Eric Clapton, 64, has been forced to pull out of
his
performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York on
Friday as he is recuperating after having surgery to remove gallstones.
Sir Elton John recently canceled his concert on Oct. 24th in Newcastle
on short notice after doctors advised him that he was too ill with the
flu to perform. John was hoping to be better in time for the
show as he was also forced to cancel his performance the previous day
in Sheffield. John is expected to be better in time for his
November and December Face 2 Face tour dates with Billy Joel in the U.S.
Bruce Springsteen canceled his performance in Kansas City on Monday
after his cousin Lenny Sullivan, 36, was found dead in his room at a
local hotel that afternoon. Sullivan had been serving as the
assistant road manager of the E Street Band and had been with the group
for a decade. The death is being investigated by police but
not believed to be suspicious.
According to a spokeswoman for Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer has
been diagnosed with prostate cancer. She said that "the
condition is in its very early stages. Andrew is now
undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the
end of the year."
Morrissey was held overnight at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon,
England, and released on Sunday after he collapsed on stage during his
performance at the Oasis Leisure Center on Saturday night. He
returned to the stage to perform at London's Royal Albert Hall on Oct.
27th. Morrissey has rescheduled several shows this year and
has European dates scheduled until November.
Ozzy Osbourne will be honored at the 2009 Billboard Touring Awards on
Nov. 5th in New York with the Legend Of Live award which recognizes an
individual who has made significant and lasting contributions to live
music and the touring business, and acknowledges the recipient's
commitment to the art of performing live and reaching fans through the
concert experience.
Barbra Streisand's Love Is The Answer fell 5 places to #9 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart. BeBe & CeCe Winans' Still
climbed 13 spots to #12. Kiss' Sonic Boom fell 6 places to
#17. Whitney Houston's I Look To You dropped 5 spots to
#20. Alice In Chains' Black Gives Way To Blue fell 7 places
to #24. Lyle Lovett's Natural Forces debuted at
#29. Pearl Jam's Backspacer dropped 10 spots to
#31. Harry Connick, Jr.'s Your Songs fell 10 places to
#34. Rosanne Cash's The List dropped 10 spots to #38.
Michael Franti & Spearhead featuring Cherine Anderson's "Say
Hey (I Love You)" dropped 3 spots to #27 on the Billboard Hot 100
singles chart.
Whitney Houston's I Look To You debuted at #3 on the U.K. Albums
chart. Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac debuted
at #6. Spandau Ballet's Once More debuted at #7.
Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again: The Very Best Of Vera Lynn fell 4 places
to #10. Cliff Richard & The Shadows' Reunited dropped
a spot to #13. Madonna's Celebration fell 11 places to
#14. Alison Moyet's The Best Of Alison Moyet debuted at
#17. Whitney Houston's The Ultimate Collection debuted at
#22. Barbra Streisand's Love Is The Answer dropped 19 spots
to #26. Andy Williams' The Very Best Of Andy Williams fell 9
places to #27. Chris Rea's Still So Far To Go: The Best Of
Chris Rea dropped 12 spots to #29. Madness' Total Madness
fell 9 places to #36.
Whitney Houston's "Million Dollar Bill" climbed 9 spots to #5 on the
U.K. Singles chart. The Foo Fighters' "Wheels" debuted at #22.
Michael Jackson's concert film, This Is It, had a big opening day on
Wednesday pulling in an estimated $7.4 million domestically and $20.1
million worldwide. Early projections have the film making
over $40 million domestically through the weekend. Prior to
the film opening, Forbes listed their annual ranking of dead
celebrities with Jackson coming in at #3 earning $90 million in the
past year (most of it coming after his death 5 months ago.)
Meanwhile, the companion album is expected to sell around 300,000
copies taking it to #1 on the U.S. chart.
A little late but you can pick it up for next Halloween as Yep Roc
Records has released the 15-track Rockin' Bones: A Halloween Sampler
featuring songs by The Fleshtones, The Minus 5, Jason Rigenberg and
Robyn Hitchcock. It can be purchased at www.YepRoc.com.
Already feeling the Christmas spirit? Judas Priest frontman
Rob Halford is currently giving away his new single, "Christmas For
Everyone," from Halford III Winter Songs at his www.HalfordMusic.com
site.
U2 plan to perform live in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Nov.
5th which will be beamed in to the audience at the MTV Europe Music
Awards. The free performance will help celebrate the the 20th
anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling (which happened on Nov. 9,
1989.) Meanwhile, that YouTube webcast of U2's concert was
watched by nearly 10 million people becoming the site's largest
streaming event to date. Bono has also recently told NME that
he's disappointed by the lack of success of their latest album, No Line
On The Horizon. The album is their lowest-selling disc of the
decade and the U.K. singles "Get On Your Boots" (#12) and "I'll Go
Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (#32) didn't perform well.
