Kanye West, Christina Aguilera Will Perform at VMAs

Last year, after given what he considered a second-rate slot by performing in a Palms' suite instead of the VMA stage, Kanye West pledged never to return to the MTV VMAs. It turns out West will perform at the VMAs again, as MTV announced today that both West and Christina Aguilera were added to the award show's performer roster. In the case of Aguilera, she'll perform her old-school hit "Genie In A Bottle" in honor of the show's 25th anniversary. The "Genie" will likely be the refurbished, rerecorded version of the song that will appear on Xtina's upcoming Target-only greatest hits. As for West, if rumors of the rapper releasing a new song this weekend are true, it's a safe bet that he'll perform the rumored new track "Love Lockdown." Kanye and Christina join Rihanna, Paramore, the Jonas Brothers, Pink, Kid Rock, T.I. and show opener Britney Spears. The Russell Brand-hosted ceremony, which we'll be live-blogging, airs this Sunday night.

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• 2007 VMAs Live Blog: Britney and Loathing in Las Vegas

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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