02/25 Showcase Live - Foxboro, MA

Actor/ singer/ director Drake Bell made a tour stop in Cleveland this past Saturday at the Grog Shop. The pop star, best known for his role on Nickelodeon's hit series "Drake & Josh", is winding his way throughout the mid-west this winter. Bell, now 25 years old, is playing old hits as well as tracks off of his recent EP "A Reminder, while continuing writing his new album". Bell is scheduled to end his tour with performances in Michigan, Kansas, and Arkansas and finishing in Missouri at the end of January. Watch KSU Buzz reporter Brandon Arroyo's exclusive interview below.

“Drake and Josh” star Drake Bell is unfailingly kind to the fans who approach him when he’s out on the town, because he’s a self-confessed “fanatic” himself. “I get bombarded all the time when I’m out with friends,” he said in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home.

“I have met so many of my idols — like Ray Charles, Brian Setzer — all these cats that are legendary musicians. If they had said to me, ‘Hey man, I’m busy,’ it would have crushed my soul.”

Bell, 25, who will play an acoustic, all-ages show on Friday night at MXTP, says he has been a music fan since he was a boy. But when legendary Who singer Roger Daltrey, a co-star with Bell in the 2001 movie “Chasing Destiny,” took him under his wing at age 12, Bell was launched into the extreme music fan orbit. [Read Entire Interview]

Disney XD will launch Marvel Universe, a dedicated Marvel programming block, with the new series "Ultimate Spider-Man" as its centerpiece, on SUNDAY, APRIL 1, it was announced today by Gary Marsh, President and Chief Creative Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California. [Source]

...So, on April 1st, we will roll out a brand new Marvel branded block on Disney XD called Marvel Universe, which will showcase our first new animated series, a collaboration with Marvel, called Ultimate Spider Man. Now, joining Spider Man will be the second season of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The new Spider Man will feature a teenage Peter Parker played by Drake Bell, but this time, he’s no longer going it alone. As the newest member of Nick Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, he finds himself on a team with four other teenage Marvel superheroes. He’s got White Tiger, Iron Fist, Power Man and Nova. Now, this has implications for Spidey, of course, because it means that, for the first time, while he’s losing his independence, he’s gaining a cadre of crime fighting cohorts.” [Source]

Drake Bell dropped in at The Voice to hang out with the patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The actor, comedian and musician was happy to sit down and talk about the music that inspires him and the direction his career is moving in.

Drake told the children that he is very inspired by The Beatles. Not only does he love all of their music but Paul McCartney is one of his idols and he would love to work with him at some point. His favorite Beatles song is “Blackbird” and he decided to play it for the children that were in the studio.

He also spoke about the difference between live musical performances and being on TV. He said being on TV was a little easier because if he ever messed up or forgot a line they could shoot the scene over. That is not the case, he explained, when you are performing in a concert. He let the kids in on a little secret: if he ever gets nervous and forgets the words of the song he is singing, he just holds the mic out to the crowd to sing along until he remembers the words again! [Read Full Interview]