Rihanna Agrees to Reduce Restraining Order Against Chris Brown

Rihanna Agrees to Reduce Restraining Order Against Chris Brown

Two years ago, singer Chris Brown assaulted then girlfriend Rihanna while the two were en route to the Grammys. Fast forward to today: Rihanna, 22, is at the top of her game with six Grammy nominations, and is getting ready to perform at the 2011 ceremony. And according to E!, she's also softening the restraining order against her ex-boyfriend.

The "S&M" singer has reportedly agreed to drop her restraining order to level one, meaning that she and Brown can legally be in the same room again, and even talk to one another. However, Brown is not allowed to "annoy, molest or harass her" or he'll be in violation of the law. In January, Brown's lawyer requested that the restraining order be reduced, saying that it could be a "problem with awards shows."

But even if the restraining order is reduced -- Brown has to first go to court so a judge can officially modify the order -- Brown and Rihanna won't come face-to-face for the first time at the Grammys. Although Brown has three nominations, he has declared that he won't be attending the February 13 ceremony due to a prior commitment. We're sure Rihanna is grateful for that; the last thing she needs is to confront her abusive ex with a swarm of paparazzi documenting every second.

As for Rihanna, she's still urging her fans to move past the abuse and concentrate on her career success instead. In response to an irate Twitter follower who criticized her Thursday for easing the restraining order, the pop star twittered: "I would've sworn he beat YOUR a**, just by how upset you are! My fans don't care about a restraining order and neither do I!"

We understand that Rihanna wants to get past that ugly moment in her life, but her horrified fans will never forget what happened. And the best way for her to get past it is to never let it happen again.

Do you think it's a mistake for Rihanna to reduce her restraining order? Chime in below!

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Usher's 'OMG' ' 'Kills It Every Night,' Says Tourmate Miguel

'There's so much anticipation for this song when he comes out,' Miguel says of MTV News' Song of the Year.
By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker


Usher
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

MTV News just named Usher's "OMG" the #1 song of 2010, and clearly we're not alone in our admiration. But what is it like to watch it performed night after night? Miguel, who is currently opening for Usher's OMG Tour gave us a little insight.

"There's so much anticipation for this song when he comes out, and he really gives the fans what they want," Miguel laughs. "He kills it every night."

Before his latest string of hits, Usher was out of the spotlight for a period of time in 2009, when he was dealing with personal issues including a divorce. Miguel finds his 2010 comeback inspiring.

"There was a period of time, when a lot of people didn't believe in Usher and thought he was finished ... just kind of going to ride off into the sunset and disappear," the up-and-coming singer noted.

With the release of Raymond vs. Raymond and its extended, companion EP, Versus, in 2010, Usher proved the skeptics wrong with chart-toppers including "OMG" and "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love."

"He's such a tremendous example of perseverance and determination," Miguel beamed. "I was there throughout this album, so I've seen the adversity that he's had to overcome perception-wise."

MTV News' Top 25 Songs of 2010 have all been counted down. But the fun isn't over yet: We still want to see your picks in the comments below!

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Dimmu Borgir Release Live DVD; Plus Led Zeppelin, Brujeria, & More News That Rules, In Metal File

'It shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums,' guitarist says.
By Chris Harris


Dimmu Borgir's Silenoz
Photo: Nuclear Blast

On October 14, Dimmu Borgir — who just happen to be Demi Lovato's favorite black-metal band — will release a a three-disc DVD/CD set called "The Invaluable Darkness," the band's first visual offering since 2002's "World Misanthropy." Boasting live footage shot last year, during gigs in Norway, Germany and England, "The Invaluable Darkness" demonstrates the unbridled furor of seeing Dimmu live, guitarist Silenoz said.

"It shows the honest rawness and atmospheric darkness of our concerts," the Norwegian told Metal File last week, after dismissing recent online rumors that his band's next LP would be coming out through Roadrunner Records. "Basically, it shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums. It's just a different side to the band, basically."

Dimmu Borgir began thinking about "The Invaluable Darkness" two years ago, but didn't start capturing footage until last summer, Silenoz explained, adding that the band will use its current stint on the Blackest of the Black Tour — which got underway Thursday night in Miami Beach, Florida, and also features the tour's founder, Danzig, along with Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch — to promote the DVD. Dimmu Borgir will not, however, use the tour to write material for their next LP.

