Law enforcement sources in Thousand Oaks,
California,
told TMZ that Paul Anka was sent to the hospital and received two
staples in his head (to close the wound) after an argument on Nov. 28th
with his new wife Anna in which she threw a chunk of ice at
him. The singer called police to report his wife missing when
he returned home from the hospital around 3am and she was arrested and
booked for felony domestic battery when she returned. The
Ventura County District Attorney's office has rejected the case.
Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District
Court in New York against Live Nation for trademark infringement
claiming a subsidiary of the promoter, Signatures, has illegally sold
merchandise using images of the band after the 2006 expiration of their
licensing deal. Meanwhile, Iommi's Heaven And Hell bandmate
bassist Geezer Butler has confirmed that the band have laid down the
basic tracks for their new album. They hope to have it
finished, mixed and ready to go in the next couple of months.
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler will be placed in a
state-sanctioned drug rehabilitation program and not go to prison after
missing a court appearance last week. The court appearance
came one day after the airing of his graduation from VH1's Celebrity
Rehab with Dr. Drew.
Whitney Houston's stepmother Barbara Houston is suing the singer
claiming that she improperly kept the proceeds from John Houston's $1
million insurance policy after he died in 2003. Barbara
claims Whitney was supposed to pay off the $723,000 mortgage on her
father's condominium in Fort Lee (where Barbara lives) and that the
remaining insurance money was to be returned to her. The
singer has declined to comment on the lawsuit.
According to Madonna's spokeswoman, the singer's divorce settlement
with Guy Ritchie is for about $76 to $92 million. The divorce
is expected to be finalized next month. A joint statement was
later released saying, "A misleading and inaccurate statement,
specifically in relation to the sums of money involved, was wrongly
issued to AP this week. The financial details of the
settlement will remain private, save to say that both of us are happy
with our agreement."
A woman named Billie Jean Jackson filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on
Wednesday against Michael Jackson claiming that she is the mother of 6
year-old Prince Michael Jackson and requesting joint legal and physical
custody. Meanwhile, rapper Akon, who worked last year with
Michael Jackson, has suggested that the singer will never tour
again. He has said that fierce pressure from the media has
shattered his confidence and he has trouble focusing.
Blogger Kevin Cogill pleaded guilty to a federal copyright violation in
a Los Angeles courtroom on Dec. 15th. He admitted to leaking
9 of the 14 songs that appeared on Chinese Democracy.
According to his plea deal, Cogill could be sentenced to a year in
federal prison, probation and a $100,000 fine.
Blue Oyster Cult have been forced to cancel some tour dates after
guitarist/vocalist Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser slipped on a flight of
stairs in his Florida home on Sunday while carrying some
packages. He reportedly injured his shoulder in the
fall. A full and complete recovery is expected.
Bono has been awarded the "Man Of Peace" prize by the Nobel Peace
laureates for his work in tackling African debt, poverty and
disease. Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal
(citing regulatory filings and sources) the band have moved to sell 1.6
million shares in Live Nation for $19 million as part of their $25
million 12-year deal with the promoter they signed in March.
U2 have announced that their 12th studio album, No Line On The Horizon,
will be released on Mar. 3rd via Interscope. The band were
recently in London shooting a video for the first single.
The nominees for the 30th annual Blues Music Awards have been
announced. B.B. King, Elvin Bishop and Buddy Guy are among
the nominees. The ceremony will be held in Memphis,
Tennessee, on May 7th and air live on Sirius XM station Bluesville.
The Twilight soundtrack climbed a spot to #5 on the Billboard 200
albums chart on sales of 132,000 copies. AC/DC's Black Ice
gained 3 places to #8 on sales of 110,000 copies. Enya's And
Winter Came... climbed a spot to #13. Elvis Presley's
Christmas Duets held onto #17. Guns N' Roses' Chinese
Democracy fell 11 places to #29. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack
gained 5 spots to #34. Harry Connick, Jr.'s What A Night! A
Christmas Album dropped 16 places to #36. Tony Bennett
Featuring The Count Basie Big Band's A Swingin' Christmas fell 10 spots
to #38. Metallica's Death Magnetic dropped 4 places to #40.
Celine Dion's My Love: The Essential Collection climbed a spot to #13
on the U.K. Albums chart. Simply Red's 25: The Greatest Hits
fell 3 spots to #19. Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy dropped
9 places to #20. Enya's And Winter Came... fell a spot to
#28. Bette Midler's The Best Bette re-entered the chart at
#30. Rod Stewart's Some Guys Have All The Luck dropped a
place to #33. Status Quo's Pictures: 40 Years Of Hits climbed
a spot to #37.
Grace Jones' "Williams Blood" has debuted at #5 on the U.K. Indie
Singles chart. The song is the second single off of her new
album, Hurricane.
Die Form's latest single, "Her(t)z Frequenz," is #1 on the Deutsche
Alternative Charts for a 4th week. The physical version of
the single was limited to 1000 copies printed.
