Two stagehands died in a fall on June 29th as part of the 33-foot structure that made up the Rolling Stones
concert set gave way while they were dismantling the set after the band's concert in Madrid. Emergency services
arrived to treat the 4 workers that fell. A third worker was seriously injured. Identities of the injured have
not been announced.
According to BBC News, French police are investigating the mysterious death of a 14 year-old girl who was discovered
unconscious by her friends after the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith ride at Disneyland Paris had stopped.
Medical teams at the theme park tried to revive the girl but she had died before an ambulance had arrived. The
ride remains closed despite a preliminary inspection of the attraction showing no mechanical malfunction.
If you caught the performance by Rod Stewart at the Concert For Diana on Sunday or his performance the prior night
at Twickenham Stadium, it might not have happened. On Thursday, Stewart was taken to a hospital after performing
in Manchester. The 62 year-old singer cut his leg open when he slipped on a wet, slippery metal step while making
his stage entrance. He refused treatment and performed the entire show in the rain and received 10 stitches the
next day. The accident did keep him from accepting the Icon award at the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef Awards.
Barbra Streisand was awarded with a medal of the Legion of Honour when she performed her first concert in France
last week. This is the first time new president Nicolas Sarkozy has bestowed the honour on anyone since taking
office last month. The award was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century.
Just days after his own birthday, Simply Red vocalist Mick Hucknall, 49, and partner Gabriella announced that they
are "on cloud nine" after the birth of Romy True Hucknall. This is the singer's first child.
During his recent visit to the Pentagon, Charlie Daniels was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for his exceptional
public support of the armed services. Daniels has performed for American military personnel at 20 military installations
around the globe. Meanwhile, Daniels has been recording an album of duets he plans to release this fall on his
Blue Hat Records label. Vince Gill and Dolly Parton are among duet partners on the upcoming disc.
Dwight Yoakam and Crystal Gayle are to be inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall Of Fame in 2008.
Diana Ross received a lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards on June 26th. Many all-star tributes were held
during the show to the late Gerald Levert, late James Brown and award-winner Ross.
Bon Jovi have scored their first #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart since 1988's New Jersey with Lost Highway
on sales of 292,000 copies. The album becomes their 3rd #1. Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full fell two spots
to #5 with sales of 64,000.
The Traveling Wilburys' Collection holds the #3 spot on the U.K. Album chart. The self-titled Police collection
fell 3 spots to #8. Bon Jovi's Lost Highway dropped 9 places to #13. The album holds the #1 spot on the European
Top 100 Albums chart for a second week.
Dennis DeYoung's new studio album, 100 Years From Now, debuted at #2 on Nielsen SoundScan Quebec's Top 100 Anglophone
(English-speaking) chart last week. It was also also #2 on their Top Ventes (Sales) chart. On the standard Canadian
Album chart, it came in #17. The album is expected to get it's U.S. release in the fall.
Prince's new studio album, Planet Earth, is getting a lot of coverage in the U.K. So much so that Sony BMG have
announced that they will no longer be releasing it there. This comes after a deal was made between his representatives
and the national British newspaper the Mail on Sunday which would see 2 million copies of the CD given away as
a "covermount" with an unspecified edition of the newspaper in July. He's also expected to distribute
free copies to thousands of concert attendees. The newspaper was the center of controversy on April 22nd when they
released 3 million "covermounts" of Mike Oldfield's 1973 album Tubular Bells. During a keynote speech
last week, U.K. Entertainment Retailers Association co-chairman Paul Quirk said, "If it turns out to be the
case, The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behavior like this, he will soon be the Artist
Formerly Available in Record Stores."
Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil has been out promoting his own line of tequila called Tres Rios. He also has his
Vince Vineyards which has their own Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvinon. Neil has also been named as a special guest
judge of the Guitar Hero II competition in the World Series of Video Games.
