Kurt Cobain
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

On April 8, 1994, former MTV News correspondent Tabitha Soren was in Seattle, on assignment for NBC News. Early in the morning, she heard a rumor that the body of Kurt Cobain had been discovered in a house near Lake Washington, dead of an apparent self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head. Within an hour, she was one of a handful of reporters — and an ever-growing throng of stunned, heartbroken Nirvana fans — standing outside the ring of police tape at Cobain and Courtney Love's gray clapboard home.

She was at the epicenter of one of the biggest tragedies in rock history ... a death that changed everything. Here's what she remembers, 15 years later:

"I was working on a story on heroin use in the Northwest for NBC. I was in a hotel, and I had a bunch of friends in common with Courtney Love, and those people informed me about what happened. ... I was never in the inner circle. I mean, Courtney was convinced that I had it out for her, so I always got a lot of negativity from them. So, I was an outsider. An outsider just trying to get an interesting story that other people didn't have. So I headed to Kurt and Courtney's house, and when I got there, they still hadn't pulled [Cobain's body] out of the greenhouse. There were tons and tons of fans there. No one could really believe what happened, and the last thing on earth that I wanted to do was re-victimize these kids who were already hurting. So I may have asked some of them some questions, I honestly don't remember.

"Then I had to go to the coroner's office and wait for the results of the autopsy, and it was like going from one hideous element to another. Having come from local news, I covered fires and funerals and meat-and-potatoes local news stories, but this was the first time I really felt like a vulture, because Kurt was important to me too. His death was a horrible waste, and I couldn't believe that so many people so close to him who were so smart couldn't save this guy. It was such a mess. ... I was just really despondent. This was someone whose music moved me, and I've never been that close to the action ... just staring at a house and there's this little room inside and they're pulling the body out and Courtney was reading this letter aloud for the fans ... it was very, very sad. I can cover perp walks and shootings, no problem, because they're different. Because I wasn't quite as intimate with the people involved.

"I just remember thinking how huge of a loss this was, for everybody. I thought Nirvana was a great band — you could listen to the songs over and over again and hear something new each time. The songs grabbed you at the first listen, but then there was always something else ... layers. There was a complexity there. His death was a tremendous loss. It was very sad. They were honest about their music, and they tried to share the spotlight with so many bands who they really loved and who they thought should be heard. There was a kindness and an honesty in that. It's still impressive to me."

• Remembering Kurt Cobain
• Reaching Nirvana: A Music Video History

• Kurt Cobain: A Life In Photos

• Kurt Cobain

Courtney Love
Photo: MTV News

When you've been interviewing people for, oh, a hundred years or so, you build up quite a backlog of banter and chat. A lot of this stuff is inevitably ephemeral — the day will surely never come when anyone cares what Vanilla Ice ever had to say about anything. On the other hand, it is kind of interesting to look back on the vintage natterings of people who are still on the scene and still entertaining us, either with their work or with their dotty behavior.

We've been exhuming a ton of this stuff over the last several months — interviews from the vaults going back not only to the early '90s, but even beyond. Most of these ancient tapes are fun in one way or another; some are scary, which is even more fun. We're going to be posting these old interactions every Tuesday from now on, and if some of what you see seems a little silly at times, well, the past is filled with silly things. Much like the present.

May you never have a year as awful as Courtney Love's 1994. It started out fine, with Love and her band, Hole, putting the finishing touches on their second album, Live Through This. But then Courtney's husband, Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain, committed suicide (his body was found on April 8 at their home on Lake Washington, near Seattle), leaving Courtney with a baby daughter not yet two years old. Four days later, Live Through This was released, its title and some of its songs now sounding eerily predictive. It was the band's best record.

Two months later, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff died in Seattle of a heroin overdose. Like Cobain, she was 27 years old.

Geffen Records was no doubt sympathetic about all of this, up to a point. But the label did need Hole to start touring in support of the new album, which had gotten rave reviews. So on September 1, the group returned to the road, playing its first concert in Toronto. MTV News set up a post-show interview with Courtney, and I flew up from New York that morning with producer Jane Sangster, a big Hole fan.

The show was pretty great. With Canadian bassist Melissa Auf der Mauer now onboard (she'd been recommended to Courtney by Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan), the band was full of fire. They played powerful versions of the new Live Through This material — "Doll Parts," "Miss World," "Violet"; and their leader — looking as usual like a debauched rag doll, happily yammering away at the crowd, smoking nonstop, planting one big boot on top of a stage monitor as she chopped out chords on her guitar — was in peak form.

Courtney is a natural star — as opposed to the pre-assembled variety so common in most musical precincts — because you never know what she'll do next. I'm pretty sure this is because she never knows what she'll do next. This is what makes her a good interview.

After the show, back at the Four Seasons Hotel, where the band was staying, we were ready for her: camped out in a conference room, backdrop tacked up, cameras ready to roll, we settled in to wait. We waited quite a while; then we waited quite a while more. We wound up cooling our heels for four or five hours — Madonna-level waiting. Finally, around five in the morning, Courtney appeared, smoking like a locomotive and acting as if she were right on time. I resisted an impulse to punch her in the neck. Then she sat down, and we started.

Like all really good interview subjects, Courtney is willing to discuss just about anything. She was funny about her anomalous trust-fund background, especially getting kicked out of England's ridiculously "progressive" Summerhill School. ("The whole idea was, don't go to class if you don't want to. And I didn't.") She was sweet talking about the friends who'd rallied around her after Cobain's death, like Michael Stipe of R.E.M. ("He called me two or three times a day, every day.") She said she was spooked by the feeling that the media were actually waiting for her to die, too, and insisted she was actually past the point of heavy drug consumption. ("I have nine, ten dead friends," she said, "not counting dead husbands and dead band members.") Her feelings seemed to flicker nakedly across her face; she didn't appear to be holding much back. Although who ever knows about that? By the time we finished, the sun had come out.

Courtney went on to become what tabloid editors gratefully embrace as a complete mess. She continued the off-beat movie career she'd begun in 1986 with "Sid and Nancy," and actually won a handful of critics' awards for her performance in the 1996 Milos Forman film, "The People vs. Larry Flynt." But then came the public flip-outs, the drug busts, the child-custody battles, the plastic surgery. And her relationship with the surviving members of Nirvana appears to have grown chillier with each passing year. (Thanks to Courtney's apparent need for money, Kurt Cobain's music is now being licensed for things like video games.)

