Dr. Dre filed documents last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles stating that he needs to determine
the value of the claim he holds against Death Row Records for unpaid royalties accruing after the record label's
bankruptcy filing. He has asked the court to have the label hand over documents on Feb. 29th and to order their
representatives to be available for deposition on Mar. 7th.
Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills returned to London's Royal Courts of Justice Feb. 11th to their divorce battle.
Mills recently let her lawyers go to conduct her case on her own. It is believed that she is seeking rights to
publish a book about her experience as well as a package worth more than $150 million. McCartney has offered considerably
less.
Dolly Parton has been forced to postpone her U.S. tour (set to begin on Feb. 28th) due to an ailing back. Hopes
are to reschedule the dates for late April/early May. Her new album, Backwoods Barbie, is due out Feb. 26th. In
a statement released by the singer, "But hey, if you try wagging these puppies around a while and see if you
don't have back problems. Seriously though, the doctors said I will be good as new in a few weeks, and I can't
wait to get back out there."
Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits fell 3 places to #12 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Sarah Brightman's Symphony
became her highest album debut at #13 selling 31,463 copies. The Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden fell 7 spots to
#23. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand fell 15 places to #36.
"Into The Night" by Santana featuring Chad Kroeger fell a spot to #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles
chart.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand fell 3 spots on the U.K. Album chart to #7. A compilation of the
late Billy Fury, His Wondrous Story - The Complete Billy Fury, climbed 5 places to #10. Garth Brooks' The Ultimate
Hits dropped 7 spots to #17.
Wet Wet Wet's new single "Weightless" debuted at #10 becoming their 10th top 10 single on the U.K. Singles
chart. Morrissey's "That's How People Grow Up" debuted at #14. Kylie Minogue's "Wow" climbed
2 spots to #20.
The 50th Annual Grammy Award ceremonies took place on Feb. 10th. Herbie Hancock won Album Of The Year for River:
The Joni Letters. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss won Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for "Gone, Gone,
Gone (Done Moved On)." Joni Mitchell won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "One Week Last Summer."
The Beastie Boys won Best Pop Instrumental Album for The Mix-Up. Bruce Springsteen won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
for "Radio Nowhere." Slayer won Best Metal Performance for "Final Six." Bruce Springsteen won
Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Once Upon A Time In The West." Bruce Springsteen won Best Rock
Song for "Radio Nowhere." Prince won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Future Baby Mama."
Chaka Khan featuring Mary J. Blige won Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Disrespectful."
The late Gerald Levert won Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for "In My Songs." Chaka Khan won
Best R&B Album for Funk This. James Ingram & Quincy Jones were among the winners of Best Rap Song for "Good
Life" (a Kanye West song that includes a sample of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing".)
The Eagles won Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "How Long." Willie Nelson &
Ray Price won Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "Lost Highway." Vince Gill won Best Country
Album for These Days. Herbie Hancock won Best Contemporary Jazz Album for River: The Joni Letters. Patti Austin
won Best Jazz Vocal Album for Avant Gershwin. The late Michael Brecker won Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "Anagram."
Michael Brecker won Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group for Pilgrimage. Terence Blanchard won Best
Large Jazz Ensemble Album for A Tale Of God's Will (A Requiem For Katrina). Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige
(featuring The Harlem Boys Choir) and The Clark Sisters tied for Best Gospel Performance for "Never Gonna
Break My Faith" and "Blessed & Highly Favored" respectively. Karen Clark-Sheard of The Clark
Sisters won Best Gospel Song for "Blessed & Highly Favored." Ricky Skaggs & The Whites won Best
Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album for Salt Of The Earth. The Clark Sisters won Best Traditional Gospel
Album for Live - One Last Time. Fred Hammond won Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album for Free To Worship. JJ
Cale & Eric Clapton won Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Road To Escondido. Levon Helm won Best Traditional
Folk Album for Dirt Farmer. Steve Earle won Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album for Washington Square Serenade.
Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger won Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for
"Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls. John Clayton won Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
for "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" from Queen Latifah's Trav'lin' Light. Tchad Blake, Cameron Craig, Emery
Dobyns & Jimmy Hogarth won Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Suzanne Vega's Beauty & Crime. Benny
Benassi won Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise (Benny Benassi Sfaction
Remix)". Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" won Best Short Form Music Video. Madonna's The
Confessions Tour won Best Long Form Music Video.
The nominees for the 2008 CMT Music Awards have been announced. Alan Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man"
is nominated for Male Video Of The Year. Van Zant's "Goes Down Easy" is nominated for Duo Video Of The
Year. The Eagles' "How Long" and Bon Jovi's "(You Want To) Make A Memory" are up for Group
Video Of The Year. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)", Reba McEntire
and Kelly Clarkson's "Because Of You", Alison Krauss and John Waite's "Missing You", Bon Jovi
featuring LeAnn Rimes' "Til We Ain't Strangers Anymore" and Garth Brooks and Huey Lewis' "Workin'
For A Livin'" are up for Collaborative Video Of The Year. Dwight Yoakam's "Close Up The Honky Tonks",
Billy Joe Shaver's "Get Thee Behind Me Satan", Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' "Gone, Gone, Gone
(Done Moved On)", Willie Nelson's "Gravedigger" and the Eagles' "How Long" are up for
Wide Open Video Of The Year. Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson's "Because Of You" is up for Tearjerker
Video Of The Year. The finalists will be announced in March and winners announced at the 6th annual Country Music
Awards airing on CMT on Apr. 14th.
