Ticketmaster and promoter AEG Live have sent out
an
email stating: "Due to the sheer magnitude of the "This Is
It" concerts at the O2 Arena promoters and producers AEG Live and Kenny
Ortega, Michael's directorial partner and creative collaborator have
elected to move back a few of the opening shows in order to meet the
challenges presented by such a massive and technically complex
show. We wanted to ensure that all of Michael's fans
attending the concerts get the same quality in staging and level
entertainment." Full refunds are available to those who can't
make the shows and they have even "secured some excellent hotel deals
for Michael Jackson fans traveling to London on these rescheduled
dates." Promoters have said that the delay is not due to his
health as Jackson is in "great shape."
Natalie Cole, 59, underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
Los Angeles on Tuesday to receive a new kidney. The singer
who has been battling Hepatitis C is now resting comfortably and
recovering from the surgery. Her summer tour dates have been
postponed for 3 to 4 months as advised by her doctors. Sadly,
her 64 year-old older sister, actress Carol Cole, died the same
day. The two were together when Natalie learned that a donor
organ had become available.
If you ask Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament "How are the recording sessions
for the new album going?", he may give you a mixed answer.
Ament was attacked and robbed outside the Southern Tracks Recording
studio in Atlanta where they are working on their 9th album.
$3,000 in cash and $4,000 in computers were taken by the 3
assailants. Thankfully a surveillance camera caught it
all. You can see it at http://tiny.cc/YcfSa
Meanwhile, the band are expected to perform on the June 1st premiere of
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy were inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Vince Clarke was honored at the 54th Ivor Novello Awards for
Outstanding Song Collection. Smokey Robinson was awarded the
Special International Award. Edwyn Collins was honored with
the Ivors Inspirational Award. Meanwhile, Mute Records has
announced that they plan to release a very special 21st anniversary
remastered edition of Erasure's 1988 album, The Innocents, this
autumn. Clarke has recently remixed "Falling Down" for Space
Cowboy, "If I Know You" for The Presets and "No You Girls" for Franz
Ferdinand.
Bob Dylan's Together Through Life dropped a spot to #6 on the Billboard
200 albums chart on sales of 31,000 copies. The Twilight
soundtrack fell a place to #11. Steve Earle's Townes debuted
at #19 on sales of 18,000 copies.
Flo Rida's "Right Round" featuring Kesha (which samples Dead Or Alive's
"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" fell 3 places to #12 on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Bob Dylan's Together Through Life dropped 7 spots to #8 on the U.K.
Albums chart. U2's No Line On The Horizon fell a place to
#20. Annie Lennox's The Collection dropped 6 spots to
#22. Chris De Burgh's Footsteps fell 9 places to
#26. ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits re-entered the chart at #40.
Ironik's "Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer)" featuring Chipmunk and Elton
John fell 4 places to #7 on the U.K. Singles chart. Flo
Rida's "Right Round" featuring Kesha dropped 6 spots to #33.
Depeche Mode's Sounds Of The Universe retains the top spot on
Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart for a 4th week. The
album remains #1 in Germany and Switzerland. The band have
had to cancel 3 more dates of their tour (for a total of 9 at this
time) as Dave Gahan is still attempting to recover from severe
gastroenteritis.
Latina.com recently reported that Lisa Lisa's new album, Life 'n Love,
is on the way and features the song "Infatuation."
Peter Murphy will take the Secret Cover Tour to the U.S. and Europe
soon and preview material from his forthcoming release during those
dates.
A new Ozzy Osbourne documentary, Wreckage Of My Past, will head to
theaters in 2010. The film sees a sober Ozzy looking back and
reconciling the past and looking toward the future.
Kevin Seconds will release a new limited edition 7 inch single, "Big
American Thing," via Side One Dummy Records on July 21st.
Lionel Richie recently told Billboard.com that despite his new album,
Just Go, heading to stores now he has already started work on the
follow-up which he intends to bring some collaborators in on.
He has also said that before the end of the year you will hear
something about a Commodores reunion. Richie was also part of
a star-studded grand finale for season eight of Fox's American Idol
that included performances by Kiss, Queen, Steve Martin, Rod Stewart,
Cyndi Lauper, Santana and Queen Latifah.
The Young Fresh Fellows will release, I Think This Is, their first full
studio album since 2001 on July 7th. Robyn Hitchcock produced
the band's new disc.
German metal act Accept have announced that they will be releasing a
new studio album this year debuting their new vocalist Mark Tornillo.
Sananda Maitreya has taken all the chapters of his Nigor Mortis
recordings and has made them available for purchase on a limited
edition CD at http://tiny.cc/vREBF. You can also purchase any
of the 23 tracks in MP3 format at the same store's music section.
Nick Lowe's 1994 album, The Impossible Bird, 1998's Dig My Mood and
2001's The Convincer have been collected by Yep Roc Records and
reissued in a limited edition box set called the Brentford Trilogy.
