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Singer, Songwriter Dan Fogelberg Dies at 56

Lost 3-year battle with prostate cancer

(Newser) - Soft rock singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg died yesterday morning at his home in Maine after a three-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 56. Fogelberg was most popular in the '70s and early '80s with hits like "Longer," "Leader of the Band," "Same Old Lang Syne,...

Sonic Youth Frontman Flies High, Solo

New CD from hipster elder statesman Thurston Moore

(Newser) - Bandleader to experimental music pioneer Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore dropped his first proper solo record in 12 years today; "Trees Outside the Academy "drew a strong if not excellent 7.9 rating from hipster bible Pitchfork. Depsite the "basement icon's"  recent patronage of difficult underground talent,...

Kanye Prevails in Battle of the Hip-Hop Stars

It's still early, but Graduation is outselling 50 Cent's Curtis

(Newser) - In the much-hyped battled between two music titans, early sales indicate hip-hop fans are going West. Kanye West’s latest album, Graduation, has been outselling rival 50 Cent’s Curtis—by 2 to 1 at one Hollywood store, the LA Times reports—since the two went on sale yesterday. Fitty,...

Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75
Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75
Sep 11, 2007 7:28 PM CDT

Jazz Giant Zawinul Dead at 75

Keyboardist defended 'electric jazz' against purists

(Newser) - Joe Zawinul, the keyboardist who plugged America into "Electric Jazz" in the 1970s, has died at age 75. Best known for playing jazz-rock fusion with Miles Davis and starting up Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Zawinul defended his electric sound against jazz purists. "There is no difference between...

Kid Rock, Tommy Lee Tussle
Kid Rock, Tommy Lee Tussle
Sep 10, 2007 1:03 PM CDT

Kid Rock, Tommy Lee Tussle

Pamela's exes brawl at the Video Music Awards

(Newser) - The audience at the MTV Video Movie Awards experienced some unscheduled excitement last night, in the form of a brawl between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee—both rockers who've been wed to Pamela Anderson. The cause of the scuffle was unclear, but witnesses say Kid walked over to Tommy's table...

Music Vids Shrink as $$$ Fade
Music Vids Shrink as $$$ Fade
Sep 9, 2007 4:47 PM CDT

Music Vids Shrink as $$$ Fade

As industry changes, artists embrace low budgets, new concepts

(Newser) - A music industry headed for financial crash-and-burn has radically downsized its once-extravagant videos, the AP reports. Viewers of today’s MTV Video Awards will see more single-camera videos and quirky YouTube-inspired concepts that save cash—all suited for play on small screens. "A comet hit the earth and the...

Opera World Mourns 'King of the High Cs'

Pavarotti's legacy: That unforgettable, unmistakable sound

(Newser) - Placido Domingo is the better musician, but no other voice could match the late Luciano Pavarotti's, Anthony Tommasini writes in today's Times. The music critic looks at a career dotted with highs as lofty as the high Cs Pavarotti "tossed off" with "ease, pinging tone and utter glee"...

Only the Good Die Young
Only the Good Die Young
Sep 4, 2007 9:59 AM CDT

Only the Good Die Young

Musicians who make it big twice as likely to bow out early

(Newser) - The cliché "live fast, die young" now has backing from science. More than 1,000 American and European musicians active from 1956 through 1999 came under British researchers' scrutiny, and the stats are grim: The performers were twice as likely as civilians to die young, with drug and alcohol...

Perfect Pitch Might Come Built Right In

Ability may be in genes, but early musical training a must, too

(Newser) - Sounds like absolute pitch—the ability to identify a note without a reference tone—might be genetically determined. “Either you have it or you don’t,” said the lead researcher in a report in Scientific American, who cautioned that even those with the theoretical genetic predisposition must be...

Richards Throws Stones at Swedish Critics

Reviews of 'superdrunk,' 'confused' performance get guitarist riled up

(Newser) - Keith Richards, the man who ate a cigarette onstage and snorted his father’s ashes, has reached his limit. The 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist wants Swedish newspaper critics to apologize for scathing reviews of a concert this month in which they called Richards “superdrunk” and “a bit confused,...

