Divas Renew Royal Rumble

Queen of Soul slams 'cheap shot' at Grammys

(NEWSER) - R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find out what it means, Beyonce. That's the message "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin fired off after baby-diva Beyonce introduced singer Tina Turner as "the queen" at the Grammys. Turner is sometimes called the queen of rock 'n' roll, but Franklin wasn't having it. "I am not sure whose toes I may have stepped on between the Grammy writers and Beyonce," said Franklin in a statement to the Detroit Free Press. "I dismissed it as a cheap shot." More»

Lawyer's $445 tax mistake puts Franklin's Detroit pad at risk

(NEWSER) - Aretha Franklin’s mansion is in foreclosure after the Queen of Soul flubbed her taxes, TMZ.com reports. Franklin owes $19,192 in back taxes, but she says she’ll pay before the March 31 deadline. The singer faults her lawyer for a 2005 mistake over $445 in taxes and late fees that pushed the Detroit home, valued at $712,000 into foreclosure. More»

Woman says he tried it on her at Grammys

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown's mission to disgust everyone who's not a member of "Team Breezy" continues: The singer, who reacted to controversy over his Grammys performance by telling the world to "f*** off," also tried to hit on a woman at a Grammy gift lounge … in a less-than-charming fashion. The woman tells Us that Brown asked her, "Can I get your number? I promise I won't beat you!" Then "he and his friends laughed, then one yelled, 'That's his new line!'," she says. More»

Singer tweets, then deletes, response to controversy

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown—who really needs to learn to step away from the Twitter—lashed out at his critics in a rant on the social networking site that was predictably and quickly deleted. Brown, apparently upset with all the controversy over his Grammys appearance , tweeted a series of messages yesterday that culminated in this classiness: "HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That's the ultimate FUCK OFF!" More»

Grammy Awards also go to Chris Brown, Bon Iver, and more

(NEWSER) - The Grammys got started with—what else?—a performance. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band did a rousing rendition of "We Take Care of Our Own" before host LL Cool J even made an appearance. The host brought up Whitney Houston's death first thing after thanking the band (click for more on that ). Then:

• Nope, it's still not time for an award: Bruno Mars takes the stage, then the first presenters appear—20 minutes into the ceremony. But Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt first perform a tribute to Etta James before presenting Best Pop Solo Performance to Adele for "Someone Like You."
• Next up: Another performance, this time the controversial first Grammys performance by Chris Brown since he beat Rihanna before the ceremony three years ago.