Madonna has won a judgment against publishers of
British tabloid the Mail on Sunday who she accused of breaching her
privacy and copyright by publishing pictures of her wedding in 2000 to
Guy Ritchie. She alleged that the photos were stolen from an
interior designer in California and she was seeking more than $7.5
million in damages. Her spokeswoman did say that any money
she wins from the case will be given to the Raising Malawi
charity. Madonna's divorce from Ritchie is expected to be
final early next month. Meanwhile, a Chilean retired Roman
Catholic Cardinal Jorge Medina criticized Madonna during a mass for
late dictator Augusto Pinochet. He said the singer causes
"impure thoughts" and called her "shameless." Madonna
performed in Chile on Wednesday.
Coldplay have responded to Joe Satriani's copyright infringement
lawsuit with a post to their official Web site. "If there are
any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely
coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe
Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song "Viva La
Vida." We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of
this and wish him well with all future endeavours."
Satriani's "If I Could Fly" was intended as a love letter to his wife
and took nearly a decade to complete.
George Benson was recently honored as a Jazz Master by the National
Endowment of the Arts, the nation's highest honor in this distinctly
American music. Benson plans to enter the recording studio
this winter with Marcus Miller to work in his next release for Concord
Records.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will be honored by the Kent town where
they grew up by having 13 new streets named after Rolling Stone song
titles. Dartford Council is currently deliberating what
titles to use.
The 2008 Golden Globe Awards nominations have been announced.
Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman's "Down To Earth" (from Wall-E) and
Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" (from The Wrestler) are up for Best
Original Song - Motion Picture. Mamma Mia! is up for Best
Picture - Musical or Comedy Category.
Based on Billboard Boxscore data, Bon Jovi's Lost Highway tour was the
biggest of 2008 grossing $210.6 million and drawing 2,157,675
fans. Bruce Springsteen came in second followed by Madonna
(#3), the Police (#4), Celine Dion (#5), Neil Diamond (#7) and The
Eagles (#9).
The Twilight soundtrack climbed 2 places on the Billboard 200 albums
chart to #6 on sales of 133,000 copies. AC/DC's Black Ice
gained a spot to #11. Enya's And Winter Came... climbed 4
places to #14. Elvis Presley's Christmas Duets gained 11
spots to #17. Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy fell 15 places
to #18. Harry Connick, Jr.'s What A Night! A Christmas Album
climbed 13 spots to #20. Tony Bennett Featuring The Count
Basie Big Band's A Swingin' Christmas gained 3 places to #28.
Metallica's Death Magnetic dropped a spot to #36. The Mamma
Mia! soundtrack climbed 9 places to #39.
After 11 weeks on top of the Billboard Modern Rock chart, the
Offspring's "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" has been knocked off its perch
by the Kings Of Leon's "Sex On Fire."
Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy fell 9 places on the U.K. Albums chart
to #11. Celine Dion's My Love: The Essential Collection
retains the #14 slot. Simply Red's 25: The Greatest Hits
dropped a place to #16. Enya's And Winter Came... dropped 4
spots to #27. Rod Stewart's Some Guys Have All The Luck
retained the #32 slot. Status Quo's Pictures: 40 Years Of
Hits fell 4 places to #38. AC/DC's Black Ice dropped 15 spots
to #39.
Holiday favorite, "Fairytale Of New York," by the Pogues featuring
Kirsty Maccoll returns to the U.K. Singles chart at #19.
Riding that same wave is Wham's classic "Last Christmas" re-entering
the chart at #36.
Toad The Wet Sprocket's Glen Phillips has a new music project called
the RemoteTreeChildren. Their album, Veteran Of The Loudness
Wars can be purchased at their http://remotetreechildren.bandcamp.mu/
Web site.
Lionel Richie's new studio album, Just Go, will be released via Island
on Feb. 17th. The first single, "Good Morning," is currently
a top 40 hit on Billboard's Adult R&B chart.
Michael Jackson plans to hold his first authorized auction next
year. More than 2,000 items (ranging from the glittery glove
which first appeared in the "Billie Jean" video to life-size
sculptures) filled a 6-volume book that was printed to detail the
auction items. Bids can be submitted in February and the
auction will kick off with a live telecast on the Auction Network on
Apr. 21st.
Former Bongos leader Richard Barone has released a new EP, GLOW, via
iTunes which contains three new songs.
According to an interview with Paul Cashmere of Undercover, Violent
Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie has formed a new act with Midnight Oil's
Rob Hirst, Martin Rotsey and Jim Moginie. No name has been
chosen for the project but they have been recording with plans to
release something next year.
