Updated: Thu, May 23, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Google Inc.'s new music service offers a lot of eye candy to go with the tunes. The song selection of around 18 million tracks is comparable to popular services such as Spotify and Rhapsody, and a myriad of playlists curated along different genres provides a big playground...

Updated: 2 hr ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama, saluting Carole King's five decades as an award-winning singer-songwriter, said Wednesday that music often is a place where people seek comfort and inspiration during trying times. Two days after much of Moore, Okla., was flattened by a powerful...

Updated: 4 hr ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for the parent company of AEG Live LLC called Michael Jackson a freak on the day the singer signed a multimillion contract for a series of ill-fated comeback concerts, emails displayed for a jury on Wednesday showed. The emails were presented by Brian Panish, an...

Updated: 6 hr ago

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former Playboy bunny who claims Sammy Hagar fathered her now-deceased child is appealing a ruling that dismissed her lawsuit against the former Van Halen frontman. The Iowa woman, identified in court records as Jane Doe, filed the appeal Wednesday. A judge ruled that...

Updated: 7 hr ago

NEW YORK (AP) — "Jenny from the Block" wants the block to buy Verizon phones from her. Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez on Wednesday announced she's opening a chain of 15 cellphone stores and a website under the Viva Movil brand. The aim is to sell Verizon phones and services to Latinos....

Updated: 10 hr ago

HIBBING, Minn. (AP) — The northeastern Minnesota city of Hibbing kicks off its annual celebration of Bob Dylan this week. Dylan Days 2013 features music, poetry and a singer-songwriter contest. The three-day festival opens on Friday, the day Dylan turns 72. On Saturday there will be a Dylan...

Updated: 11 hr ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Candice Glover spent more time on season 12 of "American Idol" than she will on creating her debut album. The 23-year-old, who won the Fox singing series last week after competing for four months, is set to release "Music Speaks" on July 16. Past "Idol" champs released their...

Updated: 11 hr ago

LONDON (AP) — Shakespeare, the Magna Carta — and now some of John Lennon's finest lyrics. The British Library on Wednesday added substantially to its already formidable collection with handwritten lyrics to Beatles' classics "Strawberry Fields Forever", "She Said She Said" and "In My Life."...

Updated: 12 hr ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Shelton and NBC are putting together a benefit for Oklahoma tornado victims. Shelton told reporters about the fundraising effort after Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice." Shelton, an Oklahoma native, paid tribute to the thousands affected by Sunday and Monday's...

Marie Gullard

Published: Wed, May 22, 2013

Both romance and high energy are hallmarks in Saturday evening's Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert at the Music Center at Strathmore. Under the baton of highly popular Spanish conductor Carlos Kalmar, the program features Prokofiev's Selections from "Romeo and Juliet," Narong Prangcharoen's...