Kid Rock at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel Monday night
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

NEW YORK — Outkast, Alicia Keys, Kid Rock and Dave Matthews were just a few of the artists who introduced their favorite new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday night.

At the celebration, held as usual at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Outkast and Keys ushered in Prince, Kid Rock introduced Bob Seger, Matthews honored Traffic, Bruce Springsteen greeted Jackson Browne, and the late George Harrison was inducted by his former Traveling Wilburys cohorts Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne. Also inducted: the Dells, ZZ Top and Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner.

The four-hour event featured film montages of the inductees, lengthy speeches and performances from everyone who was inducted. The show, capped by an all-star jam, will air Sunday on VH1.

Before the event began, many of the inductees and artists introducing them walked the red carpet to pose for pictures and sing each other's praises. "Prince's performances are always such an inspiration," Keys said. "I love his songwriting, his music, just him as an individual. So I'm looking forward to helping to put him where he belongs."

	Click here for photos from the ceremony

"God, I've been a nervous wreck about the whole thing," Kid Rock said about inducting childhood hero Seger. "Being from Michigan and Detroit, it's like Bob Seger is shot into your veins as a kid. We were just raised on it. I just wanna make everyone from the hometown proud and really give him his dues. I think he's really one of the most underrated singer/songwriter heroes of our generation."

The ceremony began with a film collage of artists who died in 2003, accompanied by Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" and the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody."

Then the hall paid tribute to Prince. "Back in the day, entertainers were singers, they were dancers, they had great style, they had great personality," Outkast's Andre 3000 said in his introduction. "We've lost a lot of that today, and so when it comes for me to do music, Prince is most definitely one of my greatest inspirations."

Prince's acceptance speech was brief and sentimental. He even thanked Warner Bros., with which he battled for years and once protested by writing "Slave" across his face to illustrate the label's ownership over him. "When I first started out in this music industry I was most concerned with freedom," he began. "Freedom to produce, freedom to play all the instruments on my records, freedom to say anything I wanted to. And after much negotiation, Warner Bros. Records granted me that freedom, and I thank them."

Instead of thanking his mentors and peers, Prince talked about how he discovered the importance of spirituality and friendship. "All praise and thanks to Jehovah," he said. "Without any real spiritual mentors other than artists whose records I admired, I embarked on a journey more fascinating than I could have ever imagined. But a word to the wise: Without real spiritual mentoring, too much freedom can lead to the soul's decay."

During his performance, Prince played an energized medley of "Let's Go Crazy" "Sign 'O' the Times" and "Kiss."

Traffic played a lengthy version of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," replete with expressive guitar and keyboard solos; Seger played the dusky, reflective "Turn the Page"; and Browne performed emotive versions of "The Pretender" and "Running on Empty."

When Springsteen introduced Browne, he praised the singer's politics and songwriting but was even more effusive about his power over the ladies. "Jackson Browne was a rock and roll sex star. ... At a time when we were drawing rooms full of men, Jackson was drawing more women than an Indigo Girls concert."

About 30 minutes later, a slightly flustered Kid Rock began his introduction of Seger by saying, "I'm freaked out because Bruce Springsteen is talking about all the women that went to Jackson Browne's shows and how good lookin' they were. My mom used to go to those shows."

Sixties doo-wop and R&B group the Dells were introduced by filmmaker Robert Townsend, who based the singing group in his 1991 movie, "The Five Heartbeats," on the Dells.

Mick Jagger introduced Wenner, and Keith Richards introduced ZZ Top. During their set, the Texas boogie band played "La Grange" and "Tush."

After Harrison was inducted, Tom Petty, ELO's Jeff Lynne and Harrison's son performed the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care" and the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

The show ended with a mega-jam of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" and Traffic's "Feelin' Alright," in which most of the new inductees performed, along with Richards.

Musicians qualify for induction once they've been in the business for 25 years; they are then voted on by a committee of peers and industry professionals.

The 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT. For more information, visit VH1.com.

• Prince
• George Harrison
• Traffic
• Jackson Browne
• ZZ Top

He's a semi-pro basketball player now, but Master P is making a play to be a rap artist again. He's readying the release of a new album, Good Side Bad Side, which will include a DVD movie of the same name, a practice he promises with all future No Limit releases. In the meantime, he's finishing two other flicks, "Uncle P," in which he co-stars with his son Lil' Romeo, and "Still Bout It," the sequel to his 1997 movie, "I'm Bout It." ...

In collaboration with MTV's Choose or Lose, Rock the Vote will host their annual Rock the Vote Awards on February 7 at the Hollywood Palladium. The pre-Grammy bash/fund-raiser will feature performances by the Black Eyed Peas and N.E.R.D. ... Tracks from nominees for the 46th annual Grammy Awards are packaged on the compilation 2004 Grammy Nominees CD, due January 20. The 21-track album includes Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love," Coldplay's "Clocks" and Eminem's "Lose Yourself," among others. ... The Rooney concert may be sold out in the OC, but you can rock out with Marissa, Ryan and the rest of the gang from the TV series "The OC" right from your living room. The band will appear as special guests on the FOX show on Wednesday (January 7). ...

A solo song by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and a previously unreleased 1971 performance of "All the Madmen" by David Bowie will be included on the soundtrack for the movie "Mayor of the Sunset Strip." The flick tells the story of Los Angeles DJ Rodney "On the Roq" Bingenheimer, who helped break numerous bands over the years. The album comes out March 18 and  the film hits screens March 26. ... The estate of late Beatles guitarist George Harrison has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the doctor who treated Harrison in his final days. The suit, which was filed on Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court, claims Dr. Gilbert Lederman coerced the rock legend to autograph a guitar for the doctor's teen son, and further asserts that the doc had to help Harrison hold the pen and guide it across the instrument. ...

The overweight lover will be in the house this spring. After producing records for everyone from Cash Money to Ludacris to P. Diddy, Jazze Pha has finally decided to release his debut, Big Love, in the next few months. Helping the rotund performing producer on his LP are Snoop Dogg, Nelly, T.I. and Big Boi. ... Ghostface, who's dropped the "Killah" from his moniker, will drop his next album, The Pretty Tony Album, on March 2. This will be Ghost's first album for his new label, Def Jam. The video for the leadoff single, "Run," which features Jadakiss, is being shot in New York this weekend. ...

