The new iHeartRadio Festival is being billed as radio history’s biggest ever live music event (whatever that means). Organizers have pulled all the stops out to deliver a lineup that is loaded with many of the music industry’s biggest stars.

Steven Tyler, Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, Nicky Minaj, Coldplay and Lady Gaga are among the artists scheduled to appear at the I Heart Radio inaugural festival, scheduled to take place in Las Vegas at MGM Grand on September 23-24. Joining them on the bill will be John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, David Guetta, Jennifer Lopez and Kenny Chesney, among others.

Organizers have promised that as the summer runs on more artists will continue to be added. Hosting the event will be the always busy Ryan Seacrest. The show will be streamed live via mobile devices and online at iHeartRadio.com as well as across all websites of radio stations owned by Clear Channel.

For those wanting to attend the event in person, liking iHeartRadio at Facebook will give fans the first chance at tickets. On Saturday at 1 a.m., the pre-sale will end. The general public sale will start at 1 pm that same day via Ticketmaster.com.

Since it is a radio fest, listeners are being given lots of opportunities for winning free trips to Las Vegas by Clear Channel to attend the event. Visit iheartradio.com for more information.

At Alicia Keys’ performance on June 30 at the Beacon Theatre in New York, she will be commemorating her 10th anniversary of the year when her first album “Songs in A minor” was released. The singer/producer/songwriter has dubbed the concert “Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys” and the performance will be all about the singer and her piano.

Keys stated, “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of songs in A minor, than by holding a special, intimate concert for my fans. It’s my absolute favorite way to perform. There is something so special about just me on my piano connecting with the audience. It brings me back to the very beginning when I could only perform with a keyboard and to now be able to take it back to the essence of who I am with this show, it is so exciting.”

Keys also has other commemorations planned in addition to the concert at the Beacon. She will also be re-releasing songs in A minor, which will be packaged in a limited edition case and will include songs that have never before been released. Keys has also included new liner notes in both the two-disc deluxe version and the three-disc collector’s version, which comes with an anniversary documentary DVD. This re-release will also drop on vinyl as well.

To get tickets for “Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys” go to AliciaKeys.com on May 6.

“We Want Peace”, the title of former Sudanese soldier and now rapper Emmanuel Jal’s charity track is being backed up by some of the biggest names in politics, business and entertainment to promote peace in the currently tumultuous African country, Sudan.

For years, Northern and Southern Sudan have been at war with innocent Sudanese serving as collateral damage.  “Eighty percent of Sudan’s oil fields are in the south, making it a prime battleground to displace indigenous people,” explains the press release posted on Jal’s website.  “Both North and South are preparing for war, leaving innocent people at grave risk for major human rights violations,” the post continues.  On January 9, 2011, a referendum will take place to decide the fate of Southern Sudan either as a free country or to continue living under the chaotic Sudanese rule.

Emmanuel Jal used to serve in the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army.  After witnessing firsthand the never ending cycle of civil terrorism and criminality, he was fortunate enough to land on the kind hands of a social worker who helped him earn a formal education.  Now at 30 years old, Jal makes use of the education he strived to acquire to promote and increase awareness about his home country’s present situation via the “We Want Peace” campaign, and makes an effort to solicit help from people who can further shed a light on the matter through his single “We Want Peace”, penned by him with music by Peter Gabriel.

Joining Gabriel in helping Jal with his cause are Grammy Award winner and chart topper Alicia Keys, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Virgin Group of Companies CEO Richard Branson and Academy Award winner and philanthropist George Clooney.  Keys, who is also known for her “Keep A Child” benefit org, plays a special role in the track’s video intro which can be viewed online.  The song can also be downloaded via iTunes.

Alicia Keys and Red Light Management are teaming up.  Keys and AK Worldwide, Keys’ company, will be overseeing her career in music in association with Coran Capshaw, Red Light Management founder, Will Botwin, president, and Ron Laffite, senior artist manager.

