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Johnny Cash, “The Man in Black” who became a towering figure in American music with such hits as “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” and “A Boy Named Sue,” died Friday. He was 71. “Johnny died due to complications from diabetes, which resulted in respiratory failure,” Cash’s manager, Lou Robin, said in a statement issued by Baptist Hospital in Nashville. He said Cash died at the hospital at 1 a.m. EDT. “I hope that friends and fans of Johnny will pray for the Cash family to find comfort during this very difficult time,” Robin said. Cash had been released… Read more »

Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera are both getting new platinum. The Recording Industry Association of America reports Timberlake’s “Justified” album and Aguilera’s “Stripped” album have both gone triple platinum. Also, Daniel Bedingfield gets his first gold record for “Gotta Get Thru This.” Jason Mraz picks up a gold award for “Waiting For My Rocket To Come.” Simple Plan earn their first platinum award for “No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls.” Ashanti earns her second consecutive gold and platinum awards for “Chapter Two.” In the alternative category, Jane’s Addiction continues to churn out gold. The RIAA says Jane’s Addiction earned a… Read more »

The legal assault on music file-swappers is an unparalleled move by recording companies desperately trying to survive after failing to fully embrace digital distribution methods and driving up the cost of CDs. But record companies now risk a backlash that could damage far more than their financial results, while still not making a significant dent in music piracy, some observers say. A day after firing off 261 copyright lawsuits against individuals it accuses of each sharing hundreds of music files online, recording industry officials fielded a few calls from defendants eager to avoid paying thousands in damages. The Recording Industry… Read more »

Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who battled death with the same twisted sense of humor found in his songs “Life’ll Kill Ya,” “Werewolves of London” and “Excitable Boy,” has lost his yearlong fight against lung cancer at age 56. Zevon, among the wittiest and most original of a broad circle of performers to emerge from Los Angeles in the 1970s, died in his sleep Sunday at his home, publicist Carise Yatter said. “I’m just glad it was quick and he didn’t have to suffer for much more time,” said Zevon’s music producer friend Jorge Calderon, who worked with the singer on a… Read more »

Summer touring partners Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera each saw their latest solo albums reach the triple-platinum plateau in August. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Timberlake’s “Justified” (Jive) and Aguilera’s “Stripped” (RCA) for U.S. shipments of 3 million copies. Both albums debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The artists recently wrapped their co-headlining Justified & Stripped U.S. summer tour and now have set their sights on Europe. Aguilera will begin her own two-month tour there Sept. 12 in Greece with Japanese and Australian dates to follow. Timberlake will tour the region beginning Nov.… Read more »

Dave Navarro performed at last week’s MTV Video Music Awards with Christina Aguilera and was there in person to witness Madonna’s smooches with Aguilera and Britney Spears. Although he has worked with his fair share of hot female pop stars, he is currently eyeing his next gal. “At this point I’d like to do a collaboration with Madonna,” Navarro said. “I think that would be exciting. So far I’ve been able to collaborate with Christina Aguilera and Michelle Branch and Mariah Carey. I think Madonna’s, you know, next on my list. And Madonna actually looks younger than Britney and Christina.… Read more »

Just when some old-school Metallica fans were ready to write the band off for crafting St. Anger – which prominently features a snare drum that sounds like a screwdriver hitting a trashcan – and for playing snippets of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you Gonna Go My Way” at the VMAs, the band has redeemed itself. OK, they were doing fine before the VMAs. Few who attended Metallica’s Summer Sanitarium concerts walked away disappointed. The tour featured the band in peak form, bashing out its oldest and heaviest songs. However, a show on Friday for fan club… Read more »

Kicking off in Scranton, PA on October 17th, Island Records recording artists, Thrice and Thursday join forces for a full scale U.S. tour. This pairing of incredible bands will give fans the opportunity to experience the unbridled energy and emotionally charged sounds of both artists. Thursday and Thrice are representative of a growing new musical scene. As the New York Times Magazine recently wrote, “What do you get when you mix crashing guitars, wrenchingly confessional lyrics and vocals that can peel paint? The new poetics of suburban living.” This two month tour will be sponsored by MTV2 and Alternative Press.… Read more »

U.S. television network NBC won Vivendi Universal’s marathon show-business auction on Tuesday with a proposed merger to create a new entertainment industry giant worth more than $40 billion. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., clinched exclusive negotiating rights to finalize a deal that would give it a major film studio, more cable channels and theme parks to vault the No. 1 U.S. broadcast network closer to the ranks of such global titans as Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. If the deal is completed, the new company, to be called NBC-Universal, would include Vivendi’s Universal Pictures, the Hollywood studio… Read more »

Students arriving for fall classes at colleges across the country are facing new restrictions and stern warnings to discourage the swapping of pirated music and movies over high-speed campus Internet connections. Some schools are even using software to choke the amount of data that can flow in or out of a computer when students use Kazaa and other file-sharing programs. And in a new approach disclosed Tuesday, at least a dozen universities are exploring ways to offer students a fee-based music service whose fees could be bundled with room and board costs. “We’re feeling a great deal of pressure as… Read more »