Steven Adler pleaded not guilty to drug charges
in Los
Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday. The former Guns N' Roses
drummer was ordered by the judge to remain in rehab while he awaits a
preliminary hearing on a felony charge of drug possession and a
misdemeanor count of being under the influence of drugs.
According to Adler's attorney, his recovery is being monitored by
celebrity rehab specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky.
Annie Lennox is at home in the U.K. recuperating from spinal surgery
after she was injured last week in Mexico while there for the AIDS
conference. The 'best of' album scheduled for Sept. 16th has
been pushed back to early next year to allow her to recover and promote
the release.
Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors have been denied an appeal
by the California Supreme Court to a ruling that they were guilty of
improperly invoking the Doors' name and images during their 2003
concert tour (which featured the Cult's Ian Astbury on vocals) and owed
$5 million in damages to drummer John Densmore and the parents of Jim
Morrison and wife Pamela Courson.
Kim Fey, wife of New Kids On The Block's Donnie Wahlberg, filed for
divorce in Los Angeles on Aug. 13th citing irreconcilable
differences. The couple had been together for 9
years. Fey is seeking sole physical custody of their sons
Xavier and Elijah as well as spousal support and attorney's fees.
Phil Collins has been ordered to pay just over $46 million in a divorce
settlement with ex-wife Oranne Cevey. The amount is slightly
more than the $45 million Paul McCartney paid out to Heather Mills.
Rolling Stone has reported that Velvet Revolver has settled a case of
song theft over the riff and melody for "Dirty Little Thing" with U.K.
musician Tony Newton. The similarities to Newton's band
Voodoo Six's "Cyber Baby" was enough to give him 20% of the past and
future royalties from the Contraband album and single.
Gary Glitter [a.k.a. Paul Gadd] was denied entry in Thailand after
failing to board a flight in Bangkok to London according to immigration
officials. The BBC reported that Glitter refused to board the
flight due to health reasons. Glitter's lawyer, Le Thanh
Kinh, had said that he doesn't want to return to the U.K. He
reportedly even faked a heart attack at Bangkok's airport to avoid
deportation but it seems he had little choice as Thailand denied him
entry a second time (after a 12-hour hold over in the transit lounge)
and he was expected to arrive at Heathrow Airport early Friday to be
interviewed by police and sign the country's sex offenders registry.
Power Source Music Group has announced the nominees for the 14th annual
ICM Awards to be held on Oct. 16th in Hendersonville,
Tennessee. The Bellamy Brothers are nominated in the Vocal
Duo category. The Oak Ridge Boys are nominated in the Vocal
Group or Band category. Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, George
Strait, the Bellamy Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys have songs
nominated in the Mainstream Inspirational Country Song
category. George Strait, Randy Travis and Ricky Skaggs
& The Whites are nominated in the Mainstream Country Artist
category. George Strait's "I Saw God Today" and Alan
Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man" are nominated in the Video
category. Ricky Skaggs is nominated in the Musician and with
The Whites for Inspirational Bluegrass Artist categories.
Randy Travis Is Up For the Legend/Pioneer Award.
Celine Dion was presented with an honorary doctorate from Quebec City's
Universite Laval on Thursday. The degree was given to salute
her personal and professional achievements.
The Mamma Mia! soundtrack dropped a place on the Billboard 200 album
chart to #2 on sales of 110,000 copies. New Kids On The
Block's Greatest Hits debuted at #22 on sales of 19,000
copies. Journey's Revelation fell 3 places to #35.
Meanwhile, topping other Billboard album charts are David Sanborn's
Here & Gone (Top Contemporary Jazz) and ABBA's Gold: Greatest
Hits (Top Pop Catalog).
ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits fell a place to #2 on the U.K. Singles
chart. Billy Joel's Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel
dropped 3 spots to #14. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack fell 2
places to #18. Madonna's Hard Candy dropped 5 spots to
#23. The Levellers' Letters From The Underground debuted at
#24. Neil Diamond's The Best Of Neil Diamond fell 3 places to
#26. Neil Diamond's Home Before Dark dropped 6 spots to
#32. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' Raising Sand
gained a place to #38. Bob Marley & The Wailers'
Legend fell 3 spots to #39. Paul Weller's 22 Dreams dropped 8
places to #40.
