Sly Stone filed a $50 million lawsuit in Los
Angeles
Superior Court on Thursday alleging fraud and 20 years of stolen
royalties by former manager Jerry Goldstein. Stone claims
Goldstein registered the name of the Sly And The Family Stone band with
U.S. authorities as one owned by the Goldstein family, and used it to
borrow millions of dollars. According to Stone's lawyer
Robert J. Allen, the lawsuit highlights "a dark side of the music
business where some of these artists are being robbed of their
intellectual property and the fruits of their genius by unscrupulous
people who prey on their trusting nature and lack of business and legal
knowledge." Goldstein has not answered any of the allegations.
A hearing has been scheduled by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge
Mitchell Beckloff starting May 26th to decide if Michael Jackson's
father Joe should receive a monthly allowance of more than $15,000 from
the Jackson estate. Joe Jackson was omitted from Michael's
will and trust with benefits going to his mother, 3 children and
various charities. Administrators of the estate have opposed
the motion and an attorney for Michael's children has expressed her
concerns.
Joe Walsh of the Eagles has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Illinois
Republican congressional candidate Joe Walsh over the use of his song
"Walk Away" for which the politician added some new lyrics.
Singer songwriter Phoebe Snow, 58, underwent surgery on Jan. 19th after
suffering a brain hemorrhage. According to her manager, the
operation went well and "Phoebe is holding her own and
stable." "It is too early to assess any residual motor
damage, and we are taking it day-by-day, but doctors are hopeful for a
complete recovery." Snow had been working on her new studio
album due out this year and to be followed by a tour this spring but a
postponement of those projects is expected.
Grammy Award-winning R&B and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
vocalist Etta James, 72, has been admitted to Riverside Community
Hospital in Southern California for about a week as she is recovering
from sepsis caused by a serious urinary tract infection.
James had entered a treatment program about a month ago to beat her
dependency on pain-killers and over-the-counter medication but was
transfered to another facility and then moved again when her the
infection worsened.
The various artist charity compilation Hope For Haiti Now debuted at #1
on the Billboard 200 albums chart becoming the first digital-only
release to claim the top spot with sales of 171,000 copies.
Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack fell 3 places to
#12. Michael Jackson's This Is It soundtrack retained the #17
position. Glee Cast's Glee: Season One: The Music Volume 2
dropped 5 spots to #27. Glee Cast's Glee: Season One: The
Music Volume 1 fell 2 places to #29. Michael Jackson's Number
Ones dropped a spot to #32. The Crazy Heart soundtrack
debuted at #38.
"Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)" by Jay-Z, Bono, The Edge & Rihanna
debuted at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack debuted on
the U.K. Albums chart at #22. Queen's Absolute Greatest fell
8 places to #32. Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best Of Fleetwood
Mac dropped 4 spots to #35.
Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'" climbed 2 places to #3 on the U.K.
Singles chart. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" dropped a
spot to #7.
iTunes has reported sales of the Hope For Haiti Now album, video and
individual performance tracks have raised over $3 million for relief
efforts. Most impressive is that the event took place on
Friday night, went to digital distributors during the weekend and was
tallied on Sunday. Organizers for the telethon have said that
the event has raised $57 million so far. Funds raised from
the effort will go to Oxfam America, UNICEF, the Clinton-Bush Haiti
Foundation and several other organizations.
Pogues vocalist Shane MacGowan is reportedly in a London studio with
several friends (which include Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie (of Primal
Scream) and Johnny Depp) to record a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins'
classic "I Put A Spell On You" as a benefit single for Haitian relief.
Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder has released his cover of Bruce
Springsteen's "My City In Ruins" as a digital single with proceeds
going to benefit the Haitian relief efforts. That live
performance took place during last month's Kennedy Center Honors in
Washington, D.C., where "The Boss" was being honored.
The electronic music community will not be left out of the fundraising
for Haiti relief. Sigsaly Transmission Records plans to
release Electronic Aid To Haiti in February. Buzz's "Vision
D'Une Aurtre Industrie," Front 242's "Quite Unusual (Live)" and Fixmer
McCarthy's "Hate Me (Terence Fixmer Rmx)" are among the tracks included.
Rod Stewart will reportedly be one of the celebrity singers recording a
version of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" with Simon Cowell to benefit
Haitian relief efforts.
Michael W. Smith, John Ford Coley, Lee Greenwood, The Oak Ridge Boys,
Amy Grant, Restless Heart and Wynonna are reportedly among the singers
in the Nashville music community that have lent their voices to, "Come
Together Now," a charity single to benefit Haitian relief
efforts. The song was written by Grammy and Dove
Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith, David Mullen and Cindy Morgan.
