WEEZER AND THE FLAMING LIPS TO MERGE THEIR SHOWS IN THE US.

WEEZER and THE FLAMING LIPS are set to treat fans to special shows later this month (Jul11) by merging their sets.The bands are on the same bill for gigs in New Jersey and New York, and they're planning the ultimate treat for the audience by sharing the stage together and singing on each other's tracks. The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne says, "The Flaming Lips and Weezer are playing a show together... where they are actually playing together." Sounds good to me. I always dig the two for the price of one.

Pic: via Geffen records

HOLY SHYT: NOW SLASH SAYS ROCK IS DEAD AND POP IS IN! TEAMS WITH FERGIE ON NEW ALBUM.

Slash discusses the state of rock, and why he teamed up with Fergie on his new album. I hate talking about the state of rock music, because there’s nothing positive to say about it. The whole vibe of new, exciting hard rock bands seems non-existent right now. I always say that the heavy metal spirit is alive and well and holding its own, but that broader rock’n’roll thing of bands like AC/DC or Guns N’Roses seems pretty slim. The rock’n’roll spirit is extremely diminished. Read the rest and hear that Fergie collab below.....

MUCHMOREMUSIC: Larry King to interview Mick Jagger next week.

Mick Jagger is going to be jamming with Larry King next week. CNN said Wednesday that King will interview the Rolling Stones singer about his career, the re-release of the Stones' album "Exile on Main Street" and the new documentary, "Stones in Exile." The "Larry King Live" interview with Jagger will air Tuesday night.

BREAKING NEWS: NOT AGAIN...BRETT MICHAELS HAS SUFFERED A BRAIN HEMMORAGE...IN CRITICAL CONDITION!

UPDATE: After Brett was mostly stabilized much of Saturday, he has since turned critical again today Sunday 4/25/2010. His speech is slurred. Pls put him in your prayers.

OMG, after all the deaths this week and last and with Devon's brain hemmorage collapse last week, now comes word that Brett Michaels who also has a reality show career (Celebrity Apprentice) is in critical condition suffering from a brain haemorrhage, his publicist said.

Joann Mignano confirmed a report on a website that said the former Poison frontman was rushed to intensive care on Thursday after suffering a severe headache. The report said doctors discovered bleeding at the base of his brain stem.

Mignano said tests are being conducted and that no further information was available.

The 47-year-old reality TV star had an emergency appendectomy last week after complaining of stomach pains.

He said on his website that the surgery "has taken its toll" but doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Michaels starred on the VH1 dating show Rock of Love and is a contestant on Donald Trump's NBC reality show, The Celebrity Apprentice.

Trump said in a statement he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Michaels' condition.

"He's a great competitor and champion, and I hope he will be fine," Trump said.

Source

FORMER SMASHING PUMPKINS SETTLE LAWSUIT.

Former Smashing Pumpkins rockers James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky-Brown have settled two lawsuits with the band's frontman Billy Corgan and their one-time record label Virgin.
The pair sued Corgan, alleging the rocker had renegotiated a deal relating to the band's royalties, without their approval.

The clash with EMI's Virgin Records related to the use of Pumpkins tracks on a Pepsi commercial, a deal they claim was agreed without their permission. According to their lawyer Josh Glotzer, an out of court settlement has been reached with Virgin bosses, and a new deal is close to being finalized with Corgan.

Iha and Wretzky-Brown, who once dated, both quit The Smashing Pumpkins in 2000. Corgan, the only remaining founding member, is currently working on fresh material with the band's newest addition, 19-year-old drummer Mike Byrne.

BON JOVI WANTS NO PART OF HOLLYWOOD!

Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has turned his back on Hollywood - insisting he wants "no part" of the superficial celebrity lifestyle. The Bon Jovi rocker has enjoyed movie success in films like Pay It Forward and U-571, but he has never considered turning his back on his New Jersey roots and moving to Los Angeles. He insists family like with his wife Dorothea and their four children is far more important to him than the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown.

He tells the New York Post, "I know one thing. I am definitely not a product of that Hollywood-style life. I don't like how they live, what they do, or even the way they do it. It's a shallow pool out there. "I totally understand how tough that is on true values and what it can do to a person and a family. I know I want no part of the Hollywood life. That stuff is not for me."

PEARL JAM RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE U.S. ALBUM CHART AFTER 13 YEARS.

PEARL JAM have scored their first U.S. number one album in 13 years by ending JAY-Z's run at the top of the charts. The band's ninth studio album, Backspacer, has debuted at number one on the Billboard chart with first week sales of 189,000. Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 slips to two with impressive third week sales of 134,000.

Three Days Grace's Life Starts Now debuts at three and Whitney Houston and Miley Cyrus round out the new top five with I Look To You and The Time Of Our Lives, respectively.
Also new to the top 10 are Brand New's Daisy at six, heavy metal act Five Finger Death Punch's War Is The Answer at seven and Harry Connick, Jr.'s Your Songs at eight.

THE WHO - PETE TOWNSHEND'S EX LAUNCHES CASH FIGHT!

THE WHO rocker PETE TOWNSHEND is facing a $58 million court battle after his estranged wife hired SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's divorce lawyer to fight for a share of his fortune.

The My Generation hitmaker split from Karen Astley in 1994 but they stayed married and remained good friends. But in a court hearing in London on Tuesday (07Apr09), the couple were granted the first stage of a divorce - with Astley stating she considers Townshend's behaviour "no longer tolerable".

And there are now signs she intends to battle for a sizable cut of the guitarist's fortune after it emerged she has hired Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who represented former Beatle MCCartney in his bitter divorce from Heather Mills. Reports in the U.K. speculate that Shackleton will build a case for Astley based on her supporting the rocker as his career took off, and sticking by him during his fight against drug addiction. Townshend married Astley in 1968 after meeting her at art college several years previously. He currently lives with musician Rachel Fuller.

STEVEN TYLER TO FRONT FANTASY CAMP BAND.

AEROSMITH star STEVEN TYLER will front this year's (09) Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp band in Hollywood. The rock legend will join Duff McKagan and Todd Rundgren to mentor wannabe stars, and give fans the chance to perform with their idols. The Hollywood sessions for Fantasy Camp will run from 29 April to 3 May, and conclude with a concert.

I love this dude so much! Tyler is so organized. I even hear he's actress Liv Tyler's father.

OMG: LED ZEPPELIN TOUR IS SCRAPPED!

Plans for JIMMY PAGE and JOHN PAUL JONES to hit the road as LED ZEPPELIN in 2009 have been scrapped - because the rockers can't find a singer to replace ROBERT PLANT. Just a day after Peter Mensch, a spokesman for Page's management firm, defended the rock duo's plans to tour without their famous frontman, he is now attempting to end the speculation about a semi-reunion by telling Music Radar Led Zeppelin is "completely over".

Mensch says, "Led Zeppelin are over! If you didn't see them in 2007, you missed them. It's done. I can't be any clearer than that... There are absolutely no plans for them to continue. Zero. Frankly, I wish everybody would stop talking about it." Page and Jones were hoping to follow up a reunion show they performed in London at the end of 2007 with new shows, but Plant, who has since found success with musical partner Alison Krauss, had no interest in touring with his former bandmates.

And, despite reports Alter Bridge star Myles Kennedy had been drafted in to replace Plant, Mensch insists all reunion plans have been scrapped. He reveals the band auditioned singers but "no one worked out".

VIDEO OF THE WEEKEND: STRIVE--FIRE

After all these death stories, a breath of fresh hair. Damn it! I love this band! So natural and original. So many fakes in 2008 but Strive is going to be big in 2009.