Search Results for: rob thomas

U2 frontman and humanitarian Bono spoke last night in New York in an effort to bolster his campaign to continue the Bush administration’s financial support of the fight against AIDS in Africa. “AIDS is still is a problem in the U.S. and Europe, but what’s going on in Africa is a different thing completely,” he said during at the UNA-USA Global Leadership Awards Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel. “It’s an emergency.” Bono, who in 2002 founded the AIDS awareness organization DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa – www.data.org), presented the UNA-USA Global Humanitarian Award to Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United… Read more »

There’s been no stopping Three Days Grace these past few months. Their first single “(I Hate) Everything About You,” is on every rock radio station’s hit list, the accompanying video is currently #2 on the Muchmusic countdown and they’re playing a whack of shows across the United States. They recently stopped off in Toronto for one day to shoot their new video, “Just Like You,” and were greeted with plaques and a photoshoot. Their self-titled debut album has gone gold in Canada. “I kinda knew they were going to do this,” drummer Neil Sanderson confides. The video set itself looks… Read more »

Dave Grohl has called his Probot side project album a death metal Supernatural, but don’t look for it to dominate the Grammys or the Billboard albums chart. “It’s not unlike the Santana record in that it really kicks ass, but it’s not the kind of thing that you’d expect,” Grohl said backstage at Saturday’s KROQ Weenie Roast. “There’s a certain kind of person that will like the Probot record, and there aren’t that many of those people…. I mean, it’s not meant to, like, make money.” Probot’s album – which features Grohl, Zwan guitarist Matt Sweeney and Foo Fighters producer… Read more »

In a pop-punk field increasingly populated with interchangeable sound-alike bands, Good Charlotte has made a bid to break away from the pack with its second CD, “The Young & the Hopeless.” Lead singer Joel Madden, who along with twin brother Benj writes the group’s songs, credits Eric Valentine, the producer of “The Young & the Hopeless,” with helping to expand the group’s musical horizons. “He challenged me to write different songs than just a bunch of songs that were kind of the same thing,” Joel Madden said. “He was like, ‘Why don’t you try writing some songs that you wouldn’t… Read more »

The annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured the spirit of 1970s British punk, some anti-war sentiments and probably the loudest noise ever heard at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In what’s often the case at the glittery ceremony, the honor also brought together a long-estranged group, in this case the Police. The British trio played publicly Monday for the first time in 18 years, singing the reggae-tinged “Roxanne,” the obsessive hit, “Every Breath You Take” and “Message in a Bottle.” “I’d like to make it very clear that there is absolutely no ego in our band whatsoever,”… Read more »

A published report says Billy Joel was drinking champagne shortly before his January car crash on his native Long Island. The East Hampton Star reports that Joel told police he had had “a glass of champagne” while having dinner with two friends at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor on January 25, although he now claims not to remember the conversation. At 10:30 p.m. ET that night, Joel crashed his $100,000 Mercedes-Benz into a tree in the town, after which he spent the night in a local hospital before being discharged the following morning. Alcohol was quickly ruled out as… Read more »

In a year fraught with political turmoil, turbulence and insecurity, music fans turned to their favorite songs to take them away from many of their problems and help them come to terms with others that were impossible to escape. Whether it was Eminem rapping, “Lose yourself in the music,” or Bruce Springsteen singing, “Come on up for the rising/ Come on up, lay your hands in mine,” the messages of unity were universal. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards, held Sunday (February 23) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, apolitical hedonists and social activists alike rallied together to celebrate the… Read more »

Hilary Rosen, who led the music industry’s fight against online piracy, turning an obscure trade group into a major player in the debate over copyright protection, said Wednesday she will quit as chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America. Rosen, who will resign by year-end after 17 years with the RIAA, led the group recently in victorious copyright infringement battles against Napster and Aimster and this week’s judgment against Verizon Communications to stem piracy on the Internet. But despite the wins on the legal front, the music industry finds itself entrenched in one of its most tumultuous periods,… Read more »

Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough’s third annual Lupus Cruise to benefit his Dorough Lupus Foundation sets sail from Miami on Sunday (December 15) for a seven-day adventure aboard the Carnival Victory. Dorough, his sister Pollyanna, and the rest of his family will be on board as the Victory visits ports in the Eastern Caribbean, including San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. The Dorough Lupus Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization founded by Dorough and his family shortly after his sister Caroline Cochran died from the disease in 1998. Dorough explained to LAUNCH, “I unfortunately lost one of my sisters, Caroline… Read more »

Creed lead singer Scott Stapp (news) has offered his “sincere regret” to fans for the band’s recent tour-date postponements, and also announced a series of make-up dates in the cities affected. In a note sent Thursday (October 10) to fans subscribed to the group’s e-mailing list, Stapp explained that he is “suffering from acute laryngitis due to the swelling of my vocal cords” and hoped that radio stations, promoters, and “loyal fans…will understand my situation and forgive the inconvenience that this has caused them.” Creed has reshuffled its itinerary and will be back on the road starting October 16 in… Read more »