Velvet Revolver cancel Australian tour dates; Barker and Shanna Moakler's divorce is finalized; Dre seeking documents from Death Row.
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards recently offered up some free advice to Grammy-winning songstress Amy Winehouse, according to Reuters. "She should get her act together," the former addict said during an interview at the Berlin International Film Festival on Friday. "Apart from that, I have got nothing to say to the b---h." Winehouse entered a London rehab clinic last month, to deal with her own addictions. Stones frontman Mick Jagger also reflected on this latest generation of drug-addled rockers, saying, "When we were experimenting with drugs, little was known about the effects. In our time, there were no rehab centers like today." ...
Less than a week after frontman Scott Weiland returned to rehab, Velvet Revolver have nixed their upcoming concerts in Australia. "Velvet Revolver deeply apologize to their fans in Australia and thank them for sticking by the group when various members have relapsed during the last year and a half," a statement read. ... Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler have finalized their divorce, according to TMZ. "I'm no longer with her," Barker told People. "I have a beautiful daughter at home, a beautiful son at home. That's where my head is at right now. I don't have time for anything else." The couple, who have two children together, have been on and off since they filed for divorce two years ago. ...
Dr. Dre is on the hunt for Death Row documents in an effort to figure out how much it owes him for unpaid royalties that have been accrued after the record company filed for bankruptcy, Billboard reports. In paperwork filed in bankruptcy court last week, the producer/rapper (real name: Andre Young) requested permission to acquire information that would help him assess the value of his claim. Dre has asked the court to force Death Row to hand over the documents on February 29 and order the company's reps to be available to be deposed seven days later. Dre had previously tried to sue the label for royalties multiple times, but last month a district-court judge in California agreed to hear his appeal of the court's dismissal of one of the lawsuits. ...
Lupe Fiasco fans have a whole new reason to bundle up this winter: The Chicago MC has created a line of reversible jackets with L.A. street-wear designer Dr. Romanelli. The jackets are black on one side and pink on the other, and have "The Cool" — referring to Fiasco's latest LP — scrawled on the back. ... The score Death Cab for Cutie chief Ben Gibbard co-crafted for the new Kurt Cobain biopic, "About a Son," is getting a standalone release via Barsuk — the same label that recently put out Field Manual, the solo album by fellow Cutie Chris Walla. The "About a Son" score, co-written with Nirvana producer Steve Fisk, will be available digitally February 19, the same day the movie arrives on DVD. ...
All is not well in the Shire. The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien — the late author who penned the "Lord of the Rings" series — filed a lawsuit on Monday (February 11) against New Line Cinema, the studio that released Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on the books. The Tolkien Trust, along with HarperCollins — the series' original publisher — claims New Line failed to pay part of the 7.5 percent of the gross receipts from the films as required. This could mean bad news for the two back-to-back movie adaptations of "The Hobbit" that Jackson was planning to produce. According to The Associated Press, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $150 million in compensatory damages, additional punitive damages and a court order that would give the Tolkien Trust the right to cancel rights the film studio may have to make films based on Tolkien's other works. ...
Filter are planning to drop their comeback LP, Anthems for the Damned, in May. Frontman Richard Patrick spoke with MTV News about the effort late last year, saying, "I knew I'd have to return with the goods, and I'm absolutely convinced that that's what I have with this record." ... Fans of Cold War Kids probably didn't know that Matt Maust has more than just bass-playing skills — he's a writer too. His "What It Is: What It Is," co-written with Paul G. Maziar, is a new urban-centric tome that also includes photo collages. It's due in stores in May. ...
Actor Roy Scheider, who was perhaps best-known for his role as a small-town police chief in Steven Spielberg's 1975 film, "Jaws," died Sunday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock. He was 75. The cause of Scheider's death has not been released, but the actor had been receiving treatment for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years, according to AP. ...
Ten young people were trampled or crushed to death Saturday night, as hundreds of music fans tried to force their way out of a concert by Indonesian melodic death-metallers Beside in Bandung, Indonesia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. According to witnesses, people were packed into the venue and trying to escape the crush just as hundreds of others were surging their way inside. So far, police have not said what caused the stampede, but an investigation into the matter is ongoing.
2.8.08
In addition to adding the two most-nominated artists of the year to the performing roster for Sunday's Grammys — Kanye West and, via satellite, Amy Winehouse — the show will also feature live sets from John Mayer and gospel great BeBe Winans. Added as presenters are Usher, Will.I.Am, Dierks Bentley, Cuba Gooding Jr., Carole King and Roselyn Sanchez. ...