"It's our first time on Blackest, but Glenn [Danzig] had wanted to bring us out before [on the tour], but we weren't available until now," Silenoz said. "We've done Ozzfest before, but we're looking forward to this tour more. We did the main stage on Ozzfest, playing in f--_ing broad daylight. This tour will let us play in bigger places, but at the same time showcase more of what the band's about, visually. We are going to concentrate on the tour for now. Some years ago, we tried putting [material] together on the road, but once we got home, we listened back to it, and were like, 'What the f--- is this?' So, we just scrapped it all. We find it's so much better to totally focus on one thing at a time, and then, when that's over, you move on to the next [thing]. We don't really feel like we need to rush things, anyway, so we'll just take our time, and it's going to be what it's going to be."

Dimmu Borgir hope to reconvene in late December to begin writing the follow-up to 2007's diabolically titled In Sorte Diaboli. "We have some ideas floating around already, but we haven't arranged any material yet," he said. "We'll start doing that once the touring for this DVD is over." The band's frontman, Shagrath, is also due to marry soon — he's engaged to actor Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, Christina Fulton, so that may have an effect on when Dimmu finish their next album, which Silenoz said could be out this coming spring.

"I'm sure [Shagrath] won't let anything get in the way [of] the band — I think, I hope," the guitarist said. "We don't need a Yoko [Ono] situation."

While Dimmu have been at it going on 15 years now, Silenoz said he doesn't think their forthcoming material will be much of a departure from their previous black-metal offerings.

"And we have always been about more than just that term, 'black metal,' " he said. "Luckily for us, the older you get, the less concerned you get with the categorization and putting labels on your music. Things start getting more and more limitless with us, and we know that we operate within certain frames. But we try not to analyze things too much, because it's just going to be working against you in the end. When we write new stuff, we don't think about what we should write — we just get together, and put material together, and if we like it, we keep it. That's the formula, if we even have a formula."

Dimmu Borgir are definitely getting older — guitarist Galder will be missing Blackest because of a recent addition to his family, and Susperia's Cyrus will be filling in for him; while former Vader drummer Dariusz Brzozowski takes over for Hellhammer, who had to leave the band in 2007 after sustaining a neck injury that's now limited the use of his right arm. As Dimmu has gotten on in years, Silenoz admits they have failed to keep pace with some of the more extreme black-metal acts that have followed in their wake.

"We helped open doors for the more extreme bands out there," Silenoz said. "I'm sure we helped open doors for bands like Watain, [insomuch as] people that had maybe started listening to us first then went on to the more extreme stuff. Let's face it — we're not as extreme as Watain and other bands like that, but we're fine with that."

The Blackest of the Black Tour continues through November 10 in San Francisco.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Dimmu's tourmates on Blackest, Winds of Plague, have announced ex-Azusa drummer Art Cruz has joined their ranks — he replaced Jeff Tenney. According to the band's blog, "Art has already added a new spark to the band and has provided us with a solid backbone that will allow us to continue our rampage stronger than ever." ...

What the world really needs is another Led Zeppelin box set, so, on November 4, Rhino Records will issue the Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica CD box set. For just $200, you'll get 1969's Led Zeppelin, 1969's Led Zeppelin II, 1970's Led Zeppelin III, 1971's Led Zeppelin IV, 1973's Houses of the Holy, 1975's Physical Graffiti, 1976's Presence, 1976's The Song Remains the Same, 1979's In Through the Out Door and 1982's Coda, as mini-LP replicas, with artwork from the original U.K. LP sleeves. Now, you know what you can get your dad for Christmas. ...

Former Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach and current Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz have teamed up for a new project they're calling Times of Grace, and they've already started working on material for their debut album. According to Leach, "We have two songs to go and we will be finished with all of the vocals. Adam has taken lead vocals in three songs as of yet and he is doing a great job. We also worked on a track yesterday that is so epic — we trade vocals and do two different melodies at the same time. This album went from a melodic metal album to an epic mix of metal/rock/pop/shoegaze and punk. So all of your metal expectations will be incorrect — we are pushing genre boundaries." To quote "Meet the Parents," we'll look forward to that, Greg. ...

The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves will be hitting the road together next month, starting November 7 in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dates are booked through November 21 in Hollywood. ...

The latest incarnation of Brujeria, which features Carcass frontman Jeff Walker and Napalm Death's Shane Embury, have lined up several U.S. dates for this winter. The band will begin its brief trek November 28 in Denver, and wrap things up in Dallas on December 7. ... Demiricous will be touring with the Gates of Slumber starting November 9 in Denver, for a jaunt that's scheduled to run through December 6 in Indianapolis. ...