But nobody ever expected punks to age gracefully, and Courtney is pretty clearly a punk-for-life kind of girl. But she never burned out, and it doesn't look like she'll be fading away anytime soon, either. Let's keep rooting.

Enjoy digging through The Loder Files? You'll find more here, and there's much more to come from the vaults — check back every Tuesday!

• The Loder Files: A Trip Inside The MTV News Vaults

• Courtney Love
• Kurt Cobain
• Hole
• Nirvana

Lindsay Lohan in police custody in July
Photo: SMPD/Finalpixx

Lindsay Lohan pulled a Nicole Richie on Thursday (November 15), checking in and out of jail in less than an hour and a half, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Web site. She checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California — the same jail Richie and Paris Hilton were at — at 10:30 a.m., and she checked out shortly afterward, at 11:54 a.m. Lohan was fingerprinted, searched — without having to give up her street clothes — and then put into a holding cell in the inmate reception area, according to The Associated Press. "She was cooperative," Los Angeles Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told AP. He added that she did not receive preferential treatment and said 30-50 women are granted early releases from the facility on a daily basis. Her brief, 84-minute stay in jail was related to her July DUI arrest following a bizarre car chase, and she had been ordered to serve her time before January. Lohan subsequently entered rehab and was released from the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah early last month. According to a People report, she began serving her community service at an American Red Cross blood-services facility in a Los Angeles suburb on Monday. ...

Alicia Keys' new album is all about self-empowerment, and it's no wonder why: The singer recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she has battled depression. When a family member fell ill in summer 2006, "It made me finally stop," Keys said. "Nothing else was more important — no work, no costumes, no anything. I was forced to slow down, look at my life and decide who I wanted to be. It all got very low at first because I was very depressed and I didn't understand why." After taking a monthlong trek across Egypt — during which she was only accompanied by a tour guide — and returning to the States, she promised herself that she "was going to be courageous enough to tell whoever is in my life what was going on. I became brutally honest. I would go straight up to people and say, 'Guess what? This is over. So what's gonna happen from now on is this: If you're feeling that, great. If not, bye.' Some people didn't like it, and they didn't like me being so clear and set on what I wanted. But I found that I took their power away." The issue hits newsstands Monday. ...

With her husband in jail, accused of trying to obstruct an investigation, the last thing Amy Winehouse needed was to have fans turn their backs on her. But according to BBC News, that's exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the troubled singer played her first gig since husband Blake Fielder-Civil's arrest last week. Throughout Winehouse's show in Birmingham, England, the singer was reportedly crying, and "streams" of people walked out before the end. At one point during the show, she warned the boo birds, "To them people booing, wait till my husband gets out of incarceration. And I mean that." She later dedicated the song "Wake Up Alone" to Fielder-Civil, and while performing an encore cover of the Zutons' "Valerie," she reportedly stopped singing, dropped the mic and walked offstage. ...

Kanye West, who reportedly canceled his planned Thursday appearance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Monday, has also scrapped the kickoff to his U.K. tour, which was set for Monday in Amsterdam, Netherlands, according to CNN. Further evidence is found on his Web site, which does not feature the previously scheduled date in its tour section, although a string of other European tour dates (through December 4) are still listed. That includes his planned performance at the O2 arena in London on November 22, and CNN reports that the show will go on. Meanwhile, Will.I.Am has stepped in to fill West's shoes for the Victoria's Secret show, according to AP. West's mother, Donda, passed away Saturday. ...

Regina Spektor's sold-out Wednesday night show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium was canceled shortly before it started after the singer collapsed. She "was taken to a local hospital after collapsing due to a severe inner ear infection which caused a sudden case of vertigo," according to a statement issued by her publicist. "Regina was released late last night and is resting comfortably. Regina is extremely disappointed that she had to cancel on her fans but will return to the Ryman on December 6th, where all tickets will be honored or refunded." Spektor has also postponed her planned Thursday show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta to December 5. All tickets will be honored or refunded at the show. The rest of her North American tour will continue as planned beginning Friday in Norfolk, Virginia. ...

What's the deal with Britney Spears running over people's feet? The singer did it for the fourth time on Wednesday night, according to a video on TMZ.com, as she headed into the parking lot at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. In the video, a man is heard warning the paparazzi as Spears begins driving her Mercedes, after which a photographer is heard screaming and the man responds, "Back off the drive, gentlemen, this won't happen if you back off the drive." The men are subsequently heard shouting at each other. UsMagazine.com reports that the incident took place at 9:30 p.m. Spears previously ran over a cop's feet and those of other photographers as well. ...

The deal is done: Jadakiss has signed with Roc-A-Fella, it was announced Thursday. His yet-untitled first album in four years, a collaboration between Roc-A-Fella and Ruff Ryders, is due next year. Jay-Z told Mixtape Monday late last month that the deal was almost done and that he had been in negotiations with Ruff Ryders to get the black Babe Ruth on his label through Def Jam. "Well, I've been actually trying to get Jadakiss to come to Roc-A-Fella/ Ruff Ryders for a minute," he said. Jada's last album, 2004's Kiss of Death, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart. ...

M by Mariah Carey, the singer's new fragrance, is launching a Virtual Ford Model Search to find the new face of MTV's Virtual Hills. The campaign is being put on by MTV Networks, Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models. Starting Monday, viewers can go here to make their own customized avatar, and while in the virtual world, they'll be able to get beauty tips from Ford Models experts and given a virtual bottle of the perfume and Ford Models portfolio book. "With Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models, we're tapping into their twin drivers of fashion and beauty and creating a social campaign where they can seek status and project a confident sense of self with others," Courtney Holt, executive vice president of Digital Music and Media for MTV Networks' Music & Logo Group, said in a statement. In early January, models will be requested to flaunt their virtual acting abilities by posing with the M by Mariah Carey bottle, acting out a commercial for it, walking a virtual runway and competing in a virtual dance competition. The winning avatar, to be determined by reps for MTV, Elizabeth Arden and Ford Models, will be used as the face of a marketing campaign for MTV's virtual worlds, Ford Models' inaugural virtual-world model and will appear in a spot co-branded by MTV and Elizabeth Arden. Finalists will be chosen by an expert panel on January 14, and the winner will be announced on air January 31. ...

