News.

[Source: NME.com] John Lennon’s killer admitted during his parole hearing last week that he is ashamed of shooting the former Beatle nearly 30 years ago.

In the hearing transcripts released yesterday, Mark David Chapman told parole officials that he has developed a greater appreciation and understanding of the significance of the life he took.

“I recognised that that 25-year-old man, I don’t think he really appreciated the life that he was taking, that this was a human being,” he said. “I feel now at 53 I have grown into a deeper understanding of what a human life is. I have changed a lot.”

Chapman also said that he has come to realise how much his actions also affected Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, and their children, reports the Associated Press.

Chapman was denied release from a New York prison where he has been serving a 20-years-to-life sentence after confessing to gunning Lennon down in Manhattan in 1980. He is scheduled to appear before the parole board again in August 2010.

[Source: NME.com] Former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland has hinted that the girl band are planning to enter the studio before staging a 2009 comeback tour.

The trio split in 2005, with Rowland, Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams issuing a joint statement saying they wanted to “pursue our personal goals and solo efforts in earnest”.

After revealing that the band are currently planning a new tour for 2009, Rowland confirmed that the band will head into the studio, reports Showbizspy.com.

“We’re so looking forward to working with each again and we just need to find a time in our diaries when we can get into the studio together,” she said.

Since splitting in 2005, all three members have enjoyed solo success.

Jeff Tweedy, frontman of acclaimed Chicago outfit Wilco, says he’s hoping to have the “Shot In The Arm” band’s seventh longplayer ready for fans in March/April 2009.

The 40-year-old, who was interviewed on New York radio station WAMC, admitted he “kinda hates” his band’s previous six records.

“None of them are a statement that I would be comfortable making right now at this point in my life,” says Tweedy, who famously battled an addiction to prescription drugs before recording 2007’s Sky Blue Sky.

“They just don’t continue to mean the same things to me, and a new record is kind of where it’s at.”

Tweedy also revealed the band will “allow ourselves a little bit more leeway in terms of sculpting the sound in the studio and doing overdubs and using the studio as another instrument. Last time around, it was more of a document.”

Together they made up one of the most successful family groups ever to grace the stage: the Jackson 5.

But according to reports in the New York Post, the most famous sibling – ”Thriller” star Michael Jackson – hasn’t spoken to his brothers Jermaine, Tito, Marlon, Randy and Jackie in over three years.

Due to appear onstage together next month in Beverly Hills, California, to receive an ‘Icon Award’ at the eighth annual BMI Urban Awards, it appears as though the most prominent Jackson will be a no-show.

According to the paper, Michael owes his brothers around AUS$964,000 in royalties and has had no contact with them since he was acquitted of child molestation charges.

Jermaine says he’s hopeful his brother will attend, previously telling reporters they were working on a reunion tour. “It could be sometime in 2008,” he was quoted back in January.

“Michael will be involved. We owe that to the fans and to the public. Michael has to be involved. He is a Jackson.”

Hard at work in their Dublin studio on the upcoming release of their 12th studio album, tentatively titled No Line On The Horizon, U2 rocker Bono (aka Paul Hewson) has reportedly been ordered to slim down in order to get prepared for the band’s upcoming world tour.

A source says the “Desire” rockers are determined to be in peak physical shape once they hit the road in early 2009. “U2 have an album coming out around January,” says a source close to the band. “And then the band is going on another world tour in March and April – so the boys have been told to start exercising all the summer weight off.”

U2 recently got in a spot of trouble when a nearby neighbour recorded tracks on his mobile phone, after Bono was caught out playing them loudly from his villa in the south of France.

The fan soon uploaded the new single “Sexy Boots” online – the band later forcing sites to remove the content.

[Source: NME.com] Islamists in Malaysia are urging their government to cancel an upcoming Avril Lavigne concert because they believe the singer’s moves are “too sexy”.

The youth wing of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party said that they don’t want their teenagers influenced by her performance.

“It is considered too sexy for us. ... It’s not good for viewers in Malaysia,” party official said Kamarulzaman Mohamed told the Associated Press. “We don’t want our people, our teenagers, influenced by their performance. We want clean artists, artists that are good role models.”

