Search Results for: Thursday

British pop singer Lily Allen has no idea why her U.S. working visa was revoked, but she hopes she will be granted a new one for her planned September tour, her record company EMI Music said on Wednesday. Allen was detained at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday for five hours after she arrived from Australia. She was searched, but not strip searched as reported, Murray Chalmers, spokesman for EMI Music in London, said in a statement. “The authorities decided to revoke her American O-1 work visa. She has no idea why she was singled out for such treatment,” Chalmers… Read more »

Prosecutors have again dropped charges against a man accused of shooting Ray Davies during a holdup in the French Quarter, and for the same reason: Davies wasn’t in court. The lead singer and co-founder of The Kinks said prosecutors notified him only a few days earlier that trial was scheduled for Thursday. He just didn’t have time to get to New Orleans from London, he told The Times-Picayune. “I am very disappointed with the way this case has been handled,” Davies said Thursday. “I intend to pursue it further.” Davies was shot in the leg Jan. 4, 2004, when he… Read more »

During her Tuesday night performance in Orlando, Florida, Beyoncé took a rather epic header down a flight of stairs – a tumble, of course, captured on camera by several fans in attendance.To her credit, not only did B press on with the show, she later joked about the fall, telling the audience that it “hurt so bad” and imploring, “Don’t put [the footage] on YouTube.” Of course, those in the audience did the exact opposite, and by the following morning, several different clips of her spill were among the “Most Watched” and “Most Discussed” on the site. Given Beyoncé’s plea,… Read more »

Pop-punk band Plain White T’s led the U.S. pop singles chart for a second week Thursday with “Hey There Delilah,” while Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” rose one to No. 2, swapping places with R&B starlet Rihanna’s former chart-topper “Umbrella.” Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” featuring Keri Hilson rose one to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, trading places with Shop Boyz’s “Party Like a Rockstar.” At No. 6, the “High School Musical 2” onslaught began as the cast single “What Time Is It” entered the chart after selling 87,000 physical singles and 31,000 downloads.… Read more »

At Thursday’s Congressional hearing about the new rates for online radio that would essentially destroy it, SoundExchange, which was scheduled to receive the new royalty payments on Monday morning (since the enforcement date falls on a Sunday), made a startling statement. The SoundExchange executive [Jon Simson, executive director] promised — in front of Congress — that SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out. I just spoke with Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who expressed relief that Pandora wouldn’t have to shut down on Sunday in response to the new rates.… Read more »

Avril Lavigne is pissed about allegations that she stole a song from ’70s pop act the Rubinoos. So pissed, in fact, that she’s invoking lyrics by the Ramones.In a post on her MySpace page addressed to “My Dear Media [hey, that’s me!], Friends and Fans,” Lavigne ripped the Rubinoos’ claims – and subsequent lawsuit – that her tune “Girlfriend” rips off their 1979 semi-hit “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” She wrote that she “had never heard this song in my life” and “all songs share similar lyrics and emotions. As humans we speak one language.” “You may have heard some… Read more »

Amid continued controversy over applying the Fairness Doctrine to radio, the controversy over charging webcasters millions in retroactive royalty fees has seemingly come to a conclusion. On Thursday, the House of Representatives failed to come to the rescue of webcasters in a dispute with record companies over new royalty rates the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) put into place. Still, many broadcasters claim they cannot afford the increased fees and might go silent forever. At the hearing, the committee explored ways of revising the regulations that aimed to maintain a wide variety of listening options while also ensuring that artists are… Read more »

SOMERSET, Pa. — Members of rock band Relient K had a rude awakening on the Pennsylvania Turnpike at about 3:20 a.m. Thursday. Asleep on their tour bus, en route to a show in Illinois, they were roused by the bus driver yelling for them to exit the bus immediately. It was on fire. While the band — which includes Stark County natives Matt Thiessen and Matt Hoopes — and crew members escaped uninjured, the damage was extensive. Fire Chief Terry Shaffer of the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department said the fire started in the engine compartment located just below the rear… Read more »

Michael Jackson is (a) bedridden; (b) convinced his brother Randy has been stealing from him; (c) getting evicted from his Las Vegas residence; (d) readying a European tour, or (e) none of the above. The answer, according to the reclusive entertainer’s hardworking spokeswoman, is “e.” Raymone Bain issued a statement Thursday in response to a spate of recent published reports about Jackson that she called “untrue, defamatory and malicious in nature.” Among the assertions denied by Bain was that Jackson was confined to his bed, or relying on any sort of medication, “including painkillers.” “In fact, Mr. Jackson is doing… Read more »

The Spice Girls wannabe stars again. Following a calculated publicity buildup, the original Girl Power group of the 1990s announced Thursday that they have agreed to reunite for 11 concerts around the world in December and January. The shows will be their first concerts since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original group since Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998. The group said shows would be in Los Angeles on Dec. 7; Las Vegas on Dec. 8; New York on Dec. 11; London on Dec. 15; Cologne, Germany,… Read more »