Zac Efron
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Zac Efron is doing fine after having his appendix removed Tuesday (January 15), according to People.com. The star — who recently signed on for "High School Musical 3" — was rushed to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering from appendicitis, TMZ.com reports. "Zac had his appendix removed and is recuperating," the actor's representative, who was not named, reportedly said in a statement. ...

A very revealing photo of Heidi Montag graces the new cover of Maxim, and for the accompanying interview, she also revealed to the mag that she wants to be the next Madonna. "But it's not like with most pop artists, where they have a song sent to them that has nothing to do with their emotions or lives," she insisted about her yet-untitled, in-the-works LP. "It's all about me and my life. I'm taking my time to make sure it's a classic. I don't want to be the next pop person who's in or out. I want to be like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Wonder — all the greats." Montag also dished on new parents Nicole Richie and Joel Madden recalling that one time they "came up to [Montag's fiance,] Spencer [Pratt,] and me at the Beverly Hills Hotel [in California] and started yelling something Spencer said about Nicole in an interview, like, two years ago. ... Joel was yelling, 'You've been talking sh-- about my girl!' " ...

Madden has blogged on the Web site for his clothing company, DCMA, about arriving home with his and Richie's daughter, who was born on Friday. "Well I am finally home with my beautiful girlfriend and our brand new little daughter," the Good Charlotte frontman wrote. "Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born on January 11th 2008 at 3:13 p.m. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is 19 inches long and growing everyday already! She really is a wonderful addition to the GC/DCMA/DEADEXEC family. We are so blessed to have this beautiful little baby in our lives. I want to thank everyone for all the love and kind words they've sent our way. We apologize we weren't accepting gifts/cards/calls at the hospital, but if you'd like to send something, we'd rather you make a donation to the Richie-Madden Foundation, which we started in Harlow Winter's honor. She looks so much like her mom it's crazy! She eats like a little maniac and she's really sweet. She barely ever cries, even when daddy is changing her diaper, and believe me I suck when it comes to diapers, but I'm learning! I can't wait to show off some pictures, until then, THANKS!! and GOD BLESS... Joel." ...

From an "Umbrella" to a handbag: Rihanna has made a match with Marc Jacobs as she and the fashion designer have partnered to produce a new pair of purses named after the leggy singer. The two models are available as a part of Jacobs' spring line. ... Missy Elliott has stepped up with two new tunes for the February 5 soundtrack to "Step Up 2 the Streets." The MC's "Ching-A-Ling" — which is already sizzling in the streets — and "Shake Your Pom Pom" will appear on the soundtrack, and might resurface on her yet-untitled new LP, due in May. The soundtrack also features Cassie, who stars in "Step Up 2 the Streets," as well as T-Pain, Flo Rida, Trey Songz, Plies and Scarface. ...

Twista has inked a deal with Koch to release a project with his longtime group, the Speedknot Mobstaz. The Mobstaz's forthcoming sophomore album, Mobstability II: Nation Bizness, is set to feature Jim Jones and production by Cuzzo and China White Productions. ... The Grammys will not be getting a free pass from the Writers Guild of America. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Grammys have not asked for a special waiver to allow striking Guild employees to work on the show, but even if they did request one, it would not likely be granted. In addition, a number of top musicians who also have Screen Actors Guild cards, including Justin Timberlake and Queen Latifah, are being lobbied by the WGA not to attend the February 10 show, according to AdAge.com. ...

In a $35 million lawsuit filed on Monday, Victory Records claimed that Virgin/EMI "improperly induced" Hawthorne Heights to disregard their contract with the independent Chicago label. In a news release on the suit, Victory also claimed that Virgin/EMI paid $55,000 to the band, which used the money to fund the initial phase of a 2006 lawsuit against Victory, and helped the bandmembers search for a music-industry lawyer to help them with their legal action. "The facts alleged in this case demonstrate classic interference with contractual and business relations," Victory lawyer Robert Meloni said. "They did more than merely offer a carrot to the band, but also saddled the horse, paid for a rider to take the reins, and led it out of the barn." The suit seeks $10 million in compensation and $25 million in punitive damages for Virgin/EMI's "willful, wanton and deliberate conduct." Victory maintains that HH owe the label two more albums, but the band, which lost guitarist Casey Calvert in November after a fatal drug interaction, has vowed not to record for Victory again. ...

