Simon Leaving American Idol?

"But I guess America is more likely to go because I have got one year under contract. Maybe that will be the end." - more on this story

Red Hot Van Hagar Supergroup: Chickenfoot Announce Tour Plans

PR reports: Chickenfoot, the highly anticipated new rock group comprised of guitar hero Joe Satriani, Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and frontman Sammy Hagar, will take the stage for a limited number of live shows, featuring music from their self-titled debut album, Chickenfoot, set for a June 9th release.

Playing a series of intimate venues, this initial tour is set to launch on May 14th at the El Corazon in Seattle, WA and coincides with the release of the band's first single "Oh yeah." The shows will conclude at TLA in Philadelphia, PA on May 29th, with ticket prices throughout averaging $50 per show.

"We spent a lot of time together in the recording studio working long hours to make Chickenfoot live up to expectations," said Satriani. "We really feel like we've mastered it and recorded a great album but now we're especially excited to take the show on the road and see how the fans react to it live. I think we are really going to feed off of the fan's energy. We're really that type of band." - some album info and the tour dates!

Pearl Jam Plan Album, Tour and Film

Billboard reports: Pearl Jam will play live dates in the U.S. later this year, including the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco Aug. 28-30, Billboard has confirmed.

The band has also completed 14 songs for a new album and is working on a film with director Cameron Crowe, guitarist Mike McCready said in a radio interview late last month.

McCready told Seattle's "Ron & Don Show" that the band is about halfway finished with its next album, which is being recorded in California with producer Brendan O'Brien. - See the full Billboard article for more details

Aerosmith and ZZ Top Map Out Tour Plans

PR reports: The massive Aerosmith tour kicks off June 10 in St. Louis. Special guests ZZ TOP join the tour on June 16th. Tickets go on sale in select markets to the general public beginning Friday, April 17th. The North American tour runs through September and includes stops in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

This summer's dates follow Aerosmith's 2007 worldwide tour that encompassed 35 dates in 20 countries, including their first-ever concert in India. Highlights included the band headlining a crowd of 50,000 fans on the second night of Hard Rock Café's London Calling event in Hyde Park. Known for their incomparable chemistry and trademark electrifying performances, Aerosmith also triumphantly performed in packed stadiums in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, and culminated their overseas domination with two unforgettable shows in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

"I have always been a huge fan of ZZ Top", Joe Perry says. "I toured with them with the Joe Perry Project, and those shows were unforgettable. With ZZ Top on this bill, it will definitely kick us into overdrive." - more on this story

Adler Loses His Singer

Blabbermouth reports: Singer Sheldon Tarsha has left Adler's Appetite, the band led by original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler.

Commented Tarsha in a statement: "I'm deeply appreciative for all the time I spent singing for Adler's Appetite. It was a great experience to reunite with Steven and [bassist] Chip [Z'nuff [also of Enuff Z'nuff] and complete this last U.S. tour together.

"20 shows in 21 days, performing 'Appetite for Destruction', night after night. What a blast! Everyone treated us like gold and the support we got from the people that came to see us was amazing!... Steven is in the best health and spirits I've seen him in since I've known him.... It's time now for me to follow my heart and continue working with my original band." - more on this story

Corgan Sees Smashing Future For Pumpkins

MusicRadar reports: With the recent departure of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, frontman Billy Corgan is, for the time being, the de facto Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan doesn't plan on remaining a one-man band for long, however (he's holding drummer auditions in Los Angeles on 14 April), and to that end, he's posted a thoughtful - and most lengthy - message online. What follows are the highlights:

"Hello from sunny California, where I'm currently working with some of my friends on new Smashing Pumpkins songs. The mood here is relaxed, serene, and studious as my pals are helping me with some TLC to zero in on the new direction that I'm trying to take the music.

"I'm going to step right into the heat of the matter now and address the infamous 'why?' question. The why being 'why' I have chosen to continue on under the Smashing Pumpkins banner considering I am the only remaining original member. The simple answer is that when I decided to write and record again under the name the Smashing Pumpkins in 2005, I committed myself 100 percent." - more on this story

Phil Spector Guilty of Murder- Rickrolling Ripoff?- Alice In Chains Finish Comeback Album- Slipknot DVD Plans- Prince's $2,100.00 iPod and more

antiMusic reports: Rock music producer Phil Spector was convicted Monday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a film actress at his mansion six years ago, a verdict that will send him to prison for at least 18 years barring a successful appeal.more

Rickrolling Ripoff? Pete Waterman, the force behind dozens of multi-million selling chart hits, claims he is being "exploited" by internet giant Google. The 62-year-old said the Rick Astley classic Never Gonna Give You Up, which he co-wrote and which was the subject of a YouTube craze last year, had earned him just £11 (about $16 US) from Google, despite being viewed 154 million times. more

