Mark Ronson

Amy Winehouse Paid Tribute By Mark Ronson During Live Show

28 Jul 2011 09:54:09 EDT

Plus, Cee Lo Green says he had been hoping to duet with Winehouse this year.
By Gil Kaufman

The day after attending his friend and musical foil Amy Winehouse's funeral, producer/band leader Mark Ronson paid tribute to the fallen star at a concert on Wednesday night.

According to NME.com, Ronson brought Zutons singer Dave McCabe onstage to play his band's song "Valerie," which was famously recorded by Winehouse on Ronson's 2007 Versions covers album. Ronson, who produced the two most well-known tracks on Winehouse's 2006 breakthrough Back to Black album, "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good," dedicated "Valerie" to his troubled muse.

"It's really lovely getting to play some music here for you tonight. That's what makes everything better," he told the crowd at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, England. "I went to her service yesterday and there was a rabbi that spoke and he said that somebody's life is measured in deeds and not years and that's the best thing I heard yesterday. ... The genius in that woman and what she shared with us is pretty special. I'm not going to get all morbid on you. It's just nice to be playing music to people who like good music. She is my sister, wherever she is."

In addition to the version of "Valerie," Ronson invited members of Winehouse's backing band onto the stage at one point for another run through "Valerie," as well as Rumble Strips singer Charlie Waller, who sang a cover of "Back to Black." Ronson also played "Rehab" during a short DJ set in the middle of the show.

Winehouse was found dead in her Camden apartment on Saturday at the age of 27. Initial autopsy results were inconclusive and additional toxicology tests are expected to take two to four weeks.

Also on Wednesday, "The Voice" coach and "Forget You" singer Cee Lo Green revealed that despite reports earlier this year that he had recorded a duet with Winehouse for her next album, the two had never actually hooked up. Green told E! News the pair were trying to get together in the studio but never made it happen. "We were discussing working together ... we have a mutual friend, Salaam Remi," he said of the producer who worked on several tracks on Back to Black.

"There was a rumor that we had already recorded together. It wasn't true and I don't know where that came from. But we did grow fond of each other and thought we could work together. ... I could listen to her and she registered to me as the real thing. ... It's so untimely and unfortunate. What a loss. Music has lost a daughter."

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Amy Winehouse Funeral Held In London

26 Jul 2011 09:08:14 EDT

Kelly Osbourne and Mark Ronson were among the friends and family in attendance.
By Gil Kaufman

Friends and family gathered in London on Tuesday morning (July 26) to pay tribute to Amy Winehouse at a private funeral at the Edgwarebury Cemetery. Winehouse, who died at age 27 of yet-undetermined causes, was found unresponsive in her Camden apartment on Saturday by a bodyguard.

According to The Associated Press, friends such as Kelly Osbourne and Back to Black producer Mark Ronson were in attendance at the funeral, which was expected to be followed by cremation and a family gathering at a local synagogue. Osbourne, one of Winehouse's close friends, wore her hair in a tall beehive as an homage to her pal's signature look.

Winehouse's autopsy results were inconclusive, and police said results of toxicology test will take two to four weeks; an inquest has been opened into her death and was adjourned until October 26. Sky News reported that Winehouse's ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, was not in attendance at the funeral after officials refused a compassionate leave from jail, where he is serving a 32-month prison sentence after his conviction on burglary and firearms offenses.

See what Adele had to say about being inspired by Winehouse.

Tributes to Winehouse continued to pour in from friends and admirers. U2, who recently paid homage to late Bruce Springsteen sideman Clarence Clemons during shows on their massive 360 Tour, tipped their hats to Winehouse on Saturday during a show at Minneapolis' TCF Stadium, performing their 2001 single "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of," according to NME. Singer George Michael also had kind words for the troubled "Rehab" star, calling her the "most soulful vocalist this country has ever seen," joining a list of peers that includes Adele, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Kelly Clarkson who've posted kind words about Winehouse.

>Celebrate Amy Winehouse Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT, when MTV will air an encore presentation of a performance she taped in the MTV studios in 2007.

Will you remember Winehouse more for her music or her troubles? Tell us on Facebook.

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Amy Winehouse Producer Mark Ronson Remembers Back To Black

25 Jul 2011 14:49:42 EDT

'Before that came out, there was nothing else on the radio that sounded like it,' producer told MTV Radio last year.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Sasha Hamrogue

Last year, when Mark Ronson was in New York doing press for his upcoming Record Collection album, he couldn't avoid questions about Amy Winehouse and her long-in-the-works follow-up to 2006's Back to Black album.