The Black Crowes are no more, but the Robinson boys seem to be flying high. Guitarist Rich Robinson plans to debut new material at a handful of tour dates beginning January 15 in Trenton, New Jersey. He'll be backed by a trio that includes drummer Bill Dobrow of his first post-Crowes project, Hookah Brown. Brother Chris, meanwhile, is readying a band of his own. The unnamed project features Stone Temple Pilots' Eric Kretz and brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo. And on Wednesday, Chris' wife, actress Kate Hudson, gave birth to Ryder Russell Robinson (8 lbs., 11 oz.) in Los Angeles. ... For those about to face off in the squared circle — as well as those who just like to watch — the WWE has got just the thing to fire you up. WWE Originals, due January 13, features original songs by top pro wrestlers, including Chris Jericho, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Booker T and Kurt Angle. The set also features a DVD on the making of the album. ...

Frank Black, in the process of getting his old band the Pixies back together, is set to deliver the keynote address at the fourth annual DIY Convention: Do It Yourself In Film, Music & Books, taking place February 5-7 in Hollywood. Black will speak about his career, the state of the entertainment industry and his plans for 2004. ... '80s hard rockers Tesla will release the new studio album Into the Now on March 9. The band has been working with producer Michael Rosen for the past two years and has concocted 12 songs, including the tracks "Look @ Me," "Heaven Nine Eleven" and "Mighty Mouse." ...

Thin Lizzy will return to the road at the end of January. The first date is January 30 in Salt Lake City, and the band will headline through February 7 in Spokane, Washington. The group will be joined the next day by Deep Purple, and the rock legends will continue to tour together through March 1 in New York. ... Now that he's joined Ozzy Osbourne's band, former Rob Zombie bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson has parted ways with Page Hamilton's newest incarnation of Helmet. Guitarist Chris Traynor will be handling bass duties in the studio for the time being. ...

Sense Field have decided to call it quits. "Each of us is ready to go off on our own and try different paths in life. There are no hidden reasons for the split," reads a statement on their Web site. The California band, which featured singer Jonathan Bunch and guitarist Chris Evenson from the seminal hardcore band Reason to Believe, released two full-length albums through Revelation, a record through Warner Bros. and two through Nettwerk, including last year's Living Outside. ... Dope bassist Sloane "Mosey" Jentry has quit the band to settle down with his girlfriend, according to a post on the band's Web site. He has been replaced by Powerman 5000's Adrian for Dope's tour, which starts January 9 in Columbus, Ohio. Dates run through February 21. Following the tour, the band will seek a full-time replacement. ...

01.06.04

Beyoncé Knowles will do her hometown proud when she returns to Houston to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1. Janet Jackson has already been announced as part of the game's halftime show. ...

Russell Simmons is calling on the big guns to help kick off his first Hip-Hop Summit of 2004, to be held in Houston. P. Diddy; Master P and Lil' Romeo; Beyoncé and her father, Mathew Knowles; Erykah Badu; Run and DMC; and the king of H-Town, Scarface, will all be participating at the January 31 event at Texas Southern University. ... Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, M.O.P., Freeway and the Young Gunz will play in a celebrity basketball game as part of the 2004 Freedom Classic national, a weekend celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in Richmond, Virginia. Co-sponsored by Roc-A-Fella Records, the January 17 and 18 events will also include a Roc-A-Wear fashion show, entertainment industry seminars and a voter-registration drive. ...

The autopsy report for Bobby Hatfield, the Righteous Brothers singer who died hours before a November 5 concert, was released Tuesday and names heart failure triggered by acute cocaine intoxication as the cause of death. Groupmate Bill Medley said Tuesday he knew "absolutely nothing" about Hatfield's drug use. "I would have said something to him," he told The Orange County Register. ... Seal, 311, Wyclef Jean and Eve are just some of the artists reliving their youth by covering songs from the 1980s for the soundtrack to "50 First Dates," the new Adam Sandler/ Drew Barrymore comedy set to hit theaters February 13. Seal's version of Echo and the Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar," the Black Eyed Peas' cover of Spandau Ballet's "True," 311's take on the Cure's "Love Song," and Wyclef and Eve's performance of the Outfield's "Your Love" are among the highlights of the soundtrack, due February 3. ...

A Canadian man is suing a former Nirvana guitar tech for fraud after learning that the left-handed Fender Stratocaster he received with the promise it belonged to Kurt Cobain was, in fact, never touched by the late rock star. Phil Gross of North Vancouver traded his S.G. Gibson electric for the instrument and hoped to market the guitar at several auction houses, but a British collectibles agency discovered the guitar was a fake. Gross filed his claim in B.C. Supreme Court. ... Nearly seven years after breaking up, Chicago's Urge Overkill are reforming for a brief series of shows beginning January 15 in San Diego. The band, best known for their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," for the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction," are scheduled to play the Troubadour in Hollywood the following day, with shows in Hoboken, New Jersey, and New York slated for February 5 and 6. UO released five albums since 1989, and lead singer Nash Kato dropped a solo album, Debutante, in 2000. ...

Liz Phair continues to support last year's self-titled album with a five-week North American tour beginning February 26 in West Hollywood, California. Opening acts have yet to be chosen for Phair's latest trek, which winds down April 4 in Washington, D.C. ... Since the market's not clamoring for a Gene Simmons doll with wrinkles and a receding hairline, McFarlane Toys will issue a Simmons "Destroyer" action figure in April. The doll will be modeled after the cartoon rendering of Simmons on the cover of Kiss' 1976 album, Destroyer. ...

(Hed) p.e.'s guitarists Sonny Mayo and Wes Greer and drummer Ben "BC" Vaught have left the band, which recently lost its label. But the band hasn't lost its, errr, head. "Hed is very much alive," singer Jahred wrote on the band's Web site. "Myself, Deejay Product and [bassist] Mark [Young] have hooked up with some other fools." No word yet on who those fools are. ... Ben Nightingale, the guitarist for Australia's Sleepy Jackson, has left the band. A spokesperson for the group's U.S. label, Astralwerks, said it was always understood that Nightingale would leave the band due to family obligations and called the split amicable. ...

A couple of Motor City music acts are joining forces to set the year off. Slum Village and up-and-coming singer Dwele are gearing up to embark on a two-week tour starting Wednesday night in New York and ending January 20 in Orlando, Florida. ... Prince's classic flick "Purple Rain" will be released on DVD this summer and will include a special making-of documentary. Both of the Purple One's subsequent films, "Under the Cherry Moon" and "Graffiti Bridge," will also be released at the same time. ... It doesn't get more precious than a book of poetry, featuring contributions by bands such as A Static Lullaby, Finch,, Something Corporate, Taking Back Sunday and the Rx Bandits, being released on Valentine's Day. "Revolution on Canvas" will be sold exclusively at Hot Topic stores and on tour by the participating bands, before hitting book and music stores nationwide. ...

