Girlband Drug Dealer?- Elton John Terrorist?- Ray Charles The Musical- Anna Nicole Smith Opera- Avatar May Be Expanded For Rerelease- Usher T.I. Leak and more

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is to stage the world premiere of an opera about the life of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, who died in 2007. more -

Conan O'Brien To Head Up Bonnaroo Comedy Lineup

Superfly Productions and A.C. Entertainment are proud to announce the extraordinary comedy lineup for this year's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. A festival staple and a longstanding tradition that began in 2004, Bonnaroo will once again feature a dynamic and eclectic host of national headlining comics in its ever-popular seated, air-conditioned comedy venue.

The festival will welcome some of the most hilarious personalities working today, including Conan O'Brien, who not only will be performing in the Comedy Theatre, but will also be MCing the What Stage on Friday and Saturday.

Also confirmed to perform in the Comedy Theatre are Margaret Cho, Aziz Ansari, Greg Giraldo, Bo Burnham, Doug Benson, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, John Roberts and Jeff Ross who will be roasting the festival. More comedians will be confirmed soon. Now considered an essential play for any comic, Bonnaroo is widely considered synonymous with the best in comedy as well as the best in music. - more on this story

Lifehouse Hit Career High

Lifehouse released their fifth studio album Smoke & Mirrors on March 2nd and this week it will debut at No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200 chart with 54,203 sold.

This marks the highest chart debut of their ten year career beating out first week chart position for their 2002 sophomore set "Stanley Climbfall" which debuted at # 7. They also have the # 2 digital album in the country!

Lifehouse will kick off a national tour with Daughtry on March 18th. First single "Halfway Gone" was co-written by Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade, Kevin Rudolf ("Let It Rock") and producer Jude Cole (Rocco Deluca, Beth Orton, MoZella) and is currently # 2 at Hot AC radio and # 24 at Top 40. They performed the track on Regis & Kelly and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week and will play it on the Wendy Williams show March 22nd. - more on this story

Disco Biscuits Webcasting CD Release Show

The Disco Biscuits new album Planet Anthem comes out this Tuesday, 3/16. To celebrate the release, the DB's are partnering with Livestream to broadcast the entire Planet Anthem CD Release Party at the TLA in their home town of Philadelphia for FREE.

The broadcast will air live March 16th starting at 8pm and will be available at www.livestream.com/discobiscuits. With Livestream as the exclusive streaming provider, the player widget for the webcast can be embedded anywhere. Integration with Facebook and Twitter allows viewers to engage in an online conversation with others fans and the band.

The Disco Biscuits took the pre-order game to a whole new level, offering fans the opportunity to bundle the record with an actual experience with the band. It worked, too, as The Disco Biscuits sold over 3,000 pre-order packages. - more on this story

Elizabeth Cook Sets New Don Was Produced Album Release

Elizabeth Cook will release Welder on May 11th on 31 Tigers. Produced by Don Was (Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson), Welder features guest appearances by Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell and Buddy Miller.

Welder is the follow up to Cook's 2007's Rodney Crowell produced and critically acclaimed, Balls. Cook chose an eclectic cast of players to record Welder. She started with her road band, which consists of her husband Tim Carroll on guitar, Marco Giovino (Patty Griffin, Robert Plant) on drums and Bones Hillman from Midnight Oil on bass. She turned to some familiar faces and voices from the Grand Ole Opry adding Tim Atwood on keys and The Carol Lee Singers on background vocals.

Her most personal collection of songs to date, Welder features vivid snapshots of EC's life ("Heroin Addict Sister" and "Mama's Funeral") as well as witty hillbilly- tinged humor ("El Camino" and "Yes To Booty"). Cook wrote the majority of Welder herself with a few noteworthy exceptions. "I'm Beginning To Forget" was penned by her late mother, Joyce Cook and "Follow You Like Smoke and "Til Then" by Tim Carroll. Don Was also brought her "Not California" by NYC indie folk band, Hem. - more on this story

Diabolic Teams Up With Jedi Mind Tricks frontman Vinnie Paz For New Single

Following a string of high-profile collaborations and tours with ImmortaI Technique, NY rapper Diabolic now teams up with Jedi Mind Tricks frontman, Vinnie Paz for his second 2nd single off the Liar & a Thief LP. This Diabolic debut album will be released worldwide on April 6th 2010 thru Viper Records.

Diabolic, an unrestrained rapper from Long Island, New York, arose to underground fame in the early 2000's through a series of high-profile victories in the rap battle scene across the U.S.A. Despite not having released a single nor an album, Diabolic's fame and underground cult status has never left him - but then Diabolic isn't your average underground battle emcee. Diabolic speaks to the disillusioned rap fan who is embittered by the state of the mainstream and unsatisfied with the alternatives offered by the underground. The reason his voice impacts unyieldingly is because Diabolic is one of the disillusioned... but his identity will change event that of his own realm.

