Search Results for: MAX

A producer has sued Ozzy Osbourne and the rock musician’s wife, claiming the couple stole the idea for their hit MTV reality series “The Osbournes” from him. Plaintiff Gary Binkow said he met on several occasions with the couple and executives from Miramax TV between 1999 and 2000 to discuss “a real-life docu-sitcom” about their family, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The court papers include what Binkow said was a copy of his original treatment of the proposed series from January 2000, registered with the Writers Guild of America, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.… Read more »

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will launch an extensive tour in August to coincide with the release of The Rising, their first studio album together in 18 years. The Boss will again be backed by “Sopranos” co-star Steven Van Zandt (guitar), “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” bandleader Max Weinberg (drums), Roy Bittan (keyboards), Nils Lofgren (guitar), Garry Tallent (bass), Patti Scialfa (vocals, guitar), Danny Federici (keyboards) and legendary sax man Clarence Clemons, for what has been appropriately dubbed The Rising Tour. Despite enjoying success as a solo performer in the nearly 20 years since the E Street Band… Read more »

Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, a handful of Hell’s Angels, a gospel choir of 5,000 and a throng of close to 1 million onlookers turned out to help England’s Queen Elizabeth celebrate 50 years on the throne over the weekend at London’s Buckingham Palace. Eric Clapton, Ricky Martin, S Club 7, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, the Corrs, Aretha Franklin, Sir Elton John, Tom Jones, Annie Lennox, Mis-Teeq, Brian Wilson, Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Will Young also turned out for the event, which played to a global television audience of millions more over the course… Read more »

A grand jury indicted singer Robert “R.” Kelly Wednesday (June 5) on 21 felony counts of child pornography, according to the Cook County state attorney’s office. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. If convicted, Kelly would have to register as a sex offender. In February, a videotape was given to the Chicago Sun-Times, which in turn handed the tape over to the sex crimes unit of the Chicago police department. The tape in question – which has been bootlegged and sold across the country everywhere from the street corner and the… Read more »

A good 18 years have passed since Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band recorded their last studio record, Born in the U.S.A. Now, following a hugely successful 2000 concert reunion, the group is about to release a new studio disc called The Rising. In their attempt to bridge all those fallow years with a single release they also appear to be going for a contemporary sound, hiring producer Brendan O’Brien, who is best known for working with groups like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. The Rising comes out July 30 and features 14 new… Read more »

Warner Music Group (WMG) named Tsvi Gal senior vice president and chief information officer. Based in New York, Mr. Gal will report to WMG executive vice president and CFO Helen Murphy. Mr. Gal is moving from the role of president at AT&T’s ATT.com, where he was responsible for AT&T’s E-Business and E-commerce activities. In his new role, Mr. Gal will oversee WMG’s global IT operations and will focus on creating and maximizing the opportunities presented by both new technologies and music industry initiatives. He will also supervise the integration of WMG’s global systems and maximize technology opportunities within AOL Time… Read more »

Universal Music Enterprises (UME) and Disc Marketing, Inc. have entered into a multi-year agreement to create compelling music “premiums” for many of the world’s major consumer brands, it was announced today by Bruce Resnikoff, President, Universal Music Enterprises. Under this agreement, UME, through its Special Markets division, will become the principal supplier of music content for music premiums developed by Disc Marketing for its wide range of corporate clients. UME will also provide manufacturing services for Disc Marketing. The agreement additionally calls for Disc Marketing to become the exclusive supplier of enhanced content for UME’s premium CD music packages. Utilizing… Read more »

The people who tried to take away your VCR are at it again. Hollywood has always dreamed of a “well-mannered marketplace” where the only technologies that you can buy are those that do not disrupt its business. Acting through legislators who dance to Hollywood’s tune, the movie studios are racing to lock away the flexible, general-purpose technology that has given us a century of unparalelled prosperity and innovation. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed the “Content Protection Status Report” with the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, laying out its plan to remake the technology world to suit its… Read more »

Rest assured, Will Smith will rid the world of aliens again, but first, he’ll perform for them. While the first single from the “Men in Black 2” soundtrack, “Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head),” is gaining popularity, Smith deliberately steered clear of the tried-and-true methods of creating a summer hit – heavy samples and big-name cameos – so as not to oversell the song, a Sony Pictures publicist said. But you know Smith, he can’t keep that simplicity up for long. Especially when there’s a video to be shot. The clip, directed by Francis Lawrence, features Smith, clad in the… Read more »

Bad-boy rapper Eminem’s eagerly awaited album, “The Eminem Show,” is to be released a week earlier than planned, on May 27, because pirate copies are already in circulation, his record label said on Monday. Interscope Records, a unit of France’s Vivendi Universal, said the early worldwide release of the album, which had been due on June 4, should minimize the impact of the illegally manufactured copies. “We’re disappointed that inferior pirated copies of “The Eminem Show” are in circulation, which is why we’ve decided to make the legitimate version available sooner than originally planned,” said Max Hole, Universal’s head of… Read more »