News

James Woolley, former keyboardist for the seminal industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, died over the weekend. He was 50. "James passed away," Woolley’s ex-wife Kate Van Buren wrote on Facebook. "James worked hard and played hard with Nin. He brought coolness to playing keyboards, which isn't as easy to do as playing guitar or drums. Those years were truly magical and quite an adventure." Woolley first joined Trent Reznor’s group in 1991, playing on the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. He continued as part of the group through the Broken Ep and the quadruple platinum-selling LP, The Downward Spiral. For his work on Broken, Woolley earned a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. Woolley later earned a second Grammy for Best Metal Performance for his work on “Happiness in Slavery” at Woodstock '94. Former Nin bandmate and Filter frontman Richard Patrick wrote on Instagram, “I miss my buddy. #nin #gonetoosoon” Woolley is survived by his three children.

1. For Love Of The Game

With the U.S. Open in full swing this week, magazines are serving up a heavy dose of tennis coverage. In The New Yorker, Lauren Collins investigates how Novak Djokovic overcame his tendency to choke in big matches on his way to claiming the No. 1 ranking, and why, despite being the best player in the world at the moment, he still can't seem to get any respect. Part of the reason is that Djokovic doesn't conform to the genteel standards tennis expects from its champions. "He could be annoying, with his bluster and his cheesy pranks," Collins writes, summarizing the view of Djokovic's critics. "His sensibility recalled the soccer stadium rather than the country club."

As further evidence of that lack of respect, perhaps, the New York Times Magazine's U.S. Open issue features not Djokovic but Roger Federer on its cover. Federer, arguably the...

It's been more than a decade since the 1990s ended, yet the Internet can't seem to go a day without a reminder of the neon slap bracelets that may have been banned from your school.

Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.

Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)

1. Scrunchies

2. "The Wild Thornberries"

3. Dawson and Joey

4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"

5. Mr. Feeny

7. MTV playing music videos

8. Snick

9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"

10. Levar Burton

11. "Daria"

12. "Arthur"

13. "The Powerpuff Girls"

14. "Smart Guy"

15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings

16. "The X-Files"

17. Rosie O'Donnell

18. Bill Nye

19. "Dawson's Creek"

20. The Mighty Ducks"

21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"

22. Cornholio

23. Rachel Green

24. Tim Allen

25. "All That"

26. "Beverly Hills 90210"

27. "Step by Step"

28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"

29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"

30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

Frost the cupcakes and get the trick candles ready, because it's time to wish dynamic rock frontman and Lollapalooza godfather Perry Farrell a very happy birthday. The diverse rocker is now 52 years old and is still going strong as the frontman of seminal band Jane's Addiction. But on this special day, it's time to look back at one of his more underrated projects.

When it came time for Jane's Addiction to call it quits, Farrell staged the first Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for the band in the summer of 1991 (that tour also featured Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Ice-t and Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes and Fishbone). With the band in his rearview, Farrell formed a new combo called Porno for Pyros (which also featured Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins). The group released its first self-titled album in the spring of 1993 to big sales,...

Getty Actress and Oscar host Anne Hathaway

Who will win best picture at the Oscars this year? Will “The King’s Speech” reign supreme? Will it be Annette or Natalie? Will we see a lot of red on the carpet, as predicted?

These are some of the questions yet to be answered as we head into tonight’s 83rd Annual Academy Awards, to be broadcast on ABC starting at 8 p.m. Et/ 5 p.m. Pst. Speakeasy will be live-blogging the event starting at 6:30 p.

If you had gone to see Green Day play one of their notorious early gigs in Berkeley in 1993, it would have been impossible to tell the size of the success the band would experience over the course of their career. Even though they had signed a deal with a major label, they still seemed like a shaggy, rag-tag bunch of punks who just wanted to play fast music and get high. But greatness was on the horizon for the boys, and before the sold out stadium tours, multi-platinum concept albums, video games and Broadway shows, there was Dookie, which was released on this day in 1994.

Green Day's Dookie (the group's third album) came at exactly the right time, as the rock world was knee-deep in grunge darkness and looking for a blast of youthful fun to offset all the doom and gloom. The album's 14 songs (plus the creepy bonus...

It's probably too early to call any of the Oscar races, and we won't know who the winners will be until they are read aloud when the show airs live on Sunday, February 27, but it's probably safe for Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor to clear off some space on his mantle for his Academy Award. Reznor is nominated for Best Original Score for his subtle, haunting contributions to "The Social Network" (which was directed by friend and collaborator David Fincher). He is going up against some stiff competition, including previous winners A.R. Rahman ("127 Hours") and Hans Zimmer ("Inception"), as well as four-time nominee Alexandre Desplat ("The King's Speech") and fellow first-timer John Powell ("How to Train Your Dragon"), so it won't necessarily be a walk in the park for Reznor (and partner Atticus Ross).

