Former Skid Row drummer Phil Varone has filed a
lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Dave "The Snake" Sabo and
Rachel Bolan (a.k.a. James Southworth) claiming they are "on a crusade
to spread vicious lies" about him and preventing him "from truthfully
describing his career history as the drummer for Skid Row, by
contending that his use of the band name is trademark
infringement." Varone seeks unspecified compensatory and
punitive damages, as well as a declaration that his use of the band's
name doesn't violate anybody's trademark. The former Saigon
Kick drummer was with the band, did perform on their 4th album, 2003's
Thickskin, and has recently appeared on VH1's Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew.
He stood behind his Minnesota Vikings by offering them a song in their
recent playoff run, now Prince has given a new song, "Cause And
Effect," to Minnesota public radio station the Current 89.3 as a
gesture of support for the station. Meanwhile, he's also
being sued for 1.7 million Euros for a canceled performance in Dublin
in 2008.
Natavia Lowery has been convicted of second-degree murder for the death
of former Ramones manager Linda Stein.
Former Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett has been removed from his
role as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts by
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and been made Minister for
Environmental Protection, Heritage and the Arts.
Record label EMI has filed an appeal against the Australian court
decision saying that Men At Work illegally sampled popular children's
song "Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree" on their hit "Down
Under." Meanwhile, the label has also decided not to sell
Abbey Road Studios and instead hopes to revitalize them. This
also came after it was named a Grade II historical area by the
preservation body English Heritage making any purchase difficult.
West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel gave Ozzy Osbourne the key to the
city on Friday in recognition for his many years of bringing both his
shows and Ozzfest to South Florida.
Bob Dylan has been awarded the National Medal of Arts which celebrates
"the breadth and depth of American architecture, design, film music,
performance, theater and visual art."
The Country Music Hall of Fame have announced that Don Williams and
Jimmy Dean are among their selections for induction for 2010.
Sade's Soldier Of Love is #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a
second week on sales of 190,000 copies. The Alvin And The
Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack dropped a spot to #19.
The Crazy Heart soundtrack climbed 16 places to #22. Michael
Jackson's This Is It soundtrack dropped 13 spots to #35. k.d.
lang's Recollection climbed 41 places to #36.
Artists For Haiti's "We Are The World 25: For Haiti" fell 4 places to
#6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 1 debuted at #1 on the
U.K. Albums chart. Sade's Soldier Of Love fell 7 places to
#11. Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back debuted at
#12. Journey's Greatest Hits dropped 3 spots to
#15. The Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack
fell 2 places to #16. Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best Of
Fleetwood Mac dropped 9 spots to #25. Celine Dion's My Love:
The Essential Collection climbed 2 places to #28. The Pet
Shop Boys' Pandemonium Live At The O2 Arena debuted at #29.
Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits held steady at #34. George
Benson's Classic Love Songs dropped 24 spots.
Helping Haiti's "Everybody Hurts" is #1 on the U.K. Singles chart for a
second week. Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'" dropped 2
spots to #7. Glee Cast's "Halo/Walking On Sunshine" held
steady at #9. Jedward's "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)"
featuring Vanilla Ice climbed a place to #11. Journey's
"Don't Stop Believin'" dropped 7 spots to #18. Glee Cast's
"It's My Life/Confessions Part II" fell 6 places to #20.
Whitney Houston's publicist Kristen Stewart has responded to
disgruntled fans who have been voicing and posting video clips to back
up their claims that her Australian performances are
disappointing. Some fans have reportedly walked out of the
concerts, demanded refunds and expressed concern for her
health. According to Stewart, "Whitney is in great health and
having a terrific time on her tour with her fans."
It was June 30, 1990 and many of the the U.K.'s top performers gathered
to perform for charity... no, it wasn't Live Aid (that was 1985) but it
was Knebworth. Eagle Rock Entertainment will release a
double-CD collection on Mar. 23rd of some of these performances
celebrating the 20th anniversary of the event. Performing at
what has been hailed as "The Best British Rock Concert Of All Time"
were Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Elton
John, Phil Collins, Genesis, Dire Straits, Tears For Fears, Cliff
Richard & The Shadows, and Status Quo.
German thrash metal band Sodom will reissue their 1989 album, Agent
Orange, as a double-CD digi-pak on Feb. 26th in Europe which will
include previously-unreleased bonus tracks.
The Hoodoo Gurus have completed work on their 9th album, Purity Of
Essence, which will be released on May 11th via Virtual Label/ADA.
Jetboy have announced that they will release, Off Your Rocker, their
first new studio album in 6 years on Mar. 2nd via iTunes.
Bad Lieutenant are asking fans and aspiring filmmakers to create the
official video for their next single, "Twist Of Fate," off their debut
album, Never Cry Another Tear. The competition started Feb.
