CLASSIC ROCK NEWS

One of the highlights of this summer's Live 8 concerts was seeing and hearing Roger Waters reunite with his former bandmates in Pink Floyd, even if it was just for one show. But it wasn't just special for the fans -- the guys in the band also knew it was an important occasion. That's the word from Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof, who said Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright understood that history was being made, both for their relationship and with their performance: "I think they knew it was important, you know, and I think they felt very good about doing it, that, you know, they hadn't let themselves down, that they were dignified men, that they made their peace, how they could now get on with their lives. If you look at this, you'll see Waters just manically laughing, maniacally, sort of, you know, and looking over and not quite believing, then very forcefully playing it. And Dave lost in Pink Floyd world, you know, singing his thing."

The Live 8 DVD set came out this week.

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Santana's new album, All That I Am, debuted at Number Two on Billboard's Top 200 album chart with sales of 142,000 copies. It was beat out by the 20th NOW! That's What I Call Music compilation CD, which sold 378,000 copies. Santana's latest set, featuring collaborations with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Michelle Branch and others, follows up Shaman and Supernatural, which have combined to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide.

Despite the high chart debut, Carlos Santana told us that he doesn't care about album sales: "I'm not running against anything or anyone. I'm a musician who's trying to penetrate the next note and make you laugh, cry and shed skin. I don't pay attention to numbers. I pay attention to emotions."

Santana will perform with Los Lonely Boys at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 22nd.

Santana's next single, "Just Feel Better," features Steven Tyler on vocals.

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Ozzy Osbourne knows better than to say no to Queen Elizabeth II more than once. He declined an invitation to perform for her last year, but when he was asked to do this year's Royal Variety Performance in Wales on November 21st, he said yes. However, the rehearsal schedule means he has to drop out of Spike TV's Video Game Awards show on November 18th in Universal City, California. Ozzy said, "Last year, I was invited to perform at Royal Variety Performance and I was unable to, due to other commitments. I cannot turn down this incredible honor twice."

Ozzy has actually met the Queen before, but he might not remember it. It happened in June 2002 at her Golden Jubilee celebration, which marked 50 years on the throne. He later told Britain's Radio Times, "I freaked out. I assumed I was the in-house joke. The queen spoke to me but I haven't a clue what she said. Look at photographs -- I'm in shock."

Ozzy's latest release is the Under Cover album, which came out last week.

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The new Live 8 DVD is letting people re-experience last July's global anti-poverty concerts, but it's also continuing the campaign for debt relief for developing nations, particularly in Africa. Paul McCartney, who played at London's Hyde Park that day, told us he feels the message of Live 8 was and continues to be heard: "The whole bottom line was the message, y'know?. It made the issue more visible than it was up to that point, and it did do something. You know, I've followed it up since. It certainly has had an effect. You can't cure things overnight, but, you know, in the same way that Hotel Rwanda placed a spotlight on the African situation, I think it helps bring people's attention to these things."

McCartney opened the London Live 8 show by playing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2, then closed the concert with his own band, playing a set of Beatles songs. All are included on the DVD.

McCartney's North American US Tour continues tomorrow (Friday, November 11th) in Anaheim, California.

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Bernie Taupin, Elton John's longtime lyricist, will be teaching a one-night-only songwriting seminar in New York City on November 22nd. Taupin, who is currently working with John on the sequel to their 1975 Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy album, will be teaching the class "Learn To Write Number One Hit Songs With Bernie Taupin" at the Learning Annex. Aspiring songwriters can register for the class at the learningannex.com.

Taupin has written six Number One hits with Elton John: "Crocodile Rock," "Bennie And The Jets," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," and "Candle In The Wind," which was re-written as a tribute to Princess Diana of Wales in 1997.

Taupin also wrote the lyrics for Starship's 1985 Number One hit "We Built This City."

Elton's John's upcoming Captain Fantastic And The Kid album is due out in 2006.

Elton John told us that the only thing that's changed about his ongoing collaboration with Taupin is the technology: "The process has changed, they (the lyrics) used to be hand written, in the late '60s and early '70s, then they were type-written when we got to Honky Chateau, and now, of course, they're faxed. And the way that things have changed is that, Bernie, when he first started out, just wrote a page of lyrics and I would divide them into verse (and) chorus. And now, of course, because he's made albums himself, and he's become much more musical, he tends to write in the form of verse, chorus, bridge, whatever."

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Billy Joel will hit the road in 2006 on his first solo headlining tour in eight years. According to Billboard.com, he plans to begin in January and will tour through April. Dates are expected to be announced by as early as tomorrow (Friday, November 11th), with the highest tickets priced at $75 in most cities. The trek will make stops in various cities, including New York, Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Florida.

Joel's last solo tour took place in 1998 and 1999. He co-headlined some dates with Elton John in 2003.

Joel will release a boxed set, called My Lives, on November 22nd.

The Broadway musical based on Joel's life, Movin' Out, will close next month.

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Kiss fans can relive the band's 2004 tour with a new DVD that will be out December 13th. The two-disc Kiss Rock The Nation Live! runs over two hours and features a mix of concert favorites and songs that hadn't been played live in years, including "Parasite," "Tears Are Falling," "Got To Choose," "She," and "Christine Sixteen." Along with the performance footage, there's also behind-the-scenes material from soundchecks and photo sessions, as well as a special feature called Kiss Powervision, which lets viewers switch between watching the concert and focusing on the individual members. The live performances on the DVD were shot last year at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia, on July 24th, and the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheatre on July 25th.

