A bus owned by Crystal Gayle was stolen and used as an escape vehicle by prison inmate Christopher Daniel Gay.
Gay escaped from a prisoner transport in South Carolina and evaded a 5-state manhunt by taking a pickup, a big
rig and Gayle's bus. The bus ended up in Lakeland, Florida, and Gay was arrested late Friday in Daytona Beach.
He is being charged with grand theft auto and 3 outstanding warrants.
B.B. King, 81, was released from a hospital in Galveston, Texas, on Saturday after being treated for a flu-related
fever.
According to the Web site of singer Juan Gabriel, he was forced to stop his concert in Puebla (65 miles southeast
of Mexico City) after nearly fainting. Gabriel fell from the stage during his 2005 concert in Houston and since
has promised to take better care of himself. Gabriel is Mexico's top-selling artist and is a 6-time Grammy nominee.
A court hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 1st to hear an emergency petition filed on Jan. 24th by James Brown's
6 adult children. They are asking for the trustees to be removed as they believe the singer's valuable estate was
mismanaged and the assets are in danger of being "lost or dissipated or stolen."
Tom Waits has settled his 'sound-alike' lawsuit against German carmaker Adam Opel AG and their advertising agency
McCann. The defendants reportedly hired a singer to impersonate Waits' distinctive vocal style in their ads after
Waits refused their requests. The singer was originally seeking an injunction and at least $300,000 in damages.
Waits has announced that he will donate the net settlement proceeds to an unnamed charity.
Dead Or Alive vocalist Pete Burns has filed a £1million lawsuit against London plastic surgeon Dr. Maurizio
Viel for a lip augmentation that left considerable swelling, blistering, discharge and impaired his ability to
eat, drink or talk. Burns claims that the damage was so extreme that at one point it looked like his lips would
need to be surgically removed. He eventually found a doctor in Italy who knew the lip implant product and said
he could remove it. The singer alleges that he has had 17 months of procedures with more planned. Burns claims
that the disfigurement hurt his career as he was about to record with the Pet Shop Boys, pursue a number of solo
projects including a greatest hits album.
The Amsterdam prosecutor's office announced, "The pop singer Madonna will not be prosecuted for blasphemy
and insulting faith." Conservative Protestants had called for her to be prosecuted after her two concerts
in September where she knelt and took off a crown of thorns while a crucifix was projected behind her. The plaintiffs
are able to appeal the decision.
Bono is set to be honored with the Chairman Award at the 38th annual NAACP Image Awards for being "an inspiration
to many people around the world through his music and humanitarian efforts."
Queen Latifah will see her first two albums (1989's All Hail The Queen and 1991's Nature Of A Sista') reissued
this week.
The Van Halen reunion is on. David Lee Roth reportedly entered Eddie Van Halen's Hollywood home studio in December
to rehearse 14 of the band's biggest hits. Negotiations are currently underway for the first Roth-fronted Van Halen
tour since 1984.
According to Barbara Orbison, her late husband is being considered to be immortalized on a U.S. postage stamp next
year. The widow has spent the last two years leading an effort to obtain nearly 20,000 signatures for a petition
for the stamp at their RoyOrbison.com Web site.
Modest Mouse will release their first new studio album with new guitarist Johnny Marr, We Were Dead Before The
Ship Even Sank, on Mar. 20th. The first single from the album, "Dashboard," is currently #10 on Billboard's
Modern Rock chart.
Anthrax will head to Chicago and start work on new material for their next album. It also seems that they will
not be continuing their reunion with vocalist Joey Belladonna.
Erasure have finished work on their next studio album, A Light At The End Of The World, which is due out in North
America on May 22nd. The first U.K. single to be released from the album, "I Could Fall In Love With You,"
is due out Apr. 2nd.
According to a post on their official site, Krokus' tour bus was in an accident on Jan. 22nd while driving from
outside Copenhagen, Denmark, on their way to Hamburg, Germany. No one was seriously hurt other than some cuts and
bruises. A new bus was sent by the tour bus company and they made it out to their show.
Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Randy Owen, John Anderson and Riders In The Sky are among artists that
have contributed tracks to an upcoming currently-untitled Gene Autry 100th anniversary tribute album due out in
September.
The life of Scott Walker is being worked into a film entitled Scott Walker: 30 Century Man with an Apr. 27th theatrical
release date. The film documents his early career as well as his latest album, The Drift. Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker,
Sting, David Bowie and many others are interviewed in the film.
Clan Of Xymox will release a new EP, On A Mission, via Pandaimonium Records in April. The disc will include the
title track, a remix of "Be My Friend" and two covers (one is expected to be David Bowie's "Heroes".)
Original Malice members Mick Zane, Mark Behn and Jay Reynolds are getting ready for a reunion tour and new album.
