Spiritualized's Jason Pierce (file)
Photo: Arista

Jason Pierce — the oft-troubled mastermind behind spacey British rock act Spiritualized — is recovering at his home following a three-week stay in a London hospital during which he was placed in intensive care and needed to be revived by doctors twice.

In a post on Spiritualized.com, Pierce's wife, Juliette, wrote on Tuesday that "after nearly dying twice in the last two and a half weeks, Jason has ... made an alarming and brilliant recovery and is due home today. He is still fragile and really weak, weighing in at maybe 8 stone [about 112 pounds] ... but love and happiness are on his side."

In an e-mail to MTV News, manager Marc Marot expounded on Pierce's illness and subsequent hospitalization.

"Jason contracted advanced periorbital cellulitis with bilateral pneumonia, with rapid deterioration [that] required intensive care ... for type 1 respiratory failure," he wrote. "It was, at best, touch-and-go for some time. The medical team at the Royal London Hospital twice revived him during the course of his intensive treatment."

Periorbital cellulitis is an infection of the soft tissue around the eye. It's usually caused by an infection that has spread from the membrane covering the eye — pink eye, for example — or from the nose and throat. That, coupled with bilateral pneumonia (pneumonia in both lungs), sent Pierce into respiratory failure.

In his 20-plus-year career (first with druggy psychedelic rockers Spacemen 3, then with Spiritualized), Pierce's ruminations on his own mortality, coupled with frank admissions of drug and alcohol abuse, have earned him a devoted fanbase around the world. At the time of his illness, Pierce had been working on a new Spiritualized album, which his label, Sanctuary Records, said is tentatively due next year. In her post, Pierce's wife wrote that the new Spiritualized songs stay in that vein, but strangely seemed to predict his impending illness.

"[Jason had] no thoughts about how lucky he is. He just mentioned how mad it is that his record is written almost like he was ill before," the post read. "Not that he's into ESP and stuff, just in the most beautiful way."

• Spiritualized

Busta Rhymes is planning a headlining tour for the spring, after he shoots a video for "I Know What You Want," a collaboration with Mariah Carey and the Flipmode Squad and the next single from his LP It Ain't Safe No More. "I want to get the video out of the way before we hit the road, so we ain't got to worry about none of that and can just focus on showing the love to the people," he said at Monday's American Music Awards. ... Also at the AMAs, Big Boi said that the Outkast clothing line, which was put on hold while they recorded their upcoming double album, will make a big splash in the spring. The rapper said Macy's, Bloomingdale's and other major department stores have agreed to carry the line. ...

Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee have reached a settlement agreement regarding the custody of their two children, Brandon and Dylan. The ex-spouses agreed to share custody, according to their lawyers, though a provision of the agreement allows Anderson to bring the kids with her if she relocates to Michigan within the year to live with her fiancé, Kid Rock. ... Celine Dion will release a new album, One Heart, on March 25, the same day her Las Vegas extravaganza "A New Day ..." opens at the new Caesars Palace Colosseum. The first single will be "I Drove All Night," originally recorded by Roy Orbison in 1988 and a year later by Cyndi Lauper. The song will double as the centerpiece of Chrysler's new "Drive & Love" ad campaign. ...

Two albums chock-full of Spiritualized rarities will be released on Arista/Spaceman Records this year. The first hits record stores in March and features 11 tracks that were never before available on LP. The second release, slated for fall, will boast obscure 7-inch releases and cuts from their Medication EP. ... Budding remixers can download various vocal and instrumental tracks of Delerium's new single, "After All," from their Web site for a remix contest beginning January 17 and ending February 14. The winning remix will be featured on the group's new album, Chimera, due May 20. ...

Phil Collins, Queen, Van Morrison and Little Richard will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the 34th annual ceremony and awards dinner on June 12 in New York. ... If you've got enough cash, you could sing for Def Leppard. The band is holding an auction on eBay, and the winner will get to belt out "Pour Some Sugar on Me" with the band at its Hallam FM Arena show in their hometown of Sheffield, England. Bidding is currently up to 4,200 pounds (about $6,300), and runs through January 23. All proceeds will go to Help a Hallam Child, which provides assistance for needy kids in the English regions of South Yorkshire and the North Midlands. ...

