According to a federal prosecutor, Kevin Cogill
has agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of copyright
infringement for illegally posting songs from Guns N' Roses' Chinese
Democracy online. According to his attorney, he is looking at
straight probation by taking the plea deal.
Paula Abdul fan Paula Goodspeed (who appeared in a failed audition in
season 5 of American Idol) was found dead in her car near Abdul's home
on Nov. 12th. Police have indicated Goodspeed had possibly
committed suicide but an official cause of death had not been
determined. Abdul released a statement, "I am deeply shocked
and saddened at what transpired yesterday. My heart and
prayers go out to her family."
Lenny Kravitz has been forced to cancel the remaining dates of his
Canadian tour after coming down with a throat illness so severe that
currently he cannot even speak.
Michael Jackson has filed a grant deed on the Neverland ranch making
the new owner Sycamore Valley Ranch Co. LLC. The new owner is
reportedly a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital
LLC. Colony Capital had bailed out Jackson by purchasing his
loan on the property when he had gone into default on the property
earlier this year.
Lawyers for James Brown's family are asking for the removal of the
trustees involved in the long-awaited settlement of the singer's estate
claiming that they've done little to protect Brown's legacy and money.
Randy Travis and Michael McDonald were among those honored recently
with commemorative sidewalk markers in the Hall of Fame Park in
downtown Nashville.
The 42nd annual CMA Awards were held on Wednesday. George
Strait won Album of the Year (for Troubadour) and Single of the Year
(for "I Saw God Today.") Robert Plant and Alison Krauss'
"Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" was honored as Musical Event of the
Year.
The Twilight soundtrack sold 165,000 copies debuting at #1 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart bumping AC/DC's Black Ice to #2 on sales of
160,000 copies. Metallica's Death Magnetic retained the #12
spot. Celine Dion's My Love: Essential Collection fell 9
places to #17. James Taylor's Covers dropped 3 spots to
#30. Sarah Brightman's A Winter Symphony debuted at #38.
Celine Dion's My Love: The Essential Collection fell two places on the
U.K. Albums chart to #7. Status Quo's Pictures: 40 Years Of
Hits debuted at #8. AC/DC's Black Ice dropped 6 spots to
#9. Cliff Richard's 50th Anniversary Album debuted at
#11. Bette Midler's The Best Bette fell 2 places to
#20. Paul Weller's At The BBC debuted at #32.
The Bellamy Brothers' classic "Let Your Love Flow" climbed 45 places on
the U.K. Singles chart to #30 in a resurgence spurred on by its use in
a recent British television ad for credit card issuer Barclays.
The Mission U.K. will release their DVD, The Mission: The Final
Chapter: Live At Shepherds Bush Empire, on Jan. 30th. The
live CD will be released on Jan. 19th.
Bruce Springsteen's new song, "Workin' On A Dream," will premiere
during the half-time highlights of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington
Redskins game on NBC on Nov. 16th. The song will be on
Springsteen's next album and was first played acoustically during a
Barack Obama rally. Springsteen and the E Street Band will
play during the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show on Feb. 1st.
Madonna has launched a new initiative, The Raising Malawi Academy For
Girls. According to the singer, "After witnessing the
potential of Malawi's girls firsthand, I made it my mission to give
them an opportunity to become their personal best." You can
find out more at: http://www.raisingmalawi.org
INXS' Garry Beers has written a song entitled "She's So Cold" with
Scott Weiland that will be featured on Weiland's upcoming album, Happy,
due out Nov. 18th.
Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora recently told Billboard.com that the band are
currently mixing a live DVD from last year's tour that may be packaged
together with a 'best of' collection for release in the fall.
They also have their documentary on the way as well as writing starting
for their next album.
After 25 years with MCA Nashville, Reba McEntire has signed with Valory
Music Co. The move reunites the singer with former MCA
Nashville senior VP of promotion Scott Borchetta who is now president
& CEO of Big Machine Records and the Valory Music Co.
McEntire's debut single on Valory will head to radio in early spring
and her new studio album following in the summer. McEntire
has sold 28.4 million albums since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking
data back in 1991.
The members of Denim TV got together to remix and refurbish a live show
from 1985 in San Francisco for release. The album will be called Denim
TV - Live from Club Graffiti - 5/30/85 and will feature songs not
featured on either DTV LP and never previously released.
Paul McCartney will reportedly voice a new character in the upcoming
film Shrek 4: Shrek Goes Fourth.