But considering the pair behind the score to "The Social Network" has already taken home the Golden Globe,...

This past weekend played host to one of the biggest underground music festivals of the year. No, not Outside Lands in San Francisco (which saw Kings of Leon, the Strokes, Phoenix, My Morning Jacket and a handful of surviving members of the Grateful Dead overcome frosty temperatures in Golden Gate Park), but rather the annual Gathering of the Juggalos. The festival, hosted and organized by Insane Clown Posse and featuring most of the artists on the roster of their record label, extended over four days and also sported a number of hip-hop legends, rides, games, seminars and wrestling. But the big headline to come out of the weekend was the unfortunate crowd reaction to Tila Tequila. Making her hip-hop debut on "Ladies Night," Tequila was pelted with rocks, various pieces of garbage and human excrement while fans badgered her to take her top off (and then when she finally did,...

With the World Cup underway, the weather behaving and both "The A-Team" and "The Karate Kid" waiting for us at the cinemas, it's going to be a delightfully laid back weekend. That's good, because we're still recovering from the awesomeness that was Sunday night's (June 16) 2010 MTV Movie Awards. (If you happened to miss any of Sunday's headline-grabbing, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising show, you can watch the whole thing on demand at your leisure.) But before you commit yourself to any of that, be sure to check out anything you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom Blog, including headlines about Lady Gaga, Green Day and Paramore.

» Lady Gaga pulled the curtain away from her "Alejandro" video, which launched a lot of debate about the various Madonna references in it.

» In dropping the new video, Gaga made her "Alejandro" into the most famous Alejandro in pop culture.

» "Green Day: Rock Band...

"Green Day: Rock Band" is in stores now, which means you finally have the opportunity to digitally project yourself into the Green Day universe and play any of the 47 songs included as Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt. Not only does the game let you experience the thrill of playing those classic tunes (including all of the tracks from Dookie and American Idiot), but you'll also get a healthy dose of band history and behind-the-scenes information about the group's deep mythology.

In fact, the famous Book Mobile even makes an appearance. When the band was first going on the road to support their major label debut Dookie in the summer of 1994, they loaded themselves into an old van called the Book Mobile that served as their tour bus. The Book Mobile also served as the venue for their first ever MTV News interview, which was conducted on August...

"Green Day: Rock Band" hits retail outlets this week, and both video game enthusiasts and Green Day aficionados are excited about the sentiment. The game not only features the three men from Green Day but also a number of band-specific pieces of equipment, dozens of awesome songs and plenty of iconic venues from the band's long and varied career.

One venue definitely not recreated in the game is Woodstock '94, which was a huge turning point for the band. Their major-label debut Dookie had only come out a few months before and they had already picked up plenty of buzz because of their two breakout singles "Longview" and "Basket Case." But the Woodstock performance was something entirely different. They took the stage at the water-logged venue (rain had turned the entire space to mud on the first day of the three-day festival, turning the entire experience brown) and delivered a...

Band still seems to be grappling with sudden popularity in 1994 chat.

By James Montgomery

Green Day's Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong in 1994

Photo: MTV News

It was back in 1994. August 3, to be exact. MTV News' first-ever interview with Green Day.

The guys were still fresh-faced and scruffy, still trying to figure out how to deal with the fame that their Dookie album had brought them and — perhaps most importantly — still touring aboard their customized Book Mobile (complete with a fold-out sorta couch and a space for their Sega Genesis).

We spoke to Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt from the living quarters of the bus, hours before their gig at the iconic Stone Pony club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This was 11 days before their infamous mud-slinging gig at Woodstock '94 and less than a week before they began touring on the main stage of that summer's Lollapalooza festival,...

Band still seems to be grappling with sudden popularity in 1994 chat.

By James Montgomery

Green Day's Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong in 1994

Photo: MTV News

It was back in 1994. August 3, to be exact. MTV News' first-ever interview with Green Day.

The guys were still fresh-faced and scruffy, still trying to figure out how to deal with the fame that their Dookie album had brought them and — perhaps most importantly — still touring aboard their customized Book Mobile (complete with a fold-out sorta couch and a space for their Sega Genesis).

We spoke to Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt from the living quarters of the bus, hours before their gig at the iconic Stone Pony club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This was 11 days before their infamous mud-slinging gig at Woodstock '94 and less than a week before they began touring on the main stage of that summer's Lollapalooza festival,...