September 13, 2002
Rod Stewart's Son Gets Jail Time

The son of rocker Rod Stewart was sentenced yesterday (Sept. 12) to 90 days in jail and ordered to undergo drug rehabilitation after pleading no contest to attacking a man outside a Malibu, CA restaurant. Sean Stewart, 22, was arrested Dec. 5 after he was seen kicking the man in the face and stomach, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in a statement.

Actor Dean Cain and his brother broke up the fight. They followed Stewart after he fled in a car and reported the attack to police.

Stewart was also sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $5,600 to the victim. He could've faced four years in state prison.

In a separate case, Stewart was ordered in June to enter a drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to possessing a controlled substance near the Viper Room nightclub in West Hollywood.

Rod Stewart, meanwhile, is readying his J Records debut, It Had To Be You ... The Great American Songbook. The set will feature renditions of standards such as "It Had To Be You," "These Foolish Things," "Moonglow," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "The Way You Look Tonight." Its release has been moved to Oct. 22, a week later than its originally scheduled date.

September 12, 2002
Faith Hill's 'Cry' Due Next Month

Faith Hill's long-awaited new Warner Bros. album, Cry, will arrive Oct. 15. As previously reported, the title cut was released to U.S. radio outlets last month and has quickly climbed the Billboard Hot 100, where it is No. 41 this week. "Cry" is also No. 12 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and No. 21 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary survey.

Plans are being formulated for a world tour in 2003. Beforehand, a host of promotional appearances are in the works, including an Oct. 12 performance on "Saturday Night Live" and yet-to-be-scheduled slots on "The Today Show," "The Late Show With David Letterman," and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." In addition, a Hill special will be broadcast in November on NBC, with different versions set to air from December through February on CMT and VH1.

"This record has been a long and rewarding process, which began quite a while ago," Hill said last month. "The emotions that were involved in this process, whether happiness, accomplishment, or the sheer beauty of some of these songs, I thought, lent itself so well to the title."

Cry will be enhanced with a "Making of the Video" featurette for the title cut and other exclusive content. Fans can also purchase the album in the high-end DVD-Audio format, bundled with footage from the Cry sessions and a photo shoot.

Here is the tracklist for Cry:

"Back To You"
"Cry"
"Baby You Belong"
"Beautiful"
"One"
"When the Lights Go Down"
"Stronger"
"You're Still Here"
"Unsaveable"
"Free"
"If You're Gonna Fly Away"
"If This Is the End"
"This Is Me"
"I Think I Will"

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

September 12, 2002
Stewart, Cliff Attempt To Unite World In Song

Eurythmics guitarist Dave Stewart and reggae great Jimmy Cliff launched a plan today (Sept. 12) to unite the world in song -- at least for one day. The musicians want radio stations around the world to play the song Peace One Day on Sept. 21, the United Nations-designated International Day of Peace.

Stewart said the song will be available free to radio stations and on the Internet via the peaceoneday.org site. "The idea was to make a song that on Sept. 21 we'll get as many stations around the world to play and DJs to talk about what it's all about," said Stewart, who said he began work on the track after last year's Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We're not really making a single that we're trying to get in the charts," he added. "It's an idea to uplift people." Stewart is working with Cliff on a new studio album, which may feature contributions from former Clash principal Joe Strummer.

The international peace day is the project of filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, who lobbied the United Nations to recognize it. Last year, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling on people to mark Sept. 21 as a day of cease-fires and nonviolence.

Gilley said the timing of the day, as world leaders contemplate military action against Iraq, "is very profound and shows why every single head of state in the world voted for the first nonviolence day."

September 11, 2002
Matchbox Twenty Back With 'More' This Fall

Atlantic act matchbox twenty will release its third album, More Than You Think You Are, on Nov. 19. Like the band's last two albums -- 2000's Mad Season and 1996's Yourself or Someone Like You -- More was produced by Matt Serletic (Beenie Man, Aerosmith). The set was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., and the Hit Factory in New York. A full track list was not available at deadline.

