A French worker died on Thursday while the stage
for
Madonna's upcoming Marseille, France concert was being built.
The stage collapsed injuring 9 other workers. One injured
British Live Nation employee died in the hospital on Friday.
5 remain in serious condition. The July 19th concert has been
canceled and the singer issued a statement saying she was devastated by
the news. French prosecutors have launched a manslaughter
investigation into the stage collapse. E S Group, the company
responsible for the stage construction, was also involved in building
her stage at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium which also collapsed in
November 2008.
According to a statement from their publicist, Aerosmith bassist Tom
Hamilton, 57, has been side-lined after a "non-invasive surgery" and,
while in recovery, will miss "some dates." Guitarist Brad
Whitford will returned on Wednesday to the band for his first
appearance of the tour. According to his daughter Mia Tyler,
her father Steven is in a cast after tearing a quadricep muscle in his
leg.
Depeche Mode were forced to cancel their final two dates on their
European tour after Dave Gahan tore a calf muscle on stage during their
July 9th performance in Bilbao, Spain. Doctors have advised
him to keep off the leg so that it can heal properly. Earlier
dates of the Tour Of The Universe were previously canceled so Gahan
could have surgery to remove a tumor from his bladder.
It seems that A&E had been working on a one-hour special
following Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy Jackson that would
serve as a 'backdoor pilot' for a possible reality series to debut next
year. Tentatively titled The Jackson Family, producers
followed them around as they worked on a new album and reunion
tour. If the special surfaces, the network is expecting
changes that will reflect Michael's passing. Meanwhile,
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff conferred wide-ranging authority
on attorney John Branca and record executive John McClain until Aug.
3rd (when another hearing is held) to allow the administrators of his
estate to negotiate agreements relating to the This Is It concert
series. This also allows the men to assume control of
Jackson's physical assets, hire estate consultants and take care of tax
issues. The Los Angeles County coroner's office has announced
that Jackson's autopsy report will take longer than first expected and
should wrap up in two weeks. The child custody hearing for
Jackson's 3 children has been postponed until Aug. 3rd and remain in
grandmother Katherine Jackson's care. Motown has collected
every solo Michael Jackson recording released from 1971 to 1975 as well
many of his songs that were released during his 1980s rise for, Hello
World: The Motown Solo Collection, a new 73-track 3-CD set heading to
stores next week.
Former Warrant frontman Jani Lane was arraigned on July 11th and
officially charged with DUI and hit-and-run. Lane was
arrested on June 17th for allegedly hitting a parked care in L.A. and
refused to take a sobriety test. Lane could be sentenced to 6
months in jail and fined $1,000 if convicted.
Blogger Kevin Cogill was sentenced to two months of home confinement,
subject his computers to government scrutiny and record a public
service announcement for the RIAA for leaking part of the Guns N' Roses
Chinese Democracy album. Cogill had pleaded guilty to one
misdemeanor count of copyright infringement earlier this year.
Congratulations go out to Rikki Rockett and Melanie Martel Rockett on
the birth of their son Jude Aaron Rockett on July 14th.
Robert Plant was named as a Commander of the British Empire by Prince
Charles at Buckingham Palace on July 10th.
Chickenfoot's self-titled debut fell 7 places to #28 on the Billboard
200 albums chart. The Twilight soundtrack climbed a spot to
#29.
Michael Jackson's Number Ones retained the #1 spot on the Billboard
Comprehensive Albums chart. Jackson's Thriller fell a place
to #3. Jackson's The Essential Michael Jackson dropped a spot
to #4. Jackson's Off The Wall climbed 5 places to
#6. Jackson's Bad gained 17 spots to #8. Jackson's
Dangerous climbed 12 places to #9. The Jackson 5's The
Ultimate Collection gained 38 spots to #16. The Jackson 5's
The Best Of Jackson 5: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection
climbed 93 places to #33. Chickenfoot's self-titled debut
dropped 9 spots to #36. Jackson's Greatest Hits: HIStory:
Volume 1 climbed 32 places to #37. The Twilight soundtrack
dropped 2 spots to #38. Jackson's HIStory: Past, Present And
Future: Book 1 gained 57 places to #39.