Lavigne is scheduled to begin her tour of Asia in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 29 August. The Malaysian government has not yet determined whether her gig will be allowed to go ahead as planned.

Several female artists including Gwen Stefani and the Pussycat Dolls have run into trouble in Malaysia, which requires all performers to be covered from knees to chest and refrain from jumping, shouting, hugging and kissing on stage.

[Source: NME.com] Lily Allen has blamed her record company, EMI, for the delay of the release of her forthcoming second album, tentatively titled Stuck On The Naughty Step.

Allen recently completed work on the album, although writing on the Lily Allen MySpace blog, the London-based singer said she didn’t know when she would be able to release it.

“The album – it has been finished for a while now,” she wrote. “I don’t really know what’s going on with it.

“The record industry is a very political place at the moment and I am on EMI records, lots of people have been fired or have taken redundancy recently as the company was taken over by a private equity firm called Terra Firma.

“Many of these people were people assigned to my projects and now I don’t quite know what’s going on. I’m sure everyone will find their feet soon enough and I’ll be able to put the album out soon.”

She has the biggest hit song of the year in the USA, but pop star Katy Perry is in big trouble with her mum.

According to Mary Hudson, the 23-year-old’s track “I Kissed A Girl” is “shameful and disgusting”.

Hudson is an evangelical Christian preacher, and has spoken out about her disappointment in her daughter.

“I hate the song,” Hudson revealed to reporters.

“It clearly promotes homosexuality and its message is shameful and disgusting. Katy knows how I feel. I can’t even listen to that song. The first time I heard it I was in total shock. When it comes on the radio I bow my head and pray.”

Mum’s not happy with her daughter’s new celebrity lifestyle either.

“Katy is our daughter and we love her but we strongly disagree with how she is conducting herself at the moment,” she admits.

It’s more bling for some of hip-hop’s biggest stars, with the annual rich list from US magazine Forbes unveiling the biggest money spinners of the year.

Earning a whopping AUS$172 million dollars in 2008 is 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson III, who came in at the top spot on the publication’s ‘Hip-Hop Cash Kings’ list.

Following closely behind in second place is Jay-Z (with $94 million), while Kanye West came in third.

According to the magazine, the Queens-born Fiddy earned the majority of his dough through his stake in Vitamin Water, which Coca-Cola bought this year for an estimated $4.7 billion dollars. Plus there’s album sales, clothing for his label, G-Unit, and video games.

Jay-Z, meanwhile, earned most of his dosh from his new business deal with touring giant Live Nation.

How P Diddy feels about his competition the magazine doesn’t say...

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, the former member of Yothu Yindi and current player with the Saltwater Band, is leading the charge for the upcoming NT Indigenous Music Awards, landing six nominations including Act of the Year and Album of the Year.

Now in its fifth year, the Awards will take place on Saturday 30 August at the Botanical Garden Amphitheatre in Darwin, the event making up part of the Darwin Festival.

The talented blind singer, who hails from North East Arnhemland, has landed outstanding reviews for his debut solo album, Gurrumul, which was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “one of the greatest recordings ever made by a local indigenous musician”.

Meanwhile a professor at Sydney University, Allan Marrett, has called for the expansion of the National Recording Project, which currently exists only in Northern Territory, stating the disappearance of traditional Aboriginal songs in Australia is “a national crisis”.

“These songs are the libraries, they’re the hospitals because they’re what keep people well,” he argues.

[Source: NME.com] The Hold Steady’s guitarist Tad Kubler has slammed Radiohead’s revolutionary pay what you want plan for their last album In Rainbows.

The guitarist also criticised the band’s experimental musical approach.

“I think they’ve lost the plot,” he said. “What are they doing? Where are they going? What’s happening? I don’t get it any more. They lost me.

“I still appreciate what they’re doing, or what they’re trying to do. But I think they’re trying too hard not to be Radiohead. That seems a little ridiculous to me.”

“I like them as a rock band, all the buttons and sequencing and stuff like that I don’t really care for. I’m a fan of rock music and what they’re doing now I don’t think is very good.”