Fans have been patiently awaiting news of More, with the discussion boards on the band's official Web site filled with pleas for information, as well as many incorrect details and rumors. Although not revealing specifics at the time, the site recently clarified that the album is not to be titled Anything for a Parade, which was a working title that had been circulating for the past few months.

A week before the album's release, the band's episode of VH1's Storytellers will be released on DVD and VHS home video formats. Recorded in February 2001 at New York's Chelsea Piers, the 63-minute program features the band performing and sharing the details of the creation of the songs "Bent," "Mad Season," "Black and White People," "Push," "If You're Gone," "Crutch," "Lonely Weekend," "You Won't Be Mine," "Rest Stop," and "3 AM."

As previous reported, lead singer Rob Thomas wrote three songs that will appear on the forthcoming Santana album, Shaman. That set, due Oct. 22 via Arista, is the follow-up to 1999's wildly successful Supernatural, which featured the Thomas-sung smash hit "Smooth."

Mad Season debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 3.69 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band's debut album, Yourself or Someone Like You, peaked at No. 5 on the chart, and has sold 7.67 million copies.

- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

September 11, 2002
Pearl Jam Reads The 'Riot Act'

Pearl Jam has settled on Riot Act as the title for its seventh Epic studio album, which, as previously reported, is due Nov. 12. The Eddie Vedder-penned first single "I Am Mine" goes to U.S. radio Wednesday (Sept. 18); a commercial single, backed with the non-album track "Down," is due Oct. 8.

Other confirmed album tracks include the mid-tempo numbers "Love Boat Captain" and "Bushleaguer," the latter of which "features some recitation," according to the band's official Web site. The new set was produced by the band with Adam Kasper and mixed by frequent collaborator Brendan O'Brien. Pearl Jam is expected to return to the live stage with a few shows later this year, before launching a world tour in early 2003.

In related news, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard's side band Brad has begun lining up dates for its first tour in five years. The trek is set to begin Oct. 12 in San Francisco and is currently booked through Nov. 3 in Indianapolis. The group's third album, Welcome to Discovery Park, was released last month via Redline.

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

September 10, 2002
Santana Wraps Up 'Shaman,' Readies Retrospective

Santana will release Shaman, the follow up to 1999's 11-million selling Supernatural, Oct. 22 through Arista. The disc features three songs penned by matchbox twenty frontman Rob Thomas voiced by three different singers, plus collaborations with Latin rock band Ozomatli and opera great Placido Domingo, according to the artist's official Web site. Vocalist Michelle Branch is featured on the first single "The Game of Love," which arrives Sept. 23 at U.S. radio outlets. She also appears in the video, shot last month in Chicago.

"There are many great artists, producers, and writers that have helped to create this masterpiece of joy," reads a post on the site. "A few songs like 'Adouma,' 'Foo Foo,' 'Victory Is Won,' and 'Aye Aye Aye,' have been played on the last few Santana tours. All of these songs feature members of the Santana Band." Ozomatli appears on a rock song titled "One of These Days," while Domingo adds his voice to "a very inspirational track" dubbed "Novus."

On the same day Shaman hits stores, fans will also be able to purchase The Essential Santana, a 33-track, two-CD retrospective chronicling the first 20 years of Carlos Santana's recorded output. Beginning with excerpts from his band's 1969 eponymous debut ("Soul Sacrifice," "Evil Ways") and wrapping with "The Healer" (a 1989 collaboration with late blues icon John Lee Hooker), The Essential Santana houses the bulk of the guitarist's top-40 singles.

Santana's 1970s smashes like "Black Magic Woman," "Everybody's Everything," and "Oye Como Va," rest alongside early '80s chart fare like "Winning" and "Hold On." Also featured are the guitarist's mid-1980s world music efforts like "Veracruz" and "Blues for Salvador."

