Loretta Lynn

Jack White Itching To Record New White Stripes Album

18 Feb 2005 18:57:00 EST

White piles more work on top of Brendan Benson LP, Loretta Lynn collaboration.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by John Norris

Fresh from taking home a pair of Grammys for his work on Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose (and rocking a super-skeevy moustache at the ceremony), Jack White told MTV News that he was itching to get back to Detroit and get busy on a new White Stripes record.

"I'm going home to record in a couple of days," White laughed. "And it should be done pretty quick."

While details on the White Stripes' fifth LP are scarce — the band's publicist didn't even know what White was talking about — it can be assumed that White will record it at the same breakneck pace that he made 2003's Elephant, and Lynn's album too. Plus, he's already been making an album with Detroit buddy Brendan Benson (see "Jack White's Found A New Loretta: And It's A Guy Named Brendan Benson"). So working on the quick is just part of his nature.

"I've done it [this way] for a long time, in my attic and out of my house, making 45s for bands. When bands would come to town, they'd stay at my house and we'd cut an album. [We'd do the same thing with] local Detroit bands," White said. "I've been doing it for as long as I've been writing, and for as long as I've had bands, I've been recording. I never knew too much about the technical side, I just wanted to get things on tape that were soulful. And that's the same thing with [Van Lear Rose]. It was on 8-track, and we did it in 12 days."

There's also the matter of recording a follow-up to Lynn's Rose, which won Grammys for Best Country Album and Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for the tune "Portland Oregon." While White's schedule seems pretty booked for the foreseeable future, Lynn hopes the duo can pencil in some studio time in the near future. She's ready to get back to work with White.

"We haven't talked too much lately. He's been working, and I have too," she said. "We will try to do some songs together pretty soon. I would like to get with him and write some stuff for my new album."

To which White smiled and replied, "Yes, ma'am."

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Serious Flirting Between Jack White And Loretta Lynn In 'Portland' Clip

24 Sep 2004 12:32:00 EDT

Video features 70-year-old singer and 29-year-old producer playfully kissing and snuggling.
By Joe D'Angelo

Jack White repeatedly professed his love for Loretta Lynn while the two were promoting Lynn's latest album, Van Lear Rose. And in the video for the album's new single, "Portland Oregon," the White Stripes frontman makes his admiration perfectly clear.

The clip, directed by Sophie Mueller (Maroon 5, Coldplay), plays up the May-December side of their relationship, as the 29-year-old White and the 70-year-old Lynn make googley eyes at each other throughout the clip. And to top it all off, toward the end of the clip, White even gives the great-grandmother some sugar with a kiss on the lips!

Shot in Memphis, Tennessee, in July, the video opens with White playing the song's guitar intro while leaning up against the wall of a down-home honky-tonk. A smiling Lynn, meanwhile, is eyeing him from the bar, as a nervous-looking White returns her gaze. When White finishes with his guitar heroics, he joins the band, the Do Whaters, on stage. Lynn soon follows and takes her place front and center.

The group performs as scenes of the song's namesake city are intercut throughout the barroom performance. When White steps up to the mic to take his verse, "In a booth in the corner with the lights down low/ I was moving in fast, she was taking it slow," he punctuates the last line with a knowing wink.

It's not all one big honeymoon, however. During the lap-steel guitar solo, the couple are holding hands in a booth against the wall. When White returns the stare of a pretty woman looking his way, Lynn's quick to slap her man back into place.

It's back to bliss by the song's end however. For the last line, the couple sing in unison, "Hey bartender, before you go, pour us one more drink," then pause just long enough to steal a quick kiss before ending with "and a pitcher to go."

One is left to wonder where that last nightcap might lead them.

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Jack White Surprises Loretta Lynn By Cranking Up The Country

11 May 2004 21:08:00 EDT

Stripes singer produced, performed on Van Lear Rose.
By Joe D'Angelo, with reporting by Meridith Gottlieb and Bill Conger

Leave it to a garage-rocker from the Motor City to show living legend Loretta Lynn what a real country album should sound like.

When White Stripes frontman Jack White came to Nashville to produce Lynn's latest album, Van Lear Rose, he dispensed with the kind of fancy studios most country artists from the last 20 years are used to. Instead, he set up an antiquated eight-track recorder in the living room of a house and knocked out the album in 12 days. The resulting down-home sound suited White and Lynn — who's released nearly 50 albums since 1963 — just fine.

