Poison's Rikki Rockett has announced that he will hold a press conference "hopefully Monday" (today)
to discuss the rape charges that were filed against him. In a video available at TMZ.com, he states that he doesn't
know the girl but says that by "doing a press conference next week, this whole thing is going to be over.
It will be the end of it."
Paul McCartney and Heather Mills have been granted a preliminary divorce decree. Neither were in court for the
brief proceeding and the decree could become final in less than 6 weeks if there aren't any objections. According
to Macca Central, Paul McCartney's 2007 album, Memory Almost Full, will be given away free in the U.K. in copies
of the The Mail On Sunday on May 18th. The album has sold 100,000 copies in the U.K. up to now. Previous album
giveaways via the paper include discs by Prince, Simply Red and (most recently) UB40.
Former Motown singer (and current Detroit City Council member) Martha Reeves has claimed that the backdoor of her
childhood home was kicked in and thieves stole about $1 million in uninsured recording equipment (as well as karaoke
machines, microphones and speakers.)
Michael Jackson has released a statement, "I am pleased with recent developments involving Neverland Ranch
and I am in discussions with Colony and Tom Barrack with regard to the Ranch and other matters that would allow
me to focus on the future." Colony Capital LLC has taken over the mortgage currently held by Fortress Investment
Group. The home was listed for auction during the weekend.
The Buzzcocks were recently presented with the Inspiration Award at the Indy Awards 2008. The awards "were
created in 2007 to celebrate, reward and recognize the hard work of live music venues, promoters and the talented
artists they showcase and help develop."
After over 25 years since leaving Syracuse University, Vanessa Williams has received her Bachelor's degree. Williams
was a musical theater major there from 1981-83 and was granted the remaining credits for her degree through her
industry experience and many stage and screen performances. She also delivered the convocation address to graduates
of Syracuse's College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Madonna's Hard Candy sold 280,000 copies to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Def Leppard's Songs From
The Sparkle Lounge sold 55,000 copies to debut at #5 (becoming their 11th consecutive top 20 album. The self-titled
debut album by Tom Petty's Mudcrutch project sold 38,000 copies to come in at #8. Steve Winwood's Nine Lives debuted
at #12 selling 26,000 copies. Carly Simon's This Kind Of Love sold 23,000 debuting at #15. George Strait's Troubadour
fell 10 places to #18. Mana's Arde El Cielo debuted at #30. Alan Jackson's Good Time dropped 8 spots to #34. R.E.M.'s
Accelerate plunged 19 places to #36. Neil Diamond's Home Before Dark is the early favorite to take the #1 spot
on the chart next week (which would be his first #1 album ever during his 41-year chart history.)
Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake dropped 2 places on the Billboard Hot 100 chart to
#6. Meanwhile, her adoption of 2 year-old David Banda of Malawi will be granted on May 15th by social workers after
passing a test for safe home environment, protection, care and emotional support.
Madonna's Hard Candy was dethroned from the top of the U.K. Albums chart and fell to #2. Def Leppard's Songs From
The Sparkle Lounge debuted at #10. Willie Nelson's Legend: The Best Of Willie Nelson debuted at #16. Robert Plant
& Alison Krauss' Raising Sand re-entered the chart at #17. Rick Astley's Ultimate Collection fell 13 places
to #30. Steve Winwood's Nine Lives debuted at #31. Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 dropped 11 spots to #32. Kylie
Minogue's X fell 6 places to #33. Bob Marley & The Wailers' Legend debuted at #39.
Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake retained the top spot on the U.K. Singles chart. Kylie
Minogue's "In My Arms" debuted at #10.
George Strait has scored his 56th #1 country single with "I Saw God Today." The song breaks the record
held by Conway Twitty for most #1 singles for an artist. Strait has more #1 hits on the singles charts than any
other recording artist in all music genres.
Billboard magazine honors Iron Maiden in their May 17th issue with a special supplement containing about 40 pages
giving an overview of their current Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. The magazine will also change their logo
for the first time in their publishing history to the font used by Iron Maiden.
John Mellencamp's new studio album, Life, Death, Love And Freedom, will be released by Hear Music on July 15th.
The album will be the first to be released using the ???? (CODE) format. The album's producer T Bone Burnett and
his team of engineers developed the code which is a proprietary audio technology that creates high-definition audio
files that are virtually indistinguishable from the original master tapes. This version of the album will be released
as a DVD that will come with a standard CD version of the album.
