Whitney Houston was released from a hospital in
Paris
on Wednesday after receiving treatment for a respiratory
infection. Houston told People magazine that she was forced
to postpone several European tour dates under doctor's orders but is
"feeling great" and "ready to move on and continue my world tour."
Samantha Fox was performing her two recent shows in Scandinavia when
she aggravated an existing knee problem. A full MRI scan
earlier this week revealed torn cartilage that needed to be removed as
soon a possible. The time to recover will force a
rescheduling of her U.K. tour (set to begin next month) to November.
Slayer frontman Tom Araya is recovering after doctors placed a titanium
plate in his neck to stop the pain caused by years of head-banging on
stage. Araya told Noisecreep, "I feel good. I've
been sitting around for about five months now, taking care of
myself. Right after the surgery I knew the issue was
fixed. I'm really excited and anxious to get together with
the guys and start rehearsing again."
Guitarist Gilby Clarke has announced a live performance at Brixton in
Redondo Beach, California on May 28th -- his first after months of
recuperating from a motorcycle accident on Jan. 10th.
The nominees for the 2010 CMT Music Awards have been
announced. The B-52s and Sugarland's "Love Shack" is
nominated for CMT Performance Of The Year along-side Reba McEntire's
"Consider Me Gone." "Love Shack" is also nominated for
Collaborative Video Of The Year with Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams'
"Heaven," Brooks & Dunn and Billy Gibbons' "Honky Tonk Stomp"
and John Mellencamp and Karen Fairchild's "Ride Back Home."
McEntire's "Consider Me Gone" is up for Female Video Of The
Year. You can go online at CMT.com to help narrow down the
current list of nominees and ensure your favorites are in the final 4
to be revealed at the beginning of the live show on June 9th.
Alan Jackson's Freight Train debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200 albums
chart. The Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack
was the greatest gainer on the chart climbing 16 spots to
#14. Sade's Soldier Of Love fell 4 places to #15.
Gorillaz' Plastic Beach dropped 13 spots to #29.
Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe" fell 15 places to #93 on the Billboard Hot
100 singles chart.
Yoko Ono's "Give Me Something" off of her Open Your Box remixes
collection climbed a spot to #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs
chart.
Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 2 climbed a spot to #4 on
the U.K. Albums chart. Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season
One Vol. 1 climbed 4 places to #7. Free & Bad
Company's The Very Best Of Free & Bad Company debuted at
#10. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach dropped 2 spots to
#14. Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour debuted at
#17. The Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel soundtrack
climbed 7 places to #32. The Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits
retained the #36 spot. Whitney Houston's The Ultimate
Collection fell 2 places to #37. Journey's Greatest Hits
dropped 13 spots to #40.
Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'" dropped 3 spots to #27.
Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" fell 7 places to #28.
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys recently purchased the rights to an
independent documentary, A Film Unfinished, about the
Holocaust. Yauch reportedly was really affected by the film
which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Yauch is currently recovering from cancer.
Would you like to help Devo? Warner Bros. Records and Devo
are holding a song study at http://songstudy.clubdevo.com/ in an effort
to determine what songs make it on the album. Not only can
you help the band but you can preview some of the songs that may go on
their first new studio album in two decades.
The Clarks also have a song survey going at
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/270354/theclarks as they ask fans to
determine which songs they should record acoustically for a
digital-only EP release due out this summer.
Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil has signed a record deal with Frontiers
Records for the release of his new solo album, Tattoos And Tequila, on
June 4th in Europe. The title track will be released
digitally as the first single on Apr. 16th. The album
contains many covers including songs by Cheap Trick, Sweet, Aerosmith,
the Sex Pistols, The Hollies, The Scorpions, Elton John and ZZ Top.
According to a recent Twitter post by Joe Lynn Turner: "Just
finished an '80's type rock track called Livin' on the Edge for an ESPN
TV movie…"
Peter Case will release his new album, Wig!, on June 29th via Yep Roc
Records. The album is his first since being hospitalized and
undergoing a double bypass.