Game won a motion to retrieve $40,000 that was seized from his home in Glendale, California, in May, according to TMZ. The rapper (real name: Jayceon Taylor) got the legal win in court on Wednesday. Game is charged with three counts of making a criminal threat, possession of a firearm in a school zone and exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer stemming from an incident in February. The rapper, who is free on $50,000 bail, faces more than five years in state prison if convicted. ... According to England's NME, My Chemical Romance are down another man. Guitarist Frank Iero has reportedly dropped out of the band's world tour following Sunday's show in Newcastle, England, due to an undisclosed family member's illness. He will be temporarily replaced by guitar tech Matt Cortez, who previously stood in for bassist Mikey Way when he went on a six-month hiatus from the group earlier this year. The news comes less than a week after drummer Bob Bryar explained his absence from the band's recent shows due to a persistent wrist injury. The sidelining of Iero leaves the band with just three permanent members taking the stage each night. A spokesperson for the band could not be reached at press time. ...

Hurting to see the Foo Fighters? The wait is almost over. The band, which is still hammering away at its U.K. tour stretch, has firmed up six Stateside dates in support of its recent Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace album: January 23 (Dallas); January 25 (Memphis, Tennessee); January 26 (Nashville); February 18 (Worcester, Massachusetts); February 21 (Philadelphia); and February 24 (Detroit). Aficionados will be pleased to know that former guitarist Pat Smear will be back with the Foos while they're on the road — keyboardist Rami Jaffee (ex-Wallflowers) and violinist Jesse Greene are also along for the ride. A limited number of premium tix being made available through Ticketmaster auctions will benefit TreeBank, which plans to distribute the proceeds to local branches for tree-planting in communities the tour will hit. ... Velvet Revolver canceled their four scheduled concerts in Japan after immigration officials there denied the band's request for visas. According to concert promoter Creativeman Productions, the band was "looking forward to their tour of Japan [because] the upcoming trek was an opportunity to reconnect with their fans in Japan, where the band has toured before — without incident — back in 2005. But now it's a different story as [the band's] request for visas has just been denied. The increasingly tough Japanese immigration officials are taking exception with the backgrounds of various bandmembers, which have included arrests." ...

Kelly Rowland, Nick Lachey, Patti LaBelle and others have been tapped to create America's "greatest" choir for an upcoming competition show that will air live from New York over the course of four nights, from December 17-20. For "Clash of the Choirs," Rowland, Lachey and the three other celebrities involved in the competition will go back to their hometowns and recruit 20 singers, and the choirs will be eliminated one by one until the final evening. The winning choir and respective hometown celeb will get to choose a prize to be donated to their community. ... Carrie Underwood will sidle up alongside Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and other country heavyweights for the 2008 Stagecoach country-music festival, which will be held May 3-4 at the same venue that hosts Coachella: Indio, California's Empire Polo Field. Another "American Idol" vet, Kellie Pickler, will also be performing at the event. ... Queens of the Stone Age have lined up a benefit gig that will take place in their native Palm Desert in California on December 9. Proceeds from the show, which will also feature their homies the Eagles of Death Metal, will go to Palm Desert High School, youth-outreach nonprofit Operation SafeHouse and other various Coachella Valley charities. ...

Ne-Yo, Vanessa Hudgens, Colbie Caillat and Katharine McPhee will headline the annual Christmas in Washington benefit show slated to air on TNT on December 12. ... Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire can't seem to get enough of each other. First McEntire welcomed the "American Idol" onto her recent Reba Duets album for a rendition of Clarkson's "Because of You." Then the two promoted it with an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that also featured Justin Timberlake. Now the ladies are hitting the road together for the 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour, which will launch January 17 in Dayton, Ohio, and wind down February 16 in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Billboard. ...

A judge in Michigan tossed a civil suit Kid Rock filed earlier this year after the rocker failed to appear for a court-ordered deposition. The rocker (real name: Robert James Ritchie) had filed suit against Kelly Ann Kozlowski, claiming she embarrassed and defamed him, but on Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar nixed the suit and expressed her annoyance at Rock's absence, according to AP. "What's special about him? Why does he get to violate a court's order?" she reportedly asked of Rock's attorney, William Horton, after learning the musician ignored a deposition she had ordered to take place by the end of October. The lawyer blamed scheduling conflicts for the no-show. Kozlowski had sued Rock, claiming he roughed her up outside his Clarkston recording studio back in March. Her claims were investigated by authorities, but no charges were ever brought against Rock. Meanwhile, the judge entered a default against Rock in Kozlowski's complaint, which seeks more than $25,000 in damages. The ruling prevents Rock from contesting Kozlowski's lawsuit at trail in February. ...

Some rare Kurt Cobain memorabilia is up for sale on Craigslist. A seller claims to have gotten hold of four original, signed drawings the late Nirvana frontman made in high school, and he's selling them for $10,000 each, according to Harp magazine. The classified ad reads, "I have four original and signed drawings by Kurt Cobain. Various sizes, mostly Fender guitar-related subject matter. These were done when Kurt was in high school in the 1980s. Quite rare and unusual." ... My Bloody Valentine have rolled out a batch of concert dates after frontman Kevin Shields made the official reunion announcement in an interview broadcast Monday on VBS.tv. According to Billboard, the group will play three dates in the U.K. — June 20 (London), June 28 (Manchester) and July 2 (Glasgow) — and are mulling an offer to participate at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California, in late April. ...

Of Montreal and Battles have snatched up seven PLUG Independent Music Award nominations, including Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year. The Arcade Fire and Justice landed six nominations each while Band of Horses and the National nabbed five, and Spoon earned four. Radiohead, Animal Collective, Okkervil River, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Panda Bear, El-P, Om, Boris, Dan Deacon, Andrew Bird and others were also noticed. The awards ceremony will be held March 6 at Terminal 5 in New York. ...

Multimedia company Guerilla Union — which produces the Rock the Bells and Paid Dues tours — has donated $100,000 to Linkin Park's Music for Relief project on the part of the band and SanDisk Corporation, a flash-data-storage-card company, after staging an event over the weekend. The SanDisk Sunset Strip Block Party served as a launch for the company's new marketing campaign and other products, but also drew attention to the recent wildfires in the area. A handful of bands performing in various venues on West Hollywood, California's Sunset Strip were involved, including LP, Common, the Crystal Method, Z-Trip and others. ... Current and former members of Cave In, Jawbox, Isis, Sunn0))), Dälek and other underground acts have lent their talents to Decimal, the new album by Ringfinger. At the center of the project is Tracy Wilson, who previously sung for now-disbanded group Dahlia Seed. ...

