Rihanna's Statement About Chris Brown Beating

"She wants to assure her fans that she remains strong, is doing well, and deeply appreciates the outpouring of support she has received during this difficult time." - more on this story

U2 Full CD Preview

PR reports: MySpace Music announces the exclusive world premiere of No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2. Beginning on February Feb. 20, MySpace U.S. users will be able to stream the album in its entirety from U2's official MySpace Music profile at www.myspace.com/u2, giving fans a chance to preview it before the U.S. release on March 3. No Line On The Horizon will be available for purchase on MySpace Music starting on March 3.

U2 recently premiered their latest video for the hit single Get On Your Boots on MySpace Music to fans around the world. No Line On The Horizon is the group's highly anticipated 12th studio album and their first release since How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb came out in late 2004. Recording sessions for No Line On The Horizon were held in various locations around the world, including Fez, Morocco, the band's own studio in Dublin, New York's Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and Olympic Studios in London. Long-time U2 collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois produced the album, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.

For more information about U2 and to stream No Line On The Horizon, visit their MySpace Music official profile at: - http://www.myspace.com/u2

Last.fm Accused of Reporting Users to RIAA

antiMusic reports: TechCrunch.com issued a report late Friday based on a second hand allegation from a reported insider at Last.fm's parent company that accused the site of reporting user data to the RIAA. Here is part of the report, plus a link to the full article that includes the follow up denials from Last.fm:

That leaked U2 album is causing all sorts of trouble. The unreleased album, which is due out on March 3, found its way onto BitTorrent and was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. That, apparently, sent music industry lawyers over at the Recording Industry Association of America into a fit.

As a result, word is going around that the RIAA asked social music service Last.fm for data about its user's listening habits to find people with unreleased tracks on their computers. And Last.fm, which is owned by CBS, actually handed the data over to the RIAA. According to a tip we received: "I heard from an irate friend who works at CBS that last.fm recently provided the RIAA with a giant dump of user data to track down people who are scrobbling unreleased tracks." - more on this story

John Lennon's Real Killer Named: It's Stephen King!

antiMusic reports: The headline is a joke but maybe an Oliver Stone film on this topic would be fun. Pollstar has an interesting report about a man who has accused the king of horror of murdering the Beatle legend. They end with their own guess at whodunit! Here is part of that report:

It happened Dec. 8, 1980 in New York City in front of witnesses, including Lennon's wife Yoko Ono. But that didn't stop a conspiracy theorist from approaching the Sarasota City Commission claiming author Stephen King pulled the trigger.

Steven Lightfoot has been preaching the conspiracy gospel about Lennon's murder almost as long as the former Beatle has been deceased. Through fliers, pamphlets, public speeches and now a Web site, Lightfoot thinks he's solved the "crime of the century" (his words). Throughout the years Lightfoot has claimed he has evidence King shot Lennon. However, most of Lightfoot's conspiracy theory seems to be centered on an idea that Lennon's real assassin, Mark David Chapman, kind of resembled King around the time of the shooting. - more on this story

Premature U2- Metallica Skynyrd Blunder- Replacements- Rihanna Bruised Photos Leak- Take That Injury- Aiken Was Dropped- Lil Wayne Delay- Motley DVD and more

antiMusic reports: A case of premature Bono Down Under: There won't be any cigars for the staffers at Universal Music Australia who inadvertently made U2's anticipated new album "No Line On the Horizon" available digitally more than a week before release.more

Rolling Stone caught a spelling gaffe on the cover of the new Guitar Hero: Metallica while checking out the game's cover art, which proudly displays the names of all the hard-rocking artists that grace the game's soundtrack. While bands like Judas Priest and Samhain enjoyed correct spelling, just off to the left of the "Hero" is the hitherto unknown band "Lynyrd Skynrd," whom we presume is some sort of Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band, minus a Y. more

Despite the collective will of fans waiting with bated breath for a reunion, the book on the Replacements has likely closed with Rhino's recent round of deluxe reissues, according to former bassist Tommy Stinson.more

The first picture of a bruised and bloodied Rihanna after her alleged assault by singer Chris Brown has surfaced on the Internet, prompting an investigation by Los Angeles police into how it was leaked.more

Alter Bridge announced this week that the band has begun working on its new album, tentatively titled "Alter Bridge III" more

Follow up: We did confirm with our contact at RCA that Clay Aiken parted ways with the label last year.