Michael Jackson's The Essential retained the #1 spot on the U.K. Albums
chart. Jackson's Off The Wall climbed 7 places to
#3. Jackson's Thriller gained 2 spots to #4.
Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5's The Motown Years re-entered
the chart at #5. Jackson's Number Ones fell 4 places to
#7. Jackson's Thriller 25 climbed 9 places to #9.
Jackson's King Of Pop dropped 9 spots to #14. Michael Jackson
& The Jackson 5's The Very Best Of Michael Jackson &
The Jackson 5 gained 8 places to #15. Jackson's HIStory:
Past, Present And Future: Book 1 climbed 16 spots to #17.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's Greatest Hits fell 10
places to #19. Jim Reeves' The Very Best Of Jim Reeves
dropped 3 spots to #23. Ali Campbell's Flying High fell 15
places to #28. The Benny Andersson Band's Story Of A Heart
debuted at #29. Neil Sedaka's The Music Of My Life dropped 3
places to #30.
Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" dropped a spot to #3 on the U.K.
Singles chart. Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" fell 7 places to
#20. Jackson's "Billie Jean" dropped 11 spots to
#21. Jackson's "Thriller" fell 13 places to #25.
Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" climbed 4 spots to #28.
Jackson's "Black Or White" fell 4 places to #29. Jackson's
"Dirty Diana" dropped 5 spots to #31. Jackson's "Beat It"
fell 13 places to #32. Jackson's "Earth Song" dropped 6 spots
to #39. Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" fell 5 places to #40.
Michael Jackson has set a posthumous record on the Billboard European
Top 100 Albums chart by holding down 8 of the top 10 spots.
Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin has re-released her 2000 solo album,
Kissproof World, as a digital download at Amazon.com. Wiedlin
will be attending Comic Con next week promoting her latest project --
the comic book Lady Robotika which she co-created with artist Bill
Morrison.
Information Society have a new EP, It Is Useless To Resist Us, on the
way. Before that hits stores, the band have a new app for the
iPhone and iPod Touch available at the iTunes App Store.
Duran Duran's double-CD special edition release of Rio and the
previously unreleased concert DVD/CD, Live At Hammersmith '82!, will be
released on Sept. 22nd in the U.S.
Eagle Rock has collected Gary Moore's Montreux performances from 1990,
1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001 into a 5-CD box set entitled Essential
Montreux due out on July 28th.
Taylor Dayne is working on finishing her remastered greatest hits which
will include her latest, "Beautiful." She has also said, of
some of the songs she wrote while on CMT's Gone Country 3, that she
would "want them cut by artists in that genre that can bring magic to
them." She does plan to perform "Born To Sing" during her
upcoming concerts.
Frontiers Records has announced that they will release the new House Of
Lords studio album, Cartesian Dreams, on Oct. 13th in the U.S.
"Phantom Bride" from Erasure's 1988 album, The Innocents, will be
released by Mute Records as a special EP on Oct. 12th featuring brand
new remixes. Meanwhile a 21st anniversary edition of The
Innocents will be released on Oct. 26th in standard and deluxe
versions. Also due out is the remix collection Erasure.Club
EP due out on Aug. 10th.
"Weird Al" Yankovic has released his latest single, "Skipper Dan," to
most digital music retailers. The song comes from his
upcoming digital-only EP, Internet Leaks, due out next year.
"Follow The Tears" has been selected by Heaven & Hell as the
second single from their latest album, The Devil You Know.
They Might Be Giants will release their new children's album and
animated DVD, Here Comes Science, on Sept. 1st via Amazon (and Sept.
22nd everywhere else.) The band have also started work on
their new rock album with a possible spring 2010 release expected.
Diesel [a.k.a. Mark Lizotte] has released his new blues album, Blues
Project: Saturday Suffering Fools, via iTunes and his
www.DieselMusic.com.au Web site.
