George Michael was arrested on Thursday on
suspicion
of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while driving after
crashing his Range Rover into the back of a semi. A
breathalyzer test was administered on the side of the road and he was
taken into custody for nearly 5 hours before being released without
being charged. The singer had just received his license back
two months ago after a two-year driving ban.
Whitesnake have released a statement: "Unfortunately, last
night at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver, Whitesnake had to cut
their performance short due to Mr. Coverdale experiencing considerable
pain in his vocal chords. He was immediately taken to a specialist for
examination. The specialist discovered that David was suffering from
severe vocal fold edema and a left vocal fold vascular lesion. He was
instructed to cancel all performances for the next two weeks &
then undergo a further examination. The doctors told us we were
fortunate this was caught at a stage where no apparent permanent damage
has been caused. We therefore regretfully have to announce that
Whitesnake will not be appearing on the remainder of the US tour with
Judas Priest, Whitesnake sincerely regrets any disappointment this may
cause."
According to Spear Of Destiny singer-songwriter Kirk Brandon's
management, "Kirk was taken very poorly last week, this resulted in a
marathon eight hours on an operating table in Sussex, UK on the 12th
August. The doctors, nurses and his consultant are pleased
with his progress so far, obviously it is very early days and at this
time there is little more to add other than a massive thank you to all
the hospital staff who has been nothing short of amazing."
The band's upcoming appearances have been postponed until Brandon
recovers and is back to full strength.
Doctors have advised Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler to take the time
to properly recuperate from his injuries (a broken shoulder and 20
stitches in his head) forcing the band to cancel the remaining dates of
their summer tour. In a statement released by guitarist Joe
Perry, "Words can't express the sadness I feel for having to cancel
this tour. I would like to thank our loyal fans for sticking
by us through think and thin and all the good energy they are sending
our way. We hope we can get the Aerosmith machine up and
running again as soon as possible."
Depeche Mode were forced to cancel their Wednesday performance at the
Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California due to "doctor's
orders that lead singer Dave Gahan be on complete vocal rest for 48
hours." Due to such a busy tour schedule, they will not be
able to reschedule a tour date for the Bay Area.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Bobby Brown after he failed to
appear in a Massachusetts court on a contempt complaint on June
29th. Norfolk Judge Christina Harms has ordered that Brown be
arrested next time he is in Massachusetts. Brown is
reportedly $45,000 behind in his child support payments for his two
children with Kim Ward.
Samantha Fox plans to marry her longtime partner/manager Myra
Stratton. Fox recently told OK! magazine, "I'll tell you
who'd definitely coming -- Lemmy from Motorhead. We might get
him to give me away, and we might get Liz Mitchell from Boney M to do
the ceremony -- she's a pastor now."
Modest Mouse's No One's First And You're Next debuted at #15 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart.
Michael Jackson's Number Ones tops the Billboard Top Comprehensive
Albums chart for a 6th non-consecutive week selling 98,000
copies. (The top album on the Billboard 200 chart sold
76,000.)
Boys Don't Cry's "Don't Call Me A Country Singer" has climbed another
spot on the FMQB AC40 chart to #8.
Michael Jackson's The Essential retains the #1 spot on the U.K. Albums
chart. Jackson's Bad entered the chart at #9.
A-ha's Foot Of The Mountain fell 7 places to #12. Michael
Jackson & The Jackson Five's The Motown Years dropped 7 spots
to #15. Jackson's Thriller fell 6 places to #17.
Jackson's Off The Wall dropped 5 spots to #21. U2's No Line
On The Horizon re-entered the chart at #30. Jackson's The
Collection fell 6 places to #32. ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits
climbed a spot to #37. U2's U218 Singles re-entered the chart
at #40.
Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" fell 11 places to #33 on the U.K.
Singles chart.
Sony Pictures Entertainment & Sony Music Entertainment will
release Michael Jackson's This Is It in theaters worldwide starting
Oct. 30th culled from high definition footage of Jackson's last
rehearsals and behind-the-scenes shots. The Jackson
documentary, The Trial And Triumph Of The King Of Pop, has debuted on
cable and Internet Video-On-Demand platforms across North
America. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's original left-handed
white glittery glove will go up for bid at Julien's Auctions (as well
as an early demo tape of Madonna's and unreleased Jimi Hendrix lyrics)
on Nov. 21st at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times
Square. The glove had been in the possession of Commodores
founding member Walter "Clyde" Orange since Jackson gave it to him in
1983. Proceeds from the auction will benefit MusiCares.
W.A.S.P. plan to release their new studio album, Babylon, worldwide on
Oct. 12th via Demolition Records. The 9-track set is themed
around biblical visions of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Stacey Q has released, "Trip," the first single off her upcoming new
studio album, Color Me Cinnamon. The limited edition single
features 3 mixes of the single as well as the non-album bonus track,
"Fast Getaway."
