Linkin Park to Play the VMAs

Linkin Park will perform their new single "The Catalyst" on this year's MTV Video Music Awards, broadcasting live from Los Angeles, September 12th, with Chelsea Handler as host. "After two years of working on our new album, we're looking forward to sharing our first live performance of new music with our fans," singer Chester Bennington says in a statement. "The Catalyst" is the first single off the band's fourth album A Thousand Suns, due out two days after the VMAs, on September 14th. Linkin Park previously performed at 2001 VMAs ("One Step Closer") and the 2007 VMAs in Las Vegas ("Bleed It Out").

Linkin Park join a roster of performers that includes Eminen, Kanye West, Drake, Justin Bieber, B.o.B, Paramore, Usher and Florence + The Machine. Robyn, Travie McCoy and Jason Derulo will perform in combination with Deadmau5, the DJ. Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Trey Songz and Ne-Yo will be among the artists presenting awards. For more on host Chelsea Handler, be sure to check out the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands tomorrow.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

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