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The Blasters’ singer and guitarist Phil Alvin speaks like the band plays: short, fast and furious. “My father was very upset when I quit school,” he said, trying at breakneck speed to make his words catch up with his thoughts. “He took the neck of my guitar and screwed it to the dustpan. Then he scooped the dog crap with it, and left it in the garage. Every time I turned on the light on, I’d have to walk past it.” But Phil ignored his father’s exhortations, and with the help of his younger brother Dave, formed one of the… Read more »

W. Axl Rose will exhibit his appetite for reconstruction when Guns N’ Roses re-emerge for their first U.S. tour in nine years with many new band members and a batch of new material. The first date of the group’s trek will be November 7 in Vancouver at General Motors Place. An additional 25 dates have been announced, the last of which will be December 21 in Dallas at the American Airlines Center. More shows will be booked in the coming weeks. Guns N’ Roses, who have been out of the U.S. spotlight for the past decade, performed on television for… Read more »

Fans growing impatient for the release of the Ramones tribute album We’re a Happy Family now have a good reason to turn that frown upside down. The track list for the LP, which is currently being mastered, and a tentative street date of November 5 were announced via a posting on the Web site of Rob Zombie, who is serving as co-producer along with guitarist Johnny Ramone. Although Zombie himself vouched for the accuracy of the most specific details concerning the album since he first announced plans for it in November, a spokesperson for Columbia Records, the label which intends… Read more »

The tiny, unassuming city of Devore, California, will be transformed into a punk-rock Mecca next month when it hosts a show featuring the Sex Pistols, X, Bad Religion, the Vandals, Unwritten Law, New Found Glory and others. The September 14 KROQ Inland Invasion concert at the 65,000-seat Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion will also feature the Damned, the Adolescents, the Distillers, T.S.O.L. and G.B.H, according to a source close to the show. Last month the Sex Pistols played a gig in London and re-released their song “God Save the Queen,” but this will be their first U.S. performance since their 1996… Read more »

Sharon Osbourne seems to be doing well following her first session of chemotherapy Monday, with husband Ozzy by her side. She’s in “very good spirits – she’s very upbeat,” the Osbournes’ spokesperson told USA Today. Sharon’s three-month chemo prescription is treating the cancer that was initially thought to be confined to her colon, but following an operation, was found to have spread. She was first diagnosed with the disease earlier this month. After postponing the first two dates of Ozzfest when the diagnosis became public, Ozzy persevered on the annual trek without his wife and manager, who masterminds the annual… Read more »

After offering politically correct comments regarding their future with Sean ” P. Diddy” Combs’s Bad Boy Records, Combs’s protege group 112 said they are parting ways with Combs, and have signed a recording deal with the Island Def Jam music group. The Atlanta-based quartet that includes members Daron Jones, Quinnes “Q” Parker, Michael Keith, and Marvin “Slim” Scandrick released its 1996 self-titled debut on Combs’s label that also featured the late Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, and Craig Mack. 112 signed with Def Jam after it was relieved of its commitment to Bad Boy, Scandrick revealed, “We’re already signed to Def… Read more »

Independent online music company Listen.com said on Monday it had clinched a licensing deal with Universal Music, becoming the first Internet song provider to feature content from the five major record labels. Under the latest deal, Universal Music, a unit of media giant Vivendi Universal, will make its digital catalog of titles available to Listen’s Rhapsody service. Both Listen.com and another independent service, FullAudio’s MusicNow, are competing with big-label backed services known as MusicNet and Pressplay. Industry analysts have remained skeptical that any of these services will take off, particularly since until now, none of them, including MusicNet and Pressplay,… Read more »

Leave it to Austin Powers to have two leading ladies, and two fine ones at that. Britney Spears and Beyoncé Knowles will release the leadoff singles from the Austin Powers in Goldmember soundtrack, with Knowles’ “Work It Out” dropping shortly before Spears’ “Boys,” which was remixed by Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, who produced the original version. Knowles’ up-tempo “Work It Out,” which was also produced by the Neptunes, will premiere Thursday (May 23) on AOL.com. The Destiny’s Child singer will shoot a video for the song in New York in early June. “Work It Out” will also be the… Read more »

Oscar-winning singer-actress Cher has announced that her upcoming tour will be the last one of her career. The Living Proof: The Farewell Tour will kick off in Toronto on June 14 and will visit more than 50 cities throughout the United States, according to tour promoter Clear Channel Entertainment. “The road is tough, but the audience makes it all worthwhile,” said the legendary singer, who will celebrate her 56th birthday on May 20. Cher’s final tour is in support of her current Warner Bros. Records album Living Proof, which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.… Read more »

Ja Rule knows what it’s like to be in the shoes of Ashanti, his Murder Inc. labelmate and “Always on Time” co-star. He can remember when not too long ago he felt the pressure of being a star on the rise. Now that he’s a bona fide hitmaker, Ja still feels pressure. But keeping the songs coming that help his star hover in the stratosphere is the least of his worries. Lately he’s been feeling some heat from below the heavens. “I’ve rethought a lot of things,” he said Tuesday about his work in progress, The Last Temptation. “I have… Read more »