Kubler also said Muse “don’t do it for me” but he praised Oasis.

He told BBC 6 Music: “I love Oasis. I love them. I think that what they do is earnest. I think it’s honest.”

[Source: NME.com] ZZ Top are set to work with The Black Keys, after the bands were introduced to one another via producer Rick Rubin.

Rubin is slated to produce ZZ Top’s new album, and according to Billy Gibbons, he hooked The Black Keys up with ZZ Top for some writing and maybe recording.

“I’m such a big fan of those guys ... it makes total sense,” Gibbons, told Billboard “And that’s pretty down and dirty, which is good for ZZ Top.”

According to the report, Gibbons demoed 15 tracks over 15 days in May this year, describing the new material as “everything from a black church gospel ballad to updated versions of ‘Rollin’ and Tumblin’.”

Gibbons is also among the artists to feature on the forthcoming Metal Christmas album, on which he teamed up with Dave Grohl (Nirvana & the Foo Fighters) and Lemmy from Motorhead for a version of Chuck Berry’s “Run, Rudolph, Run”.

Los Angeles rockers 30 Seconds To Mars (or 30STM, as they’re often labelled by fans) have been sued by their own record label, Virgin Records, who’re accusing the band of failing to deliver promised music.

Formed back in 1998 by actor/frontman Jared Leto, the emo rockers hit the top of the charts in the US and around the world with hits such as “From Yesterday” and “The Kill (Bury Me)”.

Now, however, Virgin are accusing the trio of not delivering their contracted three albums by a specific date.

The band’s last disc was 2005’s A Beautiful Lie, and with no current news of a new album in the works, Virgin state the rockers have “repudiated” a 1999 contract.

Jared Leto has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Singer/songwriter John Mayer has confirmed media speculation that he’s broken up with “Friends” actress Jennifer Aniston.

According to the 30-year-old “Your Body Is A Wonderland” singer, there’s no scandal behind the split.

“There’s no lying, there’s no cheating, there’s no nothing,” Mayer said, confronted by reporters yesterday after working out at a gym in New York City’s Soho neighbourhood.

The pair remain, says Mayer, good friends.

“Jennifer is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I have ever met. People are different, people have different chemistry,” he admitted. “I ended a relationship to be alone, because I don’t want to waste somebody’s time if something’s not right.”

The couple began dating in April, with sources claiming the reason behind the break being that Mayer wasn’t prepared to settle down.

The singer recently released a live concert film, titled Where The Light Is.

On the eve of the release of his fourth LP, Everything Is Borrowed, British rapper Mike Skinner – aka The Streets – has revealed to fans that a story about his house being repossessed was nothing more than a stunt for an upcoming video. The 29-year-old Birmingham hip-hop star had claimed he was ordered out of his London home after failing to meet his mortgage repayments, posting a blog about the drama online.

“I had my house repossessed,” Skinner wrote last week. “Seven men broke down my door and told me I hadn’t kept up my repayments and therefore they would be taking all my belongings. The house was now the property of the bank. I ended up on the street with my girlfriend and child.”

It was only after fans bombarded Skinner’s website with messages of sympathy that the star recanted – it was all for a stunt being filmed for the video for the album’s title track, due out on Monday 15 September.

[Source: NME.com] Ben Folds has revealed he released fake versions of six songs online in order to avoid the leak of his new album

Folds said he recorded the six tracks over eight hours in Dublin, Ireland, and had his friends release the material in a spoof online leak.

However, Folds tells Rolling Stone that he reckons the ‘fake’ material was good enough to have made it onto the actual record, entitled Way To Normal.

“I may be on crack, but I think if that was half the real record, it’d be good. I think some people hate it because they were told it was a joke. In the end people got free songs and we had something to do on Friday 11 July.”

As previously reported, Way To Normal was recorded at Folds’ own studio in Nashville, TN and produced by Dennis Herring, who’s previously worked with the likes of Elvis Costello, The Hives and Modest Mouse.

It is due to be released Tuesday 30 September.

[Source: NME.com] The phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction’, coined after Janet Jackson’s nipple was accidentally bared during her 2004 Super Bowl half-time performance, has been entered into the latest edition of the Chambers English Dictionary.