John Travolta has a new film, From Paris With Love, heading to theaters
on Feb. 5th. Travolta also decided to load up his private
airplane with 22 doctors and several tons of supplies to take to to aid
Haitian relief efforts.
The unexpected second-coming of former Bros vocalist Matt Goss is in
full swing. Goss debuted his Las Vegas show at The Palms in
September last year and now has signed a deal on The Strip for the new
show, Matt Goss Live from Caesars Palace Produced by Robin Antin, which
debuts on Mar. 12th. The singer recently released a new
album, Gossy, and has a children's book, Bear Crimbo, in the works.
Elton John, Slash, Doug E. Fresh, Roberta Flack and Jeff Beck are among
the performers scheduled for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards to be held
on Jan. 31st. Alice Cooper, Placido Domingo and Lionel Richie
are among the presenters. Michael Jackson's children will
reportedly accept a Lifetime Achievement Award during the event on
behalf of their father.
Former Killer Dwarfs guitarist Mike Hall has a new 10 track solo album,
Have Guitarz...Will Travel, available via
www.myspace.com/michaelmikehall.
Duran Duran returned to their London recording studio last week to
review the 14 tracks that they've recorded with producer Mark
Ronson. They are expected to continue work next month to
record vocals and some keyboards.
Moev have released, Ventilation, their first new studio album in 11
years via iTunes which includes the new song, "Halt," produced by John
Fryer.
AC/DC have announced they will release AC/DC: Iron Man 2 on Apr. 19th
via Columbia Records. The collection of 15 classic tracks by
the band make up the official album in support of the upcoming Marvel
Studios film Iron Man 2. A video for "Shoot To Thrill" can be
seen at Vevo.com and mixes film footage and the band's performance shot
live in Buenos Aires last month. As of yet, the band haven't
released a 'best of' collection so this may be as close as fans get for
now.
While talking about the Who's upcoming half-time performance at the
Super Bowl with Billboard.com, Pete Townshend talked about how he works
in the studio. "My hearing trouble makes it quite difficult
for me to work in a studio for long periods of time. I have
to be quite careful not to work too much and not to tour too
much. I can still hear pretty well, I don't need a hearing
aid to hear conversations and I can work with music. As I get
older, I'm 65 next birthday, my hearing is naturally falling off with
age, so I'm having to take great care." Meanwhile, their 1965
classic, "My Generation," has gotten a face-lift in the form of a new
remix by Will.i.am that has Slash playing guitar on it. That
version will air during the Super Bowl and will go on sale via iTunes
with proceeds going to Haitian earthquake relief.
Drummer Steve Pierce has rejoined Tokyo Blade which reunites the 4
original members of the band for a new album and tour.
"Weird Al" Yankovic has signed a deal with Cartoon Network to create
his own live-action television movie. "...it hasn't been
officially green-lit yet, but it's gotten some very positive buzz at
the network." At earliest, the film would shoot in the fall
with him directing but not starring in it.
In a recent interview with AOL's Noisecreep, Scorpions founder and
guitarist Rudolph Schenker explained the band's decision to call it a
day. "We were sitting in the studio after we finished
tracking [the new Scorpions album] Sting Of The Tail, and we realized
something quickly. We heard these songs together, and it just
captured the essence of the '80s Scorpions sound. It sounds
like a combination of the best material on the Love Drive and Crazy
World albums. The songs have that feel and spirit.
Then our manager had the idea to finish the band on a high note with
this record. At first, we thought he was joking.
But then we noticed he was completely being serious. And it
turns out, he was right." The band plans to embark on a 2 or
3-year farewell tour before walking off into the sunset after 40 years.
Paul Weller has announced that he will release, Wake Up The Nation, his
10th solo studio album on May 4th via Yep Roc Records.
Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars told the Toronto Sun in a recent
interview, "I have at least 50 ideas for some new songs for
Motley. Everybody in the band writes on their own and has
their own thing. Tommy's doing his solo album, Nikki is doing
Sixx: AM again and Vince is touring. And I'm writing songs
for a solo album as well. But we've got a bunch of ideas we
can collaborate on some time."
Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, John Mellencamp and several
other performers will perform as part of "In Performance At The White
House: A Celebration Of Music From The Civil Rights
Movement." The event will be hosted by the President and his
family, take place in the White House East Room and be broadcast on PBS
on Feb. 11th.
The Misfits saw 3 of their songs from their Misfits Project 1950 appear
on Thursday's episode of the CW's The Vampire Diaries.
Hopefully, you recorded it but if not... it should appear online at
CastTV.com or a few other places.
U2's The Edge recently told EW.com that work on the new album has
begun. "We are working on a lot of new songs. Some
of them are really, really happy. We're convinced that we
have something really special." The band have reportedly been
working on new material in-between legs of their world tour.
