Search Results for: april

Police are no longer investigating Amy Winehouse on suspicion of attempting to interfere with a court case involving her husband, her spokesman said Friday. The 24-year-old singer is no longer required to return to a police station for further questioning, her spokesman, Chris Goodman, said in a statement. “Amy is pleased to be discounted from the investigation and thanks the police for their professionalism in their dealings with her,” the statement said. Winehouse was arrested in December after being called to a police station. At the time, she was released on police bail and had been asked to return at… Read more »

If you ask Boy George if he really wanted to hurt him, the answer’s an emphatic no. The “Karma Chameleon” purveyor pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly chaining a male escort to a wall and threatening him at the former’s east London home last April. George, 46, whose real name is George O’Dowd, turned up at Snaresbrook Crown Court dressed in black and sporting shades. The ’80s icon was mostly mum during the 20-minute hearing except to enter his plea and confirm the conditions of his bail. He subsequently left without speaking to reporters.… Read more »

“SIMPLE PLAN,” the long-awaited new album from Lava/Atlantic recording group Simple Plan, has made a triumphant chart debut, both here and around the world. The Montreal-based band’s third studio effort — which features the singles “When I’m Gone” and “Your Love Is A Lie” — was the Billboard 200’s highest-charting debut of the week at #14, while also placing high on a variety of additional tallies, including #3 on “Top Rock Albums,” #4 on “Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums,” and #7 on “Top Digital Albums.” In addition, the album reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Store’s “Top Pop Albums” ranking.… Read more »

More than ever, it pays to be pregnant in Hollywood. Jennifer Lopez, about to give birth to twins, is reportedly the latest A-lister to strike a deal worth millions for exclusive photos of her children. And the incentive might not be purely financial: Such pacts can also protect celebs’ privacy by thwarting the paparazzi. Those involved in negotiations for Lopez and her husband, Marc Anthony, confirmed that U.S. and Latin American rights were sold to People magazine and other international rights to OK! magazine. Advertising Age reported on its Web site Monday that Lopez and Anthony were negotiating with People… Read more »

Given the radical image changes that Panic! At The Disco has undergone in the past year, it’s hard not to read the lyrics to its new album’s opening song as a pre-emptive strike against critics. “Oh, how it’s been so long/we’re so sorry we’ve been gone/we were busy writing songs/for you,” bassist Jon Walker sings, by way of apology for the two-and-a-half-year lag between 2005’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” and the new “Pretty. Odd.,” due March 25 via Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Then, he launches into lines meant to comfort fans who have no doubt noticed that their favorite… Read more »

Hip-hop star Kanye West has signed a sponsorship deal with Absolut 100 Vodka for his North American tour, which begins April 16 at Seattle’s Key Arena. Absolut will sponsor after-parties in each tour city, a statement said. The tour, which wraps May 30 at Calgary’s Saddledome, will also feature Lupe Fiasco, N*E*R*D and, on most dates, Rihanna. West won four prizes at the Grammy Awards last Sunday, but failed for a third time to take home the coveted album of the year prize thanks to a shock win by jazz veteran Herbie Hancock. Nevertheless, West’s career haul stands at 10… Read more »

The 2008 Green Apple Festival won’t “change the world,” Green Apple founder/executive producer Peter Shapiro says, but this year’s third installment of the event will expand from three locations to eight U.S. city parks for simultaneous outdoor festivals on April 20. In an effort to raise the profile of Earth Day (April 22), producers of the Green Apple Festival, in collaboration with the Earth Day Network and presenting sponsor Chase, will set up free concerts in New York (Central Park), Washington, D.C. (the National Mall), Chicago (Lincoln Park Zoo), Miami (Bicentennial Park), Denver (City Park), Dallas (Fair Park), San Francisco… Read more »

One ticket to the Super Bowl: $2,000. Thirty seconds of advertising during the Super Bowl: $2.7 million. Five seconds’ worth of Madonna in a Super Bowl ad: A heck of a lot more than that. Sources tell E! Online that the Material Girl was paid $10 million to appear in a new advertising campaign for Sunsilk hair-care products, including a commercial that will premiere during the the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants (most of whom do not make $10 million in an entire season). In the 30-second spot, old stock footage… Read more »

After Velvet Revolver wraps a spring tour in support of its second album, “Libertad,” frontman Scott Weiland will rejoin his former bandmates in Stone Temple Pilots for a handful of summer reunion shows, guitarist Slash told Billboard.com. STP broke up in late 2002; the band’s last album was the previous year’s “Shangri-La Dee Da.” No other details have yet been revealed about STP’s plans. In the meantime, Weiland and his Velvet Revolver bandmates are still plugging away in support of “Libertad” with dates that run through early April. There’s also the hope that recording for album No. 3 could begin… Read more »

Stevie Wonder has not performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 35 years, and has never headlined the event. Organizers want to change that this year. Wonder was scheduled to headline the second weekend of the 2008 Jazz Fest along with Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow and Louisiana native and country music star Tim McGraw, festival promoter Quint Davis said Thursday in announcing the lineup. Joel, Crow and McGraw are all festival first-timers. The last time Wonder took the stage at Jazz Fest was in 1973, when he participated in an impromptu jam session with The Meters, the… Read more »