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing together during the infamous 2004 show, after which the phrase became synonymous with the nipple-baring occasion.

The phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was deemed relevant enough to be included because it helps to “paint a vivid picture of current interests and concerns,” according to Chambers Editor Mary O’Neill.

Over 500,000 people complained to US television broadcaster CBS after seeing Timberlake rip open Jackson’s clothing to reveal her right breast during a televised half-time performance of his song “Rock Your Body”.

Since then the phrase has become ubiquitous, with the Global Language Monitor naming it ‘Hollywood’s Top Word or Phrase for Impact on the English language’ in 2004.

Former Boomtown Rats frontman Sir Bob Geldof is said to be “incandescent with rage” over the shock wedding of his 19-year-old daughter, Peaches.

The “I Don’t Like Mondays” star discovered that the socialite teenager had run off to Las Vegas on Tuesday 12 August, marrying her boyfriend, drummer Max Drumney – despite the couple only dating for two weeks.

According to reports in the UK, Peaches was keen to escape the drug-taking scene back in London, after suffering an overdose recently which landed her in the tabloids.

According to a source, Geldof – currently holidaying on the Spanish island of Majorca – is furious.

“Bob can’t get over the fact she did this on a whim. Right now he doesn’t want to see her. But he’s incandescent with rage and she is in for a huge talking to when they finally meet up.”

Famous for his hard living reputation as he is for penning straight-to-the-heart alt-country songs, troubadour Steve Earle will return to Australia in November for a national solo tour.

Earle’s latest LP is Washington Square Serenade, the “Copperhead Road” singer’s 12th record.

Earle’s latest work is, he says, a love letter to his new hometown of New York City. “If you feel like you don’t know what America is all about right now, and you want to reorient yourself to what America should be about, it’s a really good time to come to New York City,” he says.

“I needed really badly at this point in my life to see a mixed-race, same-sex couple holding hands in my own neighbourhood. It makes me feel safer.”

Joining Earle on tour is his songstress wife, Allison Moorer, who’s also releasing her own solo LP, Mockingbird. Tickets are onsale Tuesday 26 August and dates are:

Sunday 2 August – Regal Theatre, Perth, WA

Tuesday 4 August – Norwood Concert Hall Adelaide, SA

Thursday 6 August – Forum Theatre, Melbourne, VIC

Saturday 8 August – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW

Monday 10 August – Tivoli Theatre, Brisbane. QLD

If true it could be one of the strangest collaborations in music: Miley Cyrus (the 15-year-old Hannah Montana star) and British rockers Coldplay.

After voicing her admiration for the stadium outfit recently, rumours are abound the that “Violet Hill” band have asked the teen star to open up shows for their current world tour.

“I like Miley. She seems to have a sweet character,” admitted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. “Anyone we like or respect, no matter how different they may be, we would play with.”

According to the controversial teen, Chris Martin is her ideal man... or at least he would be if he wasn’t 31-years-old. “My ideal man is a 16-year-old Chris Martin. But my mum says I have terrible taste!” Miley joked to MTV last week.

It wouldn’t be the first bizarre collaboration for Coldplay – their latest LP, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, almost contained a duet with Kylie Minogue.

[Source: NME.com] A new set of Elvis and Priscilla Presley Barbie dolls have been unveiled.

The dolls sport replicas of the outfits the couple wore on their wedding day in Las Vegas in 1967. The Elvis doll is clad in a black paisley-print tuxedo, while Priscilla’s doll is wearing a white chiffon gown with a tiara and veil.

Approximately 150 fans were on hand at Graceland to witness the unveiling of the dolls earlier this week, reports the Associated Press. The unveiling was a part of Graceland’s annual weeklong fan pilgrimage to mark the anniversary of Presley’s death on August 16, 1977.

A limited-edition set of the dolls with special unveiling-day stamps will be released this week, with the regular dolls hitting shops later this year.

[Source: NME.com] Britney Spears said that she plans to release her sixth studio album within the next nine months, and revealed that it has an “urban” feel.