Santana has begun lining up fall tour dates, beginning Sept. 29 in Las Vegas. Shows are set through Oct. 12 in Los Angeles.

Here are Santana's tour dates:

Sept. 29: Las Vegas (MGM Grand)
Sept. 29: Las Vegas (Rain in the Desert)
Oct. 1: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
Oct. 2: Phoenix (Cricket Pavilion)
Oct. 4: Concord, Calif. (Chronicle Pavilion)
Oct. 5: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheatre)
Oct. 8-9: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara Bowl)
Oct. 11: Chula Vista, Calif. (Coors Amphitheatre)
Oct. 12: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl)

- John D. Luerssen, N.Y.

September 10, 2002
Whitney All Wet In Water Dispute

Whitney Houston was issued a summons for violating New Jersey's water-use restrictions after police found sprinklers running at her Mendham Township estate. "Nobody gets special treatment here," police Lt. Jim Hughes told The Star-Ledger of Newark today (Sept. 10).

Hughes said an officer went to the home yesterday after police received a complaint that the sprinkler system was on at night. The sprinklers were running and puddles had formed in the curbs at the property the pop star shares with her husband, singer Bobby Brown, police said.

State officials imposed water-use restrictions last month because of ongoing drought conditions. Residents are banned from watering lawns or washing cars. Hughes said the officer told a security guard the sprinklers had to be shut off, but the guard didn't know how to do it and had to call the landscaper.

A spokesperson said Houston and Brown weren't home when the sprinklers were on, and that the couple hasn't been at the 10-acre estate for some time because Houston has been working on her next album, Just Whitney. The set's first single, "Whatchulookinat," is languishing at No. 90 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

"A judge will understand that someone taking care of the property obviously made a mistake," the spokesperson said. "Whitney is very conscious about the environment and she will care if in fact this [law] was breached."

Police departments in most of the state have issued warnings to people who violate the water-use ban, but Mendham Township officers have given tickets to 15 residents. Violators can face fines of up to $1,000.

September 10, 2002
Rock Vets To Celebrate Harrison's 60th

In addition to a posthumous studio album from Beatles guitarist George Harrison, the coming months will bring a Harrison/Beatles tribute album under the moniker Songs From the Material World. According to a label spokesperson, the set is due from Koch on Feb. 25, which would be the late Harrison's 60th birthday. Among the confirmed participants are the Byrds' Roger McGuinn, the Kinks' Dave Davies, Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green, and John Lennon's son Julian Lennon.

Various artists are expected to team up on Harrison's White Album standard "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," while McGuinn will tackle "If I Needed Someone" from Rubber Soul. Todd Rundgren, Mountain's Leslie West, Donovan, Al Kooper, They Might Be Giants, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, Ultravox's Midge Ure, and the Smithereens are all tipped to participate.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of Songs From the Material World will be donated to the T.J. Martell Foundation, which raises funds for cancer, AIDS, and leukemia research. Harrison died last Nov. 29 of cancer.

As reported here yesterday (Sept. 9), the artist's final studio album, Brainwashed, is due Nov. 19 via Dark Horse/EMI. The set was produced by Harrison and his son Dhani in tandem with Electric Light Orchestra principal Jeff Lynne.

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

September 10, 2002
Carolyn Dawn Johnson Tops Canadian Country Awards

Arista Nashville's Carolyn Dawn Johnson was again the big winner at the Canadian Country Music Awards, held last night (Sept. 9) in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to top female, Johnson took home trophies for top single and top video for her hit "I Don't Want You to Go." Johnson also swept last year's event, winning five awards.

The show was hosted by Paul Brandt, who picked up awards for top male and top album for Small Towns and Big Dreams (Vik Records). Newcomer Emerson Drive, which opened the show with its DreamWorks hit "I Should Be Sleeping," won top group and the Rising Star Award.

