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The concert business is supposed to be the music industry's one sure thing. But not this summer. The Eagles, Rihanna and Maxwell have canceled tour dates. A wobbling "American Idol" tour has flooded the market with discounted tickets, and the resurrected Lilith Fair tour has called off concerts from Dallas to Salt Lake City. Even teen idols the Jonas Brothers announced this week that they're scrapping some shows. * * * With the continued evaporation of recorded music sales, acts at all levels of the talent pool must lean heavily on their live-performance earnings. That's forcing artists to tour more,...

GREENSBORO - See dozens of photos from The Dead concert in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sunday, April 12th as the iconic band launched the start of their nationwide tour. The original members of the Grateful Dead except for Jerry Garcia, who passed away, reunited for their first concert in years as "The Dead" in Greensboro, the first city on their nationwide tour. The event was sold out in the Greensboro Coliseum and the parking was also filled to capacity. Spaces outside the coliseum were full of "Deadhead" fans, some of whom came in Volkswagen buses, school buses, and even an...

Film director Ron Howard is “very optimistic” about the future of America, so long as the nation makes an “adjustment,” to fulfill his hope a “more progressive” nation will mean “at a certain point I don't think we'll be so consumed with being the pre-eminent super-power and, you know, driven by sort of militarism and this need to export, you know, democracy.” Howard's reasoning, on Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, came in response to Maher's formulation that America has “seen better days. We're sort of in place that has made a lot of people nervous. Some people would...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The rock group Heart, angry that its '70s hit "Barracuda" is being used as the unofficial theme song for Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is taking aim at the Alaska governor. The song, a nod to the "Sarah Barracuda" nickname Palin earned on the basketball court in high school, was dusted off for her appearance at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul on Wednesday. Heart singers Ann and Nancy Wilson said a "cease-and-desist" letter has been sent to the Republicans asking them not to use the song. "The Republican campaign did not ask for...

Classic Rockers Reprise 'No Nukes' Initiative Browne, Nash, Raitt Urge Congress To Halt Loans For New PlantsPOSTED: 4:22 pm EDT October 23, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Rock musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash are putting a new millennium twist on their 1970s anti-nuclear message, urging Congress not to approve federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants. "Thirty years ago, we felt that this monster was dead," Nash said. "It's trying to raise its ugly head." Nearly three decades ago, the three were prominent in the anti-nuke movement, helping organize the "No Nukes" concerts at Madison Square Garden that...

The government has decided to accommodate members of the former army, security and other organizations the U.S. administrator Paul Bremer had disbanded shortly after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The move signals a change of heart by a government which until recently insisted on excluding army and security personnel who served the former regime. Some members have already rejoined the newly established police, army and security organizations but the majority had been fired. The U.S. decision to sack members of the former ministries of defense, information, and interior as well the various security and intelligence organizations is still seen...

There is always a moment during a raging battle when one side realizes that the field has been won, and the other side collapses in retreat and confusion. The curious thing about the Iraqi insurgency is that this moment has arrived, yet both the victors, in this case the Americans and the Iraqi government, and the losers, Al-Qaeda and the other jihadist groups, are reluctant to acknowledge it. But make no mistake, the battle has been turned and we are witnessing the beginning of a jihadist meltdown. Six months ago, many of the strategists behind the Sunni insurgency, faced with...

Judge Sides With Original Supernova In 'Rock Star' Suit Ruling requires Tommy Lee's band to change name following show's finale. David has defeated Goliath. According to a Tuesday (September 12) ruling by San Diego Judge John Houston, the producers of CBS' "Rock Star" are going to have to come up with an alternate name for Supernova, the band made up of Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Voivod's Jason Newsted and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. Last month, the original Supernova — an Orange County, California, punk trio — filed for a preliminary injunction in San Diego's U.S. District Court...

*It looks like Eddie Murphy and Melanie Brown, AKA: "Scary Spice" and Mel B, are feeling each other so much that they are going to go all the way. Reports say the actor/comedian, 45, and the former Spice Girls singer, 31, have scheduled their nuptials for this September. The so-called "dream wedding" is scheduled to be held at the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

The politically charged documentary "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" has been picked up for worldwide distribution by the Weinstein Co. A release is tentatively scheduled for the fall, possibly right before the November elections. The film revolves around the aftermath of singer Natalie Maines' statement at a 2003 London concert, where she said, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." It chronicles death threats, political attacks and radio boycotts against the country trio, and that could make the film a political hot potato as well as potential ammo should longtime Democratic...