• Master P
• Coldplay
• N.E.R.D.
• Eminem
• George Harrison

George Harrison
Photo: Radical Media, Inc.

Beatles guitarist George Harrison, Prince and ZZ Top will be among next year's seven new arrivals to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The 2004 class also includes Jackson Browne, the Dells, Bob Seger and Traffic, the hall announced Thursday (November 20). The artists will be formally inducted at a March 15 ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Harrison was the first Beatle to go solo, releasing Wonderwall Music in 1968, the score to a film by the same name, but on All Things Must Pass, originally released as a triple album in 1970, "the quiet Beatle" made his true voice heard. The album, featuring the classics "My Sweet Lord" and the title track, is considered among the greatest ever recorded.

The all-star two-day concert he organized the following year, the Concert for Bangladesh, raised money to help the famished Third World country. In the eight albums that followed, Harrison proved himself an accomplished musician, with guitar technique far more advanced than his work with the Beatles, and impassioned songwriter.

Harrison died of cancer in November 2001 (see "Former Beatle George Harrison Dead At 58"). His last album, Brainwashed, was released posthumously the following year. The guitarist becomes the third Beatle to enter into the hall, following John Lennon in 1992 and Paul McCartney in 1999. The group was inducted in 1988.

Prince was one of the more eccentric performers of the 1980s and '90s, having changed his name to a symbol translated verbally as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince." Quirks aside, his body of work is among the most revered in music, blurring the genres of funk, R&B, rock and soul. Two years after his 1978 debut, For You, the Minneapolis resident's Dirty Mind was a harbinger of the overtly sexy sounds to come, including the 1983 classic 1999 and his masterpiece soundtrack to the 1984 film "Purple Rain," loosely based on his life, and in which he also starred.

Through the 1990s, his popularity diminished but his prolificacy did not. Prince released 10 LPs during that decade, including the triple-album Crystal Ball. Prince's influence, both musically and stylistically, can most recently be seen in the Andre 3000 half of Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

No band says big Texas guitar rock like ZZ Top. Guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard — the lone member without the chin hair that became the group's trademark — have released 15 albums in their 33-year career, including this year's Mescalero. Their '70s material, such as 1973's "La Grange," 1975's "Tush" and 1979's "Cheap Sunglasses" are staples of classic-rock radio.

ZZ Top peaked in popularity in the 1980s, with music videos that exemplified their love of hot rods and hot bods. Clips for "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs," all from 1983's Eliminator, featured a dejected main character whose social life was greatly enhanced with the help of three fairy hotties that magically appeared in a souped-up roadster.

Jackson Browne is the epitome of the sensitive California bohemian singer/songwriter. His deeply personal songs, especially from 1974's Late for a Sky, put him in the same class as Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. He co-wrote the Eagles' "Take It Easy" and made his mainstream breakthrough with 1972's "Doctor My Eyes." He got his rock on with later hits "Running on Empty" (1977) and "Somebody's Baby" (1982), which was ingrained in the pop culture canon thanks to "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

Bob Seger's 1978 hit "Old Time Rock and Roll" best sums up the style of his Silver Bullet Band. Seger's piano-based boogie is exemplified on songs like "Night Moves," "Katmandu," "Rock & Roll Never Forgets" and "Hollywood Nights."

Before Steve Winwood's solo career in the 1980s and after his 1960s stint with the Spencer Davis Group, he formed Traffic with guitarist Dave Mason, horn player Chris Wood and drummer Jim Capaldi. The group's biggest hits include "Dear Mr. Fantasy," from their 1967 debut, Mr. Fantasy.

The Dells have been recording and performing in every decade since the vocal quintet formed in 1953. Even more remarkable, they haven't changed their lineup since 1960.

Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after releasing their first record, and they are selected by criteria such as their influence and their contributions to rock and roll's continued development.

John Mellencamp, Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gram Parsons, the Stooges and Patti Smith were also eligible this year but did not receive enough votes (see "George Harrison, Prince, John Mellencamp Among 2004 Rock Hall Nominees").

• George Harrison
• Prince
• ZZ Top
• Traffic
• The Dells

Prince
Photo: MTV

George Harrison, Prince, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne are among those who've made the list of nominees for the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot, a hall of fame spokesperson confirmed Monday.

Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria for consideration include "the influence and significance of the artist's contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll," according to the organization.

Several names that have not made the hall before are back for another try, including the Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, country rock legend Gram Parsons, Bob Seger, the Stooges, Traffic, Patti Smith and early R&B groups the Dells and the "5" Royales. Despite Ozzy Osbourne's attempts to take them off the ballot in 1999, Black Sabbath are back for another attempt, too, though Osbourne has said he thinks the honor is "meaningless."

Already a member as part of the Beatles, if chosen, George Harrison would be inducted on the merits of his solo work. Harrison, who died of cancer in November 2001 (see "Former Beatle George Harrison Dead At 58"), would be the third Beatle to make the grade, as John Lennon and Paul McCartney have already been inducted into the hall. The Beatles' lead guitarist was the first in the group to go solo, releasing his triple-album debut, All Things Must Pass, in 1970, which featured the hit "My Sweet Lord."

Throughout his 25-year career, Prince has confounded as much as he has entertained, but the divinely nasty legend from Minneapolis has created some of the most enduring funk-soul jams in music history along the way. Beginning with 1978's For You and peaking in the '80s with such landmark albums as 1999, Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day, Prince melded the worlds of screaming rock guitar solos with dance music, pop and R&B, with lyrics that unabashedly exposed his carnal desires.

Indiana's John Mellencamp began his career as generic pop singer Johnny Cougar in 1976, but over the course of nearly 30 years in music has become one of the more respected singer/songwriters of his generation. Initially dismissed as a Bruce Springsteen wannabe, Mellencamp hit his stride in the early '80s with such rock-radio staples as "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good." He soon became known as a chronicler of the plight of the downtrodden American farmer and worker, with such folk-inspired albums as Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee. Along with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, Mellencamp helped found the annual Farm Aid concert benefiting small American farms.

Quintessential 1970s California singer/songwriter Jackson Browne began his career in the late '60s, but didn't come to widespread prominence until 1976's The Pretender, which set the stage for his most popular release, 1977's Running on Empty. That album featured the hit title track as well as "Stay/The Load-Out," a ballad that became the template for nearly every "life on the road" tune that followed.

