Rocker Chris Cornell dead at 52—representative

Rocker Chris Cornell, who gained fame as the lead singer of the bands Soundgarden and later Audioslave, has died at age 52, according to his representative.

Cornell, who had been on tour, died Wednesday night in Detroit, Brian Bumbery said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Bumbery called the death “sudden and unexpected” and said his wife and family were shocked by it. The statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy.




As the lead singer for Seattle-based Soundgarden, Cornell helped architect the 90’s grunge rock movement. He was also a Grammy award-winning, Golden Globe nominated singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer and lyricist.

In addition, Cornell became involved in philanthropy and started the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to support children facing challenges, including homelessness, poverty, abuse and neglect.

Associated Press

Alanis Morissette Rocks To Jams Old And New At Sold-Out Show

NEW YORK — When Alanis Morissette hit the stage for her sold-out show at Long Island's Paramount Theater on Sunday night, it was with an exceptionally radiant smile on her face. The Canadian-American rocker's energy and vivaciousness throughout her 90-minute set hinted that she is in a remarkably good place in her life these days.

The alternative rock superstar was in the tri-state area promoting Havoc and Bright Lights, her first album since giving birth to a son in December 2010 with her husband, Mario "Souleye" Treadway. Alanis performed a handful of new tracks from the upbeat album, including the catchy first single, "Guardian," which fans had already memorized enough to sing along with.

She also performed a number of her biggest hits, beginning with "All I Really Want" from "Jagged Little Pill," which solidified her status in rock history by going sixteen times platinum since its 1995 release. Her huge voice led a chorus of singing fans through "You Learn," "Hand in My Pocket," "Head Over Feet," "Hands Clean," and "You Oughtta Know," which she performed with such perfect feistiness that one might have forgotten how things have turned out so well for her lately. During "Ironic," she adjusted a lyric slightly, when she sang, "It's like meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful... husband." Everyone screamed with glee for that small update, of course.

When Alanis wasn't singing her lungs out, blowing on the harmonica or giving a peace sign, she was jamming out with an energy that captivated the room. These jam sessions included her playing on the bass guitar and flinging her incredibly long brown hair in ways that would put any pop star or hair-metal rock star to shame. She closed the night off with an encore including her beautiful power ballad, "Uninvited" and the song she dedicated to the fans at the show, appropriately being "Thank U."

Music from six of Alanis' very different albums — and life phases — all projected from a woman who is clearly at the top of her game, in both her professional and personal life. Amid the break-up anthems, the existential dilemmas and the promise of being a great mother, it was a blast to hear what Alanis has been through to get to where she was on Sunday night, singing with a huge smile on her face.

source: mtv.com

Sir Mick Jagger hosts SNL season finale

Sir Mick Jagger is set to host the season finale of 'Saturday Night Live'.

The Rolling Stones rocker - who has appeared on the comedy sketch show twice as a musical guest - will take charge on May 19 where he is expected to particiipate in a number of skits with series regulars and perform live in the studio.

Mick's appearance will follow New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Rihanna on Saturday (05.05.12), and Will Ferrell with musical guest Usher on May 12.

It will also coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Rolling Stones, which was founded in 1962.

This is a busy year for Mick as Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood was recently overheard saying the band were planning to get together to 'play around with some ideas in the studio' after the lead singer and guitarist Keith Richards finally ended their long running feud earlier this year, in time for them to tour next year

Their relationship became acrimonious when Keith made claims his bandmate had a small penis in his autobiography .

source: http://www.skynews.com.au/showbiz/article.aspx?id=746703&vId=

Professor Springsteen's rock 'n' roll history lesson at SXSW

Austin, Texas (CNN) -- Anyone expecting outspoken rocker Bruce Springsteen to spend his keynote address here at the South by Southwest music conference talking about his new No. 1 album or the politically divided state of the country may have gotten a surprise.

Instead, Springsteen delivered a rousing, witty and personal history of his varied music influences -- from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan to James Brown to Hank Williams -- punctuating his points by playing snippets of songs on a guitar. He also offered a little veteran advice for the thousands of young, unknown musicians who have descended upon Austin in the hopes of making it big.

"Stay hard. Stay hungry. Stay alive," he said in his familiar rasp. "And when you walk onstage tonight to bring the noise, treat it like it's all you have."

