Search Results for: october

Ola Brunkert, a former drummer for ABBA and one of only two musicians to play on all the Swedish pop superstars’ albums, died in a freak accident at his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca. According to authorities, Brunkert fell into a glass door in his dining room and slashed his throat. He apparently attempted to stanch the blood flow with a towel and apparently went outside to call neighbors for help. But he lost consciousness and collapsed. According to published reports, a neighbor discovered Brunkert ‘s body, in a pool of blood, in the garden outside the musician’s… Read more »

The online release of the new Nine Inch Nails album, “Ghosts I-IV,” resulted in just under 800,000 transactions in its first week, totaling $1.6 million in revenue, the industrial-rock band has revealed. The tally includes free and paid downloads, as well as advance orders for physical configurations like various limited-edition vinyl releases, CDs, and a boxed set. “Ghosts I-IV,” the band’s first release since becoming a free agent last October, went on sale March 2 at its Web site, http://www.nin.com. Fans can receive the first nine songs from the 36-track project for free, or can pay $5 for the entire… Read more »

As expected, Nine Inch Nails is utilizing the Internet to disseminate its new instrumental album, “Ghosts I-IV,” which went live at 9 p.m. ET tonight (March 2) via the Trent Reznor-led group’s Web site. “Ghosts” will also see physical release via RED Distribution on April 8, Billboard has learned. Fans can receive the first nine songs from the 36-track project, which was recorded during “an intense 10-week period last fall” and likely to spawn additional volumes, for free, or the entire album can be obtained digitally for $5. “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for… Read more »

Barack Obama says his two daughters are fans of Hannah Montana and Beyonce, but think anything to do with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton is “yuck.” The Democratic presidential contender told celebrity magazine Us Weekly that his daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, got to meet Beyonce backstage at a concert and “they just love her to death.” “They’re pretty down on Britney and Paris and all of that. They think that’s very `yuck,’” he said. As for his wife, Michelle, Obama said she has a star crush on Stevie Wonder. “I’ve been teasing her because Stevie fell off the… Read more »

Drummer Buddy Miles, who played with Jimi Hendrix in his short-lived group, Band of Gypsys, died at his home in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, his publicist said. Miles, who was 60, suffered from congestive heart failure, Duane Lee said on Wednesday. He did not know the official cause of death. With his bombastic style, the former teen prodigy helped develop such musical forms as funk metal and acid jazz thanks to his work with such guitarists as John McLaughlin, Mike Bloomfield and Carlos Santana. In 1967, he and Bloomfield co-founded Electric Flag, whose rock-brass sound influenced Chicago and Blood, Sweat… Read more »

Radiohead is chasing Rainbows with its first North American tour in two years. The band announced Tuesday that it will kick off an eight-concert trek May 5 in West Palm Beach, Florida, continuing on to locales including Tampa, Atlanta and Houston before wrapping up in Dallas on May 18. Tickets to the shows go on sale Saturday, with presale beginning Thursday. From there, the British rockers will head back across the pond for the European leg of their tour, kicking off June 6 in Dublin and wrapping up July 8 in Berlin. Radiohead is then due to return to the… Read more »

Lil Wayne was arrested on three felony drug charges Wednesday after federal agents said they found illegal drugs, including cocaine, on his charter bus at a checkpoint in southwestern Arizona. The rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., spent the day at the Yuma County jail on the state drug charges before being released, Capt. Eben Bratcher said. After posting more than $10,000 bond, the rapper signed autographs for fans outside a bondsman’s office. James Tilson, a local lawyer retained by Carter, said that his client was not formally charged and that his next court date was scheduled… Read more »

DMX has been ordered to pay $1.5 million to the mother of his child after the rapper-actor failed to appear in court to defend himself against allegations of defamation. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was sued by Monique Wayne for defamation of character after he allegedly told a magazine that Wayne raped him during a 2003 hotel stay in Baltimore, leading to her pregnancy. Wayne responded to the comments by filing a $6 million lawsuit against Simmons in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in October 2006. Judge Thomas Smith ruled in Wayne’s favor Friday when Simmons didn’t appear… Read more »

For Simple Plan, the multimillion-selling pop-punk band from Montreal, “The End” was also a new beginning. After a year writing material for the follow-up to 2004’s “Still Not Getting Any…,” the band was struggling to find a way forward, drummer Chuck Comeau says. But last spring in Miami — where Simple Plan had gone to test-drive some songs in the studio with producer Danja (Nelly Furtafo, Justin Timberlake) — it became clear the group could forge a bold new sound. “It really clicked for the first time in Miami when we came up with ‘The End,”‘ Comeau says, referring to… Read more »

Rock star Bono pressed French leader Nicolas Sarkozy to increase aid to developing nations, the aid advocacy group DATA said. The organization, co-founded by Bono, front man of the U2 rock group, has urged France to raise development assistance to 0.7 percent of gross national income by 2012 as agreed earlier. In 2006, French aid stood at 0.31 percent of gross national income, DATA said. “The president admitted it would be very, very hard, but France would keep her word,” the statement quoted Bono as saying Tuesday following the meeting. DATA’s statement cites an October parliamentary report showing France’s estimated… Read more »