Ozzy Vs Black Sabbath's Iommi

He says he's been forced to go to court after failing to persuade Iommi to "do the right thing" by any other means - and he's only taking action "with regret". In a statement Osbourne explains: "In the mid-1990s, after constant changes in band members, the brand of Black Sabbath was in the toilet, and Tony, touring under the name Black Sabbath, was reduced to performing in clubs. Since 1997, when Geezer, Bill and myself rejoined the band, Black Sabbath has returned to its former glory." - It did? Read more here

Jimi Hendrix Killed By Manager?

Nightwatcher reports: The UK's Daily Mail is reporting that rock legend Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager as part of an insurance scam, a new book by one of former aides claims.

Hendrix choked to death on his own vomit when he was 27 – but the exact circumstances of his death have always been a mystery.

Now James 'Tappy' Wright, one of the rock star's roadies, claims that Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffery, confessed to killing him. Jeffery is said to have made a drunken confession a year after the star's death in September 1970. - more on this story

Tone Loc Passes Out During Gig

E! reports: Maybe Tone Loc had a little too much of that funky cold medina. The "Wild Thing" rapper was hospitalized overnight in Florida after collapsing during a gig at a Pensacola Beach hot spot.

Per the Pensacola News Journal, the 43-year-old MC, whose real name is Anthony Terrell Smith, was into the sixth song of his set shortly after midnight Friday at the Capt'n Fun Beach Club when he passed out onstage.

Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene and he was taken by ambulance to Gulf Breeze Hospital. He was released Friday morning. - more on this story

John Rich Busted For Assaulting Reality TV Contestant

Billboard reports: Country star John Rich is charged with assault and harassment in an ongoing dispute with a former "Nashville Star" contestant.

Rich says in a statement Thursday that he turned himself in to Nashville police to face the charges filed by Jared Ashley, a contestant during the fourth season of the TV show on the USA network.

The 35-year-old was charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault and one misdemeanor count of harassment. He was released on $3,000 bond. - more on this story

Cheap Trick's Latest Album News and Plans for Sgt Pepper Documentary

SleazeRoxx reports: Cheap Trick is stepping outside of the label world to release its next studio album, "The Latest," itself. The veteran rock group started taking pre-orders for the 13-track set, which it recorded during the past year mostly in Los Angeles with producer Julian Raymond, last Friday via its official web site, www.cheaptrick.com, and at Amazon.com.

Besides "The Latest," Cheap Trick has also recorded a version of the "Transformers" theme for the "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" soundtrack, which also comes out June 23.

The group is also planning to release some sort of document from its 2007 Hollywood Bowl performance of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" but is not ready to announce it yet. That performance, a 40th birthday tribute to the classic album, featured such guest vocalists as Aimee Mann on "Fixing a Hole;" Joan Osborne singing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds;" Ian Ball, of the band Gomez, on "When I'm Sixty-Four;" and Rob Laufer, who once played George Harrison in "Beatlemania!," on "Within You Without You." Also that night, Ministry's Al Jourgensen and guitarist Sin Quinn joined on "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" from "Abbey Road." - more on this story

Rock Band: Iron Maiden with 12 Numbers From The Beast

MusicRadar reports: Looks like The Beatles: Rock Band isn't the only nostalgic treat heading for gaming's E3 Expo next week.

Iron Maiden are releasing a 12-strong track pack of classic and new live concert performances via Rock Band.

The live cuts are taken from Maiden's tour documentary Flight 666. Gamers can download all 12 from 9 June, full tracklisting can be found - here

Def Leppard Looking For Lip-Synching Fans

SleazeRoxx reports: This week, Def Leppard fans all over the country will likely lock their doors, grab their favorite hair brushes (a clenched fist will do), line up their video camera, iPhone or webcam, crank up their stereos to one of the group's massive hits and rock out. Then they'll upload their video on YouTube and wait for the call to be part of the biggest concert tour of the summer, Def Leppard with Poison and special guest Cheap Trick.

Starting today (May 29th), fans are asked to go to Def Leppard's contest page to upload their video entries, which will be accepted through Wednesday, June 17th. Ten winners will then be chosen by the band, and notified, on Friday, June 19th.

The winners will receive two tickets and backstage tour to meet members of the band. Whether "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Photograph," "Lets Get Rocked," "Foolin'" or "Bringing On The Heartbreak," doesn't matter. All entries will be judged. - more on this story

Slash Almost Done With Solo CD Vocals

antiMusic reports: Slash has taken to Myspace once again to fill fans in on what he is up to. Sorry, no big Velvet Revolver updates but he did tell fans the following about his solo album:

As far as the record goes, we're almost done with vocals, 2 more songs left and a couple odds and ends. Then, I can stand back and see what we've got. It is a fucking awesome ensemble, that much I do know, with brilliant performances from each and every singer. I do hope to have a release date soon, but I can assure you, as I said before, it won't be this year. It will, most definitely, be out be very early in the new year. Even though the recording process is almost done, the legal logistics involved with so many different artists takes a minute to iron out.

