Music News
1. Signs point to imminent Simpson-Wentz wedding
By Associated Press - May 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Though Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are keeping a tight lid on their nuptuals, it's looking like a wedding is imminent. Aerial photos posted Friday at several celebrity Web sites, credited to the Insight News & Features paparazzi photo agency, purport to...
2. DeVotchKa creates `big drunken tuba party'
By JAKE COYLE - May 16, 2008
INDIO, Calif. -- Asked if his band's performance in an hour's time will include any theatrics, Nick Urata warns: "There will be some death-defying feats of glory."He laughs and then adds: "Seriously. Not by me."When Urata's band DeVotchKa soon thereafter performs at the...
3. Taylor Hicks to play Teen Angel in Broadway's `Grease'
By ERIN CARLSON - May 15, 2008
NEW YORK -- Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."The "American Idol" alum will join the Broadway cast of "Grease" on June 6, playing Teen Angel in the revival of the popular musical.The gray-haired singer -- whose "Idol" fan base was called "The Soul Patrol" --...
4. Rapper DMX enters not guilty plea
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
PHOENIX -- DMX has pleaded not guilty to felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. A judge entered the plea for the musician-actor (real name: Earl Simmons) at a brief court hearing Thursday. Simmons was late for court.The 37-year-old rapper was...
5. Country star Shania Twain, husband splitting up
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
TORONTO -- Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details...
6. With 6 ACM noms, Rodney Atkins joins country elite
By JOHN GEROME - May 15, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Rodney Atkins is still surprised when people recognize him in the grocery store nowadays. But give it time.With six nominations for Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards, including biggies like male vocalist, album of the year and song of the year,...
7. Peter Mussbach leaving Berlin's Staatsoper
By GEIR MOULSON - May 15, 2008
BERLIN -- Peter Mussbach, general manager of Berlin's famed Staatsoper, is leaving due to differences over programming.The foundation that oversees Berlin's three opera houses decided in consultation with Mussbach, 59, to "release him irrevocably with immediate effect,"...
8. T-Pain has 5 nominations for BET Awards
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY - May 15, 2008
NEW YORK -- T-Pain's status as urban music's most frequent collaborator helped him nab a leading five BET Award nominations.Kanye West and Keyshia Cole received three nominations, while Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and newcomer Flo Rida received a pair each, BET told The...
9. Ruling on Madonna adoption bid is postponed
By RAPHAEL TENTHANI - May 15, 2008
LILONGWE, Malawi -- Madonna won't know until next week whether a Malawian boy she found in an orphanage in 2006 will become a permanent member of her family, her lawyer said. Lawyer Alan Chinula had expected the judge to rule on the adoption Wednesday but said the...
10. Carter, Connick do their home work in New Orleans
By STACEY PLAISANCE - May 14, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- As former President Jimmy Carter nailed down the front porch of a home under construction Wednesday, singer Harry Connick Jr. gave an update on the progress being made in the Upper 9th Ward, an area slow to recover from Hurricane Katrina.The two are...
11. Paul McCartney's carbon footprint is criticized
By GREGORY KATZ - May 14, 2008
LONDON -- Sometimes it seems Paul McCartney can't win for losing. The former Beatle has long been an outspoken advocate of environmental causes and animal rights. He is a vegetarian who won't even wear leather shoes. But now he's being criticized for having a hybrid...
12. Jackson's 'Thriller' among cultural treasures
By KEVIN S. VINEYS - May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The best-selling pop album on planet Earth and a disc sent hurtling into deep space are among recordings the Library of Congress will preserve for their cultural significance.Twenty-five selections were added to the National Recording Registry on Wednesday,...
13. Jennifer Lopez to host LA hospital gala
By SANDY COHEN - May 14, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Jennifer Lopez has children on her mind -- and not just her infant twins with husband Marc Anthony.The 39-year-old singer/actress/entrepreneur is also thinking about the 93,000 sick and seriously injured children treated annually by Childrens Hospital Los...
