Music Artists, Videos and News

Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that’s why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

U2 get a lot of credit for rising to prominence in the 1980s and still managing to be relevant in the 21st century. (Bruce Springsteen is often mentioned in the same sentence.) However, not enough people acknowledge Bon Jovi as a band who has managed to transcend their origins and become a massive institution. They dropped some of the biggest albums and singles in the hair metal era (namely Slippery When Wet and “You Give Love a Bad Name”), ran into some rough waters in the ’90s (where they became mostly treacly balladeers) and then had an unlikely reinvention once the millennium turned over. They’re now as much a classic rock band as anybody, and their country-inflected new batch of tunes The Circle debuted at the top of the Billboard album chart last week. This morning, they wore up early to play on “Today,” and despite having more than three decades in the game, they still sound fresh (and frontman Jon Bon Jovi can still hit all the notes).

Bon Jovi weren’t the only people in New York for a pre-Thanksgiving blitz, as Zac Efron visited “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “New Moon” star Ashley Greene dropped in on a Maxim party (celebrating her cover, of course). Click here for these pictures as well as the entire “Spotted!” archive, which features over 300 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Katy Perry and Rihanna!

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Kris Allen is seriously funny. He didn’t really get a chance to show off his sparkling wit while on “American Idol.” It’s not the forum for that. (See Danny Gokey’s unintentionally vicious Matt Giraud impression for proof.)

So anytime the “Idol” winner stops by for an interview, I try my best to get Kris’ snarky side to come out to play. Doing press is never fun for a celeb. (Imagine being asked the same three questions 80 times in one day.) Why not shake things up with a few offbeat topics or a quip about Brazilian cuisine? Kris appreciates the variety, and I appreciate the laughs he sends in my direction.

In our previous interviews, Kris wasn’t allowed to share much information (the 19 Entertainment folks keep their talent on a leash tighter than the ones Adam Lambert uses on his backup dancers). They left us with no choice but to goof around during our interview.

But with his self-titled album now in stores he’s finally allowed to gab. And boy did he! (Have you watched our in-depth interview yet?) Luckily for Krim fans, that didn’t keep us from joking around with each other.

Here’s nearly six minutes of random leftovers the fans have demanded to see. Find out how Kris Allen feels about his mom’s Twitter habits, what superhero power he wishes he had and which Alaskan troubadour he’s looking to for career advice.

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“The Hills” star and aspiring pop star Heidi Montag is back with more new music. She already revealed her “Body Language” at the Miss Universe pageant a few months back, and now she’s feeding into the stereotype by mockingly titling her official debut album, aptly titled Superficial.

Dressed in a strapless, polka-dotted leotard (what pop singer isn’t wearing leotards these days?) in front of a wall of cassettes, the singer plans to release the album on January 12. “This cover is a shout out to the ’80s,” she told People. “It makes you remember when you just had to run out to the record store and get your favorite album.”

Liz Ciganovich, who worked with Montag on the album as its production and art director, said the photo is an homage to mixtapes. “I thought, ‘Let’s do a shot that says ’80s — lets pay homage to the mix tape!’” she said. “The hunt was on. I believe I purchased every tape in Los Angeles!”

If you think that Heidi is just using her fame to cash in with her pop music, think again. Her sister-in-law, Stephanie Pratt, reveals that she’s always wanted to be a famous singer. “When I first met her, she said she wanted to be a pop star, and this was like three years ago,” she said. “Who really can be a pop star unless you’ve been singing and dancing forever?”

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Are we in the middle of the great Muppet resurgence? “Sesame Street” is celebrating its triumphant 40th anniversary, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star Jason Segal is working on a new Muppet film and the felt friends will put out a new album called Muppets Revisited in February of next year (it will feature bands like Weezer, the Fray and My Morning Jacket covering classic Muppet tunes). For the video below, the Muppets paid tribute to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” with a spot-on parody of both the song and the classic video.

The clip features plenty of Muppet heavy hitters like Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and Rizzo the Rat, but also has drop-ins from Sam Eagle, Swedish Chef and Camilla the Chicken. The best moment comes during the “Mama” portion of the tune, which features a lead vocal from Animal (Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem make their appearance later). Most notably, Kermit the Frog doesn’t drop in until the very end of the clip (for a pretty good zinger to close things out).

The Muppet “Bohemian Rhapsody” is not only a great comedy clip (the Beaker gags are especially sharp), but it also sort of rocks. Check out the clip below, and look out for your favorite Henson character. This could easily become the best Internet meme in the history of the Web, but which classic tune should the Muppets tackle next?

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If you see Mark Lanegan today (and considering how tall and imposing he is, you can’t really miss him), be sure to give him a slap on the back and wish him a happy birthday. The Seattle icon turns 45 years old today, and he can feel pretty good about the decades he has spent creating music. Best known as the frontman for Screaming Trees (the band lumped in with the grunge movement who were secretly much heavier, more psychedelic monster than anybody gave them credit for), Lanegan has made a career out of lending his distinct voice (a whiskey-soaked croon that can shift into an apocalyptic metal growl) to a variety of projects. He’s currently a member of the Gutter Twins, his collaboration with former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli, but he has also teamed up with Belle and Sebastian member Isobel Campbell and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age.

No matter what project he’s working on, Lanegan always provides an amazing balance of menace, sweetness, toughness and sex. If the Gutter Twins ever come around to your town, it’s worth it to check them out if only to see them tear through “Methamphetamine Blues,” a track from Lanegan’s 2004 solo album Bubblegum. But the best example of Lanegan’s remarkable instrument unique approach is “All I Know,” which is from the Screaming Trees’ final album, 1996’s Dust.

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