On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the 3rd
U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to consider reinstating the
$550,000 fine that the Federal Communications Commission imposed on CBS
Corp. over the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Last year,
the appeals court threw out the fine.
Cat Stevens has said that if Joe Satriani's lawsuit against Coldplay
for copyright infringement is successful he may also sue the band for
plagiarism as he believes "Viva La Vida" also sounds like his 1973
song, "Foreigner Suite."
Michael Jackson's publicist and general manager Raymone Bain has filed
a $44 million lawsuit against the singer on Tuesday in U.S. District
Court in Washington claiming that he hasn't paid her for the deals
she's made. She alleges that Jackson agreed to pay her 10% of
any agreements that she handled. "Despite the action I have
been compelled to take for professional and business reasons, when
looking back, I have no regrets," Bain said in a statement issued on
Wednesday. "Michael Jackson, in my opinion, is the 'King of
Pop." Meanwhile, another lawsuit has been filed against
Jackson and his production company but this time by his "Thriller"
video co-star Ola Ray. The actress and former Playboy
Playmate is alleging breach of contract. According to her
attorney, she was promised a cut of the revenue from the $500,000 promo
video but has yet to receive anything. John Landis' case
against Jackson over royalties from the video and related spin-offs is
still in litigation. Worries have also been surfacing about
the singer's upcoming O2 Arena residency in July as doctors have
reportedly voiced concerns about Jackson being too thin to perform live
-- claiming he's at least 20lbs. underweight.
Iron Maiden have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Iron
And The Maiden, LLC -- who named their comic book Iron And The Maiden
-- claiming the "confusingly similar" name was a ploy used to profit
off the metal act's heavily trademarked name. The band is
asking the company to stop using the name to sell its comic books,
video games and other merchandise as well as monetary compensation.
Madonna's bid to adopt a 3 year-old Malawi girl has reached the
country's highest court. The court heard arguments early this
week about an outdated adoption law and then a dispute arose as to
whether a man trying to stop the proceedings was really the girl's
biological father. Meanwhile, the singer has announced that
she would like to perform in St. Petersburg, Russia, but local
authorities aren't happy about her plans.
Specials vocalist Terry Hall has been ordered to rest due to a throat
infection forcing the postponement of the reformed band's 5-night run
at London's Brixton Academy.
Paula Abdul recently told Ladies' Home Journal that she had checked
herself into the La Costa Resort and Spa to wean herself off her
12-year addiction to painkiller medications. "I could have
killed myself... Withdrawal -- it's the worst
thing. I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then
chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating. But at
my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been."
Meanwhile, Abdul will release a new single, "Here For The Music," later
this month. The song is from her new album due out this
fall. Also expect to see her in Sacha Baron Cohen's next
film, Bruno. Abdul reportedly had no idea that she was being
set up by the comedian.
Henry Lee Summer (a.k.a. Henry Lee Swartz), 53, was arrested Tuesday in
Indianapolis on charges that include methamphetamine possession and
resisting law enforcement. Summers allegedly threw the drugs
out of his car window during a traffic stop for not using a turn
signal. Officers needed to pepper-spray the singer to subdue
him. He was released on Wednesday from Marion County Jail and
has a hearing pending on May 12th. Summer scored two top 20
hits with 1983's "I Wish I Had A Girl" and 1989's "Hey Baby" and last
released an album, Smoke And Mirrors, in 1999.
Rigor Mortis guitarist Mike Scaccia underwent emergency neck surgery on
May 4th. Early word back is that he won't be able to talk for
a few days but the surgery looks successful. Meanwhile,
former Rigor Mortis vocalist Bruce Corbitt has announced he is working
with Phil Anselmo on the next Warbeast album.
Dolly Parton received an honorary doctorate of humane and musical
letters from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville today.
She told the crowd, "Just think, I am Dr. Dolly!" "So when
people say something about 'Double-D,' they will be thinking of
something entirely different."
Randy Travis' latest album, Around The Bend, was named Country Album of
the Year at the recent Gospel Music Association's 40th annual Dove
Awards. Travis has earned 8 Dove awards during his career.
80s music-fueled musical Rock Of Ages has been nominated for 5 Tony
awards (for Best Musical, Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Direction of
a Musical, Best Costume Design for a Musical and Best Sound Design for
a Musical.) The Broadway production of 9 To 5: The Musical
picked up 4 Tony nods (for Best Original Score Written for the Theater,
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Performance by
a Featured Actor in a Musical and Best Choreography.) The
Tony awards will be held on June 7th.
Bob Dylan's Together Through Life debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200
albums chart on sales of 125,000 copies. The Twilight
soundtrack retains the #6 spot on sales of 35,000 copies.
Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know debuted at #8 on sales of
30,000 copies. Depeche Mode's Sounds Of The Universe dropped
15 spots to #18. Prince/Bria Valente's Lotus
Flow3r/MPLSoUND/Elix3r fell 8 places to #27. U2's No Line On
The Horizon dropped 12 spots to #34. NOFX's Coaster debuted
at #36.
Carrie Underwood's "I Told You So" featuring Randy Travis climbed two
places to #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Bob Dylan's Together Through Life debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums
chart. Annie Lennox's The Collection fell 2 places to
#11. Depeche Mode's Sounds Of The Universe dropped 10 spots
to #12. Chris De Burgh's Footsteps fell 2 places to
#13. Heaven & Hell's The Devil You Know debuted at
#21. U2's No Line On The Horizon climbed 6 spots to
#27. Simply Red's 25: The Greatest Hits re-entered the chart
at #29. Dusty Springfield's Just Dusty dropped 7 spots to
#30. ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits fell 7 places to #37.