The Colourfield's 1985 album, Virgins & Philistines, and 1987's
Deception will be reissued in expanded versions in the U.K. on Mar.
22nd.
Paula Abdul has reportedly been offered $1 million to appear in some
capacity on Dancing With The Stars. It has also been said
that, if she agrees to the deal (which she has until Mar. 22nd to do as
the show starts then), she will also be allowed to become a judge on
the U.S. version of The X Factor (which she is said to have met with
Simon Cowell about already.)
120 people were arrested this week for disorderly conduct, drug
possession and drinking in public during Metallica's concert in
Santiago, Chile. Many of the arrests (as well as the injury
of one police officer) happened when hundreds of fans without tickets
tried to force their way into the venue that already had more than
50,000 attendees. Meanwhile, the band have sent out their
condolences to the family and friends of Morgan Dana Harrington who
disappeared during their concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in
Charlottesville, Virginia. Morgan's body was found on
Wednesday after 3 months of searching.
Devo has been confirmed as one of the headlining performers at the 2010
Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver at Whistler mountain's medal
ceremonies.
Swedish rock act Treat will release, Coup de Grace, their first new
studio album since their 1992 self-titled effort via Frontiers Records
on Apr. 6th (and Mar. 19th in Europe.)
Foreigner's latest studio album, Can't Slow Down, will be released in
the U.K. in a 13-track version on Mar. 1st.
Seven new songs from Sade's upcoming album, Soldier of Love, are
available for preview online. "Moon And The Sky" can be heard
at Sade's official MySpace page, "Skin" at BET.com, "Babyfather" at
People.com, "Bring Me Home" at SheKnows.com, "Long Hard Road" at
Starbucks.com, "Be That Easy" at BarnesAndNoble.com and "In Another
Time" at The Ellen Degeneres Show's Web site. (You may have
to do a search at each site for Sade.)
French cold wave act Guerre Froide have finished work on their new
album, Abrutir les masses, due out soon via Brouillard
Définitif.
Jon Bon Jovi was in New York City this week filming a guest appearance
on NBC's comedy series 30 Rock, where he will appear as a former
boyfriend of Tina Fey's character airing as a Valentine Day's special.
You may have a subtle 'deja vu' moment when listening to Dirty Vegas'
new single, "I Want You." The song, which is climbing the
U.K. club charts, samples the Eurythmics' hit "Love Is A Stranger."
Frank Black of the Pixies will release his new solo studio album,
NonStopErotik, on Apr. 5th which will include a cover of the Flying
Burrito Brothers' "Wheels."
In the fall of 2010, EMWMusic will release the George Harrison-produced
documentary on Ravi Shankar, called Raga. The soundtrack to the film
will also be made available.
The Specials will be heading to American television for the first time
in nearly 30 years when the reformed band appear on NBC's Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon on Apr. 13th.
Paul Rodgers is the first name to surface in the search for a fill-in
for Steven Tyler in Aerosmith. Rodgers reportedly had to turn
it down as he's focused on his upcoming tour with a reunited Bad
Company. Billy Idol's name has also surfaced and a few more
are expected before a decision is made.
MVD Visual has announced the DVD release of the 1980 film, Blank
Generation, on Feb. 23rd which features Richard Hell, members of the
Voidoids, members of the Ramones and Andy Warhol.
Haywoode's 1986 debut album, Arrival, has been digitally remastered for
reissue in a 17-track special edition on Feb. 15th in the U.K.
Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan is rumored to be the new
writing partner and possibly even bassist for Jane's Addiction
according to fan site Xiola.org.
Olivia Newton-John will star in the upcoming independent musical movie
about Canada's national sport, Score: A Hockey Musical. The
singer will reportedly co-write and perform a song for the end credits.
Poison frontman Bret Michaels will release his previously-delayed
single, "Nothing To Lose," on Feb. 2nd.
Bauhaus' Peter Murphy plans to host a very special pay-per-view live
webcast on Feb. 11th at 7pm (EST) according to Nevessa Live
Productions. Murphy will perform solo songs old and new as
well as never-before performed Bauhaus songs.
Michael Sweet and Tracy Ferrie of Stryper have recorded guest
appearances on Sonia V's new studio album, Oh Sweet Tragedy: Anthems
From The Ashes.
Bananarama plan to release "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" as their
latest single off of Viva. The song is an original written by
Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and Ian Masterson.
French artist Buzy has announced that she will release her new studio
album, Au Bon Moment, Au Bon Endroit, on Feb. 22nd.
Alan Jackson's new studio album, Freight Train, heads to stores on Mar.
30th led by his new hit single, "It's Just That Way."
New Kids On The Block's new concert DVD, Coming Home, heads to stores
next week.