When the record is released I plan on posting what gear was used on what songs; guitars, amps etc. Although, most of it was done with one guitar and 2 amps. A lot of interesting mike set-ups though. The record is being recorded anolog as well, this might be one of the last rock and roll records to be recorded that way, no joke. So, of course, I have to release it on vinyl, as well as cd. - Read the full update

No One Wants Nude Madonna

BBC reports: An oil painting depicting Madonna in the nude with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie has failed to meet the reserve price of £15,000 at auction in Glasgow.

Acclaimed Scottish artist Peter Howson has produced several portraits of the pop icon in a state of undress.

The portrait, being sold by a private collector, did attract some bids during the sale at McTear's Auctioneers but they did not satisfy the seller. - If you haven't eaten lunch yet, you can view a photo of the painting and read more of this story here

Eye Injury Forces Born From Pain Frontman To Exit Tour

Lambgoat reports: Because he required eye surgery, Born From Pain singer Rob Franssen was forced to leave the group's current tour with Terror et al. Here's a statement from the band:

"As some of you might have heard already, Rob had to face a very serious surgery on his eyes which forced him to leave our current tour with Terror, Stick To Your Guns, and Trapped Under Ice. What we know so far is that surgery went well and we all hope he can return to us in about two weeks. In the meantime, everybody on this tour wishes him all the best for his recovery!

"For the time being, David [Wood] from Terror aka singer for Down To Nothing is more than willing to fill in for Rob, making sure we don't have to cancel any of the upcoming shows." - more on this story

Stone Temple Pilots Plan New CD- My Chemical Baby With A Stupid Name- RIP SPV?- Less Than Jake Children's Book- U2 Surprise- Guitarist Killed and more

antiMusic reports: Stone Temple Pilots/ex-Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that STP is working with producer Don Was on material for a new album, tentatively due in 2010.more

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and his wife Lindsey Ballato are celebrating the birth of their first child - a baby girl they've named Bandit Lee. (poor kid stuck with a lame "child of a rockstar name" like Bandit. Isn't that name more appropriate for a pet dog? Or perhaps they were aiming to set her up to be emotionally "emo" in her teen years?) more

Rise Against ready to hit the road with Rancid. Touring with Rancid this summer will be a dream come true for Rise Against, according to frontman Tim McIlrath. more

Rihanna's attorney says the singer will appear at a hearing next month as a possible witness in the assault case against Chris Brown.more

Vinnie Fiorello, drummer/lyricist of Less Than Jake and founder of Paper and Plastick has announced the release of his first children's book. The book, entitled Sometimes Robots Like Being Robots, is due out June 12, 2009.more

U2 made a surprise appearance onstage in London tonight (May 28). The band took to the stage at the O2 Academy Shepherds Bush, joining African artist Baaba Maal just after he played his set as part of the Island Life gigs which are taking place at the venue this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the acts' label Island Records. more

SPV Records is learning a new business term today: insolvency. To the layman, that means the inability to pay one's debts as they become due, and apparently this is the case with the long-running German metal label. According to Billboard, managing partner Manfred Schütz willingly submitted an application to commence insolvency proceedings on Monday (May 25).more

Slava Giebel, the 20-year-old guitarist for the German Viking metal band Strydegor, was killed in a car accident the night of May 23. more

Korn's Jonathan Davis and Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell make guest appearances on the eighth studio album from the Israeli-bred, Los Angeles-based electronic duo Infected Mushroom, "Legend Of The Black Shawarma", due on September 8, 2009more

Silverstein will headline a brief tour next month, a portion of which will also feature Poison The Well, The Sleeping, and Oceana.more

In a new online post from Weezer, the band reveals that they recorded some new material over the winter with producer Jacknife Lee for a new album that should be out later in 2009.more

Phil Spector Seeks Reduced Prison Term A lawyer for Phil Spector said in a court document filed Wednesday that the music producer maintains he did not kill actress Lana Clarkson and is not responsible for her death.more

All That Remains have scheduled an in-store appearance at HMV in Quebec City on Monday, June 1st at 4:30 PM.more

There's a new No. 1 on European Top 100 Albums, as Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown" (Reprise/Warner Music) ascends 2-1 in its second week.more

Ratt have announced some new tour dates. In April, Loud & Proud announced the signing of a worldwide deal the band who are set to begin recording their first new material since 1999's self-titled album this spring.more

The Binary Code has announced the departure of bass player Lukas Koszella. Not surprisingly, the New Jersey group is now looking for a replacement.more

Head Automatica have completed recording their next album.more

Woe Of Tyrants will team up with Bison B.C. and Lazarus A.D. for a brief summer tour.more

Anvil will perform live after the 10:00 p.m. screening of their acclaimed documentary, "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil", on June 3, 2009 at The Village East Cinema in New York City. more

Meat Puppets will do an in store performance at the Chicago Apple store on May 30 at 2pm.

Trivia question of the day: Some pressings of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album contained a hidden track, what was it called?: a) 'Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip' b) 'Bite, Spit, Puke' c) 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die' d) 'Endless, Nameless'

The answer to Friday's question: Thomas Dolby appeared as Booker T Boffin on Def Leppard's "Pyromania". - more News Quicks

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