But to his credit, Ronson happily answered each and every one and, in the process, had a moment to reflect on not only the success of Black, but on the rather seismic shift it created in pop music. Of course, in the wake of Winehouse's death on Saturday, Ronson's words took on newfound meaning. Because no matter how Winehouse is remembered, her music will always be her lasting legacy.

"I am really proud of the sound of Amy's record, and, it's hard to remember, but before that came out, there was nothing else really on the radio that sounded like it," Ronson told MTV Radio in August 2010. "And then it kind of influenced things and became quite regular to hear something that would sound like that. I don't think there's anything that was as good as it, or as raw as Amy's vocals and her songs."

Ronson also spoke about how the duo planned on following up Back to Black, pointing to a then recent session he had just completed with Winehouse — a cover of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" that appeared on Quincy Jones' Q: Soul Bossa Nostra album — as a possible hint at things to come. And despite the fact that he had spent most of his time trying to distance himself from the crackling retro leanings of Black, he knew that, when he worked with Winehouse, the best way to proceed was to keep things simple.

"If Amy's record had sold 300,000 copies and mine had sold 100,000 as opposed to significantly more than that, we'd probably both be quite happy coasting along doing the same sound. ... [A]nd that's a sound that I'm genuinely fond of; but the fact that it did get so big sort of forced me to change it up," he said. "But who knows, because Amy and I recorded a song quite recently for this Quincy Jones tribute record; we did a cover of Lesley Gore, and there was no point in dragging my Roland synths into an Amy Winehouse session. There's a kind of production arrangement that supports her voice. ... And after coming off my record, where the main edict was 'No covers, no horns,' to go back and cover a Lesley Gore song with the Dap-Kings and Amy felt like regressing a bit, but it wasn't, because it just sounds good and that's what she's supposed to sound like."

Ronson also talked about the expectations Winehouse was facing with the follow-up to Black, expectations he thought were impossible to manage. And, in doing so, he struck a tone that seems eerily prescient in retrospect.

"First of all, we're in a situation where the record industry basically loses about 10 percent in sales every year, so she's five years between records, and if you're talking numbers-wise, then no, [she] probably [won't sell as many records]," he said. "But I still think she's fully capable of writing another batch of brilliant songs and making a great record, and hopefully Salaam [Remi] and I will be involved in it because I think we all made a great record together last time. But you can never really count on anything being a given, so we'll see."

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Wale Describes Working With Rick Ross Vs. Mark Ronson

27 May 2011 14:15:41 EDT

'The vibe now is a little bit more natural,' Wale tells 'RapFix Live.'
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

On one hand you have a British DJ/ producer/ record executive whose claim to fame is producing Amy Winehouse's 2006 classic Back to Black. On the other hand there is the Boss, Rick Ross. After switching label homes from Mark Ronson's Interscope-distributed Allido Records to Ross' Maybach Music Group, Wale broke down the differences between the two labels on Wednesday's "RapFix Live."

"I went from being around him in the studio to being around good vibes, good grass, good everything. The type of vibes that make me feel like block parties or just hanging with my friends," Wale told Sway of the change. "Not to say that Ronson ain't my friend."

In 2009, the D.C. rapper released his debut album Attention Deficit on Ronson's label. The album was well-received critically, but commercially it only sold 138,000. In February, Wale announced that he officially signed with Ross' MMG label, and on Monday, Rozay and his new signees released Self Made, the label's first compilation.

For Wale, the creative process has been much smoother. "We're in conversation and we'll start rapping about what's going on around us. The last time I was in the studio with Mark, I had to take myself somewhere, because I wasn't there," the rapper said about his motivation.

Overall, the "Chillin' " MC is just in a better creative space; culturally he and his new boss just have more in common. "I'm in my environment now. I go to Overtown with Ross; I go to King of Diamonds with Ross. I take Ross to D.C. Star. I can't take Mark Ronson to D.C. Star. I mean, I could, but it'd be awkward for everybody.

"The vibe now is a little bit more natural and it's a lot more fun for me. And I'm really in a groove where I can make the type of music I like," he said. "The energy is so good with Ross and Meek and Pucci and everybody at Maybach."

Do you see a difference between Wale's music with Ronson and his latest tracks? Let us know in the comments!

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Mark Ronson And D'Angelo Go Shirtless For Record Collection

28 Sep 2010 06:52:22 EDT

'Nobody wears shirts in the studio, that's the rule,' Ronson jokes to MTV News about recording his feature-heavy new disc with reclusive R&B star.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Kyle Anderson

It's been widely reported — mostly because, you know, it's sort of amazing — that, over the last year, Mark Ronson logged a whole lot of time in the studio with mercurial R&B magnate D'Angelo, a man who, for most of the last decade has largely made a career out of, well, not making a career.