Former Obsession/Loudness/Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Mike Vescera has
recorded guest vocals on Reborn in Fire, the upcoming album by Empires
Of Eden, due out in June.
Pat Benatar will publish her autobiography, Between A Heart And A Rock
Place, on June 15th via Harper Collins. A book tour will
follow her summer tour with REO Speedwagon.
Saxon's Biff Byford and Paul Quinn have recorded guest appearances on
two songs that will appear on, Road To Nowhere, the new album by German
metal act Pharao due out later this year.
Bon Jovi plan to stream part of their sold-out Apr. 11th concert in
Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center via their official
www.BonJovi.com Web site. The live stream will be of the
first 4 songs and include pre-recorded footage of Kid Rock joining them
on stage in Detroit. Meanwhile, during a fan Q&A via
Music Radar, guitarist Richie Sambora talked about how the title to a
song he and Jon Bon Jovi wrote, "White Trash Beautiful," led him into
starting a clothing line for women. He plans to start
releasing some of his new solo recordings on memory sticks sewn into
the clothing.
Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton has a new album on the
way. Egerton played all the instruments on The Seven Degrees
of Stephen Egerton which due out May 11th. Providing vocals
for the tracks are 16 friends from bands he's played in, toured with or
recorded.
Melissa Etheridge has announced that she will release her new studio
album, Fearless Love, on Apr. 27th via Island Def Jam. The
album is viewed as a return to her rock roots and promotions will see
her on TV a lot (Leno, Dancing With The Stars, QVC, The View, Good
Morning America and several others) in the two week period surrounding
the release. The first single is the title track which is
currently on Billboard's Triple A and Adult Top 40 charts.
Accept have signed a new long-term record deal with Nuclear
Blast. The deal comes in time for the release of their 15th
album, Blood Of The Nations, later this summer.
Blues/rock guitarist Jimmie Vaughan will release, Blues, Ballads And
Favorites, his first new studio album in nearly a decade on July 6th
via Shout! Factory.
Danish hard rock act Fate has seen their first compilation, 25 Years:
The Best Of Fate 1985-2010, released at Amazon.
Dr. Dre announced during an interview this week on CNBC that his new
single, "Under Pressure," with Jay-Z will be released in the next few
weeks. He also said that his long-awaited album, Detox, will
be out this year.
The New York Dolls will see their song, "We're All In Love," off their
2006 comeback album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This,
on the soundtrack to Kick-Ass. Also included on the
soundtrack are tracks by Sparks, the Dickies and Primal Scream.
Air Supply have been working on their new studio album, Mumbo Jumbo,
due out May 4th. Fans can visit www.AirSupplyMusic.com and
download two free songs ("Dance With Me" and "Hold On") from the album
which features guest vocals by Michael Johns.
Hellyeah (which includes former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul) have
announced their sophomore release, Stampede, will be released via Epic
Records on July 13th.
According to a poll by the PPL for BBC Radio 2, Madonna is the
most-played artist on U.K. radio over the last decade.
Whitesnake's 1987 self-titled album will re-released in a deluxe
edition CD+DVD on Apr. 20th via Geffen which was newly remastered and
contains many bonus tracks and videos.
Black Sabbath/Heaven And Hell guitarist Tony Iommi and former Deep
Purple/Black Sabbath vocalist Ian Gillan have recorded some tracks
together in an effort to provide some support for the reconstruction of
an Armenian music school. Meanwhile, EMI will reportedly
release a double-CD Deep Purple set, Singles & E.P. Anthology
'68-'80, due out Apr. 20th.
One Night Only: Barbra Streisand And Quartet At The Village Vanguard,
September 26, 2009 will be released on DVD and DVD/CD combo pack as
well as Blu-ray disc on May 4th.
Social Distortion are taking a short break from their 6 weeks in the
studio working on new material to rehearse for their first South
American tour.
2 Live Crew's controversial 1989 hit, "Me So Horny," has been covered
by the Revolting Cocks for their new studio album, Got Cock?, due out
on Apr. 13th via 13th Planet Records.