Former Vixen members Janet Gardner, Share Pedersen and Roxy Petrucci
have been exchanging song ideas. According to a recent
MySpace blog post by Petrucci, "I'm not sure when we'll record together
but in the mean time I do hope Janet releases a solo CD... We all miss
her voice and as I told her, I'll be happy to slam down some grooves."
Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Henry Rollins will reportedly appear in the
film Suck, a rock 'n' roll vampire satire.
Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales and Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley are
looking for the right network to pick up The Original Fat Boys New
Member Search Reality Show. As many fans know, in 1995 the
group lost beat boxer Darren "Buff Love" Robinson at the age of 28 from
cardiac arrest during a severe bout with respiratory flu.
They recently launched their new site: http://www.originalfatboys.com/
and are asking for submissions for their reality series.
A Jerry Garcia biopic is in the works. The project would
focus on Garcia's early life in the San Francisco bay area before
joining the Grateful Dead.
French act Noir Désir have placed two new tracks
("Gagnants/Perdants" and a reprise of "Le temps des cerises") as the
first new material by the group since frontman Bertrand Cantat was
freed on parole in October 2007 after serving half of his 8 year prison
sentence in Lithuania for the 2004 murder of his girlfriend.
U.K. filmmaker Sophie Fiennes has been following Grace Jones around for
nearly 5 years and is expected to edit the footage down into a
documentary that will include the making of her new album,
Hurricane. No release date or title has been given to the
project.
JJ Fad are working on a remix album to mark the 20th anniversary of the
debut of "Supersonic." The collection will be titled
Supersonic 2.0 and a release date has yet to be confirmed.
Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra have
released their new studio album, The Informer, in the U.K.
Peter Gabriel launched the 'free' music service, We7, on Nov. 11th
which allows fans to listen to songs and albums in their entirety for
free. The advertising-funded music streaming service will
have music from four major labels and hundreds of indies online at
www.we7.com.
British metal act Satan will see their 1983 debut album, Court In The
Act, reissued in a digitally remastered version (including 3 bonus
tracks) via Metal Mind Productions on Jan 20th.
Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante plans to release his
new studio album, The Empyrean, on Jan. 20th via Record
Collection. The disc features guest appearances by bandmate
Flea and guitarist Johnny Marr. Meanwhile, Anthony Kiedis is
developing an HBO series based on his rock 'n' roll upbringing under
the working title of Scar Tissue. Kiedis is reportedly
considering narrating the show and making an occasional cameo
appearance.
Tony Bennett plans to release, A Swingin' Christmas Featuring The Count
Basie Big Band, his first holiday album in 40 years.
Metallica will release, "All Nightmare Long," as the next single from
their latest album, Death Magnetic, on Dec. 15th as a digital download
only including the track and video.
Gary Wright will be releasing his new EP, The Light Of A Million Suns,
on Dec. 16th which includes a duet with his son Dorian. It as
well as his new instrumental album, Waiting To Catch The Light, will be
available at iTunes, Amazon.com and his TheDreamweaver.com
site. His Web site store will also include many of his
earlier albums including 1981's The Right Place (which will include 6
new bonus tracks.)
Napalm Death have finished work on their 14th studio album, Time Waits
For No Slave. Plans are to release it via Century Media in
February.
The Lemonheads have pushed back the release of their covers album,
Varshons, due to issues coinciding with their European tour.
Former Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno has released a statement about
his U.S. tour, "Unfortunately, and due to reasons totally beyond my
control, it now seems that the entire USA tour is gonna have to be
rescheduled until another period during 2009." According to
his booking agent, Di'Anno's tour was postponed due to a delay in the
visa process. He has had some visa issues previously.
Gene Simmons' recent appearance on Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader
brought in more that $500,000 for the charity of his choice, the Glaser
Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Yanni has signed a wide-ranging new deal with Disney Music
Group. The first release from the deal will be Yanni Voices,
his first new studio album in 6 years, due out Mar. 24th via the Disney
Pearl imprint. Disney and PBS have also been working on the
first of two Yanni specials set to air Nov. 29th.
Todd Rundgren has reunited with the New York Dolls for the first time
in 36 years to produce their new studio album.
Rod Stewart will be meeting up with his former Faces bandmates for some
rehearsals to see if a full reformation is possible. Filling
in for late bassist Ronnie Lane would be Stewart's touring bassist.