Archive for News UK
Weezer cancel tour after bus crash
Sean Michaels
Guardian.co.uk
Weezer have cancelled the remainder of their US tour after singer Rivers Cuomo broke three ribs and sustained “very painful internal damage” in a bus accident on Sunday morning. Initially unable to speak or move, the Weezer frontman was reportedly trapped in the vehicle after its doors were fused shut.
Cuomo is now recovering in hospital, according to Weezer’s friend and webmaster, Karl Koch. In a post to the band’s website, Koch detailed the traumatic early morning crash, his arrival at the scene and seeing Cuomo being extracted from the wreck. “I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me, as Rivers lay so helpless, shivering in the centre of the chaos.”
Besides the driver, only Cuomo, his wife, two-year-old daughter, assistant and nanny were in the bus when it crashed. They were on a New York state highway, en route to Boston, when the vehicle hit a patch of black ice. “The driver employed every ounce of skill he had in fighting to keep the bus upright as the vehicle violently fishtailed over the highway,” Koch explained. “While the bus did indeed go off the road, plunging about eight to 10 vertical feet [2.5-3m] into a muddy ravine, it did not flip or roll, despite having plowed right over a guardrail, flattening it.”
“Everyone on the bus was either terrified or injured or both,” Koch wrote. As the bus swerved, food and clothing items were thrown everywhere, glass shattered and the refrigerator “flew” off the wall. Cuomo’s wife Sarah and his assistant Kim were thrown from their upper bunks with Kim suffering two fractured ribs and a fractured lower vertebrae. A more terrifying scene took place at the back of the vehicle, where Cuomo was relaxing in the lounge. Heaved into the air, he cracked three ribs upon landing and hurt his lower leg “somehow”. “On top of it the sliding interior doors were fused shut and the electronics were ruined, so no one could get into the back lounge where Rivers lay immobile and unable to speak due to the pain in his ribcage,” Koch said. “To top it off, the front door was jammed shut with five feet of heavy wet mud up pressed against it so there was no way to leave the bus.”
Emergency workers managed to free the occupants, taking Kim and Cuomo away on stretchers. Kim has been discharged from St Mary’s hospital in Amsterdam, NY while Cuomo has been transferred to a larger hospital. “He is resting about as comfortably as could be expected now, and we were relieved to hear that surgery is unlikely,” Koch said.
The remainder of Weezer’s tour, including Monday night’s concert in Boston, was cancelled. The band hope to reschedule these dates for next year.
Source: guardian.co.uk
Ringo Starr recruits Paul McCartney on new album
Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk
Ringo Starr’s forthcoming solo album will feature bass and backing vocals from an old, mop-topped pal from Liverpool. Paul McCartney appears on two tracks on Y Not, Starr’s fifteenth solo record and the first he has produced himself.
“Paul was doing the Grammys, so he came over to the house and was playing bass on [new song] Peace Dream,” Starr explained. “I played him this other track and Paul said, ‘Give me the headphones. Give me a pair of cans’. And he went to the mic and he just invented that part where he follows on my vocal. That was all Paul McCartney, and there could be nothing better.”
The song, Walk With Me, was co-written by Starr and Van Dyke Parks, the 66-year-old arranger who has worked with everyone from the Beach Boys to Joanna Newsom. McCartney’s vocals “make it bigger and … fuller”, Starr said. “It makes the song like a conversation between us, and that was Paul’s idea to do his part one beat behind me. That’s why he’s a gen-i-us and an incredible bass player.”
McCartney last teamed up with Starr for his 1998 album, Vertical Man, which also featured George Harrison and George Martin. More recently, they appeared together at a transcendental meditation benefit in New York earlier this year. Besides the former Beatle, Y Not’s other “gen-i-uses” include Joss Stone, Ben Harper, All Starr bandmate Richard Marx and Ringo’s brother-in-law, Joe Walsh. Still, the Fab Four drummer hasn’t turned this into a grotesque comedy of cameos. Starr runs the show, also making his debut as producer.
“I was the least involved in the production of the Beatles‘ records. And then [the same] with my solo records,” he said. “Then suddenly it’s another point in your life, and you say, ‘I’m going to do this now’. So I’ll be producing everything I make from now on. That’s the good news. It’s a confidence thing, I suppose. And Y Not is really another way of me saying, ‘Yes I Can.’” Slogan aside, there is no sign of Barack Obama on Starr’s new record.
Y Not will be released on 12 January 2010.
