In a sign that the leaking of tracks from the
long-awaited Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy was not
self-promotion, FBI agents arrested 27 year-old Kevin Cogill on Aug.
27th on suspicion of violating copyright laws. According to
an arrest affidavit, Cogill admitted to agents that he posted 9
unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on his Antiquiet.com Web site in
June. In becoming the first Californian charged under the
federal anti-piracy law, he faces up to 3 years in prison and $250,000
in fines. The band released a statement: "Presently, though
we don't support this guy's actions at that level, our interest is in
the original source. We can't comment publicly at this time
as the investigation is ongoing." Meanwhile, there is a new
bio about the band entitled Watch You Bleed on the way focused on the
backstage partying.
Neil Diamond has has been forced to cancel a few of his North American
tour dates after struggling with laryngitis. During his Aug.
25th performance in Columbus, Ohio, Diamond struggled with a sore
throat leading to what he called his worst performance of his
career. He tried speaking the words through most of the songs
but it came out so soft that it was overpowered by the band.
After apologizing to fans he promised to perform better next time
through Ohio, he announced that he will refund the tickets to the
11,000 that attended.
Iggy Pop, 61, reportedly injured his leg after falling from a speaker
stack on the main stage of London's Get Loaded In The Park Festival on
Sunday. Pop continued his show with The Stooges.
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine has opened up to fans in a recent post about
the back problems that he's been suffering from for over two
years. Mustaine has been diagnosed with degenerative disk
disease and arthritis in his neck.
Dr. Dre's son, Andre Young Jr., was unresponsive when discovered by
his mother on Aug. 23rd. Paramedics were called to the scene
but
the 20 year-old was pronounced dead after several efforts to revive
him. His mother told police that he'd been out the night
before until 5:30 A.M. A cause of death is pending completion
of toxicology tests which could take up to 6 weeks. Dr. Dre's
spokesperson released a statement saying that the rapper/producer "is
mourning the loss of his son. Please respect his family's
grief and privacy at this time."
Santana and the Doors have reached a tentative settlement with bootleg
archive site Wolfgang's Vault over the violation of their trademarks in
their distribution of memorabilia and concert tapes acquired from late
concert promoter Bill Graham.
40 years after his band... The Beatles were banned from playing in the
country, Paul McCartney has announced he will perform in Tel Aviv on
Sept. 25th. He was scheduled to play there earlier this year
but the show was canceled.
Pink Floyd members Nick Mason and Roger Waters were among those
presented the 2008 Polar Music Prize by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf
on Tuesday.
Late reggae star Bob Marley was recently celebrated with a statue which
was unveiled in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia by Croatian and Serbian
musicians as a token of peace in the Balkans.
The Mamma Mia! soundtrack fell 2 places to #4 on the Billboard 200
albums chart selling 87,000 copies. Ice Cube's Raw Footage
debuted at #5 selling 70,000 copies. Journey's Revelation
gained 3 spots to #29.
Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" debuted at #31 on the Billboard
Hot 100 singles chart.
ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits retained the #2 spot on the U.K. Albums
chart. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack gained 5 places to
#13. Billy Joel's Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel
retained the #14 spot. Lynyrd Skynyrd's Greatest Hits debuted
at #16. ABBA's 18 Hits debuted at #27. Madonna's
Hard Candy fell 5 spots to #28. Neil Diamond's The Best Of
Neil Diamond dropped 11 places to #37.
Madonna's "Give It 2 Me" dropped 3 places on the U.K. Singles chart to
#23. Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" debuted at #36.
Patty Loveless will release her new studio album, Sleepless Nights, on
Sept. 9th via Saguaro Roads Records.
Michael Jackson turned 50 today and told ABC's Good Morning America
that "I'll just have a little cake with my children and we'll probably
watch some cartoons." When talking about his future he said
he is "looking forward to doing a lot of great things. ... I
think the best is yet to come in my true humble opinion."
Meanwhile, TMZ has reported that the MTV VMAs have been working on
having Jackson present an award with sister Janet.
Last year, harmonica manufacturer Hohner USA put out its first
Signature Series with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. Bob Dylan has
signed on for the Bob Dylan Signature Series expected to start selling
in October.
As alluded to earlier by Morrissey, Rhino will release a new
compilation for The Smiths, Hang The DJ: The Very Best Of The Smiths,
on Oct. 7th. The set will come in a 23-track single-CD and
44-track double-CD versions with the latter including album tracks,
B-sides, live tracks and alternate versions. Meanwhile, the
release of the Live At The Hollywood Bowl DVD has postponed by Warner
Music Entertainment.
Lynyrd Skynyrd are reportedly close to finishing their next studio
album. They'd been writing with former Marilyn Manson/current
Rob Zombie guitarist John 5. Plans are to head to the studio
in the fall to finish recording late this year and release it early
next year. Currently they are on the road co-headlining the
Rock And Rebel tour with Kid Rock.
