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UNIVERSAL CITY, California – My Chemical Romance have already given the new year a new name: “Tour thousand and seven.” After spending much of 2006 recording the ambitious concept album The Black Parade, MCR are dedicating the upcoming year to the road. “We’re going to try to bring the music on the record to life with a really good live show,” frontman Gerard Way said. “Something special, something big.” The singer actually predicted they’d be touring “for the next two years.” The band will get started January 19 in New Zealand before launching a North American headlining trek that kicks… Read more »

If you’re ever in some dingy watering hole and a lad wearing a panda costume walks in and sits down at the bar, don’t be alarmed. He might not be just some wacko, and he might not pose any kind of real threat. In fact, there’s a good chance he’s just a bored member of post-hardcore six-piece Chiodos, trying to abolish the ennui that comes with life on the road. “Every single day something ridiculous happens out here,” frontman Craig Owens explained. “We’ll dress someone up to go to a bar in a panda suit, and we’re always playing jokes… Read more »

Joel Madden may be riding the romance rollercoaster, but his identical twin brother Benji is settling in for the long haul. The Good Charlotte guitarist popped the question to his girlfriend, Australian pop singer-turned-actor Sophie Monk, on Christmas Eve, Madden’s rep, Steve Feinberg, confirmed to E! News Tuesday. “They are incredibly happy,” Feinberg said about the couple, who were first spotted together in September, smooching over lunch in Los Angeles. Madden, 27, proposed to Monk, also 27, in her home country, presenting her with a Neil Lane-designed diamond ring. Monk, most recently of light film fare such as Click and… Read more »

As far as explanatory statements from musicians go, this one by Relient K frontman Matt Thiessen about his band’s new album, Five Score and Seven Years Ago, sort of takes the cake for general awesomeness: “We had already come up with the title of the album, so I decided to write some lyrics about John Wilkes Booth. I hope people don’t think it’s a concept record about Abraham Lincoln or anything like that.” Gee, why would anyone think that? After all, there are tons of albums out there that nick their title from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (“Four score and seven… Read more »

The final curtain has fallen on this very public affair. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey have settled the division of their assets, according to court documents. While the ex-Newlyweds have technically been singletons and free to marry others since June, with great success comes great responsibility. For their lawyers and accountants, that is. Details of the settlement were not disclosed and each has agreed not to discuss the other’s financial holdings, but we can remember that Simpson, while we wouldn’t compare her situation to Britney’s, was reportedly raking in more money than her hubby during their three-year marriage. The comely… Read more »

Following are previews of albums due out within the next few months from debut acts or under-the-radar artists due for a breakthrough. PAOLO NUTINI Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini, who turns 20 January 9, was one of the most noteworthy breakout artists of 2006 for Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom. After an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin last March, his debut single, “Last Request,” reached No. 5 in July on the British charts and also became a substantial airplay hit. His debut album, “These Streets,” subsequently opened at No. 3 with out-of-the-box sales of 35,000, according to his… Read more »

You can’t blame U2’s concert promoter for wondering just how big the band’s Vertigo world tour could have been if it had simply kept on playing. After all, not one ticket went unsold for the 131 shows on the trek, which began March 28, 2005, in San Diego and wrapped December 9 in front of 47,000 fans at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium. Having been on the road in fits and starts since March 2005, U2 was clearly in a celebratory mood in Hawaii, as Bono danced onstage with a woman from the crowd during “Mysterious Ways” and even pulled a lucky… Read more »

When Ronald Simmons first heard James Brown’s hit “Cold Sweat,” he was blown away, especially by Brown’s command, “Give the drummer some!” “When I was a kid I would go crazy when I heard that!” said Simmons, 53. “It did something to me: I’ve been drumming for the last 35 years.” Simmons was among thousands of fans waiting Thursday outside the Apollo Theater to pay their respects to Brown, who died on Christmas Day at age 73. As they stood in the cold, many spoke passionately about Brown’s impact on their lives. “He is our royalty, our music royalty,” said… Read more »

While Floridian metalcore sextet Underoath were recording 2006’s Define the Great Line a little more than a year ago, the band’s drummer, Aaron Gillespie, found himself writing straight-up rock tunes, material that he realized wouldn’t fit with Underoath’s vicious style. If these songs were to be heard someday, he knew he’d have to release them himself. So before Define ’s June release, Gillespie hit the studio alone to track the songs, playing all of the instruments himself and even tackling vocalist duties, like how Trent Reznor records Nine Inch Nails albums. This spring, Gillespie’s as-yet-untitled solo debut, which he’ll release… Read more »

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon’s scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America’s history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93. Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments – including an angioplasty – in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles. Ford was an accidental president, Nixon’s… Read more »