"I didn't know it was going to be this country," Lynn said, "but it's as country as I am."

White, who dedicated his band's 2001 album, White Blood Cells, to Lynn, invited the country singer to perform with the White Stripes at a show in New York last year (see "White Stripes Meet The Coal Miner's Daughter At New York Show"). It was around that time that he volunteered to produce her new album.

"Why not? What could it do?" Lynn remembered thinking. "Either make it or break it, it don't make no difference to me."

"Just to meet Loretta Lynn is an honor, let alone work with her," gushed White, who produced, arranged and played on the album. "I'd play tambourine on this record if that was [all I was asked to do], I don't care. I just wanted to be in the same room as her."

For a 70-year-old mother of six, Lynn rocks like all get-out on Van Lear Rose, released April 27. While staying country with lazy waltzes and lap-steel guitars, the album incorporates loud, distorted, spacey atmospheres, confrontational percussion-driven melodies, and even a captivating spoken-word soliloquy that plays out like a campfire tale. The amalgam makes for a progressive country album that's rooted in tradition.

And as she's done in the past with tunes like the feminist anthems "The Pill" and "Don't Come A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," Lynn doesn't mince words. On "Family Tree," she opts not to kick the ass of her husband's mistress because "I wouldn't want to dirty my hands on trash like you."

"I wanted to present each song in the best way possible and bring out the character of each song," White said. "If it was subtle, it needed to be subtle. If she was belting it out, we needed to be intense with it."

"Jack didn't want a polished sound, and he didn't get it either," Lynn added. "He's a great little producer. I see a lot of [legendary country producer] Owen Bradley in this kid. And for him to be so great now, what will he be later on? I think he'll be a greater producer than an artist, and he's already a great artist."

"Portland, Oregon," a duet with White about getting drunk on pitchers of sloe gin fizz and doing things you might regret in the morning, serves as the first single from Van Lear Rose, and it's getting some play at rock radio. White is also expected to join Lynn and her band the Do Whaters (so named by Lynn because they did whatever was asked of them) on tour, and future collaborations are reportedly on the way.

"It's interesting to see how this album will be taken by [rock] fans," White said. "I think a lot of White Stripes fans are already into it. Even if it's just because I'm involved that they check it out, that's all it takes. I wish somebody would've put a Loretta Lynn album in front of me when I was 10 years old."

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For The Record: Quick News On Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jack White And Loretta Lynn, Everlast, Pixies & More

29 Apr 2004 17:21:00 EDT

By MTV News staff report

Jessica Simpson will sing the national anthem at this year's Indianapolis 500, which takes place on May 30. ... Just a few days after Hilary Duff announced plans for her upcoming tour, the teenage pop star added a few more dates to her summer trek. Following a couple of newly announced performances in Los Angeles, May 15 at KIIS-FM's Wango Tango show and May 16's benefit concert for Radio Disney, Duff spliced in a pair of shows in the Tri-State Area. On July 25, she'll be in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while on the following day, Duff travels to Uniondale, New York, for a show at Nassau Coliseum. ...

The White Stripes' Jack White and country legend Loretta Lynn will be making the promotional rounds together on the heels of the release of Lynn's new album, Van Lear Rose, which dropped Tuesday. The pair are scheduled to perform their duet "Portland, Oregon" on the "Late Show With David Letterman" on Monday, followed by appearances on the "Today" show and "Larry King Live." White produced, arranged and plays multiple instruments on Lynn's latest album. ... Kiss' blood-spitting bassist, Gene Simmons, will release his version of the Prodigy's 1997 hit "Firestarter" as the first single from his second solo album, A--hole, which comes out June 8. Directors Mark Klasfeld and Tony Perossian shot a video for the song on Sunday in Los Angeles. On Friday and again on May 7, Simmons will guest star as a vengeful father on NBC's "Third Watch." ...