The Bangles will release their first-ever concert DVD, Return To Bangleonia, on Aug. 14th via Shout! Factory. The
disc contains 18 tracks recorded by the original line-up in September of 2000 at the House Of Blues on the Sunset
Strip in Los Angeles. Also included are track commentary, interviews, acoustic performances and rare photos.
Spear Of Destiny will release their new studio album, Imperial Prototype, in November. Meanwhile, Kirk Brandon
has been working on new material and upcoming shows with his other project, Dead Men Walking (featuring the Alarm's
Mike Peters, Captain Sensible and Slim Jim Phantom.) Peters will be busy himself as he plans 7 new releases during
the next 7 months.
John Fogerty has been working on his new studio album, Revival, due out in late September/early October. Rolling
Stone was recently given an exclusive clip of the song "Summer Of Love" from the album.
Kiss will follow their 2006 DVD box set, Kissology: Volume 1, 1974-1977, with Kissology:Volume Two, 1978-1991,
via VH1 Classic Records on Aug. 14th. The set will include 3 DVDs with a fourth that will vary depending on the
retailer.
Sam Harris has been busy working on a new as-yet-to-be-announced project during time away from the set of the CBS
comedy series, The Class. He also appeared as a special guest on a stop during the True Colors tour.
According to a press release from Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan, the title of his sophomore solo album will
be Hourglass when released in late October. Many song titles have been announced but no word on the first single.
Gahan has said that the album will sound more electronic than his solo debut, Paper Monsters. Meanwhile, the band
plans to reissue remastered versions of Ultra and Exciter this summer.
Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Wanna Stop," from his latest album, Black Rain, has claimed the top spot on
the Mainstream Rock chart.
Stephen Morris and Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order both recently gave the Ian Curtis biopic, Control, a thumbs
up but have claimed that it's only loosely based on the truth.
Toto will be releasing a new CD, Live In Paris, in Japan on Sept. 5th with a DVD version expected to follow. The
tracks were recorded during their Paris performance on Mar. 26th, 2007. No dates for worldwide release have been
announced as of yet.
Willie Nelson has recorded a few songs with his sister Bobbie Nelson for her new album, Audiobiography, due out
in September. Two of the tracks were written by her brother. He has also recorded a cover of Fats Domino's "I
Hear You Knockin'" for Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino which features contributions from the late John
Lennon, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Elton John, B.B. King, Robert Plant, Neil Young, Dr. John, Randy Newman, Bruce
Hornsby, Herbie Hancock, Bonnie Raitt, Lenny Kravitz, Lucinda Williams, Ivan Neville, Art Neville and many more.
Proceeds from the album, due out Sept. 25th, will go to the Tipitina's Foundation which helps New Orleans musicians
in times of need.
Bryan Ferry plans to return to the studio next year with Roxy Music to continue recording new material for their
first album since 1992 after his tour in support of Dylanesque wraps up.
According to his publicist Raymone Bain, Michael Jackson is currently in the recording studio putting the finishing
touches on the music making up his next album.
Kevin Seconds has started something called the New Song-A-Week Project 2007. Essentially, he plans to record and
finish one song each week and post them on his blog, MySpace page or other medium and make it available via SnoCap
for just under $1.
Saigon Kick and Skid Row drummer Phil Varone has moved on to a new career as a stand-up comic. He has a new DVD
entitled Waking Up Dead on which he talks about his time in Skid Row and the toll it took on his friends, family,
health and career.
Duran Duran have announced that the title of their new studio album will be Red Carpet Massacre when released this
fall via Epic Records. The band performed during the Princess Diana tribute on Sunday and are scheduled to perform
at the Live Earth Concert on July 7th.
Sonic Youth will release their new limited-edition retrospective, Hits Are For Squares, via Starbucks Entertainment
and Universal Special Markets early next year. Meanwhile, Thurston Moore plans to release his new solo album, Trees
Outside The Academy, on Sept. 18th.