The story goes that D, eternally working on the follow-up to his 2000 album Voodoo, heard Ronson's work on Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and decided that he had to work with him. So, naturally, when D'Angelo called, Ronson answered.

But while he was "floored" by the opportunity, Ronson also realized that he could probably get D'Angelo to record some vocals for his album too. And, lo and behold, on Ronson's brand-new Record Collection disc (in stores Tuesday, September 28), D does appear — contributing vocals to a song called "Glass Mountain Trust." It may very well be the guest appearance of the year.

So, obviously, when MTV News sat down with Ronson, we had to ask him what it was like to get in the studio with a legend like D'Angelo. First and foremost, we wondered: Did they replicate the infamous "Untitled (How Does It Feel?)" video and go shirtless?

Why, of course. Though, as Ronson explained, that was more a matter of necessity than anything else.

"Nobody wears shirts in the studio, that's the rule. Especially since we recorded most of the album during [a] heat wave, in Brooklyn, in a studio with no air conditioning," he said. "The only reason we actually got air conditioning is when we found out the tapes were melting and warping. We'd play back the tape from the day before and be like, 'What is that sound?' We had the guy come over to fix the tape machine, and he's like, 'Dude, it's 110 degrees in here, your tapes are melting.' "

In some ways, Ronson even credits the sweltering heat for giving Record Collection such swagger ... after all, you had to be a pretty bad dude (or chick) to lock yourself in his Brooklyn space all day. And on a record that features cameos by everyone from D'Angelo to Boy George (and crackling session work from members of the Dap-Kings and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra), that's a whole lot of badness. Though, perhaps the toughest of all was someone who doesn't even appear on the record: Mary J. Blige. The R&B queen came out to BK to work with Ronson on a Maroon 5 remix, and proved to pretty much everyone that she was the baddest bitch in the business.

"I have really fond, sweet memories of Mary J. Blige coming over one time, and [she] is at a point in her career where she deserves to be pampered and sit on a bed of fluffy down and be fed grapes in the studio if she wants to," Ronson laughed. "[But she] came to our sweatbox and, to her credit, she was so sweet. She was like, 'See, this reminds me of the old days.' Meanwhile, she was probably thinking, 'Get me the f--- out of here.' "

Are you eager to hear what Mark Ronson and the elusive D'Angelo cooked up in the studio? Let us know in the comments!

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Mark Ronson Working On D'Angelo album

27 Aug 2010 17:22:20 EDT

Producer says D'Angelo has been working 'nonstop' on new music.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Mark Ronson might be the key to getting some of soul music's notoriously reclusive artists back in the studio. In addition to a June session with Amy Winehouse for her contribution to a Quincy Jones tribute album, Ronson said he's slated to work on new material with R&B artist D'Angelo.

The British producer told Billboard that he was "going into the studio ... to work a bit on his record, and I have equal parts intimidation and awe and excitement."

After releasing two acclaimed albums, 1995's Brown Sugar and Voodoo in 2000, D'Angelo has, for the most part, vanished from the scene, only occasionally dropping vocals on projects like Q-Tip's 2008 album The Renaissance and Raphael Saadiq's 2002 Instant Vintage LP. The singer may have shied away from the limelight in recent years, but Ronson said he's been staying busy. "I know he's been working nonstop. It's not like they've been sitting on their asses."

Ronson also revealed that D'Angelo has been keeping up on music during his hiatus. The singer and multi-instrumentalist, who covered Smokey Robinson on his debut and boasts a repertoire that often references throwback R&B sounds, said he's kept a pair of sonically retro albums in rotation.

"I was pretty much floored when D said that the only two records of the past five to six years that he really listened to a lot were St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley and [Amy Winehouse's] Back to Black,' " said Ronson, who crafted Winehouse's 2007 hit album. "I was like, 'I cannot believe I made something that this guy listened to over and over again and looked to for inspiration.' "

Are you looking forward to a new D'Angelo album? Sound off in the comments below!

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Amy Winehouse Gives Surprise Performance At Mark Ronson Gig

07 Jul 2010 19:16:54 EDT

Singer croons 'Valerie' but flubs lyrics at London show.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Amy Winehouse surprised concertgoers in London on Tuesday night during a show with Back to Black producer Mark Ronson. The soul singer joined Ronson, who was fronting his new outfit Mark Ronson & the Business Intl, onstage for a cozy concert at the 100 Club, the BBC reports.

