Search Results for: stevie nicks

Howie Epstein, a former bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died of what authorities suspect was a drug overdose. He was 47. Investigators were told Epstein had been using heroin, said Maj. Ron Madrid of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. Epstein was driven to St. Vincent Hospital by his girlfriend, who described him as “under distress.” He died Sunday. Epstein had been a respected musician and producer for more than 20 years. In addition to his work with Petty, he played on some of Bob Dylan’s albums in the 1980s and produced a Grammy-award winning album for… Read more »

As a pop star protest against “indentured servitude” by penny pinching record companies grew to near-deafening decibel levels on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Grammy Awards, the music industry roared back. Led by Don Henley and Sheryl Crow, the Recording Artists Coalition has been demanding changes to a California law that ties musicians longer to contracts than in other industries. Their efforts reached a crescendo Tuesday night with four Los Angeles protest concerts featuring such stars as the Eagles, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks, Crow, No Doubt, The Offspring, The Dixie Chicks, Trisha Yearwood, Beck, and Eddie Vedder. But music labels, production… Read more »

Beck, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness have been added to an already impressive list of top-shelf acts that will perform in Los Angeles on February 26 to help raise funds for the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC). However, LAUNCH has learned that Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, and Rob Zombie are no longer participating in the potentially historic night of music. Beck, Vedder, and Ness will co-headline a show at the Wiltern Theater. Playing elsewhere on the same night, for the same cause, will be the Eagles, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow, and Stevie Nicks at the… Read more »

Beck, Deftones and Offspring singer Dexter Holland joined Recording Artists Coalition founders Don Henley and Sheryl Crow at California’s State Capitol on Wednesday to support new legislation that could change the relationship between recording artists and their labels. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Matchbox Twenty’s Paul Doucette, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Carole King, Ray Parker Jr. and Jonatha Brooke also appeared in Sacramento, California, calling on legislators to support Democratic Sen. Kevin Murray’s Senate Bill 1246, legislation that would allow artists to function more like free agents, according to a spokesperson for the Recording Artists Coalition. Murray’s bill aims… Read more »

The track listing for Sheryl Crow’s follow-up to 1998’s The Globe Sessions has been firmed up, and the album is now slated for March. Crow spent time in New York City last year working on the record, popping up for star-studded surprise gigs that included appearances by the likes of Keith Richards, Stevie Nicks, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kid Rock. And while Rock and Paltrow were initially rumored to be singing on the upcoming album, Nicks is the only one from those performances confirmed for the album. Nicks lends backing vocals to “You’re Not the One.” But Crow has enlisted a… Read more »

Irish rock band U2, which enjoyed a triumphant 2001 playing to sold-out crowds in support of its acclaimed new album, led the list of nominees Friday for the Grammy Awards, the music industry’s top prizes. U2 picked up eight nominations, including the key album, song and record of the year categories, organizers announced at a news conference in Beverly Hills. The group’s four members were “thrilled and really excited, and not at all blase,” U2 manager Paul McGuinness told Reuters from the band’s Dublin base after he tracked them down across Europe to break the good news. “There’s a lot… Read more »

Veteran Irish rockers U2 and piano songstress Alicia Keys were among the favorites to claim Grammy nominations in a competition shaping up as far less inflammatory than last year’s event. U2’s “Beautiful Day” won record and song of the year honors as a single at last year’s Grammy awards. This year the song is part of the album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” making the latter a contender for album of the year. “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” was released too late to qualify last year, but the single did debut before the Sept. 30 cutoff date. Two… Read more »

The rock band U2 had the second biggest tour ever during a year in which concert industry business was off but ticket prices continued to rise, an industry trade publication said Thursday. The top 100 concert tours sold 34.4 million tickets in 2001, down about 7 percent from 37.1 million the year before, according to an analysis by Pollstar magazine. U2, coming off one of its strongest albums, sold out arenas across the country with a well-received back-to-basics show. They even added dates after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The band’s $109.7 million in estimated ticket sales is second only… Read more »

After three months of heartfelt September 11 benefits, lots of musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, No Doubt, Korn, Weezer and Elton John, are starting to focus once again on their own financial concerns. A bunch of successful musicians from a variety of genres have united to organize four simultaneous benefit concerts for the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), a group that seeks to create more equitable standards for recording musicians. Billed the Concerts for Artists Rights, the four shows will take place in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County, California, areas on February 26, the night before the 44th annual Grammy… Read more »

Pop stars including Elton John, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow and the Eagles will perform a series of concerts the night before the Grammys to raise money for a fledgling group of performers seeking better treatment by major record labels, organizers said Wednesday. At least five shows sponsored by the Recording Artists Coalition, a group spearheaded by Crow and Eagles singer Don Henley, are planned at various Los Angeles-area venues for Feb. 26, the eve of the glittering awards ceremony honoring the industry’s best music and biggest stars, spokesmen said. Among other artists committed to performing at the shows are country… Read more »