Carrie Underwood

Colorado takes Carrie Underwood's breath away

We know it's beautiful here. Carrie Underwood evidently finds it pretty breathtaking, too. This photo from the country queen's Instagram account shows Underwood taking an oxygen break before last night's encore. See also: - Photos: Carrie Underwood @ 1STBANK Center, 2/14/13 - The misappropriation ... More >>

Ten songs Rockies first baseman Todd Helton could use for his walk-on music this season

Pitchers and catchers reported this week. You know what that means, right? Yeah, probably nothing. We're not going to get our hopes up here. I mean, aside from our new skipper, Walt Weiss, a beloved former Rockies shortstop, there's really no reason to believe this season will be any less agonizing ... More >>

The ten best concerts in Denver this week

Another great batch of shows this week. As always, there is a ton of variety for the music lover in you. Whether you're seeking EDM, jazz, metal, indie or country, there are at least ten reasons to stay up late this week and get down like there's no tomorrow. We've got all of the shows listed in our ... More >>

Grammy tape delay versus realtime Twitter reaction: What's with the East Coast bias?

So, yeah, I'm watching the Grammys right now and dutifully monitoring the #GRAMMYs hash tag on Twitter (thanks for the helpful reminders, LL). Color me confused. I feel like I just walked into the middle of a movie: On the set, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley are in the middle of a duet. The Twi ... More >>

New Shows: Furthur at 1STBANK, 420 show at Red Rocks with Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill

Big news on the concert front this week: Furthur, always a local favorite, returns for a series of dates in Colorado, one at the Ogden, followed by three back-to-back nights at 1STBANK Center. Equally as big is word of a 420 show at Red Rocks featuring Cypress Hill, Slightly Stoopid and Tribal Seeds ... More >>

New shows: Sigur Ros, Carrie Underwood, Bloc Party, Big Head Todd, Divine Fits and more

It's not Christmas yet, but you'd certainly be excused for thinking otherwise, what with the radio already playing round-the-clock holiday tunes and the new shows we've been gifted with. Looks like somebody's been on their best behavior (god knows, it wasn't us). Whatever the case, we're now being r ... More >>

American Idol is now more focused on judges than contestants

Chartbreaker: Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and Adele's 21 claim the top spots

It was a big week for a certain Canadian this week, as the import's song finally overtook Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know." And no, we're not talking about Justin Bieber, but she is his protege. Carly Rae Jepsen's inescapable viral and radio hit, "Call Me Maybe," conquers the Billboard Ho ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Gotye and John Mayer spend yet another week at the top of the charts

Another strong week for Gotye, who held on to number one with "Somebody That I Used To Know." If you haven't kept track, that's a tally of eight weeks at the top now. However, that could change next week, as strong pushes from both Rihanna and Katy Perry, not to mention Carly Rae Jepsen, who could ... More >>

Chartbreaker: John Mayer's new album, Born and Raised, takes the top spot this week

John Mayer knocks Adam Lambert from the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week as Mayer's new record, Born And Raised, lands at number one. Lambert's Trespassing, meanwhile, drops all the way to number twelve. Born And Raised is Mayer's third number-one album, joining 2003's Heavier Things ... More >>

Chartbreaker: In a clash of Idols, Adam Lambert unseats Carrie Underwood with Trespassing

It's a big week for American Idol this week. Besides the crowning of the season 11 winner, Phillip Phillips, the singing talent show sees another of its alums rise to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The first time in chart history, one Idol is succeeded by another, as Adam Lambert's Trespassi ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Another strong week for Carrie Underwood and Gotye, thanks to moms

Many of previous weeks' big-performing albums have rebounded on the Billboard 200 chart, thanks to a Mother's Day sales surge. Adele's 21 is the best example of this boost, as the album shoots up from number four to number two this week. It's still not enough to reclaim the top spot from Carrie Unde ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Competition is Blown Away on the charts this week by Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with her fourth album, Blown Away, selling 267,000 copies. Underwood's latest trails only Madonna's MDNA, which sold 358,000, as the biggest-selling debut of 2012. Another noteworthy feat for Underwood this week: She f ... More >>

American Idol Top 9: Stevie Nicks helped make this season a competition again

Kudos to Stevie Nicks, this week's guest mentor on American Idol. Last night, she helped turn a two-person race into anyone's game, as all song choices were spot-on --- songs by contestants' personal idols -- and for the first time since this season began, every single contestant brought out their b ... More >>

American Idol Hollywood round two: Symone Black is okay, but the show is limping along

Symone Black's plummet from the stage doesn't compare to the decline in viewers Idol will see next week if it doesn't focus more on singing and less on drama.​Listen here, American Idol producers: Spending a large majority of last night's show, the second part of the Hollywood round, on anythi ... More >>

Review: Brad Paisley at the Pepsi Center, 1/21/12

BRAD PAISLEY @ THE PEPSI CENTER | 1/21/12 It's about three-quarters of the way through "Waiting on a Woman" during Brad Paisley's blues-inflected lead that you arrive at a startling realization, a conclusion that you're sure many far more astute folks have no doubt probably reached long before you: ... More >>