The pop star has been recording the follow-up to last year’s Blackout, and told OK! magazine that she has been doing more writing on this album than any of her previous records.

“I’m writing every day, right here at the piano,” Spears said. “I think it is more urban. This is my best work ever,” she added.

The pop star, who has become better known in recent months for her erratic behaviour, paparazzi exploits and high-profile child custody hearing than her music, is apparently attempting to shift her to focus back onto her craft.

Her label, Jive Records, and her manager issued a statement last month saying that Spears is spending the summer in the recording studio “working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters”.

Blackout debuted at Number Two on the US Billboard chart last November, but sales of the album quickly declined.

New Jersey emo rockers My Chemical Romance are hard at work on their fourth album, the follow-up to 2006’s The Black Parade.

According to 31-year-old frontman Gerard Way however, fans will have to sit tight for new music, the “Teenagers” outfit not planning to release any new material until well into 2009.

“It’s hard to say at this point, but musically, how Black Parade tapped into the glam, classic rock of Queen and Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie), this taps into something different – not punk, but maybe in its proto sense,” Way revealed to MTV about the direction of the band’s latest songs.

“The aesthetic – it is extremely different, and it is more stripped-down too.”

Way, a former employee of the Cartoon Network, also revealed he’s currently working on a “top secret” project for DC Comics, home of Batman and Wonder Woman. 

“People need to miss us,” he says of his day job, “because there was a point in the last two-and-a-half years where you could have seen us at least once a month if you wanted.”

They’re one of the hottest acts to break through in 2008, and now New York duo MGMT are making their first visit to Australia.

The “Time To Pretend” star’s debut album, Oracular Spectacular, has been one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, with Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser’s unique brand of psychedelic pop topping charts worldwide and landing on many critics’ best-of lists.

Making their first trek to Oz, the duo will be supported by Luke Steele (the Sleepy Jackson) as well as new Modular signing Tame Impala.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday 19 August, and dates are:

Saturday 6 December – Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth, WA

Tuesday 9 December – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW

Wednesday 10 December – The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD

Thursday 11 December – The Palace, Melbourne, VIC

Australia’s most famous pop sisters, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, have reportedly teamed up to record a version of an ABBA hit for a brand new British TV comedy.

According to reports in the UK, the pair will cover “The Winner Takes It All” for new series “Beautiful People”.

“I definitely want to do a duet,” revealed the younger sibling (that’d be 36-year-old Dannii) in an interview this week.

“I miss singing so I am planning to do some more next year. I did a duet with Kylie on her tour last year – we sang ‘Kids’ which was amazing. Every time we watch it back, we fall about laughing, especially when we are swinging each other around because we used to do that on roller skates when we were young.”

Kylie, meanwhile, is tipped to lay down a studio version of the Barry Manilow hit “Copacabana”, which she’s been singing live during her current UK and European tour.

The only hiccup? She wants to change “Lola” – the name of the song’s famous showgirl – to “Kylie”... and songwriter Bruce Sussman won’t agree.

According to an unnamed souce on website MSNBC, “Bruce was furious. He told Kylie, ‘No way. Her name’s Lola. Not Lola Minogue, not Kylie.’“

[Source: NME.com] John Lennon’s killer Mark David Chapman was yesterday denied parole again, after a board concluded he is still dangerous.

Yesterday’s denial was the fifth since 2000 for Chapman, who has been in prison for 27 years for the murder of the former Beatle outside the Dakota building in New York City in December 1980.

Chapman, now 53, will remain incarcerated at New York’s Attica Correctional Facility for at least two more years, after the parole board decided they were concerned for the public’s safety and welfare.

During the hearing, Chapman told parole members that he killed Lennon “with an essentially clear mind”, leading them to conclude that letting him go free “would not be in the best interest of the community”, according to the Associated Press.

He will appear before the parole board again in August 2010.

[Source: NME.com] Isaac Hayes’ cause of death was most likely a stroke, the Memphis sheriff’s department said yesterday.

The legendary soul singer died Sunday 10 August after he was found unconscious near a treadmill in his home in Memphis, as previously reported.