Rancid fans, time to grow those Mohawks back — the band started recording new material in a California studio on Monday. The punks' yet-unnamed follow-up to 2003's Indestructible is due later this year, on guitarist Brett Gurewitz's Epitaph/Hellcat label, of course. ... Tiger Army have welcomed an old comrade back into their ranks. Stand-up-bass player Geoff Kresge, who toured with the psychobilly band from 1999-2004 — and who also has a stint with AFI on his résumé — replaces Jeff Roffredo, who "left the band on good terms to pursue other interests," according to a press release from the band's publicist. Tiger Army hit the road earlier this week and have a heap of shows planned for throughout the year. ...

Now that Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez have reconciled, what better way to celebrate than with some concerts? Manson has tacked on a few more to his upcoming trek, which starts Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The newly added gigs will be staged in Phoenix (February 27); Dallas (February 29); Austin, Texas (March 1); and Houston (March 2). Veteran rock act Ours will be the opening act on the tour, according to Pollstar.com. ... Here's a novel idea: Yellowcard are giving fans who buy the rockers' Live From Las Vegas at the Palms release an early chance at getting tix to one of their upcoming shows. The iTunes exclusive will be available starting January 22, and fans who snatch it up before January 29 will get a Ticketmaster code allowing them to nab up to four tickets for the band's trek, which starts March 7 in Salt Lake City and ends April 12 in Los Angeles. From Las Vegas at the Palms immortalizes Yellowcard's show at the Palms Casino Resort's Pearl venue in October. ...

EMI — home to Coldplay, the Rolling Stones and other acts — will slash a third of its work force, or 1,500-2,000 jobs, over the course of the next months, multiple outlets reported Tuesday. According to the Web site for England's Telegraph, the reunited Verve could be the next major group to withhold its upcoming album in light of the major-label shake-up. The paper reports that the Verve may join Robbie Williams and Coldplay in threatening to hold onto their next albums unless they receive assurances about the company's financial health and how their albums will be marketed. The company's new boss, Guy Hands, was reportedly to be grilled by the managers of some of the label's top acts on Tuesday as he revealed plans for streamlining the company. ...

"American Idol" judge Randy Jackson is known for name-dropping, but his new album, Music Club Vol. 1, might finally back up some of his boasting. Jackson's upcoming solo album, due March 11, will feature pals ranging from Mariah Carey and Joss Stone to Jason Mraz, former "Idol" contestants Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee and country star Travis Tritt. Fellow judge Paula Abdul will be featured on "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," her first new recording in more than a decade. Last week, TVGuide.com reported that Jackson and Abdul had been rehearsing a video for the single, and that she was in talks to perform it at the Super Bowl on February 3. Also included on the album are Van Hunt, Three 6 Mafia, Angie Stone, Richie Sambora and Keb' Mo'. ...

My Morning Jacket are going big time: The longhaired Kentucky rockers will headline a show at New York's Radio City Music Hall on June 20. The band's yet-untitled album will drop 10 days earlier. ... Noise Pop just got a bit noisier. The Walkmen, the Dodos, MSTRKRFT, Stellastarr and the Helio Sequence have climbed onto the roster for the San Francisco fest, which is happening February 26-March 2. Jamie Kennedy's comedic documentary "Heckler" — which features George Lucas, Rob Zombie, David Cross and others — will open the Film Festival portion of the event. ... Carla Bruni has been making headlines lately amid her high-profile romance with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Now the chanteuse can parlay that attention into promotion for the wide release of No Promises, an album that is currently only available Stateside on iTunes and at Barnes & Noble stores. The disc — which is being issued through Downtown Records, home to Gnarls Barkley and Spank Rock, and pays tribute to English-language literary legends — will hit retail stores nationwide February 19.

1.14.08

Nearly six years after the alleged sex tape first surfaced, the court proceedings in the R. Kelly case continue to move at a snail's pace. The prosecutors originally sought to have testimony from one expert witness, Dr. Sharon Cooper, cover several different areas — the age of the girl on the tape based on forensic pediatrics, the identification of the man on the tape based on the vein pattern on his hands, and the behavior profile of the girl based on the psychology of child sex-abuse victims. Judge Vincent Gaughan had previously ruled that Dr. Cooper could testify about the victim's age, but not the behavior profile, so prosecutors had asked him to reconsider. At a hearing on Monday (January 14), Gaughan ruled once again that Dr. Cooper would not be able to testify about why the girl in the case would deny that she was a victim, or how common denial is in sex-abuse cases. Kelly is due back in court March 12 for another pre-trial hearing, while the trial itself is slated to start on May 9. ...