Nearly three years after Roadrunner Records' Roadrunner United concert, which took over the Nokia Theater in New York's Times Square, the label is now releasing footage from that special night as "Roadrunner United: The Concert." The DVD, which hits stores December 9, will boast two discs and 24 live tracks, including Life of Agony's "River Runs Red," King Diamond's "Abigail," Killswitch's "My Last Serenade," Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" and Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist." ...

According to Blabbermouth, Verrot, bassist for Swedish black-metal outfit Elimi, committed suicide on October 3. In a statement, the band said, "Verrot was a very good friend, brother, an excellent bass player/musician and an important part of Elimi; we respect his decision and hope he'll find his way with the dark gods of Chaos. Let your black flame be a part of what brings forth the day of wrath."

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Usher's 'OMG' ' 'Kills It Every Night,' Says Tourmate Miguel

'There's so much anticipation for this song when he comes out,' Miguel says of MTV News' Song of the Year.
By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker


Usher
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

MTV News just named Usher's "OMG" the #1 song of 2010, and clearly we're not alone in our admiration. But what is it like to watch it performed night after night? Miguel, who is currently opening for Usher's OMG Tour gave us a little insight.

"There's so much anticipation for this song when he comes out, and he really gives the fans what they want," Miguel laughs. "He kills it every night."

Before his latest string of hits, Usher was out of the spotlight for a period of time in 2009, when he was dealing with personal issues including a divorce. Miguel finds his 2010 comeback inspiring.

"There was a period of time, when a lot of people didn't believe in Usher and thought he was finished ... just kind of going to ride off into the sunset and disappear," the up-and-coming singer noted.

With the release of Raymond vs. Raymond and its extended, companion EP, Versus, in 2010, Usher proved the skeptics wrong with chart-toppers including "OMG" and "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love."

"He's such a tremendous example of perseverance and determination," Miguel beamed. "I was there throughout this album, so I've seen the adversity that he's had to overcome perception-wise."

MTV News' Top 25 Songs of 2010 have all been counted down. But the fun isn't over yet: We still want to see your picks in the comments below!

Related Photos Related Artists

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Justin Bieber Goes Bald On Kimmel

?Jimmy Kimmel Live!? welcomed pop superstar Justin Bieber Thursday night to talk about his upcoming tour documentary ?Never Say Never.? Following the Twitter request they made earlier this week asking fans to submit title suggestions for a new song the twosome would pen and perform together, the duo announced the chosen title—-?Jimmy Cuts Justin?s Hair.? [...]

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2011 Academy Awards Nominees

2010 Academy Awards

Here's the complete list of Oscar nominees is as follows: Best Picture 'Black Swan' 'The Fighter' 'Inception' 'The Kids Are All Right' 'The King?s Speech' '127 Hours' 'The Social Network' 'Toy Story 3' 'True Grit' 'Winter?s Bone' Best Director Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan' David O'Russell, 'The Fighter' Tom Hooper, 'The King's Speech' David Fincher, 'The Social Network' Joel and Ethan Coen, 'True Grit' Best Actor Javier Bardem, 'Biutiful' Jeff Bridges, 'True Grit' Jesse Eisenberg, 'The Social Network' Colin Firth, 'The King's Speech' James Franco, '127 Hours' Best Actress Annette Bening, 'The Kids Are All Right' Nicole Kidman, 'Rabbit Hole' Jennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone' Natalie Portman, 'Black Swan' Michelle Williams, 'Blue Valentine' Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale, 'The Fighter' John Hawkes, 'Winter's Bone' Jeremy Renner, 'The Town' Mark Ruffalo, 'The Kids Are All Right' Geoffrey Rush, 'The King's Speech' Best Supporting Actress Amy Adams, 'The Fighter' Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King's Speech' Melissa Leo, 'The Fighter' Hailee Steinfeld, 'True Grit' Jacki Weaver, 'Animal Kingdom' Best Animated Feature Film 'How to Train Your Dragon' 'Illusionist' 'Toy Story 3' Best Foreign Film Mexico - 'Biutiful' Greece - 'Dogtooth' Denmark - 'In a Better World' Canada - 'Incendies' Algeria - 'Outside the law' Best Original Screenplay 'Another Year' 'The Fighter' 'Inception' 'The Kids Are All Right' 'The King's Speech' Best Adapted Screenplay '127 Hours' 'The Social Network' 'Toy Story 3' 'True Grit' 'Winter's Bone' The 2011 Academy Awards will be hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco and will broadcast live on ABC on Sunday February 27th. [gallery=748]

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