The Beastie Boys are planning to write an anthology book. To be released in October, "Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science" chronicles the creation of "Fight for Your Right," "Hey Ladies," "So What'cha Want," "Sure Shot," "Intergalactic" and more, with photographs taken by Spike Jonze, Danny Clinch and others. The book comes with two CDs of their hits and B-sides. ... Seven albums and 122 tracks of Beastie Boys music was made available to the iTunes music store this week, coinciding with the digital release of the trio's new single, "Ch-Ch-Check It Out." The music in the store also includes 21 exclusive non-album mixes of Beasties songs. ... To celebrate the first anniversary of iTunes, which has sold more than 70 million songs so far, Apple has given its online music store some new features. The service's third generation now features radio charts from more than 1,000 radio stations, on-demand music videos, movie trailers, and the ability to play songs on up to five personal computers. Previously, users could only transfer songs to three computers. ...

The forthcoming book "Fool the World: An Oral History of the Pixies" started out as a project by a playwright who wanted to make a musical out of the alternative rock band's history, and though the book project ultimately came to fruition first, the play is still forthcoming. Author Josh Frank said the musical will premiere in New York in September. "It actually would have been better if they had not reunited," Frank said. "It's harder to produce a musical about rock history when it suddenly becomes the present again. That doesn't happen much! It's an interesting artistic problem." ... White Trash Beautiful, the fourth solo album from Everlast, is due May 25. The LP follows the former House of Pain rapper's last LP, 2000's Eat at Whitey's. ...

Before he joins Lollapalooza, Danger Mouse, the producer behind The Grey Album, is hitting the road for a six-week tour that kicks off this weekend at Coachella and wraps up in June at the Bonnaroo Festival. Danger Mouse and his rhyme partner, Jemini, will also be joined by Money Mark on the tour. ... After talking about it for months, the Dandy Warhols' The Black Album is finally available on the band's Web site. The 11-track LP was supposed to follow the group's 1995 debut, Dandy's Rule OK?, but had been shelved until now. ... Two live offerings are available on the Web site of Mondo Generator, which features ex-Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri. The album Live at the LA Troubadour and Live at Cain's in San Diego and DVD "Live in the U.S. and Europe" will set you back $14 and $22, respectively. ...

04.28.2004

More than just a J-Kwon music video got shot Tuesday in St. Louis — so did a police van parked near the set. The rapper was filming a video for his next single, "Hood Hop," in his hometown when shots were fired from a passing vehicle blocks away. No one was hurt. Police had been brought into the area to control the crowd of fans who had gathered at the shoot. A spokesperson for the rapper had no comment. ...

The recording industry took legal action against another 477 file-sharers Tuesday. Sixty-nine of those suspected of copyright infringement come from 14 different universities in 11 states, including Brown, Georgia Institute of Technology, Gonzaga, Princeton, Texas A&M, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute. ... The video for the Beastie Boys' new single, "Ch-Check It Out," was directed by MCA's alter ego, Nathaniel Hornblower. The single hits the airwaves Wednesday (April 28), while the clip is expected to surface on Friday. ...

Kanye West will appear on "Selfish," the first single off Detroit Deli: A Taste of Detroit, the new album by Slum Village. The group's follow-up to 2002's Trinity (Past, Present and Future) is due June 1 and also features an appearance by Ol' Dirty Bastard on the cut "Dirty." ... Following his foray into the world of fish tacos, Blink-182's Travis Barker will launch his label, LaSalle Records, next month with the release of What Are You Listening To?, the debut album by the Kinison. The second band signed to the imprint, the Nervous Return, have just finished recording their debut and can be seen on the side stage of the upcoming Blink-182/ No Doubt summer tour. Barker's other band, the Transplants, who'll start work on their second album next month, will release their LP on LaSalle. ...

Cat Power, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, J Mascis, Chavez and Har Mar Superstar are joining forces to curse out cancer. They're all set for the F--- Cancer Benefit, taking place May 11 at New York's Bowery Ballroom. Proceeds from the show will benefit Jackie Farry, a staple of the New York indie-rock scene who has worked with the Breeders, Hole, Stereolab, the Lemonheads and Elliott Smith. ... The fourth annual Siren Music Festival is set for July 17 at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The lineup of Death Cab for Cutie, Blonde Redhead, Har Mar Superstar, TV on the Radio, the Fever, the Constantines, and the Fiery Furnaces is expected to draw a crowd of over 150,000. ...

After a quick break following the end of their U.S. tour on May 8 in Baltimore, the Raveonettes will start work on their follow-up to last year's Chain Gang of Love. The Danish band plans to hit the studio in late summer and have the album out by early next year. ... Judas Priest have announced three summer non-Ozzfest shows in North America: July 26 in Nampa, Idaho; August 4 in El Paso, Texas; and August 18 in Toronto. Venues have not yet been announced. Last week, Hatebreed announced they would open at least two shows with Slayer and Priest. ...