The new Alice In Chains album is complete. The band said in a statement, "This long, arduous process is complete, and although there's still a lot of work to be done, the songs are in the can and that's the most important thing." A September release is expected. Read the full statement here

According to an April 7 posting on Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan's Twitter account, he is currently editing a new DVD for the band's forthcoming ten-year package.more

Puerto Rico police say reggaeton rapper Julio Voltio has been arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and speeding. Police spokesman Lt. Carlos Camacho Santiago says officers pulled over Voltio in a gray BMW on Sunday when they spotted him driving 62 mph (99 kph) in a 50 mph (80 kph) zone in the coastal town of Luquillo. more

Cam'ron preparing the May 12 arrival of his sixth studio album, "Crime Pays," which will be released on Asylum Records.more

According to WalesOnline.co.uk, a guitar signed by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and a piece of paper signed by Jimi Hendrix are among the most expensive autographs in the world.more

News of the recession must not yet have reached the Prince household. The Purple One is offering a super-spiffy version of his 21 Nights in London book with an iPod loaded with exclusive content...all for the bargain price of $2,100.00.more

Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider is asking fans to sponsor him in his 7th Annual Bikers for Babies benefit (March of Dimes), taking place on May 17th.more

More bands have been announced for the two-day Auditory Assault Festival, which will take place on May 16 and 17, 2009 at Club Europa in Brooklyn, NY See who is playing here

Kanye West's arraignment on misdemeanor charges has been delayed until May.more

United States is the first collaboration of Paul Gilbert and Freddie Nelson. The album features 10 new songs which they wrote, performed, and produced together in the summer of 2008. United States will be released May 12th, 2009 on Mascot Records U.S.A.more

Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale is the most played song in public places in the last 75 years, according to a chart compiled for BBC Radio 2.more

After 10 months, Bill Hudson and Power Quest have parted ways. The split was extremely amicable and was down to the fact that both parties were struggling with the logistics of Bill being based in LA and the rest of the band being in Europe. more

Against Me! has reissued their very first seven-inch, Crime as Forgiven By, via Sabot Productionsmore

To/Die/For vocalist Jape has issued a statement about the band calling it a day. You can read it - here

Tinted Windows: The Pumpkins, Perfect Circle, Cheap Trick Supergroup Announce Dates

PR reports: Tinted Windows, the acclaimed new band comprised of Taylor Hanson, James Iha, Adam Schlesinger, and Bun E. Carlos, will celebrate the April 21st release of their highly-anticipated debut album with a flurry of activity, including late night television appearances, intimate club dates and appearances with No Doubt in Atlantic City and at the Bamboozle Festival.

The group - which the New York Times called "a multi-generational alliance devoted to power pop" - will perform on The Late Show with David Letterman on April 21st and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on April 23rd.

The band has also confirmed shows at NYC's Mercury Lounge (April 20), LA's Troubadour (April 28), and Chicago's Double Door (April 30). Tinted Windows will also support No Doubt at their first show in five years at Atlantic City's Borgata on May 2 and then again at the Bamboozle Festival in NJ's Meadowlands on May 3. - more on this story

Type O Negative Offshoot Seventh Void Announce Tour Plans With Static-X

PR reports: Classic hard rockers, Seventh Void, featuring Type O Negative guitarist Kenny Hickey and drummer Johnny Kelly, along with bassist Hank Hell and guitarist Matt Brown, are set to join Los Angeles Industrial rockers STATIC-X on the road this Spring.

The band hits the road in support of their debut album- Heaven Is Gone, due out on April 21, 2009 on Big Vin Records, the label formed by drummer Vinnie Paul (Hellyeah, Damage Plan, Pantera).

"We're excited about the upcoming dates with Static X," says Johnny Kelly. "They did a bunch of shows with Type O Negative years ago and we've been friends since. They're cool guys and we know it will be a great package for the fans." - dates

Fight Brewing Over Ramones Tell All

AP reports: The executor of Dee Dee Ramone's estate has gone to court to stop publication of a book about the late punk rocker by his first wife.

Ira Herzog says Vera Davie of Port St. Lucie, Fla., violated an agreement to let him review and change anything she wrote about the bassist.

Davie's book is "Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone," published by Phoenix Books of Beverly Hills under the pen name Vera Ramone King. - more on this story

The Smiths Star Tributes Music Icon Who Died This Weekend

NME reports: The Smiths drummer Mike Joyce has paid tribute to Manchester music legend Johnny Roadhouse, who died aged 88 on Saturday (April 11) following a short illness.

A former collaborator with Elton John, the saxophonist owned the city's famous Johnny Roadhouse Music store on Oxford Road

"Every single band in Manchester has gone through Johnny Roadhouse Music at some stage - it's impossible not to," Joyce told the Manchester Evening News. "Music shops come and go, but Johnny Roadhouse stays. It's synonymous with Manchester music," he added. - more on this story

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