Ballots for this year's nominations were mailed out last week to the voting members of the rock hall, with inductees slated to be announced before the end of the year. The process begins in the spring, when a group of 75 industry professionals made up of record executives, lawyers, managers, journalists and musicians meet to brainstorm potential nominees. Their list is pared down to fewer than 20, with five to eight inductees chosen by a committee made up of 1,500 voters from throughout the music industry. The performers who receive the highest number of votes, and more than 50 percent of the vote, are inducted.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Cleveland. A date and location for the 2004 ceremony has not yet been announced.

• George Harrison
• The Beatles
• Prince
• John Mellencamp
• Jackson Browne

Shania Twain
Photo: Universal

If you're one of those people who grouses that the holiday shopping season seems to come earlier each year, don't bother looking at next week's Billboard albums chart, where a flood of new releases — led by country crossover diva Shania Twain — storm the chart and rake in some early Yuletide coin.

Twain's fourth album, Up!, sold more than 874,000 copies, easily surging past the rest of the pack and into next week's #1 spot, according to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday (November 27).

In all, eight new releases crack the top 20 next week. The pop comp Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 11 — featuring Nelly, No Doubt, Kylie Minogue, Aaliyah, Dixie Chicks and others — debuts in the runner-up slot, selling just under 316,000 copies.

Ja Rule boasts the week's next highest debut, landing at #4 with his The Last Temptation, which moved more than 237,000 copies in its first week in stores. Ja comes in right on the heels of Eminem and the "8 Mile" soundtrack, which holds strong at #3 after selling an additional 281,000 copies.

A few rock veterans also managed to bust into the top 10. Matchbox Twenty's third album, More Than You Think You Are, sold more than 178,000 copies to debut at #6, while the debut album from Audioslave (featuring ex-Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and former members of Rage Against the Machine) will debut at #7 with 162,000 copies sold.

The surge of new blood pushes last week's #1, Jay-Z's The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse, down to #5 on next week's chart. Missy Elliott, a rising Avril Lavigne and Justin Timberlake round out the top 10.

Toni Braxton, Mudvayne and late Beatles guitarist George Harrison will also make the top 20 next week. R&B songstress Braxton's More Than a Woman sold more than 97,000 copies in its first week in stores to debut at #13. Taking a much louder route, Mudvayne will debut at #17 after selling just under 79,000 copies of The End of All Things to Come. Harrison's posthumous solo offering, Brainwashed, sold more than 74,000 copies to debut at #18.

Talib Kweli came thisclose to scoring a top-20 debut with his latest, but the rapper's Quality sold 67,000 copies to come in at #21, missing the top 20 by less than 500 copies.

The week's other notable debuts include Craig David's Slicker Than Your Average at #32, Erick Sermon's React at #71, Cash Money Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 at #87, Susan Tedeschi's Wait for Me at #90 and the "Friday After Next" soundtrack at #114.

• Shania Twain
• Ja Rule
• Jay-Z
• Eminem
• Matchbox Twenty

George Harrison in the studio
Photo: Radical Media, Inc.

The album George Harrison was recording prior to his death last year, Brainwashed, will be released November 19.

The former Beatle was recording the 12-track disc up until two months before he died of cancer at age 58 on November 29 (see "Former Beatle George Harrison Dead At 58"). The first release from "the quiet Beatle" since 1987's multiplatinum Cloud Nine was co-produced by longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Lynne of ELO and by Harrison's 24-year-old son, Dhani.

"Before we started working on the album, ... George would come round my house and he'd always have a new song with him," Lynne said about the sessions in a statement. "He would strum them on a guitar or ukulele. The songs just knocked me out." The album will feature 11 originals and a still-unannounced cover.

"George constantly talked about how he wanted the album to sound," said Lynne, who spent much of the past year completing the material along with Dhani Harrison. "There was always that spiritual energy that went into the lyrics as well as the music."

The final song Harrison completed before his death, "Horse to the Water," was written with Dhani and was released on English bandleader Jools Holland's recent Big Band Rhythm and Blues.

On February 25, Koch Records will release a tribute to Harrison titled Songs From the Material World. Timed to coincide with what would have been Harrison's 60th birthday, World is slated to feature covers of Harrison's solo songs and tracks he penned for the Beatles performed by Julian Lennon, They Might Be Giants, Kinks guitarist Dave Davies, Byrds leader Roger McGuinn and ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett.

Also expected to contribute are Leslie West (Mountain), Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), Todd Rundgren, Al Kooper, former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, Midge Ure (Ultravox), Wayne Kramer (MC5) and the Smithereens, a Koch spokesperson said. Some of the album's proceeds will benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation, a music industry charity that raises funds for cancer, leukemia and AIDS research.

• George Harrison

Paul McCartney
Photo: Capitol

In commemoration of his longtime friend and former bandmate George Harrison, Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance at a tribute concert to the late guitarist in Liverpool, England, on Sunday.

McCartney sang an a cappella version of "Yesterday," changing a lyric from "Why'd she have to go?" to "Why'd he have to go?" in reference to Harrison, who died last November of cancer at the age of 58 (see "Former Beatle George Harrison Dead At 58").

"I thought I should just come on and say how much George would have loved this," he told the cheering crowd, according to Reuters.

The concert was scheduled for Harrison's birthday to pay respects and to raise money for cancer research. The event was announced February 4 and tickets sold out within 24 hours, even though none of the performers were announced at that time.

Aside from McCartney, the evening's bill included Beatles tribute band the Blue Meanies, the Ivy League, Pete Waterman, Ralph McTell and Steve Harley. The Merseybeats, who shared many a bill with the Beatles, also performed.

Read about all of the shows we've recently covered in Tour Reports.

• Paul McCartney
• George Harrison
• The Beatles

Beanie Sigel
Photo: Jason Campbell

If you're a real chart geek, we invite you to tune in Friday night at 5 p.m. ET for "Chart Attack," MTV News' weekly, in-depth look at what's charting where and why. Check out the Chart Attack Web page for more info.

In this week's chart and sales analysis, we synch up the "State Property" and "I Am Sam" soundtracks and survey a host of cinema-related albums from the last decade. Then we'll break out the mixing boards and the petri dishes for a little rumble through the musical lab with the Chemical Brothers.

For The Movies

Considering the rather "still" nature of next week's Billboard 200, any ripple on the weekly albums chart — no matter how slight — looks like a giant sales wave. Such a "tidal warning" was in effect for two of the (relatively) biggest movers and shakers on the chart, with the soundtracks to the films "State Property" and "I Am Sam" making the biggest splash.