The ex-bassist for Soilent Green, Scott Williams, was the victim of a murder/suicide on Monday in Gretna, Louisiana. According to TV news reports, neighbors heard shots, then called police, who arrived to find two dead men, one man with a gunshot wound to the head and the other to the chest. ...

Testament have hired Painmuseum guitarist Mike Chlasciak (ex-Halford) as a temporary tour replacement for Steve Smyth, who quit earlier this month to join Nevermore. Testament continue to work on the follow-up to their last album of new material, 1999's The Gathering. ... There's no question that the cover art for the upcoming Great White compilation album, Double Dose — a shark in flames — is in horrible taste. But don't blame the band, whose stage pyrotechnics burned down the Station nightclub in Rhode Island last year, killing 100. "Great White is disgusted by the cover and certainly did not approve it or the album's release," the group said in a statement. "We are demanding the immediate cancellation of this release and are taking all legal avenues available to stop it." Double Dose is scheduled for a May 11 release. ...

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New Releases: D12, Loretta Lynn, 'American Idol,' Turk, Black Sabbath & More

26 Apr 2004 21:33:00 EDT

By Abbey Goodman

The Motor City heats up this week with two big releases. D12 welcome you to D12 World, that magical place where "U R the One," the "40 Oz." never stops flowing, and Eminem appears on the lead single, "My Band." Meanwhile, Detroit native Jack White produces Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose and also joins her on a few tracks.

Patti Smith spends this week Trampin' around, while Diana Krall's The Girl in the Other Room finds her covering Tom Waits' "Temptation," Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow," and husband Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue." On the rest of the album, Krall and Costello collaborate on new material.

"American Idol" Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics features the top 12 finalists all souled out on songs like "Chain of Fools" (Fantasia Barrino), "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Diana Degarmo), and "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" (Matt Rogers).

Motörhead, Helmet, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake and Poison are among the bands that play Spin the Bottle on A Tribute to Kiss. Sharing shelf space are Hot Boys rapper Turk's Penitentiary Chances and Joey McIntyre's 8:09.

Finally, a small black box is the star archival release of the week — but it's not just any black box. Black Sabbath's Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 contains the group's eight studio albums — arguably the "big bang" of heavy metal — with all their original cover artwork. Also included are a three-song DVD of a 1970 TV performance and an 80-page booklet (with a velvet cover) containing photos, liner notes, lyrics and a band history.

Out Tuesday, April 27:

John Abercrombie Quartet - Class Trip (ECM)
Black Sabbath - Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 (Rhino)
Paul Bley - Nothing to Declare (Justin Time)
The Body Acoustic - The Body Acoustic (Chesky)
Ed Burleson - The Cold Hard Truth (Palo Duro)
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Between Here and Gone (Columbia)
François Carrier - Travelling Lights (Justin Time)
Marilyn Crispell Trio - Storyteller (ECM)
D12 - D12 World (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) Read: "Eminem: Rolling The Dice On D12"
Buy Now: D12 World (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls (8 Ft.)
Tinsley Ellis - The Hard Way (Telarc)
The Fiction - I Told Her That I Like Living in a Box (Level-Plane)
Béla Fleck & Edgar Meyer - Music for Two (Sony Classical)
Jason Forrest - The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash (Sonig)
Jerry Garcia/David Grisman - Been Around the World (Acoustic Disc)
Jerry Gaskill - Come Somewhere (Inside Out)
Alan Hewitt Project - Noche de Pasion (215)
Louise Hoffsten - Knäckerbröd Blues (Memphis International)
Jolie Holland - Escondida (Anti)
Jersey - Generation Genocide (Universal)
Jimmie's Chicken Shack - Re.present (Koch)
Martyn Joseph - Whoever It Was That Brought Me Here Will Have to Take Me Home... (Appleseed)
Juvenile - Juve the Great: Screwed and Chopped (Universal)
Frank Kimbrough - Lullabluebye (Palmetto)
Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room (Verve)
Steve Kuhn Trio - Promises Kept (ECM)
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (Interscope) Read: "Jack White Produces Country Star Loretta Lynn While Healing From Car Crash"
Buy Now: Van Lear Rose (Interscope)
Joey McIntyre - 8:09 (Artemis)
Buy Now: 8:09 (Artemis)
Marion Meadows - Players Club (Heads Up)
Nekromantix - Dead Girls Don't Cry (Hellcat)
Jane Olivor - Safe Return (PS Classics)
The One AM Radio - A Name Writ in Water (Level-Plane)
Sam Phillips - A Boot and a Shoe (Nonesuch)
John Pizzarelli - Bossa Nova (Telarc Jazz)
Janis Siegel - Sketches of Broadway (Telarc Jazz)
Patti Smith - Trampin' (Columbia)
Otis Taylor - Double V (Telarc Jazz)
Turk - Penitentiary Chances (Koch)
Kim Waters - In the Name of Love (Shanachie)
Dale Watson - Dreamland (Koch)
Paul Wertico - Stereonucleosis (A440)
Various artists - "American Idol" Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics (RCA) Read: "Jon Peter Lewis Tries 'My Girl,' Fantasia Barrino Does Aretha For 'Idol' LP"
Various artists - Hayao Miyazaki (Milan)
Various artists - Spin the Bottle: A Tribute to Kiss (Koch)
Various artists - Women of Africa (Putumayo)
Various artists - "Godsend" soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande)
DVD: Beyoncé - Live at Wembley (Sony Urban/Columbia)