TV On The Radio have been announced to perform at Central Park Summerstage in New York this year. The band will play a benefit on June 5 to raise money for the full season of free entertainment more

Bullet For My Valentine has been announced as the headline act for a very special show at London's famous Royal Albert Hall to support the Teenage Cancer Trust. Joining them on the bill will be Fightstar and The Blackout.more

Lil Wayne has delayed the release date of his rock album, Rebirth, from April 7 to May 19.more

Alice Cooper has been forced to cancel the 2009 Pro AM/Celebrity Golf Tournament which was scheduled to be held at the Arizona Biltmore. more

South Carolina's Hard Rock Park was saved from bankruptcy and liquidation yesterday after a new ownership group stepped in to buy the beleaguered amusement parkmore

British Sea Power have announced the release of the soundtrack for the 1934 movie 'Man Of Aran'. The film is being re-released on DVD with the new soundtrack, and will see the band perform the soundtrack live to the film at BFI Southbank on 23 April. more

Leonard Cohen played his first U.S. concert in 15 years, returning with a two-set, six-encore, three-hour long performance that the singer called "a memorable evening."more

Michael Jackson is reportedly in talks for a 30-date residency in London as his big explosive comebackmore

Take That's Gary Barlow has injured his back during preparations to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, for charity.more

The Pet Shop Boys are working on a ballet featuring "electronics and strings" to be staged at Sadler's Wells, Neil Tennant has revealed. The singer told Radio 2 presenter Stuart Maconie that the piece, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, could open at the London theatre in 2011. more

Heavy metal legends Iron Maiden won the award for Best Live Act at the Brit Awards last week, which is the biggest awards show in British music. The band couldn't be there in person to collect the award due to being on tour but thanked their fans in a video message. You can check out the message here

Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman, Journey, Yngwie Malmsteen) will embark on a European tour starting on April 1 in support of the release on his brand new album "Beautiful Mess" released this week in Europe on Frontiers Records. more

German metal band Rough Silk is planning to reunite for their 20th band anniversary and release a new album.more

Alexisonfire has just entered a Vancouver, British Columbia studio with engineer Nick Blagona (King Crimson) to begin recording their fourth album.more

Ed Gein is finally regrouping after a considerable break. Here's an update from the band: "Ed Gein is not broken up. We are actually finally going to get together and start playing again. It's been difficult to get all our work schedules and lives to line up, and to be honest, after years of constant touring and everything we weren't in a huge hurry. But it seems we've got a game plan now and are going to see what happens." more

Former KISSer Ace Frehley has updated the 12 pics section on his website with 12 new pictures, including the last makeup pic from the Dunkin' Doughnuts commercial and a rare non makeup pic from 1977. acefrehley.com

After several releases together, Heavy Heavy Low Low and Ferret Music/New Weathermen Records are now going their separate ways.more

Yakuza is currently writing material for their next album. The group will enter the studio in July with Sanford Parker (Pelican) at the helmmore

As rumors of their demise circulate, San Diego, California's Lower Definition (Ferret Music) has issued a statement regarding the departure of two members and its effect upon the future (or lack thereof) of the band.more

Motley Crue has announced that they will be releasing a DVD of last year's Crue Fest event on March 24th through Universal. The DVD will include a full concert from Motley Crue recorded at the Molson Amphitheatre in Torontomore

Nightrage will enter Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden tomorrow (Monday, February 23) with producer Fredrik Nordström (Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy, In Flames) to begin recording their fourth full-length album for a June 2009 releasemore

Krokus are celebrating their 30th anniversary with a new deal with their original label: Sony. more

Yngwie Malmsteen is set to release an all instrumental acoustic album entitled 'Angel Of Love' on March 10th. The CD will contain re-arrangements of his ballad songs played on acoustic guitar with string and choir arrangements only. more

Lavett, an uncompromising Swedish five-piece consisting of musicians who have spent the last ten years making albums and touring with such acts as Dark Tranquillity, Lost Horizon, Beseech, Twdso (Those We Don't Speak Of) and Sundown/Cemetary, will release a digital EP, "When The World Caves In", in March through iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, Klicktrack, CDON and other well-known digital music services. more

Victory Records is proud to welcome Chase Long Beach to their growing family more

Girlschool have been confirmed as the main support on Motorhead's upcoming UK Tour. - more on this story

Killers Vs Former Manager

Billboard reports: Three years after the Killers' former manager sued the band for alleged breach of contract, the Killers have responded with a countersuit of their own, seeking unspecified damages for what they say was a pattern of incompetence and double-dealing that led to losses of revenue for the group.

The Killers' lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Las Vegas, alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment, as well as breach of an implied good-faith covenant by former manager Braden Merrick and his company, From the Future.