Paul Anka will release his new album, Classic Songs, My Way, via Decca on Aug. 28th. The album contains re-recordings
of some of his hits as well as covers of Joni Mitchells' "Both Sides Now" and Billy Joel's "I Go
To Extremes" as well as more pop/adult contemporary hits. Anka released a big-band cover album of alternative
rock gems, Rock Swings, in 2005.
Former TNT vocalist Tony Harnell has joined Starbreaker for the release of their new studio album, Starbreaker
II, due out early next year.
Ali and Robin Campbell of UB40 are featured on one of 7 unique covers on this week's Radio Times (due out tomorrow)
marking the forthcoming Live Earth concerts. The magazine also features an interview with the brothers as well
as several other artists (UB40, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi and Spinal Tap) performing at the concerts.
Tom Waits will release Healing The Divide: A Concert For Peace And Reconciliation, culled from his Sept. 21, 2003
performance with the Kronos Quartet, on July 10th via the Anti- label. "Diamond In Your Mind" will be
released as a single from the disc on June 26th.
Kylie Minogue's upcoming appearance on the U.K. sci-fi series Doctor Who will be as a major lead role in the hour-long
Christmas special episode entitled Voyage of the Damned. The episode will film in July.
John Parr recently released a new single, "Walking Out Of The Darkness," which is a tribute to the Doncaster
Rovers Football Club in the U.K. and their appearance in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Cardiff's Millennium
Stadium on Apr. 1st. The Rovers wound up winning. The song has been made available for download as a digital single
at HMVDigital. Parr has also scheduled a London performance in November at The Shepherds Bush Empire with his 10-piece
band.
The Grid have been working on a new studio album entitled Doppelganger scheduled for release in August.
Testament has signed a worldwide recording deal with Nuclear Blast Records. Their label debut is expected in the
first quarter of 2008.
Rumors of the new AC/DC album getting released were recently subdued during an interview at Glam-Metal.com with
Cliff Williams. Malcolm and Angus are still working on new material and when that comes far enough along, they
will call in the rest of the group.
Steve Earle will release his New West debut album, Washington Square Serenade, on Sept. 25th. The disc includes
his cover of Tom Waits' "Way Down In The Hole" which is the theme song for the HBO series The Wire (which
Earle stars in.) A deluxe edition of the album will include a bonus DVD. Earle is also writing his first novel
for Houghton Mifflin.
An Essential Paul Simon collection was released recently. The 2-CD set features 36 songs from his career. A deluxe
edition will include a bonus DVD with music videos and television appearances.
Ministry will release their Rio Grande Dub remix album via their 13th Planet Records on July 10th. Pre-orders are
available now at the 13th Planet Store.
Trey Anastasio will release an instrumental album, The Horseshoe Curve, on July 24th via his own Rubber Jungle
label. Those pre-ordering the album via Anastasio's Web site will receive the 5-track live EP, The Lucius Beebe.
A portion of the proceeds from the album will benefit Anastasio's non-profit Seven Below Arts Initiative.
Word about Van Halen's derailed 2007 tour getting back on the right track is leaking out. The same line-up (seeing
the return of David Lee Roth and replacement of Michael Anthony with Wolfgang Van Halen) is expected to hit the
road around September in the U.S. unless those tracks get slippery.
Night Ranger's new studio effort, Hole In The Sun, will be distributed by VH1 Music in the U.S. in August. The
band are also revamping and redesigning NightRanger.com and their MySpace page.
Retrofest has solidified their line-up for Sept. 1st and 2nd at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, (40 minutes from Glasgow.)
Day one will include The Human League, Bananarama, ABC, Tony Hadley, Howard Jones, Imagination featuring Leee John,
Go West, The Blockheads and Kajagoogoo. Day two will have Belinda Carlisle, Hue and Cry, Kim Wilde, Curiosity Killed
The Cat, Nick Heyward, Hazel O' Connor, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, The Silencers, The Beat, Cutting Crew and
Four Good Men.