Einstürzende Neubauten's first concert in East Berlin (on
December 21, 1989) will surface on a new DVD, Elektrokohle (Von Wegen),
on Nov. 3rd via Goodmovies in the PAL DVD format in German with English
and French subtitles and include interviews with the band.
Properly timed, the film is also "a documentary movie about the divided
Berlin in it's last days before re-unification and the clash of Western
(capitalist) with Eastern (communist) culture in those legendary days
of radical change in Berlin."
Ratt have announced that their new studio album will be titled
Infestation when released in March via Loud & Proud/Roadrunner
Records.
A new Traveling Wilburys book is on the way in collector and deluxe
editions via Genesis Publications. The limited edition books
chronicle the adventures of Nelson, Otis, Lucky, Lefty and Charlie via
hundreds of unseen photos, Polaroids, drawings, log book entries and
handwritten lyric sheets. The Wilburys tell their tale in
their own words, with the occasional help of drummer Jim Keltner and
others.
A new 'best of' live performance compilation from Rush entitled Working
Men is on the way. The 12-track collection is due out on Nov.
16th in the U.K. as a CD and digital download via Atlantic
Records. The live recordings are culled from the live
releases of Rush In Rio, R30 and Snakes & Arrows Live with the
previously unreleased track, "One Little Victory."
When talking about his upcoming album, Scratch My Back, Peter Gabriel
explains, "The songs are not simply covers, they are major
reinterpretations of some famous stuff. It's quite
radical." The orchestral covers album is due out early next
year and reportedly includes songs by Lou Reed, The Kinks, Paul Simon,
Neil Young, Talking Heads, David Bowie and Randy Newman.
Tapulous has announced the release of Tap Tap Revenge: Metallica for
the iPhone and iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store.
Rick Springfield has released a new single via iTunes, a cover of Paul
McCartney & Wings' "Jet", which can be previewed at his
www.RickSpringfield.com. There you can also hear samples from
his upcoming Son Of A Beach album. No, you can't get it in
stores. The album, of tropical-flavored re-recordings of his
hits, will be given exclusively to all cruise-goers attending the Rick
Springfield & Friends Cruise in a few weeks. Cruise
entertainment will be provided by Springfield and Richard Marx, who
will at times share the stage. More information at
http://www.rickspringfieldcruise.com/
Lorrie Morgan has released, A Moment In Time, her collection of new
interpretations of 14 country music classics via Country Crossing
Records.
Norah Jones has enlisted the Beastie Boys to remix a song from her new
album, The Fall, due out Nov. 17th.
Rising Force Records will release the new Yngwie Malmsteen performance
CD, Live In Korea, on Oct. 13th. A DVD version of the
performance is available as well.
Echo And The Bunnymen's 2008 concert in London will be released under
the title Live At The Royal Albert Hall on Nov. 23rd in the
U.K. The show featured a performance of their 1984 album,
Ocean Rain, in its entirety as well as a selection of their hits.
According to a few different interviews with the band members, John
Bush is expected to return to Anthrax to record vocals for their next
album.
One year after giving away free downloads of "December Song," George
Michael plans to release a brand new version of the track as a one-off
Christmas single on Dec. 13th via Island Records.
Former Hüsker Dü drummer Grant Hart has a new CD, Hot
Wax, out via Con D'or Records and MVD Audio.
Krystal System have two versions of their cover of Depeche Mode's
"Master And Servant" for their new EP, Underground: VooDoo Night
Sessions. The limited edition release is due out at the end
of November via Alfa Matrix.
Anvil's Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Girlschool, Whitesnake's Doug Aldrich,
Michael Schenker, Doro Pesch and Frankie Banali contribute to the new
digital-only EP, We Wish You A Merry Xmas And A Headbanging New Year,
due out on Nov. 24th via Armoury Records/Eagle Rock
Entertainment. The similarly titled 12-track CD was released
last year is also available.
The delay in releasing Rob Zombie's new studio album, Hellbilly Deluxe
2, has a little more explanation as, after 18 years and 15 million in
album sales, Zombie has left Geffen. Zombie has now signed a
deal with Roadrunner Records imprint Loud & Proud who will
release the new album next year. According to him, "I love
this new record and wanted to surround myself with an excited new group
of people who can reignite my enthusiasm for working within a hard rock
record label."