Madonna's "Give It 2 Me" fell 3 places to #20 on the U.K. Singles
chart.
No more rumors. AC/DC have announced that their 15-track new
studio album, Black Ice, will be released on Oct. 20th exclusively at
Wal-Mart for $11.88. The first single, "Rock 'N' Roll Train"
will debut on Aug. 28th and a video for the song following in
September. Columbia has been in full cooperation in the
exclusive release. The label also plans to release, No Bull:
The Director's Cut, on DVD on Sept. 9th culled from their July 1996
performance in Madrid.
According to a statement released by his publicist, Ricky Martin has
twin boys that were born recently through a surrogate mother.
"The children, delivered via gestational surrogacy, are healthy and
already under Ricky's full-time care."
Natalie Cole will release her new 14-track studio album, Still
Unforgettable, on Sept. 9th containing a duet with her late father, Nat
King Cole, on "Walkin' My Baby Back Home." The disc also
includes her interpretations of several classic songs and marks her
first album credit as producer.
Gregg Allman is regaining his strength after being treated for
Hepatitis C. Great timing too, as the Allman Brothers Band
will celebrate their 40th anniversary during a performance next year at
New York's Beacon Theatre. There is also word that the band
have about half of their next album done and ready to record in the new
year.
Drummer Joey Kramer recently told The Boston Globe that Aerosmith are
heading back to the studio in October and plan to tour in the
spring. Meanwhile Kramer is touring with blues artist James
Montgomery as the Kramer/Montgomery Band.
Huey Lewis And The News have 3 new songs that they will take on the
road with them and another 3 in the recording process for what will at
some point be a new album. There is no rush to release the
album. The band most recently released the theme to the film
Pineapple Express which appears on the soundtrack.
James Young will not be appearing with Styx for the time being as his
presence is needed by his wife Susie's side. Susie Young
suffered an aneurysm recently and doctors are optimistic about her
progress and prognosis but believe that it will be a long road to
recovery. The family and the band are asking for fans
continued patience, support and prayers at this time.
Guitarist Jimmy Page is rumored to be performing the classic Led
Zeppelin track "Whole Lotta Love" with Leona Lewis at the close of the
2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Heaven 17 vocalist Glenn Gregory will see the U.K. release of, "It's
All Good," the new single by his side-project Honeyroot in September.
LL Cool J will release his new studio album, Exit 13, on Sept. 9th, his
last in his contract with Def Jam after 22 years. The
19-track set will include a rock remix of his latest single, "Baby"
featuring the-Dream, which features Richie Sambora on guitar.
That remix is available at iTunes.
Megadeth will be celebrated with a 35-track double-CD and digital
collection entitled Anthology: Set The World Afire due out on Sept.
30th via Capitol/EMI. The set will include hits, fan
favorites, two rare concert recordings and a previously-unreleased demo.
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons will be among the celebrity contestants
competing in the upcoming season of Fox's Are You Smarter Than A 5th
Grader which premieres on Sept. 5th
The Dead Kennedys are reportedly putting themselves on "indefinite
touring hiatus" as drummer D.H. Peligro and bassist Klaus Flouride are
dealing with health issues. Guitarist East Bay Ray has been
working with their latest vocalist Skip in a new project.
Flouride announced his departure as a touring member of the band
recently.
Metallica has released, The Day That Never Comes, the first single from
their upcoming album, Death Magnetic, via iTunes. It can also
be heard on their Metallica.com Web site. Meanwhile,
guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield is drawing heat from hikers, bikers
and equestrians over his erection of a 300-foot long, 8 to 10-foot high
metal fence on his property on a Terra Linda, California, hilltop as it
has closed off a popular trail.