A former Paris Hilton business partner has been arrested on rape charges, according to Florida's Orlando Sentinel. Fereidoun "Fred" Khalilian, the heiress' former partner in Orlando's Club Paris, turned himself in to police on Wednesday after his home was raided by a police SWAT team earlier in the day. He faces charges of false imprisonment and sexual battery stemming from an incident on Friday. ... Lindsay Lohan's father, Michael, is planning to open a restaurant that his daughter "can be around people she can trust — where she can hang her hat and call her own," according to People. He is reportedly looking for a location in Los Angeles for the restaurant, for which he said Lindsay will be part-owner, although the opening date and menu are not yet known. Michael Lohan has another item on his agenda: He's participating in the ninth annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet for homeless people at the New York City Rescue Mission on Monday. Meals will be served from noon until 7 p.m., and 1,000 shelter-based homeless people are expected to attend. ...

According to an interview with HHNLive.com, Flipmode Squad member Rampage said the group founded and relentlessly hyped on wax by Busta Rhymes has abandoned its name and is no longer working with Busta. He said the group is now just "Rah Digga, Baby Sham, Spliff Starr and myself. We just changed the name of the group, and it's now called FMS. ... We just decided to do our own thing. ... It's not under Flipmode anymore. It's under FMS, [which] stands for Famous Millionaire Squad."

11.14.2007

Jack White went all out for the new White Stripes video, for their third Icky Thump single, "Conquest." In preparation for the clip — which is in keeping with the song's Spanish theme — he actually trained with Dennis Borba, a noted bullfighter. The video will debut November 26 on MTV and was shot over two days in Artesia, California, by director Diane Martel (Ciara, the Killers). The group's cover of the song made popular by Patti Page — the tune also appears in a recent eBay TV ad — is also coming out in the form of four singles, which is giving the duo the chance to bust out some new music they recorded with Beck. There are three different-colored vinyl versions of the single, and the B-sides for each are as follows: "It's My Fault for Being Famous," for which Beck contributed vocals and piano (black); "Honey, We Can't Afford to Look This Cheap," for which Beck played slide guitar (white); and "Cash Grab Complications on the Matter" (red). Beck co-produced all three songs during a recording session in his living room. The digital maxi-single has all three tracks plus an acoustic mariachi version of "Conquest." The vinyl singles, due December 18, also come with a matador trading card and a poster. ...

To be expected, Kanye West has canceled his planned performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, according to "Entertainment Tonight." The event is scheduled to tape Thursday and air December 4 on CBS. West's mother, Donda, passed away on Saturday. ...

Amy Winehouse's U.K. tour will start Wednesday (November 14) as planned despite the recent troubles surrounding her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, BBC News reports. The singer, who canceled shows over the summer due to "health issues," will begin the trek at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena. Singer/songwriter Remi Nicole, who is supporting Winehouse at the show, told the news outlet, "All I know is it's going ahead. She's professional and she knows what she's got to do. I'll be there to support her. If it was my husband, I'd be a bit upset." The tour will end with a two-night stand at the Carling Brixton Academy in London on December 16-17. As for the other matter, The Daily Mirror reports that Winehouse visited Fielder-Civil on Tuesday for the first time since he was refused bail on Saturday. His trial on allegations of "perverting the court of justice," or the U.S. equivalent of obstruction of justice, begins November 23, and he could face life in prison. ...

First Ghostface Killah got his very own action figure — and now he's telling fans how they can live just like him with a new book, "The World According to Pretty Toney." The MTV Press volume, which revolves around Ghost's alter ego, "offers nuggets of street wisdom [on] livin', hustlin', lovin', eatin', and the all-encompassing Toneology," according to a press release. The January 8 book, co-written with J. Brightly, also comes with a bonus CD with 20 minutes of Pretty Toney tunes related to the themes in the book. Keep an eye out for new Pretty Toney airing in December on MTV2 as well. ... Los Angeles rock radio station KROQ has unveiled the list of performers for the second day of its annual Almost Acoustic Christmas shows. Muse, Feist, Jimmy Eat World, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Spoon and the Shins are all on the bill for the December 9 shindig, which will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. Linkin Park, Angels & Airwaves, Avenged Sevenfold and others will light up the December 8 show. ...

Matt Damon is the Sexiest Man Alive, People declares with its 2007 issue of the same name. "You gave an aging suburban dad the ego boost of a lifetime," he said in a statement issued to the mag. Justin Timberlake, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Javier Bardem, Ben Affleck and others make the cut on the Hot List; while Milo Ventimiglia, Josh Duhamel, Taye Diggs and others were named "Simply Sexy." The Rock, Rainn Wilson ("Year of the Nerd"), George Clooney and others also appear in the issue, which streets Friday. ... Affleck, Eva Mendes and Reese Witherspoon want to make sure you have health insurance. The actors — along with Jeremy Piven, Joaquin Phoenix and others — have joined forces for a new public-service announcement calling for "affordable, quality health care for all Americans," according to a press release. The ad, a joint effort between the AARP, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Motion Picture & Television Fund, rolled out on Tuesday. ...

Don Imus isn't just coming back to radio on December 3 — the controverial shock jock will also be resurfacing that same day on RFD-TV, a cable and satellite channel that caters to rural viewers. He has signed a five-year deal with the channel. ... KT Tunstall, whose scheduled Tuesday appearances on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Last Call with Carson Daly" have been stymied by the writers' strike, has decided to join the protesters instead. She's planning to busk for the strikers at the NBC headquarters in Burbank, California, on Wednesday. ... And on the subject of the strike, TV Guide announced Wednesday that it is canceling its Online Video Awards ceremony and TV broadcast in light of the strike. The winners will be announced November 26. Tunstall is also due to play at the upcoming Nobel Peace Prize Concert honoring winner Al Gore. The event, which will also feature performances by Alicia Keys, Earth, Wind & Fire and others, will take place December 11 in Oslo, Norway. Uma Thurman and Tommy Lee Jones will co-host. ...

The Beatles will be going digital next year, if Paul McCartney gets his way. "It's all happening soon," he told Billboard.com of the plans to get the group's catalog into the digital sphere. "Most of us are all sort of ready. The whole thing is primed, ready to go — there's just maybe one little sticking point left, and I think it's being cleared up as we speak, so it shouldn't be too long. It's down to fine-tuning, but I'm pretty sure it'll be happening next year, 2008." McCartney cited contractual issues as the reason for the delay. ... Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark are reconvening for the annual "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," which will take place on ... wait for it ... December 31! The ABC specials start at 10 p.m. ET and will include musical performances from New York's Times Square and Hollywood. ...