14. Honda robot conducts Detroit Symphony to warm response
By DEE-ANN DURBIN - May 14, 2008
DETROIT -- The lights dimmed, the sold-out hall grew hushed and out walked the conductor -- shiny, white and 4 feet, 3 inches tall.ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., met its latest challenge Tuesday evening: Conducting the Detroit Symphony in a performance of "...
15. Honda robot conducts Detroit Symphony to warm response
By DEE-ANN DURBIN - May 13, 2008
DETROIT -- The lights dimmed, the sold-out hall grew hushed and out walked the conductor -- shiny, white, 4 feet 3 inches tall. ASIMO, a robot designed by Honda Motor Co., met its latest challenge Tuesday evening: Conducting the Detroit Symphony in a performance of "The...
16. Detroit Symphony hopes robot conductor will fire up students
By DEE-ANN DURBIN - May 13, 2008
DETROIT -- Classical music enthusiasts long have sought to drum up support for the musical genre among young people, and now they have a secret weapon: the 4-foot-3, childlike robot ASIMO.On Wednesday, the day after the Honda robot conducted the Detroit Symphony, ASIMO...
17. Phil Spector recording engineer Larry Levine dies
By LINDA DEUTSCH - May 13, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Larry Levine, the recording engineer who helped Phil Spector re-invent rock 'n' roll music with his "Wall of Sound" technique and won a Grammy for his work with Herb Alpert, died on his 80th birthday, his family said Tuesday.Levine's wife, Lyn, said he...
18. Price, Levine, Floyd, Gaddes to get NEA honors
By RONALD BLUM - May 13, 2008
NEW YORK -- Soprano Leontyne Price, conductor James Levine, composer Carlisle Floyd and administrator Richard Gaddes will be the initial recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors.The awards, patterned after the NEA Jazz Masters honors that were...
19. Madonna adoption case in Malawi nears conclusion
By Associated Press - May 13, 2008
BLANTYRE, Malawi -- Madonna's bid to adopt a Malawian toddler she found in an orphanage in 2006 is likely to be approved in court this week, her lawyer said Tuesday.Alan Chinula said Madonna's legal team and government representatives would be in Lilongwe High Court on...
20. Ludacris returns to his alma mater in Atlanta
By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. - May 13, 2008
ATLANTA -- Ludacris returned to his alma mater, stepped into a gymnasium -- and saw a mural that included his likeness."I've always wanted a street named after me, but this is better," the 30-year-old rapper said of the mural, which includes his face overlooking the...
21. NYC judge sentences Remy Ma to 8 years in prison
By SAMUEL MAULL - May 13, 2008
NEW YORK -- A weeping Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday for shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub. "I feel so bad for all the physical and mental pain you've gone through," the Grammy-nominated rapper told the victim. "This has taken a toll...
22. Obama leads field in unsolicited campaign songs
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY - May 13, 2008
NEW YORK -- Barack Obama is closing in on the Democratic nomination for president, but he clinched the race for the best campaign soundtrack long ago -- no superdelegates needed.John McCain and Hillary Clinton also have plenty of musical support in the first presidential...
23. NC biologist names trapdoor spider after Neil Young
By NATASHA ROBINSON - May 12, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. -- You can call Neil Young the new spiderman.A biologist has named a newly discovered trapdoor spider after rock star Neil Young: Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.The musician is "worthy of that honor" because he's been an activist for social and political issues,...
24. Paul McCartney granted divorce decree
By ROBERT BARR - May 12, 2008
LONDON -- Sometimes love isn't all you need. A judge in London granted a preliminary divorce Monday to former Beatle Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. If no one objects, the divorce will be final in six weeks.Mills, 40, will emerge from the rancorous divorce with a...
25. Gospel singer Dottie Rambo dies in tour bus wreck in Mo.
By Associated Press - May 11, 2008
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- Joyce "Dottie" Rambo, an influential gospel singer and songwriter, died early Sunday when her tour bus ran off the highway and struck an embankment. She was 74.Seven other people on the bus were injured in the wreck about two miles east of Mount...
