It wouldn't be the Fourth of July without a little country flare. And that's exactly what went down at VH1's Philly 4th of July Jam on Thursday. Hunter Hayes set off fireworks with his live renditions of "I Want Crazy" and "Somebody's Heartbreak." Before his show ended, fans were treated to a cover of The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic."

Music lovers gathered all the way down Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to watch artists like Ne-Yo, Grace Potter and J. Cole take control of Independence Day. The Roots served as the night's house band and backed up Hunter on a red, white and blue-glowing stage.

In his Southern charisma, Hayes spewed his true-love wisdom to the crowd. "There's all kinds of rules for love; I say let it do what it does," he sings in "I Want Crazy." "There's no such thing as wild enough. Baby, we just think too much." Hayniacs took the advice to heart, letting loose and dancing in the summer heat.

Hunter, with his hair slicked back instead of spiked up, launched into "Somebody's Heartbreak." As he switched guitars, he prepared for the song he "just loves to jam to." So, with ?uestlove and the crew behind him, he whipped out some intricate guitar riffs in a John Mayer-style. (Maybe Mayer taught him a thing or two backstage, as he also played the Philly Jam.)

One of Hayes' favorite songs, "like, ever," is "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," originally done by The Police in ...

It's hard for giant monsters and machines to get noticed in a summer packed with an Avenger, a Man of Steel and the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

But perhaps a glowing review from none other than Yeezus himself will put the Jaegers and Kaiju of firmly on moviegoers' maps.

On Independence Day, Kanye West tweeted to the world about his new favorite movie: "Pacific Rim," the upcoming action blockbuster from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures co-production takes place in a world where mankind has been ravaged by a plague of skyscraper-sized monsters called "Kaiju." To defend against the threat, man built an equally-sized weapon: massive mecha-suits called "Jaegers," which require two human pilots to operate.

"Pacific Rim" is an all-original concept from the minds of del Toro and co-writer Travis Beachem. It's lacking in star-power, with its most famous faces hailing from the FX biker show "Sons of Anarchy" and fellow FX comedy "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." And according to some box-office prognosticators, it's tracking to land softly on its release in just one week.

But none of that stopped West from loving it.

"I saw a pre-screening of Pacific Rim yesterday," he wrote on July 4, "and it's easily one of my most favorite movies of all time."

West continued, "This is not another 'Robot' movie. Guillermo del Toro is a master."

West's reference to "Pacific Rim" being anything but "another 'Robot' movie" is a timely one. Recently, "Transformers" director Michael Bay struck out against other "rip-off" robot ...

Not even megastar Johnny Depp will be able to stop the onslaught of minions this holiday weekend.

got off to a gigantic start on Wednesday, the biggest ever for Universal. the big-budget Disney Western starring Armie Hammer in the title role and Depp as his partner Tonto, couldn't compete whatsoever. "Despicable Me 2" collected an estimated $34.3 million on Wednesday, putting it on track to make as much as $140 million through Sunday. Despite playing in roughly just as many locations, "The Lone Ranger" made just $9.7 million on Wednesday.

The Steve Carrell-led sequel to the 2010 animated blockbuster headed into the holiday with mostly positive reviews (and great deal of enthusiasm from the MTV Movies team, as evidenced by a series of minion-loving gifs). The movie made $4.7 million during Tuesday-night showings. "Despicable Me" eventually grossed more than $543 million around the world and "Despicable Me 2" will easily beat the other big animated movies of 2013 so far, "The Croods" and "Monsters University." The audiences who've seen it already are behind it, giving it an "A-" CinemaScore.

Disney spent a reported $225 million to make "The Lone Ranger," which reunited both the studio and Depp with "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski. The $45 to $50 million five day total predicted by industry experts will be a major disappointment. Critics have not been kind to "The Lone Ranger," either. More than 75 percent of film critics panned the latest take on the heroic character who first appeared in 1930s radio programs, followed by a ...

From Edward Scissorhands to Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp has crafted a cadre of iconic characters over the course of his 30-year career. And with this week's release of Gore Verbinski's he'll add another in the form of stoic sidekick Tonto.

As producer Jerry Bruckheimer told MTV News, Depp had strong ideas about how best to portray the Lone Ranger's trusted friend — long before he was even cast in the role.

