Search Results for: decade

Timothy White, Billboard editor in chief since 1991, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack June 27, just as the magazine was going to press. He was 50. Timothy collapsed in an elevator in the Billboard offices at 770 Broadway in New York and was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he succumbed. Timothy is survived by his wife Judy Garlan, his 10-year-old twins Christopher and Alexander, and seven siblings. Born on Jan. 25, 1952, in Paterson, N.J., to John Alexander and Gloria White, Timothy had a boundless passion for music and its creators that filled the pages of Billboard.… Read more »

The two surviving members of The Who decided Friday to resume their scheduled three-month U.S. tour despite the sudden death of bassist John Entwistle, their bandmate of nearly four decades. “The band decided to recommence the tour beginning at the Hollywood Bowl (a Monday night show),” according to a message posted on guitarist Pete Townshend’s Web site. The first show will serve as “a tribute to John Entwistle,” the band said in a separate statement. Pino Palladino, a British session player who has worked on Townshend’s solo projects, will fill in for Entwhistle, the Web site said. The band intends… Read more »

Not even his father could have said it better. “This is diet Ozzfest,” Jack Osbourne quipped backstage at the sold-out KROQ Weenie Roast. Southern California’s authoritative modern rock radio station hosted its 10th annual summer concert extravaganza on Saturday and, yes, it did offer a glimpse of the summer’s most anticipated tours, especially Ozzfest. Ozzy himself could not make the festivities, as his daughter Kelly was performing across the valley at KIIS’ Wango Tango radio show alongside the likes of Celine Dion and past Weenie Roast favorites No Doubt. Why wasn’t Jack there? “We don’t get along,” he clarified. Representing… Read more »

When Paul McCartney first got married, tears from lovelorn Beatles fans who pined for “the cute one” could’ve rivaled the Thames. Still, 30 years later, McCartney’s marriage to Heather Mills left nary a dry eye in the castle. The 59-year-old former Beatle wed Mills, 34, just after 5 p.m. Tuesday (June 11) in Glaslough, Ireland, according to Reuters. The private ceremony took place at St. Salvator’s Church on the 1,000-acre estate of Castle Leslie, a 17th century castle that now functions as 14-room luxury hotel near the Northern Irish border. Following the ceremony a grand reception was thrown for the… Read more »

No wonder pop fans are singing the blues. Radio sounds like a broken record. CD prices are heading off the charts. Labels are out of tune with the digital age. New acts fail to strike a chord with listeners. It’s time to face the music. The $14 billion recording industry, struggling through its first sales slump in a decade, faces challenges on several fronts, not the least of which is a tarnished image in the eyes and ears of fans who feel ripped off by greedy, tone-deaf bean counters. In 2001, album sales dropped 2.8% compared with 2000, the first… Read more »

It’s a long way from the stage of Madison Square Garden to an HIV clinic in South Africa, or from the thunderous roar of an adoring audience to the buttoned-down halls of the U.S. Senate. For most people, perhaps, but not for Bono. Rock and politics have been strange bedfellows for decades, from folkie Pete Seeger’s civil rights work in the ’60s to Frank Zappa’s censorship battles in the ’80s and Rage Against the Machine’s anti-sweatshop agitation in the ’90s. But whether it’s peace in Ireland or restructuring third-world debt, few rock stars have been able to devote as much… Read more »

Irreverent and bordering on insolent, the MTV Movie Awards have built a following over the past decade by mocking Hollywood as much as celebrating it. Best Villain? Best Kiss? Best Fight? Lifetime achievement awards for Chewbacca from “Star Wars,” and for cameo character actor Clint Howard, the squinty-eyed little brother of director Ron Howard? Such are the honors bestowed at the MTV Movie Awards, which in its 11th year comes not to praise cinema but to parody it. This year’s ceremony takes place Saturday and will be broadcast Thursday (June 6). “We’re always looking to make people laugh. That’s more… Read more »

Marilyn Manson and bassist Twiggy Ramirez have parted ways. Ramirez had been with the Manson band for eight years, beginning with its 1994 release Portrait of an American Family, and he co-wrote some of Manson’s biggest hits, including “The Dope Show” and “The Beautiful People.” According to a statement by Manson, the split with Ramirez was a result of creative differences over the band’s upcoming album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. “I have spent eight months transforming this band and our new songs into an unstoppable juggernaut, and sadly Twiggy wasn’t able to make himself a part of it,” Manson… Read more »

Strahov Stadium has had it all – communist rallies, anti-globalization protests, gymnastics exhibitions, drive-through movies and, now, Ozzfest. The crumbling structure, which stands as the largest stadium in the world per square foot, lent itself well to Ozzy Osbourne and his latest touring comrades, who hit the venue Thursday night for the seventh stop on the metal tour. With their stage parked in the middle of the field, the hard rockers used only half of the 200,000-capacity stadium, carving out an almost cozy cradle for Bohemia’s metalheads within the concrete monolith. While the tour got off to a less-than-grand beginning… Read more »

Bennett Zier has a fine idea for a new radio format. His eyes light up as he tells you about it. “We play Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bobby Darin,” he says. “The great thing about it is what we call it. You ready?” He pauses. “Vegas Radio! Is that great or what?” Zier can imagine the whole scene – the deejays, the jingles, the ironic retro-swinger patter. It’s his music, the kind he plays in his car. He’s in love with this idea, and with his natural salesman’s charm, he’s making you love it, too. So why doesn’t… Read more »