Former record executive and Tom Waits manager
Herb
Cohen has filed a $1 million lawsuit against journalist Barney Hoskyns
and his publisher Random House over allegedly false and defamatory
claims made in Hoskyns' book, Lowside Of The Road, A Life Of Tom Waits.
A statement released on Tony Iommi's official Web site:
"Sadly Heaven & Hell were unable to perform at The Metalway
Festival in Zaragoza on Sunday due to acute back problems suffered by
Tony which left him in considerable pain and unable to stand. Ronnie,
Geezer and Vinny spoke to the audience to explain the situation. The
band is extremely disappointed that the show couldn't take place and
hope to make it up to the ticket holders when they resume touring in
Europe. Tony would like to personally apologize to everyone
who
came to see the band, had there been anyway to perform he would have
done so."
After their former lead singer Jani Lane was arrested for driving under
the influence, Warrant have issued a statement. "Jani Lane,
who was officially dismissed from the band Warrant in 2008, is in no
way affiliated with Warrant at present. It is to be known
that Jani Lane's actions, should not be misrepresented as those of the
lead singer of Warrant. Warrant whose line-up consists of
Jerry Dixon, Joey Allen, Erik Turner, Steven Sweet and Robert Mason
express concern for the possible dangers that Mr. Lane's actions
pose. Warrant, represented by the William Morris Agency, are
embarking on new ventures, including touring and recording.
Warrant wish to avoid any negative opinions and publicity that wrongful
association to Mr. Lane might cause resulting from his poor
judgment." If that weren't bad enough, The Detroit News
reports that Lane owes $121,024 in federal income taxes and that the
IRS filed a lien against Lane and his ex-wife in April 2005 for taxes
he owes from 1996 to 2003.
Garage rock act the Seeds vocalist/bassist Sky Sunlight Saxon has been
hospitalized at St. David's South Austin Hospital and remains in
critical condition in the ICU. Doctors are conducting further
tests but suspect an infection of the internal organs.
Forbes magazine has announced their list of Top-Earning Musicians for
the year. Madonna came in first followed by Celine Dion at
#2, Bruce Springsteen at #4, AC/DC tied for #6 and the Eagles at #9.
Chickenfoot's self-titled album fell 3 places to #7 on the Billboard
200 album chart. Hank Williams Jr.'s 127 Rose Avenue debuted
at #19. The Twilight soundtrack dropped 4 spots to
#21. George Harrison's Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison
debuted at #24. Elvis Costello's Secret, Profane &
Sugarcane fell 10 places to #33.
Paul Carrack's "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore" retained the #11 spot on
the FMQB AC40 singles chart. Boys Don't Cry's "Don't Call Me
A Country Singer" climbed a place to #19.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's Greatest Hits climbed 4
spots on the U.K. Albums chart to #3. George Harrison's Let
It Roll: Songs By George Harrison debuted at #4. Jim Reeves'
The Very Best Of Jim Reeves climbed 3 places to #7. Meat
Loaf's Hits Out Of Hell climbed 18 spots to #10. Mike
Oldfield's The Collection climbed 15 places to #11. Black
Sabbath's Greatest Hits debuted at #19. Ray Davies &
Crouch End Chorus' The Kinks Choral Collection debuted at
#28. Don Henley's The Very Best Of Don Henley retained the
#29 spot. The Proclaimers' Notes & Rhymes debuted at
#30. Michael McDonald's The Ultimate Collection climbed 3
places to #36.
ZZ Top's Live From Texas has up to now spent a shocking 52 weeks on the
Soundscan Music DVD Chart.
Kenny Loggins' new album, All Join In, is now available on iTunes
before its July 21st street date. The iTunes version will
include a bonus track (a cover of Lennon/McCartney's "Mother Nature's
Son.")
Hot on the heels of their Reckoning deluxe edition, R.E.M. will release
a 4-song digital E.P., Reckoning Songs From Olympia, recorded during
their working rehearsals at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. The
E.P. is a sneak peek at their double-CD Live At The Olympia release due
out this fall.
Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer will release a new tell-all book, Hit
Hard: A Story Of Hitting Rock Bottom At The Top, on June
30th. The book talks about his battle with addiction and
severe depression.
Robin Trower has been out promoting his new live album, RT@RO-08, which
is expected to be his only release this year. He has also
announced that he's recorded a new studio album, What Lies Beneath.
Megadeth fans can call Dave Mustaine's phone number (866-597-6342) at
LiveLine to hear the band's new track "Headcrusher" from their upcoming
album, Endgame, due out in September.
On July 7th, Legacy Recordings will release the first ever Jayhawks
collection, Music From The North Country: The Jayhawks
Anthology. The set will be released as a single CD and a
deluxe double-CD/DVD set.
Kiss' Gene Simmons has confirmed that the band has a deal in the works
with Wal-Mart that will result in an entire section of the retail
stores dubbed Kiss Korner. This is expected to be timed with
the release of their forthcoming new studio album. The band
are reportedly just days away from completing their work on the set
which was written entirely by the band members and includes lead vocals
from guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.
Heart have been working in the studio on and off with producer Ben Mink
on their follow-up to 2004's Jupiter's Darling expected out sometime
this year. They also have plans to release a storybook
inspired by their 1978 album Dog & Butterfly at the end of the
year that will contain new versions of the title song and "Dreamboat
Annie." The Wilson sisters did the initial character drawings
themselves for the project.