"State Property," the soundtrack to the Roc-A-Fella feature starring rappers Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek, was the highest debuting LP on the new Billboard 200, as the record sold more than 52,000 copies to lay claim to the #14 spot on the charts. (see "Mary J.'s Reissue The Only 'Drama' In Stagnant Billboard Top 10"). Those figures should please Roc-A Fella chiefs Jay-Z and Damon Dash (both of whom appear in "State Property" in the guises of characters named "Untouchable J" and "Boss Dame") especially since, aside from Sigel's contributions, the album showcases up-and-comers Freeway, Sparks & Oschino and Young Guns Chris & Neef.

The "I Am Sam" soundtrack, which features the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, and Sarah McLachlan covering Beatles classics such as "Across the Universe," "Mother Nature's Son," "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Blackbird," has managed to sell more than 158,000 copies during the past month and is firmly entrenched at #21 on the Billboard 200.

While Beatles cover tunes are always in vogue, the fact that this record's release comes in the wake of George Harrison's recent passing — not to mention the overwhelming success of the Beatles' 1 compilation (8.05 million sold to date) — gives the album a sense of sobriety, poignancy and immediacy, and its timing could make it one of the early surprises of the new year. With so few major releases in the next few months, "I Am Sam" could enjoy a healthy run on the charts, and it's a pretty safe bet that the LP will enjoy a longer life than the Michelle Pfeiffer/Sean Penn tearjerker that spawned it.

To ride the sales wave created by the "I Am Sam" and "State Property" soundtracks and get you primed for the Academy Awards on March 24, we figured we'd go ahead and take a look at some of the biggest-selling soundtracks and other notable movie albums of the SoundScan era, which dates back to 1991.

According to SoundScan, Whitney Houston's 1992 album for "The Bodyguard" remains the biggest-selling soundtrack, with sales in excess of 11.68 million copies. That figure is good enough to make "The Bodyguard" the fifth best-seller of the last decade, trailing only Shania Twain's Come On Over (14.17 million), Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (13.90 million), Metallica (13.01 million) and Backstreet Boys' Millennium (11.97 million).

Of course, it should come as little surprise that the next largest-selling soundtrack of the last 10 years comes courtesy of "Titanic," the biggest-grossing film of all time. As we mentioned a few weeks back (see "Got Charts? Linkin Park, Shaggy, 'NSYNC Are 2001's Top-Sellers"), the "Titanic" soundtrack spent four months atop the charts in early 1998 and has gone on to sell more than 9.96 million copies.

Aside from those two, there are only a few other soundtrack LPs during the SoundScan era that have sold more than 4 million copies, as best we can tell: "The Lion King" (7.43 million), "City of Angels" (5.28 million), another Whitney Houston film, "Waiting to Exhale" (4.97 million), "Space Jam" (4.7 million), "Forrest Gump" (4.42 million), "Sleepless in Seattle" (4.15 million), and the "Armageddon" soundtrack (4.11 million).

That list may get a new addition in the next few weeks, as the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack currently stands at 3.8 million sold and is still averaging more than 50,000 copies sold per week. "O Brother" looks as if it could easily rack up another 1.2 million in sales during the next 12 months, especially if it wins the Grammy for Album of the Year. If that happens, the LP may end up as the fourth or fifth best-selling soundtrack of the last 10 years.

Other sizable soundtracks include "Pulp Fiction" (3.3 million), "Dangerous Minds" (3.28 million), "Men in Black" (3.06 million), "Romeo + Juliet" (3.03 million), "Coyote Ugly" (2.95 million), "Hope Floats" (2.71 million), "Aladdin" (2.47 million), "The Preacher's Wife" (2.39 million), "Friday" (2.35 million), "Tarzan" (2.34 million), "Pocahontas" (2.32 million), "Beauty and the Beast" (2.19 million), "Dr. Dolittle" (2.17 million), "Save the Last Dance" (2.1 million), "Murder Was the Case" (2.03 million), and "Soul Food" and "The Crow" (both 2.01 million).

The massive "Titanic" soundtrack notwithstanding, blockbuster films don't always translate into blockbuster soundtracks, as evidenced by the album sales for the "Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace" LP. The film, the first installment in George Lucas' six-picture space opera, currently stands as the third highest-grossing film in U.S. history (trailing just "Titanic" and the 1977 original "Star Wars," according to The Hollywood Reporter), but the soundtrack has just sold 993,000 copies.

In comparison, the more hi-fi sci-fi of the "Matrix" soundtrack has sold more than 1.46 million copies to date, even though it was issued the same year as "The Phantom Menace." Other movie albums that have outspaced "SW: TPM" include: "Evita" (1.97 million), "The Wedding Singer" (1.95 million), "The Commitments" (1.88 million), "Moulin Rouge" (1.75 million), "Charlie's Angels" (1.66 million), "Set It Off" (1.59 million), "Batman Forever" (1.58 million), "Selena" (1.56 million), "Mission Impossible 2" (1.44 million), "Rush Hour" (1.40 million), "Rugrats - The Movie" (1.39 million), "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1.37 million), "Romeo Must Die" (1.37 million), "Godzilla - The Album" (1.36 million), "Wild Wild West" (1.35 million), "Pokémon" (1.29 million), "Shrek" (1.27 million), "Bulworth" (1.23 million), "Philadelphia" (1.16 million), "Phenomenon" (1.10 million), "The Player's Club" (1.02 million) and "The Nutty Professor" (1.02 million), among others.

Even if a film is named Best Picture of the Year at the Academy Awards, that doesn't necessarily mean that the soundtrack will be as successful — or even get much of a push. Recent Best Picture winners who enjoyed favorable soundtrack returns include the aforementioned "Titanic" and "Forrest Gump" albums, as well as "Braveheart" (1.32 million), "Dances With Wolves" (1.26 million), and, to a lesser degree, "Gladiator" (540,000), "Schindler's List" (381,000) and "The English Patient" (211,000). Recent Oscar-winning films with soundtrack slackers include "American Beauty" (77,000), "Silence of the Lambs" (45,000) and "Unforgiven" (14,000).

In terms of directors, you can usually count on quality returns from the soundtracks to Cameron Crowe films. Crowe, who wrote for Rolling Stone during the '70s, has had a hand in shaping several auspicious soundtracks, including the grunge-filled "Singles" LP (1.68 million). His two subsequent films, "Jerry Maguire" (659,000) and "Almost Famous" (662,000), did not fare quite as well — and his most recent flick "Vanilla Sky" has produced a soundtrack that has sold just 115,000 copies during the past two months. However, Crowe can take comfort in the fact that the "Almost Famous" soundtrack is beginning to develop a life beyond first run, as — thanks to the promotional magic of cable and special-edition DVDs — the LP is actually selling more copies per week now than it was five months ago.