22nd and will run until Apr. 2nd. The winning submission will
get a video camera and have their video shown. The single
will be released in the U.S. on Mar. 23rd. More information
can be found at www.DailyMotion.com/group/twistoffate
It seems that the choice for lead single off of Slash's eponymous solo
album has been changed and will be "By The Sword."
Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale provides vocals on the track which heads
to radio on Mar. 1st.
Wynonna Judd will play herself on Lifetime Television's Army Wives' May
16th episode, where she'll perform two songs as part of a USO-style
concert for the troops at Ft. Marshall in Charleston, South Carolina.
Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, Elliot Easton of The Cars and Dave
Grohl have recorded guest appearances on the Coattail Riders sophomore
album.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have announced the release of,
Mojo, their first new studio album in 8 years due out this spring via
Reprise Records.
Ray Davies has been working with several guest artists (including Bruce
Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi) for an upcoming album of duets that
revisits Kinks classics. Lucinda Williams and even Metallica
have been mentioned as possible collaborations.
Exodus will release their 9th studio album, Exhibit B: The Human
Condition, in Europe on May 7th via Nuclear Blast Records.
Sting is planning a summer tour with the Royal Philharmonic Concert
Orchestra that will help him re-imagine his "most celebrated songs"
within a symphonic context.
George Lynch was talking with Jim Alvino of WSCA 106.1 FM's show Turn
It Up about songwriting for his band Lynch Mob when he made a premature
announcement. Since opening for his former band Dokken last
year, he's written a few songs with them for a possible reunion of the
classic Dokken line-up in the studio at the end of the year.
Lynch has since issued a more recent statement, "We are talking about a
possible reunion for 2011, but it's still in early stages!"
Devo released their new single, "Fresh," as a free download via their
official Web site on Tuesday... for only one day. Fans can
still hear the song at www.ClubDevo.com until the release of their new
studio album in April.
Ride, Rise, Roar, a new documentary of David Byrne's 2008-2009 tour
around the world behind his Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
album with Brian Eno will be screened at the SXSW festival next month.
Santana is celebrating the release of the Supernatural: Legacy Edition
but is already planning his next project while still in residency at
Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. He is working on
a guest-heavy collection of iconic rock song covers. No title
or release date has been announced.
Chickenfoot have announced that they will release a new live DVD in
late spring and that they will bring sneak previews to fans via a
partnership with Virtual Venues Network.
Pantera will release a new compilation, 1990-2000: A Decade Of
Domination, due out at the end of March. There are also a few
vinyl reissues planned for albums of that era on Apr. 17th.
Everything But The Girl vocalist Tracey Thorn will release her new solo
album, Love And Its Opposite, via Merge Records on May 18th.
J. Geils band vocalist Peter Wolf releases his new studio album,
Midnight Souvenirs, on Apr. 6th via Verve/UMe.
Meat Loaf has been working on a new 13-track album entitled Hang Cool
Teddy Bear that is due out Apr. 19th. Guest appearances
include Brian May and Steve Vai on guitar and Utopia's Kasim Sulton and
Jane's Addiction's Chris Chaney on bass.
Eddie Vedder's rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "My City Of Ruins" has
been released as a split single (with Ben Harper's Springsteen cover of
"My Father's House") on iTunes and AmazonMP3 to benefit Artists for
Peace and Justice Haiti Relief.
Bret Michaels' new single, "Nothing To Lose," off his upcoming album,
Custom Built, is getting a lot of unusual attention as it features
counterpoint backing-vocals by 17 year-old popster Miley
Cyrus. This is mainly because of lines like "slowly get
undressed" and "won't you fall down on me, so close I can feel you
breathe." Both parties have said that the recording was
impromptu and that it's just a beautiful song.
The Pixies plan to record every show of their upcoming Australian and
New Zealand tour and make a recording available at the end of each show.
A new Neil Young concert film entitled the Neil Young Trunk Show will
be released on DVD and Blu-Ray via Reprise Records later this year.
Aerosmith have announced their Cocked, Locked And Ready To Rock
European summer tour via a YouTube video. The video (also
available at their Web site) shows vocalist Steven Tyler with the band
joking, "I just auditioned and I got the gig."
The new supergroup, The High Confessions, which includes Chris
Connelly, drummer Steve Shelly of Sonic Youth, Smog recording engineer
Jeremy Lemos and Buried At Sea's Sanford Parker expect to release their
debut album this summer.
Frontiers Records has announced that they will release Asia's new
studio album, Omega, on May 4th (on Apr. 23rd in the U.K.)
The first pressing of the digi-pak edition will include one exclusive
bonus track ("Emily.") Meanwhile, Asia featuring John Payne
has signed a deal with Steve Vai's Favored Nations record label for the
release of their new album due out this summer.