And the Wu-Tang Clan infighting goes on. U-God — who complained about RZA being callous toward him in the studio nearly four years ago — is now suing Wu's label, alleging that he is owed $170,000, according to TMZ.com. U-God (born Lamont Hawkins) reportedly filed papers in a New York district court, alleging that Wu Music owes him money for services rendered dating back to March of last year. Wu Music is licensed to Universal Music. ...

Paula Abdul doesn't just have the seventh season of "American Idol" on her mind these days. "I want kids!" the singer recently told Ladies' Home Journal for its February issue. "If it doesn't happen naturally, I can always adopt." The 45-year-old Abdul opened up even more about her personal life, saying of 32-year-old boyfriend J.T. Torregiani, "I've experienced real loneliness, so I love knowing there's someone I can share the good and the not-so-good with." ... Everyone's wondering how the seventh season of "Idol" is going to fare in light of some retooling and the writers' strike, but if you ask Chris Daughtry, the show is "in a state of decline." The Daughtry frontman recently spoke with RollingStone.com about the show, adding that if it doesn't right itself, "it's probably not gonna last too much longer. I'm sure that'll be used against me, but that's the truth, you know?" He also said the show is "definitely lacking some credibility at this point." ...

White Stripes, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Mark Ronson, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Cheifs and recent MTV Artist of the Week Kate Nash have all landed Brit Award nominations, although Leona Lewis, Mika and Take That have scored the most, with four apiece. Rihanna, Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs, Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney are slated to perform at the February 20 ceremony. ... R.E.M. have pulled the curtains back on a new Web site surrounding the April 1 release of their 14th studio album, Accelerate. Their NinetyNights.com Web site has daily high-definition-video snippets shot by Arcade Fire collaborator Vincent Moon ...

Björk attacked a newspaper photographer who was attempting to take her picture at the Auckland International Airport on Sunday, according to reports in the New Zealand press. The singer, who was flying in to perform at the Big Day Out concert on Friday, reportedly ripped New Zealand Herald photographer Glenn Jeffrey's shirt after he snapped a photo of her. Jeffrey told the New Zealand Press Association that he was warned by a man traveling with Björk not to take her picture, and once he did, the singer came up behind him, grabbed the back of his shirt and tore it before tumbling to the ground. In 1996, Björk attacked a reporter in an airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after she objected to being photographed. ... The Walkmen and White Rabbits will hop along the U.S. this month for nine shows. On the itinerary are Pittsburgh (Wednesday); Detroit (Thursday); Milwaukee (Friday); Madison, Wisconsin (Saturday); Chicago (Sunday); St. Louis (January 21); Columbus, Ohio (January 22); Philadelphia (January 23); and Baltimore (January 24). ...

For the first time in 25 years, former Clash members Mick Jones and Topper Headon reportedly shared the same stage at a gig by Jones' new band, Carbon/Silicon. The duo performed "Train in Vain" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" during the set. ... Megadeth have recruited Chris Broderick (Nevermore, Jag Panzer) to be their newest guitarist, following the recent departure of Glen Drover. Broderick will make his live debut with the band on February 4, at a gig in Finland. ...

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali said the band will not be revived following the late November death of frontman Kevin DuBrow. In an online statement, Banali claims he had been "approached to see if I would be interested in contacting Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo and to audition singers for Quiet Riot." He said that he's even fielded an offer to re-form "the version of Quiet Riot that included Paul Shortino, Carlos Cavazo and Sean McNabb." But Banali rejected any suggestions of the band performing live. "My friendship, love and respect for Kevin DuBrow, as well as my personal love and affection for Kevin's mother and his family, makes it inconceivable for me to ever entertain any ovation to re-form or to continue Quiet Riot," he wrote. "It would also be a disrespect to the fans who have supported [the band] for nearly 25 years." ...

Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning co-writer of "Pulp Fiction," was arrested on Sunday after a fatal single-car crash in Ojai, California. According to a Reuters report, Avary, 42, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence, and was released from jail after posting $50,000 bail. Andreas Zedini, a 34-year-old passenger in the car, died of his injuries at a local hospital. Avary's wife, Gretchen, 40, was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries after being thrown from the car.

