Whitney Houston songs race up music charts

LOS ANGELES/LONDON (Reuters) - Late singer Whitney Houston's re-entered music charts on Wednesday with a greatest hits album that raced into the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 101,000 copies in just 24 hours after the singer's sudden death this past weekend.

"Whitney: The Greatest Hits," which includes songs such as "Saving All My Love for You" and "My Love is Your Love," hit No. 6 on the album chart, selling 91,000 digital copies and 10,000 physical copies, based on Nielsen SoundScan sales weekly data that is finalized on Sunday evening.

Houston, 48, died on Saturday in a Beverly Hills hotel on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Her body was discovered underwater in her room's bathtub, and while speculation has centered on a possible overdose given her past problems with drinking and drugs, authorities have yet to determine a cause of death.

"There's certainly going to be a resurgence in Whitney music. We'll hear it on the radio a lot and that will lead to people listening to it on (online music streaming application) Spotify and downloading it on iTunes," said Bill Werde, editorial director of music publication Billboard, to Reuters.

Dramatic sales also followed the deaths of Michael Jackson in Los Angeles and Amy Winehouse in London. According to music magazine Billboard, more than 35 million Jackson albums were sold worldwide after he died in June 2009.

"It's sad when people discover an artist this way, but it is what happens when an artist dies," said Werde.

As fans of Houston rushed to rediscover the singer's music, single digital track sales of the artist's music rose to more than 887,000 song downloads in 24 hours.

The biggest selling digital song was Houston's signature ballad "I Will Always Love You" with more than 195,000 copies downloaded, fueled by Jennifer Hudson's emotional rendition of the song in tribute to Houston at Sunday's Grammy awards.

The song also was played more than 2100 times on U.S. terrestrial radio stations between Saturday and Sunday.

In the U.K., five of Houston's songs made it into the Top 40 by Wednesday, led by "I Will Always Love You" at No. 10. Since midnight on Saturday, 82,000 Houston singles and more than 37,000 albums had been sold in Britain by mid-week.

Britain's Official Charts Company reported a total of 27 Houston tracks were in the Top 200 as fans snapped up her music after her death on Saturday.

Earlier this week Houston's record label Sony Music Entertainment apologized after a price hike "mistake" on two of the singer's albums on iTunes just hours after her death. The price increase occurred on the UK iTunes, where Houston's "The Ultimate Collection" album jumped from 4.99 GBP to 7.99 GBP.

"Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the UK iTunes store on Sunday," said a statement issued by Sony to the New York Times. "When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused."

The sales surge in Houston's music is likely to continue through the week, ahead of the singer's funeral on Saturday.

Her greatest hits compilation may knock Adele's "21" from the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart next week, after the British singer, who swept the Grammys on Sunday with six awards, notched her 20th week at No. 1 on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bob Tourtellotte)

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Whitney Houston's clothes, earrings up for auction

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Whitney Houston has barely been dead a week, and already several of her belongings -- including a pair of earrings and a vest that she wore in the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard" -- will go on the auction block next month.

The items, which celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien obtained following the singer's February 11 death, will be included in the Hollywood Legends auction, which will be held at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills on March 31 and April 1.

Also among the Houston items that will go on the auction block: Several dresses, including a floor-length, black velvet dress owned by the singer and valued at $1,000-$2,000. (The vest and faux-pearl earrings that Houston wore in her breakthrough film "The Bodyguard" are valued at $400-600 and $600-$800, respectively.

The Hollywood Legends auction will also include memorabilia such as Charlie Chaplin's cane, the jacket that Clark Gable wore in "Gone With the Wind," and the staff that Charlton Heston used in the 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments."

Houston died at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills on February 11, prior to Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammys party. The singer was found submerged in her bathtub by a member of her personal staff, and emergency responders were unable to revive her. Houston was 48.

The singer was buried in at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, N.J. -- next to her father, who died in 2003 -- on Sunday. On Saturday, an invitation-only funeral service for Houston at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. -- which Houston attended and sang at as a child -- included tributes from Kevin Costner, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Houston's producer Clive Davis and others.

A cause of death has not yet been announced, pending the results of a toxicology test.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

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Whitney Houston laid to rest in New Jersey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Whitney Houston was laid to rest on Sunday in a private burial before family and close friends near her birthplace in Newark, New Jersey, more than a week after her sudden death shocked the world.

The pop star, whose powerful voice fueled her rise to fame in the mid-1980s with self-titled albums that made her a global pop star, died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week. She was found underwater in a bathtub, but an exact cause of death has yet to be determined.

Dozens of fans lined the edge of street barriers as the procession carrying Houston's body drove by under tight security from a funeral home in Newark, New Jersey to the Forest Lawn cemetery in nearby Westfield where Houston's body was buried next to her father.