An autopsy has not yet been performed, but Hayes’ physician, Dr. David Kraus, lists the cause of death as a stroke, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Shular told the Associated Press. Kraus said that he had been treating Hayes for high blood pressure.

Hayes’ Oscar- and Grammy-winning “Theme From Shaft” is credited with laying the foundations of disco. The singer also provided the voice of Chef on the animated television show “South Park” and recently finished work on the upcoming film Soul Man, which also stars comedian Bernie Mac, who passed away on Saturday 9 August.

Las Vegas rockers the Killers say that “everything is at stake” for their upcoming third album, Day And Age.

According to frontman Brandon Flowers, – who previewed two new songs, “Neon Tiger” and “Spaceman” last week at a recent show in New York City – the band “live through these songs.”

“People make such a big deal about the second album: ‘Do or die.’ But I feel like the pressure to produce something great will always be there,” the “Mr Brightside” Mormon singer admitted. “It’s our job, after all.”

According to bassist Mark Stoermer, fans can expect to hear a stripped back record this time around. “Each instrument has its place, and things aren’t clouding anything up,” he revealed to Rolling Stone in the US.

“We’re not trying to be bombastic. It’s our most poppy record but also our most experimental. But we’ve got faith in what we do, faith in our fans and faith in the soon-to-be-converted.”

He’s famous for throwing punches and fronting one of Manchester’s most famous bands – “Wonderwall” rockers Oasis. But these days 35-year-old Liam Gallagher is first and foremost a dad – a role he never expected to land.

According to the tempestuous singer, who’s anticipating the release of his band’s seventh LP, Dig Out Your Soul, in early October – fatherhood is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

Gallagher has three children to three mothers (two sons, eight-year-old Lennon and seven-year-old Gene, plus ten-year-old daughter Molly), and admits he was initially unprepared for fatherhood.

“I didn’t always want to be a dad,” Gallagher’s revealed in The Times magazine. “Just wanted to get off my tits and do music but once you get your missus pregnant, you’ve got to step up to the plate. Family’s the most important thing. The kids are just the bollocks. I enjoy their company more than some idiot in a band or some actor. That’s how I’ve changed. I’m the bollocks at being a dad. I’m top. We have a lot of fun.”

Three summer festivals have combined forces to announce a shared line-up, the trio of events bringing some of the biggest names in music to our shores.

Announced this week is the annual Falls Festival, which is held over Monday 29 December – Thursday January 1 in two locations – Marion Bay, TAS, and Lorne, VIC.

Artists will then head west for Busselton, WA’s Southbound Festival (Friday 2 – Saturday 3 January).

Finally, making its debut in 2009 is be the Byron Bay Arts & Music Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday 7 – Thursday 8 January.

Who’s on the bill? Check out the names so far announced: Franz Ferdinand, The Hives, The Cat Empire, The Kooks, The Grates, Gomez, Faker, Tegan & Sara, Soko, Donavan Frankenreiter.

There’s a bunch more to come – check the respective websites for more details.

[Source: NME.com] Dionne Warwick has paid tribute to Isaac Hayes, who died Sunday 10 August aged 65.

In a statement to Access Hollywood, called Hayes’ 1969 cover of her hit “Walk On By” “definitive”, and also revealed that had written the song “Déjà Vu” as a birthday present for her.

“I’ve lost one of my best buddies and it is not easy to reckon with,” Warwick wrote.

“I know one can never put a question mark where GOD puts a period, so I will not question the almighty’s decision to call him home. We all know when that call comes we all will answer…

“Personally, my buddy will be missed for many reasons by me. He was ‘family’. He will be a part of my musical life each time I sing the song ‘Déjà Vu’, as this was a birthday gift to me from him.

“His renditions of songs that I had recorded, especially ‘Walk On By’, in my opinion ‘the definitive version’, will always be another memory each time I sing it, and the humorous side that he showed few (that I knew so well).

“My family and I send sincere heartfelt condolences to his family for their enormous loss, and we will hold them in continuous prayer.”

[Source: NME.com] Morrissey has postponed the release of his new album because of a record label dispute regarding the promotion of his recent Greatest Hits album.