If you like E-40 and chicken wings, you're in for a treat: The Bay Area rapper — who also owns a Fatburger joint with former NFL player Chester McGlockton — is planning to open a Wingstop Restaurant in Benicia, California. "I was introduced to Wingstop in Dallas, and as soon as I tasted the wings I was hooked," he said in a statement. "People here [in the Bay Area] are going to love these wings." ... Every Time I Die and Escape the Fate will co-headline the annual Take Action! Tour, which raises money for various nonprofit groups. The trek, put on by Hopeless/ Sub City Records, will launch in February. ... Hayden Panettiere, "hero" to dolphins, was recently honored with a Compassion in Action Award by Peta2, the youth branch of the animal-rights organization. The actress was recognized for attempting to disrupt Japan's annual dolphin hunting by paddling out to sea with five surfers and "taking on an angry mob of boathook-wielding Japanese anglers," according to a press release. ...

Dispatch are immortalizing their record-breaking three-night, sold-out run at New York's Madison Square Garden in July with a new concert film due January 29. A limited-edition collector's version of "Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden" — which was directed by noted rock photographer Danny Clinch — will also have a Zimbabwe documentary, Clinch pics and other extras. Dispatch became the first indie band to ever sell out MSG thanks to the July shows. ... Try this one on for size: San Francisco singer/songwriter and former Cake collaborator Chuck Prophet accidentally got locked in a recording studio — and while he was waiting to get out, decided to re-record an album, Waylon Jennings' 1975 LP, Dreaming My Dreams. Prophet's version is available for download and as a limited edition of 1,000 copies. ...

Who needs Ticketmaster? Going.com users will be able to buy tickets through the social-networking site starting Wednesday (November 14), The Associated Press reports. The site, which accommodates user-organized events and allows users to see who else is planning to hit a given show, will not be selling tickets through traditional outlets. The first show for which tickets are being offered is Moby's Thursday concert in New York. "Ticketing was the last-mile solution for the 300,000 local monthly RSVPs that occur on our site," CEO and founder Evan Schumacher reportedly said in a statement. "Our goal was to connect the long tail of promoters with event-seeking audiences."

• Lindsay Lohan
• Amy Winehouse
• Regina Spektor
• Britney Spears
• Jadakiss

Kurt Cobain (file)
Photo: MTV News

Thirteen years after he committed suicide in his Seattle home, Kurt Cobain speaks again in this strikingly impressionistic documentary. The film is a collaboration between director AJ Schnack (whose aversion to punctuation accounts for both the run-on title and his own period-free initials) and journalist and author Michael Azerrad, whose 1993 book, "Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana," remains the definitive account of that great band. In the course of working on the book, Azerrad (who, I should note, is a long-time colleague) conducted some 25 hours of interviews with Kurt Cobain. These were held between December 1992 and March 1993, mostly from midnight to dawn in the house Cobain was living in at the time, in the Sand Point section of Seattle.

Over the years since his death on April 5, 1994, our memory of Cobain has settled into blurry biographical ready-mades: the grunge genius, the manic-depressive druggie, the sensitive artist tormented by an unwanted rock-stardom he actually despised ... the guy who married Courtney Love. "About a Son" enlarges our understanding of this complex man, and it clears up a lot of things — or, more precisely, it allows Cobain to do so, in his own voice (see " 'About A Son' Conversations Give A Glimpse Into The Kurt Cobain Few Knew").

For example, he is emphatic about the fact that he had a happy childhood. He recalls a favorite aunt giving him Beatles records and also his first instrument, a Hawaiian guitar. He remembers draining the battery in his father's van listening to an eight-track cassette of Queen's News of the World. But he also remembers, with undimmed bitterness, his parents splitting up before he hit his teens — part of a wave of marital crackups that affected so many kids of his generation, and for which he blamed their self-absorbed parents. ("They had to sow their oats," he says bitingly. "They had to start drinking at 30.")

He remembers darkness setting in: the manic depression that started afflicting him at the age of 9; the painful scoliosis, or spinal curvature, that was later aggravated by strapping on a guitar every night; and the chronic, excruciating stomach pains that eventually drove him to heroin. He realized that the drug had destroyed a number of his friends, but in his case he looked upon it as a form of self-medication. "I've thought about dying all my life," he says. "If I was gonna blow my head off with a gun, I might as well take the risk of taking drugs." He also talks warmly about his devotion to Courtney Love and their baby daughter, Frances Bean; and he castigates the media that were dogging them through this troubled period. ("Everyone wants to see us die," he says.)

Naturally, he also discusses music. His creative ambition, he says, was to fuse the melodic popcraft of the Beatles with the monster sonic assault of Black Sabbath. And although he eventually came to hate the commercial demands and phoniness of the record business, he says he sought out fame right from the beginning — he wanted to be a rock star. Who knew?

Schnack and Azerrad (who co-produced the movie) haven't made a standard rock-doc, with the customary weave of concert footage and talking-head anecdotes. They didn't even bother approaching the Cobain estate about using Nirvana's music on the soundtrack. Instead, they've utilized recordings by some of Cobain's own favorite bands, ranging from friends like the Melvins and Mudhoney to Bad Brains, Half Japanese and the Vaselines, as well as such bigger-time acts as David Bowie, R.E.M., Iggy Pop and Creedence Clearwater Revival. (Cobain once played in a Creedence cover band.) These tracks are woven into contemporary footage shot by Schnack in the Washington state towns in which Cobain spent most of his life: Aberdeen, Montesano, Olympia and Seattle. This footage recalls the films of Errol Morris, especially his brooding 1988 documentary, "The Thin Blue Line." Here, as in that movie, carefully assembled aspects of the local environment — in this case, lumber mills, evocative local faces and the damp, loamy Northwest terrain — take on the weight of personality, adding a vivid regional context to Cobain's soft-spoken and sometimes funny recollections.

Some of his most arresting remarks are about Nirvana. By the time Azerrad started interviewing Cobain, the band had sold several million copies of its 1991 breakthrough album, Nevermind, and had just released a stopgap, buncha-stuff compilation called Incesticide to appease the market until a real follow-up could be recorded. (This turned out to be 1993's In Utero, Nirvana's last studio album.) Although he's sometimes thought to have been a gentle soul eaten up by the music industry, Cobain was not without business instincts. He talks about the resentment of his bandmates, bassist Kris Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, when he decided that he should take a larger slice of the band's income, since it was he who wrote the songs and fronted the group. (He dismissed their objections: "That's bullsh--," he says.) And here, a year before his death, he is already looking beyond the group, to a future in which he would work with other people and "create something new."