Source: guardian.co.uk
Black Eyed Peas manager escapes Perez Hilton assault charge
Black Eyed Peas‘ Polo Molina has seen an assault charge filed by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton against him dropped.
Molina was accused of punching Hilton, real name Mario Lavandeira, outside a Toronto nightclub after the MuchMusic Video Awards in June after the blogger allegedly made a homophobic slur about band member Will.I.Am.
But an assault charge against Molina was dropped yesterday (November 18) after he issued a written apology to the celebrity blogger.
Molina also agreed not to contact Hilton except through his lawyer, not to carry a weapon for 12 months, not to come within 100 metres of Cobra NightClub, where the alleged incident took place, and to donate $500 (£300) to Toronto‘s Red Door Family Shelter, reports the Canadian Press Association.
His lawyer read the written apology outside court, saying: “I apologise for what I did on June 22 of 2009. Even though you [Hilton] engaged in highly offensive comments, including a homophobic slur to my clients, I acknowledge that these kinds of issues should not be resolved through a physical response.”
Hilton‘s lawyers said they were unhappy with the choice of words in the apology, but it was ultimately accepted.
“Although accepting the fact that he shouldn’t resort to violence, he attempted to say that there was a precipitating cause,” the celebrity blogger’s lawyer Brian Greenspan, said. “A sincere apology is a sincere apology.”
Following the incident, Hilton filed a lawsuit alleging battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress and sought unspecified damages in excess of $25,000 (£15,000).
Source: nme.com
Norah Jones: The Fall
Knowing that The Fall is produced by the man who helmed Tom Waits’s Mule Variations, and features two of Waits’s favoured guitarists — Smokey Hormel and Marc Ribot — we come to this album expecting a radically different Norah Jones. What we get is not as clear-cut as that: some tracks seem rather safe, while others feature sonic weirdness that just doesn’t fit with Jones’s voice (Tell Yer Mama has an interesting backing track and a good vocal, but they don’t belong together; Man of the Hour suffers from the same mismatch). That said, Jones is heading in the right direction here, leaving coffee-table jazz behind for something more challenging. It works best when she loosens the tight control she usually keeps on her voice — yelling You’ve Ruined Me, slurring Light as a Feather, slipping and sliding through the superb Stuck.
Source: timesonline.co.uk
Aerosmith ‘seeking new frontman’
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has left the band, but they hope to continue with a new frontman, guitarist Joe Perry is reported as saying.
“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry told the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, basing his information on an interview Tyler gave to Classic Rock magazine.
In the article, the singer said he planned to pursue a solo career, but stopped short of saying he had quit.
Perry later admitted on Twitter that he and Tyler had not spoken for months.
The frontman “hasn’t called me in months”, he wrote. “Last time I phoned him he hung up on me.”
“In the meantime Aerosmith is positivly [sic] looking for a new singer to work with,” he added.
“You just can’t take 40 years of experience and throw it in the bin!”
‘Sabbatical’
The band’s troubles began in August when Tyler fell off stage, breaking his left shoulder, at a gig in South Dakota.
The rest of the tour was cancelled after doctors told the singer he needed time to recuperate from his fall.
However, they regrouped last week to play a show at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The band’s hits include Dude Looks Like A Lady and Cryin’
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The show was deemed a success by local media – with the Khaleej Times reporting that Tyler “dipped and dived on stage in a performance one might normally expect from a teenage boy band”.
But, Perry said, none of the band had set eyes on the frontman before the show’s opening number.
“He was off in his own dressing room,” the guitarist told Boston radio station WZLX.
“He stayed in different hotels from the band and travelled on different planes. We never saw him until we walked on the stage.”
Tyler and Perry, dubbed the “Toxic Twins” during their early, drink-and-drug-fuelled years, wrote such classic-rock staples as Walk this Way and Love in an Elevator together.
Their musical relationship has been likened to that of their role models, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
But relations have soured in recent years. In September, Perry said he and Tyler “haven’t written a song together alone in the same room in over 10 years”.
He also said Tyler had declined to record vocals for the band’s long-planned new album.
“He didn’t do any singing at all for this record. I can’t really understand that,” he told WZLX.
“We had some pretty good stuff laid out. I thought it was going to be a slam dunk, but for some reason he just wasn’t interested.”
But the guitarist refused to rule out an eventual reconciliation.
“As long as we’re still kicking, its not over,” he said.
“Maybe we’ll get a telegram from him.”
Representatives for the band were not immediately available to comment on the band’s rather public spat when contacted by the BBC.
