"Girls Just Want to Have Fun": A Tribute

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:30:24 PDT

Last week seemed like a particularly rough time for celebrity deaths, and in the shuffle it would be easy to overlook Robert Hazard, who's hardly a household name. But the musician and songwriter, who died last week at age 59, gave Cyndi Lauper one of her biggest hits, and so I wanted to take a minute to pay tribute to the man behind "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."

As the story goes, Hazard wrote the poppy song in a motel bathtub in Delaware in the late '70s. Lauper's version appeared on her debut album, She's So Unusual, in 1983 and quickly climbed the charts, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and being named 1994's Video of the Year by MTV. It went on to spawn an '80s movie of the same name and dozens of covers, including one recently by Miley Cyrus.

I can't describe the original version as anything but a joy; it always gives me a little jolt of energy. I also love how much the song changes when put in different hands; some, like singer-songwriters Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, make it melancholy (check out their version), while others manage make it even peppier (the Chipettes on The Chipmunks, for example). Even Weird Al has had his bit of fun with it.

To check out the classic music video and a bunch of versions of the song,

read more. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Source

Announcing the 2012 Grammy Award Nominations

Rose Curiel — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:51:21 PST

For the second year in a row, the Recording Academy has given a hip-hop artist the most Grammy nominations. Last year, it was rapper Eminem with eight, and this year, Kanye West leads the nominees with seven chances at the golden gramophone, including a song of the year nod for "All of the Lights." West is also nominated twice in the rap album of the year category for his collaboration with Jay-Z on Watch the Throne and his own album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Brit crooner Adele wasn't far behind Kanye, picking up six nominations for her album 21, as well as a shot at song of the year with "Rolling in the Deep."

Bruno Mars also did well, racking up six nominations (that's down one from last year for those keeping track), while newcomers like Nicki Minaj and dubstep artist Skrillex are up for the best new artist category. See what other artists have a chance of walking away with a Grammy during the February 12 award show when you read more