The Smashing Pumpkins Reunion
A series of summer concert series are slated for the Smashing Pumpkins. They will perform at a club called The Orange Peel in Asheville NC, from June 23-July 5 and then perform at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco CA, from July 22-Aug 1, 2007. Fans attending the shows will be allowed to use video and audio recorders at both venues according to the bands website . The performance at the Asheville venue will be the biggest event in the clubs history and for the city of Asheville. The Smashing Pumpkins last extended stay was a four shows in their hometown of Chicago before the release of "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness," in 1994. Original members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin are the only members who are slated to perform at the venues other original members James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky have yet to be included in the reunion plans.
It would seem that in order to have a "reunion" of a band Corgan would have to put aside his much publicized ego and work with all original members. Some recent reunions of bands that have been somewhat successful are Son Volt, The Pixies, and the english band Cream who apparently called it quits over a woman. If the members of these bands can find some common ground one would think that Corgan and company could too.
It's a boy
Sheryl Crow announced this week that she has adopted a two-week old baby boy and he has been named Wyatt Crow after her father. She mentioned last year on CNN that she would love a child whether it was her own or came from someone else.
This is the first child for Crow who is currently single but had a much publicized engagement with Lance Armstrong that ended in February 2006. It was often rumored that she and the cyclist were contemplating having children together and that she was visiting fertility clinics because she couldn't have children but denied reports of her ever doing so. Crow admitted that she formed a close bond with Armstrong's son and twin daughters during the courtship. After the relationship ended she announced that she had been diagnosed for breast cancer which she eventually beat.
The recent big name adoptions by Angelina Jolile, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell have led some to believe that they do it because of their celebrity. However, they have apparently realized that there are children in the world who need parents.
On the mend ?
Bo Diddley suffered a stroke last Sunday after becoming disorientated during a concert for the Katrina Hurricane Victims in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was admitted to the intensive care unit at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, The stroke on his left side and left him with impaired speech at first . However, his condition was somewhat improved the next day and doctors think that he will be able to perform again after going through physical therapy. He has had a history of hypertension and diabetes.
Bo Diddley was born Elias Bates in McComb Mississippi on Dec. 30, 1928 He learned to play the guitar, violin and was inspired to play music and perform after seeing John Lee Hooker. He adopted the stage name Bo DIddley and began performing rhumba like beats similar to the hambone style that some street performers used in the south. His first album was released in 1958 on the Chicago based Chess Label a successful jazz label during the 50's and 60's. His first public appearance was on the Ed Sullivan Show where he was the first black performer featured on that program. He has influenced and performed variety of artists throughout the years ranging from The Clash, The Yardbirds, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead, U2.
Rapper's Delights
The rapper 50 Cent says he doesn't intend to clean up his lyrics in spite of the recent publicity over rap lyrics containing the "N-word", "Ho", and "B*tch". Def Jam's founder Russell Simmons call for an end to these words used by rappers throughout the industry and the second word was a reason for the cancellation of the Don Imus show by CBS radio.
Fiddy said "Music is a mirror, and hip-hop is a reflection of the environment that we grew up in. It's the harsh realities that end up in the music. If I ask you to paint a picture of the American flag and not use the color red your going to have a difficult time." 50 Cents first disc "Get Rich or Die Trying" was a story of how he had survived growing up poor, dealing drugs, and the ever present theme of him being shot ten times and surviving.
Snoop Doggy Dog is said to be bored with hip-hop and would like to change his career by working with other artists outside of the genre. He has said " I got beats for everybody man, I got beats for Celine Dion, Sade. Rap shit is easy whoever I call , I can get just because I'm Snoop Dogg. " I want to be more creative with artists who will be here in 20 years from now.
A hip-hop artist known for working outside his genre is Kayne West who is finishing up his third disc titled "Graduation" to be released in September. It will feature collaborations with Chris Martin of Coldplay on the songs "Graduation" and "Can't tell me nothing."
Lauryn Hill has announced that she will be playing two special shows in the US this summer. She will play on June 27th and 29th the first in Oakland and the second in Pala, California. She and Conor Oberst (Brighteyes) are said to be working together on her new disc. One of the tracks titled "Khulami Phase " is said to be the title of the disc.
Nate "Danja" Hills has collaborated with Britney Spears on her new disc and he says it was all about having fun and not worrying about her recent personal life. He has said that the new disc is fun and there isn't anything wrong about feeling good about being and celebrating womanhood.
Ten Million sold and we still have none
Paul McCartney's new disc "Memory Almost Full" is estimated to be heard by more than 6 million people around the world. This will be the first release on the Concord Music Group label which is owned by the Starbucks Corporation . The worldwide listening party will be on June 5th the date of the discs release and will be previewing it in more than 10,000 stores and in 29 countries.
Buy It !
A former friend of Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson has been trying to halt an auction of his personal items at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino that is to take place on May 30-31.
At least 1,000 items valued at $50 million are to be auctioned. Jackson filed a temporary injunction and sought punitive damages against Universal Express Inc. a luggage handling company based in Boca Raton, Fl which received 20.000 items as part of a bankruptcy settlement with the Jackson Family in 2002. The items that contested were written items such as personal correspondence, the lyrics to the 1970 ht "ABC" by the Jackson 5 and artwork
On Friday a hearing to extend the injunction was to take place but Jackson didn't show up. Apparently, Jackson and Universal reached an out of court agreement. The auction will take place but won't include potentially embarrassing items the CEO of Universal said that if Jackson presses further legal action then the embarrassing items would be added to the auction regardless of their content.
They just keep on Rolling
Mick Jagger is rumored to be engaged to his current girlfriend fashion designer L'Wren Scott. She was recently seen wearing an expensive engagement ring.
Keith Richards guitarist for The Rolling Stones is reported to be writing his autobiography. He may receive at least $5 million for the story of his life and is meeting with publishers over the next few months in New York City.
Linkin's Park
Linkin Park's new disc "Minutes to Midnight" which was released on May 15th may be somewhat of a surprise for longtime fans. The one thing people will notice is that there's not alot of nu-metal feel but what we do is very Linkin Park." Chester Bennigton lead singer of the band said that "Minutes to Midnight" doesn't sound like LInkin Park's previous work the songs are more melodic and has more content than their previous discs.
The rapper/musician Mike Shindoa who writes most of the lyrics for the group sings on one track and has said that people assume that the lyrics are political but they aren't. "We're not a political band. And I see some of the stuff that you're referring to ... as more social. I tend to be drawn towards people, the interaction with people and how emotional events make you feel, and because we're all older, I think that we are more aware of those things." "We've taken alot of risks on this record because of the stylistic changes that we've made. Linkin Park's first two discs 2000's "Hybrid Theory" sold 10 million copies and 2003's "Meteora" sold 4 million all in the first week of sale.
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