The always highly anticipated release date for the latest edition of the immensely popular hits-filled compilation NOW That’s What I Call Music has arrived. Volume 41 features multi-Grammy nominated superstars such as Adele, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Coldplay, plus chart-busting hitmakers like LMFAO, Gym Class Heroes, Gavin DeGraw, Nickelback, T-Pain, Pitbull, Chris Brown, Selena Gomez & the Scene, and Toby Keith, among others. Fans of all types of music will find favorites across the 20 tracks that make up this new NOW collection.
NOW As It Was In The Beginning: The very first edition of the wildly popular – and enormously commercially successful - NOW That’s What I Call Music series arrived in 1998 and featured a galaxy of stars including Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, Hanson, Brian McKnight, Everclear, and Lenny Kravitz. The album peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell over a million copies. Little did anyone know that this inaugural package of hits would kick off a series that to date has topped the 100 million sales mark worldwide.
With a pedigree like that, NOW 41 has a great deal to live up to – and it does so with ease. The 20-song collection gets the party started with “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO, a duo who has quite a pedigree of its own: RedFoo is Motown legend Berry Gordy’s son, and SkyBlu is Gordy’s grandson. Katy Perry keeps the party going with “The One That Got Away;” Lady Gaga gets even more dancers on the floor with “Marry the Night;” Britain’s Jessie J doesn’t give those dancers a breather with “Domino;” and Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine pump up the volume with “Stereo Hearts.”
Rapper T-Pain keeps the hit machine running on time with “5 O’Clock,” while J. Cole invites everyone to keep moving on “Work Out.” The track list stays hot with Pitbull’s “International Love” featuring Chris Brown; Breathe Carolina’s “Blackout;” Selena Gomez & the Scene’s “Love You Like a Love Song;” Gavin DeGraw’s “Not Over You;” Coldplay’s “Paradise;” Adele’s “Someone Like You;” Nickelback’s “Lullaby;” and two huge country hits: Luke Bryan’s “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and Toby Keith’s crowd-pleasing drinking anthem “Red Solo Cup.”
As has become tradition, NOW That’s What I Call Music 41 comes to a close featuring four future chart champions: Sammy Adams’ “Blow Up;” Hunter Hayes’ “Somebody’s Heartbreak;” Susan Justice’s “Eat Dirt;” and The Wanted with “Glad You Came.” The NOW musical and commercial juggernaut has long since become an unstoppable force and there is no reason to believe that the newest edition of the series won’t follow all of its predecessors to the top of the charts.
Body Of Work: Ladies, don’t get cavities while checking out the eye candy in the video for LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”:
As A Matter of Fact…
* The electro-pop duo LMFAO was formed by RedFoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy) and his nephew SkyBlu (Skyler Austen Gordy) in Los Angeles in 2006.
* Gym Class Heroes was formed by high school classmates Travie McCoy and Matt McGinley in Geneva, NY in 1997. Today the group also includes guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasonga and bassist Eric Roberts.
* Gavin DeGraw was born on February 4, 1977 in South Fallsburg, NY. His song “I Don’t Want Be” has been featured as the theme for the television series One Tree Hill since 2003.
* Nickelback was formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Canada. Original members include Chad Kroeger (vocals, guitar), Ryan Peake (guitar, backing vocals), and Mike Kroeger (bass). Current drummer Daniel Adair joined in 2005.