Al B. Sure! has signed a deal with Hidden Beach Recordings for the
release of his new studio album, Honey I'm Home, on June
23rd. The first single from the set will be "I Love It (Papi
Aye, Aye, Aye)" which is currently available at iTunes. The
disc will aso include covers of Sting's "Fragile," Michael Jackson's
"Lady In My Life" and a new interlude version of his own 1988 hit "Nite
And Day."
Chris Isaak will make a special appearance on May 26th on The Late Late
Show with Craig Ferguson to perform "You Don't Cry Like I Do."
Gary Wright has re-formed Spooky Tooth with original member Mike
Harrison. They have announced several dates in Germany as
well as a performance at the week-long celebration of the 50th
anniversary of Island Records and its founder Chris
Blackwell. Wright is also continuing work on his new studio
album, Connected. The first single from the disc is expected
to be "Satisfied" which features Ringo Starr on drums.
R.E.M. have started work on their follow-up to last year's
Accelerate. Recording is scheduled for later this year and 14
songs are reportedly in the demo stage.
The Library of Congress gathered several stars including Stevie Wonder,
James Taylor, Lyle Lovett and Art Garfunkel in Washington, D.C., in May
of 2007 to honor Paul Simon as the first recipient of the Gershwin
Prize for Popular Song. That event was filmed and recorded in
5.1 surround sound and has now been released on DVD.
Clan Of Xymox will release their new limited-edition single, "Emily,"
on July 10th. The song comes from their upcoming new studio
album.
The Babys' 1980 albums Union Jacks and On The Edge were reissued on May
18th in Europe. This is the first time the albums have been
released on CD there (they were reissued on CD in the U.S. several
years ago but are currently out of print.)
Former King Swamp vocalist Walter Wray has become involved in the
Little Machine project which takes medieval to modern poetry and
creates musical settings for them. You can find out more
about the project at www.myspace.com/littlemachineuk which has a few
samples up.
The Pointer Sisters will see their 1981 album, Black & White,
reissued in the U.K. on July 7th in a remastered edition with several
bonus tracks.
Suicide Commando have been working on their new studio album,
Implements Of Hell, due out via Metropolis Records. A release
date and the title of the first single haven't been announced as of yet.
John Fogerty has announced that he's finished work on, John Fogerty:
The Return Of The Blue Ridge Rangers, a sequel to his 1973 solo
album. No release date has been announced. He has
also been working on a new DVD, John Fogerty -- Comin' Down The Road,
which was filmed at London's Royal Albert Hall last year and a
documentary about his life.
The Minus 5 have announced the release of, Killingsworth, their eighth
album which is due out on July 7th.
Ian Hunter plans to release, Man Overboard, his follow-up to 2007's
Shrunken Heads on July 21st via New West Records. He hopes to
support the release on the road but knows that he will have to switch
gears by October for five Mott The Hoople 40th anniversary performances
in London.
Helloween frontman Michael Kiske has recorded two tracks ("Hello Moon"
and "Tears Against Your Smile") with Italian metal act Trick Or Treat
for their upcoming sophomore album, Tin Soldiers.
Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band will play 3 shows at Giants
Stadium in New Jersey starting Sept. 30th prior to the arena being torn
down.
Former Three/GTR member Robert Berry has released his new solo studio
album, The Dividing Line, via Frontiers Records.
Mob Research will release their 17-track Holy City Zoo album via Amazon
on May 25th in the U.K.
Lynyrd Skynyrd will release their new 13-track studio album, God
& Guns, on Sept. 29th via Loud & Proud/Roadrunner
Records. The first single from the album, "Still Unbroken,"
heads to rock radio stations in July.
Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins will release a 4-track EP, Angel
Falls, on June 29th in the U.K. followed by a new studio album,
Carousel, on Sept. 1st. Earlier this year, Guthrie released
the Mirrorball album with John Foxx.
Megadeth have announced that they have finished recording of their
currently-untitled new studio album due out in September via Roadrunner
records. The album will be their first with new guitarist
Chris Broderick.
According to Billy Sherwood, extra tracks from Circa's debut album and
second disc, HQ CD, have been combined into a 7-track collection,
Overflow, available now at iTunes.
The new Don Henley collection, The Very Best Of Don Henley, will
include 3 tracks from his Inside Job album (that were released after
his previous Actual Miles collection) and a bonus DVD collecting videos
as well as a few of his soundtrack contributions when released on June
16th.
A Spandau Ballet full-length documentary film covering their entire
career is in the works according to songwriter Gary Kemp. "We
won't shy away from tackling the bad times," Kemp told the Sun.
Flanimals, a 4-volume children's book series written by actor Ricky
Gervais, will be turned into an animated 3-D feature film by
Universal's Illumination Entertainment. Gervais is expected
to voice the lead character.
Cheap Trick have announced that their new studio album will be titled
The Latest.
The release of UFO's new studio album, The Visitor, has been pushed
back to June 16th.