NEW YORK (AP) -- Renee Fleming’s new recording out Friday, “Distant Light,” features a work by Samuel Barber along with pieces by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg and -- surprisingly -- Bjork. With her 58th birthday approaching on Feb. 14, Fleming’s performances in Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” this month at London’s Royal Opera and at the Met this spring could be her last in the standard repertoire.  Soprano Renee Fleming (Timothy White/ Decca)“I haven’t found too many things that are ap

Singer Ailee made her US debut Saturday under the new stage name A.Leean. (Official Page of Ailee Japan)The artist’s first American debut single, titled “Fall Back,” was released through www.nimbit.com on Saturday.“A.Leean already has a large fan base and has performed at concerts all around the world, including South Korea,” said WestSide Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based music label and management company, a day ahead of the debut, without identifying Ailee. The company also released a teaser

Singer Lim Chang-jung on Friday tied the knot with a woman 18 years his junior and pregnant with his child.Their wide age gap inevitably drew criticism, in a country where May-December relationships are still largely uncommon.Now declared husband and wife, Lim’s bride is five months pregnant and due in May.  Lim Chang-jung (NH Entertainment Media Group)Their wedding was a quiet one, held privately at The Raum wedding hall in Gangnam in the presence of only the couple’s close friends and family.

Mariah Carey says she was “mortified” in “real time” during her disastrous live performance moments before the ball dropped on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.”Carey spoke to Entertainment Weekly in her first interview since the show in which she stumbled through her songs. At many points she stopped singing, even while a prerecorded vocal track played in the background.Carey’s publicist blamed show producer Dick Clark Productions earlier this week for not addressing technical difficu

VIENNA (AFP) -- French maestro Georges Pretre, the preferred conductor of legendary opera singer Maria Callas, died Wednesday aged 92 after a career wielding the baton for many of the world’s top orchestras.The Vienna Philharmonic, where he regularly conducted, said on its Facebook page that it was mourning “our charming and dear honorary member Georges Pretre with whom we have performed for 50 years.”Pretre died in Naves in southwest France where he owned a chateau, the town’s Deputy Mayor Brig

K-pop boy band 2PM will be holding its last concert before its members enlist for their mandatory military service, the group’s agency JYP Entertainment announced Thursday. The concert, titled “6Nights,” will take place at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul’s Olympic Park, JYP said. 2PM released its sixth LP “Gentlemen’s Game” in September last year and its members have been focusing on solo activities and their acting careers since then. The concert will mark 2PM’s first return to the s

Korean boy band Big Bang has made it to the Forbes’ list of the world’s 30 most popular musicians under the age 30 for this year.The members were the only Koreans on the US economic magazine’s “30 Under 30 Music Class of 2017,” which was unveiled on the magazine‘s official website Tuesday. K-pop group Big Bang (YG Entertainment)The list includes many of the singers, songwriters, managers and entrepreneurs revolutionizing the modern music business, such as the popular American R&B singer Gallant

Once-prominent boybands, girl groups make impressive, but less than stellar return to stage

NEW YORK (AFP) - When David Bowie walked unassumingly into a cozy New York jazz club to hear Donny McCaslin play, the saxophonist admits he wasn’t well-versed in the rock icon’s vast discography.Bowie, who had a vision for the rhythmic underpinning of what would become his final album, met McCaslin in person a week later and soon emailed him to propose a collaboration.“Blackstar,” Bowie’s 25th studio album, showed the legendary rocker experimenting until the end, crafting a style of hard jazz as

NEW YORK (AP) -- Beyonce is one of the headliners of the 2017 Coachella music festival -- a first for the pop star.Festival producer Goldenvoice announced Tuesday that Beyonce, Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar will headline the two-weekend festival in April in Indio, California. Radiohead will perform on April 14 and 21; Beyonce on April 15 and 22; and Lamar on April 16 and 23. Beyonce (digitaltrends.com)Tickets, including three-day passes, go on sale Wednesday.Beyonce last appeared at Coachella in

Korean TV show “Infinite Challenge” is at the top of several local music charts as of Monday, with songs from its recent project episode on hip-hop and history. The song “Your Night,” by cast member Hwang Kwang-hee, musician Gaeko and featuring singer Oh Hyuk, topped the charts of Korean music streaming and downloading websites, including MelOn, M.net and Genie, Sunday following their release during Saturday’s episode of “Infinite Challenge.”  (MBC)Other songs from the show, such as “Shoot” by c

Double S 301 member Kim Hyung-jun (CI ENT)SS301’s Kim Hyung-jun has passed the conscripted police exam and plans to enlist for his mandatory military service in April, according to his agency CI ENT. 　Kim had initially announced he would enlist in 2014, but his then-budding music and acting career led him to postpone the enlistment.  　Kim joins a number of other celebrities who plan to join the conscripted police force next year, including Big Bang’s T.O.P and JYJ’s Kim Jun-su. 　The artist made

Has any pop album ever changed shape as quickly — and as thoroughly — as David Bowie’s “Blackstar”?On Jan. 8, the day it was released, Bowie’s collaboration with a group of adventurous New York jazz players represented a creative rebirth for this cultural icon. Two days later, Bowie died at age 69, and suddenly “Blackstar” became a document of finality, never to be heard again without being shadowed by his death.The speed and fullness of that transformation was extreme. But as we soon found out,

AOA (FNC Entertainment)Girl group AOA will team up with mega K-pop producer Brave Brothers once again for its upcoming album, “Angels Knock.”　The album is slated for release on Jan. 2 and will mark AOA’s first full-length album since debuting in 2012. According to news reports, it will feature two lead singles, one of which was produced by Brave Brothers. 　Often referred to as a “hit maker,” Brave Brothers is one of the most sought after producers in the K-pop industry. It has worked alongside s

New K-pop boy band Varsity (CSO Entertainment)As the year comes to a close, 2017 is revving up to welcome a new string of groups hoping to become the industry’s next big thing. 　From the minds of the famed choreography company Yama & Hotchicks, founded by Bae Yoon-jung, new girl group Seeart is set to make its official debut next year.　The first group ever to be debuted by Yama & Hotchicks, the new K-pop act is garnering much attention as its makers are behind some of the industry‘s most famed d