The family of late Boston vocalist Brad Delp have announced that his death was a suicide. The state medical
examiner's office has released information that their toxicology tests showed Delp committed suicide by carbon
monoxide poisoning. According to police, two notes were left by the singer as well as letters to his family and
fiancee. One letter was to warn those entering the house that carbon monoxide may be present. Delp's fiancee told
police the the singer "had been depressed for some time, feeling emotional (and) bad about himself.."
His body was cremated on Wednesday after a private funeral. A public memorial to be scheduled later.
Disgruntled former KJLH radio station employee has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against station owner Stevie Wonder
alleging he was fired because he informed his boss that the singer had telephoned one of the sales associates late
at night on her cell phone. Representatives for the singer have yet to respond to the lawsuit or allegations.
Stryper had planned to start recording their next studio effort on Feb. 12th. This start date was pushed back a
month when Michael Sweet's wife Kyle underwent surgery to remove a large mass discovered in her lower abdomen during
an ultrasound. After the surgery (which included a complete hysterectomy), doctors believed that she may be dealing
with ovarian cancer. She now is undergoing chemotherapy and Michael has expressed how deeply moved he has been
by the love, care and support given to him by those encouraging his family at this time. The start date of the
album has been pushed back to mid-July so he can be with his family at this time.
The Who were forced to end their performance on Mar. 13th in Tampa, Florida, during the first song as Roger Daltrey
was unable to sing with his bronchitis. Guitarist Pete Townshend told the crowd that they would return on Mar.
25th to make-up the show and explained Daltrey's condition. The group was expected to resume performances on Mar.
17th in Mexico City but that has also been canceled.
The Pogues have been forced to cancel U.S. performances in the last few weeks after frontman Shane MacGowan suffered
a fall from the stage severely damaging knee ligaments on Mar. 11th.
Nine Inch Nails mainman Trent Reznor lost his voice and has been urged not to sing for a couple of days to promote
recovery. The band were forced to cancel shows during their European tour last minute.
Elton John's plans to perform at a festival in Tabago in April is under fire by angry islanders that want the performance
banned because he's gay.
Johnny Cash's daughter, Rosanne, will be at the 2007 CMT Music Awards to present Kris Kristofferson with this year's
Johnny Cash Visionary Award on Apr. 16th in Nashville.
Hank Williams Jr. was honored in February as Tennessean Of The Year at the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame annual
banquet at the Nashville Convention Center. Williams sent a letter of acceptance and regret for his absence as
he was unable to attend the event.
Information Society release their new 6-track EP, Oscillator, on iTunes this week featuring 4 different mixes of
"Back In The Day," another new track titled "I Like The Way You Werk It" and a live track titled
"Great Big Disco World" featuring Vitamin C. The release is the first featuring new vocalist Christopher
Anton and should whet the appetite of fans until the full-length album, Synthesizer, hits stores.
Metallica entered the recording studio last week to start work on their 9th album. According to an article in So
What! magazine (a mag for only the members of the official group fan club, Metallica Club), Kirk Hammett has alluded
to musical themes running through the 14 songs they are working on as having a Middle Eastern sound.
They Might Be Giants will release their new 13-track studio album, The Else, in a few months and hit the road touring
in the summer and fall.
Bad Religion have been working in the studio on their next album. According to a post by the band, they are almost
halfway done on the 17 songs they've written for their new album, New Maps Of Hell.
Bon Jovi's new studio album, Lost Highway, will be released on June 19th. The first single from the new album,
"(You Want To) Make A Memory" heads to radio this week.
According to a post at the MySpace page of Red Flag, Chris Reynolds has been working on a new Red Flag album due
out this summer. This will be the first new music under the Red Flag name since the death of Reynolds brother and
bandmate Mark Reynolds. Plans are to upload a few preview tracks to MySpace, EGN and RedFlag.org.
Annie Lennox has been working with Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Glen Ballard on the final pieces that will
make up her next studio effort. Current plans are to release the album near the end of the year.
Kim Wilde will release her new single, "Together We Belong," shortly. The song has been added to her
MySpace page. The artwork for the single hasn't been finished yet.
Alabama appeared on QVC on Mar. 15th to debut songs from their new gospel album, Songs Of Inspiration Vol. 2, which
hits retail stores shortly.
Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah, Linda Ronstadt, Gladys Knight, Etta James and k.d. lang are among the
artists contributing tracks to the 13-track tribute album, We All Love Ella: Celebrating The First Lady Of Song.
The Ella Fitzgerald tribute album is due out on June 5th.
Primal Scream have recorded a cover of the classic Screaming Jay Hawkins song "I Put A Spell On You"
with former Adam & The Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni.
It is rumored that a reunited Ratt (Juan Croucier is supposedly still in discussions) will co-headline a North
American summer tour with Poison and special guest Great White.
The official website for Avian (avianband.com) has been placed under construction. It seems that they are doing
some re-design in anticipation of their announcing their new album title and artwork in the next few weeks.
Howard Jones has been working on a remix album of tracks from his Revolution Of The Heart album with a 5.1 surround
sound DVD featuring unreleased remixes from the album with accompanying visuals. Jones has also worked with 60's
singer/songwriter Sandie Shaw on a re-recorded version of her hit "Puppet On A String" entitled "Puppet's
Got A Brand New String." It's currently available as a free download at http://www.sandieshaw.com/shop.php
Julian Lennon has reportedly joined his half brother Sean on his tour bus as he travels across Europe. The two
(Julian, 43, Sean, 31,) have rarely seen each other and are properly getting to know each other after living apart
their whole lives.