Evil death metal dudes Morbid Angel are currently hard at work on the follow-up to 2000's Gateways to Annihilation, their publicist said. The disc is tentatively slated for a September release. ... Strapping Young Lad will issue their third studio album, SYL, on February 11. The disc, the band's first in nearly six years, was recorded in Vancouver and was produced by guitarist and frontman Devin Townsend. A full tour with Townsend's other outfit the Devin Townsend Band will follow the album's release. ...

01.15.03

Before touring together this summer, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera will headline the NBA All-Star Read to Achieve Celebration, which will air February 8, the day before the 52nd annual all-star game. B2K and LL Cool J will also perform at the hour-long event that will be simulcast on 12 different networks, including ABC, TNT and Nickelodeon, at noon ET. ...

More performers have been added to the pre- and post-shows for the Super Bowl. Bon Jovi will kick off the post-game festivities, while Styx will join the pre-show lineup, with already announced performers Santana, Beyoncé Knowles, and Michelle Branch. The Super Bowl airs live on ABC on January 26. ... Vanessa Carton will play Dusty Springfield in an episode of "American Dreams" filming on Saturday and airing February 9. The NBC drama's February 16 episode will feature India.Arie as Nina Simone. Usher, Michelle Branch and Nick Carter were guests during last fall's sweeps period. ...

D'Angelo was granted a continuance Wednesday for his resisting-arrest and assault charges stemming from a November road rage incident. A Chesterfield, Virginia, district court judge gave the R&B singer, whose real name is Michael Archer, a new court date of March 12. ... Those wondering what Clash songs the band's late singer/guitarist Joe Strummer considered essential will find out March 11, when the two-disc retrospective Essential Clash arrives. Before his death in December, Strummer selected the 40 songs for the digitally remastered set, which includes "Janie Jones" and "White Riot" and rare photos in the liner notes. ...

Mekhi Phifer, who accepted an American Music Award for Eminem at Monday's ceremony, said after the show he and his "8 Mile" co-star are planning another film project together. When asked if it would be a sequel, perhaps chronicling Slim Shady's later years, he answered, "I'm not sure about that." Phifer's next film is "Honey" with Jessica Alba and Lil' Romeo. ... Ice-T premiered his new clothing line, Ice-Wear, Tuesday night in New York. Besides yakking it up with such celebs as Keith Murray about his new apparel, the rapper/actor revealed at the party that he will be putting out a new album with his rock group Body Count this year. ...

Tori Amos is taking Scarlet out for another walk. The flame-haired songstress will launch her second North American tour in support of her latest album, Scarlet's Walk, on February 19 in Boca Raton, Florida. The monthlong, 19-date stretch concludes March 19 in Erie, Pennsylvania. ... Two bands fronted by some of the best hairdos in rock will share the stage on a tour kicking off February 8 at Penn State University. Bon Jovi and the Goo Goo Dolls are teaming up for 36-show tour that winds down April 19 in Las Vegas. ...

"Great Tastes Just Within Reach Vol. II," the second fundraiser cookbook from Kevin Richardson's Just Within Reach charity, is available online at www.alwjwr.com. The Backstreet Boy wrote the forward and provided recipes (in the Down Home Kentucky Grub section) for the book. ... John Mayer will release his first DVD and VHS, "Any Given Thursday," on February 11. The concert video was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 12 and also features backstage footage of the singer/songwriter. ...

Blink-182's clothing line, Atticus, will release its second compilation, Dragging the Lake II, on March 18 via Side One Dummy Records. The album will feature unreleased tracks from Blink-182, Box Car Racer, Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, Suicide Machines, Sparta, Rocket From the Crypt, Finch and more. ... Side One Dummy is also releasing a Vans Warped Tour 2003 compilation on May 20 featuring more than 50 bands. ... LeAnn Rimes said at Monday's American Music Awards she will release "Suddenly" as the second single from her fall release, Twisted Angel. Rimes is hoping the more rock and roll track will appeal to fans of Avril Lavigne and Pink. ...

The Recording Academy will present its Technical Grammy Awards to engineer Geoff Emerick and audio equipment manufacturer Shure Incorporated on February 22, the night before the Grammys return to Madison Square Garden. Emerick was the engineer at Abbey Road Studios who worked on several classic Beatles albums, including Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, while Shure is best known for quality microphones, including some of the first wireless models. ... And speaking of the Grammys and geeky technology stuff, this year's show will mark the first time an awards show will be broadcast in High Definition TV and 5.1 Surround Sound. ...

