R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:

• Ja Rule
• Jay-Z
• R. Kelly
• Musiq Soulchild

Female R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:

• Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott
• Eve
• Alicia Keys
• Jill Scott

R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year - Duo/Group:

• 112
• Destiny's Child
• Jagged Edge
• Outkast

New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:

• Jaheim
• Alicia Keys
• Ludacris
• Musiq Soulchild

R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year:

• R. Kelly - Tp-2.Com
• Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor
• Shaggy - Hotshot
• Musiq Soulchild - Aijuswanaseing (I Just Want to Sing)

R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year:

• Case - "Missing You"
• Jagged Edge w/ Nelly - "Where the Party At"
• R. Kelly f/ Jay-Z - "Fiesta"
• Musiq Soulchild - "Love"

Country Artist of the Year:

• Kenny Chesney
• Toby Keith
• Tim McGraw
• Travis Tritt

Male Country Artist of the Year:

• Kenny Chesney
• Toby Keith
• Tim McGraw
• Travis Tritt

Female Country Artist of the Year:

• Sara Evans
• Jo Dee Messina
• Jamie O'Neal
• Lee Ann Womack

Country Artist of the Year - Duo/Group:

• Brooks & Dunn
• Diamond Rio
• Dixie Chicks
• Lonestar

New Country Artist of the Year:

• Jamie O'Neal
• Trick Pony
• Blake Shelton
• Cyndi Thomson

Country Album of the Year:

• Faith Hill - Breathe
• Tim McGraw - Greatest Hits
• Various artists - "Coyote Ugly" soundtrack
• Various artists - "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack

Country Single of the Year:

• Brooks & Dunn - "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You"
• Kenny Chesney - "Don't Happen Twice"
• Toby Keith - "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This"
• Travis Tritt - "It's a Great Day to Be Alive"

Modern Rock Artist of the Year:

• Fuel
• Incubus
• Linkin Park
• Staind

Modern Rock Single of the Year:

• Incubus - "Drive"
• Lifehouse - "Hanging by a Moment"
• Staind - "It's Been Awhile"
• Tool - "Schism"

Rock Artist of the Year:

• 3 Doors Down
• Godsmack
• Linkin Park
• Staind

Rock Single of the Year:

• Fuel - "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)"
• Godsmack - "Awake"
• Staind - "It's Been Awhile"
• Tool - "Schism"

Rap Artist of the Year:

• City High
• Lil' Bow Wow
• Lil' Romeo
• Outkast

Rap Single of the Year:

• City High - "What Would You Do?"
• Lil' Bow Wow - "Bow Wow (That's My Name)"
• Lil' Romeo - "My Baby"
• Outkast - "Ms. Jackson"

• Alicia Keys
• Ja Rule
• Musiq Soulchild
• Lifehouse
• Destiny's Child

Lifehouse Photos November 2002

• Lifehouse

Lifehouse Photos

• Lifehouse