Lindsey Buckingham plans to release his new studio album, Gift Of
Screws, on Sept. 16th. Currently, he is previewing the song
"Did You Miss Me" at his MySpace page.
Kenny Rogers has signed a deal to release his CD, Kenny Rogers: 50
Years, exclusively through Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.
In stores now, it includes 3 new tracks ("She'll Believe In You,"
"Something's Wrong In Vegas" and "Only Time Will Tell") as well as his
most popular songs.
It Bites plan to release their new studio album, The Tall Ships, in the
next few months. A limited edition version of the disc can be
purchased at their official Web site.
Queen + Paul Rodgers' new album, The Cosmos Rocks, will be released on
Oct. 28th. The disc is Queen's first studio album since 1995.
Australia's Diesel (a.k.a. Mark Lizotte) plans to release his 9th
album, Days Like These, followed by a short national tour in October.
Sonic Youth have started work on their follow-up to 2006's Rather
Ripped. Having completed their contract with Geffen, they are
expected to return to an independent label.
Tracy Chapman plans to release her eighth studio album, Our Bright
Future, on Nov. 11th via Elektra Records.
The Cure's new studio album will be titled 4:13 Dream when released on
Oct. 14th via Suretone/Geffen. The Hypnagogic States remix EP
(containing versions of the 4 singles released from the album so far)
is due out on Sept. 13th.
The new PTV3 (a.k.a. Psychic TV) album, Mr. Alien Brain Vs. The
Skinwalkers will be released via Cargo/Sweet Nothing Records on Oct.
20th as a CD+DVD.
Salt-n-Pepa's Sandra 'Pepa' Denton plans to publish an autobiography,
Let's Talk About Pep, in September.
Isaac Hayes' family are believed to be going through the singer's vault
of unreleased material with plan to get some of those songs into the
hands of the public.
Bob Seger, Jimmy Buffett, Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill are among the
guests featured on the upcoming CD, Little Feat And Friends: Join The
Band, heading to stores next week.
Cleopatra Records will release a new House Of Lords collection,
Anthology, on Oct. 14th which compiles rare demos, live recordings and
new re-recordings from the original line-up.
According to a post on their MySpace page, Ratt's Stephen Pearcy,
Warren DeMartini and new guitarist Carlos Cavazo have started writing
new material for a new album due out early next year.
My Bloody Valentine's full-length albums (1988's Isn't Anything and
1991's Loveless) have been re-released digitally. The
recently reunited group will do the same with their 1991 Tremelo EP and
a few vintage short-form videos.
Judas Priest will film their first late night U.S. television
performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live during a free outdoor mini-concert
(about 5 songs) on Sept. 2nd in Los Angeles.
Siouxsie And The Banshee's 1985 single "Cities In Dust" has been
covered by Junkie XL for inclusion on OMFGG -- Original Music Features
on Gossip Girl (due out digitally on Sept. 2nd and physically on Oct.
28th.)
The longest existing all-girl rock band, Girlschool, will release a new
album, Legacy, via Wacken Records/Steamhammer on Nov. 4th.
The disc is a 30th anniversary album that features guest appearances by
Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, J.J. French, Eddie Ojeda, Lemmy and many
others.
D.O.A. have made their new studio album, Northern Avenger, available
for download at their SuddenDeath.com site for $7 (and $9 to order the
CD.)
Midge Ure's new studio album, Ten, will be released in the U.K. on
Sept. 29th (with the rest of Europe on Oct. 10th.) Samples of
two tracks and a listing of the 10 cover songs recorded for the disc
are up in the news section at MidgeUre.com.
Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Tori Amos Live At Montreux
1991/1992 on CD and DVD on Sept. 30th.
Midnight Oil's complete album catalog will be released digitally in
remastered versions on Sept. 2nd via iTunes followed by other outlets a
month later.
Jason Bonham has has announced that he will be leaving Foreigner at the
end of the month. He has been visiting with his father's
former bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to do some
writing. Draw your own conclusions.
The Flecktones will release their first holiday album, Jingle All The
Way, on Sept. 30th via Rounder. The disc is their first since
they were recently released from their deal with Columbia.
Bananarama are reportedly working on a covers album containing some of
their favorite disco songs to be released next year. They
recently recorded vocals on a new track for Joseph 'Run' Simmons (of
Run-D.M.C.)
John Oates plans to release his second solo album, 1000 Miles Of Life,
on Sept. 23rd. An exclusive digital version of the album will
be available at Amazon.com from Sept. 9th until Sept. 23rd.
Metallica plans to release their new studio album, Death Magnetic,
globally on Sept. 12th.
Chris Cornell is expected to release his third studio album, Scream, on
Oct. 14th.