So what do you do if you're an old and washed-up, or not-so-old, but increasingly forgotten actor anxious to regain the spotlight of celebrity? As a rule, you look to associate yourself with a project that might jump-start your career. It is nice to be asked to participate in a project popular with the public. You jump at the chance for a supporting role in a Steven Spielberg movie. It's even better when the show is the rage of Hollywood itself and generating the all-important "buzz" among Tinseltown's sycophantic critics. If you're desperate enough, you'll latch on to this project,...

Live 8 hero Bob Geldof has been forced to cancel two concerts in Italy because of lack of public interest, after only 45 people turned up to see him perform in Milan, Italy's La Stampa newspaper reported on Saturday. Geldof walked out of Milan's 12,000-capacity Arena Civica on Friday without playing, given the paltry attendance. His manager explained that a concert for less than 400 people would not be viable, the newspaper said. The 54-year-old Irish rocker, who said he had flown in from South Africa for the gig, sought to placate angry fans afterwards by promising to give a...

But don't question theirs (gallon-sized hat tip: Coalition of the Swilling)... The Chicks can't hide their disgust at the lack of support they received from other country performers. "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do," says Robison. "A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism." "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism,"...

It’s not the first time he's said it, but Guns 'N Roses frontman Axl Rose has claimed that his band's new album will be released before the end of the year. The album 'Chinese Democracy' has been recorded with various line-ups over the past ten years and umpteen previous touted release dates have come and gone with no actual album release. The singer announced the latest release plans while making a surprise appearance on a New York radio show. Co-host of the Eddie Trunk show and former Skid Row frontman, Sebastian Bach, phoned Rose live on air. The reclusive singer...

Country trio the DIXIE CHICKS are planning to re-ignite their feud with US President GEORGE W BUSH in a provocative new song. The group sparked controversy when singer NATALIE MAINES publicly criticised Bush during a concert in London in 2003 - and fans staged bonfires, where they burned CDs and merchandise after calling the girls traitors. That led to Maines sobbing during an apologetic interview on US TV. But the feisty singer remains defiant and has penned new tune NOT READY TO MAKE NICE, which addresses the controversy surrounding her concert comments. Maines teamed up with former SEMISONIC frontman DAN...

Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court represents a grave threat to our fundamental liberties. His record makes it clear that he is a conservative activist who will put his personal ideology above the rule of law.If Alito replaces Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate justice who represented the swing vote in many cases, some of our most fundamental rights are at risk. Alito won't stand up to a president's abuse of power. He has said that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to choose. And he has consistently used the bench as a launching pad for his conservative...

<p>New Orleans descended on New York for two concurrent concerts, dubbed From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, Tuesday night to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Big names such as Dave Matthews, Simon and Garfunkel, and Elton John filled the bills of the shows held at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden, but New Orleans acts from the Meters to the Neville Brothers were the focus of the evening's entertainment. Piano player and studio whiz Allen Toussaint led the house band for the first segment of the MSG concert, alongside Late Show With David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer. Together they hosted a rotating panel of guests that included Lenny Kravitz, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett and New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas, who performed her classic "Time Is on My Side," famously covered by the Rolling Stones in 1964. Aaron Neville joined Toussaint for a chilling take on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," sung against a backdrop of horrific images from flood ravaged New Orleans.</p>

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During the 32 years I covered Washington for the Los Angeles Times, I learned that leaks from anonymous sources are crucial to informing the public. In the debate over what Karl Rove said when and to whom, and over the role of confidential sources in general, that must be underlined: Without leaks, without anonymity for some sources, a free press loses its ability to act as a check and a balance against the power of government. The stories that have depended on confidential sources, and often on classified information, are legend: Watergate in the Nixon administration, the Iran/Contra scandal and...

The president of the National Organization for Women declared a "state of emergency" for women's rights and planned a march on the state Capitol as news of Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement reverberated through the group's annual convention. NOW president Kim Gandy told about 800 NOW members Friday that women need to send a message that they won't tolerate "extremist" judges who set back women's rights. "This is our time. This is our challenge," Gandy said as the crowd replied by clapping and chanting, "Hell no, we won't go" and "We won't go back." The group shifted the agenda for their...