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Aerosmith’s beat goes on
Always such drama with the bad boys from Boston.
Last summer, the rock ’n’ roll soap opera that is Aerosmith finally hit the road after some false starts, but then had to cut it short when lead singer Steven Tyler plunged off a stage in Sturgis, S.D. Tyler was laid up, the tour was canceled, everyone went back to their own lives. For guitarist Joe Perry, that meant working on his own Joe Perry Project, which released a new album in October. For drummer Joey Kramer, that meant publicizing his new autobiography.
But drummers rarely get a break, especially in the media. For starters, Kramer’s memoir, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top, was published the same week Michael Jackson died. Then, after Tyler’s fall, the rumor mill started again around the “toxic twins” — Perry and Tyler feuding again through the press, Tyler saying he might quit the band, Perry saying who needs him? At one point, Aerosmith was allegedly auditioning new singers.
But once Tyler emerged from another stint in rehab, this time for addiction to painkillers as a result of his injury treatments, the two made up (for the umpteenth time) and a new Aerosmith world tour was announced. The title even has trademark Aerosmith attitude: the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. It has actually been proceeding according to schedule and is still expected to arrive in the Chicago area Sunday night.
“Really,” Kramer assured us in an interview from Boston during a brief break. “Everything’s copacetic, and the band is playing great.” He pauses, then seems to remember to add: “And getting along.”
Kramer’s memoir, which recently hit paperback, follows the “Behind the Music” template (humble beginnings, huge success, bottom drops out, recovery) and chronicles two different sides of suffering: the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father — which lead him to take up the drums as an outlet for striking back at something, hard — as well as the abuse he brought on himself as a hard-drinking, drug-addled member of a notorious party band. “With more money in the pipeline, Aerosmith became the single biggest market for drugs in New England,” Kramer writes. Later, there’s a chapter about 1976 (he thinks) called “Drug Addicts Dabbling in Music.”
Kramer describes wild parties, sure, but much of it is simply static addiction, sitting down Friday night to drink vodka and snort cocaine and staying there doing just that till Sunday morning. The band, at the height of their drug use, played some “God-awful shows,” he admits. At a few, Kramer was so “blotto” his drum tech would have to dress him, prop him behind the drums and tape the sticks to his hands. “Joey, this is all I can do,” he’d tell Kramer. “The rest is up to you.”
“Mine is a wish of service,” Kramer said, explaining why he aired all this dirty laundry in a book. “I know there are a lot of folks out there who suffer from the same stuff I did — addiction, alcoholism, anxiety, depression, all the pretty stuff in life. By writing about it, I’ve met a lot of them, people who let me know how reassuring it’s been to read about these issues. You don’t have to be a rock star to crash and burn. It can be anybody. But no matter who you are, there’s a way out.”
Kramer’s been in recovery from substance abuse for 23 years now. He suffered a nervous breakdown a couple of years after his father died in 1994, a delayed reaction to that event. “Ten days after I lost my dad, I was in Japan touring,” he said. “I stayed busy, was distracted, like we all like to do in these situations. But if you don’t grieve in the proper way, it comes around to bite you on your ass.”
When this tour wraps next month, Kramer also assures us a new Aerosmith album will be completed. The last proper studio album from the band was “Just Push Play” in 2001 (2004’s “Honkin’ on Bobo” was primarily covers). Work was scheduled to begin with revered producer Brendan O’Brien, but nothing was ever recorded, Kramer said.
“We’ll take some time off after the tour,” he said, “but then recording is supposed to commence. Who we work with is up in the air, but I hope to see an album finished by the end of 2010.”
But the rumor mill around Tyler continues to churn. This month, reports have surfaced that he will replace Simon Cowell as a judge on TV’s “American Idol.”
“He’s assured us that, if this happens, it won’t interfere with recording and touring,” Kramer said. “As long as it’s done within the realms of the schedule of the band, more power to him. It can only be great for us.”
Source: suntimes.com
Lindsay Lohan Checks Into Rehab for Fourth Time
SHEILA MARIKAR and LUCHINA FISHER
ABC News
Lindsay Lohan has reportedly checked into a Los Angeles rehab facility, the week before she is due to turn herself in to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence.