Toward the end of the film, Azerrad asks Cobain if he thinks Nirvana will last out the decade. "I don't want it to," he says. And of course it didn't — not because he moved on to more interesting things, but simply, sadly, because he didn't make it either.

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• Kurt Cobain
• Nirvana

Courtney Love
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

Love or hate her, Courtney Love never fails to fascinate. And just a glimpse of what will be in her forthcoming book will surely be enough to get her fans and detractors talking.

In a four-page preview of the singer's 288-page "impromptu memoir," which was researched and edited by Ava Stander, it appears "Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love" will contain letters, childhood records, poetry, journal entries, song lyrics, fan 'zines, show fliers and never-before-seen photographs, including shots of her late husband Kurt Cobain and their daughter, Frances Bean (see "Courtney Love Promises To Tell All In Proposed 'Love Diaries' ").

Notes are written next to and over the memorabilia, such as this thought: "There is no such thing as girl love, because all cool girls are competitive c---s, which is worth loving in itself, so it's okay. Just don't pretend it's otherwise! Celebrate the reality!"

Other notes are less-than-celebratory, such as her realization that she is "a public figure unhappy with my share of the American dream. There can only be one reason for this. I am on drugs, and have the morals and mentality of a cartoon character. What did I want after all??" This is written next to a 1976 rejection letter from the New Mickey Mouse Club for "Coco Rodriguez" — a name she may have adopted while living with stepdad Frank Rodriguez. Since the show was looking for "youngsters who have exceptional singing, dancing, or musical ability, with a marked degree of performance experience," they told her she did not qualify, and as a consolation prize, gave her a picture of Mickey Mouse.

Over time, she found other ways to "perform." A 1979 report from Hillcrest School documents Love as screaming and swearing about bugs. "Refused to be reasonable," reads the report. "She became louder and more insistent." Pictures of Love as a youth paint her as wide-eyed and innocent at first and later as a withdrawn punkette.

Love also reveals matters closer to her heart with the entries about her late husband's suicide, such as a note written soon afterward reminiscing about happier days. On April 17, 1994, she wrote, "Exactly one month ago today was the last time I made love with my husband. I cooked him dinner. We spent four hours in the playroom with Frances. We saw 'Schindler's List.' It made us frightened for life and we saw the value of life. Our convictions we defined until 4 a.m. and we fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up that way in the morning."

Although she hates to admit it to herself, she writes, "Rome was a huge cover-up," meaning that Cobain's Rohypnol-and-champagne overdose on March 4, 1994, was actually a suicide attempt. "I see it now. I just didn't want to see it then. Last night, I re-read the note he left in Rome. It's so obviously a suicide note, so f---ing obvious."

Without explanation, the book also includes an apology note addressed to both her husband and daughter, written on letterhead from the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood, California: "I love you. Please forgive me. ... You are both too beautiful for me. I love you forever." ("Sunset Marquis," incidentally, is the name of one of the songs intended for her new album.) The two writings, positioned near photos of her curled up next to Cobain and of him kissing a baby Frances, prompts a newer note, scrawled across both pages in red ink: "I can't grow a new heart."

"Here is a unique visual look into a world that is never captured," Love's literary agent David Vigliano said. "It's a one-of-a-kind memoir of an extraordinary life lived by a unique artist."

Love plans to do a book tour in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York when the book comes out in November.

• Courtney Love
• Kurt Cobain
• Nirvana

The 1,000th issue of <i>Rolling Stone</i>
Photo: Rolling Stone

Guitar-playing angel Kurt Cobain floats with a devilish Hunter S. Thompson; 50 Cent, Johnny Cash, Tom Cruise and Gwen Stefani back up Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen; the Beatles mix it up with Muhammad Ali and Eminem; Eddie Vedder, Sid Vicious and Kenny from "South Park" all peek over an imposing Run-DMC; Britney Spears stands alongside John F. Kennedy; and James Hetfield pals around with E.T. Those rockers, rappers and pop-culture icons are among the more than 150 superstars collected Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-style on the cover of Rolling Stone's 1,000th issue, which hits newsstands Friday. (Click to see the 1,000th cover and other notable front pages from the magazine's run.) ...

Fat Joe, Memphis Bleek, Freeway and Don Omar are among the guests on reggaetón star Hector Bambino's new album, Roc La Familia & Hector Bambino "El Father" Present Los Rompe Discotekas, due June 20. Jay-Z appears on the first single, "Here We Go Yo." ... John Mayer will be honored with the Starlight Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards June 15 in New York. Rob Thomas and Alicia Keys are past winners. ...

Hold up, Janet Jackson fans. That new track you may have heard on her Web site wasn't a preview of her new album — it was just a "gift." The singer recently released the song "Weekend" via her site, but now she's posted a message on JanetJackson.com saying that the song was just something extra for the fans — don't expect it to appear on the forthcoming 20 Years Old LP. Jackson's official first single is titled "Call on Me" and will be released to radio July 19. The singer says fans can expect a tour to accompany the album. ... Bullet for My Valentine have been tapped to open the four sold-out New York Guns N' Roses shows. Axl Rose and his band will perform at the Hammerstein Ballroom on May 12, 14, 15 and 17. ...

Former 98 Degrees singer Jeff Timmons was arrested for drunk driving and driving without a valid license on April 23 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to a police report that The Associated Press discovered Wednesday (May 3). According to the report, Timmons was pulled over for speeding and first told police he had a lot to drink, then backtracked and said he had drank two beers. He posted a $500 bond that day. ...

The Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America sent letters Thursday to the presidents of 40 universities in 25 states, asking them to take action on music and movie piracy through campus computer networks. The organizations say college students with access to these networks use programs like Direct Connect, MyTunes and OurTunes to knowingly engage in illegal trading of material without signing onto the Internet. "We cannot ignore the growing misuse of campus [networks] or the toll this means of theft is taking on our industry," RIAA President Cary Sherman said. The letters encouraged the use of blocking and filtering software to stop the illegal activity. ...