Diabolic's debut album "Liar and a Thief" incorporates various ideals sought by music lovers who want a debut rap album by an authentic Hip Hop artist. Stacked with powerful boom bap and epic cinematic instrumentals, Diabolic tears through a wide range of subjects with the same of commitment to lyricism, which when combined with his style creates a sound that comes around no more than once a decade. Imagine a rapper's rapper, a no-holds-barred lyricist whose lines can send a shiver down your spine, make you laugh, or simply cause you to break the rewind function on your iPod. Now imagine this rapper with production, tailor-made for his style. - more on this story

Boyce Avenue Announce Major Label Debut

Boyce Avenue, the Florida-based trio consisting of brothers Alejandro (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Fabian (guitar, vocals), and Daniel Manzano (bass, percussion, vocals) release their self-produced major label debut entitled All We Have Left on May 11, 2010, through Universal Republic Records.

Singer/guitarist Alejandro Manzano comments, "It's been a long-time goal of ours to release a full-length debut album worldwide, with all of our music on it the way we've always wanted the world to hear it. We feel this album is the kind of release our fans deserve. We couldn't be happier to be a part of the Universal Republic family at this time."

The album's first single, "Every Breath," will be released digitally on March 16, 2010. The band recently shot a video for the song in Los Angeles with acclaimed director Zach Merck (Blue October, Safetysuit) and was a collaborative effort that grew from a concept written by the band. - more on this story

Al Mac Will's Urban Country Gospel Gets Stevie Wonder's Seal of Approval

With a voice reflecting the perfect melodic blend of Aretha Franklin and a splash of Dolly Pardon, coupled with an anointed spirit that is evident from the first note she sings, there is no question that Al Mac Will (Alice McAfee Williams) is the artist that has what it takes to deliver the new sound of Urban Country Gospel (UCG) to the world on her debut CD "Stand Still" (Xodust Word & Music/Thank You Entertainment/Fontana/Universal Music Group).

Al Mac Will's dual singles "Stand Still" and "Holy Is the Only Way" are in rotation at radio stations across the nation and interview requests have been pouring in. Early supporters include Pastor Marvin Winans and Dr. Deborah Smith-Pollard, author and host/producer of the popular weekly gospel radio show "Strong Inspirations" in Detroit, MI as well as gospel radio host Darryl King in Chicago, IL.

But her most notable supporter would have to be one Steveland Morris, better known as Stevie Wonder, who gave the project his blessing as well as being the one responsible for suggesting that Al put the "Urban" with the "Country Gospel" in describing the music and answering any and all questions Al asked during the recording of this utterly unique and soul satisfying musical extravaganza. Urban Country Gospel is the unique sound that the industry has been waiting for. - more on this story

Sergio Mendes Video Contest

To celebrate the May 4th release of Sergio Mendes' new album Bom Tempo, Concord Records and Fusicology are calling all friends, fans, enthusiasts, and artists, to produce and direct a video set to music from the album.

Bom Tempo is a festive celebration of life interweaving elements of pop, jazz and world music into a vibrant tapestry that could only be realized by the legendary Brazilian artist.

Just make a video set to the music of "Emorio" and you'll have a chance to win a $500 Amazon.com gift package! 2 Runners up will receive Amazon gift packages as well, with $250 going to the first runner up and a $100 gift card going to the 2nd runner up! - more on this story

Snow and Voices Set New Album Release

Snow and Voices announce the release of their third CD Anything That Moves May 25, 2010 on their own independent Elastic Ruby Records distributed by Junketboy/Coalition of Independent Music Stores.

Their third album to date, Anything That Moves is a multi-layered aural landscape created by the collaborative duo of singer-songwriter Lauri Kranz and her songwriting partner, multi-instrumentalist Jebin Bruni (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple).

Kranz and Bruni pull together a stellar collective of Los Angeles area musicians who contribute their skills to Snow and Voices, both live and in their recordings. The talent pool for Anything That Moves includes Joey Waronker (Thom Yorke, Beck, REM), Joshua Grange (KD Lang, Dwight Yokaum),Chris Bruce (Michelle Ndegeocello, Joe Henry), Jennifer Condos (Ray Lamontagne, Ryan Adams), Blair Sinta ( Damien Rice, My Brightest Diamond), Cedric LeMoyne (O+S, Remy Zero), Gregory Slay (Remy Zero), Jeffrey Cain (Dead Snares, Remy Zero),Vanessa Freebairn-Smith (Gnarls Barkley) and Brian MacLeod (Paul Westerberg, Sheryl Crow). - more on this story