• Heidi Montag Poses For Maxim

• Good Charlotte
• Justin Timberlake
• Queen Latifah
• Hawthorne Heights
• The Verve

The Verve
Photo: Virgin

Nearly eight years after their acrimonious split, British rockers the Verve have announced that they are reuniting for a winter U.K. tour and their first new album in a decade.

Lead singer Richard Ashcroft announced the reunion on his official Web site, writing, "The Verve, Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury, were back recording together in a London studio last week. After a summer break, they will return to the studio to complete their next album."

The only reunion dates scheduled thus far will take place in the U.K. early in November, with two dates each scheduled for Glasgow, Blackpool and London.

The group — which formed in Wigan, England, in 1990 — split in April of 1999, less than a year after guitarist McCabe bailed on the band's U.S. and European summer tour dates (see "The Verve Calls It Quits"). Ashcroft and McCabe have had a famously contentious relationship that includes an earlier split in 1995 following the release of their second album, A Northern Soul. Ashcroft broke up the band, then reformed it with Simon Tong on guitar. Tong — who has since worked extensively with Damon Albarn in Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad & the Queen — is apparently not involved in the reunion.

With an intense live show that mixed hazy psychedelia, shoegazer rock and blue-eyed soul, the band broke through with the 1997 LP Urban Hymns, which contained the hit "Bittersweet Symphony." McCabe returned in time to work on the album and tour behind it, but quit in July of 1998, citing the wear and tear of life on the road (see "Verve Guitarist Drops Out Of Tour").

Ashcroft went on to release three low-key, moderately selling solo albums that had an expansive sound similar to the Verve, but which often focused on more domestic issues and his spiritual side. Tong and Jones formed a short-lived psychedelic rock band called the Shining.

Salisbury has toured with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and opened a drum shop in England in 2004, while McCabe has kept a fairly low profile since leaving the group, working on a remix by the Music and contributing to tracks from an album by veteran British singer John Martyn.

• The Verve

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft has fallen ill and has rescheduled a North American tour that was set to begin Saturday in Chicago, a spokesperson for the singer said.

Ashcroft released his first solo album, Alone With Everybody, in June. Though the singer broke with the Verve in 1999, Alone With Everybody carries on the grandiose tradition of Verve songs like "The Drugs Don't Work" and "Bitter Sweet Symphony," [RealVideo] from their 1997 album Urban Hymns.

Prior to starting the rescheduled tour at Chicago's Double Door on January 19, Ashcroft will appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" during the week of January 15, his publicist said.

Richard Ashcroft's rescheduled North American tour dates:

• 1/19 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 1/20 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 1/21 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
• 1/23 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 1/24 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 1/27 - Boston, MA @ Paradise
• 1/28 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 1/29 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 1/31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
• 2/1 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 2/3 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 2/4 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 2/5 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
• 2/5 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
• 2/7 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft has confirmed plans for a 10-date solo tour of North America set to begin on November 4 in Chicago.

For the outing, which is in support of his "Alone With Everybody" solo debut, Ashcroft will adopt the same stripped-down approach to his live sets that he employed for his two "secret" shows in Toronto and New York City in May.

During those two gigs for media and label reps, Ashcroft took to the stage by himself, surrounded only by several acoustic and electric guitars and an amplifier.

Even though he only has eight American shows scheduled, the upcoming gigs will mark Ashcroft's most extensive round of U.S. tour dates since the Verve's 1998 summer tour.

Ashcroft has just issued "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" as the third U.K. single from "Alone With Everybody," and he is slated to launch a European tour on September 20 in Brussels, Belgium.

The schedule for Ashcroft's North American tour:

• 11/4 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
• 11/5 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
• 11/7 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
• 11/9 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
• 11/11 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
• 11/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theater Of Living Arts
• 11/13 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 11/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
• 11/17 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's 365 Club
• 11/18 - Vancouver, BC @ Sonar

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Ev-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft continues to dominate college radio with his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," fueled by the record's second single and video, "Money To Burn."

Ashcroft plans take to the road in Europe and Japan in September and October to support the new album, and while he has yet to announce any planned U.S. tour dates, Ashcroft had shot the "Money To Burn" video during a visit to New York City earlier this year.