"Well, we were filming 'Pirates,' and I told him we had the rights to 'The Long Ranger.' And he went off and did 'Alice,' and while he was doing 'Alice,' he called me and said, 'I want to come see you,' " Bruckheimer recalled. "He handed me this picture, and it was a picture of a Native American. He had a white face on, and he had these black lines drawn on his face, and he had a bird on his head. I said, 'Who's this?' And he said, 'That's Tonto.' And I said, 'Who's going to play — who's the photograph of?' And he said, 'It's me.' He created this character unbeknownst to us, and then came to us. I sent this picture to Disney, and they got really excited about it. And that started the road to production."

And, as Bruckheimer explained it, the character has remained largely unchained from Depp's original vision.

"He had a real good beat on it from the very beginning," Bruckheimer said. "He was always feeding the bird. He knew how the character was. Of course you embellish it during ...

Hey there, rooftop rockers and firework fans, you may be well into your Fourth of July festivities, but make sure to add Philadelphia's 4th of July Jam to your itinerary. The third annual celebration will be going global this year, streaming live on VH1 and Palladia, as well as VH1.com.

That's right, you can watch acts like Philly natives and official house band The Roots, John Mayer, Jill Scott, Ne-Yo, Grace Potter, J. Cole and MTV Artist To Watch Hunter Hayes (filling in for an out-sick Demi Lovato) right from the comfort of your own beach chair. It all kicks off at 8 p.m. ET and continues until 11 p.m. ET. with a fireworks display over the Philadelphia Museum of Art capping off the whole evening.

"We are excited to be at the Philly 4th of July Jam, the biggest Independence Day concert around!" said Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter of the self-proclaimed "Largest Free Concert in America." "You can expect a celebration packed with great artists right on the famous Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Where else should you be on the Fourth of July other than Philly?"

The Philly 4th of July Jam takes place during Wawa Welcome America!, a multi-day festival that celebrates America's birthday in America's birthplace, Philadelphia.

If you can't join the 500,000 folks rocking out in Philly at the live show, make sure to tune in Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST and let freedom — and the music— ring.

Catch the latest updates by following our #PhillyJam hashtag on Twitter.

The road ahead is wide open once again for T.I. After a decade-long, seven-album relationship with Atlantic Records, Tip is an independent artist again and looking forward to seeing where he'll land next.

And while he's celebrating his freedom, MTV will be doing the same with our 
 blow-out on Thursday. The all-day on-air showcase will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on MTV, VH1 and CMT, serving up the ultimate party playlist for fans of pop, country, hip hop, indie and EDM. You'll get the acts you love and emerging artists who are looking to build their fanbase will get a chance to reach millions of new fans on the popular music TV networks, exposing their music to legions of new supporters through the Artist Platform on MTV, VH1 and CMT.

The Grand Hustle boss completed his obligation to the major with last year's Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head and for now, he's just enjoying the success he's having with his current single with Lil Wayne before moving on to the next one.

"I got a record out now, me and Wayne,' Wit Me,' doing numbers every week, increasing on iTunes, increasing on Billboard top 100, so ... I'm just continuing to push. Right now I'm an independent artist," he told MTV News about the dynamic duo's rising one-off banger. The song, which comes with a fast cars, hot women and cop-evading video directed by Phillyflyboy comes just as the pair are planning to hit the road together for a summer amphitheater ...

rode into theaters Wednesday, and if there's one scene viewers will walk away talking about, it's the runaway train finale.

Director Gore Verbinski's adaptation of the iconic Western hero closes out with a climactic action sequence set atop two runaway railroad cars, as Armie Hammer's masked hero and Johnny Depp's Tonto alternate from train to train in an attempt to bring villains to justice. It's a massive, nearly 20-minute sequence designed to leave viewers breathless. But the viewing experience pales in comparison to how much effort went into bringing the "Lone Ranger" climax to life.

"When you read the script, you realize it's going to be at least half the shoot, that train sequence," Depp told MTV News about shooting the movie's stunt-heavy finale. "You realize you're going to be strapped to the top of a train. You know there's going to be some kind of insanity running around."

Actual trains and working track were built to lend authenticity to "The Lone Ranger" and the fictional town of Colby. But for the final sequence, railroad cars were placed on specially designed trucks and driven through multiple locations to achieve the various different looks of the scene: the bleak desert, the bountiful foothills, and even alpine environments.

"I think we shot in every single state in the American southwest," said Hammer. "I think we shot some of it in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and California. It was one of those things where we knew the scale of this last sequence we were putting together, and to only do it piecemeal ...