CMT has pushed back the August premiere of Runnin' Wild...From Ted
Nugent to early next year. The 8-episode competition series
sees the rocker and outdoorsman teach ordinary people how to survive in
the wild and tests them with endurance challenges with one competitor
emerging as the winner.
Chicago punk act Naked Raygun have announced they are heading into the
studio in a few weeks to lay down tracks for a series of 7" records --
their first new recordings since 1997.
Surviving Bee Gees Barry and Robin Gibb will celebrate the group's 50th
anniversary on Nov. 3rd with, Mythology, an 81 track 4-CD box set
curated and produced by the brothers. Each disc will be
dedicated to a Gibb brother including the late Maurice and Andy
Gibb. (Andy's daughter Peta chose 19 songs for his
disc.) A smaller 29-track double-CD collection entitled The
Ultimate Bee Gees: The 50th Anniversary Collection will come out the
same day.
Rakim will release his long-awaited album, The Seventh Seal, this fall
preceded by the single, "Holy Are You," on July 28th.
The Offspring have released a new video for their latest single, "Stuff
Is Messed Up." Subscribers to their YouTube page at
http://www.youtube.com/user/offspringtv?ob=1 can catch it there.
Steve Vai will release his, Where The Wild Things Are, concert film and
CD via Favored Nations Records on Sept. 29th.
Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes will revisit his 1991 album, Soul
Deep, with the intent to release a prequel, The Rhythm & The
Blues, that features songs of the 50's and 60's. The first
single is expected to surface in August. He also has been
recording abroad for his next rock album on which he has collaborated
with Jonathan Cain.
Ricky Skaggs will release Ricky Skaggs Solo (Songs My Dad Loved) via
Skaggs Family Records on Sept. 15th. According to Skaggs, the
13 songs on the album were among his first memories of music and of
hearing his father sing.
LaToya Jackson has plans to re-release, "Home," a song she recorded to
honor her family, as a single on July 28th on iTunes as a tribute to
her brother Michael. According to founder Jeffre Phillips of
Ja-Tail Records, LaToya had finished a CD and was about to release a
different song as her first single. Due to Michael's death,
the album release has been delayed indefinitely. The label
plans to donate the proceeds from the single to the AIDS Project LA
charity which her brother supported. "Home" appeared on early
promos of the album, Starting Over, in 2002 but was never officially
released (as it was leaked online in 2006.)
Kiss will release their first new studio album in 11 years on Oct.
6th. Meanwhile, former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley releases
his new solo album, Anomaly, on Sept. 15th.
A video for Gordon Gano & The Ryans' "Wave And Water" has
debuted at BoingBoing.net. The songs comes from their
upcoming album, Under The Sun, due out Sept. 15th.
Men At Work vocalist Colin Hay will release his new studio album,
American Sunshine, via Compass Records on Aug. 18th.
New Model Army release their 11th studio album, Today Is A Good Day, on
Sept. 15th supported by a U.S. and European tour.
During a recent interview with the Phillipines' Daily Enquirer, Trent
Reznor has clarified Nine Inch Nails' future. "What I
specifically said or meant to convey is that NIN as a touring live band
or live band that's on the road all the time is stopping.
I've just reached the point...where it has invaded every other aspect
of my life."
Former Beat Farmers guitarist/vocalist Jerry Raney has revived the band
(which lost members Country Dick Montana in 1995 and Buddy Blue in
2006) under the name The Farmers. The Farmers release their
new studio album, Fulmination, next week via CDBaby.
According to their latest newsletter, REO Speedwagon are planning a
Christmas CD in November with an NBC television special to coincide
with the release.
Slash has announced that his new solo album should be done next
month. He recently brought former bandmates Izzy Stradlin and
Steven Adler as well as Flea into the studio for the sessions.
Former Radio Birdman frontman Rob Younger will release a new album,
Gloria, with his side-project The New Christs on Aug. 11th via
Impedance and MVD Audio.
Former Vandenberg vocalist Bert Heerink will release his new solo
album, Better Yet, on Sept. 25th.