MBK Entertainment’s Jeff Robinson was the previous manager of the producer/songwriter/singer Keys, a 12 time Grammy Award winner.

Red Light Management has offices in Charlottesville, VA, Denver, Nashville, Los Angeles and New York.  Capshaw founded the company in 1991 when he started to manage Dave Matthews Band.  Their company artistic roster includes Damian Marley, OneRepublic, Ben Harper, Phish, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Keys recently had her first child.  In late 2009 she released “The Element of Freedom,” her fourth album.  The set features “Unthinkable,” the No. 1 hit single, which according to data from Nielsen SoundScan has sold a total of 1.4 million copies.

Last week Kayne West revealed the goofy title of his forthcoming album.  Now he is revealing some of the well known guest stars that collaborated with him on the record.

Alicia Keys, La Roux and M.I.A. All make guest appearances on West’s new set “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”  Kayne also said that Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is all over his album.  The song “Lost  in the World” features vocals that have been re-recorded from “Woods” by Bon Iver.

West and Vernon recorded nine songs together.  West confirmed that the album would contain several of these tracks.

It is also rumored that Santigold, Mos Def and Kid Cudi are on the album.  “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” will be released on November 22.

The annual Keep a Child Alive charity ball which is spearheaded by Grammy Award winning singer and mama-to-be Alicia Keys successfully raked in a total of $2.4 million dollars to fund several projects by the humanitarian organization, one of which is furthering AIDS/HIV research and information dissemination, especially in Africa and India where the disease is widespread.

The ball, which took place in New York City last Thursday had the biggest names in music in attendance –  Usher, Whitney Houston and power couple Beyonce and Jay-Z to name a few.  Actress Uma Thurman and Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson also appeared at the said event.

Keys is obviously inspired and happy, not only with the success of the event but also with the little bundle of joy coming her way.  With only a few months to go before her little tyke arrives, the singer does her part in making the world a better place, by reaching out to one AIDS victim at a time.

“The baby is going to see everything we do and I think that we are giving individuals. (Even) something small like reaching out to one person in the world can change that one person. That’s a big deal. I plan to show that (to my child),” Keys told music website contactmusic.com

Tributes to music legends – dead or living, homage to Black entertainment icons who have passed away throughout the past year, and comeback performances both from classic and more contemporary artists were witnessed by hundreds of attendees at the BET Awards last night, June 27, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah hosted the event, lashing out her own brand of stand-up comedy to celebrity show-ups and award winners like Drake, where she sampled a line from one of the rapper’s tracks. But the night would be mostly remembered for Chris Brown’s self-redeeming tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who passed away a little over a year from today.

Brown was in complete MJ fashion – fingers were bandaged, fashioning skinny high wasted pants and a pair of glittery gloves – coupled with the King’s dance moves best remembered from the videos of “Billie Jean” and “Remember the Time”, which the young artist performed with absolute grace and snappiness, it’s as if watching Jackson on stage again.

But Brown melted down during the song “Man in the Mirror”, where the audience took over in singing the song as he could barely get his act together on stage. Perhaps he was grieving for the loss of everyone’s music hero, or he could simply relate to the song due to his almost demise in the recent past. Whatever the reason for the meltdown was, audiences found Brown endearing, and they might’ve even forgiven him for his past sins, anyway, it has been a year and he has clearly shown remorse, at least as what it seemed from his “Man in the Mirror” act.

Meanwhile, a very preggers Alicia Keys did not let the baby bump impede her tribute to the one and only Purple One, Prince. Along with Patti LaBelle and Janelle Monae, they all sang “Adore” where the soon-to-be-married Keys was seen pounding the blacks and the whites – keys, that is – while she almost straddled herself to the piano. Prince was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pianist and R&B artist John Legend was also recognized during the awards night for his humanitarian works.