According to Ashcroft, who filmed the clip during a rainy morning on Wall Street, the song is about trying to maintain a carefree attitude toward worldly fame and riches, even as others glorify in selling out and cashing in.

"'Money To Burn' is [about] the point where you're either being treated so much like a rock star that you're going to act like one," Ashcroft said, he continued, "these moments in life when money isn't the issue. Y'know, like I've got money to burn, and I'm feeling so good, I just want to burn this sh**.

"And 'money to burn' is also an old English phrase. It might [have the same meaning] over here, saying, 'Oh, who does he think he is? He thinks he's got money to burn, this bloke.' So, there's bit of a twist on it there, but it's really a celebration of life, a celebration of love, mixed in with a big two fingers to all the people who think money is the answer to all our problems." [RealVideo]

Ashcroft has already completed a video for "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)," the next single from "Alone With Everybody," which is set for release in the U.K. on September 11.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Richard Ashcroft, Death In Vegas, Leftfield, and Coldplay are among the artists whose work has been nominated for this year's Technics Mercury Music Prize, one of the U.K.'s most prestigious awards honoring the best and most innovative album of the year.

The twelve nominated albums were announced on Tuesday during a press conference at London's Commonwealth Club, with the winner to receive the Prize during a gala ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on September 12.

Other albums and artists up for the 2000 Mercury Music Prize include The Delgados "The Great Eastern," Helicopter Girl's "How To Steal The World," and MJ Cole's "Sincere."

Following a head-turning performance at this past summer's Glastonbury Festival and the chart-topping debut of its first album, "Parachutes," British oddsmakers have tagged newcomer Coldplay as the early favorite to take the award.

A panel of select music journalists and industry professionals decide upon the winner, with Gomez's "Bring It On" album taking home the award in 1998 followed last year by Talvin Singh's "OK."

For Ashcroft, the nomination for his new solo album, "Alone With Everybody," was almost expected, as his last record with his former group, "Urban Hymns" by The Verve, was also nominated for a Mercury Music Prize,

But as he recently told MTV News, Ashcroft realizes it'll take more than a few awards and some past hits to help bring "Alone With Everybody" to the same number of people who caught on to "Urban Hymns."

"In England, it's a small country, and to be famous in England is completely different to being a kind of cool artist in America, which I actually am now," Ashcroft told MTV News. "I think once the 'Bittersweet Symphony' thing has died down, [the album will] probably go back to the people who bought 'Urban Hymns' when it came out and 'A Northern Soul.'

"I'm comfortable at that level, and I'm also comfortable if the record kicked off by word of mouth and things like this, where people will have a chance to listen to it and open up to it. That's the way the record will kick off, I think, and if it doesn't, I'm right there as well.

"I can go anywhere, really. I can find good in both outcomes. The record could bomb, and I'd be happy, 'cause I made one of the greatest records that ever bombed," [RealVideo] he said, laughing.

The full list of nominees for the 2000 Technics Mercury Music Prize:

• Richard Ashcroft - "Alone With Everybody"
• Badly Drawn Boy - "The Hour Of Bewilderbeast"
• Coldplay - "Parachutes"
• MJ Cole - "Sincere"
• Death In Vegas - "The Contino Sessions"
• Delgados - "The Great Eastern"
• Doves - "Lost Souls"
• Helicopter Girl - "How To Steal The World"
• Leftfield - "Rhythm And Stealth"
• Nicholas Maw - "Violin Concerto"
• Nitin Sawhney - "Beyond Skin"
• Kathryn Williams - "Little Black Numbers"

• Richard Ashcroft
• Coldplay
• Death In Vegas
• The Verve

Richard Ashcroft, the former frontman for The Verve, is set to return to record stores this week with his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," a title lifted from a poem by Charles Bukowski.

The Verve, who scored a huge hit in the U.S. several years back with "Bittersweet Symphony," officially called it quits in April 1999, although Ashcroft says that his solo effort is pretty much a continuation of the sound of the band's final LP, "Urban Hymns."

"What really was clear in my mind," Ashcroft told MTV News, "was that I didn't want to leave what I'd started on 'Urban Hymns,' as far as the production and what I was gonna do with my voice, and the layering of the voices, and infusing gospel and country and blues and all of these styles. You know, bringing instruments out of context and infusing them in a different backdrop.

