Search Results for: 2007

Jon Bon Jovi and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan will perform at this year’s Live Earth concert, when the music extravaganza aimed at raising awareness of climate change heads to India. Last year’s Live Earth spanned four continents and 150 acts were performed over a 24-hour period. But organizers Al Gore and Kevin Wall decided this year to stage only one event in India, in the hopes of bringing their message to the developing world. “India is not the country that created the climate crisis, but it is a developing nation and we need to open doors for local environmental organizations… Read more »

“Corporate radio stations need to show musicians the money” is the title of a piece written by SoundExchange executive director John Simson, published in the San Jose Mercury News back in August. But internet song aggregator Orchard suggests it needs to start following its own advice. Orchard’s Greg Scholl fired off a letter to the Copyright Board, and published in Billboard, arguing that it was time for a major audit of the service, which supposedly is supposed to collect royalty money for redistribution to rights holders. Scholl says it’s very difficult to figure out what SX is doing with the… Read more »

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will pay tribute to the “father of the electric guitar” this fall. Les Paul will be honored at the annual American Music Masters series, a weeklong event that begins Nov. 10, Rock Hall officials said Tuesday. A tribute concert – artists will be named later – is scheduled Nov. 15 at Cleveland’s State Theater. Paul, 93, is hoping to attend, said Rock Hall President and CEO Terry Stewart. “You have an inductee who in some ways maybe has had one of the biggest influences of all our inductees with the creation of his… Read more »

Rock band Fall Out Boy’s fifth album, “Folie a Deux,” will hit shelves November 4, the same day as the U.S. presidential election. Heralding Island’s release of the album, the band on Monday (August 25) released an online mixtape, “Welcome to the New Administration.” On it are five Fall Out Boy demo tracks expected to appear on the album, including “Lake Effect Kid,” “America’s Sweethearts,” “I Don’t Care,” “ALPHAdog and OMEGAlomaniac” and “Catch Me if You Can/Proclamation of Emancipation,” the latter featuring Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy. The album’s first single, “I Don’t Care,” will be released to radio September… Read more »

Madonna kicks off her “Sticky & Sweet” world tour at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday, the latest test of her enduring appeal just a week after her 50th birthday. The “queen of pop” will be hoping to eclipse her last trot across the globe in 2006. “Confessions” became the top-grossing tour ever by a female artist, with ticket sales of $195 million. “Sticky & Sweet,” featuring hits that span nearly 30 years in pop music including her latest album “Hard Candy,” includes 49 dates and is due to wrap up in Sao Paulo on December 18. As of Thursday, roughly… Read more »

The Verve considers its upcoming album, “Forth,” the reunited British group’s first new set in 11 years, to be the beginning of its new era — and the continuation of a career that’s been interrupted by two previous breakups. “This definitely is an ongoing concern; it’s not something that we’re all just gonna chuck away again,” bassist Simon Jones told Billboard.com. “Looking back I don’t think we had to be so blunt and, ‘Alright, we’re splitting up!’ really. We should’ve just chilled out for a bit and taken some time out, to be honest. “But obviously we all had a… Read more »

It’s a big month for Tegan Quin of the Canadian sibling rock duo Tegan and Sara. She and her twin are embarking on the final leg of their tour supporting their 2007 album “The Con,” she’s co-headlining a benefit event in New York with author Augusten Burroughs, and she’s filming a video for her duet with Florida punk outfit Against Me! Also, one day very soon, she will obtain her driver’s license. “In 28 years, I’ve never had a desire to drive,” Quin told Billboard.com from Los Angeles, where she was set to shoot a video for “Borne on the… Read more »

Rolling Stone magazine unveiled plans on Monday for a major design overhaul, scaling down its signature large-format pages to a standard magazine size in a bid to bolster advertising and sagging newsstand sales. The U.S. pop culture magazine will end the oversized look that for more than 30 years has distinguished it from rival publications starting with an issue set to hit newsstands on October 17. “It feels to me just like a natural step for us to take,” said Will Dana, managing editor at Rolling Stone. “It’s always exciting to shake things up a bit and to grow and… Read more »

Bernie Mac, the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and comedian who worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago’s South Side, died Saturday at age 50. “Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles. She said no other details were available and asked that his family’s privacy be respected. The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into… Read more »