George Lamond releases his new single, "Don't Stop Believin'," via Robbins Entertainment this week.
The third chapter or Sananda Maitreya's Nigor Mortis: A Critical Mass has been released online at his official
Web site. The new chapter is made up of 5 new songs (one named "Superstar" which is currently available
as a free download.)
Company B have been busy in the studio on their own resurgence. The first new track to surface, "Someone To
Hold," can be heard at their MySpace page.
"Too Late" has been selected as an upcoming single from Foreigner's upcoming double-disc retrospective,
No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner, due out July 15th via Rhino. The song is the first new song by the
band since 1994's Mr. Moonlight and features their new members (vocalist Kelly Hansen of Hurricane, Dokken bassist
Jeff Pilson and drummer Jason Bonham.)
ABC's Dancing With The Stars will celebrate Michael Jackson's Thriller during their May 13th episode.
Echo & The Bunnymen are currently working in the studio with producer John McLaughlin. The album, The Fountain,
will be their 10th when released later this year. The first single from the album will be "I Think I Need
It Too" and should be released in August.
Randy Travis will release his first new studio album of Country music in 8 years, Around The Bend, on July 15th.
Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White has signed an exclusive worldwide administration agreement with Royalty
Network, Inc. The deal covers music from his Verdine White Songs and Vershell Songs catalogs.
Debbie Harry fan? Go visit this.bigstereo.net and scroll down to May 5th. Why? She has been writing and recording
some new songs for her next album and one very funky dance track, "Fit Right In," is up there for preview.
Itching to get your hands on tickets for John Mellencamp and Stephen King's upcoming musical, Ghost Brothers Of
Darkland County? The project has been delayed from its projected April 2009 opening as the creative team don't
think the script will be ready by next spring.
Charlie Daniels, Pam Tillis, George Jones and Tanya Tucker are among the artists contributing songs to the upcoming
compilation album, Never Forget, due out Aug. 26th. The album salutes those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist
attacks and honors the new ship, the USS New York, which was built using salvaged steel from the World Trade Center
towers. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the disc will go to the Hope For The Warriors Foundation which
assists military men and women who return home after suffering catastrophic injuries in the line of duty.
CMT have announced the contestants of Gone Country 2 which will debut in August. Sebastian Bach, Irene Cara and
Jermaine Jackson will immerse themselves in all things country for a chance at country music stardom. Each celebrity
will also be paired with two Nashville songwriters to compose a country song.
Scottish indie rock act the Vaselines (Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee) have reunited for two upcoming festival
performances and are lining up other additional concert dates. A reissue of their 1992 Sub Pop collection, The
Way of The Vaselines, is planned. Interest in the group increased after cover versions of their songs "Son
Of A Gun" and "Molly's Lips" by Nirvana were included on the 1992 collection Incesticide and the
band played their song "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam" for their MTV Unplugged appearance.
An announcement has been made that The Police will donate $1 million to a tree planting initiative in New York
raised during their final concert. Sting.com released more information, "The Police also announced that their
final concert ever will be a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the production of arts programming for Thirteen/WNET
and WLIW New York. Tickets will be available nationally online via Thirteen/WNET and WLIW. More details about the
benefit show, including venue and ticket information, will be released at a later date." The group find it
fitting that their first U.S. show was at CBGB's in 1978 and they now plan to play their final show ever in New
York City.
Rod Stewart recently told Reuters, "There's a Country and Western album I'd love to do, although the record
company doesn't want it."
Charlatans U.K. frontman Tim Burgess is working on an album with actor Joaquin Phoenix. Burgess does feel that
some of the perfectionist qualities that Phoenix has when it comes to acting has spilled into the studio and could
prevent the release of the material.
Gang Of Four have announced that the reunion of their original line-up has ended and that bassist Dave Allen and
drummer Hugo Burnham have left the band. Vocalist Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill plan to continue writing, recording
and performing new music as Gang Of Four. Allen has been busy with his music distribution site Pampelmoose.com
and felt that he wasn't able to give 100% to the band. Meanwhile, he has also started a side project called Faux
Hoax (pronounced Folks.) Burnham is starting a Doctorate program and is recording with Mike Watt. His reason for
leaving the band was the boring business side of the band and issues with constantly traveling.
David Gilmour has plans to release his new concert album, Live In Gdansk, in September via Columbia Records. The
recording took place at the shipyards in Gdansk, Poland, in front of 50,000 fans during the last show of his 2006
summer tour.