According to bassist Michael Anthony, he and Chad Smith (of Red Hot
Chili Peppers) have finished recording the basic tracks for their new
project with Sammy Hagar and Joe Satriani. Hopes are to get
it out next year.
Van Morrison has signed a new deal that brings his Listen To The Lion
label to EMI. The first release in the deal will be a recent
live recording of his Astral Weeks album due out next year.
Madness have announced plans to release their new studio album, The
Liberty Of Norton Folgate, in a special pre-order limited edition boxed
set that will include the full album, exclusive tracks and out-takes
both on heavy-weight vinyl and CD (as well as a poster, badge and a few
collectors items.) The set can be ordered at
Madness.co.uk. Next year will mark the group's 30th
anniversary.
The Pretenders have announced that they will be the latest artist to be
part of the iTunes 'Originals' series starting Dec. 23rd. The
exclusive release will contain new recordings of songs that trace the
band's entire career. They also will release a digital
holiday EP.
Armored Saint have been writing new material to take into the studio
with them in the next month or so. They've reportedly written
about 12 songs so far for disc due out next year.
The Wedding Present are getting you a Christmas present. The
group released their new Christmas single, "Holly Jolly Hollywood," a
remix featuring Simone White on vocals. A video for the track
can be found at YouTube.
Morrissey has signed a U.S. deal with Lost Highway (in conjunction with
his own Attack imprint) for the release of his new album, Years Of
Refusal, on Feb. 17th. "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris"
will be released as the first single on Feb. 9th. Guitar
legend Jeff Beck reportedly makes a guest appearance on the album track
"Black Cloud."
Three of Deep Purple's albums (1984's Perfect Strangers, 1987's The
House Of Blue Light and 1988's Nobody's Perfect) are being made
available in the SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) format in Japan as
limited edition releases in February.
Depeche Mode vocalist Dave Gahan recently told The Los Angeles Times
that they've finished work on their next studio album. "We've
been spoiled for choice with this one because we recorded more songs
for this record than we ever had for any [other] record."
There were reportedly so many extra songs that an additional EP
containing the tracks could surface. The disc is due out in
the spring and to be supported by a tour.
Brian Eno has reportedly signed on to score the upcoming Peter Jackson
film, The Lovely Bones, based on the book by Alice Sebold.
A few new Prince songs are popping up. He reportedly has a
new album ready to be released but hasn't figured out how he wants to
release it. A ballad, "Another 1 Like Me," recently appeared
on the mplsound.com Web site (it's not there now) and 4 tracks popped
up on Indie 103 in Los Angeles.
INXS have sent registered members of their fan club an early Christmas
present called Six Pack. The 6-track CD contains solo
recordings by each of the individual members of the band. It
isn't expected to be released to stores. Meanwhile, vocalist
JD Fortune has launched a Web site for his upcoming solo album at
TheDeathOfAMotivationalSpeaker.com.
Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley has launched his official Web site,
AceFrehley.com. Frehley has also said, "...despite the
rumors, you'll be hearing my new cd real soon... Stay Tuned."
A new CD/DVD retrospective entitled The Singular Thomas Dolby is in the
works with plans to release it in March.
Former Stone Roses/Primal Scream bassist Mani recently told The Sun
that a Stone Roses reunion is in his plans for next year (which marks
the 20th anniversary of their debut album.) "Me, John and
Reni are up for doing it and Ian just needs some working on."
AC/DC's Brian Johnson has reportedly signed a deal with Penguin books
to release a collection of thoughts and anecdotes that he has written
down over the years. Meanwhile, a part of the Sarasota
Memorial Hospital in Florida will be named the Brian Johnson Music
Therapy Room. Johnson is being honored for charity work for
the John Entwhistle foundation which buys musical instruments and
provides music education for children.
Metal health? Biomedical and injury expert Dr. Andrew
McIntosh of the University of New South Wales has published his
findings in the British Medical Journal on his research into
headbanging. "We identified a definite risk of mild traumatic
brain injury from headbanging," he said. "We would suggest a
proper public health warning, as for smoking."
Richard Simmons' fitness crusade headed to television in 1980 and he
celebrates his first new 'Sweatin'' release in 15 years with the music
of the decade on Supersweatin': Party Off The Pounds. The
workout includes songs by Whitney Houston, Deniece Williams, Cyndi
Lauper, Madonna, Pat Benatar, the Cars, Cher, Toni Basil, Patti LaBelle
and Club Nouveau.
Former Autograph keyboardist Steve Isham, 56, lost his battle with
liver cancer on Dec. 9th. Isham recorded 3 gold albums
(1984's Sign In Please, 1985's That's The Stuff and 1987's Loud And
Clear) with the band before leaving to pursue other options.
After leaving the band he recorded and toured with Motley Crue's Vince
Neil and composed music for commercials.
U.K. folk guitarist Davey Graham, 68, died of a seizure in his London
home on Monday. Graham had been fighting a long battle with
lung cancer. He is best known for his song "Angi" which was
spelled "Anji" when recorded by Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 album,
Sounds Of Silence. Graham released Folk Blues And All Points
In Between in 1985.