Former Faith No More vocalist Chuck Mosley will release his first solo
album, Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food, on Aug. 11th. Mosley
exited the band in 1988 after the release of 1987's Introduce Yourself.
Red Hot Chili Peppers/Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith is ready to
release his next project, The Bombastic Meatbats: Meet The Meatbats, on
Sept. 15th.
George Benson will release his new studio album, Songs And Stories, on
Aug. 25th via Concord Records/Monster Music in a specially priced
double-disc package containing the album on CD in a stereo mix and a
bonus DVD of the material in Monster's High Definition Stereo and
surround sound mixes.
Paul McCartney set an attendance record at Boston's Fenway Park on Aug.
5th and 6th making it the highest 2-day attendance in the ball park's
entire history. Meanwhile, Billboard magazine has reported
that the singer will be able to start the legal motions to reclaim the
copyrights to the Beatles catalog in about 9 years.
Former Britny Fox vocalist/guitarist "Dizzy" Dean Davidson will release
his new studio album, Sermons Of The American Tabloid, later this year
or early next year via Greenplanet Records.
A new live theater extravaganza called Kiss: Carnival Of Souls was
announced on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The brainchild of Paul
Stanley and Gene Simmons, the show will be co-produced by Singapore
entertainment company Storm Lion when it heads to Las Vegas.
Simmons has been meeting with potential business partners about the
stage show that will feature new Kiss recordings.
Dolly Parton has released "Change It" from the Broadway musical 9 To 5:
The Musical's cast album as her latest single. A new video
from it is up on her MySpage page and the song can be purchased at
iTunes. The singer will also be the focus of a half-hour
profile on CNN International's series Revealed on Aug. 19th.
Gwar plan to release their 12th studio effort, Lust In Space, on Aug.
18th via Metal Blade Records. Lead vocalist Oderus Urungus
has also recently made his fifth appearance as a guest on Red Eye with
Greg Gutfeld and has been given the opportunity to join the panel for
the entire show. Urungus released a statement, "This marks
yet another step in the transformation of Oderus from lead singer to
leading man-thing. I won't stop until my career eclipses that of
Carrot-top, who will be forced to eat his own genitals in a desperate
attempt at publicity."
Phish will release, Joy, their first new studio album in 5 years in 3
versions (CD, limited edition box set and vinyl) on Sept.
8th. Fans can pre-order the album at
http://drygoods.phish.com.
Status Quo will release their new studio album, In Search Of The Fourth
Chord, via Eagle Rock Entertainment on Sept. 15th. Their 33rd
album was released internationally in 2007 but will finally surface in
the U.S.
Morrissey will see archival box sets of his singles (with B-sides)
released this fall. EMI/HMV/Parlophone will release The 7"
Singles '88-'91 on Oct. 12th in the U.K. and The HMV/Parlophone Singles
'91-'95 on Nov. 2nd. The singer has said that he hopes people
will not bother buying they as he will not make any money off the
reissues and he claims that he hasn't been asked for approval for their
release. According to a post at his fansite, "Morrissey
receives no royalty payments from EMI for any back catalogue, and has
not received a royalty from EMI since 1992."
Slash has said that the search for a new Velvet Revolver vocalist is
ongoing. Any new music by the band would not surface sooner
than next summer.
Janet Jackson has started the process of writing material for her new
project. Meanwhile, Variety has reported that she will appear
in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? reprising her role as
Patricia Agnew from 2007's Why Did I Get Married?
Armored Saint plan to enter the recording studio in October to start
work on their new full-length album to be released by Metal Blade
Records early next year.
MC Hammer recently told Billboard that he is planning a 20th
anniversary "companion" album to his 1990 blockbuster, Please Hammer,
Don't Hurt 'Em (which spent 21 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart
and went 10-times platinum.) According to the singer, the
album to be called Don't Hurt 'Em will "capture again the very essence
and vibes of" the original "but updated with the sonic quality of
today... There'll be a lot of parallels between the two, but certainly
it'll be very 2010." He has much more in the pipeline
including an autobiography, a possible second season of A&E's
Hammertime, a new studio album, DanceJamtheMusic, due in September as
well as a Christmas album before the end of the year.