The Grammy-winning singer hung out with Ronson throughout the latter half of the set while the producer debuted songs from his forthcoming album; however, the star only took to the mic during an encore. Winehouse belted "Valerie" from Ronson's 2007 collection of covers, Version, but apparently forgot the lyrics to the doo-wop number.

Winehouse also seemed to be up to her familiar antics offstage as well. Bedecked in an extremely low-cut tank that showed off her lacy bra, with a scarf holding back her mussy bouffant, the "Rehab" singer was snapped swilling beer. The U.K.'s Daily Mail published photos of the star after the show with a packet of cigarettes stuffed in her bra.

Although Winehouse appears to be easing her way back onto the stage, Ronson revealed to the U.K.'s Sun tabloid that progress on the singer's Back to Black follow-up remains slow. "Amy hasn't been working on her next record," Ronson told the paper, adding that he does plan to work with the singer on her upcoming project. "When she's got 10 songs, then we'll go down to the studio together." However, Ronson did mention that Winehouse has been recording. "We just did a song together last month for a Quincy Jones tribute album that's coming out fairly soon."

Winehouse appears to be staging a full-fledged return to the spotlight. The Ronson performance follows reports that the singer plans to form a supergroup with the Roots drummer ?uestlove.

Are you looking forward to Winehouse's return to music? Let us know in the comments!

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Queen Latifah, The Virgins, Liza Minnelli Celebrate Paper's 25th Anniversary

09 Sep 2009 10:57:00 EDT

Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Mark Ronson and Janelle Monae party for the New York magazine.
By Steven Roberts

NEW YORK — Paper magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary Tuesday evening with a party at the New York Public Library. Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Janelle Monae were all in attendance as Queen Latifah, the Virgins, DJ Mark Ronson and Liza Minnelli performed.

The Virgins opened the loosely enforced black-tie affair, which mixed a crowd of fashionistas, musicians and socialites. Lead singer Donald Cummings hit the stage with his face covered in what looked like black ink that had dripped from his scalp. He asked the crowd to forgive the band for not sound-checking as they proceeded to jump straight into their set.

The downtown dance-rock outfit performed a variety of songs — some of which have appeared on "Gossip Girl" — from their self-titled debut album.

Queen Latifah hit the stage next, dressed in all black with yellow Reebok Classics. The legendary MC began listing off various fellow famous New Jersey artists, including the Jonas Brothers and Bruce Springsteen, before she performed "The Light" off of her new hip-hop album, Persona.

Latifah raised the tempo with the album's first single, "Fast Car," and continued with mostly new material, though she did perform her classic "U.N.I.T.Y," much to the crowd's liking.

Broadway legend Liza Minnelli closed the show, but not before Andrew W.K. could invite Paper founders Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits onstage. The pair thanked everyone for their support, as they brought out a cake and asked the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" to their magazine.

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DJ AM's Friends Mark Ronson, Mix Master Mike, Others To Throw 'Welcome Home' Party

08 Oct 2008 13:32:00 EDT

Proceeds from October 14 show go to memorial fund for victims of September plane crash.
By James Montgomery

As DJ AMDJ AM continues to recover from second- and third-degree burns he suffered in last month's plane crash in South Carolina, his fellow DJs are making sure he's getting the kind of homecoming party he deserves.

Mark RonsonMark Ronson, Steve Aoki, Danny Masterson and Mix Master MikeMix Master Mike are just some of AM's friends confirmed to perform at the Welcome Home DJ AM party, to be held October 14 at Avalon Hollywood. Tickets for the event are $20, and all proceeds will go to the memorial funds established in the names of the four people who were killed in the accident.

In a statement to People.com, event organizers said that AM (born Adam Goldstein) has been "a close friend ... for many years," and that the party is being organized not just as a fundraiser, but because his friends feel they "owe him a debt of gratitude that we can never repay, but we hope this helps just a bit."

The September 19 Learjet crash claimed the lives of four people, including Travis Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, and his security guard, Charles Still, as well as pilot Sarah Lemmon and co-pilot James Bland.

Both Barker and AM escaped the crash with burns and are expected to make a full recovery. Less than a week after the crash, AM was released from Georgia's M. Still Burn Center and returned home to Los Angeles. Barker was released from the same facility last week, and recently spoke to Us Weekly about the crash, telling the magazine that he is "thankful to be alive."

If you'd like more information on the memorial funds set up to benefit Chris Baker's and Charles Still's families, visit the Famous Stars and Straps Web site.

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