Rockphiles Blog

GEORGE MICHAEL ARRESTED

George Michael apparently had a bad weekend, which ended with him being found slumped over the wheel of his car in London's Hyde Park district.  The police were called, after which he was arrested for being in possession of a Class C drug.  George blames himself for being stupid.

JOHN PICKS JOHN

John Legend, winner of the Best New Artist grammy, is also this year's hand-picked artist to perform at Elton John's regular post-Oscar party, the 14th Elton John AIDS Foundation party.  The party happens in Los Angeles, immediately after the end of the Oscar awards ceremony.

SHERYL CROW CANCELS TOUR AFTER SURGERY

Sheryl Crow has cancelled her upcoming tour, after undergoing surgery for breast cancer on Friday.  The surgery was minimally invasive, and her prognosis is excellent.  Story here and Sheryl has a further statement on her official site which you can access here.

Best wishes, Sheryl, and get well soon!

CAT CLIPS

There's a few clips from Donald Fagen's upcoming album, Morph The Cat - which will be released on March 13 in Europe and March 14 in the US - at the official UK press release site.  Tour info too. 

Someone recently posted looking for veteran recording engineer Elliot Scheiner.  Found him.  He's been working on this album.

SHOTS FROM ALL OVER

B.B. King on the first of two sold out nights on his 80th Birthday Tour at the House of Blues in Chicago on February 16, 2006.

Elton John and Celine Dion performed together for the first time at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on  Feb. 20, 2006, in a fundraiser for the hurricane-affected employees of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. The concert raised $2.1 million.

James Brown in concert at Yunfeng Theater in Shanghai, China,  Feb. 22, 2006. This was Brown's first performance in the Mainland China.

Van Morrison performs during his concert at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, on  Feb. 22, 2006.

Rick Derringer performs during a campaign rally kicking off George Wallace Jr's bid for  Lieutenant Governor, Feb. 18, 2006, in Montgomery, AL.

Willie Nelson acknowledges the crowd's applause near the end of a free concert he and his band performed for wounded soldiers, their families, and employees at Brook Army Medical Center, Friday, Feb. 17, 2006, in San Antonio

MORE FROM GILMOUR

Despite David Gilmour's stern denials regarding a possible Pink Floyd reunion in his interview with Italy's La Republica, an interview in this week's Billboard appears to leave a crack in the door, still. 

In a Q&A with Emmanuel LeGrand, as David prepares to release On An Island, his third solo album (March 6 in Europe and March 7 in the US), and set off on a 25-city European tour, David is asked by LeGrand "Will there ever be a chance to see the band live together?" and responds: "Who knows? I have no plans at all to do that.  My plans are to do my concerts and get my record out." 

All royalties from their appearance were donated back to Live 8, and David and Roger Waters haven't been in touch since then, though they both had a good time on stage.  David turned down considerable money to tour, with or without Roger, and in the Billboard interview David also said, "... I have no interest in going on a tour to make money without making new product, new art.  So just going out and replaying our old hits again on a tour does not appeal to me at all." 

CHENEY'S GOT A GUN!

The Incident At The Texas Quail Hunt is celebrated in this really neat cartoon, which parodies a well-known Aerosmith song.

THIS DAY IN MUSIC

Apart from other significant events that occurred on February 21, it's David Geffen's birthday today! More here at the Billboard link.

XM RADIO SUFFERS START-UP WOES

Citing a "crisis on the horizon" if the company does not cut its costs and losses in short order, Pierce Roberts Jr., a board member of XM Satellite Radio, has resigned.  XM recently cut a deal with media superstar Oprah Winfrey, and spared no expense in a marketing blitz during the lead-up to Howard Stern's debut on rival satellite broadcaster Sirius. 

Washington Post story here.

WILLIE RECORDS GAY COWBOY SONG

Willie Nelson has released Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other).  The song is his third celebrating the American icons; the first two -Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys, and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - were big hits for Willie.

Neil Sublette, the songwriter, wrote the song back in the early 80s after seeing Urban Cowboy, long before the success of this year's Oscar-nominated Brokeback Mountain which made gay cowboys a hot topic, and the song was presented to Willie back in 1981. More here.