As for actors/actresses, several soundtracks from Julia Roberts' movies have done quite well over the last decade, dating back to "Pretty Woman" (1.40 million), and including "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1.93 million), "Runaway Bride" (1.42 million) and "Notting Hill" (1.33 million). Of course, not all of Roberts' film soundtracks have done as exceptionally well, with "The Mexican" selling just 14,000 copies and the "Erin Brockovich" soundtrack — the film for which Robert won a Best Actress Academy Award — notching just 11,000 in sales to date.

Cooking With Chemical Brothers

While Julia Roberts and celluloid make for quite an explosive combination, the U.K. dance-music duo known as the Chemical Brothers have developed a rep for mixing their own potent brand of sound potables. Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have returned to the American (non-periodic) charts with a new album, Come With Us, which sold 30,000 copies last week to define its physical properties at #32 on next week's Billboard 200.

Come With Us was the third highest chart entry of the week (behind the "State Property" soundtrack and the Essential Barbra Streisand collection at #15) and debuted at the same position the duo's previous effort, Surrender, did in June 1999. However, Surrender sold more than 42,000 copies out of the gates and has gone on to total more than 402,000 copies — becoming the Chemical Brothers' second best-selling album in the U.S., behind only 1997's Dig Your Own Hole (756,000), yet far ahead of their 1995 debut, Exit Planet Dust (331,000) and 1998's mix album Brothers Gonna Work It Out (165,000).

While it's hard to gauge what sort of half-life the Chemical Brothers' Come With Us will have, chart longevity will undoubtedly play a role, as evidenced by the duo's earlier records. While Exit Planet Dust never managed to crack the Billboard 200, Dig Your Own Hole landed at #14 in April 1997 (after selling 48,000 copies its first week) and went on to log more than six months on the chart, thanks to the singles "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Setting Sun."

In contrast, Surrender spent just 14 weeks on the Billboard, 200, despite the nifty, Escher-esque video for "Let Forever Be," a track that, like "Setting Sun," featured Oasis' Noel Gallagher on vocals. As disappointing as that may seem, it marked a significant upward chart swing from Brothers Gonna Work It Out, which debuted at #95 and spent just that one week in the top 100 and one month in the top 200.

If the Chemical Brothers can "dig in" and hold on through the summer with Come With Us, then the album should do at least as well as Surrender. Until then, look for the Chemical Brothers to keep stirring it up in the clubs and on wax until they can finally discover that missing ingredient for platinum-plated starpower — a fluke crossover hit the size of Moby's "South Side" or Fatboy Slim's 'The Rockafeller Skank."

[In SoundScan we trust. All figures, unless otherwise noted, are according to SoundScan's audited sales numbers and reflect sales as of press time.]

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Busta Rhymes
Photo: J

 If you're a real chart geek, we invite you to tune in Friday night at 5 p.m. ET for "Bangin' the Charts," MTV News' weekly, in-depth look at what's charting where and why. Check out the Bangin' Web page for more info.

In this week's chart and sales analysis, we check in with our favorite dreadlocked rapper and soft-drink pitchman, Busta Rhymes, and wonder what could have gone right with Radiohead's I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings. We also gauge how fans and record buyers chose to honor the memory and music of the late George Harrison.

Can Busta Bust Back To The Beginning?

After a sales misstep with Anarchy, his final album for Elektra Records, Busta Rhymes is hoping that his just-released LP, Genesis, will provide just that — a new beginning.

Thanks to "woo-hah" hot sales, Genesis, Rhymes' first album as part of a new deal with J Records, moved more than 185,000 copies last week and will crash next week's Billboard 200 albums chart at #7 (see "Creed Won't 'Sacrifice' Pole Position On Billboard Chart"), becoming Busta's second straight record to debut in the top 10. Busta's previous album, Anarchy, posted similar numbers upon its release last year, selling 167,000 copies to debut at #4 in June 2000.

Even though it was released in conjunction with Busta Rhymes' theatrical appearance in the John Singleton-Samuel Jackson remake of "Shaft," Anarchy is the smallest-selling album in the Brooklyn MC's solo catalog. Anarchy spent only 14 total weeks during its chart tenure on the Billboard 200 and has tallied just 656,000 in sales, according to SoundScan.

The numbers for Anarchy are dwarfed by those posted by Busta's first solo effort, The Coming, which (after debuting at #6 on the charts in March 1996 with 124,000 copies sold) spent more than 20 weeks in the Billboard 200 on its way to selling more than 773,000 copies to date.

Despite the chaotic sales figures put up by Anarchy, Busta is no doubt expecting Genesis to return him to the fiscal level he achieved with his second and third records, 1997's When Disaster Strikes and 1998's E.L.E., which have posted almost identical figures with 1.64 million and 1.61 million copies sold, respectively.

Anchored by the rapper's breakthrough hit, "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See," When Disaster Strikes achieved the highest chart debut of Busta Rhymes' career by selling 165,000 copies in September 1997 to enter the Billboard 200 at #3 (trailing only Mariah Carey's Butterfly at #1 and LeAnn Rimes' You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs at #2).

Issued shortly before Christmas in 1998, Rhymes' E.L.E. sold more than 235,000 copies during its first week in stores, and holds the "biggest-selling-week" honors for all of Rhymes' albums. However, the holiday sales surge wasn't enough to push E.L.E.'s debut into the top 10 of the Billboard 200, as it instead spent its opening week on the charts at #13. Although it would inch up to the #12 spot in January 1999, it remains the only Busta Rhymes album that failed to spend at least one week inside the top 10.

Regardless of whether it can reach the magical 1.6 million marks of E.L.E. and When Disaster Strikes, look for sales of Genesis to breathe some semblance of life into The Best of Busta Rhymes, a greatest-hits compilation that has been commercially D.O.A. since arriving in stores in October. Since then, The Best of Busta Rhymes has only managed to sell a paltry 20,000 copies and has yet to move more than 3,300 copies in a single week.

What Went Right With I Might Be Wrong?

Before I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings slinks off the Billboard 200 charts entirely (it slides to #166 next week), we'd like to take a moment and ponder what could have been (and maybe should have been) for Radiohead's much-ballyhooed concert record.

Coming on the heels of the band's potent 1-2 combination punch of Kid A and Amnesiac, as well as Radiohead's acclaimed tours of Europe, North America and Japan this summer, I Might Be Wrong was obviously meant as a way to tide fans over until Thom Yorke and company's next proper release. Nothing new there, as Radiohead had previously done something similar by issuing its Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP in spring 1998, almost nine months after releasing OK Computer and featuring several B-sides and unreleased tracks from the OK sessions.