2012 Grammy Nominations: Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic up for Producer of the Year

​While Ryan Tedder has garnered his share of acclaim fronting his band, OneRepublic, he's earned just as many accolades as a songwriter, penning tunes for a parade of pop stars including Kelly Clarkson, Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Natasha Bedingfield, Jordan Sparks, Leona Lewis, Gym Class Hero ... More >>

Scotty McCreery breaks a few Billboard records, plus a breakdown of this week's charts

Scotty McCreery​Scotty McCreery's new album, Clear As Day, broke records this week by debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, proving that American Idol can still produce stars, even if it's been a while. Clear As Day is the first debut release from an American Idol winner to catapult to ... More >>

Video: American Idol takes over Invesco

One of the best parts about living in America is freedom. The freedom to sing, dance, play in the streets, wear duct-tape skirts, paint your face for televised events and, most importantly, worship false idols. That's right, American Idol has invaded Denver yet again in search of that one voice, th ... More >>

Soul Surfer is this week's most ridiculous trailer

​Sometimes, the most interesting thing about a movie is its cast. And not so much the acting of the cast, but the concept of this cast in this movie -- how did these people get here? Soul Surfer, for example, is a movie where even Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid seem to be slumming it, and that's ... More >>

American Idol: Julie Zorrilla's performance underwhelming on "Girls' Night"

​Don't know if you happened to catch Idol last night. If you didn't, you missed "Girls' Night" in which all of the top twelve ladies had a chance to perform individually. Despite being early boosters of Julie Zorrilla, if we're being honest here, we have to say it just wasn't a good look for h ... More >>

Top 10 bad boyfriends -- as inspired by Operation Cock Block target Bill Sullivan

Watch out, ladies.​ If Bill Sullivan were on trial for being a bad boyfriend, we're pretty sure he'd be found guilty. Exhibit A? The evidence presented by his exes in this week's feature, " ." We're also sure that Bill would have lots of company in Bad Boyfriend Jail. To prove it, we've compi ... More >>

We Are the World 25/2010 performers pull off impressive performance

All right, so we were admittedly skeptical of how this whole "We Are the World" remake was going to turn out with the seemingly random cast of characters organizers assembled. When we first glimpsed the initial list of those present the night of the recording, there were some head scratchers in the ... More >>

This Just In: Them Crooked Vultures, Carrie Underwood, String Cheese Incident shows announced

​As if playing in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters wasn't enough for Dave Grohl, he teamed up with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Queen of the Stone Age's Joshua Homme to form Them Crooked Vultures in 2009. The Vultures, who released their self-titled debut this past November, descend upon the Fil ... More >>

Haeley Vaughn is Colorado's great American Idol hope

For a while, it looked as if the most notable thing to happen at the Denver auditions for American Idol would be the death of a dog left locked in a car by an idiotic wannabe from North Dakota. Frankly, most of the contestants seen receiving golden tickets to Hollywood during last night's Denver-b ... More >>

Bikini Boy speaks!: Ty Hemmerling on his revealing American Idol performance

Ty Hemmerling ties one on.​Last night's American Idol episode focusing on the show's Denver auditions introduced America to Fort Collins' Haeley Vaughn, who's clearly Colorado's great Idol hope. But arguably the most memorable moment came courtesy of Ty Hemmerling, dubbed "Bikini Boy" by judg ... More >>

We Are the World 2010: List of performers seems a little underwhelming -- the idea is to get people to buy the song, right?

Our friends over at CNN just posted a partial list of performers appearing on the "We Are the World" remake. From the looks of it, we put more thought into this whole thing than the organizers did. Okay, sure, there were a handful of bona fied stars that took part -- and we're assuming they've be ... More >>

Boulder's Ace Young back on American Idol -- kind of, sort of, in a way

The newly shorn Ace Young, now of "American Idol Extra." American Idol didn't prove to be a skyrocket to fame for Boulder's Ace Young, a 2006 Westword profile subject. But three years after finishing seventh in the contest -- remember how he equated that number with the one John Elway wore? -- he's ... More >>

Top 10 Country Albums of 2008

Photo by Michael Alan GoldbergOver the next couple of weeks, Backbeat will feature some Top Ten lists from around the Village Voice Media chain. Click here for previous year-in-review coverage from Backbeat and VVM. Two young blondes with toothy smiles and hard-core work ethics, Taylor Swift and Car ... More >>

The Crush get Crushed, but Kristy Lee Cook Wins Big

Grammy Suckfest Celebrates Half Century of Lameness

Visit Conceptual Hell and Other Goodies

Carrie Underwood

Carnival Ride
Arista

Rockies' Country - Carrie Underwood to Sing National Anthem Saturday

Jason Isbell Takes the Wheel

A Drive-By Trucker makes his solo debut.

Corinne Bailey Rae

Tuesday, April 10, Wells Fargo Theatre, 303-830-8497.

The Grandma Awards

The Fray Get Heaped

Defecting!

Finding worthwhile things in neo-country -- like Jen Mangum.

Aubrey Collins

Gothic Theatre

American I-Dull

Since anointing Kelly Clarkson, the star machine's been running on empty.

Off Limits

Bum's Rush