Bruno Mars Heading to TV

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | Sept. 23, 2017

Multi-Grammy Award winner Bruno Mars — whom you’ll recognize from his two widely lauded Super Bowl halftime performances — is ready to nab another big TV win: his very own first prime time TV special. Bruno Mars: 24K Magic Live at the Apollo will air on CBS TV on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 10pm. The special was filmed at the legendary Apollo Theater in New York City, where Mars and his backing band, The Hooligans, staged a massive performance on top of the venue’s marquee and also hit the streets to entertain Manhattan locals …

American Idol winner-turned-pop superstar Kelly Clarkson is set to release her eighth studio album, Meaning of Life, on Oct. 27. This will be Clarkson’s first release for Atlantic Records — she’s spent the bulk of her career so far on RCA Records — and with the announcement of the album, Clarkson said, “This is the album she’s always wanted to make.” You’re probably already hearing the album’s first single, “Love So Soft,” on radio, where it arrived last week. Clarkson collaborated with a shortlist of big-name producers to complete the recording, including Adele/Beck producer Greg Kurstin …

Will Smith and his longtime pal DJ Jazzy Jeff have collaborated for the first time since 1998 with the track “Lovely Daze,” a new EDM-heavy tune piled with stacks of synths and bubbling basslines. The pair debuted the track at the Livewire Festival in Blackpool, England, as a way to “brighten up the darkness in this world,” as Smith said while introducing the song. So does this mean that the tour the pair talked about in 2016 is going to happen? There’s no answer to that just yet, but Smith did say that he has a half-dozen tracks already in the can, which might mean an album worthy of tour promotion …

And the mystery guest who will appear on the upcoming Foo Fighters album Concrete and Gold has been revealed: In an interview with Rolling Stone, Foos frontman Dave Grohl confirmed that the musician is none other than Justin Timberlake, who contributes some backing vocals to the album. The Foos’ Concrete and Gold is in stores this week, so you can check out those vocals for yourself …

LINK OF THE WEEK
Pop diva Cher and hip-hop artist Future have teamed up courtesy of The GAP, who paired up the musicians for a new installment of the clothing outlet’s Meet Me in The Gap campaign. Cher and Future hang out on a white set of stairs, dueting on a reworked version of Sly and the Family Stone’s ’60s classic “Everyday People.” Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/y9g8zqcm …

THE BUZZ
Heritage Guitar Inc. in Kalamazoo, the guitar plant that’s cranked out hundreds of Gibson and Heritage guitars, celebrates its 100-year anniversary this month …

Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Tom Hymn is doing some celebrating of his own about the release of his brand new album, Tom Hymn’s Tangerine Dream …

Fellow Grand Rapids pop-rock outfit Miss Atomic is currently wrapping up work on what will be its debut EP, according to frontman Nikolas Warren …

The new $863 million Little Caesars Arena in Detroit officially opened last week with a raucous concert from Kid Rock …

And after four award-winning years as a favorite local indie-soul band, Grand Rapids’ Vox Vidorra have announced that it’s disbanding, with the band’s upcoming sophomore album to be its last release … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.