Nirvana's 1989 debut album, Bleach, will be reissued in a deluxe 20th
anniversary edition via Sub Pop on Nov. 3rd. The special
edition will include a previously unreleased live performance to
bolster the newly remastered version of the album. The
11-track live recording took place on Feb. 9th, 1990 in Portland,
Oregon.
Eagle Rock Entertainment's Eagle Eye subsidiary will release The
Chieftains' Live At Montreux 1997 on DVD on Sept. 1st.
Hall & Oates will see the release of a 4-CD box set, Do What
You Want, Be What You Are: The Music Of Daryl Hall & John Oates
on Oct. 6th. The set includes early previously unreleased
material, recordings with their previous bands (The Temptones and The
Masters), live tracks, demos and remixes.
After two years on the road in their Crue Fest, Motley Crue have
announced they may take a year off at the end of this tour to record
their follow-up to 2008's Saints Of Los Angeles. Songwriting
has been going very well while on the road and members Nikki Sixx,
Tommy Lee and Vince Neil are working on side and solo projects.
Chicago singer/songwriter/keyboardist Bill Champlin has announced his
departure from the band after 28 years to focus on his solo
career. The announcement comes after Champlin released his
new solo album, No Place Left To Fall, on Aug. 4th.
Agnostic Front's 1983 debut EP, United Blood, and 1984's Victim In Pain
will be reissued by Bridge Nine Records on Nov. 17th on CD and vinyl.
According to the New York Times, the producers of musical Spider-Man:
Turn Off The Dark have temporarily suspended production due to an
"unexpected cash flow problem." It is expected that
"activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the
immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned
production schedule." Tickets for the show were to go on sale
in a month.
As part of a new initiative between EMI and the BBC, EP releases of
Peel Sessions by Dexy's Midnight Runners from 1980 and Ultravox from
1981 are in the works for later this year.
Producer John Shanks is currently working with Melissa Etheridge on her
next album. He recently mentioned via his Twitter account
that the title of Bon Jovi's new studio album will be We Weren't Born
To Follow. The title track will be released as the first
single this month.
Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry has collaborated on two songs for the
Piano Magic album, Ovations, due out Oct. 12th.
Todd Rundgren has announced plans to film and record his A Wizard, A
True Star concert for a forthcoming live DVD and live CD. The
concert will take place on Sept. 9th in Stamford,
Connecticut. Hi Fi Recordings will release the two-disc set
early next year.
Remastered editions of 8 Kraftwerk albums (including 1981's Computer
World, 1986's Electric Café, 1991's The Mix and 2003's Tour
de France Soundtracks) head to stores on Oct. 5th on as an 8-album box
set as well as individual download, CD and vinyl.
MVD Visual and Sexy Intellectual have announced plans to release Bruce
Springsteen's DVD Jukebox in North America on DVD due out Oct.
20th. The 150 minute film follows his literary, political and
other influences used in honing his song-writing, musicianship and
performances via interviews with former band members, contemporaries,
writers and historians.
Coolhead Productions are finishing work on a new documentary entitled
Heavy Metal Thunder - The Movie about British heavy metal act
Saxon. Due out in November, the film celebrates Saxon's 30th
anniversary, features rare archive and previously unseen concert
footage and includes interviews with band members and their peers.
The Simple Minds have contributed to the new documentary, Don't You
Forget About Me, about the film director John Hughes. Actors
Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy and Mia Sara are among others
contributing to the film.
Legendary Grammy and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Les Paul, 94,
passed away at White Plains Hospital in New York from complications
from pneumonia. Paul not only invented the electric guitar
but also multitrack recording (using acetate disks not magnetic
tape.) Paul's releases during the 1980s were compilation
albums although he also credited on albums by Al di Meola, Janis Siegel
and Arrow as a performer.
Mink DeVille singer-songwriter Willy DeVille [born William Paul Borsey
Jr.], 58, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in New York's Cabrini
Hospital on Aug. 6th. Deville release 6 studio albums with
Mink DeVille from 1977 to 1985 and 8 as a solo artist from 1987 to
2008's Pistola.
Folk musician/historian Mike Seeger, 75, died at his Lexington,
Virginia home on Aug. 7th after stropping cancer treatment.
The brother of Peggy Seeger and founder of the New Lost City Ramblers,
his 50-year career influenced many musicians including Bob
Dylan. During the 80s he released 1988's Fresh Oldtime String
Band and 1989's American Folk Songs For Christmas.