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Just when you thought the mystery of where ex-Beatle George Harrison died might have been solved, it may actually have deepened. A spokesman for ex-Beatle Paul McCartney Thursday strongly denied a local television report that said Harrison, who died of cancer in Los Angeles on Nov. 29, passed away at a house owned by McCartney. He also said McCartney did not even own a house in California. The Los Angeles affiliate of the UPN network, UPN News 13, reported Tuesday that Harrison died at a secluded home in Beverly Hills that McCartney bought from rock star Courtney Love six months… Read more »

Consumer electronics company SONICblue Inc. on Monday unveiled a high-end home entertainment hub that can store an entire music collection and furthers the company’s thrust into the budding market for digital audio and video entertainment. At about $1,500, SONICblue’s Advanced Digital Audio Center can become the centerpiece of a music enthusiast’s wired home. It features a 40-gigabyte hard drive that can record up to 650 hours of music. Through the system, available only via SONICblue’s Web site, music from a CD can be recorded to its hard drive, played back over receivers within the house, downloaded to an MP3 player,… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

A group of Phish fans has donated over $170,000 to fund music education for children, including eight new grants this week that benefit low-income, minority, and gifted children from California to Connecticut and Kentucky to Kosovo. The funds will bring new instruments, instructors, curricula, and professional development for teachers to a wide range of settings and musical genres. The funds come from sales of the 928-page Phish Companion and the double-CD Phish tribute Sharin’ in the Groove. Each was produced by the Mockingbird Foundation, an entirely unconventional organization that has no salaries, paid staff, or office, and donates all funds… Read more »

Edgar Bronfman Jr will step down as executive vice chairman of media giant Vivendi Universal next year, leaving flamboyant Frenchman Jean-Marie Messier solo at center stage. Vivendi said on Thursday that Bronfman, head of Canada’s Seagram before it merged with France’s Vivendi last year, would step down at the end of the first quarter 2002, though he would remain non-executive vice chairman of the board. “I deeply regret Edgar’s decision but fully understand his wishes,” Messier said in a statement. he said Bronfman was standing down to spend more time on his “personal and family interests.” It was not clear… Read more »

With only days to go before the top music companies start selling music online, they appear unwilling, at least initially, to support most of the digital music players currently sold. Analysts have dim expectations for the new ventures because their music will remain largely chained for now to the computer desktop – and only for as long as subscribers pay to “rent” it. “What’s the use if I’m going to have it on my desktop and I can’t take it with me?” says Jackie DeLeon, 26, a student housing coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago who uses her portable MP3… Read more »

British prosecutors described the guitarist for renowned rock band R.E.M. as having acted like a naughty child on a plane in April during the first day of his air-rage trial in a London courtroom. Peter Buck, who avoided photographers and fans at the entrance to the court, pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting cabin crew, being drunk on an aircraft, and damaging property on board a British Airways flight from Seattle to London. Prosecutor Edward Lewis told the court the 44-year-old Buck began drinking with his tour manager in the first-class cabin soon after boarding the flight. When crew… Read more »

Top showbiz execs pledged Sunday to step up their contribution to the war effort after a meeting with White House senior advisor Karl Rove. Details of Hollywood’s multifront initiative will be forged over the next few weeks, but industry moguls made clear their desire to pitch in. The campaign will include helping the Bush Administration spread its message regarding the war on terrorism both at home and abroad, support for U.S. troops and buttressing resolve among the American public. “All of us in the industry have an incredible urge to do something,” said Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing. One concrete… Read more »

Sony Corp is expected to report weak results for the July-September quarter after a profit warninglate last month, with analysts looking for more aggressive restructuring moves to confront the slowing global economy. The world’s largest maker of audio and video equipment cut its consolidated operating profit forecast for the full year to next March by more than half to 120 billion yen ($980 million) and announced a handful of restructuring steps, including procurement cost cuts. “That’s not enough,” said Merrill Lynch analyst Hiroshi Kuriyama. “Of course it has made efforts in the past, but current business conditions are far worse… Read more »

Nurse Abby Lockheart has just been dumped. She is in the middle of the rather painful process of moving her stuff out of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. And to make matters worse, Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” a song about the things a man is looking for in a woman, is playing on the radio. On “ER,” popular music is becoming a bigger part of the story line with every episode. “It adds something to the show every time we use it,” “ER” supervising producer and writer Scott Gemmill said. “It’s amazing what music can bring to a scene.” There’s a new… Read more »