Santana has reportedly covered Van Halen's "Dance The Night Away" with
vocalist Pat Manahan of Train for Santana's currently-untitled new
covers album due out this summer.
Big Audio Dynamite co-founder Don Letts recently told Billboard.com
that he and Mick Jones talked about putting the band back together
again while working on the legacy edition of their 1985 album, This Is
Big Audio Dynamite, due out Apr. 12th. Letts said that a
reunion might have happened this year if Jones wasn't tied up with
playing dates with Gorillaz.
Thrash metal act Exodus will release their 9th studio album, Exhibit B:
The Human Condition, in Europe on May 7th.
According to her Web site, Kim Wilde has signed a worldwide recording
agreement with Starwatch Music. Wilde has been working on her
new studio album with plans for a summer release.
When someone tells you they put blood, sweat and tears into a project,
it may not be a colorful description of their hard work. Gang
Of Four are raising money to fund the recording of their new album,
Content, through www.PledgeMusic.com. Users can contribute
cash to the recording process and receive album-related products and...
vials containing the band member's blood in return.
Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment have announced the
Apr. 20th release of the 3-CD+DVD set, Crimson, White & Indigo,
which chronicles their 1989 performance at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia
in a full-length theatrical concert experience in fully mastered
multi-track audio.
Fans can get a taste of Ratt's new studio album, Infestation, in the
form of a free MP3 download at
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/eatmeupalive/ of the song "Eat Me Up
Alive."
Mike Peters and The Alarm plan to release their new 14-track studio
album, Direct Action, on Apr. 12th. The video for the first
single, "Raise The Pressure," can be seen at YouTube.
Thrash metal act Forbidden have been working at the Sonic Room/Audio
Voyage Studio on their first new output in nearly 13 years. A
few samples from the sessions are up on their MySpace page at
www.myspace.com/forbiddenofficial.
Natalie Merchant's 5th solo album, Leave Your Sleep, will be released
next week. The concept album is a collection of music adapted
from 19th and 20th century British and American poetry about childhood
and will come in single-CD and full double-CD versions.
Ian Hunter and Bruce Springsteen have recorded guest appearances for
Alejandro Escovedo's Tony Visconti-produced new album, Street Songs Of
Love, due out June 29th via Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group.
John Foxx's 1980 debut single, "Underpass," has been remixed by Mark
Reeder with plans to be released alongside, Metatronic, a 3-CD
compilation on May 3rd in the U.K.
X's John Doe and Jill Sobule plan to record tandem EPs live with the
same backing band (Don Was on bass and Doug Pettibone on guitar) on
Apr. 11th in Los Angeles.
On top of his announcement of a new Danzig album, Deth Red Sabaoth, due
out in June, Glenn Danzig will be doing a few in-store signings in
Arizona and California for his Hidden Lyrics Of The Left Hand book.
Tracii Guns' version of L.A. Guns will see their 1999 album, Shrinking
Violet, reissued in a deluxe version on May 25th via Favored
Nations/Jibboom on May 25th.
The planned reissue of Def Leppard's first two albums on May 19th by
Universal Music Japan has been canceled.
A new charity U.K. single for Race For Life has been released covering
Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." The single is due
out on Apr. 26th. You can view the video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1bjRsJLOIU and keep your eyes open for
T'Pau vocalist Carol Decker.
U.K. performer, publicist, writer and manager Malcolm McLaren, 64, died
of mesothelioma in a Swiss hospital on Thursday. According to
his spokesman Les Malloy, "He'd been suffering from cancer for some
time, but recently he'd been full of health. It rapidly
deteriorated." As a manager, McLaren worked with and promoted
acts including the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls, Adam and the Ants
and Bow Wow Wow. By 1983, he decided to release his own
material which during the decade would include the genre-defying albums
Duck Rock, D'ya Like Scratchin?, Would Ya Like More Scratchin', Fans,
Swamp Thing and Waltz Darling which would include U.K. Top 10 hits
"Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch" as well as 1989's "Deep In Vogue"
(which topped the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart.)