LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chris Brown has completed a domestic violence counseling program required as part of the singer’s guilty plea to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna nearly two years ago. On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg congratulated the 21-year-old R&B performer for finishing the yearlong program. As a result of completing the required counseling, Brown will no lo...

PARIS, (AFP) - Can anyone beat Frederic Chopin as an emblem of the Romantic artist? In the great Polish composer, towering genius combined with a wasted frame and a pallid face behind which lurked melancholy, a brooding over death, a disconnection from ordinary life and sometimes horrifying hallucinations. A force that created this image was the French novelist George Sand, who described lyri...

With their strange combination of instruments, fantasy lyrics and weird fashion CocoRosie seem hell bent on obscurity. So there were some doubts about bringing a band so deliberately quirky ― for Saturday’s show in Seoul they wore oversized white shorts, fluorescent beards and jeweled veils ― to a country hostile to alternative music. But the skeptics were proved wrong. After all, the Cassady s...

Super Junior wow the fans with drag turns, hilarious mimicry and hit after hit after hit Super Junior's "Super Show 3" at Impact Arena on Saturday was proof that the Korean boy band hasn't let its high standards slip in the least. That concert and the follow-up on Sunday were among 16 on the group's third Asian tour, covering 13 countries. Now down to "just" 10 members following the departures...

TOKYO (AP) ― Sting wants to help save dolphins still being brutally slaughtered in Japan, but says the best way is by starting a debate, not by forcing foreign opinion. The British music star met backstage at a Tokyo concert hall Wednesday with Ric O’Barry, the star of the “The Cove,” the Academy Award-winning documentary that depicts the dolphin hunt in the town of Taiji in southwestern Japan. ...

It’s been quite a while since Korean fans last heard from K-pop singer Tim. After a hiatus of three years, Tim recently got back to the K-pop scene with his fifth album “New Beginnings.” It is his first album with Sony Music Entertainment Korea. The biggest change occurred inside his heart. He said he became more mature and serious in the search for “his” music, after realizing that he was born...

Gu Ha-ra, a member of five-member girl group KARA, said she will remain with her agency DSP Media, withdrawing from the earlier announcement that the group will terminate their exclusive contract with the agency. Four members of KARA, excluding the band’s leader, earlier on Wednesday made the announcement through a legal firm. The four members said they are deeply distressed by the agency’s mis...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ― A brick from The Cavern Club, a check for 11 pounds signed by Ringo Starr, an “authentic” Beatles wig. These and thousands of other objects related to the “Fab Four” are luring Beatles fans to a new museum in Buenos Aires. The museum is the product of the particular “Beatlemania” obsession of Rodolfo Vazquez, a 53-year-old accountant who became a fan at the age of ...

Trio that struck out independently from idol group seems unfazed by recent controversies Mired in a never-ending string of scandal-driven buzz, JYJ ― the boy band formed by three TVXQ idols-gone-independent ― put in a brief press appearance for their appointment ceremony as goodwill ambassadors for the robot competition, FLL KOREA. A mere eight days had passed since S.M. Entertainment’s three-l...

A Japanese manga comic has sparked anger among Korean netizens for its depiction of lewd scenes of women clad in the signature clothes of Girls’ Generation and KARA’s butt dance. Korean fans of the two famous girl groups claimed that the manga titled, “An Analysis on the K-Pop Boom Lies” is intended to vilify the groups who have made successful debuts in Japan. The manga shows former Korean gir...

A growing number of netizens are protesting against a new girl group who appear to be using the title of a children’s book for their name. The book’s author is none too pleased with the new six-member group that has begun appearing in magazines and on national TV this month. Baek Hee-na, author of the book “Dal Sherbet” has been highly praised for her creative storyline and pictures. “Dal Sherb...

Expect a fierce rivalry on the Korean music scene this year, as top boy bands are ready to make a comeback. Until now, the Korean music channels were mostly dominated by popular girl groups or singers like the Girls Generation, but this year the boys are expected to take the lead. Even before the release of their albums, the long-waited returns of TVXQ and Big Bang have generated heat among K-P...

People who become euphoric over music unleash dopamine, a brain chemical that also induces the sense of reward that comes from food, psychoactive drugs and money, an unusual study says. McGill University researchers in Montreal, Canada, recruited eight volunteers aged 19-24 among 217 people who responded to advertisements requesting people who experienced "chills" -- a marker of extreme pleasure...