According to TMZ, a warrant was issued for
former
Warrant vocalist Jani Lane last week, after he failed to show up to two
court appearances stemming from his 2009 DUI conviction. Lane
was scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 23rd to show he has completed
his alcohol classes and community service and on Feb. 24th when he
missed the first date. The singer's lawyer has said that Lane
was recently in the hospital and will not be able to be at court until
next week.
Fishbone have been sued by a fan in Philadelphia over injuries (a
fractured skull and broken collarbone) suffered when their lead
vocalist did a stage dive during a concert last week. The
band, the venue and owner (the University of Pennsylvania) have been
named in the suit.
Ozzy Osbourne's book signing at Barnes & Noble in Palm Beach
Gardens, Florida on Feb. 26th became a bigger event than expected
according to The Palm Beach Post. Officers saw a man smoking
marijuana in the store, who ran when he noticed the police coming
towards him. During a search of his backpack, they found what
appeared to be homemade fireworks. A bomb squad was called to
the scene to investigate and dispose of the items. According
to police spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy, the man will be charged with drug
possession and possibly face other charges. Meanwhile, a
Manhattan federal judge ruled on Feb. 25th that Osbourne can proceed
with his lawsuit against guitarist Tony Iommi over ownership of the
Black Sabbath name. Osbourne is suing for 50% interest in the
Black Sabbath trademark as well as a portion of Iommi's profits from
use of the name.
Prince has settled the lawsuit brought against him by the promoters of
his 2008 performance at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland which he had been
forced to cancel.
Jimmy Barnes has announced that his The Rhythm And The Blues tour has
been canceled due to issues with some of the American members of the
band.
The nominations for the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards
have been announced. George Strait is up for Entertainer of
the Year and Top Male Vocalist of the Year. Reba McEntire is
up for Top Female Vocalist of the Year. Brooks & Dunn
featuring Billy Gibbons on "Honky Tonk Stomp" and Carrie Underwood
featuring Randy Travis on "I Told You So" are up for Vocal Event of the
Year. Meanwhile, fans will vote online at VoteACM.com for
Entertainer of the Year.
For the third week in a row, Sade's Soldier Of Love album has dominated
the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart at #1 on sales of
127,000 copies. Johnny Cash's American VI: Ain't No Grave
debuted at #3 on sales of 54,000 copies. The Alvin And The
Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack fell 3 places to #22.
The Crazy Heart soundtrack dropped 3 spots to #25.
Artists For Haiti's "We Are The World 25: For Haiti" fell 30 places to
#36 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 1 dropped a spot to #2 on
the U.K. Albums chart. Johnny Cash's American VI: Ain't No
Grave debuted at #9. Journey's Greatest Hits fell 4 places to
#19. Sade's Soldier Of Love dropped 10 spots to
#21. The Hollies' Midas Touch: The Very Best Of The Hollies
debuted at #23. Michael Jackson's This Is It soundtrack
re-entered the chart at #24. The Alvin And The Chipmunks: The
Squeakquel soundtrack fell 10 places to #26. Fleetwood Mac's
The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac dropped 6 spots to #31. Celine
Dion's My Love: The Essential Collection fell 8 places to #36.
Helping Haiti's "Everybody Hurts" fell 8 places to #9 on the U.K.
Singles chart. Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'" dropped 11
spots to #18. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" fell 5 places
to #23. Glee Cast's "Halo/Walking On Sunshine" dropped 16
spots to #25. Jedward's "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)"
featuring Vanilla Ice fell 17 places to #28. Glee Cast's
"It's My Life/Confessions Part II" dropped 19 spots to #39.
Stony Plain Records has announced they will release Jeff Healey's final
jazz studio album, Last Call, on Apr. 6th. They will also
release a concert DVD, Beautiful Noise by Jeff Healey and The Jazz
Wizards on Mar. 23rd distributed via MVD Entertainment Group.
The "Everybody Hurts" charity single has raised over $1,000,000 for
Haiti and has eclipsed the 500,000 mark for sales according to
reports. "Everybody Hurts" has also been the number one
single in the UK for two weeks running. Proceeds from the
single are being split 50/50 between Disaster Emergency Committee
& The Sun's Helping Haiti Appeal.
Bob Geldof has been working on his new studio album which is due out in
May. Meanwhile, he has also spoken out against the findings
of a recent BBC investigation into where the funds raised by 1984
single, "Do They Know It's Christmas," and 1985's Live Aid event
went. The report cites former Tigrayan People's Liberation
Front leader Aregawi Berhe who told journalists that only 5% of the
nearly $100 million donated went to famine relief while the rest was
siphoned off for the rebel cause to purchase weapons and recruit
Ethiopians to the cause. Geldof responded, "It's possible
that in one of the worst, longest-running conflicts on the continent
some money was mislaid, [but] if [95 percent] of [the] money had been
diverted, far more than a million people would have died."
