With all the volcanic ash playing havoc with air
travel throughout Europe, many concert dates have been postponed with
hopes to see them rescheduled later this year. It has also
affected airmail of some new releases and CD art (needed for those
releases.)
Billy Joel's principal drummer from 1975 to 2005, Liberty DeVitto, has
settled his lawsuit against the 'piano man' and Sony Music
Entertainment Inc. over allegedly depriving him of royalties.
Neither representatives for Devitto or Joel would discuss settlement
terms. Meanwhile, Last Play At Shea, the new documentary film
telling the stories of New York City landmark Shea Stadium and Long
Island native Billy Joel, premieres this weekend at the Tribeca Film
Festival. The film includes interviews and appearances with
Joel, Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Tony Bennett, Steven Tyler and
Garth Brooks.
Mickey Gilley has been forced to cancel his May 1st performance at the
American Music Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, due to health issues
from his fall late last year. He has recently returned to
performing at his theater in Branson, Missouri, but doctors have said
that traveling long distances would not be good at this time.
Poison frontman Bret Michaels, 47, has been recovering from an
emergency appendectomy on Apr. 12th. According to People.com,
Michaels was dealing with severe headaches during the week and was
rushed to the hospital on Thursday night. Reports say the
singer was in critical condition and has been upgraded to stable
condition having suffered a massive brain hemorrhage.
Patti Smith received the Founders Award in Hollywood on Apr. 21st from
songwriting royalties group ASCAP during their 27th annual awards
dinner.
Bruce Springsteen received an Ellis Island Family Heritage Award on
Thursday. Presented by The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island
Foundation, Inc., it honors immigrants or their descendants "who have
made a major contribution to the American experience."
Meanwhile, he will also see a live DVD, London Calling: Live In Hyde
Park, recorded with the E Street Band in June last year which is set to
be released in June.
Jeff Beck's Emotion & Commotion has debuted at #11 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart. Sade's Soldier Of Love climbed 7
places to #12. Slash's Slash dropped 13 spots to
#16. Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep debuted at
#17. Alan Jackson's Freight Train fell 8 places to
#22. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach dropped a spot to #30.
Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. One climbed 18 places to
#39.
Glee Cast's "Hello" featuring Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele debuted at
#35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is a cover of
the 1984 Lionel Richie hit.
Ozzy Osbourne's new single, "Let Me Hear You Scream," was this week's
Hot Shot Debut/Greatest Gainer on Billboard's Rock Songs chart at
#23. Meanwhile, wife Sharon is having her breast implants
removed and she plans to give them to Ozzy to use as paperweights.
Free & Bad Company's The Very Best Of Free & Bad
Company retained the #10 spot on the U.K. Albums chart. Glee
Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 1 fell 4 places to
#12. Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 2 dropped 7
spots to #13. The Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
soundtrack climbed 20 places to #16. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach
dropped 4 spots to #19. Jeff Beck's Emotion &
Commotion debuted at #21. The Doves' The Best Of The Doves:
Places Between fell 25 places to #37. Whitney Houston's The
Ultimate Collection dropped a spot to #38.
Professor Green's "I Need You Tonight" featuring Ed Drewett (which
heavily samples the similarly-titled INXS hit) debuted at #3 on the
U.K. Singles chart. Paul Weller's "No Tears To Cry/Wake Up
The Nation" debuted at #26. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"
fell 7 places to #39. Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'"
dropped 11 spots to #40.
Paul McCartney has announced that his post-Beatles catalog will be
reissued through independent label Concord Music Group instead of his
former distributor EMI Group.
Originally set to be called Black Country, the new supergroup featuring
former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, Dream Theater
keyboardist Derek Sherinian, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Joe
Bonamassa have settled on a new name. They don't plan on
announcing the name until it is trademarked and pressed on their debut
CD which has been finished and is due out in September.
Recorded live during his shows in April and September in 1983 at the
Congo Room at the Sahara hotel, Roy Orbison: Live In Las Vegas '83,
will be released on Apr. 23rd via iTunes.
