Mariah Carey earns her 16th Number One single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week with "We Belong Together." It marks her first Hot 100 chart-topper since 2000's "Thank God I Found You," which also featured R&B singer Joe and the pop vocal group 98 degrees. Carey's last solo Number One on the Hot 100 chart was 1998's "My All." She has topped that chart more times than any other female artist in history and ranks third overall behind the Beatles (20) and Elvis Presley (18).
22-year-old Carrie Underwood from Oklahoma won the fourth American Idol title on May 25. She beat out 29-year-old Southern rocker Bo Bice from Alabama, who says he tried out for this season's competition on a dare from his mother. Underwood won a $1 million recording contract with RCA Music Group, a Ford Mustang automobile and access to a private jet. Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven," will be released on June 14. The 2005 "American Idol Tour," which reunites the Top 10 finalists, will kick off on July 12 in Sunrise, Florida.
43-year-old Country superstar Garth Brooks surprised 7,000 fans when he proposed on stage to longtime girlfriend, 40-year-old Trisha Yearwood. The Oklahoma native was in Bakersfield, California with Yearwood to attend the "Legends in Bronze" event at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. Ten lifesize bronze statues were unveiled, including one for Garth. After his unveiling, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. When Trisha said yes, the crowd reportedly "went wild." Garth divorced his first wife Sandy in 2001. They have three daughters, 13-year-old Taylor, 11-year-old August Anna and 9-year-old Allie Colleen. Trisha has been married twice before, but has no children.
Australian rock group INXS will find its new lead singer on a CBS reality show, scheduled to premiere on July 11. Rock Star: INXS will feature 15 contestants living together in a Hollywood Hills home. CBS will air three episodes each week. Mondays will spotlight the personal side of each contestant, Tuesdays will feature musical competitions and Wednesdays will be the weekly results (vote-off) show. The group's original vocalist, Michael Hutchence, was found dead in a Sydney hotel room in 1997, the victim of an apparent suicide. Since then, the band has performed with guest vocalists.
On May 31, Columbia Records' Legacy label will reissue George Jones' 1979 duets album, My Very Special Guests. They've added 27 duets to the original 10 tracks, including collaborations with Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, B.B. King, the late Ray Charles, Alan Jackson and Vince Gill, among others.
NEW ALBUM RELEASES:
New albums scheduled for release on May 31 include: Vivian by Vivian Green on Columbia Records and Don't Believe the Truth by Oasis on Epic Records.
TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION:
On June 1, the Dave Matthews Band will kick off its 2005 tour in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The group will perform 49 shows before wrapping up the trek in Bonner Springs, Kansas on September 7. Several supporting acts have been booked throughout the tour, including Jason Mraz, Black Eyed Peas and Victor Wooten, who's a member of Bela Fleck's band, the Flecktones. The Dave Matthews Band will be supporting its latest album Stand Up.
Stevie Nicks and Don Henley will begin their co-headlining tour on June 3 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The shows will feature their solo material as well as songs from the Fleetwood Mac and Eagles catalogs. So far, 10 concerts appear on their itinerary, which runs through June 19.
In late 2003, Meat Loaf collapsed on stage while performing a concert at London's Wembley Stadium. He later underwent heart surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat. This week, the 57-year-old singer, who became famous with his 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell, will begin his first tour since recovering from the surgery. He's scheduled to kick off dates on June 3 in Hanover, Germany and will continue the tour in Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Switzerland and England. North American shows will begin on August 5, with a three-night engagement at New York's Beacon Theater.