Spandau Ballet will begin reissuing remastered versions their albums in
the U.K. on Mar. 8th with their 1981 debut, Journeys To Glory, and
1982's Diamond. Each will include a second disc with
previously-unreleased BBC vault material, remixes and
B-sides. The band also kicked off the European leg of their
Reformation tour last week.
Robyn Hitchcock will will release his latest studio album, Propellor
Time, via Sartorial Records on Mar. 22nd. The album includes
guest appearances by John Paul Jones, Johnny Marr, Nick Lowe and Morris
Windsor as well as a backing band that includes Peter Buck, Bill
Rieflin and Scott McCaughey. A video for the first single,
"Ordinary Millionaire," is now up at YouTube.com.
Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery has announced his departure from
the band via a Twitter message stating: "That's it.
With equal parts regret and relief, the Jane's Addiction experiment is
at an end." Former Guns N' Roses member Duff McKagan will
reportedly join the band in the studio to help finish recording their
follow-up to 2003's Strays.
Bananarama's new single, "Love Don't Live Here," will be released on
Apr. 12th in multiple formats. They are expected to premiere
the video for the track at their official Web site www.bananarama.co.uk
on Monday.
Former Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo has signed a deal with Corey
Mitchell of MetalSucks.net to help pen his autobiography.
Chris Isaak, Faith Hill, Ronnie Spector, Eric Burdon and Peter Wolf are
among the performers scheduled to appear at the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame induction ceremony later this month.
Swedish melodic-rock act Treat will release their new studio album,
Coup De Grace, via Frontiers Records on Apr. 6th.
Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's has released her new song, "If Girls Ruled
The World," from her upcoming album, Lady Robotika, online via
iHeartInc.com as a benefit single for a limited time. 100% of
the profits from the download will be donated to Haitian Relief Efforts.
"In Pieces" has been announced at the next single to be released off of
Foreigner's latest album, Can't Slow Down. The song heads to
radio on Mar. 15th.
Lenny Kravitz has been hitting the television circuit this month in
support of the DVD release of Precious: Based on the Novel Push by
Sapphire. Kravitz has also been busy in the recording studio
working on his next album due out later this year.
Pete Byrne of Naked Eyes has been busy in the studio working on their
new album, Piccadilly, due out this summer. Currently, it's
in the mixing stage.
The Roots are getting ready to release a new album entitled How I Got
Over but they've also started recording the follow-up which will
include several guest vocalists. Booker T. Jones of Booker T
and the MGs has already been brought in to record a track.
Work on the debut album by the Down N' Outz is almost
finished. The band made up of Def Leppard vocalist Joe
Elliott, several members of the Quireboys and bassist Ronnie Garrity of
Raw Glory.
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett will release his new studio
album, Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth, on June 8th via InsideOut Music.
Young MC has made a newly recorded song, "Babe," available for preview
at his MySpace page. In 2008, he released the album,
Relentless.
Iron Maiden have announced that their new studio album, The Final
Frontier, will be released later this summer following their North
American tour.
Elton John and Leon Russell are recording a new studio album together
in Los Angeles with producer T-Bone Burnett. Neil Young,
Booker T. Jones and Jim Keltner are among the guest artists that have
contributed to the as-yet untitled album.
Spinefarm Records has announced, "Due to unforseen circumstances,
Killing Joke's new album, Killing Joke 13: Feast of Fools, and
subsequent tour have been postponed until September of this year."
Paul Weller's new video for "Wake Up The Nation" made its world
premiere on Channel 4 in the U.K. on Wednesday. You can find
it now on YouTube.com.
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler has been in the recording
studio working on a new album of original material with his Adler's
Appetite band due out in late spring/early summer.
Tesla will release their new album, Alive In Europe!, via Frontiers
Records on Apr. 23rd in Europe. The album was recorded at
various locations during their European shows last summer.
Brazilian pianist/singer Johnny Alf, 80, often credited with inventing
bossa nova died on Thursday in a Sao Paulo hospital from multiple organ
failure after a fight with prostate cancer. Alf (born Alfredo
Jose da Silva) appeared on 46 albums and recorded only 9 solo releases
during his career. During the decade, he appeared on
Azymuth's 1988 album, Crazy Rhythm, and Baby Consuelo's 1980 release,
Ao Vivo/14th Montreux Jazz Festival.
Long-time Hall and Oates bassist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, 58, died on Feb.
27th from an apparent heart attack. Wolk worked in many
genres during his career starting with Kurtis Blow's "These Are The
Breaks," his almost 3 decades with Hall & Oates, collaborations
with Jimmy Barnes, Paul Carrack, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Debbie
Gibson, Robert Hazard, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Robert Palmer, Bette
Midler, Carly Simon and Squeeze and 6 years of work as a member of the
Saturday Night Live house band.