Other winners included Universal's Jason McCoy for top song; EMI's Jimmy Rankin in the new category of top roots artist; and Arista Nashville's Terri Clark, who picked up the Fans' Choice Award for the second year in a row.

Legendary country vocalist Kenny Rogers was on hand to induct Anne Murray into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. A video montage tribute highlighting her career also included fellow Canadian Shania Twain.

- Larry LeBlanc, Toronto

September 9, 2002
Lance Bass Officially Kicked Off Space Flight

Pop star Lance Bass' dreams of going into space have officially gone "pop!" The Russian Space Agency notified the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today (Sept. 9) that the 'N Sync singer won't fly to the international space station next month.

Bass had hoped to rocket away from Kazakhstan on Oct. 28, boosted by corporate sponsors and a seven-part television documentary. But TV producers failed to raise the estimated $20 million fare, and Russian space officials last week kicked Bass off the upcoming crew.

Bass' supporters contended the decision was not final and that negotiations were continuing, but today's letter to NASA formalized the matter. "The letter speaks for itself," said NASA spokesperson Debra Rahn. "They've officially withdrawn Mr. Bass from the flight."

The letter from Russia's director of human space flight was dated Friday and faxed today to Frederick Gregory, NASA's deputy administrator and chairman of the board that was reviewing Bass' bid to fly to space. NASA promptly forwarded copies of the letter to the other space agencies involved in the station program, namely Canada, Europe, and Japan.

Rahn said Russia's M.V. Sinelshchikov thanked Gregory and other space station officials for reviewing Bass' proposal to fly to the orbiting outpost. But he noted that the Russian Space Agency could wait no longer for the contractual obligations to be met, she said.

The singer's publicist was not immediately available for comment. At 23, Bass would have been the youngest person ever in space. He also would have been the third paying space tourist.

Just two weeks ago, Bass and the two men with whom he was to be launched spent a full week training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The celebrity posed for pictures with astronauts and other space program workers and took part in an Internet chat with school children.

"We appreciated his education outreach activities while he was there," Rahn said. She added that NASA had no comment on Bass' removal from Russia's Soyuz crew. "It was a business decision in which NASA had no part."

With the launch of the Soyuz rocket just seven weeks away, there's not enough time to put anyone else on board. Russian space officials previously indicated that a cargo container weighing the same as Bass would replace the singer once the deal was off.

While at Houston, Bass said he was confident everything eventually would work out. But if he couldn't travel this fall, he told reporters, "I would work my butt off trying to go for another mission."

September 9, 2002
Bon Jovi CD To Feature Ticket Access

In an effort to drive sales of Bon Jovi's new album Bounce -- due Oct. 8 from Island Def Jam (IDJ) -- the label is offering early access to tickets to the band's upcoming world tour to consumers who buy the CD, Billboard Bulletin reports. Each copy of the album will come with a serialized code in the packaging. Consumers need to register the code at Bonjovi.com to access pre-sale ticket offers. Tickets to the tour go on sale to the general public later in the month.

CD purchasers registering with the site also will receive other bonuses including downloads of unreleased tracks and contests. IDJ executives say the idea behind the initiative is to reward fans who purchase the album, the theory being that the added value benefits will motivate consumers to buy it instead of download it. To that end, new albums by Eminem, the Dave Matthews Band, and Queens Of The Stone Age have in recent weeks been bundled with free DVDs.

The IDJ program is the first widespread serialization initiative featuring a major act. Company executives said that with CD recognition technology largely unable to distinguish between legitimate product and burned discs, serialized codes became a more attractive option to ensure only album purchasers could access the bonus material.

No dates have yet been unveiled for the Bon Jovi tour, but, as previously reported, the group will play its first U.K. club gig in more than a decade Sept. 18 at London's Shepherds Bush Empire.

- Brian Garrity, N.Y.