Kenny Lattimore plans to release his new studio album, Timeless, on
Sept. 9th featuring the new single, "You Are My Starship."
Melissa Etheridge is among 15 of the biggest female vocalists that have
lent their voices to a new single, "Just Stand Up," heading to airwaves
on Sept. 2nd. The charity song, benefiting cancer research,
was conceived of by Antonio "L.A." Reid. Reid produced the
song with Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds. All 15 singers are
expected to share the stage and perform the song live on Sept. 5th
during the Stand Up To Cancer television special set to air on ABC, NBC
and CBS.
Jane's Addiction fans hopes were given a cold shower recently when
vocalist Perry Farrell was asked if the group were planning to get back
together, "There's as much likelihood of that happening as there being
commercial space flights."
Al Jourgensen has said that the new Revolting Cocks album, Sex-O
Olympic-O, due out in September, is the best album he's ever
done. The renewed involvement in the project has led him back
into the studio to work with the band on another album.
Jourgensen had planned to hand the group over to the other younger
members of the band before finishing the album and only plans to
perform with the band on a few choice dates of their RevCo World Tour
launching in April.
Former UB40 vocalist Ali Campbell has released a cover of Jimmy Cliff's
"Many Rivers To Cross" as a charity single benefiting the Nelson
Mandela Foundation's initiative Goal4Africa.
Legends Live At Montreux 1997 will be released on Blu-ray DVD on Sept.
30th The performance (released on standard DVD in 2005) features Eric
Clapton and David Sanborn in the line-up.
Don Johnson will resurface in two upcoming films. Disney's
When In Rome and the comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.
Johnson's last studio film was 1996's Tin Cup.
Ozzy Osbourne has started working on his new studio album and has
reportedly signed a new deal with Sony for 3 more albums.
Willie Nelson has co-written a book, A Tale Out Of Luck, with Mike
Blakely due out Sept. 3rd. The book is a classic western
novel centering on the town of Luck (a false-front western town where
Nelson filmed his video for "Beer For My Horses") just outside of
Austin, Texas.
Janet Jackson recently announced that she will launch a line of
lingerie later this year called Pleasure Principle (after her 1987 hit.)
Brian Wilson will release his new studio album, That Lucky Old Sun, on
CD, CD/DVD and digitally on Sept. 2nd.
According to a statement released at True-To-You.net, Morrissey is
urging fans to boycott the recently released DVD, Live At The Hollywood
Bowl, as he never authorized its release. The release "is
done by Warner without any consultation to me whatsoever, and is in
breach of their terms as laid out by themselves in an agreement made
for the film between Warner and my ex-manager. Being Warner,
predictably the sleeve art is appalling. It is the work of
cash-hounds, and I urge people not to buy it. I am not signed
to Warner, and no royalties from this DVD will come to me.
Please spend your money elsewhere." He also mentioned that
Warner Music in London are releasing a new Smiths greatest hits album
at the end of the year without his approval or involvement.
Meanwhile, former Smiths guitarist (and recently Modern Mouse member)
has joined The Cribs as a full-time member.
The Vandals have released the digital-only rarities collection, BBC 1
Sessions And Other Polished Turds.
Blues guitarist Phil Guy, 68, died of complications from pancreatic
cancer at Saint James Hospital in Chicago Heights on Aug.
20th. Guy, the younger brother of Buddy Guy, played with
Junior Wells during the 1970s and released several solo albums (1983's
Bad Luck Boy, 1985's It's A Real Mutha F*cka, 1989's Tina Nu and 1989's
Tough Guy) up to 2000's Say What You Mean.
Former Spinners bass vocalist Pervis Jackson, 70, died from brain and
liver cancer on Monday at Detroit Sinai-Grace Hospital.
Doctors had found tumors late last month and had been awaiting test
results to determine malignancy and was diagnosed with cancer two days
before his death. Jackson was a founding member of the
Spinners and left the band in 1979 only to return in 1989 to record on
the Down To Business album and appear with the group here and there.