The new album, called Years Of Refusal, has already been recorded and was due to come out in September 2008.

However, Morrissey has now revealed that the album release date has been pushed back to February 2009 – because he is currently without a record deal in the US.

The statement, published on Morrissey’s website True To You, said:

“At the wish of Universal Music, Years Of Refusal has been put back to a February 2 release. There is also, at this stage, still no US label for the album since Morrissey withdrew from Decca US after their poor promotion for the Greatest Hits release.”

The statement then addressed Morrissey’s reaction to plans by Warner Music to release a new Greatest Hits album by The Smiths: “It is understood that Warner Music in London are releasing a Smiths Greatest Hits album in the final quarter of 2008. This release is without Morrissey’s approval or involvement.”

Morrissey also used the statement to confirm that he would play no more live dates in 2008.

Currently back home in Australia with his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, to show off their brand new baby daughter, Sunday Rose, country singer Keith Urban has a brand new project on the boil: he’s guesting on the upcoming album by local legend Olivia Newton-John.

The former “Grease” star will team up with the Nashville resident to sing “Sunburned Country”, a song they co-wrote several years back.

The song is set to appear on Olivia Newton-John & Friends: A Celebration in Song, an album whose proceeds will be donated to a cancer charity – the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center.

“I’m so delighted to bring you these songs with the help of a group of talented friends – some old and some new – who have donated their gifts and their time for this new collaboration,” Newton-John told The Wall Street Journal, revealing the LP’s other guests, including Sir Cliff Richard, former Bee Gee Barry Gibb, John Farrar, Delta Goodrem and Richard Marx.

A cancer survivor herself, Newton-John’s new disc will be released in early September.

One the eve of the release of her brand new documentary as director – I Am Because We Are – a film about the country of Malawi, Madonna has learned that the woman who helped raise her adopted son, David Banda, has died.

While she wasn’t David’s biological mother (who died shortly after childbirth), Asineti Mwale helped raise the toddler back in Africa before the mega-superstar adopted him back in 2007.

The 60-year-old passed away on the weekend following a bout with pneumonia.

Mwale reportedly approved of the “4 Minutes” singer adopting David, earlier this year stating to reporters that she only wished, “David would come to see me before I die.”

Madonna’s adoption was finalised back in May.

I Am Because We Are has premiered in the US, and an accompanying book is set to be released later this year, with proceeds going to her charity Raising Malawi.

A judge in Wales, UK, has taken an unlikely step in preventing a fan of Irish rockers U2 from playing his favourite band’s music too loudly: he’s been ordered to destroy his CD collection.

Graig resident Karl Wiosna played his music so loud that neighbours were forced to call police repeatedly, leading to arrest and sentencing this week.

Admitting to breaching the peace during a hearing at Pontypridd Court, Wiosna revealed that the “Pride (In The Name Of Love” outfit were his favourite band, while he also gave Cher’s “Believe” quite a good spin too.

Neighbours described the sound as being “like a drag queen party” – and the judge agreed, ordering Wiosna to destroy both his CDs and the stereo he played them on. Whether or not he’s bought headphones hasn’t been revealed.

U2 are currently recording their new album alongside Brian Eno at a studio in Dublin.

[Source: NME.com] Isaac Hayes died yesterday afternoon (Sunday 10 August) after a family member found him unresponsive near a treadmill in his home in Memphis, TN. He was 65.

Most famous for his “Theme From Shaft”, Hayes was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital with the cause of death as yet unknown.

Hayes’ wife, son and wife’s cousin discovered him collapsed in a bedroom after being out grocery shopping. They called 911 and a sheriff’s deputy attempted CPR on him until the ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead an hour later.

According to the sheriff’s department, the treadmill was running, with Hayes unresponsive on the floor.

Hayes was a pioneering singer-songwriter whose funk-soul sound was the basis on which disco was built.

[Source: NME.com] Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has lashed out at fans of Radiohead and Coldplay, calling them “boring and ugly”.

The star, whose band release their new album Dig Out Your Soul on Monday 6 October, also revealed he’s laying off the hard stuff and taken up jogging as the band gear up for their return after a near three-year absence.