Springsteen is at SXSW to help launch "Wrecking Ball," his 17th studio album, which voices his frustrations over what he sees as a lack of accountability by government and financial leaders for the country's economic woes. Several members of his E Street Band were in the audience, and he and the band were scheduled to perform at a 2,000-seat theater Thursday night in Austin before kicking off a North American arena tour Sunday in Atlanta.

Thursday afternoon's event placed the current Rolling Stone cover boy in an unusual setting: Behind a podium in a packed convention hall -- and in the middle of the day, no less. Looking a little bleary-eyed, Springsteen took the stage 30 minutes late, carrying his notes on sheafs of paper, and immediately complained about the time.


"How important can this speech be if we're giving it at noon?" he asked. "Every decent musician in town is asleep. Or they will be when I'm done with this thing."

Springsteen began his talk by marveling at the thousands of bands, in almost every musical genre, who are playing Austin this week and how that would have been inconceivable to him as a young music fan. He then pointed out how fractured the music landscape has become and how hard it is for consumers with divergent tastes to gain critical consensus around an artist -- including himself.

In what may have been an allusion to today's manufactured pop stars, he argued that what matters most in music is "purity of human expression," not looks or labels or digital format.

"We live in a post-authentic world. Today authenticity is a house of mirrors," he said in his hourlong talk. "It's about what you're bringing [onstage] when the lights go down."

Springsteen then began recounting his personal journey through music, beginning when he first saw Presley on "The Ed Sullivan Show" at age 6. He managed to get his hands on a rented guitar, but his hands were too small to play it, so he just struck rock poses in front of the mirror. "I still do that," he said with a chuckle.

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/15/showbiz/springsteen-keynote-sxsw/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup: Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish Headline

Bonnaroo has officially confirmed that, as rumored, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Phish will anchor the 11th incarnation of the iconic music festival, which will take place from June 7th to 10th in Manchester, Tennessee. The above headliners will be joined by recent Grammy winners Bon Iver and Skrillex, a reunited Beach Boys and comedian Aziz Ansari. All told, more than 150 bands and nearly two dozen comedians will offer fans continuous entertainment on 13 stages over the course of four sleepless days and nights.

True to its formula, Bonnaroo's lineup breaks away from other major U.S. festivals who have often been accused of homogenous programming. This year, shock rocker Alice Cooper will join the party. So will rapper Ludacris. The festival will honor its jam band roots with performances from Umphrey's McGee, ALO and Dispatch, while also making room for electronic acts with sets by Flying Lotus, Major Lazer and Big Gigantic. Hardcore group Bad Brains will make their inaugural Bonnaroo appearance as will Spectrum Road, an all-star band featuring Cream's Jack Bruce, Living Colour's Vernon Reid, Carlos Santana's wife Cindy Blackman, and revered organist John Medeski.

Indie rock royalty will appear alongside current up-and-comers with sets by the Shins, the Avett Brothers, Foster the People, Feist, tUnE-yArDs, Little Dragon, Mogwai, Dawes and Alabama Shakes among many others.

When Bonnaroo launched in 2002, it imagined itself as a cross between Phish's homegrown parties in the Northeast and the New Orlean's Jazz and Heritage Festival in Louisiana. In fact, Bonnaroo organizers brought in some of the creative team behind Phish's events, while creating a format that was directly inspired by what they saw at the fairgrounds in New Orleans. In keeping with the spirit that the festival was built upon, when Phish finally performed at Bonnaroo, in 2009, they brought out Bruce Springsteen to jam.

But it's not only jam bands who jam at Bonnaroo – collaborations are frequent and bands often feel free to take more risks than they might otherwise. A large part of that has to do with the vibe. Fans who make the annual pilgrimage to Tennessee tend to listen to bands, not hype. Multiple musicians seem to comment on this from stage every year and the band-fan respect is so high that it is not uncommon to see artists roaming the grounds and watching other sets from out in the field, when their own duties have been fulfilled.

Tickets will go on sale this Saturday, February 18th at noon ET, at bonnaroo.com.

