Nominations have been announced for the 2015 Brit Awards, commonly called the British Grammys. Contending for the British Group award are Alt-J, Royal Blood, Coldplay, One Direction, and Clean Bandit; Alt-J and Royal Blood are also nominated for British Album of the Year, along with Sam Smith, George Ezra, and Ed Sheeran. The awards will be presented at the O2 Arena in London…

Returning to the Twin Cities for the first time in nearly three decades, music legend Stevie Wonder will play Target Center on March 29. Wonder will play his classic 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life in its entirety, as he’s been doing on tour this year. As the Star Tribune points out, Wonder hasn’t played…

Like a boss, the Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) are now Oscar nominees, along with Tegan and Sara, for “Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie. The song was written by Shawn Patterson. Other songs in the running for this year’s Oscar are Golden Globe winner “Glory” from Selma (John Legend and Common), “Grateful” by Rita Ora (a friend…

80s pop icon Rick Springfield is currently standing trial in Syracuse, New York for a 2004 incident at the New York State Fair. Vicki Calcagno claims that during a performance that year, Springfield entered the crowd and, while standing atop a chair to play guitar and sing, fell over and struck Calcagno with his buttocks. Calcagno alleges…

This is a lot to wrap your head around, but it actually happened: Molly Kate Kestner, the Minnesota singer-songwriter who had a massive viral hit with last year’s “His Daughter,” has covered Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” on the CBGB set at YouTube Space New York. The set features walls, a cash register, and…

From June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee, Atmosphere will represent for Minneapolis’s Southside and Trampled By Turtles will represent Duluth at Bonnaroo. The annual music festival announced the first wave of its lineup yesterday via an innovative method—fans had to call a phone number to learn who was in the lineup, one artist at a time—that…

David Bowie is a man of many talents—and even more hairstyles. In tribute to the rocker’s 68th birthday last week, artist Helen Green compressed a career’s worth of looks into one animated GIF—see below. (Sploid) The first wave of the Bonnaroo lineup was announced last night via an unusual phone-in system; the annual music festival in…

Freez and Mike Frey Rap duo Freez and Mike Frey are releasing their second full-length this Saturday. Freez’s Frozen French Freys has tight and concise raps over smooth production. “#MANRADIO” is a track that really shows off their talent as the beat buzzes and Freez speeds up and slows down his flow as he pleases, even…

The reunion of iconic alt-rock trio Sleater-Kinney has been one of the biggest music stories in recent months, and that news just got a lot bigger for local music fans: none other than Lizzo has been tapped to tour with Sleater-Kinney, opening for the band on 16 dates including their Valentine’s Day gig at First Avenue.…

2015 marks First Avenue’s 45th anniversary of hosting Minneapolis’s most memorable shows. We’ve recently embarked on a mission to tell the tales of the musicians emblazoned on their iconic Wall of Fame. Previous posts covered local natives Babes in Toyland and Har Mar Superstar. Next up is a national duo that only took a single…