Following the news that Lohan hired Robert Shapiro, the famed lawyer from the O.J. Simpson case, reports say she has checked into the Pickford Lofts, an inpatient sober-living facility Shapiro opened after his son Brent died of a drug overdose.
Shapiro did not respond to requests for comment. But Lohan’s father, Michael Lohan, confirmed the reports.
“For months, we have been begging Lindsay to enter rehab, for her own health, and to avoid incarceration,” he said in a statement sent to ABCNews.com by his attorney Lisa Bloom. “We are pleased that at last she appears to have done so. As we have written in several letters to the Court, Lindsay belongs in rehab, not in jail.”
“We hope that Lindsay gets off all prescription medication as well as any other substances that may be damaging her,” the statement continued. “Michael Lohan is willing to attend any family therapy with Lindsay and other family members in an effort to help her fully heal. Michael loves his daughter unconditionally. He wants her to live. He stands ready, willing and able to help her in any way he can.”
Michael Lohan has said he believes his daughter is addicted to presciption drugs. A recently-released probation report showed that Lohan was taking several medications, all with valid prescriptions: Dilaudid (a painkiller used for Lohan’s dental discomfort, according to the document), Adderall (for attention deficit disorder ), Zoloft (for anxiety), Trazadone (for depression) and Nexium (for heartburn).
US Weekly was among the media outlets reporting that Lohan had checked into rehab.
“We have confirmed that Lindsay Lohan has entered rehab for the fourth time,” US Weekly senior editor Lindsay Powers told ABCNews.com.
Source: abcnews.go.com
Britney Spears designs fashion line for school girls
Belinda Goldsmith
Reuters
(Reuters) - Pop princess Britney Spears is joining the growing club of celebrities-turned-designers, launching her own fashion collection that targets the schoolgirl crowd.
Spears, 28, has designed her first collection of clothing and accessories for the Iconix Brand Group Inc’s Candie’s brand for which she has been the face for the past three seasons.
The juniors’ collection, called “Britney for Candie’s,” will be sold exclusively in Kohl’s Department stories from July 1 to kick off the back-to-school season.
“Designing was a really fun, new way for me to express my creativity and I really wanted to create something by me for my fans,” Spears said in a statement.
She said the collection, inspired by her favorite music and movies, as a mixture of day and evening looks, ranging from jeans to little black dresses.
A print and television advertising campaign to promote the line features the tagline: “Designed by me for you!”
Spears earlier this year ended a world tour to support her 2008 album “Circus” which was widely regarded as her comeback after a public meltdown when the singer lost custody of her two children, did stints in rehab and shaved her head.
She rocketed to fame as a teenager 10 years ago with hits like “Baby One More Time” and is still one of the best-known celebrities in the world.
Source: reuters.com
Pills, syringe found next to Slipknot bassist Paul Gray’s body
Bottles of pills and a syringe were next to the body of Slipknot bass player Paul Gray when he was found dead at an Urbandale hotel, according to a 911 tape obtained by WOI-TV.
Gray was discovered at about 10:50 a.m. Monday at TownePlace Suites, 8800 Northpark Drive. Hotel employees checked the room after Gray’s family called to say they could not reach him by phone.
An autopsy performed Tuesday revealed no cause of death, and the Polk County medical examiner said he would not release evidence from the autopsy until toxicology tests are completed in four to six weeks.
Gray pleaded guilty in 2003 of driving under the influence of drugs after he crashed his Porsche into a Des Moines motorist. His court file included a handwritten note from Dr. Joe Takamine, who said Gray understood the dangers of drug use and was not addicted to any drug.
Source: desmoinesregister.com
Metallica’s Lars Ulrich pens open letter in tribute to Ronnie James Dio
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has paid tribute to Ronnie James Dio, who died of stomach cancer yesterday (May 16) aged 67.
Writing on Metallica.com, Ulrich explained that he has been a lifelong fan of the singer, who was in bands including Black Sabbath and Rainbow.