The Oak Ridge Boys: A Gospel Journey DVD (and CD) debuted at #2 on the
Billboard Music Video chart.
Lita Ford is planning to release, Wicked Wonderland, her first new U.S.
studio album in 18 years via her own JLRG Entertainment label this fall.
An intimate look at Prince's writing and recording entitled Prince: In
The Studio (1975-1995) Volume One by music biographer Jake Brown will
be published in June.
Katrina & The Waves' Katrina Leskanich will now see her first
solo album, Turn The Tide, available outside of the U.K. at CDBaby.com.
SaFire's latest single, "Exotique," has been released exclusively at
Masterbeat.com with 13 remixes. The collection will become
available everywhere else on May 19th.
According to recent talks amongst the band, the Grateful Dead members
have talked about the possibility of doing some recording after their
current run of shows.
Lionel Richie recently sat down with Ebony Magazine's Shirley Henderson
for an exclusive interview that will appear in the June 2009 issue.
NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra will be taking a copy of Echo And The
Bunnymen's classic 1984 album, Ocean Rain, into space with him on June
13th when he leaves for the International Space Station. A
box set reissue of the album is due out on May 30th and will include
the live version of the album they recorded last year, a DVD
documentary and booklet. Yet, it isn't all about reissues as
the band will release their new studio album, The Fountain, in
September preceded by the new single "Think I Need It Too."
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their This Is Spinal Tap parody
film and album, the band plan to release a new 19-track album called
Back From The Dead on June 16th.
ABBA songsmiths Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus are allowing some of
their first new pop songs to surface in over 15 years.
"Second Best To None" was recorded by employees at the hotel Andersson
owns in Stockholm and has been released as a single in
Sweden. "Story Of A Heart" will surface as the title track to
an album by the Benny Andersson Band.
They Might Be Giants are busy recording their next studio album, a new
kids DVD and CD and even a picture book for kids. No release
dates or titles have been announced at this time.
Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon was recently crewing on the yacht Rio during
Antigua Sailing Week and was thrilled to be part of the team that won
The Lord Nelson Trophy for first place.
Marillion have plans to record a new studio acoustic album due out this
fall. They plan to support the release with an acoustic tour.
Rick Springfield has signed on for a 4-episode arc on Showtime's
Californication. Springfield will play himself... well, a
down on his luck former celebrity, waiting-tables- to-get-by version of
himself on the show.
Hank Williams Jr. has recently been filming a video for his upcoming
single, "Red, White, And Pink-Slip Blues."
Asia and Yes guitarist Steve Howe has said that there is a chance that
he will be working on some new music with both bands after their joint
U.S. tour. Howe plays in both bands during the tour starting
with Asia and closing with Yes. On the solo front, he hopes
to release a few solo recordings later this year.
The video for, "Fire To Your Plain," the first single from Tori Amos'
upcoming album, Abnormally Attracted To Sin, has premiered at
Amazon.com.
The proposed Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour as well as the Keith Emerson
Band featuring Marc Bonilla tour have been canceled.
According to Emerson, "Dear Friends, It is with much regret that I have
to announce that due to past right hand injuries the resulting nerve
damage and dystonic factor has made it unable for me to play the
keyboards to the high standards I have always set myself..."
Front 242's Jean-Luc De Meyer and Neon Judgement are among the acts
that recorded guest appearances on Implant's upcoming album,
Implantology, due out shortly.
When the most successful band never to release a video decided to break
that rule in 1988 for the song, "One," Metallica hit it out of the
ballpark. The video spliced in clips from the 1971 film
Johnnie Got His Gun to capture the song's raw emotion. The
film is now heading to DVD for the first time and the band's video
included as a bonus.
Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin have released their long-awaited new
studio album, Green And Blue. Accompanying the album is the
5-track EP entitled Hour Moon. You can preview a few of the
songs at their MySpace page.
Activision Blizzard have confirmed they are developing Guitar Hero: Van
Halen to be released later this year.
According to their management, Roxette's Per Gessle and Marie
Fredriksson will reunite for a small European tour in October -- their
first performance together since 2001.
The Church have released "Pangaea" as the first single from their new
album, Untitled #23, due out next week.
The 25th anniversary edition of R.E.M.'s Reckoning album will head to
stores on June 23rd in North America.
Dream Theater has 4 different versions planned for their new studio
album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, due out on June
23rd. The standard, double-LP, special edition and deluxe
collector's edition box set can be pre-ordered at RoadrunnerRecords.com.
"Magnificent" has been released as the latest single from U2's No Line
On The Horizon. The video premiered at
http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/premieres/ on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Bono is reportedly responsible for brokering a deal between
Universal Music Group and YouTube to create a dedicated channel to
advertise the label's artists to be called Vevo set to launch later
this year.
Glenn Danzig has reportedly been in the studio working on the next
Danzig album expected out later this year.
A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels will return for an all-new
season on June 7th with a special one-hour premiere. Also
keep your eyes open for Simmons in the new Mike Judge film, Extract,
heading to theaters in September.
Progressive rock veterans IQ will release their 9th studio album,
Frequency, on June 2nd.
Sting's 18 year-old daughter Coco Sumner has been in intensive care
after collapsing in an L.A. restaurant and hitting her head on a chair
as she fell to the ground. She fractured her skull in the
incident and is in recovery.