Other noteworthy performances include returning artists like Eminem who shared the stage with breakout artist B.O.B to perform “Airplanes” and Marshall Mathers’ new single “Not Afraid”. El DeBarge also performed with their classic Motown set, with “Rhythm of the Night” setting up the tempo. Kanye West, after his stage hijacking incident last year, debuted his newest single, “Power” as the night’s opening number. West performed the song while standing at the peak of a makeshift mountaintop clad in red. Fresh from serving his sentence, rapper T.I also made a comeback by performing “Takers”, along with drummer Travis Barker.

But the big winners of the night were Drake and Nicki Minaj who both took home Best Male and Female Hip-Hop Artist honors, respectively. They both share the same record label owned by Lil Wayne who is now serving his sentence. Both artists gave a shout out to their boss and delivered knockout performances, as well – Drake with Young Jeezy, and Minaj with fellow colorful rapper Lil Kim. Meanwhile, the video for “Telephone” a collaboration between Beyonce and Lady Gaga, won Video of the Year honors.

Lastly, Lena Horne, Teddy Pendergrass and Gary Coleman, who all passed away within the past year, were acknowledged for their contributions to the Black entertainment industry.

This might come as a surprise to all her fans, but Alicia Keys is pregnant to hip-hop and R&B producer and her fiancée Swiss Beatz, or Kasseem Dean in real life.

The news came out after the couple attended the Black Ball Charity event in London on Thursday night where the singer’s baby bump showed through her gown. The said event was a fund raiser for the Keep a Child Alive organization, of which the 29-year old Keys is an active benefactor.

The couple, who started dating late of last year, has scheduled the wedding on July 4 of this year, in London. The couple is planning to have a very intimate wedding, with their closest friends and families alongside the private ceremony.

Swiss Beats has been married once to hip-hop and R&B artist Mashonda. The couple has called it quits and has recently finalized their divorce. They share custody of their 3-year old son. Beatz’s baby from Keys will be the 31-year old producer’s third child as he also has a 9-year old son from a past relationship.

On Tuesday, the musical “Fela!,” produced by Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, received 11 Tony Awards nominations. “La Cage aux Folles” also received 11 nominations to tie with “Fela!” for the most nominations this year.

“Fela!,” in addition to its Best Musical nomination, also received Best Book of Musical nomination for Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis. Sahr Ngaujah received a Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical nomination.

“Fela!” is the life story of Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician. On June 8 the original recording from the Broadway cast will be made available by Knitting Factory Records.

The musical based on an album from Green Day, “American Idiot,” also received a Best Musical nomination, as well as “Million Dollar Quartet” and “Memphis.” Best Original Score nominees are Andrew Lippa (“The Addams Family”), Lucy Prebble and Adam Cork (“Enron), Branford Marsalis (“Fences”) and Joe Di Petro and David Bryan (“Memphis”).

Best Revival of a Musical nominees are “Ragtime,” “A Little Night Music,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and “Finian’s Rainbow.”

On Tuesday morning, Lea Michele of Glee and Jeff Daniels announced the nominations. The Tony Awards show will air on June 13 on CBS from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.

Do you have the writing chops for composing blog posts for Alicia Keys, Grammy Award winning artist? If so you might be able to get a job via job search website Monster.com, who handles most of their operations in Maynard.

Keys and Monster have forged a partnership to organize a hunt nationwide for a blogger to head up IASS.com, Keys’ new website. IASS stands for “I Am A Super Woman.”

Starting on April 6 and continuing until May 3, the position can be applied for by logging into Monster.com. More information is available there on IASS.com according to a press release from Monster.com.

Keys’ website is designed for helping to empower women. It will be focusing on social issues and topics of interest to women. A special person is wanted for the head blogger position.

Ted Gilvar, Monster.com’s marketing global chief officer, said that Monster’s precision search technology would help with matching the best candidates out of the thousands that apply.

Qualifications for this job according to a spokesman for Monster.com include writing skills, experience with social media, and an ability for representing Keys’ voice. No money will be exchanged between Keys and Monster.com for the search for head blogger.

Monsters has had partnerships with several media companies for selling help wanted advertising, including ones with Boston.com and The Boston Globe.