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Day & Age, The Killers new disc, bested Guns ‘N’ Roses long-awaited (now there’s an understatement) Chinese Democracy for the number one slot on the UK charts this week, shocking virtually everyone.  This is the band’s third CD and their third to reach the top of the charts.

Outselling what was thought to be the most eagerly anticipated release in recent history probably isn’t enough for Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers.  He recently told AntiMusic that his band can be bigger than U2.

“They’re unbelievable but they’re getting old,” he said. “I feel like it’s time.”

In this Day & Age, it’s hard to get attention just for music, no matter how deserving those tunes might be.  Flowers is getting as much press for what he’s wearing as what he’s singing lately.  As Spin duly noted, he’s been spotted wearing a feathered jacket in the video for his band’s latest single “Human,” on Saturday Night Live, MTV Europe Video Music Awards, and many gigs as well.

Here’s the video — check it out for yourself:

She only came in seventh place on American Idol, but she’s the only one to date who’s an Academy Award winner.  Now Jennifer Hudson is set for more accolades with the release of her self-titled disc.

Vibe senior associate editor Keith Murphy told USA Today that “‘Spotlight‘ could have been sung by Rihanna or another pop or R&B act, but (Hudson) takes it somewhere else. She can belt out a song and make you cry.”

Hudson has no reason to shed any tears but tears of joy these days.  She recently got engaged to reality show contestant David Otunga, and her latest film The Secret Life of Bees, the follow up to her role in the box office smash Sex and the City, comes out October 17th.

So the question is raised again — is it better not to win American Idol?  Comment and let us know.

He’s a Grammy winning songwriter who penned one of today’s biggest hits: Rihanna’s “Take A Bow.”
Yet, Ne-Yo tells the Miami Herald, “(I’ve) never seen the cover of Vibe magazine. Never seen the cover of People magazine. Never seen the cover of, you know, Rolling Stone magazine. And won’t. ‘Cause these people feel that for whatever reason, because I’m a fully functional adult and not a heroin addict, that I won’t sell magazines.”

Is he bitter, or does he have a point? Ne-Yo, whose latest album is The Year of the Gentleman, claims that despite his many songwriting credits (which also include Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable”) he is underrated as an artist in his own right, mainly because he doesn’t live the opulent and controversial life style shared by many rappers.

“Everybody wants me to be the (guy) who’s (sleeping with) every celebrity woman in the industry. Everybody wants me to be this (guy) in the club, popping 17 bottles just because. Everybody wants me to be Diddy, and that’s not me,” he explains.

Do you think Ne-Yo is a refreshing change, a gentleman among gangstas, or do you think that his lack of controversy will keep him under the radar? Comment and let us know.

Posted today on www.davematthewsband.com:

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.

The band performed just hours after hearing the news, saying they would miss him “forever.” Loyal DMB fans surely feel the same.

What will you miss most about LeRoi’s contributions to the Dave Matthews Band? Comment and let us know.