Common has come up with a title for his new LP: The Believer. The Chicago legend told MTV News he hopes it will be out by November. ... Timbaland has signed a deal to release a straight-to-mobile-phone album, one track at a time over the next year. The unusual scheme hatched with Verizon Wireless, which will give its V Cast subscribers an exclusive chance to access the songs each month, according to Billboard Biz. Tim, who is up for five Grammys, will work with a different artist on each track while touring the country on the Verizon Mobile Recording Studio Bus, which will spin off making-of footage for V Cast subscribers on a dedicated Timbaland channel. Each mobile track will be released just days after it is produced in full-length download, ringtone and ringback version, and will only be available through V Cast and Verizon for $1.99. At the end of the year, a compilation album will be released through Verizon. ...
Pitbull and Baby Bash likely ran into each other at last year's Wango Tango music festival in Southern California — they both performed there — and now the two are joining forces for MTV Trés' Sucker Free Latino spring tour. The two headliners will hit 13 cities starting March 15 in Orlando, Florida, and ending April 4 in San Diego. ... Family, friends and close music-industry associates of the late Big Pun gathered in a private ceremony Thursday night at New York's Studio 450 to honor the eight-year anniversary of the Latino rapper's untimely death. Donations were made both to Pun's family and his foundation, the Christopher Rios Memorial. An attendee told MTV News that the rapper's daughter, Vanessa, paid tribute to her father with a rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." ...
Teddy Geiger is still busy working on the follow-up to 2006's Underage Thinking — as well as his role in the upcoming flick "The Rocker" — but in the meantime the 19-year-old troubadour has launched a cell phone contest with Mozes. During the month of February, fans can leave messages for Geiger on Mozes, after which he'll pick one of the fans to chat with. ... Flyleaf and Seether will team up this spring for an eight-week U.S. tour that kicks off April 8 in Denver and runs through May 31 at a yet-to-be-announced city. A partial list of dates can be found at either band's Web site. ... Thrice have a busy May ahead — the SoCal rockers have a show booked for almost every night that month. The band will actually set out on tour the month before that, beginning April 16 in San Diego, and will bring it to a close May 29 in Hollywood. ...
Members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Saturday Night Live" castmembers Andy Samberg and Seth Meyers, and others turned up at New York's Webster Hall on Monday night for a party thrown by Chloë Sevigny. The actress invited legendary punks the Slits to play at the event, which celebrated Sevigny's new clothing line. ... Working for a Nuclear Free City — whose Businessmen and Ghosts album was a finalist for this year's Shortlist Music Prize — are hoping to capitalize on the success with a brief run. The Brits will hit the road February 29 in San Francisco and continue playing gigs through Austin, Texas' South by Southwest fest in mid-March. ... Still hooked on Phish? Fans can gobble up a bunch of rare items donated by the now-defunct jam heroes for an online charity auction being put on by the mother of the band's drummer, Jon Fishman. Posters signed by Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, as well as rare Phish shirts and additional items from Oysterhead, Moe. and the String Cheese Incident. Proceeds from the auction, which ends February 21, will go to the Mimi Fishman Foundation, which raises funds for various charities. ...
Now that his Rolling Stones movie, "Shine a Light," is about to hit the big screen, legendary director Martin Scorsese is set to begin work on a yet-untitled documentary about reggae icon Bob Marley. Variety reports that the movie will be authorized by Marley's family and will be released in February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. ... Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are creating a live-performance attraction based on "American Idol" at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida. The yet-unnamed attraction, which should open this year, will allow budding singers to "audition" on an "Idol"-like set in front of an audience of 1,000, with a daily winner getting a pass to the show's regional auditions. Visitors will be able to pick their song beforehand, rehearse in a sound booth and, if they pass the audition, work with a vocal coach before performing in front of the live audience and a panel of judges during one of the seven daily shows. ...
Republican presidential candidate John McCain might have a lot of independent-minded supporters, but heartland rocker John Mellencamp ain't one of 'em. The Arizona senator and Republican front-runner stopped playing the unabashedly liberal Indiana singer/songwriter's "Our Country" at his campaign events after Mellencamp's publicist sent a letter questioning the logic of using the tune, according to The Associated Press. "Are you sure you want to use his music to promote Senator McCain's efforts?" read a letter sent to the candidate's campaign on Monday. "Logic says that the facts might prove to be an embarrassment, were they to be circulated widely." The McCain camp said Thursday that the song, and a few others by Mellencamp, would no longer be played at events. Mellencamp publicist Bob Merlis told AP that the situation made Mellencamp uncomfortable and that he couldn't imagine McCain would want to be associated with him. "You know, here's a guy running around saying, 'I'm a true conservative,' " Merlis said. "Well, if you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?" ...
Billy Joel will be the last artist to play New York's Shea Stadium before it's torn down. The piano man will perform at "The Last Play at Shea, From the Beatles to Billy" on July 16, during the New York Mets' final season before moving to Citi Field in 2009. The show will make Joel the only artist to have played both Yankee and Shea Stadiums.
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