Taylor Dayne has been busy with promoting her latest album, Satisfied. She is almost finished with work on Greatest
Hits 2008 and plans to head into the studio when she gets some time.
Ice-T plans to return to gangsta rap with his new Black Ice project on July 1st with the release of Urban Legends
via Unlabeled Records.
Extreme have announced that Saudades de Rock will be the title of their first new studio album in 13 years. They
launch their Take Us Alive world tour in July.
Watching her friend Nancy Colton battle breast cancer, raise her family and raise money for breast cancer research
has inspired Melissa Manchester to write a new song, "Power Of Ribbons." She was invited to perform it
on May 10th in Los Angeles at the start of this year's Revlon Run/Walk For Women. An MP3 of the track can be purchased
at Amazon.com with proceeds donated to breast cancer research.
Former Guided By Voices leader Robert Pollard has launched his own Guided By Voices, Inc. record label. He will
release his latest solo album, Robert Pollard Is Off To Business, on June 3rd via the label. He has finished recording
a new album with Circus Devils and started a new band called Boston Spaceships. Pollard also expects to release
a coffee table book, Town Of Mirrors, this summer via Fantagraphics Books.
George Jones will see the release of Burn Your Playhouse Down (The Unreleased Duets) on July 8th via Vanguard and
Bandit Records. Among the duet partners are Tammy Wynette, Keith Richards, Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale, Leon Russell,
Tanya Tucker and Ricky Skaggs.
Kenny Loggins' son Crosby Loggins wound up winning in the finale of MTV's Rock The Cradle reality series. Loggins
performed a duet of "I'm Alright" with his father during the final episode.
Former Pestilence bassist/vocalist Martin van Drunen will see the release of Of Frost And War, the debut album
by his new project Hail Of Bullets.
Curious about how the new UB40 line-up sounds? A video (recorded on May 6th) has been posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJdYnUwCTmM
Deacon Blue plan to release a new concert recording entitled Live as a CD/DVD in the U.K. on June 9th that was
recorded during their European tour last year.
Producer Rick Rubin has signed on to work with ZZ Top on their first new studio album since Mescalero (five years
ago).
Former Operation Ivy frontman Jesse Michaels has been writing new solo material. He also plans to do a solo tour
to test out some of the songs starting in August.
Harem Scarem will release their new studio album, Hope, on July 4th in the U.K. The group have also decided that
album #12 will be their final release after 20 years together.
Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Allman Brothers Band bassist Otiel Burbridge and Max Creek guitarist Scott
Murawski have formed a power trio named KBM and are currently working on a debut album due out this fall.
Emmylou Harris has been working on a new studio album, All I Intended To Be, to be released via Nonesuch Records.
MVD plans to release a collection of early recordings (from 1978 to 1982) by Controlled Bleeding entitled Before
The Quiet on June 10th. The disc will focus on their pre-industrial punk-leaning sound.
Richie Blackmore and fiancée Candice Night will release their next Blackmore's Night album, Secret Voyage,
on June 15th via SPV.
A sample of the upcoming New Kids On The Block single, "Summertime," has been posted online (http://interscope.edgeboss.net/wmedia/interscope/newkidsontheblock/audio/unknown/summertime/90/hi.asx).
The single is due out digitally on May 13th.
Country Music Hall Of Fame member Eddy Arnold, 89, passed away on May 8th (7 days prior to his 90s birthday) at
an assisted living center near Nashville. Arnold released his 100th album, After All This Time, in 2005 and is
considered the top country artist ever in terms of Billboard chart performance (more individual hits on the charts.)
Arnold's wife of 66 years, Sally Gayhart Arnold, died in March. Arnold released A Legend And His Lady in 1980 and
Many Tears Ago in 1985.
Gospel legend Joyce "Dottie" Rambo, 74, died on May 11th when her tour bus ran off Interstate 44, struck
a guard rail and hit an embankment just east of Mount Vernon, Missouri. Seven people were injured in the accident
according to highway patrol and were hospitalized in Springfield with moderate to severe injuries. Rambo was inducted
last year to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the previous year in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame having
more than 2,500 published songs (including 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, "We Shall Behold
Him.") During the 1980s she recorded 2 solo albums and 8 albums under the name The Rambos (with husband Buck
Rambo and later as a trio including daughter Reba Rambo.)