May 4:

Buckethead - Population Override (Ion)
Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb)
Read: " 'American Idol' Finalist Kimberley Locke Is Radio's '8th Wonder'"
Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive)
Various artists - "The L Word" soundtrack (Tommy Boy)

May 18:

Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos (Maverick)
Buy Now: So Called Chaos (Maverick)
Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)
Buy Now: You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)

May 25:

Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista)
Read: "Avril Lavigne Album Preview: Rock Rules On Under My Skin"
Buy Now: Under My Skin (Arista)

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For The Record: Quick News On J-Kwon And Chingy, Jack White And Loretta Lynn, Omarion, Scary Spice & More

30 Mar 2004 17:48:00 EST

By MTV News staff report

Cheers to the Lou. J-Kwon has kept his promise to keep the remix to his hit "Tipsy" "so so St. Louis." He just finished a new version of his track featuring Chingy and Murphy Lee. ...

U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux has ruled that all civil suits filed regarding the 2003 Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, will be handled in federal court. The judge announced his ruling on Monday, stating that the federal court system has authority to handle cases involving accidents in which 75 people or more died and a defendant lives in a different state than the one in which the accident took place. ... Country legend Loretta Lynn's first album in four years, Van Lear Rose, features a guest appearance by the White Stripes' Jack White, who also produced and arranged some tracks. After the Stripes' White Blood Cells was dedicated to Lynn, the singer opened for the band and sang several duets with Jack at a New York show last year. Preceded by the single "Portland, Oregon," Van Lear Rose is due April 27. ...

Ja Rule, Omarion, Courtney Love, MC Lyte, Ice-T and Jermaine Dupri were among the celebs who came to New York's Spice Market on Monday to celebrate the release of Janet Jackson's new album, Damita Jo. ... Missy Elliott's "Pass That Dutch" and Christina Aguilera's "Fighter" will be the leading contenders at the 13th annual Music Video Production Association Awards with six nominations each. Dave Meyers ("Pass That Dutch"), Floria Sigismondi ("Fighter"), David LaChapelle (No Doubt's "It's My Life"), the Malloys (Metallica's "St. Anger") and Sophie Muller (Pink's "Trouble") will vie for Director of the Year at the ceremony, May 20 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. ...

Queens of the Stone Age will release a limited-edition EP called Stone Age Complication on April 20. The disc will feature six B-sides, half of which will be covers: the Kinks' "Who Will Be the Next in Line," Subhumans' "Wake Up Screaming" and the Cramps' "The Most Exalted Potentate of Love." The collection will also feature the U.N.K.L.E. remix of "No One Knows" and the two originals "Born to Hula" and "The Bronze." Only 25,000 copies of the EP will be printed, and the disc will only be available at select retail outlets. ... Metallica fans in Sweden are trying to convince government officials to erect a stone in memory of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. The fans have named the project "Cliff in Our Minds." Burton died in a 1986 bus accident near Ljungby, Sweden. ...