Family Pleads: Don't Buy CDs
Family Pleads:
Don't Buy CDs
Aug 28, 2007 12:41 PM CDT

Family Pleads: Don't Buy CDs

Winehouse drama escalates as in-laws call singer, husband 'drug addicts' on BBC

(Newser) - The continuing drama surrounding "Rehab" singer Amy Winehouse took a bizarre new turn this morning when her in-laws, in an plea broadcast on the BBC, begged fans not to buy her records. Her husband's parents called for a boycott to force the couple into rehab, the Guardian reports. "...

Musicians March Silently Through New Orleans

Post-Katrina hard times in the Big Easy threaten legendary jazz scene

(Newser) - The battered post-Katrina economy drove jazz musicians into the streets of New Orleans yesterday, holding instruments silent at their sides in what they termed a “solidarity march.” Ninety percent of city musicians were living at or below the poverty line even before the hurricane, the Times-Picayune reports, and...

No Moss, but Rolling Stones May Gather Fine

Richards, Wood defy smoking ban at UK show, plan to continue

(Newser) - Threat of fines appear unlikely to keep the Rolling Stones from smoking onstage, the Times reports. Guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood lit up during a show yesterday in London despite frantic warnings from venue staff. "You might say that Keith and Ronnie lighting up while they swap licks...

US Tour? Winehouse Says 'No, No, No.'

Troubled 'Rehab' singer needs to 'address her health,' publicist says

(Newser) - Another overseas import has been held up due to a high level of suspicious substances -- Amy Winehouse has canceled her U.S. tour to address her "health problems." A publicist's statement made no mention of rehab, but said the chanteuse was advised by doctors to shelve her...

Dylan Flick Coming Soon to (1 or 2) Screens Near You

Starting small, even with big star power

(Newser) - A little movie looking for a crowd will open on only 4 screens this fall, but its distributor boasts that “I’m going to play every major city in the United States with this movie.” With Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett taking star turns in a...

Connie Francis Battles Family for Suicide Fan's Bequest

Obsessed woman left singer $300K

(Newser) - An obsessed female fan of Connie Francis put $300,000 in assets in the Sixties singer's name—then shot herself days later. Now Francis, known for her old hits "Who's Sorry Now"  and "Where the Boys Are," is suing the fan's family to collect the money....

Springsteen Makes 'Magic' Again
Springsteen Makes 'Magic' Again
Aug 16, 2007 4:27 PM CDT

Springsteen Makes 'Magic' Again

First album in five years due October 2

(Newser) - Bruce Springsteen will release "Magic"—his first album with his iconic E Street Band in half a decade—on October 2. The 11-track album is produced by Brendan O'Brien, who also produced the Grammy-winning "The Rising," the last Springsteen/E Street collaboration.

Max Roach Dies at 83
Max Roach Dies at 83
Aug 16, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

Max Roach Dies at 83

Star percussionist redefined the genre - more than once

(Newser) - Max Roach, a drummer who moved to his own beat and became a seminal figure in modern jazz, died today at 83. Roach renovated his genre's traditional instrumentation, and pioneered a layered, contrapuntal style that became the trademark of contemporary percussion. Even his recent albums defied the conventions he helped...

Elvis Fans Offer Burning Love
Elvis Fans Offer Burning Love
Aug 16, 2007 6:49 AM CDT

Elvis Fans Offer Burning Love

Fans around the world pay tribute, cough up cash to honor the King

(Newser) - Elvis fans braved 100-degree heat to make the pilgrimage to Graceland for the 30th anniversary of the King's death, lining up last night for a candlelight vigil and chance to pay their respects. Tens of thousands were expected to file past the grave and snap up commemorative T-shirts.

Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad
Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad
Aug 7, 2007 5:13 PM CDT

Keith Did, In Fact, Snort Dad

But Rolling Stone can’t get cocaine satisfaction

(Newser) - Keith Richards says that—reported denials aside—he did indeed snort his father’s ashes. The Rolling Stones sideman revealed in an interview yesterday that media reports had mixed up the story, and that he’d only meant to deny mixing the remains with a popular opiate. “I said...

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