Sonic Youth has decided to perform their critically acclaimed 1988 album, Daydream Nation, in its entirety at several
shows worldwide during the summer. The album will also be reissued as a 20th anniversary edition in June featuring
rarities from that period of their career.
Marillion have announced that the second single from their new album, Somewhere Else, will be "See It Like
A Baby."
Orbital's Paul Hartnoll has recorded a song entitled "Please" which features Robert Smith of the Cure.
The song will be released on a limited copy 7" single in May. A !2" single and CD single are also expected.
The True Colors tour will be launched on June 8th in Las Vegas. The tour, which is sponsored by gay/lesbian TV
network Logo, will donate $1 from every ticket sold to the Human Rights Campaign (which aids the gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender community.) Erasure, Cyndi Lauper and Debbie Harry will anchor tour dates and the Indigo
Girls are expected to make special appearances during the tour.
Don't expect that the new Guns N' Roses track, "Better," receiving airplay nationwide is actually an
official single. According to a post on GunsNRoses.com, keyboardist Dizzy Reed explains that the track is actually
an unapproved demo of the song that was placed on the Harley-Davidson Web site for a day (as a version of the song
was going to be used in a commercial, as was "Paradise City.") Cease and desist orders are on their way
to the radio stations from Axl's attorneys..
David Byrne gave a presentation at the South by Southwest music conference entitled "Record Companies: Who
Needs Them?" The former Talking Heads frontman called on record labels to remove DRM on digital files and
to shift from manufacturing and distribution companies to a marketing firm-model as they face increasing competition
from digital album sales. The presentation predicted that CD sales would be outpaced by digital download sales
by 2012.
Whitesnake's long-anticipated new studio effort (tentatively titled Good To Be Bad) will be released via SPV Records
in October.
Jello Biafra has issued a public statement condemning the decision of his former Dead Kennedys bandmates for licensing
their song, "Too Drunk To F**k," for use in the upcoming film, Grindhouse. He specifically objected to
it being used in a rape scene.
A-ha's Magne Furuholmen has launched a new Web site (www.magnef.org) related to his work as a graphic artist to
showcase his projects.
The release date of Billy Joe Shaver's Greatest Hits compilation has been moved from Mar. 13th to Apr. 3rd. The
18-track album includes the new previously-unreleased tracks "Melody" and "Light A Candle For Me."
Bananarama, Human League, Howard Jones, Go West, Jimmy Summerville and Tony Hadley are among the 16 acts have signed
on for the Retrofest in Scotland on Sept. 1st.
John Mellencamp has been interviewed by Eddie Trunk for VH1 Classic's Hangin' With which will premiere on Mar.
21st. The singer will also debut exclusive live performances on Tuesday via Rehearsals.com.
According to Sam Harris, his CBS sitcom The Class has not been canceled
but they will know the fate of the show in May. Until then, they are
hoping to see a show of support for the show at
brilliantbutcancelled.com, tvseriesfinale.com, tv.com and tvguide.com
Exodus have announced that former drummer Tom Hunting has returned to drumming duties in the band. Hunting had
been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat that forced him to leave the band in the late 80's. Hunting replaces
drummer Paul Bostaph.
A cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" by Sugababes Vs. Girls Aloud has grabbed the top spot on the U.K.
Singles chart. The song is this year's official song of the BBC's Comic Relief telethon. Another single for Comic
Relief, a cover of the Proclaimer's 1988 hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" featuring Peter Kay and Matt
Lucas, debuted at #3.
Steely Dan will promote the May 22nd release of The Donald Fagen Trilogy Collection (which compiles all 3 of Fagen's
solo albums) and their upcoming Steely Dan Millennium Collection (due out Oct. 2nd) with a tour starting in Memphis
on May 5th.
A&E reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels will premieres with back-to-back episodes on Mar. 25th with Simmons
and partner Shannon Tweed getting dual facelift operations.
A new play based on Aretha Franklin's autobiography, From These Roots, is in the works with auditions beginning
on May 1st in Detroit. The release of her new album has been pushed back and is now expected in a few months.
The leaders of former 1980's New Jersey-based metal acts Overkill and Hades (vocalist Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth and
guitarist Dan Lorenzo respectively) have formed a new band called The Cursed. They plan to release their debut
studio album, Room Full Of Sinners, on May 22nd.
13th Planet Records has announced that they will be releasing the 11-track Ministry remix album, Rio Grande Dub,
in June. The band are expected to release their new studio album, The Last Sucker, later this year (which will
end a trilogy that began with Houses Of The Mole.)
Universal will reissue 11 Elvis Costello albums (from 1977's My Aim Is True to 1986's King Of America) on May 1st.
Universal recently acquired the Costello catalog with plans to make definitive releases from the reissues. A 22-track
collection The Best Of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years and Rock And Roll Music (showing his more up-tempo work)
are on the way.
Two concerts recorded by the Osborne Brothers in 1989 will be reissued as CDs with a bonus DVD on Apr. 3rd via
Pinecastle Records. On the same day, they will reissue their 1994 release, In Concert At Renfro Valley, on DVD.
The Spacemen 3 have place a link in their blog section (titled How The Blues Should've Turned Out) for fans to
listen to their unauthorized album, How The Blues Should've Turned Out.