He told The Times: “I’ve mellowed, but not in the sense of liking Radiohead or Coldplay. I don’t hate them. I don’t wish they had accidents. I think their fans are boring and ugly and they don’t look like they’re having a good time.”

The star added he doesn’t like any contemporary bands. He admitted: “Not interested. I play The Beatles, The (Rolling) Stones, The Kinks, Neil Young, the (Sex) Pistols. Maybe a bit of The (Stone) Roses. Don’t like modern bands. Topman music, innit?”

Gallagher also said that he was cutting out the partying and concentrating on his fitness ahead of the band’s return.

He said: “Last week me voice was a bag o’shite, I had to have a word with meself. I want this to be a success, I want this to be great, I thought ‘I’m going to have to tone it down a bit’. Load of big fat lines, load of cigarettes, staying up late talking the same shit you talked the night before and the night before that, that’s not good for it (his voice). When it’s good, no one can touch me, And when it’s bad, it’s a bit better than Pete Doherty’s.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ve got willpower. I’m a good drinker, but it’s dominoes, isn’t it? Get pissed, smoke, do the other..”

Currently recording the next James Bond film theme song with White Stripes/Saboteurs frontman Jack White, US songstress Alicia Keys has announced she’ll return to Australia this December.

With over 30 million albums sold and 11 Grammy Awards to her name, the 27-year-old “A Woman’s Worth” singer will perform a series of gigs as well as winery dates as part of the A Day On The Green festival series.

It’s Keys’ second time in Australia, and this time she’ll be performing songs from  her latest smash hit LP, As I Am, and is bringing along special guests Jordin Sparks (2007 “American Idol” winner) and local band Lowrider.

Tickets for the shows – which are set to sell out immediately – go onsale Friday 22 August, and dates are:

Saturday 6 December – Vector Arena, Auckland, NZ

Sunday 7 December – TSB Arena, Wellington, NZ

Wednesday 10 December – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, QLD

Friday 12 December – Acer Arena, Sydney, NSW

Saturday 13 December – A Day On The Green, Bimbadgen Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW

Sunday 14 December – A Day On The Green, Centennial Vineyards, Bowral, NSW

Wednesday 17 December – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC

Thursday 18 December – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, SA

Sunday 20 December – An Evening On The Green, Sandalford Wines, Swan Valley, WA

Scottish singer KT Tunstall (known to her mum as Kate) says she never used to think of herself as the sort of woman who wanted to get married, but now she “can’t wait.”

Speaking backstage at a concert in Connecticut, USA, the 33-year-old “Suddenly I See” singer told US magazine People that tying the knot is going to be a “life changing experience”.

“Getting engaged can be very liberating because all the insecurities about your relationship go because you’ve made a commitment,” she admitted, talking about boyfriend Luke Bullen, who also happens to be the singer’s live drummer. Bullen proposed to Tunstall back on Christmas Day, and the pair hope to marry in the spring.

“Once you’ve made that commitment in anything, then really magical things can happen. I’m inspired by women in music who manage to juggle family and a career – I certainly don’t want to stop touring.”

Tunstall is currently touring the US and will take time off in early ‘08 to write the follow-up to 2007’s Drastic Fantastic.

Duff McKagan, the bass player with  Californian super-group Velvet Revolver, has been forced to deny a report in US industry magazine Billboard that the “Slither” rockers have found their new singer – former Spacehog frontman Royston Langdon.

According to the former Guns ‘N Roses musician, the band are still auditioning for the role, which became vacant when Scott Weiland decided to return to his former band, Stone Temple Pilots.

Describing Langston – the former hubby of actress Liv Tyler – as “awesome”, McKagan says the rockers are taking their time.

“We just have to make sure it’s the right guy,” he admits. “Karmically, we deserve the right guy. It’s a tough thing, man. We make a pretty big noise.”

McKagan says he and his bandmates – Slash, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner – are mostly busy writing new material.

“We have a bunch of stuff finished. It’s great. It’s killer,” he says. “We started getting really productive when a ton of drama started happening on the road. It was like our safe place to go to. Sometimes that’s how you get some feelings out.”