Ryan Adams has released a three-song EP called Moroccan Role which is only available through iTunes. The disc features the previously unreleased tracks "Ah Life," "I'm Coming Over" and "Don't Even Know Her Name." ... Reunited San Francisco thrash metal band Exodus will launch a North American tour on April 10 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The dates, which run through May 9 in Santa Ana, California, will be to support the band's new album, Tempo of the Damned. ...

Erich "Mancow" Muller, a syndicated shock jock from Chicago, has sued a listener for filing multiple indecency complaints against his morning show. Mancow is accusing Chicagoan David Smith of filing more than 60 FCC complaints and pressuring sponsors to leave the show, and is seeking $3 million and a court order to stop him from filing more complaints. Mancow has been fined for six different shows as part of the FCC's recent crackdown on so-called offensive broadcasting. ... Dax Shepard from "Punk'd" is making his second guest appearance on "Life With Bonnie" this week. Though he last played a young director on an episode that aired just a month ago, Shepard this time takes on the role of a plastic surgeon who leaves his mark on Bonnie Hunt. The episode, called "Nip, Tuck and Roll," airs Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ...

Members of the Spice Girls and 98 Degrees are turning up the heat for the Broadway production of "Rent." Melanie Brown, a.k.a. Scary Spice, will be taking on the part of Mimi, starting April 16, and Drew Lachey, a.k.a. Nick's brother, will be taking the part of Mark, a role Joey Fatone once filled. Brown's stint will run through September, the month Lachey joins the cast, which means they'll overlap for a few weeks. ... The Polyphonic Spree have set a July 13 release date for Together We're Heavy, the many-membered group's second album. Tripping Daisy/ PJ Harvey collaborator Eric Drew Feldman produced the album for the Spree, who are about to hit the road with David Bowie. ...

Swedish melodic death-metal band In Flames will launch a tour with Killswitch Engage on May 3 in Pontiac, Michigan. Dates run through May 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia. In Flames' new album, Soundtrack to Your Escape, comes out April 6; the third Killswitch Engage record, The End of Heartache, will be released May 11. ... Late-'80s industrial/thrash band Prong will begin a tour of North America on April 29 in Sacramento. Dates run through May 29 in Fort Collins, Colorado. The stint will be the band's first in eight years. Prong's latest LP, Scorpio Rising, came out in November. ...

03.29.2004

It's no April Fool's Day joke — Michael Jackson is receiving a humanitarian award, despite the current child-molestation charges hanging over his head. The African Ambassadors' Spouses Association, is honoring the embattled singer for his worldwide humanitarian efforts, as he's reportedly given more than $50 million over the years to various charities, including some that feed the hungry in Africa. Jackson is expected to accept the award in person at the ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 1. ...

In support of their debut album, Tough Luv, Roc-A-Fella's Young Gunz will join the next leg of Kanye West's spring tour. Their run begins April 3 in San Francisco, goes down the West Coast and ends up in Detroit on April 16. The rest of the Kanye tour runs through the beginning of May. ... Lance Bass may not be going to space anytime soon, but he's going to drop from the sky — for a good cause. The 'NSYNC singer is among the hundreds of people currently signed up for Operation Freefall, a national skydiving event created to raise awareness about sexual assault. The event, sponsored by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and SOAR (Speaking Out About Rape), is scheduled to take place April 24 across 37 drop zones. More information is at Operationfreefall.com. ...

Jan Berry, one half of '60s surf rock duo Jan and Dean, died Friday in his home when he stopped breathing after suffering a seizure. He was 62. With Dean Torrence, the pair were pioneers of the West Coast genre, penning the hits "Deadman's Curve," "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena" and "Surf City" with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. A car accident in 1966 left Berry partially paralyzed with severe brain damage. ... PJ Harvey's sixth album, Uh Huh Her, will be released in June. Tracks on the disc, the follow-up to 2000's Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, include "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth," "Shame," "The Pocket Knife," "The Letter" and "Cat on the Wall." ...

The Suffolk Wildlife Park in England has named a baby giraffe after the Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins. Also, councilors in the band's hometown of Lowestoft, Norfolk, have suggested that a road be named after the group. ... Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam are the first crop of artists announced to honor the late country rocker Gram Parsons with a couple of concerts July 9 and 10. Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons will take place at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California, and at the Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City. The bizarre circumstances surrounding Parsons' death from a lethal alcohol and morphine combination in 1973 are chronicled in the upcoming film "Grand Theft Parsons," starring Johnny Knoxville and Christina Applegate. ...