He said that Dio was “one of the main reasons I made it onto that stage to begin with”, before recalling the first time he met the singer as a fan in 1976.
“I made the pilgrimage to the Plaza Hotel to see if I could somehow grab a picture, an autograph, a moment, anything,” Ulrich wrote. “A few hours later you came out and were so kind and caring… pictures, autographs and a couple minutes of casual banter. I was on top of the world, inspired and ready for anything.”
The drummer added: “When we finally got a chance to play together in Austria in 2007, even though I may not have let on, I was literally transformed back to that little snot-nosed kid who you met and inspired 31 years earlier.”
Meanwhile, Download festival organisers have confirmed that they are to rename the Second Stage at this year’s event The Ronnie James Dio Stage as a mark of respect.
The festival’s Main Stage is also being renamed, becoming The Maurice Jones Stage in tribute to the co-founder of the Monsters Of Rock festival, which was held at the Donington Park location before Download.
Jones passed away last year.
Source: nme.com
Miley Cyrus’s New Music Video Shows off Her Sexier Side
Michelle Tan
People
The online reaction to Miley Cyrus’s new video “Can’t Be Tamed,” well, can’t be tamed.
Within hours since the sexy new video – in which the singer gives off an edgier vibe with racy dance moves and bold outfits – debuted, fans and bloggers lit up the Web with comments ranging from “stunning, gorgeous, fierce” to “wow way too much for someone her age.”
“It is a sexy video, you can’t take that away from it,” Cyrus, 17, told E!’s Ryan Seacrest. But “it’s not the premise … The video is not about being sexy or about who can wear less clothes. That’s what every other video about. It’s about explaining the song and living the lyrics.”
In the video, the singer is introduced as an exotic creature with wings who is caged in a museum. Eventually Cyrus breaks free with the help of her gyrating backup dancers and shows the world that she can’t be – you know.
“For me it’s never been about fitting in. I’d rather stand out,” says Cyrus of the title track to her upcoming album, due in stores June 22. “People can relate to it. So many people feel like you have to be one way to fit in.”
“It’s the first step to growing up but I think it’s done the right way,” says Cyrus of her video. “I’m really proud of it.”
Source: people.com
Lindsay Lohan holds a gun to her mouth in eerie photo posted on Twitter
Cristina Everett
Daily News
As if Lindsay Lohan didn’t have enough drama going on in her life, the troubled starlet has posed for a photo that is sure to spark controversy.
Lohan, 23, posted a picture Wednesday night on Twitter, showing her glaring at the camera with a gun resting on her billowy lips.
The image was taken Tuesday night by photographer Tyler Shields, who will feature a few photos of LiLo in his new book, “The Dirty Side of Glamor.”
“Everyone has an idea of Lindsay Lohan and … I had the pleasure of working with her,” Shields wrote on his Web site. “She is a huge art lover and simply wanted to create some and that is exactly what we did!”
Lohan’s eerie photo shoot comes on the heels of a bitter battle with her ex-girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, and a messy feud with her “ex-father,” Michael Lohan.
Ronson took to Twitter over the weekend to accuse Lohan of throwing a glass at her head while they both were at a Los Angeles club. Lohan has since waged a Twitter war with her ex.
To add to the drama, Michael Lohan attempted to stage an intervention last week by barging into his famous daughter’s apartment with a police officer. He says he wants to “save and protect his daughter” from what he calls a “serious drug [and] alcohol problem.”
The actress’ mother, Dina, wasted no time in lashing back against her ex-hubby, who she branded “dangerous,” “disgusting” and “an absolute liar.” She said she plans to file for a restraining order to keep him away.
Source: nydailynews.com
Lindsay Lohan Fired From Movie ‘The Other Side’
Jocelyn Vena
Mtv
Lindsay Lohan last appeared on the big screen in her 2007 flick “I Know Who Killed Me,” and while she’s been trying her best to stage a comeback, Lohan’s career has hit another stumbling block. TMZ is reporting that Lohan has been asked to leave the film “The Other Side.” Sources tell the Web site that Lohan was fired because she is not “bankable.”