Crowded House will release, Intriguer, their follow-up to 2007's Time
On Earth via Mercury Records on June 14th.
Steve Priest's Sweet has released a cover of The Beatles' "Saw Her
Standing There" as a new single via iTunes.
Wang Chung's new work in the studio is starting to surface.
Fans can go to their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/wangchungtheband)
and hear a sample of "Abducted By The 80's" (a spoken word poem by Rob
Gee with the band backing him) and should be able to download it soon
at www.WangChung.com.
Adam Ant recently told NME.com that he has started work on his first
new studio album in 15 years.
Bon Jovi have announced that plans are underway to release special
editions of their first 10 albums which will feature the original album
tracks, new packaging and era-specific live recordings.
Glen Campbell, Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Willie
Nelson, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, J.D. Souther and Lucinda Williams
are among the guests appearances on Jimmy Webb's new studio album, Just
Across The River, due out on June 29th on E1 Music.
According to INXS' official Web site, the band will be performing with
J.D. Fortune on vocals on July 10th in Townsville, Australia for what
will be their first big Australian show since 2007. Fortune
reunited with the band for a show at the Olympics in Vancouver in
February.
Kiss has announced that fans that attend any of their Sonic Boom Over
Europe Tour dates will be able to purchase the entire two and a half
hour performance on USB stick at the merchandise stand after the
show. Fans that purchase more than one concert on USB will be
able to purchase a Collector's Gold Edition version that allows the
owner to download additional concerts to the USB stick via their
personal computers.
Rick Davies, who co-founded Supertramp with frontman Roger Hodgson, has
announced plans for the band to reunite for a 40th anniversary tour
this year... without Hodgson. Hodgson claims that he offered
to join the band onstage during gaps in his own tour schedule, but was
snubbed. He also released a statement saying,
"“Since this is the first time we are touring simultaneously
since we split up 27 years ago, I expect Rick to honour the agreement
he and I made that the band would not play my songs.."
Hodgson quit the band in 1983.
Meat Loaf has released the video for "Los Angeloser" on YouTube off his
new studio album, Hang Cool Teddy Bear, heading to stores on May 11th.
Kylie Minogue has announced that her new single, "All The Lovers," the
first track from her Aphrodite album will be released on June
28th. The album is expected out on July 5th.
Devo has announced the release of their Song Study EP via
iTunes. The set contains the singles "Fresh" and "What We Do"
as well as a focus group video.
Rapper/actor Ice Cube has made a documentary about his old group,
N.W.A., and their connection to the Raiders entitled Straight Outta
L.A. The film was to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on
Friday and air on ESPN in May as part of the network's 30-for-30 series.
Cirque du Soleil announced on Tuesday that they will be creating a
touring show featuring the songs of Michael Jackson starting late next
year that will be followed by a permanent production in Las Vegas at an
MGM Mirage Inc.-owned property in 2012. Cirque du Soleil and
Jackson's estate will be equal partners in the venture.
Vince Gill and Steve Gadd are among those making guest appearances on
Livingston Taylor's new studio album, Last Moon Alaska.
Peter Frampton will release his new studio album, Thank You Mr.
Churchill, via A&M/New Door/UMe on Apr. 27th.
Sarah McLachlan will release her new single, "Loving You Is Easy," as
the first from her upcoming album, The Laws Of Illusion, on June 15th.
Gang Starr rapper Guru [born Keith Elam], 43, suffered cardiac arrest
on Mar. 2nd after a long battle with cancer and after a month and a
half in a coma he died on Apr. 19th. Guru and Gang Starr have
been considered pioneers of the New York hip hop sound. After
three 12" singles released by 1988, the group split and Guru continued
recording under the Gang Starr name releasing 1989s No More Mr. Nice
Guy album with new member DJ Premier. I late 2005, after the
release of 6 studio albums, he announced that Gang Starr didn't exist
anymore.