Wrestlemania to Feature Snoop Dogg, John Legend, Men in Tights

With the Grammys in the rearview mirror and the summer festival season still in the not-too-distant future, it's time to focus on the next big event in pop music: Wrestlemania XXIV. The WWE's annual fiasco, held this year at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL, will feature a bevy of musical performers and guests. John Legend will sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" to open the show, while Snoop Dogg will preside over something called the "BunnyMania Lumberjack Match," which will involve four female wrestlers and possibly some woodcutting.

It was also reported that 50 Cent will be in attendance as part of boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather's entourage. Mayweather uses 50's "I Get Money" as his entrance music and will take part in a match against a gigantic man called the Big Show. Finally, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have provided the official song for the event: their "Snow (Hey Oh)," from 2006's Stadium Arcadium, has been scoring promos for the show since January. Wrestlemania has a long tradition of musical guests, as groups like Motorhead, Limp Bizkit, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and P.O.D. have played the gig.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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