What do indie rockers and a cartoon about "children who are more like adults" have in common? Maybe it's that late-night "Adult Swim" humor. Whatever the link, Modest Mouse and the Shins will be among the artists contributing commentary to the fourth-season DVD set of the cult Cartoon Network series "Home Movies." Staff members from parody newspaper The Onion also have their say on the final season, which will be released May 16. ... Thursday are playing a free show Wednesday at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, as part of the MySpace Free Shows Series. Paulson will open. There's no charge for admission, which will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors for the all-ages show open at 7 p.m. ...

Wolfmother, who will be on the road for much of this month, will next take the stage Saturday in Dallas. Dates for the Australian band's current tour run through June 14 in Los Angeles. ...Taking a break from recording the follow-up to 2004's A Ghost Is Born, Wilco will be hitting the road again this June and July to play shows throughout Canada as well as a few U.S. dates. The Chicago band will finish off its tour in August at Lollapalooza. Wilco will also hit "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on May 12, during the talk show's Chicago stint. ... "The Proposition," a drama written and scored by Nick Cave, opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend before going to select cities next weekend. Guy Pearce and Emily Watson co-star in the film, set in Australia's Outback frontier in the 1880s. ...

Organizers have announced the partial lineup for the first-ever Desdemona Music Festival, set for June 23-25 in Cincinnati's Sawyer Point Waterfront Park. The Walkmen, Fiery Furnaces, the Stills, Annie, Radio 4, Heartless Bastards, Small Sins, Richard Swift, Captain of Industry, Paper Airplane and the Turnbull ACs are in for the fest, with 15 more acts expected. ... MSTRKRFT, the side project from Death From Above 1979's Jesse F. Keeler and producer Al-P, are releasing their debut electronic album, The Looks, July 18. MSTRKRFT are currently on tour in Canada and will hit the States in June to play seven dates, including stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and Chicago. ...

Punk Core Records will issue a Casualties retrospective culling material from the influential New York punk band's earliest days. Titled Best of the Punk Core Years, the disc is expected to surface later this year. Fans are asked to vote for their favorite Casualties songs at Punk Core's Web site, PunkCore.com. Poll results will help shape the final track list. ... The third outing by singer/songwriter Butch Walker — this time with his new backing band, the Let's Go Out Tonites — will hit stores July 11. The Rise & Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites is the follow-up to 2004's Letters and will be released on Powerballad/ Epic Records. ...

05.02.2006

Pink's no "Stupid Girl," but she's the first to admit she's "extra good at making myself look stupid," especially when it comes to the "typical backstage bloopers" found on her upcoming DVD, "Live in Europe," due May 23. The film chronicles a 2004 concert in Manchester, England, during her Try This tour. "God, it feels old now," Pink laughed. "It's really good. It's fun." The track list includes "Lady Marmalade," a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" and a medley of the Janis Joplin favorites "Summertime," "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Piece of My Heart." ...

Eminem's one-time and possibly future ex-wife, Kimberly Mathers, has filed a response to the divorce papers the rapper filed in early April. Mathers is asking for financial support — including mortgage, insurance and utilities for the couple's home — and to share joint custody of the couple's 10-year-old daughter. ...

Diddy had a new reason to break out the champagne Monday night. The music mogul held a party at New York nightclub Cain to celebrate singer Cheri Dennis' self-titled debut, due this summer. A plethora of Dennis' labelmates were also on hand for the festivities. ... One of music's other top magnates, J Records' Clive Davis, greeted giddy fans with 1,000 doughnuts at New York's Tower Records late Monday night, minutes before the official release of the rock band's self-titled J debut. Some fans had been waiting in line for more than two days to nab tickets to a stealth PJ show — plus the new record, of course, which marked Tower's strongest midnight sale ever, according to the label. ...

A study released Tuesday (May 2) by Pursuant Inc. suggests 73 percent of "American Idol" voters are women. The research also concluded that Simon Cowell's opinion is valued twice as much as Randy Jackson's and nine times as much as Paula Abdul's. ... Fox spokespeople aren't commenting yet, but Variety is reporting the long-expected news that the "American Idol" franchise will start selling individual performances through its own Web site. Like iTunes, songs will go for 99 cents and videos for $1.99. Chances are that not all performances will be available due to rights issues, but some could hit the Web as soon as this week. ...

No Doubt will release "Live in the Tragic Kingdom" for the first time on DVD June 13. Previously found on VHS only — who uses those anymore? — it has concert footage from the band's hometown concert in 1997 and is directed by Sophie Muller (Coldplay, the Killers). The DVD will also feature home videos from '92-'97, an alternate version of the "Don't Speak" video as well three live performances. ...

Sorry bro, looks like those Sevendust tickets you're holding are null and void. Thanks to a broken bone in guitarist John Connolly's left hand, the band has been forced to cancel all its early May gigs. Sevendust will be back on the road May 13 for a show in Corpus Christi, Texas, and complete the tour May 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. But as for fans who planned to go to the earlier shows, the band is asking them to return their tickets to the original point of purchase. For more information, check out Sevendust.info. ... A group of prominent Canadian musicians has banded together to demand a say in the push to toughen copyright legislation north of the border. The acts wanting a voice in how the legislation is drafted include Avril Lavigne, Sum 41, Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan and members of Broken Social Scene, according to a Canadian Press report. Among the provisions the artists are most adamant about fighting are lawsuits against people who share music illegally online and digital locks that restrict how a digital song can be used or shared. ...

Mike Doughty will hit the road beginning Thursday in Madison, Wisconsin, and wrapping up at the Basilica Block Party on July 8 in Minneapolis. The former Soul Coughing singer is also recording his next solo record, which will include "I Wrote a Song About Your Car" and "How to F--- a Republican." ... Guster and Ray LaMontagne are teaming for a summer tour that begins July 11 in Baltimore and finishes August 19 in Portland, Maine. Guster will be promoting their fifth album, Ganging Up on the Sun, due June 20. ... Also due June 20 is a new live album from the Counting Crows called New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall 2003. The set will include several favorites and one new song, "Hazy," written by Adam Duritz and Gemma Hayes. The Counting Crows will be on the road from June 21 in Portland, Oregon, to September 9 in Dallas. ...

Jonathan "Big Hawk" Hawkins, a beloved member of the Houston hip-hop scene, was shot and killed in his hometown Monday night. Hawk, the brother of late H-Town MC Fat Pat, was featured in "My Block: Houston" and was a member of DJ Screw's legendary Screwed Up Click. Houston police do not have any suspects. ... Fashion designer Marc Ecko got some good news on Monday when a judge in New York backed his challenge to the city's new anti-graffiti law. According to a Reuters report, a judge granted a temporary order rescinding a new rule that raised the age for buying and carrying spray paint and broad-tipped markers from 18 to 21. The temporary lifting of the new restrictions is tied to the outcome of a suit by seven young artists who said their constitutional right to free speech was violated by the new law. The ban still applies to those under 18. ...