"It was emotional," Teresa Giannetta, 35, who lives in Westfield and showed up with her daughter, Julia, 8, said after the hearse went by. Like many fans, Giannetta said she grew up listening to Houston's music and likened the singer to "the voice of my childhood."

"It's bittersweet to have her buried so close to home for us," she said.

Houston was laid to rest in her burial site after stars, family and friends mourned her in a spirited Baptist funeral service at her hometown church on Saturday. The New Hope Baptist Church in Newark was where Houston honed her wide vocal range as a young choral singer with her mother Cissy Houston, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin.

She recorded stirring love songs and vibrant dance tunes during a 30-year career that peaked with her 1992 signature hit "I Will Always Love You" and paved the way for a generation of singers such as Mariah Carey.

But Houston suffered a turbulent personal life and volatile marriage to singer Bobby Brown, and she admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills. Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died, but they have not yet linked her death to drug use.

"People judge her for the last few years. You cannot do that. She gave 30 years of her wonderful, beautiful voice and shared with us. And you have to love that. You have to respect that," said Donna Wesolowki, 48, of New Jersey, who had watched Sunday's procession.

Houston's family decided against a public memorial service, as was done for pop star Michael Jackson after his 2009 death, but agreed to allow Saturday's four-hour tribute in the church to be broadcast live by television networks.

(Additional reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Michael Rapaport picks favorite music docs

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Rapaport clearly loves music. It's evident in every moment of his documentary, "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest," the actor's directing debut about the influential hip-hop group. The film includes the rift that divided the Tribe as well as the tensions that linger today, but a deep admiration for the music itself shines through.

So with the Grammy Awards on Sunday, where "Beats, Rhymes & Life" is nominated for best long form music video, we asked Rapaport to take over the Five Most space to pick his favorite music documentaries. (The film, which came out theatrically last summer, also won top documentary honors from the Producers Guild of America this year.) But since he's so enthusiastic — and was so nice to join us this week — we let him pick six, in order of preference and in his own words:

— "Gimme Shelter" (1970): The Rolling Stones in their prime. Directed by the Maysles Brothers, this is musically incredible. You get to see the Stones being rock stars that don't exist anymore, and just as important, you see them as vulnerable and as stunned as the audience who witness the shocking events at the overbooked and underplanned Northern California concert that goes really, really wrong. Look for the cameo by a Hells Angels dude wearing a wolf mask.

— "Soul Power" (2008): The concert film that was the backdrop for Muhammad Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman. James Brown, Bill Withers, The Spinners and many more perform in the African heat. The sweat pouring off everybody involved should've gotten its own listing in the credit sequence. Ali is so excited when all of the musicians are listed, he's enjoying the show as much as the fans are. I really can't push or recommend this film harder. It's my favorite straight-up concert film.

— "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" (2002): I wasn't a fan nor had I ever heard of Wilco before watching this film and I love it. The cinematography — shot in black-and-white film by director Sam Jones, who's best-known as a photographer — is so lush and so beautiful, you can literally watch this film on mute and you will enjoy it. The real-time story and conflict that takes place between Wilco and the record label and themselves was a big inspiration in making my film "Beats, Rhymes & Life." Watching the construction of their album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" right before your eyes will make any viewer a fan of the band.

— "Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser" (1988): This is my favorite jazz film. Watching Thelonious Monk spin around on stage in the opening performance is a scene I will always remember seeing for the first time. Every moment of this film is shot in deep black and white and jazzy color. Thelonious Monk has so much style and is such a unique personality. Hearing his son walk you through his dad's mental breakdown is devastating at times. Watching Monk in the studio recording take after take live is like eating the best sushi meal of your life. And I have a secret to reveal: I'd bet my house that Monk's funky and at times hard-to-understand dialect was the inspiration for Benecio Del Toro's character in "The Usual Suspects."

— "Style Wars" (1984): This may not be considered a straight music doc, but for me it's the ultimate hip-hop film. It's shot in the 1970s in NYC and articulates all four elements of hip-hop: MCing, DJing, graffiti and B-Boying during the culture's youth, straight from the Boogie Down Bronx. Everything about this film is perfect and it also inspired me on "Beats, Rhymes & Life" as it takes on a real-time story line while walking you through the history of hip-hop during its purest time.

— "Buena Vista Social Club" (1999): This is a beautiful film about Ry Cooder's making of the album. He rediscovers and actually forms a crew of 50-, 60- and some 70-year-old Cuban jazz artists and they made the Grammy Award-winning classic album. Watching these artists go from complete obscurity to performing in New York City at Carnegie Hall to this day reminds me to always be humble and never take any success for granted.

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Think of any other examples? Share them with AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire.

And share them with Michael Rapaport through Twitter: https://twitter.com/(hash)!/MichaelRapaport

"Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" on Twitter: https://twitter.com/(hash)!/ATCQmovie

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How low can you go? Record label launches bass hunt

LONDON (Reuters) - The Decca music label is looking for a singer who can go where no other singer is believed to have gone before -- a low "E," which is nearly three octaves below a middle "C" on the piano.