The latest albums by the White Stripes, Kid Rock, Iggy Pop and Obie Trice, among others, will battle it out for Outstanding National Major Label Album at the annual Detroit Music Awards, taking place April 23 at the State Theatre. Rock's "Picture" and "Feel Like Makin' Love," Eminem's "Sing for the Moment" and "Superman," the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," and Iggy's collaboration with Sum 41, "Little Know It All," are competing in the Outstanding National Single category. ... New York radio station Z100 has just announced the initial lineup for its annual celebrity blowout Zootopia, taking place May 21 at Madison Square Garden. Scheduled to appear at the concert so far are Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas, William Hung of "American Idol" and Liz Phair. The station says more acts will be added shortly. ...

This year's Reading and Leeds festivals will be headlined by the White Stripes, the Darkness and Green Day. The tandem events, which take place August 27 to 29 in Reading and West Yorkshire, England, will also feature 50 Cent, the Offspring, the Hives, the Streets, Franz Ferdinand, Lostprophets, Morrissey, Ash, the Libertines and others. ... "Touch Me I'm Sick," an exhibit of photos by grunge lensman Charles Peterson, will be on display from April 1 to May 1 at the Powerhouse Gallery in New York. The show, named

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For The Record: Quick News On Avril Lavigne, Nick Carter, White Stripes And Loretta Lynn, Britney Spears, Zwan & More

27 Mar 2003 16:44:00 EST

By MTV News staff report

Avril Lavigne has donated a signed drum used in her performance at this year's Brit Awards to an auction raising money for a 5-year-old British boy fighting cancer. The Barnet & Potters Bar Times newspaper (www.barnettimes.co.uk) is organizing the auction. ...

Want to get your hands on an unreleased Nick Carter song? You might have to sift through a lot of cereal to find "Don't Walk Away" — it's on one of four CDs included in boxes of General Mills brands such as Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Trix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. As part of Nickelodeon's upcoming Kids Choice 2003 Awards (airing April 12), the cereal brand — a title sponsor of the awards — is offering a four-CD collection of pop hits from such past performers as the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, 'NSYNC, and Nick and Aaron Carter. Look for the specially marked boxes to hit grocery stores soon. ...

The White Stripes have announced the opening acts for their upcoming U.S. tour. Not so unexpected are the Whirlwind Heat, signed to Jack White's label Third Man Records, but warranting a "say WHAT?" is the warm-up act for the April 19 New York show: legendary country singer Loretta Lynn. ... Before Dashboard Confessional's A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar hits stores in July, Chris Carrabba's group will re-release its 2000 debut, The Swiss Army Romance, with two bonus tracks: "Hold On" and "This Is a Forgery." Dashboard will promote the re-release, due April 22, with 10 New York and Los Angeles shows beginning May 14 at S.O.B.'s in the Big Apple. ...

Zwan are planning a return to the studio in the fall to record some of Billy Corgan's acoustic songs for an album due early next year under the moniker Djali Zwan. The sessions will be documented for a DVD. ... Tommy Lee will play a kingpin on the April 4 episode of the Fox series "Fastlane." Supermodel Naomi Campbell will play a porn distributor in the same show. ...

"None more black" is how much darker an upcoming Danzig-led multi-band tour can get. The Blackest of the Black Tour, which also features Opeth, Superjoint Ritual, Behemoth, Nile and Lacuna Coil, has only two confirmed dates — May 2 in Phoenix and May 3 in Los Angeles — though additional shows are promised. When Danzig take the stage for their headlining slot, they'll be with a new bassist. Howie Pyro, (formerly of D Generation) has been replaced by Jerry Montano. ... CKY have canceled the 10 remaining dates of a headlining tour after guitarist Chad I Ginsburg broke his tailbone on Tuesday and was ordered to rest for four weeks. Ginsburg was about to sign autographs for fans when he slipped down stairs at the House of Blues in Chicago. ...