“Our team simply chose to move on from Lindsay and we’ll soon be announcing a replacement,” David Michaels, the writer/director of the film, told TMZ.
Sources close to the production say that the financial backers of the flick had reservations about Lohan’s casting. However, USmagazine.com reports that financing difficulties for the film weren’t connected to Lohan and that it had “nothing to do with Lindsay. It was because it was an unknown director. All the major stars in this film dropped out.”
The film once reportedly had the late Brittany Murphy attached to it, and currently lists Woody Harrelson, Giovanni Ribisi, Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette in its cast. Lohan would have reportedly played a grad student working on a deserted island.
Lohan will next appear in the Robert Rodriguez-directed flick “Machete.” She was recently in India shooting a documentary about human trafficking for the BBC, and last summer she starred in the ABC Family flick “Labor Pains.” Lohan’s rep hadn’t responded to MTV News’ request for comment on the firing by press time.
In the past, Lohan has spoken publicly about her problems in Hollywood, noting that it’s been hard for people to give her a second chance. “There’s not much I can do about the fact that I’ve become a kind of tabloid obsession,” she said. “I can’t change that. And yes, the Web sites, the gossip pages, and all of that stuff have hurt my career — they’re like the Burn Books of Hollywood.”
Source: mtv.com
Iron Maiden to Open the 2012 London Olympic Games?
Gibson.com
Over 85,000 Iron Maiden fans have joined a Facebook page to campaign for the legendary British heavy rock band to open the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The page says: “Iron Maiden are one of the most successful bands to come out of England that are still active and are arguably the biggest metal band of all time. They deserve to play and represent their hometown of London, England in 2012! This is a virtual petition I am going to pass along to whoever I can to get Maiden to play the London Olympics in 2012. Feel free to post pics/stories/whatever to the group. Pls repost and spread the word. LONG LIVE MAIDEN!!!”
In the meantime, Iron Maiden are preparing for their North American Tour with Dream Theater in support of their upcoming album, Final Frontier.
Iron Maiden, Dream Theater – 2010 Tour Dates
June 09 Dallas, TX, Superpages.Com Center
June 11 Houston, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 12 San Antonio, TX, AT&T Center
June 14 Denver, CO, Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
June 16 Albuquerque, NM, The Pavilion
June 17 Phoenix, AZ, Cricket Wireless Pavilion
June 19 San Bernardino, CA, San Manuel Amphitheatre
June 20 Concord, CA, Sleep Train Pavilion
June 22 Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheatre
June 24 Vancouver, BC, GM Place
June 26 Edmonton, AB, Rexall Place
June 29 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
June 30 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre*
July 03 Toronto, On Molson Amphitheatre
July 07 Montreal, QC Bell Centre (Paperless Ticketing N/A)
July 11 Holmdel, NJ, PNC
July 12 New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
July 14 Pittsburgh, PA First Niagara Pavilion
July 15 Cleveland, OU Blossom Music Center
July 17 Detroit, Mi DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 18 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 20 Washington D.C. Jiffy Lube Live
Source: gibson.com
Rocker Bret Michaels rushed into emergency surgery for appendicitis
Cristina Everett
DAILY NEWS
After trying to ignore severe stomach pains Sunday night, rocker Bret Michaels was forced to miss his show in San Antonio, Texas.
Though he believed he only had a bad flu, doctors diagnosed the Poison frontman with acute appendicitis and rushed him into emergency surgery at 1 a.m. Monday morning, UsMagazine.com reports.
According to Michaels’ rep, the rocker “remains in the hospital, is doing well and beginning the recovery process.”
“Michaels, who has been known to perform under extreme conditions that would make most performers cancel, will unfortunately have no choice but to reschedule some of his April tour dates,” the rep adds.
Michaels, 47, who appears on the current season of “Celebrity Apprentice,” is no stranger to medical concerns. He has been vocal about his life as a diabetic. He gives himself insulin shots and checks his blood sugar about six to eight times a day.
Source: nydailynews.com