John Fogerty is working on, The Return Of The Blue Ridge Rangers, a
sequel to his 1973 solo album, Blue Ridge Rangers. Fogerty
played all the instruments on the original set of classic country and
roots covers but he new album will have many session players.
He also plans for a new DVD, Comin' Down The Road, which chronicles his
first concert at London's Royal Albert Hall and pairs it with a
documentary about his life and career.
The RAH Band have released their new single, "Living For The
Nightlife," to all major digital download outlets in German, Austria
and Switzerland. The song reached #9 on the U.K. Commercial
Club Playlist chart during the summer.
Broadway musical Rock of Ages (which includes songs by Bon Jovi,
Journey, Joan Jett, Twisted Sister, Pat Benatar, Foreigner and REO
Speedwagon) is being translated by Chris D'Arienzo to film.
Casting decisions have yet to be announced.
Kiss have announced that they will head into the studio in 2009 to
start work on their first new studio effort since 1998's Psycho
Circus. During the last few years, both Gene Simmons and Paul
Stanley have been less than enthusiastic about the prospect but both
have had a change of heart. Stanley will produce the project
and guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer will be in the
line-up.
Erasure's 10-track collection, Pop! Remixed, will be released on CD and
digital download on Feb. 9th. The digital download will
include a bonus track and a second digital download will be available,
Pop! Remixed (Digital Download Bundle), containing radio
edits. Meanwhile, they will also release Total Pop! The First
40 Hits Deluxe box set via the Erasure Shop on Feb. 23rd.
Elvis Costello's jazz vocalist/pianist spouse Diana Krall is currently
producing Barbra Streisand's new album with expectations to complete it
in January and release it later that year.
Metallica and Pearl Jam are among the artists featured on, Live From
Bonnaroo 2008, due out on DVD in January. The disc was only
previously available to 2008 festival ticket-buyers but will now be
made available to the general public for a limited time.
Specials founding keyboardist Jerry Dammers has issued a statement
claiming that he was "driven out" of the group's 30th anniversary shows
by the rest of the band. The band issued their own statement
saying, "We don't agree with what Jerry has said, but we don't want to
talk about it, not least because it is in the hands of our lawyers."
U.K. hard rock act Praying Mantis have wrapped up songwriting sessions
for their new studio album, Threshold Of A Dream, and have started
recording. The album is due out via Frontiers Records next
year.
Dave Alvin has released a new digital single, "Amanda," exclusively at
the Yep Roc Web Shop at YepRoc.com. The song was originally
recorded for inclusion in a Waylon Jennings tribute CD.
Pearl Jam sifted through their vaults for bonus material to add to
their reissue of their landmark album, Ten, and came up with their arms
full. The album will be released on Mar. 24th in 4 different
versions remastered by Brendan O'Brien. There is the standard
version containing 6 bonus tracks, a Legacy edition (includes a DVD of
their 1992 MTV Unplugged performance), a double vinyl version (with the
original album on one and the remix on the other) and a Super Deluxe
Edition containing two CDs, a DVD and 4 vinyl records.
Meanwhile, the band are working on their 9th studio album with O'Brien
due out next year.
Judas Priest plan to head out on the road in late 2009 in support of
their double-disc concept album, Nostradamus. Hopes are to
also film a DVD during the tour.
The Indigo Girls have started, IG Recordings, their own label to
release their new studio album, Poseidon And The Bigger Bug, due out
Mar. 24th. The double-disc set include the studio album on
one disc and an all-acoustic version on the other (as well as the bonus
track "Salty South.")
A deluxe edition of Bryan Adams' latest album, 11, is in the
pipeline. The disc will include bonus tracks ("The Way Of The
World," "Saved" and "Miss America"), an exclusive 56-minute performance
DVD.
T.S.O.L. will be working on their new album, Life, Liberty &
The Pursuit of Free Downloads, at the Hurley studio from Dec. 17th to
24th and can be viewed during the recording process at Hurley.com/tsol
on those days. The band are hoping to use the project to shed
some light on several of the charities they support (Mission Midnight,
Surfrider, Orangewood Foundation, Orange County Food Bank and SPCA.)
Balance will release their new studio album, Equilibrium, via Frontiers
Records on Feb. 20th.
French act Die Form will celebrate their 30th anniversary with the
release of a 28-track 3-CD box set, Best Of XXX, containing reworked
and remastered versions of their songs.