The first five, previously out-of-print albums by Scottish alt-rock luminaries Jesus and the Mary Chain will be re-released — each with a bonus DVD — July 11. Included in the bunch is the band's 1985 debut, Psychocandy. ... Apple Computer has won the download price war. The computer maker revealed Monday that it had renewed contracts with the world's four biggest record companies to sell their songs on iTunes for 99 cents each. The agreement came after months of bitter bargaining in which the labels — Universal, Warner Music, EMI and Sony BMG — advocated for a variable pricing method that would have raised the cost on new downloads while lowering it on older catalog songs. iTunes accounts for 80 percent of the U.S. digital download market. ...

Rhino's four-disc Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly box will feature 101 songs recorded between 1954 and 1969 by Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The June 27 collection will also have song-by-song commentary, liner notes and 33 songs previously unreleased in the U.S. ... Old-school soul also returns next month, in the form of Atlantic Unearthed: Soul Brothers and Soul Sisters. The June 6 releases will revolve around soul greats from the '60s and '70s, with Soul Sisters including cuts by Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Esther Phillips, and Soul Brothers drawing on Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway and Percy Sledge. B-sides and previously unreleased tracks will also be included.

• Jay-Z, Madonna, John Lennon Help 'Rolling Stone' Hit 1,000

• Nirvana
• Kurt Cobain
• 50 Cent
• Janet Jackson
• Guns N' Roses

The Pixies (file)
Photo: Chapman Baehler

Now that the Pixies have wrapped their 2004 reunion tour, the alt-rock veterans are preparing to chronicle the eight-month-long trek around North America in an as-yet-untitled DVD. A live-concert disc, culled from seven shows that were filmed, is also being prepared for a 2005 release. ...

A two-page handwritten letter from Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love was sold to the highest bidder in a rock and roll memorabilia auction on Friday at the auction house Christie's. The letter, which details the late Nirvana frontman's life on tour, says in part: "I really do care but I'm not very convincing. He's sad. I'm sad. My throat is a swollen tumor, blood sausage — colon. I puke air after coughing. It was morning by the time I fell asleep after talking to you. 200 lbs. I thought of a great idea for our video. Oh, forget it." Christie's estimates that the letter, which sold for $19,120, was written on November 28, 1991, the night after Nirvana performed on the BBC series "Top of the Pops," since the show is mentioned in the letter. ... A few months after the first soundtrack to "Ray" dropped, a second LP is on the way. Ray: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Vol. 2, due February 1, features many tracks the late Ray Charles re-recorded for the movie. ...

Snoop Dogg just finished shooting the independent film "The Tenants," in which he plays Willie Spearmint, a black militant writer. ... JoJo is helping her fans listen to her music on the go with a new contest posted on her Web site. The JoJo lot in the "Discover the Secret Strength of Today's Hottest Rising Music Stars" sweepstakes, which previously featured items by such artists as Hilary Duff, includes an iPod, printer, iPod tattoos and JoJo paraphernalia including an autographed CD, autographed photo and a T-shirt. ...

After touring the States with Good Charlotte, Sum 41 are returning to their native Canada for a month's worth of shows. The Go Chuck Yourself Tour, supporting their latest album, Chuck, kicks off January 14 in Montreal and runs through February 13 in Saint John, New Brunswick. Two weeks later, the band heads to Japan. ... Glitch-hop producer Prefuse 73, a.k.a. Scott Herren, will release his fourth disc, Surrounded by Silence, on March 22. Guests include the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, GZA and Ghostface, as well as El-P, Blonde Redhead, Masta Killa, Beans and the Books. ...

Though they haven't yet revealed the dates for their upcoming tour, a reunited Queen — featuring Paul Rodgers on vocals — have announced one special performance, spearheading the 46664 South Africa concert on March 19. Former South African president Nelson Mandela announced on Monday that Queen would return to perform at the concert for the second year in a row. "This is a great occasion for Queen to fulfill our continuing commitment to Nelson Mandela's AIDS cause," said guitarist Brian May. The full lineup for the event will be announced early next year. ... For more than 20 years, mope-masters Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have been on a mission to spread their anti-mirth worldwide, and now the odds and ends of that quest have been collected in one place. Mute Records is getting ready to release B-Sides & Rarities, a three-disc set that features never-before-heard material. The set hits shelves on March 22. ...

12.20.2004

Break out the parka and the long underwear: The first batch of dates for the 2005 SnoCore Tour have been announced. The winter trek, which features Chevelle, Helmet, Crossfade, Future Leaders of the World and Strata, kicks off January 22 in Vail, Colorado, with confirmed shows running through March 6 in Poughkeepsie, New York. More dates are expected to be added. ...

Handmade holiday cards created by the likes of Jay-Z, Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, Jessica Simpson, Howard Stern, Adam Sandler and others are being auctioned off on eBay. Proceeds from the "Cards for Charity" project benefit the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. ... Pennywise, Camper Van Beethoven and Ozomatli are among the bands donating tracks to Look At All the Love We've Found, a Sublime tribute album due in the summer. Blackalicious' Gift of Gab and Spearhead are collaborating for "What I Got" and Fishbone are recording "Date Rape," while No Doubt, Jack Johnson and G. Love and Special Sauce have also expressed interest in contributing. ...

The Killers, the Crystal Method, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Mark Farina and Jason Bentley will headline the four stages of the fifth annual Giant Village New Year's Eve celebration in Los Angeles. This year's party, running from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., will take place on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown L.A. ... In the wake of 2001's "Being Mick," Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and his production company, Jagged Films, are getting behind a "Being" series. Like Mick's episode, the A&E series takes viewers inside the daily life of a celebrity. "Being" is expected to air in 2006. ...

For Geezer Butler, there's no going out to play until his Ohmwork is done. The Black Sabbath bassist's solo album is expected to drop in late April. ... Gomez are heading out on a five-city, 10-date tour of the western U.S. in January, starting in the San Diego area on January 14. The run will feature two shows in West Hollywood, three in San Francisco, two in Boulder, Colorado, and a concluding show in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on January 26. ...

• The Pixies
• Kurt Cobain
• Snoop Dogg
• JoJo
• Sum 41