• Mariah Carey
• Busta Rhymes
• Tommy Lee
• Kid Rock
• Spiritualized

Spiritualized's Jason Pierce
Photo: Dedicated/Arista

Space-rockers Spiritualized are ready to release their fourth studio LP, Let It Come Down, on September 11, according to the band's publicist.

The studio follow-up to 1997's critically acclaimed Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space took two years to record, beginning in London's Air Studios and moving to the legendary Abbey Road Studio Two when the time came to track the lush orchestral and choral arrangements saturating the album's 11 songs. Singer/guitarist Jason Pierce wrote the album and shares production credit with guitarist/keyboardist John Coxon, who also helmed Ladies and Gentlemen in addition to his work with Everything But the Girl and Spring Heel Jack.

More than 100 musicians, including gospel and choral singers, joined Pierce, Coxon, keyboardist Thighpaulsandra, saxophonist Ray Dickaty, guitarist Doggen, bassist Martin Shellard, drummer Kevin Bales and percussionist Tom Edwards in recording the band's most ambitious effort to date.

Five brass players will supplement the lineup for a U.S. tour expected to commence in October.

Spiritualized's most recent release was the 1998 live album Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997. Let It Come Down track list, according to Spiritualized's publicist:

• "On Fire"
• "Out of Sight"
• "Don't Just Do Something"
• "The Twelve Steps"
• "The Straight and the Narrow"
• "Do It All Over Again"
• "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You"
• "Stop Your Cryin'"
• "Anything More"
• "Won't Get to Heaven (The State I'm In)"
• "Lord Can You Hear Me"

• Spiritualized

Spiritualized is floating in another space these days. Britain's "New Musical Express" reports that the neo-psychedelic group's main man, Jason Pierce, sent pink slips to nearly all of his bandmates just weeks after he had them sign employment contracts.

• Spiritualized

When William Reid stormed offstage during a Jesus and Mary Chain show in Los Angeles on September 12, few gave the band much of a chance of surviving and completing its first U.S. tour in close to five years.

The band was supposed to be on the road to support its critically-acclaimed new record, "Munki," but the behind-the-scenes pressure of making the album eventually came to a head during the House of Blues concert, which ended with William and Jim verbally slugging it out on-stage.

But after the abbreviated L.A. gig, Jim Reid and longtime bassist/guitarist Ben Lurie quickly decided that what was left of Jesus and Mary Chain would soldier on and fulfill its road commitments -- including a string of tour-ending dates set for Japan.

"I've actually enjoyed myself on this tour," Jim Reid said,

Future plans, including those for the Mary Chain and its offer to cover the Pixies' "Debaser" for an upcoming tribute record, remain in limbo. Both Lurie and Jim Reid indicated their immediate post-JAMC tour plans would focus on a new band with members of the British ambient pop-group, Spiritualized.

"[Ben and I] have been talking about doing a project outside the Mary Chain for a while," Reid explained,

Lurie and Reid will head into the Mary Chain's recording studios, the Drugstore, with Spiritualized drummer Damon Reece and bassist Sean Cook, to start work on demos for the as-yet-unnamed country group early next year.

• The Jesus & Mary Chain
• Spiritualized

Radiohead is bringing its acclaimed live show back to the States, and Spiritualized and Björk will be along for support.

When the tour kicks off on March 28 in Houston, Spiritualized (a group whose ethereal "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" was almost as acclaimed as Radiohead's "OK Computer" last year) will be handling the opening spot. According to a spokesperson for the band, Björk is also confirmed to open four shows on the tour in Toronto, Montreal, Worcester, Massachusetts, and New York City.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Radiohead confirmed to MTV News that the band is currently shooting footage that may appear in an upcoming home video, but could not confirm the nature of the video or the footage it will contain. The "Los Angeles Times" recently reported that the home video would be dubbed "Meeting People Is Easy" and would contain the usual mix of performance footage and behind-the-scenes chicanery, but Radiohead's camp says that all the band has done so far is compile raw footage and so far has no plans or it.

Radiohead's next U.S. jaunt will come just after frontman Thom Yorke's brother wraps up his own tour with his band, Unbelievable Truth. Britain's "NME" reports that Andy Yorke and his group (who have landed on Virgin Records) will hit the road in the U.K. on Wednesday and will keep rolling until late in the month.

