The oil crisis has been an easy target for the media, so now it's our turn to get in on the hype. No matter what your political views are (left, right, or center), the rising price of oil is a concern for everyone. Even the most patriotic gas-guzzlers out there are beginning to question their driving habits. Now, if you ask the R&B star Rihanna, she'll tell you to "shut up and drive," but we think (and hope) that she's making a sexual reference.

While we wait for gas prices to drop, let's fire up this free Tune Up playlist instead of our engines. Click the green button below to listen, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.

Fergie must have never heard the old adage about not repeating the same fashion — because she’s set to perform at Condé Nast’s Fashion Rocks for the third year running this fall.

Fergie Ferg won’t be the only repeat offender. The Black Eyed Peas, who joined her on one song two years ago, will also headline along with Beyoncé, who headlined in 2006 too.

Also coming back to the Fashion Rocks stage are Mariah Carey (who headlined in 2005) and Rihanna (who performed with Elton John in 2006). But this year’s show will have some new energy from the likes of Justin Timberlake, Duffy, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne for the event’s fifth anniversary. Keith Urban and Kid Rock are also on the bill.

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RIHANNA credits her success as a singer to childhood bullying, insisting her prejudiced peers prepared her for the entertainment industry by forcing her to develop a thick skin.

The Barbados-born beauty experienced difficulty fitting in at school because her lighter complexion left her feeling like an outsider.

But she says the taunting she endured is what eventually drove her to seek out the limelight.She says, "It (prejudice) made me angry. It made me want to fight in my younger years. Having lighter skin wasn't a problem in my household, but it was when I went to school - which really confused me at first. For the first six years of school, I would go home traumatised."

Friday morning in Manhattan, Miley Cyrus gave a free "Good Morning America" concert for more than 10,000 tween girls and their moms. Some of the fans had been waiting since 3 p.m. the day before to get into the show, but two NEWSWEEK reporters--both male and in their early 20s--squeezed into Bryant Park to investigate the Cyrus circus for themselves.

"The kids really look up to her," confirmed Diane White, a mom from Medford, N.J., who told us her daughter has asked whether Miley would turn bad "like Lindsay Lohan?" That's what NEWSWEEK's Oscar Raymundo and Kurt Soller spent the walk back to the office debating.Kurt: OK, Oscar, now that the sun is out of our eyes, what'd you think of the performance?

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R+B pin-up RIHANNA has won a new hair honour to go with her 2007 `best legs' accolade.

The Umbrella singer has topped a new U.S. magazine poll aimed at naming the stars with the best hairstyles.

Rihanna beat Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston to top the In Touch Best Hair In Hollywood list.

The top five style queens are:

1. Rihanna

2. Gwyneth Paltrow  3. Jennifer Aniston 4. Vanessa Hudgens 5. Isla Fisher

&B singer Rihanna has become the new face of fashion house Gucci - as part of a charity campaign.

The "Umbrella" hitmaker has been named as the spokeswoman for the company's new campaign with UNICEF - which will see a variety of limited edition products sold to raise money for good causes.

And she will appear in a new series of advertisements to promote the Tattoo Heart campaign. The singer also supports her own charity, The Believe Foundation, which she set up in 2006.

Rihanna performs on Operacion Triunfo (the Spanish version of American Idol) in Barcelona, Spain on Wednesday.

The Barbados-born bombshell received two platinum CDs for album sales in excess of 800,000 copies sold.

 The Umbrella singer performed Hate That I Love You during the show. David Bisbal performed the song with Rihanna.

Over the weekend, Rihanna and close friend Chris Brown performed at the 2008 Essence Music Festival. 15+ pictures of Rihanna scoring Spanish Idol

The 2008 Essence Musical Festival, presented by Coca Cola, takes over New Orleans this weekend, with entertainment, empowerment, food, funk and crowds expected to top 200,000.
 
Three years after Hurricane Katrina forced the country’s largest black music fest to retreat for one year to Houston, the festival in New Orleans from July 4-6 will honor R&B great Patti LaBelle and also bring to the stage of the SuperDome stars such as Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Chris Rock, Keyshia Cole, Jill Scott, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Morris Day & The Time and LL Cool J. And in some of the SuperDome’s Superlounges, more legends and even up-and-coming stars will perform.

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Reigning R&B prince Chris Brown and R&B princess Rihanna perform at the Louisiana Superdome during the 2008 Essence Music Festival on Friday, the Fourth of July, in New Orleans.

Here’s Billboard’s review of dear RiRi’s latest “Disturbia” single: “Rihanna has scored 10 top 40 hits since her career launched in 2005. More staggering, the 20-year-old has four songs riding the Pop 100: top two ‘Take a Bow,’ Maroon 5 duet ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ just entering the top 40, ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ inside the top 40 after 30 weeks—and now ‘Disturbia.

’ It’s safe to say that Rihanna is the premier artist of the second half of the decade, with no signs of wear and tear. This latest is a sort of ‘Thriller’ for partygoers, with multilayered vocals cascading across Ri’s lower register, alongside fun scatting, a la ‘bum bum bi dum bum’ with co-writing (and background vocals) from the irrepressible Chris Brown. Rereleased albums with added cuts have become a tedious trend, but ‘Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded’ is actually worth its weight in platinum. In short order, Rihanna has become the trustworthy ‘it’ girl of our time.’

First of all, thanks to Just Jared for providing a large array of pictures of Rihanna on the set of her new video for "Disturbia." Now tell me why this really rather gorgeous girl has to constantly be disturbing her good looks.
I'm curious to see how the final product will turn out, as well as getting a chance to catch it on YouTube before someone yanks it off for publishing rights or some such nonsense. (Eh, I'm still bitter that they pulled my end-of-credits video phone recorded post from IRON MAN.) I say this because there's no way in hell you'd ever catch me tuning into MTV. As if they'd play the video anyhow. That's a joke which needs to get over with.

Anyhow, there's some good leggy shots in here (including one with a hole in her stocking, making me wonder if it was for Chris Brown's easy access). But that feathered head dress has Cher running around town screaming about who raided her closet, you know it.