Due to the untimely death of Marshall Tucker Band lead singer and
founding member Doug Gray's wife, the Marshall Tucker Band has canceled
all of their upcoming engagements through July 1st.
John Mellencamp has announced "If I Die Sudden" as the fourth single
from his Life, Death, Love And Freedom album. The song (in
its original and live version) has been released to Classic Rock and
AAA radio formats.
D.O.A. have released, Police Brutality, their first video from their
latest album Northern Avenger. According to the band leader
Joe Keithley, he was finishing writing the songs for the album when
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was tasered five times by the
R.C.M.P. at the Vancouver Airport and died. "The song and
video 'Police Brutality' are D.O.A.'s reaction to that brutal
act." D.O.A. also plan to release a special double-disc 30th
anniversary DVD in August.
Former Bros vocalist Matt Goss releases his latest single, "Evil," on
Aug. 4th via iTunes. Meanwhile, according to Robin Leach,
Goss will take up a limited-run residency at the Palms Lounge starting
Sept. 4th. He has also been working in Los Angeles on his
next album.
Julien Temple will direct an upcoming feature-length film about The
Kinks. Temple does have some history with the group as he
directed the bands videos for 1982's "Come Dancing" and 1983's "Don't
Forget To Dance."
The Beastie Boys have announced that they will release their new
17-track studio album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, on Sept. 15th via
Capitol. They will also release a double-CD remastered and
expanded version of 1998's Hello Nasty on Aug. 25th.
Legacy Recordings will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the The Stone
Roses' self-titled debut album on Aug. 11th with a re-release in 4 new
formats.
Little Caesar have finished work on their new studio album.
They are currently shopping the album with U.S. distributors and have
been offered some deals in Europe but are considering a digital
self-release in the U.S. via their own Web site.
Former Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell is making his new album,
Hooverdam, available as a free download at
www.HughCornwell.com. The recordings have been "made without
ProTools, AutoTune, or any other piece of performance-enhancing
stuff." Physical copies will also surface in vinyl and a
triple-sleeved digi-pak CD/DVD containing his film Blueprint.
Barbra Streisand's upcoming album with Diana Krall, Love Is The Answer,
will be released on Sept. 29th via Columbia Records.
Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest will see his long-delayed album, Kamaal
The Abstract, released on Sept. 15th via Battery Records. The
self-produced disc was originally due out in 2001.
Ted Poley will release a self-financed 35-track double-CD collection,
Greatestits Vol. 1, via TedPoley.com on July 14th. The bonus
track (a parody of Kiss' "Unholy) will be removed and the title and
cover will be changed after the initial printing.
The Simple Minds will release "Stars Will Lead The Way" on July 20th in
the U.K. as the second single from their Graffiti Soul album.
Phish will release their new 10-track studio album, Joy, via their own
JEMP Records later this summer.
Bar/None Records plans to re-release the Feelies' 1980 debut album,
Crazy Rhythms, and 1986's The Good Earth in September in deluxe CD and
LP versions with bonus material containing demos, B-sides, EP tracks
and new live recordings.
Europe's Last Look At Eden EP will be released on Aug. 10th via
earMusic in the the U.K. The disc will contain an exclusive
promo video for the single, "Last Look At Eden," the single, the new
track "U Devil U," and 3 live tracks (including a cover of Led
Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You.")
According to The Sun, Spandau Ballet are expected to sign a deal with
Mercury for the release of their new acoustic greatest hits album and
their nearly finished reunion album.
Whitney Houston's new studio album, I Look To You, will be released
worldwide via Arista Records on Sept. 1st.
Asia featuring John Payne have hit the road previewing a few tracks
from their upcoming studio album, Military Man, due out later this year.
Claudio Valente has released his latest single, "La Citta' Dei Sogni,"
from the new album Un Po'(P) Piu Adulto.
Guitarist Tim Krekel, 58, died in his Louisville, Kentucky home on June
24th after deteriorating health following surgery to remove a tumor in
his stomach. He had been diagnosed with cancer in March and
his condition took a drastic turn for the worse during the last few
weeks. Krekel was an often used session player and released 8
solo albums including 1986's Over The Fence.
Michael Joseph Jackson, 50, died on June 25th from what is believed to
be a cardiac arrest at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. His
personal physician, cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray, was there at
Jackson's home when paramedics arrived and took him to the
hospital. At that point, they had been attempting CPR and
over an hour was spent trying unsuccessfully to resuscitate the
singer. The Los Angeles Coroners Office held a press
conference on Friday to announce that an autopsy revealed no
indications of foul play or evidence of physical trauma and that a
cause of death could not be determined until a toxicology report and
other tests are completed in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Of what
is known, Jackson had been rehearsing for his upcoming London O2 Arena
performances until the day before at the Los Angeles' Staples
Center. Dr. Murray, who Jackson had insisted be added to the
AEG Live payroll, had been overseeing his vigorous training for the
upcoming shows. AEG Live is expected to refund over $85
million from the 750,000 tickets sold for the 50 shows. The following
day, Amazon.com reported that around 60% of their CD sales were Michael
Jackson or Jackson 5 recordings and on iTunes seven of the Top 10 were
Jackson-related releases. The singer landed on the top of the
Billboard 100 singles chart 13 times in his career which is currently
behind only Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Mariah Carey. His
image did take a hit after child sexual abuse allegations surfaced in
1993 and financial difficulties arose during the last 4
years. Jackson leaves behind three children:
Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. (also known as Prince Michael), 12, Paris
Michael Katherine Jackson, 11, and Prince Michael II (nicknamed
Blanket), 7.