Ashcroft also said that he and co-producer Chris Potter intentionally layered the voices and instruments on "Alone With Everybody" to such a degree in order to give the album a rich, textured sound that was reminiscent of certain "head music" records of his youth.

"I knew what I was like when I was 17, 18 years old," he said.

"All these different levels that great music should really work on is where I'm at. I'm totally up for experimental music. I'm up for music that they don't play on the radio, and I take in all of it. But my thing, the thing that comes most natural to me, is making the stuff that has a melody, it has a soul to it, yet it's head music. Whatever people may think of it, it's pretty out there as well." [RealVideo]

For more from our interview with Ashcroft, be sure to check out the recent MTV News Online feature, "Richard Ashcroft: Everybody's Talking."

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft is set to release his first solo album, titled "Alone With Everybody," on June 27, and the video for the first single, "A Song For The Lovers," is already drawing raves for its rather unorthodox style -- as well as its striking image of the topless singer.

Ashcroft collaborated on the clip for "A Song For The Lovers" (see "Richard Ashcroft Draws Inspiration From Joy Division") with director Jonathan Glazer, although as he recently told MTV News, he wasn't quite prepared for the state of undress required for the shoot.

"It was a bit bizarre when I turned up," Ashcroft said, "because I had no idea. I thought I was doing it with the top on -- I've said this before -- but no, it was like a 'top-off shoot' kind of thing.

"It's a good laugh, really," Ashcroft said. "It's using the medium well. It's doing everything that I want a good video to do. But the unfortunate thing is that I have to star in it. [Laughs] It'd be great if it was someone else." [RealVideo]

Ashcroft has already shot another video for the track "Money To Burn," which features him walking down Wall Street in the rain, although it's not yet known if "Money To Burn" will be the second U.S. single from "Alone With Everybody."

For more from the MTV News interview with Richard Ashcroft, be sure to check out the online feature, "Richard Ashcroft: Everybody's Talking," premiering here on Friday, June 16.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

A little more than a year after formally putting The Verve to rest, Richard Ashcroft is nearing the much-anticipated release of his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," and has already issued the initial single and video from the LP, the sweeping "A Song For The Lovers."

According to the former frontman for The Verve, "A Song For The Lovers" was inspired by his wife, Kate Radley, as well as a certain Joy Division song Ashcroft heard one night while holed up in a seedy U.K. hotel.

"'A Song For The Lovers,' if I look back, it's kind of inspired by my own love affair with Kate and a moment when I was in a hotel room," Ashcroft explained.

"So, that fused a few ideas and I had some chords," he continued, Ashcroft said, paraphrasing the song's lyrics.

"It's just kind of fusing an emotion into a track," he added, "and when the track bursts into its instrumental bit after that rant, that's it. That's the moment for me. I should have put just that on the record, just that one moment." [RealVideo]

While in New York City last week to complete promotional rounds for the new record, Ashcroft shot scenes on Wall Street for his next single and video, "Money To Burn."

"Alone With Everybody" is due in stores on June 27, and Ashcroft is tentatively expected to tour the U.S. following its release.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve

The Verve's ex-frontman Richard Ashcroft is getting ready to release his first solo album, "Alone With Everybody," on Virgin Records on June 27, and in the meantime he's been getting a crash course in parenting a newborn.

Ashcroft and wife Kate Radley, the former Spiritualized keyboardist who also plays on her husband's new record, gave birth to a boy named Sonny on March 23 (see "Ex-Verve Frontman Richard Ashcroft Fathers Son").

Despite the hectic promotional schedule for his new solo album, Ashcroft told MTV News that he has managed to fit some sleep into his schedule in between changing diapers and minding Sonny.

"I've managed to grab a few hours [of sleep] now and then," Ashcroft said. he said, "and continues to be, on a daily basis, an affirmation of life from the moment I wake up, which is an incredible feeling."

Ashcroft also mentioned that the completion of his "Alone With Everybody" album came at almost the exact same time as Sonny's birth.

"It was almost a race at one point," he said.

"A Song For The Lovers," a track Ashcroft said was inspired, in part, by the Joy Division classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart," is the first single from "Alone With Everybody," and Ashcroft has already lined up "Money To Burn" as the second single from the record.

• Richard Ashcroft
• The Verve