What you Missed on July 6th, 2009
The Led Zeppelin reunion rumors never end. The latest to come out of the UK is that AEG Live -- the producers of Michael Jackson's now canceled 50-show run at London's O-2 arena -- want the dates to be split between Zeppelin and ABBA.
A source tells The Sun, "Only Michael Jackson could sell out 50 nights at such a big arena, but Led Zeppelin and ABBA combined might just rival him. There is huge money on the table." A spokesman for Zeppelin was unavailable for comment. It was at the O-2 where Zeppelin reunited in 2007.
GREGG ALLMAN: Number Six
Gregg Allman is heading to divorce court for the sixth time, having split with his wife Stacey. He tells Rolling Stone, "I'm starting to think it's me." But he's keeping busy, touring and working on his autobiography. "The hardest thing about writing an autobiography is the chronological order, because I've had a very interesting life. And I mean every day -- just about every day -- stuff happened."
Brian May is furious after "music thieves" exploited Michael Jackson's death by releasing previously unheard tracks by the King Of Pop and Queen's late frontman Freddie Mercury on the Internet.
May revealed the existence of the songs earlier this week (begs29Jun09), saying, "He (Jackson) used to come and see us when we were on tour in the States. He and Freddie became close friends, close enough to record a couple of tracks together at Michael's house, tracks which have never seen the light of day."
But the rocker has been left incensed after two tunes by the pair, State Of Shock and There Must Be More To Life Than This, ended up on video sharing website YouTube.com. He fumes, "The music thieves at work as usual."
Here's Aerosmith by numbers: The veteran rock band has performed seven shows on its summer tour, but now two of its five members are on the sick list forcing the postponement of at least three shows. In the latest development singer Steven Tyler, 61, has been hobbled by an unspecified injury, putting the kibosh on Cincinnati (July 1), Hershey, Pa. (July 3) and Virginia Beach, Va. (July 5).
Guitarist Joe Perry sent out a Twitter message on Friday expressing "sincere apologies," and asking fans to pray for Tyler's speedy return. "It really bums me out too - you have no idea," he said.
The tour was looking shaky before it even started in St. Louis on June 10. Guitarist Brad Whitford, 57, underwent surgery earlier that month after hitting his head while getting out of his Ferrari. He is scheduled to rejoin his bandmates in Raleigh, N.C., on July 7, assuming Tyler is back in the saddle by then.
The band says the three shows (so far) will be rescheduled. Dates are on tap for the North American trek through Sept. 16 in Detroit. The band's publicist was unable to provide additional information about Tyler's health.
Fans have said Tyler appeared to pull a leg muscle at the band's last show, on Monday. Tyler has been troubled by his feet: In May 2008, he checked into rehab saying he needed "a safe environment to recuperate" following a series of painful foot surgeries. In 2006, the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates on a tour so that Tyler could undergo throat surgery.
A Russian court has fined Deep Purple for -- get this -- "illegally" performing their own songs.
Yes, that's right: when the band played a concert in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on October 19, 2008, they did so without gaining proper permission to play the tracks they'd selected. We know what you're asking: "Who the fuck did they have to ask about playing their own songs?
Well, there's an organization called the NGO, "Russian Authors' Society," which issues licenses to publicly perform songs. This organization represents the rights of foreign performers in Russia, whether or not the performers give the NGO permission to represent them.
BOX-OFFICE REPORT
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs landed in a rare tie at the holiday weekend box office. According to studio estimates yesterday, both movies earned 42.5 million dollars.
The Transformers sequel raised its total to 293-million, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year so far.
The Johnny Depp gangster saga Public Enemies opened in third with 26.2-million dollars. Sandra Bullock's The Proposal dropped from second to fourth with $12.8 million, and The Hangover fell from third to fifth with $10.4 million.
