Spike Lee Finishing Michael Jackson Documentary

Movie focuses on the singer's 'Bad' album.
By Gil Kaufman

<P>Director Spike Lee is finishing work on an upcoming documentary about Michael Jackson's landmark 1987 <I>Bad</I> album that will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the <I>Thriller</I> follow-up that has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.</P><P>Lee, who was friends with the late pop king and directed the official video for the posthumous single "This Is It,"&#8232;, said he learned a lot about MJ while making the as-yet-untitled movie.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Behind The Scenes Of 'Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour'" id="vid:755805" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie will be part of a celebration of the 25th anniversary of <I>Bad</I>. "We have footage in this documentary that no one's ever seen, stuff that Michael shot himself, behind-the-scenes stuff," Lee said. "We had complete access to the vaults of Michael Jackson. ... He wrote 60 demos for the <I>Bad</I> record. Only 11 made it. So we got to hear a lot of that stuff, too, so it was just a great experience ... You don't have to be a Michael Jackson-head to enjoy this." <I>Bad</I>, which was released more than five years after Jackson's breakthrough, <I>Thriller</I>, the best-selling album of all time, is also one of the all-time top-sellers. In a record tied by Katy Perry last year, it spawned five Hot 100 #1 singles, including "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana."</P><P>The 25th anniversary re-release of <I>Bad</I> will hit shelves on September 18 and feature additional tracks, a DVD and other material. No release date has been announced yet for Lee's documentary, though it is slated to hit screens this year.</P><P>Lee sat down with everyone from Kanye West to Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow (who was a back-up singer on the <I>Bad</I> tour) for the film, which he said will show fans a more personal, funny side of MJ. "We really divided it into two things: Artists today who were influenced by Michael, and then people who worked side by side - musicians, songwriters, technicians, engineers, people at the label, who were all committed to Michael, to the follow-up to the biggest record of all time, which still is <I>Thriller</I>," he said.</P><P>A doc chronicling Jackson's rehearsals for what was to be his series of comeback shows, "This Is It,"&#8232; was released in 2009 and became one of the highest-grossing music docs of all time.</P><P></P>

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Usher Brings 2012 BET Awards To A 'Climax'

R&B crooner let his vocals do the dancing with a simple, stripped-down performance.
By Kelley L. Carter

<P>With two spotlights shining down on him, a sleeveless <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="1270">Usher</MTVNLINK> belted out the first notes of his summer hit, "Climax," at Sunday's 2012 BET Awards.</P><P>The R&B crooner stood center stage, wearing all black, save for a pair of hot-colored shoes, and sang the ballad with the electro-beat from his seventh studio album, <i>Looking 4 Myself,</i> in front of a live band. Some wicked, black-and-white animation danced behind him on a large screen that backlit the auditorium.</P><P>This was the first time Usher has performed at the awards show since 2010, where he also sang another ballad, "There Goes My Baby," from his <i>Raymond v. Raymond</i> album.</P><P> </P><P>The Sunday night (July 1) performance came in the first half-hour of the show and was apropos, considering that Usher's latest studio album is topping <i>Billboard</i>'s charts for the second week in a row (and his fourth #1-debuting album in a row). The dance-friendly album was just released last month. "Climax" hit #17 on the singles chart, while second track "Scream" has peaked at #13.</P><P>For his BET Awards performance, the multiplatinum, multi-Grammy-winning R&B singer kept it fairly muted. Save for a few quick microphone movements, he let his vocals dance during the performance. Even his attire was muted compared to what we've seen Usher turn out at awards shows in years past; a lone, shiny timepiece decorated his wrist.</P><P>Usher concluded his performance with a quick wave of his hand to the fans down in front.</P><P><b>Stick with MTV News as we bring you all the scoop from the 2012 BET Awards, including winners and must-see performances!</b></P>

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Coldplay, Led Zeppelin Album Covers Featured On New British Stamps

Album art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery

<P>On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.</P><P>The albums featured in the new series are the <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="515">Rolling Stones</MTVNLINK>' <i>Let It Bleed,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="993">Led Zeppelin</MTVNLINK>'s <i>IV,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="973">David Bowie</MTVNLINK>'s <i>The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="503245">Mike Oldfield</MTVNLINK>'s <i>Tubular Bells,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="977">The Clash</MTVNLINK>'s <i>London Calling,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="267">New Order</MTVNLINK>'s <i>Power, Corruption and Lies,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="758">Primal Scream</MTVNLINK>'s <i>Screamadelica,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="1118">Pink Floyd</MTVNLINK>'s <i>The Division Bell,</i> <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="1041">Blur</MTVNLINK>'s <i>Parklife</i> and &#8212; the most recent album on to make the cut &#8212; <MTVNLINK type="artist" id="1111141">Coldplay</MTVNLINK>'s <i>A Rush of Blood to the Head.</i></P><P>Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.</P><P>Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page &#8212; who helped design the cover for <i>IV</i> &#8212; was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.</P><P>"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."</P><P>Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their <i>Rush of Blood</i> stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."</P><P>"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."</P>

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