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Al Gore announced Friday a surprise Live Earth concert in Washington, foiling Senate Republicans who blocked Gore’s attempt to bring his global warming extravaganza to the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. The former vice president said the all-day “Mother Earth” concert would be held on the National Mall at the National Museum of the American Indian – about two blocks from the Capitol – as part of Saturday’s concert series focused on climate change. The headliners are Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. “Global warming naysayers in the political world have not been able to have their way, because this will… Read more »

The Spice Girls are still oceans apart when it comes to getting together. First, it was Live 8 in 2005, and this time it’s the July 1 tribute to Princess Diana that the ’90s-era British pop stars will not be performing at, sticking a fork in yet another rumor that Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh are ready to take the stage again. “Despite media speculation at this time, there is no confirmation of a Spice reunion,” Victoria Beckham’s rep, Cheryl Maisel, told E! News. “Victoria is moving to L.A., Emma is due to have a baby and Mel B… Read more »

Contributions from members of Bad Religion, Sugarcult and Aaron Sprinkle enhance pop-punk troupe MxPx’s upcoming album, “Secret Weapon,” due July 17 via Tooth & Nail. The album, the trio’s eighth studio set, marks the first time the group has tapped veteran producer Sprinkle to helm the decks since its 1994 debut “Pokinatcha.” It is also a return to Tooth & Nail following MxPx’s 2000 departure for A&M. Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker contributes to the album opener/title track, while singer Tim Pagnotta of Sugarcult can be heard on “Shut It Down.” Former Superdrag frontman John Davis helps with piano and… Read more »

Spinal Tap is back, and this time the band wants to help save the world from global warming. The mock heavy metal group immortalized in the 1984 mockumentary, “This is Spinal Tap,” will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the Live Earth concerts scheduled worldwide for July 7. The original members of Spinal Tap will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner, who both directed “This is Spinal Tap” and played the fake documentarian Marty DeBergi in the… Read more »

OLYMPIA, Wash. — During the morning rush hour on Dec. 5, the 53-year-old driver of a blue Dodge Caravan was traveling north on Interstate 5 outside Seattle when he took his eyes off the road to scan an email on his BlackBerry, the State Patrol says. And that’s how he hit the white Mazda, which clipped the green Honda, which rammed the black Toyota SUV before spinning into the other lane and plowing into a city bus. Nobody was seriously hurt. But the episode sparked a chain reaction of a different sort in the state legislature, in the form of… Read more »

After swearing off pop songwriting following his 1993 album “River of Dreams,” Billy Joel has returned to the format with a new single, “All My Life.” The Phil Ramone-produced track will premiere Feb. 7 on People.com, where it will be available for streaming and as music for a Valentine’s Day e-card. It will then be sold exclusively via Apple’s iTunes Music Store from Feb. 20-March 6, after which it will available at most digital retailers. A commercial CD release of “All My Life” will follow on a date to be announced, according to Joel’s label, Columbia. Since “River of Dreams,”… Read more »

Fears of race clashes on Monday led organizers of Australia’s biggest outdoor rock concert to bar fans from carrying the national flag, sparking a furious reaction from the country’s prime minister and war veterans. After fights between ethnic Croatian and Serbian fans outside the Australian Open tennis tournament last week and 2005 race clashes on Sydney’s beaches, Big Day Out concert organizers said Australia’s flag was a “gang color” which could incite hatred. “It was racism disguised as patriotism and I’m not going to tolerate it,” event producer Ken West told Australian newspapers. The concert Web site said the flag… Read more »

Denny Doherty, one-quarter of the 1960s folk-rock group the Mamas and the Papas, known for their soaring harmony on hits like “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday,” died today (Jan. 19) at 66. His sister Frances Arnold said the singer/songwriter died at his home in Mississauga, a city just west of Toronto, after a short illness. The group burst on the national scene in 1966 with the top 10 smash “California Dreamin’.” The Mamas and the Papas broke new ground by having women and men in one group at a time when most singing groups were unisex. John Phillips, the group’s… Read more »

Hours after Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his second full term in office, Ted Nugent helped him celebrate at a black-tie gala, but not all attendees were pleased by the rocker’s performance. Using machine guns as props, Nugent, 58, appeared onstage as the final act of the inaugural ball wearing a cutoff T-shirt emblazoned with the Confederate flag and shouting offensive remarks about non-English speakers, according to people who were in attendance. Perry’s spokesman, Robert Black, downplayed the Tuesday-night incident. “Ted Nugent is a good friend of the governor’s. He asked him if he would play at the inaugural. He… Read more »

The meeting between two of the most improbable cultural icons of the 1970s lasted all of 30 minutes, but it has fascinated the nation for years. A photo of a cloaked and bejeweled Elvis Presley solemnly shaking hands with a grim-faced President Nixon remains the No. 1 requested document from the National Archives, nearly four decades after the secret meeting took place on Dec. 21, 1970. Now, on what would be the King’s 72nd birthday, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Birthplace is giving the curious public a good, long look at the relics of the coming together of The… Read more »