Here is the complete 2012 Bonnaroo lineup as announced at this time:

Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Phish
Bon Iver
The Beach Boys (featuring Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks)
The Avett Brothers
The Shins
Foster the People
Skrillex
Aziz Ansari
Dispatch
Feist
The Roots
Alice Cooper
SuperJam
Black Star
The Word (featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph and North Mississippi Allstars)
Ludacris
Ben Folds Five
Flogging Molly
Spectrum Road (featuring Cindy Blackman Santana, Jack Bruce, John Medeski, and Vernon Reid)
Mac Miller
Childish Gambino
Major Lazer
tUnE-yArDs
Afrocubism
Flying Lotus
Umphrey's McGee
Little Dragon
St. Vincent
City and Colour
The Civil Wars
Young the Giant
Two Door Cinema Club
Punch Brothers
NEEDTOBREATHE
Fitz & the Tantrums
Bad Brains
Yelawolf
Dawes
Battles
Danny Brown
The Black Lips
SBTRKT
Phantogram
Kendrick Lamar
Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires
The Kooks
The Joy Formidable
The Antlers
Kathleen Edwards
Mimosa
Kurt Vile & the Violators
Alabama Shakes
Das Racist
Delta Spirit
Gary Clark Jr.
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk
Laura Marling
Trampled by Turtles
Mogwai
The War on Drugs
Ben Howard
Grouplove
Blind Pilot
ALO
The Devil Makes Three
White Denim
EMA
Here We Go Magic
K-Flay
The Lonely Forest
Mariachi El Bronx
Big Freedia
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
The Soul Rebels
Kvelertak
SOJA
Steven Bernstein's MTO All-Stars Play Sly
Big Gigantic
Sarah Jarosz
Orgone
Darondo
Fruit Bats
Moon Taxi
More to be announced

source: rollingstone.com

‘Cutest newsman’ still rocks

Seeing him in TV5 newsrooms all suited up and dapper, it’s hard to imagine that Kapatid anchor and immigration lawyer Mike Templo was once a rocker, playing lead guitars for the ’90s band Gnash. Mike’s interest in the instrument was piqued at an early age. Elder brother John was bassist for the heavy metal bands Razorback and Wolfgang.  

 “I was inspired by my kuya. I used to tag along on his gigs. I tried picking up the bass, but ended up with the guitar, para hindi kami pareho,” he told the Inquirer in a recent interview. Now in his mid-30s, Mike recalled that, while growing up, he wasn’t allowed to go out much. Instead he would spend his spare time at home, honing his guitar skills. He played a lot of ’70s and ’80s metal and hard rock. Some of his guitar idols were Zakk Wylde, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, David Aguirre and Jun Lopito. “I had a few months of formal training in classical guitar,” he said. “Then I just did it on my own. I was doing jingles … ” Mike got his first taste of band life when he joined Gnash. He was a college student at the time, taking up philosophy at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. “I had to learn the band’s entire repertoire,” he said. “We played at the Music Museum, Mayric’s, Club Dredd …” But just when it seemed like he was on his way to a music career, Mike decided he wanted to become a lawyer. He dropped everything and attended Touro Law School in New York, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree. A New York-licensed lawyer, Mike is a member of the New York State Bar Association, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, New York Country Lawyers Association and American Bar Association. “Because I was part of the band scene, everyone thought I had done drugs,” he recounted. “When college friends hear that I’m now a lawyer, they still can’t believe it.” Mike has an immigration consultancy office in the country and anchors TV5’s “Sapul sa Singko” and “Aksyon Weekend.” He also hosts Radyo Singko’s “Ibayong Pinoy,” a program tackling immigration and OFW concerns. He used to host “Crossing Borders” on ANC. He still picks up the guitar, but only to relieve stress. He’s not as good as he used to, he confessed, but still enjoys playing immensely. Not vain Meanwhile, Mike recently topped Spot.ph’s list of the country’s cutest newsmen. He said he was shocked, never having thought of himself as a looker. In fact, he added, laughing, that he used to get teased even by his family as the ugly duckling. “I do take care of myself because, on TV, you have to look good. But I’m not all that vain. As Lourd de Veyra would say, ‘Ang tunay na lalaki, walang abs!’” noted Mike, who was once linked to Claudine Trillo and Angel Locsin. Asked if he has plans of venturing into show biz proper, the son of ’70s movie star Mildred Ortega said, firmly: “Right now, it’s a solid ‘no.’ I’m where I want to be, which is law and media.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Steven Tyler Dude Looks Like a Fiance

Steven Tyler is domesticating himself ... because his longtime GF was sporting a huge rock on her finger this weekend ... and sources close to the rocker tell us it's an ENGAGEMENT RING!

63-year-old Tyler and 38-year-old Erin Brady hit Maui on Xmas day ... along with a massive new diamond. It's unclear if Tyler proposed before or during the tropical vacay.

The two have been dating since 2006. Tyler has been married twice before ... he married a model in 1978 and a clothing designer in 1988.

source: TMZ