The 2008 Juno Award nominees have been announced with Celine Dion leading the pack with 6 nods. Her Taking Chances
and D'elles (French language release) albums were both nominated for Album of the Year. She is also up for the
Juno Fan Choice Award, Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year and Francophone Album of the Year. Blue Rodeo
are nominated for Group of the Year. Bon Jovi's Lost Highway is up for International Album of the Year. Blue Rodeo's
Small Miracles, Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II and Tom Cochrane's No Stranger are up for Adult Alternative Album
of the Year. Anne Murray's Duets: Friends & Legends is up for Pop Album of the Year. Butch Walker is up for
Songwriter of the Year. Bob Rock and Joni Mitchell are up for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year award.
Dominican singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra 440's La Llave De Mi Corazón won Album of the Year, Best Merengue
Album and Best Engineered Album at the 19th Billboard Latin Music Awards. The title track won Record of the Year,
Song of the Year and Best Tropical Song. Ricky Martin's MTV Unplugged won Best Male Pop Vocal Album and Best Long
Form Music Video. Chick Corea & Bela Fleck's The Enchantment won Best Instrumental Album.
Aretha Franklin was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on Feb. 8th at their annual benefit which raised
a record $4.5 million for musicians' aid.
Billy Joel has signed on to play the 'last ever' gig at New York's legendary Shea Stadium on July 16th. The show
is entitled "The Last Play At Shea, From The Beatles To Billy" taking place after this season's All Star
Game. The New York Mets are holding their final season at the venue before moving to the new Citi Field next year.
Performances at the stadium began in 1965.
Amy Grant recently went into the recording studio with Hawk Nelson to record a song for their upcoming CD due out
on Apr. 1st.
The Alarm MMVIII will release the final disc completing the Counter Attack Collective this week (which comes with
a special box to house all 8 discs of the set.)
Maybe she isn't retiring. Cher has signed on to perform about 200 shows over the next 3 years at the Colosseum
at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas starting May 6th. Bette Midler begins her 2-year run on Feb. 20th at the 4,100-capacity
venue. Cher wrapped up her 3-year Living Proof Farewell Tour in 2005.
John Taylor and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran make guest appearances on guitarist Dom Brown's recently released album,
Between The Lines. Brown has been touring and recording with Duran Duran replacing Andy Taylor. Meanwhile, a long
version of Duran Duran's music video for "Falling Down" is now available on iTunes.
Alan Jackson's new studio album, Good Time, heads to stores in March and features his latest single, "Small
Town Southern Man." This is the first album of his career that includes songs written only by Jackson.
Dr. John has signed a deal with 429 Records (an imprint of the Savoy Label Group) for the May release of his new
studio album tentatively titled The City That Care Forgot.
Howard Jones has announced he will be holding his 25th anniversary concert on Sept. 20th at the O2 Indigo Arena
in London. An announcement of a ticket sale date is expected from his howardjones.com Web site in the near future.
Meanwhile, Jones' In The Running, The 12" Album and Cross That Line will be released on iTunes on Feb. 18th.
Into The Dark by Ferry Corsten featuring Howard Jones has also been made available at www.beatport.com.
Saints Of The Underground (which features guitarist Keri Kelli, drummer Bobby Blotzer, vocalist Jani Lane and bassist
Robbie Crane) will release their debut album, Love The Sin, Hate The Sinner, on Apr. 15th via Warrior Records.
The Young Gods plan to release an acoustic album, Knock On Wood, this spring. A sample track, "Our House,"
has been posted at their MySpace page.
Sinead O'Connor has collaborated with Irish funk band Republic Of Loose on a cover of Curtis Mayfield's "We
People (Who Are Darker Than Blue)" which has been released as a digital single in Ireland at iTunes (other
digital stores will follow on Feb. 17th.)
Pat and Markus of Tuner have alluded to their return to the recording studio to work on a follow-up to 2007's Pole.
Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid will see the release of Urban Mythology Volume 1 by his project Free Form Funky
Freqs this week.
Pete Townshend recently posted to TheWho.com that the band is considering working with producer T-Bone Burnett.
According to the guitarist, "I am hoping to come up with some songs for a more conventional Who record."
According to guitarist Andreas Kisser of Sepultura, the band have started the writing process for their new studio
album and are using Anthony Burgess' 1962 classic novel, A Clockwork Orange, as inspiration.
Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley has been working on his as-yet-untitled new solo studio album with plans to release
it in April.
According to a post at her official Web site, Paula Abdul has been working on a new studio album due out this summer.
Her site features a sample of "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" which appeared before the Super Bowl.
Eric Burdon and War have announced a one-time only reunion concert planned for the London Royal Albert Hall on
Apr. 21st. This will be their first time performing together in 37 years. Burdon left the band in 1971 and the
group continued to record until 1983 (reuniting for the 1994 album Peace Sign.)
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is launching a new arm of his music and film production outfit, Oscilloscope Laboratories,
dealing with indie film distribution and international sales named Oscilloscope Pictures. Its first theatrical
release hits theaters this summer and will be announced by next month.
King's X plan to release their new studio album, Go Tell Somebody, in Japan on Mar. 26th via Avalon. European and
North American dates are expected to follow via Inside Out Music.
Limahl will reunite with Kajagoogoo to perform at the Retrofest in Scotland. Also on the Aug. 30th and 31st bill:
10cc, The Bangles, Paul Young, The Blow Monkeys, Kim Wilde, Howard Jones, Boy George, Nik Kershaw, Midge Ure, China
Crisis, Bucks Fizz, Mari Wilson and many more to be announced.
KRS One & The Stop The Violence Movement has released The Power Of The Future independently as a 7-part download
at his MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/templeofhiphop) for $1.50 each. The rapper also has a book, Gospel
Of HipHop, coming out early this year.
Mike Tramp and White Lion have launched their new Web site www.returnofthepride.com. The site features the cover
of the upcoming, Return Of The Pride, album and several links at the bottom of the page include samples of tracks
expected on the disc due out Mar. 14th.
Lindsey Buckingham plans to release Live At The Bass Performance Hall on Mar. 25th via Reprise as a CD/DVD set.
Night Ranger have hired Joel Hoekstra to replace guitarist Reb Beach. The band plan to continue their tour supporting
their new album, Hole In The Sun, into August.
Picture This recently announced plans to go back into the recording studio to write new material, updating their
older stuff and release a few singles (as a download or CD) with the possibility of an album. The group have set
up a MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/picturethisgroup.
Looking for a special Valentine's Day present for that Guns N' Roses fan in your life? No, it's not Chinese Democracy.
Check out RecklessRoad.com which is the sole place to purchase the only authorized book documenting the beginning
of the band by early band photo historian Marc Canter. Limited edition covers are available at the site (one for
every band member) as well as a few exclusive online audio samples to check out.
U2 plan to release a remastered version of their 1980 debut album, Boy, on May 20th via Island Records which will
include a bonus CD. More of their back catalogue is expected to follow. The band recently released a 20th anniversary
edition of The Joshua Tree.
Don Dokken's solo album, Solitary, has now been made available at his official MP3 store at his DokkenStore.com
Web site. Previously, it was only available for purchase by fans attending his acoustic tour.
The Breeders will release their new studio album, Mountain Battles, on Apr. 8th (Apr. 7th via 4AD in the U.K.)
A tour supporting the album will begin on Apr. 25th at the Coachella Festival.
Public Enemy's Flavor Flav has moved on from reality television to a sitcom. He is currently shooting a half-hour
series entitled Under One Roof in Toronto set to debut on MyNetworkTV in the spring. The rapper plays a convict
trying to turn his life around after being released from prison and moving in with his wealthy, conservative brother.
The network has ordered 13 episodes of the show.
A live DVD recorded during the From The Jam performances in London in December is in the works with a possible
May release. New material has been worked on in the studio that could be released this year.
Lou Reed has recorded a guest spot on Stephen Emmer's spoken word album, Recitement, due out on Apr. 7th in the
U.K. Reed recites Paul Theroux's poem "Passengers" appearing on the disc.
Neil Young and Eddie Vedder are among the artists that have contributed song to the double-disc collection Body
Of War: Songs That Inspired An Iraq War Veteran due out Mar. 18th. The documentary, Body Of War, premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September. Vedder's song "No More," performed with his band Pearl
Jam in 2007 with guest Ben Harper, will be the first single.
Krokus recently announced on their official Web site that "the band decided to take an artistic break. More
news to follow."
Johnny Marr will enter the recording studio with his Modest Mouse bandmates to work on new material before heading
out on tour with R.E.M. An EP of outtakes from their last two albums is also being finished.
Sam Harris will release "War On War" as the first single from his upcoming CD. Subscribers to his YouTube
channel (SamTube.com) will be able to download the MP3 of the song for free.
Stryper's Michael Sweet has released a retail version of his Touched
album. It can be purchased online at MichaelSweet.com in the Store area.
Drummer Sean Finnegan, 43, of D.C. hardcore band Void died on Jan. 30th of an apparent heart attack according to
a press release from Dischord Records. Finnegan had been working most recently on the HBO television series The
Wire. His family are asking in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Fisher House at Walter Reed Hospital
in Washington, D.C.