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After making his final appearance with Jay-Z last week on their ill-fated co-headlining tour, R. Kelly made a different sort of appearance on Thursday (November 4) – in court. In a procedural victory for the R&B singer’s defense team, the Chicago judge presiding over Kelly’s child-pornography case granted the defense’s request to have a hearing to determine the alleged victim’s age. While the prosecution has alleged that the female in question was 14 years old when the tape was made, some of the defense’s actions – such as when Kelly’s attorney Ed Genson previously argued in written motions that it’s… Read more »

Saturday marks the second anniversary of the death of Jam Master Jay. As his family members have pressed on, they continue to keep their loved one’s name alive. A small gathering is planned in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Saturday (October 30), and in January they want to put on a benefit concert to celebrate what would have been the Run-DMC DJ’s 40th birthday. “Basically, we are doing fine,” Jay’s mother, Connie Mizell, said on Monday in New York. “We thank God we are doing as well as we are. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say… Read more »

Clay Aiken is still not completely used to his popularity-mainly because he still thinks of himself as a “skinny little dork.” The 25-year-old singer, who was named one of People magazine’s sexiest celebrities, told the Houston Chronicle that he has no idea what all the hype is all about. He said, “I would not get that worked up over me at all. It’s all very baffling to me.” The North Carolina native added, “I guess that’s why it’s so hard to wrap my mind around it when people are waiting outside the venue after a concert and cheering. I’m amazed… Read more »

If you’ve ever faced a personal quagmire and wondered what Andrew W.K. would do in your boots, the answers could arrive as early as May 22nd, when his new advice show, Your Friend, Andrew W.K. launches on MTV2. The network approached the enthusiastic rocker to come up with a new show following the success of Crashing With Andrew W.K., a show that placed him in the girls dorm at the predominantly African American North Carolina Central University, where he had his hair twisted into corn rows and he and the marching band banged through “She Is Beautiful” at halftime during… Read more »

Internet music piracy has no negative effect on legitimate music sales, according to a study released today by two university researchers that contradicts the music industry’s assertion that the illegal downloading of music online is taking a big bite out of its bottom line. Songs that were heavily downloaded showed no measurable drop in sales, the researchers found after tracking sales of 680 albums over the course of 17 weeks in the second half of 2002. Matching that data with activity on the OpenNap file-sharing network, they concluded that file sharing actually increases CD sales for hot albums that sell… Read more »

Prince is taking that little red Corvette out of the garage again. On the heels of his blistering Grammy “Purple Rain” performance, the ’80s funk legend has announced he will hit the road with the New Power Generation for his first major arena tour in six years in support of his new CD, Musicology. To help hype the tour, Prince says the upcoming gigs may be the last time fans get to see him jam out some of the best-known hits live. That presumably means that tunes like “Little Red Corvette,” “1999” “Purple Rain,” When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go… Read more »

Ryan Adams hasn’t arrived for a scheduled afternoon interview, sending instead an apologetic manager with an explanation. “Ryan went out last night with Ron Wood,” the manager said. Oh. Enough said. The bar tab for a summit between two generations of notorious rock ‘n’ roll party animals must have approached the gross national product of some small nations. But all is not as it seems. The next day, Adams insists it was a low-key evening; his Rolling Stones pal wasn’t drinking. Twin cups of Alka Seltzer and black coffee suggest some recovery time for Adams. His music is confounding expectations,… Read more »

This is the night for Clay Aiken, not May 21, when Ruben Studdard edged him out to win “American Idol.” On Wednesday (June 18), the former Raleigh, North Carolina, student had to like what he saw in what is perhaps a more accurate reading of America’s pop-music radar – his trouncing of the Velvet Teddy Bear on the singles chart. Aiken’s “This Is the Night”/”Bridge Over Troubled Water” single sold 392,975 copies last week, according to SoundScan, beating Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings”/”Superstar” by about 107,000 copies. Interestingly, Ruben won the “American Idol” competition by about 130,000 votes. Both finalists are… Read more »

Red Hot Chili Peppers are playing Shreveport, Louisiana on Tuesday (June 10) with opener Snoop Dogg, in support of their latest album, By The Way. Bass player Flea was shocked to learn of the death of a fan at Friday?s (June 6) show in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a “Fleamail” posted Saturday (June 7) on the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s official website, redhotchilipeppers.com, he said, “We were playing our hearts out, and as soon as we got off stage [we learned] that someone was killed during the show. Somehow, someone was electrocuted to death while we were playing. I don’t… Read more »

A concert on Friday (June 6) in Charlotte, North Carolina featuring Snoop Dogg and the Red Hot Chili Peppers turned into a tragedy for one fan. According to the Charlotte Observer, 26-year-old Ashley Farris, a student at UNC Charlotte, was electrocuted as he walked barefoot on a wet stairway at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Faris was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center-University, police said. A passer-by who tried to help Faris, 23-year-old Ryan Robards, was treated for electric shock. Police said Faris was electrocuted when he walked barefoot in the rain on a lighted, concrete stairway with metal edges. Robards… Read more »