As with I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, the Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP earned enough sales to debut in the upper half of the Billboard 200 albums chart. The seven-track Airbag EP sold 20,000 copies to skid into the charts at #56 during its first week in April 1998, and has since gone on to sell more than 157,000 copies to date, none to shabby given that Airbag is no longer in print in America.

In just three weeks, I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings has already sold over half that number, notching some 83,000 copies in sales, including an impressive first week where over 48,000 copies were sold, propelling the album to a #44 debut on the Billboard 200.

But considering how well Kid A (928,000 copies sold to date) and Amnesiac (628,000) have fared, we're wondering if Radiohead might have missed a golden opportunity to serve up a true, full-length concert record instead. Based upon the early returns for I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings, we think they have.

While we do appreciate the lovely unreleased track, "True Love Waits," that Radiohead chose to include on Live Recordings, we're convinced that the album's relative brevity (eight songs that clock in at just over 40 minutes), when matched with its full-length price, undoubtedly turned some fans right from Wrong.

For a group whose anti-corporate stance is well-documented and who once considered using No Logo as the title for Kid A, it seems that Radiohead would be the kind of act that would want to give fans more product for less money. Instead, I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings is carrying the same, if not higher, sticker price than the band's full-length studio releases — and that's not a-ok for the kids, computer.

Considering how well received Radiohead's summer gigs went, a more typical — and characteristically fan-friendly — move from the band might have been to issue a 70+ minute live album on a single, regularly-priced disc, or even a complete concert across two discs at a discounted price.

When it comes to doling out live material, Radiohead is certainly no Dave Matthews Band, who have several platinum concert albums to their credit, including the 1.36 million-seller Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, as well as Matthews' 1.72 million-seller with guitarist Tim Reynolds, Live at Luther College.

However, based on Radiohead's current following, we're confident that if the Oxford band had issued a more comprehensive version of I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings just in time for Christmas, it would have at least surpassed the sales levels of such recent, moderately successful concert albums as Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium (166,000 copies sold), Ben Harper's Live From Mars (185,000 copies sold), The Roots Come Alive (187,000 copies sold), or Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes' Live at the Greek (199,000 copies sold), numbers that I Might Be Wrong will be lucky to near in its current configuration. Oh, well. Maybe next Christmas ... or Bastille Day.

Remembering Curious George Harrison

As the world learned of the passing of George Harrison last week, many fans turned to music to help them mourn the loss and remember the achievements of the former Beatles guitarist — both as a solo artist as well as a founding member of the Fab Four.

In record stores, fan reaction to Harrison's death helped spur sales of the Beatles' 1 single-disc compilation over the 30,000 mark and into the #73 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The week prior to Harrison's death, The Beatles' 1 — which has already sold some 7.7 million copies since its November 2000 release — sold just 17,000 copies and was down at #146.

Of course, 1 only features one of Harrison's Beatles tunes, "Something," while the other 26 tracks are all John Lennon-Paul McCartney compositions. This leads us to believe that many who picked up the album were primarily interested in reminiscing with Harrison's lead guitar work on such Beatles classics as "She Loves You," "Paperback Writer" and "Hey Jude."

  Other Beatles albums that also witnessed a dramatic upswing in sales last week include Abbey Road (which features a pair of Harrison's most popular Beatles tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun"), which sold 12,000 copies — up from just 4,500 the week before — and The Beatles "White Album" (which includes the apt "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), which sold 9,300 copies, up from 3,100 the week before.

Several of Harrison's solo albums were also warmly remembered by fans and record buyers, with the remastered version of his 1970 triple album masterpiece, All Things Must Pass, garnering the most attention. Containing Harrison's most ubiquitous single, "My Sweet Lord," All Things Must Pass sold more than 13,000 copies and will enter the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart at #26 next week. That's the most the newly remastered version had sold since being issued in January, when it tallied 11,000 copies in its first week in stores. In comparison, All Things Must Pass sold just 900 copies the week before Harrison's death.

The Best of George Harrison, a sampling of Harrison's best known solo work from the early '70s along with several of his Beatles contributions such as "Taxman" and "If I Needed Someone," will also manage to crack the top 50 of the Catalog Albums chart. The album, which had sold just 400 copies a week earlier, moved more than 10,000 copies in the wake of Harrison's death to enter the charts at #39.

Other Harrison albums receiving some much-deserved attention are his 1973 solo effort, Living in the Material World, which sold 1,100 copies last week — up from just 90 copies sold the prior week, and The Concert for Bangla-Desh, which sold 1,000 copies last week — up from just 80 copies sold the week before. The Concert for Bangla-Desh, a document of the 1971 benefit concerts organized by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison, and featuring appearances from Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and Bob Dylan, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1972.

Though he was often referred to as the "shy" or "quiet" Beatle, George Harrison undoubtedly left a musical legacy that will continue to resound for years and across generations to come.

[In SoundScan we trust. All figures, unless otherwise noted, are according to SoundScan's audited sales numbers and reflect sales as of press time.]

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George Harrison
Photo: MTV News

The loss of George Harrison on Thursday (see ) affects people from nearly every facet of the music industry. From artists who've worked with the former Beatles guitarist to those who've only experienced his impact on record, Harrison will be sadly missed, though the legacy he leaves behind will never be forgotten.

Those who personally knew the youngest Beatle describe him as a humble gentleman whose sincerity and kindness were matched only by spiritual devotion and love of music. As one of the first musicians to use his influence for humanitarian endeavors, he paved the way for industry efforts such as Live Aid and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.

His sense of humor was also legendary. During the Beatles' first recording session, when producer George Martin asked the group if they didn't like anything, it was Harrison who reportedly quipped, "Well, first of all, I don't like your tie." Some 40 years later, when reports of Harrison's cancer battle depicted him with one foot in the grave, the feisty guitarist recorded his final song, entitled "Horse to the Water," a riff off the adage "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

Meanwhile, those who knew him from his musical contributions alone stress that there isn't an artist around who hasn't been influenced in some way by Harrison's innovative style. "The Beatles have an impact on every band playing today," said Creed frontman Scott Stapp, before adding that Harrison's musical lineage was equaled by his affable manner. "People always talked about how down-to-earth he was. That's the legacy you want to leave behind."

