Week in Music: Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ Arrives, Pre-Grammy Awards Excitement and More
The big news this week is that after more than a month of hints and teases, Lady Gaga has finally unveiled her new single “Born This Way.” How is it? Well, you can listen for yourself, but Rob Sheffield gave it four stars, declaring it to be an “instant-classic club anthem” that is even better than Madonna‘s “Express Yourself.”
Photos: Lady Gaga’s Best Looks
Gaga is set to perform the song live for the first time at the Grammy Awards this Sunday, which is just one reason why we’re excited for the show. We’ve set up a special hub for all of our Grammys coverage, including Sheffield’s live blog, our predictions, and photos from past ceremonies.
Photos: The 2011 Grammy Nomination Concert
Rolling Stone had a number of exclusives this week. Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett paid tribute to the late Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore and hinted at a new secret Metallica project that will begin in May. David Crosby confirmed that Buffalo Springfield are getting ready for a reunion tour, the National‘s Matt Berninger talked about taking big risks on their next album, Ke$ha revealed her ambition to make a cock-rock album and Alison Krauss reflected on making her first album with Union Station since 2004.
Also, Liam Gallagher and Andy Bell told us about their new post-Oasis band Beady Eye and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons gave Rolling Stone readers some financial and spiritual advice.
We looked back on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first performance at the Cavern Club, lamented the end of the Guitar Hero video game series, examined the emergence of the “celebrity music economy” and declared the young London indie rock band Yuck our new Band to Watch. David Fricke reviewed Gang of Four’s recent concert in New York, Carney and Nicole Atkins performed exclusive sessions at the Rolling Stone office, and as always, we reviewed all the hottest new albums and singles.
Grammy Showdown: Predictions From Cee Lo, Ezra Koenig, Sara Bareilles and More
On the pop culture front, Peter Travers warned viewers that Justin Bieber’s new 3D concert movie Never Say Never is like lethal injection by bubblegum and brutally panned the new Adam Sandler vehicle Just Go With It – but enjoyed the Ed Helms comedy Cedar Rapids. Erica Futterman recapped the post-Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day episodes of Glee, Mallika Rao wrote about both episodes of American Idol and Halle Kiefer told us all about the latest Jersey Shore.
We also posted a gallery of your Top 10 favorite drummers, as determined by your votes on Facebook and Twitter. Our question for you this weekend is: What was the best album of the Nineties? You can answer on our website, on facebook.com/rollingstone or on Twitter with the #weekendrock hashtag.
See you Monday.
LAST WEEK: The White Stripes Break Up, Elton John Gives Billy Joel Tough Love and More