September 9, 2002
Staind's 'Unplugged' DVD Due In November

After more than a year's delay, melancholy rock trio Staind will release its first DVD, a record of the group's appearance on MTV's Unplugged, Nov. 12 on Elektra. The DVD will feature the Unplugged performance, taped July 16, 2001, along with two additional songs ("Suffer," "Pressure") that didn't air on the original broadcast.

In addition to the 11-song, 72-minute Unplugged show, the DVD will also include the video clips for "Mudshovel," "Outside," "Epiphany," and "Fade," as well as behind-the-scenes footage.

The DVD captures Staind in the midst of its commercial breakthrough, a month after the release of its third album, Break the Cycle (Elektra), which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. Buoyed by the singles "Outside" and "It's Been Awhile" (the latter of which spent 16 weeks atop Billboard's Modern Rock chart), the album has sold 4.8 million copies in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Elektra says the group is currently working on its fourth album, with a spring 2003 release in its sights.

Here is the track list for the Unplugged portion of the DVD:

"Home"
"Me"
"Pressure"
"Excess Baggage"
"Suffer"
"Waste"
"Epiphany"
"It's Been Awhile"
"Can't Believe"
"Fade"
"Outside"

- Troy Carpenter, N.Y.

September 9, 2002
Final George Harrison Album Due In November

The studio album former Beatles guitarist George Harrison was working on prior to his death last November will be released this fall. Brainwashed, produced by Harrison and his son Dhani in tandem with Electric Light Orchestra principal Jeff Lynne, is due Nov. 19 via a new partnership between Harrison's own Dark Horse imprint and EMI. The set features 11 Harrison originals and an as-yet-unannounced cover. It will be his first new studio set since 1987's Cloud Nine, which featured the No. 1 hit "Got My Mind Set on You."

"Before we started working on the album, George and Dhani had collaborated extensively on pre-production," Lynne said in a statement. "George would come round my house and he'd always have a new song with him. He would strum them on a guitar or ukulele. The songs just knocked me out.

"George constantly talked about how he wanted the album to sound," Lynne continued, "and there was always that spiritual energy that went into the lyrics as well as the music."

Harrison's original working title for the project was Portrait of a Leg End. Traffic member Jim Capaldi and veteran session drummer Jim Keltner laid down backing tracks for the set, which is expected to feature such songs as "Valentine," "Pisces Fish," and the title cut, "Brainwashed," a caustic rock soliloquy about his former manager.

"I need to get that last song out of my system," Harrison told late Billboard editor in chief Timothy White in 1999. "To have someone sit at your table with your family every night and then betray your trust is one of the worst experiences imaginable. Sometimes songwriting is the only way I can respond to the outside world, to exorcise its demons."

As previously reported, Harrison collaborated with his son on one final song before his death, "Horse to the Water." The track appeared on bandleader Jools Holland's album, Small World Big Band, bearing the forbidding copyright "R.I.P. Limited 2001."

- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y

September 9, 2002
Canadian Singer Gordon Lightfoot Hospitalized

Gordon Lightfoot was being treated in a hospital yesterday (Sept. 8) for an undisclosed ailment. The 63-year-old Canadian singer/songwriter was rushed to a hospital in Orillia, Ontario, shortly before he was scheduled to perform Saturday night, according to a hospital spokesperson.

He was later flown in an air ambulance to the McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, 30 miles west of Toronto. "Mr. Lightfoot and his wife have asked that no more information be given at this time," the spokesperson said. "I think for right now, they just want to be together as a family."

Lightfoot had been scheduled to appear at the Opera House in Orillia, 50 miles north of Toronto.

Best-known for hits such as "If You Could Read My Mind," "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "Carefree Highway," and "Sundown," Lightfoot is one of Canada's most-honored performers, and has received the Order of Canada and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. He was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame during its 75th annual convention last October.

Lightfoot has North American tour dates scheduled through a four-night stand Nov. 13-16 at Toronto's Massey Hall. His next scheduled performance is slated for Sept. 17 at Moncton (New Brunswick) Coliseum.