"We are all devastated by this news. It's deeply sad to lose such a beautiful guy. Luckily Heather [Mills] and I saw George a couple of weeks ago, and true to form, he was laughing and joking. George was a very brave man with a heart of gold, but also someone who didn't suffer fools gladly. I'll always remember that without George it all wouldn't have been possible. I'll miss him dearly and I'll always love him — he's my baby brother." — Paul McCartney, Beatles singer/bassist

"George was a best friend of mine. I loved him very much and I will miss him greatly. Both [my wife] Barbara and I send our love and light to [George's wife] Olivia and [son] Dhani. We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter." — Ringo Starr, Beatles drummer

"I am very saddened by George's death and will miss him enormously. As a guitarist, he invented many classic lines that were much copied by others, and he wrote several very beautiful songs that we will always remember. He was a very complex character, both quiet and funny with a very sweet nature, but he also could be rather combative at times. He was the first musician I knew who developed a truly spiritual side, and he was generous with his time to both charity and to friends." — Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones singer

"To me — George was, always will be, above all, a real gentleman, in the full meaning of the word. We both felt we held similar positions in our respective bands, which formed a special, knowing bond between us. Let's hope he's jamming with John." — Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist

"George has given so much to us in his lifetime and he continues to do so even after his passing with his music, his wit and his wisdom. His life was magical, and we all felt we had shared a little bit of it by knowing him. Thank you, George. It was grand knowing you." — Yoko Ono, widow of Beatles singer/guitarist John Lennon

"George was a wonderful musician and a fine human being. He was the baby of the Beatles, unlike Paul and John, he had a hard time developing his songwriting talent and making his music alone. But he worked hard and with enormous patience, building his music meticulously, he eventually came to write one of the greatest love songs of all time, 'Something.' George was a true friend, intensely loyal, caring deeply for those he loved and he inspired much love in return. Olivia and Dhani gave him the ideal family that he needed, and they have borne his illness with enormous courage and devotion. He was always so proud of them. George loved his garden in England, and creating beauty among his trees and plants was almost as important to him as his music. His marvelous sense of humor is well known, and we always had a good laugh when we were together. ... Now I believe, as he did, that he has entered a higher state. God give him peace." — George Martin, Beatles producer

"George Harrison did on Earth what he came to do. He made people ecstatic with the beauty of his music. His spirit will live on in the hearts of all who he rocked, and I wish him well in his new place. George knew that all things must pass, but his music will last forever. Thank you, George, for making my life as a kid and an adult a way more amazing ride." — Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers singer

"George Harrison was my favorite Beatle. He was the cool, dark side of the Beatles. The songs I loved by them, George Harrison had written. It's a big loss." — Mark Tremonti, Creed guitarist

"George Harrison was always my favorite Beatle. His quiet sensitivity always seemed so noble. His songs seemed sweeter and deeper than the rest. Beyond being an amazing player, his ability to convey such emotion with just his guitar played a huge part in the Beatles' music for me. He was the secret weapon. One of the first guitar leads I ever learned was from the song 'Something,' when I was about 11 years old. I paid tribute to him on our first record with the song 'Oh, George,' a reference to the slide lead. He was always my favorite ... and always will be." — Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters singer/guitarist

"It was my sitar and Indian music which connected me to George in the beginning, but very soon our relationship went beyond that. He was a friend, disciple and son to me. George was a brave and beautiful soul, full of love, childlike humor and a deep spirituality. We spent the day before [he died] with him, and even then he looked so peaceful, surrounded by love. [My wife] Sukanya, [daughter] Anoushka and I are deeply affected by this loss, and our love and prayers are with Olivia and Dhani. George has left so many precious moments and memories in all our lives which will remain with us forever." — Ravi Shankar, sitarist/composer

"There was a certain mysterious and unknowable quality about his music which made him a very attractive figure and gave a whole other dimension to the Beatles." — Bono, U2 singer

"He wrote some of the greatest Beatles songs, but more than that, he had a gentleness and spirituality that made spending time with him a great pleasure. I have been dreading this loss, and I will really miss him." — Paul Simon, singer/songwriter

"George was a good and humble man who believed in the power of love to overcome all adversity. He lived his life without asking anything for himself, and his courage to quietly remind us that God created a world for peace and compassion has had a profound effect on all of our lives." — Billy Corgan, former Smashing Pumpkins singer/guitarist

"George was not only an exceptionally talented recording artist, but a remarkable and spiritual human being. He touched the world not just through his music, but also through his many generous humanitarian contributions and desire for peace around the world." — Hilary Rosen, president/CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America

"The Beatles completely reinvented music forever. There wasn't anything like that before; and definitely that kind of melodic rock becoming so popular and having such an influence on so many bands changed the landscape of music. There's not a band around today that plays rock music that isn't influenced in some way by the Beatles." — Mark Hoppus, Blink-182 singer/bassist

"I'm deeply saddened to hear of the loss of my dear friend George. We've lost one of the most important figures of popular music, but more importantly, one of the kindest, most generous and funny people that I have ever met. All of my sympathy goes to his wife and son, and I would ask that their privacy and feelings are respected." — Jools Holland, former Squeeze singer/keyboardist and host of the BBC's "The Top of the Pops," who collaborated with Harrison on "Horse to the Water," Harrison's final recording

"We lost another Beatle today. It stinks. The Beatles were a huge influence on me. The whole British Invasion was so profound. It is almost beyond words." — Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi guitarist

"George, too, was a dreamer. He believed in making the world a better place, and with his idealism, activism and, most of all, his music, he did exactly that. He lived a life of quiet dignity and today the world is a lesser place." — Mike Mills, R.E.M. bassist

"George. He died as he lived, with dignity, with bravery and with comedy. He inspired all the lives he touched. He was a truly blessed man, loved by his family, his friends and strangers all around the world. I loved him from the first moment I met him and I shall miss his eyes, his laughter, his honesty, and his wonderful guitar-playing. The world has lost a very fine man, but we are all the richer for his life. Thank you, Olivia and Dhani and dear sweet George, for letting [my wife] Tania and [daughter] Lily and me be a part of your incredible family. I hope the world will respect Olivia's request to allow them to honor his passing in peace and dignity." — Eric Idle, member of the Monty Python comedy troupe (Harrison's Handmade Films produced "Monty Python's Life of Brian." Harrison also appeared in Idle's 1978 Beatles parody "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.")

"You always knew where you stood with George, he was totally honest. I feel blessed to have been so close to him. He was a great friend. He wrote brilliantly original songs, played the greatest slide guitar and had the most amazing sense of humor. He really had the 'Inner Light,' and always will. Some of the happiest days of my life were spent in the studio with George." — Jeff Lynne, Traveling Wilburys/ELO singer/guitarist

[This story was updated on 12.03.01 at 11:35 a.m. ET.]

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