Also joining the lineup will be Last Empire vocalist Brian Allen and former MSG drummer Pete Holmes.
Bon Jovi have been working hard on their upcoming country album in Nashville. They reportedly have played the album
for their record label with a final mix pending. The album could be released as early as April.
Michael Jackson has reportedly been urged to convert to Islam by his older brother Jermaine. David Gest recently
said that his friend Michael has been closely following the U.K. version of Celebrity Big Brother, where Jermaine
is a housemate.
Music Video Distributors will release the new performance DVD by Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven entitled First
Annual Camp Out Live this week.
A new live DVD and CD are on the way from the world class Rock and Pop Masters band (which features Joe Lynn Turner,
Jimi Jamison, John Cafferty, Robbie Dupree and Larry Hoppen) recorded in 2006.
Robbie Williams newest single, "She's Madonna," is a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys which was taken
from the Rudebox disc released last year.
Nick Cave's new band Grinderman will release their self-titled debut album on Mar. 5th. The first single, "No
Pussy Blues," will be released earlier on Feb. 19th.
Mike D. of the Beastie Boys recently joked with Australian news site The Age that the new album "is actually
really different... [fans] can expect to be disappointed, they can expect to be angry at us."
In an official statement from singer/songwriter and Crowded House founder Neil Finn, "After spending most
of last year making music and hanging out with my friend Nick Seymour, we are now announcing our intention to reform
Crowded House with a new record entitled Time On Earth." Finn's brother Tim Finn who joined the band from
their third album on will not be part of the reunion.
Phish keyboardist Page McConnell will release his self-titled solo debut album via Legacy Recordings on Apr. 17th
featuring guest contributions from former bandmates Trey Anastasio and Mick Gordon.
After a long hiatus, the Kirkwood brothers have reunited the Meat Puppets. The group has been in an Austin, Texas,
recording studio working on a new CD and rehearsing for the tour. Drummer Derrick Bostrom will not be returning
to the band and for now Ted Marcus will take his place.
Reba McEntire's new compilation, 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection, will go on sale exclusively
at Walmart next month. The set will head to other retail outlets in March. Meanwhile, the Reba Wear Spring Season
clothing line is now available at www.RebaWear.com.
"So Not Over You" will be the first single from Simply Red's upcoming studio album, Stay, which is due
out in March.
Some Bizarre has released a collection of demos from the sessions of Soft Cell's debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret,
entitled Demo Non-Stop.
Original Vicious Rumors member and bassist Dave Starr has left the band to work on his new project, WildeStarr.
WildeStarr's debut album is due out later this year.
U.K. act James plan to reunite for some shows starting in April and are expected to play some new material during
the dates.
Peter Gabriel is asking people to send in their amateur video documenting human rights abuse for his new venture
named Witness. "With the phone and Internet, anyone, any place, can tell their story. You have seen the trend
to citizen journalism." Meanwhile, two venture capital trusts of London-based Ingenious have invested nearly
$4 million in supporting the North American release of Gabriel's next solo album.
Former Roxy Music member Brian Eno recently told BBC Radio Four that he is producing Coldplay's 4th album. According
to Eno, the results have been "very original and very different from what they've done before."
Former Blow Monkey's vocalist Dr. Robert has recorded a new studio album of duets with PP Arnold entitled Five
in The Afternoon with a summer release date planned.
Dinosaur Jr. plan to release their first new studio album with the original lineup in 18 years, Beyond, on May
1st via Fat Possum Records.
Paul Robb of Information Society mentioned that they will be releasing their new EP, Oscillator, via iTunes on
Mar. 19th during the Talking 80s Music podcast. Their new album, Synthesizer, is expected later this year. Their
new work features new vocalist Christopher Anton but doesn't entirely disregard former vocalist Kurt Harland (who
has contributed to several new songs.)
The Neon Judgement have released their new mix CD, Mixing9ties, via iTunes. The 17-track disc includes remixes
of the group's songs that were recorded from 1990 to 1998.
Kim Wilde has recorded a cover of Elton John's "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" as a duet with her
father Marty Wilde which will appear on his new compilation, Born To Rock N Roll: The Greatest Hits, due out in
the U.K. on Mar. 5th.
Due to the success of their first volume, Alabama will release their second collection of inspirational tracks,
Songs Of Inspiration Volume 2, on Mar. 27th. Randy Owen is serving as a celebrity guest judge on the new season
of Nashville Star.
Former Heaven and Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery has been working on his new solo studio album, Pins & Needles.
A limited edition first pressing of the album heads to stores soon.
Velvet Revolver are scheduled to release their new studio album, Libertad, to retail outlets on May 14th in North
America.