Source: BBC
Nasa play McFly hit to astronauts
Boyband McFly’s hit single Star Girl has been played out to astronauts orbiting Earth, after fans called for it to be broadcast.
Nasa agreed to play the group’s 2006 song to the spacecraft crew members after being bombarded by McFly fans on micro-blogging site Twitter.
The space agency offered 35 people the chance to talk live to the astronauts, but fans wanted the song instead.
Band member Danny Jones said on Twitter it was a “dream come true”.
In a later tweet to Nasa, he said: “Thank you for playing our song in space it’s definatly [sic] one if the coolest things that’s happened since being in the band… Amazing.”
The song, which went to number one in the UK charts in November 2006, includes lyrics: “I was afraid when you kissed me/on your intergalactic Frisbee.”
Dr David Whitehouse, a space scientist and author told BBC radio 5 live he thought the play out had been been great publicity for Nasa and the band.
“I thought this was a way, not only to get in touch between astronauts and ordinary people, but to get down with the kids.
“Considering the average age on the space station is 46, I wouldn’t have thought many of them have heard of McFly before.
“They do play a lot of music in general in the space station, they wake people up with music but it tends to be more 70s rock and country music.”
Source: bbc.co.uk
Def Leppard cancel US tour dates
Rock band Def Leppard have called off a string of North America tour dates due to “unforeseen personal matters”.
In a statement on their website, the Sheffield band said they “don’t take cancelling shows lightly,” but “life’s commitments need to be the priority”.
The act were due to pay 23 dates on the final leg of their North America tour, which was scheduled to end on 28 November in Beaumont, Texas.
Earlier this year, the five-piece headlined the Download Festival.
They also performed with Taylor Swift at the Country Music Television Awards ceremony in June.
In their statement, the band said they “agonised” over the decision to cancel shows.
“We know how truly blessed we are to have such committed fans. Even if just a single concert, we don’t take cancelling shows lightly,” they said.
Fans will receive automatic refunds if they who purchased tickets via the phone, internet or Ticketmaster.
Otherwise refunds will be available at point of purchase, organisers said.
Source: BBC NEWS
Michael Jackson ‘This Is It’ film tickets sell out in two hours
Advance tickets to Michael Jackson‘s ‘This Is It’ film in Los Angeles have sold out two hours after going on sale.
Fans queued for three days to make sure they were able to get one of 3,000 tickets to see the film, reports BBC News. The film, which features footage of Jackson preparing for his London O2 Arena gigs before his death in June, is due to have 25 premieres across the world, with many taking place simultaneously at the end of October.
The Los Angeles premiere takes place at 6pm local time on October 27, with the debut London showing taking place at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square at 1am (BST) on October 28.
Following the premiere, audiences will be able to see the film for a limited two-week run.
‘High School Musical’ director Kenny Ortega has compiled the film from 100 hours of unreleased footage of Jackson rehearsing for the tour, which would have seen him play 50 nights at the London venue.
Source: nme.com
Rihanna brings star power to Balmain
Bringing some star power to the Balmain spring/summer ’10 show, Rihanna hit Paris Fashion Week yesterday, and debuted yet another new ‘do.
After showing off a side-swept blonde striped crop at the Gareth Pugh show the day before, the Umbrella starlet showed-off a new platinum-tipped side-shaved Mohican, as she arrived to watch one of the hottest tickets on the schedulde.
Working the underwear as outerwear trend – fast becoming an A-list favourite – she worked her curves in a lace-panelled basque, harem trousers and a satin tuxedo blazer. Her trophy jacket naturally featured Balmain’s signature sharp bold shoulders.
Source: marieclaire.co.uk
Fergie splashes out on fashion
Fergie spent “more money in two weeks” than she had in two years on clothes.
The Black Eyed Peas singer was determined to debut a new look when the band released their new album ‘The E.N.D.’ in June, and so decided to splash out on a whole new wardrobe.
She said: “Now that we’re going in a new direction with the music, I’m having a blast with the whole new look. I just went shopping and I spent more money in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years, just to redo my wardrobe. I’m enjoying fashion again.”
The 34-year-old singer has been seen in a series of daring dresses and heels recently, and has also been sporting brunette locks.
Despite her newfound love of fashion, Fergie admits there are times when she wishes she didn’t have to think about what she was wearing.
She explained to Britain’s More magazine: “Sometimes I just want to wear pyjamas and be comfortable at home. With paparazzi outside my house, not being able to walk out of your front door without being photographed is very abnormal and weird.”
Source: IrelandOn-Line