Though the Killers' suit doesn't specify the amount of damages being sought, a statement from the band obtained by Billboard cites "multi-million-dollar damages in missed concerts and lost touring revenues, and via the bungling of merchandising and promotional opportunities." - more on this story

Rise Against Rancid Tour

PR reports: Rise Against announce a summer tour with punk rock legends Rancid as their special guests. The tour kicks off June 4th in Vancouver and continues through July 31st. See below for a list of U.S. & Canadian tour dates. More dates to be announced soon.

Rise Against released their fifth studio album, Appeal To Reason, on DGC/Interscope Records last fall and it debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart as well as spending one week at # 1 on the iTunes album chart. First single, "Re-Education (Through Labor)," was a top 2 hit at modern rock radio and new single "Audience Of One" is poised to top the charts as well.

Currently Rise Against is on a European headlining tour followed by some dates in Australia and Japan. The band will be back in the states to play the Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, NJ on May 3rd with No Doubt. - more on this story

Former Killswitch Engage Vocalist Talks Up New Band

PR reports: Former Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach is the guest on "Ryan's Rock Show" this week.

Leach discusses his new band The Empire Shall Fall, reveals why he truly parted ways with Killswitch Engage, and gives insight on his future plans and projects.

The "Ryan's Rock Show" episode featuring Leach is available right now for instant streaming at - www.ryansrockshow.com

Razorlight U.S. Fortnight

PR reports: With excitement building towards the March 10th U.S. release of their third album, Slipway Fires, London-based Razorlight will return to the states for two weeks of tour dates and promotions next month.

The tour will open in Boston on Monday, March 9th (at Middle East), then on to New York the next night for the official album release celebration at Hiro Ballroom March 10th. March 11th, Razorlight will perform on The Late Show with David Letterman.

After shows in Philadelphia, Chicago, Nashville, and Atlanta, Razorlight will return to the SXSW (South By Southwest) Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas – where they were discovered five years ago in 2004. - more on this story

Depeche Mode Tour Of The Universe

PR reports: Depeche Mode have announced North American cities and dates for their upcoming "Tour Of The Universe," which will mark the group's most extensive outing in the region in several years.

Kicking off in Toronto on July 24th, the band's 22-city North American tour will cover both the US and Canada and hit most major markets across the continent. Tickets for select markets are set to go on sale on March 13th.

Depeche Mode's "Tour of the Universe" is happening in conjunction with the release of the group's twelfth studio album, Sounds Of the Universe (Mute/Capitol/Virgin), which will be released on April 21st. Alongside a standard CD format, Depeche Mode has announced that Sounds Of The Universe will also be released as a Special Edition CD/DVD and a Deluxe Box Set that will include a host of exclusive material:

* Three CDs containing the album, bonus songs and remixes, as well as 14 demos available exclusively-- a career first for Depeche Mode.* A DVD that will feature three films: Making The Universe, a behind-the scenes documentary about the recording of the album, Usual Thing, Try And Get The Question In The Answer (a conversation with the band discussing recording techniques, intercut with personal archive footage from previous album sessions) and Sounds Of The Universe (a short film featuring track by track with the band). The DVD will also include the promo video for the album's first single "Wrong" (directed by Patrick Daughters), plus four songs filmed live in the studio in December 2008 and a version of the album the album mixed in DTS 5.1 surround sound - more on this story

T.I. In Court For Teens

AP reports: A month from beginning a yearlong federal prison sentence, rapper T.I. was in court again Friday, but this time he wasn't in the hot seat.

The 28-year-old performer, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., spoke to dozens of high school students — half serving juvenile sentences — gathered at the Georgia Supreme Court.

"You can see from me that nobody is too rich, too famous, too cool, too good-looking or too young to make a mistake and pay a price for it," said Harris, dressed in jeans, a gray hooded sweat shirt and a blue knit hat. "More important than the mistake you make, though, is what you are able to take away from that mistake. How can you use that mistake to ensure you will never make a similar mistake again?" - more on this story

Singled Out: Ace Enders & A Million Different People

antiMusic reports: Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Ace from Ace Enders & A Million Different People tells us about "The Only Thing I Have (The Sign)" from their brand new album "When I Hit the Ground," which hits stores on March 17th. We now turn it over to Ace for the story:

The idea for this song came from the last few years of my life and just seeing the way life puts you on this up and down roller coaster. You can never be sure what's over the next hill.I think its one of the most honest songs I've ever written, because when I wrote it I was really confused and in that moment the only thing that made sense was to write about it. It came to me at a time where I just felt like I wasn't in the right place. All my work that I had done for the past year was meaningless, but it's about finding the one little reason or in this case "the sign" that keeps you going. It's basically a struggle to decide how and why you keep going when you feel you shouldn't.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album, grab tour dates to their upcoming outing with Craig Owens of Chiodos and more - right here!

Wait there is more!

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