Bad News: Chris Brown's New Song Is Good

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»

Sony blamed for UK price hike, now reversed

(NEWSER) - On Saturday, a Whitney Houston greatest-hits album cost about $8 in the UK iTunes store; but shortly after the singer was found dead, it had jumped to a little more than $12.50. The changed sparked a customer uproar. "It is just a case of iTunes cashing in on the singer's death, which in my opinion is totally parasitic," said one, according to DigitalSpy . But the Guardian reports that it was Sony, not iTunes, that was responsible for the change—which has now been reversed. 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.

Sasha Pasulka asks: Is this really the message we want to send to women?

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown is performing tonight at the Grammys, three years after beating Rihanna the night before the very same awards show, and Sasha Pasulka thinks it's disgraceful. The story is being covered as if it's "an exiled prince’s return to a former glory," when in fact it's actually "an enormous 'f**k you' to every woman who has been, is, or will be on the receiving end of domestic violence," she writes on Hello Giggles . Worse, even during the immediate aftermath of Rihanna's beating, Hollywood failed to roundly condemn Brown. Instead, it "teetered on the brink of defending" him. The public response "was a full-blown tearing-down of female self-worth, an assault on any progress women have made in this country in the past 200 years." More»

Singer's performance on live TV better received this time

(NEWSER) - Lana Del Rey didn't exactly get rave reviews for her Saturday Night Live performance, but she seems to have made a fan of David Letterman. After she sang a simpler version of her "Video Games" hit last night, Letterman jokingly asked if she could come back tonight, notes the Huffington Post . "My pleasure," she replied. "How about Monday?" he then added. More»