Joey Fatone is not the only Jive Records artist recording a comedy album: Weird Al Yankovic has signed with the label and will release the follow-up to 1999's Running With Scissors on May 20. Meanwhile, the singer of such classics as "Amish Paradise" and "It's All About the Pentiums" will appear on the April 6 episode of "The Simpsons." ... Ministry drummer Tia Sprocket has left the band and been replaced by Rey Washam, who played on the last three Ministry studio albums and the band's last two tours, but who originally didn't want to tour this year. Ministry's trek will begin March 28 in Tucson, Arizona, and will finish up May 25 in Somerset, Wisconsin. ...

The Birmingham, Alabama, city council has denied Widespread Panic a permit to perform two concerts there in May. Authorities arrested hundreds (mostly on drug charges) and one fan overdosed on ecstasy when the jam band performed near the city a year ago. ... Television producer Chuck Barris, whose 1982 memoir was made into the movie "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," will fulfill his lifelong dream of releasing an album when Confessions of a Dangerous Singer is released on April 8. Barris, whose first success in entertainment was writing the 1962 Freddy Cannon hit "Palisades Park," recorded standards and his own songs for the album. ......

03.26.03

Karen of "Will & Grace" will have met her match when Madonna makes her small-screen debut as a guest star on an upcoming episode of the comedy, which she just shot in Los Angeles, according to an NBC spokesperson. Madonna's character, Liz, rocks Karen's world as her new roommate, who happily shares many of her eccentricities, including her taste in men. The high-maintenance Liz also shares many of Madonna's attributes — including her love of music — as she works as a manager of a CD distribution center which specializes in "Hits of the '80s"-type compilations. Madonna was joined on the set by her gal pal Sandra Bernhard. The episode, called "Dolls & Dolls," airs April 24 at 9 p.m. ...

In an attraction that has just been added to the WWE's Wrestlemania XIX on Sunday, Brooklyn, New York's Fabolous will square off against 240-pound Boston wrestler John Cena. Fab hasn't gone totally crazy — he won't be fighting in the ring. Instead, the platinum MC will be defending the honor of hip-hop. He accepted Cena's open challenge for a rap-off. ... Cam'ron and the Diplomats celebrated Big Willie style in their hometown of Harlem on Tuesday. Besides standing on parked cars and throwing out money to their fans on 125th Street, the trio signed autographs at the uptown HMV and held their album-release party at club Sessa. Keith Murray, Drag-On, Dame Dash, Noreaga and Cam's "Paid in Full" co-star Wood Harris were among those in attendance. ...

Kelly Rowland and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are the latest artists to cancel their European tours for fear of traveling while war is being waged in the Middle East. Rowland's spokesperson said the State Department suggested postponing her dates, while a statement on Petty's Web site says the decision was made after consultation with European promoters. ... Add Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to the list of musicians who have recorded anti-war songs. The acoustic "Life During Wartime," which includes the lyric "A real war to fight against/ Instead of our petty disagreements/ How can I rationalize my life during wartime?," is available on www.greenday.com. ... Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore has launched www.protest-records.com, a site specifically designed to give away music protesting the U.S.-led military action in Iraq. To date, the site boasts tracks from the Beastie Boys and Cat Power, among others. ...

Good Charlotte's Benji Madden appears on "Jump Around," the first single from reggae punk band Morgan Heritage's Three in One, due April 29. Madden met the band, which features the five children of reggae singer Denroy Morgan, on last year's Warped Tour. Morgan Heritage are promoting their sixth album, which was produced by Bobby Digital (Beenie Man, Bounty Killer), with a headlining tour kicking off April 10 in Philadelphia. ... Pop newcomer Stacie Orrico will sing the Angels' 1963 #1 single "My Boyfriend's Back" on an upcoming episode of the NBC drama "American Dreams." Orrico's latest self-titled album, which includes the "TRL" hit "Stuck," was released Tuesday. ...

Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society will support their new album, The Blessed Hellride, due April 22, with a two-week trek beginning Friday in Sacramento. ... Oasis's Liam Gallagher, along with Paul Weller and Hope Sandoval, have contributed guest vocals to the third album from British electronic duo Death in Vegas. Titled Scorpio Rising, the album is due June 17 and features a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby." ... Third Eye Blind will launch a 20-date tour of small clubs April 7 in Toledo, Ohio. Shows will run through May 12 in State College, Pennsylvania. The band's new album, Out of the Vein, comes out May 13. ...

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Photos | 47th Annual Grammy Awards Red Carpet

11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST

47th Annual Grammy Awards Red Carpet

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