If you'd rather see his big brother Thom with Radiohead, here's where the band's spokespeople say you should look:

• 3/28 - Houston, TX @ Theater at Bayou Place
• 3/29 - Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park
• 4/1 - Los Angeles, CA @ Universal Amphitheater
• 4/2 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic
• 4/4 - Salem, OR @ Salem Armory Arena
• 4/5 - Seattle, WA @ Paramount
• 4/6 - Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
• 4/8 - Calgary, ALB @ Max Bell Center
• 4/12 - Toronto, ONT @ Maple Leaf Gardens
• 4/13 - Montreal, QUE @ Molson Centre
• 4/15 - Worcester, MA @ Worcester Center
• 4/17 - New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall

• Björk
• Radiohead
• Spiritualized

The British Brat Awards, which are staged as New Musical Express magazine's alternative to the annual, mainstream Brit Awards, has been dominated by The Verve. Other winners included Radiohead, Spiritualized, The Prodigy, Beck, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Embrace and the Lo-Fidelity Allstars.

Magazine readers voted the Verve as Best Band and the group's hit "Bitter Sweet Symphony" as Best Single and Best Video. Radiohead's "OK Computer" won as Best Album, and Beck, in spite the fact that the singer is an American, was voted Best Solo Artist. The Best Dance Act was Prodigy, the Best New Band/Artist was Embrace.

The Worst Single of the Year was Aqua's "Barbie Doll."

The magazine's writers voted Spiritualized's "Ladies And Gentlemen...We Are Floating In Space" as their Album of the Year, and Bentley Rhythm Ace as the Dance Act, but they agreed with the public vote and also gave the Single of the Year nod to the Verve hit. The Lo-Fidelity Allstars won the Most Promising category.

Radiohead also won an award for best radio performance voted on by Radio 1 listeners.

• Richard Ashcroft
• Beck
• The Prodigy
• Spiritualized
• The Verve

Supergrass is the latest band to join the piano playing, gravel-voiced, New Orleans-based jazz rocker at Abbey Road studios in London. Spiritualized, Paul Weller and Primal Scream and have also recorded multiple tracks for the album, which is due this summer.

Dr. John is currently enjoying a high profile in the U.K.. He recently played a major role in the all-star charity single and video, "Perfect Day," for the BBC.

• Spiritualized
• Supergrass
• Paul Weller

November 26 [13:30 EDT] -- Spiritualized is coming out with a new record, a World Record, that is.

As we reported earlier this month, the "space-rock" band will play at sunset on Wednesday at the CN tower in Toronto, the world's largest man-made structure, setting a Guinness Book World Record for the highest performance on a man-made structure. On December 4, the sky-high performance will be broadcast on Rocktropolis (at www.rocktropolis.com), accompanied by a chat with Spiritualized frontman, Jason Pierce.

To see Spiritualized closer to the ground, here are their upcoming dates:

• 11/27 - Toronto, ONT @ Guvernment
• 11/29 - Montreal, QUE @ Foufounes Electriques
• 12/1 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
• 12/3 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
• 12/5 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
• 12/6 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
• 12/8 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
• 12/10 - Atlanta, GA @ Cotton Club
• 12/11 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
• 12/12 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Live
• 12/13 - Austin, TX @ Liberty Lunch

• Spiritualized

November 13 [10:00 EDT] -- Spiritualized want to be the highest performing band on earth, and they intend to accomplish that goal by playing a show on top of what's said to be the highest man-made structure in the world -- Toronto's CN Tower. A release from the group's record company says representatives for the band have contacted the Guinness Book of World Records and are checking out the current status and requirements.

The tower appearance, slated for November 26, is a promotion for their new album, "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space." It may not be the only such performance, either. The L.A. Times reports that a similar gig is scheduled for the Sears Roebuck Building in Chicago on November 21.

Spiritualized has just released a second single, "I Think I'm In Love" with a re-mix courtesy of the Chemical Brothers. Meanwhile, the band of Brits kicked off another North American tour last week.

• Spiritualized

Radiohead, Beasties, Blur, More For Field Day

• Liz Phair
• Bright Eyes
• Spiritualized
• Beastie Boys
• Radiohead