Paul Mealor, the composer behind the surprise British Christmas chart hit "Wherever You Are" sung by The Military Wives choir, has written a composition called "De Profundis (Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.)"

It features a low E which is six semitones lower than the "B Flat" from Rachmaninov's "Vespers."

"My setting of De Profundis calls for a rich and powerful voice; a voice that can not only touch the heart with its sincerity and truth, but also make every fabric of the human body resonate as it plunges into the very lowest parts of the vocal spectrum," Mealor said in a statement.

The search for the bass will be conducted through trade magazines on the Internet.

According to Guinness World Records, the lowest known note produced by a human voice is a low "F Sharp" achieved by American Roger Menees in 2010.

Singers have been invited to send in demo tapes or upload recordings of their voice to the website www.howlowwillyougo.com.

Voices will be judged by Mealor and Grammy-award nominated producer Anna Barry, an authority on Russian choral and vocal music which is one of the composer's main inspirations.

The record is set for international release in the spring.

Mealor rose to prominence after being selected to compose new music for the 2011 royal wedding of Britain's Prince William to Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge -- one of the biggest public events in recent years.

This is his first choral work since then.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Country music disappears from Grammy spotlight

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lady Antebellum landed an unexpected knockout of Eminem and took the night with five Grammys last year, including record and song of the year for "Need You Now." Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band broke through in the general categories the year before.

Yet this year only one country nominee made the cut in the prestigious all-genre categories: new artist entry The Band Perry.

Some might suggest a country snub, but Jason Aldean, a first-time nominee who's up for three awards, including country album of the year, doesn't see this year's deficit as out of the ordinary. That the focus is on the likes of Adele, Bruno Mars and Rihanna is not surprising to him, even though he and Swift had two of the year's top-selling albums.

"All those artists are great and having a killer year, so it's hard to argue with what they're doing," Aldean said. "But I think it's something country music has fought for years and years. I don't think it's anything new. I don't think at least from my perspective it's something that I'd be shocked about. It's the way it always is. It's not going to change. It's just how it goes."

Aldean proves himself an astute student of country music history with that statement. The genre's ascendance in the last half of the last decade at the Grammys is an aberration, a statistical oddity based on the overwhelming crossover success of a handful of songs and artists who dominated pop music at the time of their wins.

Mainstream country has scored just 13 general-category trophies since the first Grammys in 1958. Just three of those came before 2000.

Lady A's win in the record of the year category in 2010 was just the second by a country artist. The Dixie Chicks, fresh from the band's excommunication by country radio after remarks about President George W. Bush, won three general category awards at the 2007 Grammys.

Aldean notes all those winners have something in common: crossover success. Especially Swift and Lady A.

"(Swift) was just as big in the pop world as she was in the country world," Aldean said. "That was just one of those you can't really deny. As an awards show you almost look stupid if she's not there. And I think Lady A last year, without a doubt they had one of the biggest songs, if not the biggest song, of the year. ... They had a huge year, a huge record. It's kind of hard to deny that."

Members of Lady A, up for country album of the year, said it didn't really matter in what categories their nominations fell. Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley are just happy to be back and able to spend time with good friends like Aldean, country song of the year nominee Dave Barnes, Eric Church and others.

"We'd be lying if we said we wouldn't be disappointed after such an incredible year there last year if we didn't get invited back to the party," Kelley said.

"It's fun to be able to support our friends in the industry, as well," Scott said. "There are a lot of our really close friends in the business who will be there that we can celebrate with and just enjoy the night."

Gary LeVox, lead singer for Rascal Flatts, thinks that's the right attitude to have. Rascal Flatts landed one of those coveted all-genre song of the year nominations for "Bless the Broken Road," but over time he's learned not to take it too seriously. It's in no way an exact science, after all.

"I know some Grammy voters that are actually friends of mine that only listen to country music, but they vote on categories in the rock world," LeVox said. "They don't know anything about the rock world and they'll tell you, 'I don't know. I've just heard of Maroon 5 so I just voted for that.' And those are my friends. I think some of that happens."

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AP writer Caitlin R. King in Nashville contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://www.grammy.com

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For the latest country music news from The Associated Press, follow: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Country.

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Got protest? Music mogul Simmons mad over milk

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Music mogul Russell Simmons wants New York's governor to pull the plug on milk from cows.

The hip-hop impresario writes in a letter to Andrew Cuomo (KWOH'-moh) that milk should no longer be the state's official beverage.

Simmons, a vegan who has taken on several animal rights causes with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says milk from cows is less healthy than milk from rice, almonds or soy.

He tells The Associated Press he knows dairy is big business in New York but says other industries could spring up in its place.

Simmons and Cuomo go way back. They're both from Queens, and they worked together a decade ago to help soften New York's strict drug laws.

Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing said the governor's office would not comment.

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