The tracklisting for Kiss Rock The Nation Live! includes:
DISC ONE -- "Love Gun," "Deuce," "Makin' Love," "Lick It Up," "Christine Sixteen," "She," "Tears Are Falling," "Got To Choose," "I Love It Loud," "Love Her All I Can," "I Want You," and "Parasite."
DISC TWO -- "War Machine," "100,000 Years," "Unholy," "Shout It Out Loud," "I Was Made For Lovin' You," "Detroit Rock City," "God Gave Rock & Roll To You II," and "Rock & Roll All Nite."

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U2 has announced the tracklisting for their new double-DVD. It's called Vertigo 2005//U2 Live From Chicago, and the first disc includes live footage shot this past May 9th and 10th at the United Center in Chicago, while the second disc has a documentary called Beyond The Tour, an alternate version of the "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" video, and "Surveillance Cuts," which is other footage shot with black-and-white infra-red surveillance cameras. Vertigo 2005//U2 Live From Chicago runs three hours and 17 minutes, and it comes out Tuesday (November 15th).

The next stop on U2's Vertigo tour is Sunday (November 13th) at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

The tracklisting for Vertigo 2005//U2 Live From Chicago includes:
DISC ONE (live in Chicago) -- "City Of Blinding Lights," "Vertigo," "Elevation," "Cry/Electric Co.", "An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart," "Beautiful Day," "New Year's Day," "Miracle Drug," "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," "Love And Peace Or Else," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Bullet The Blue Sky," "Running To Standstill," "Pride (In The Name Of Love)," "Where The Streets Have No Name," "One," "Zoo Station," "The Fly," "Mysterious Ways," "All Because Of You," "Original Of The Species," "Yahweh," and "40."
DISC TWO -- the Beyond The Tour documentary; "Surveillance Cuts" of "Love And Peace Or Else," "An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart," "Cry/Electric Co.", and "Running To Stand Still"; and the alternate version of the "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" video.

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It was important for Bon Jovi, whose performance of "Livin' On A Prayer" is featured on the new Live 8 DVD set, to be part of the massive global concert's Philadelphia show on July 2nd. Jon Bon Jovi told us that the New Jersey group missed playing Live Aid in 1985, so it definitely wanted to be part of what organizer Bob Geldof put together 20 years later: "Because we didn't get to do it the first time, I was envious at the time. Because I had befriended Geldof 10 years ago and brought him out on stage on the 10th anniversary (of Live Aid) at Wembley Stadium when we were playing a bunch of nights there, because it was fulfilling his dream, now 20 years down the road, we were the first ones asked to do Philadelphia."

Bon Jovi did perform at the first Farm Aid concert, which was held in the fall of 1984 in Champaign, Illinois.

Bon Jovi's Have A Nice Day tour continues tonight (Wednesday, November 11th) in Columbus, Ohio.

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Carlos Santana has much respect for his collaborator, Michelle Branch. After having so much success with 2002's hit, "The Game Of Love," he tapped her once again to sing on "I'm Feeling You," the first single from Santana's new CD, All That I Am. The guitarist told us that he's thrilled to record another song with Branch, who recently became a first-time mom: "When I first heard this song, it sounded like her ever more than the other song, 'Game Of Love.' We spent some time with her family -- her mom and dad, her sister, my wife, my two daughters and my son in Hawaii. So we really got a chance to really get close with the family and stuff. And I'm really happy that she's a mommy. As John Coltrane would say, 'It's a giant step.'

Santana will perform with Los Lonely Boys at the American Music Awards on November 22nd.

On November 15th, Santana will release A&E's Live By Request show on DVD.

Rhapsody.com is currently streaming Santana's recent concert taped at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

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Roger Daltrey of the Who bashed Paul McCartney's wife Heather in the British press. Daltrey spoke to London's Sunday Mirror this week and recalled meeting her at last summer's Live 8 concerts, which have just been released on DVD. Daltrey recalled that, "She was at Live 8 with a camera... scary. I looked down the barrel and saw her face -- and I thought: 'This is the coldest human being I have met in my whole life'. She was one cold fish."

Daltrey also took time out to say that, despite being friends with McCartney for 40 years, he's never really gotten past his public, thumbs-up, winking persona: "Paul acts like what is expected of him. I find it very strange -- but it's how he deals with his life. Everything, though, becomes 'The Paul McCartney Show.'"

Daltrey and the rest of the Who -- particularly Pete Townshend -- were personal friends with McCartney's first wife, the late Linda McCartney, from her rock photographer days in New York prior to her meeting McCartney.

Daltrey and McCartney, who both became farmers in the late '60s, have bonded throughout the years, with McCartney re-writing his legendary 1971 Ram outtake "Rode All Night," as "Giddy" and contributing the tune to Daltrey's 1977 One Of The Boys album.

Although McCartney doesn't play on the finished track, he lent Daltrey Wings' then-lead guitarist, the late Jimmy McCulloch, to handle six-string duties on the song, which also features the Who's John Entwistle.

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Just out is Syndestructible, the new album from the Syn. The band features bassist Chris Squire and vocalist Stephen Nardelli, who led the group in the '60s in London before going their separate ways -- Squire went on to form Yes, and Nardelli had a very successful career in the clothing and sporting goods business. Squire told us that after helping Nardelli out on a song for another project, their partnership flourished again: "I went to the studio and played some bass on that, and did some backing vocals and harmonies, and it turned out real well. And, and then one thing led to another, and we just started working on some new material. And then after two or three weeks -- which isn't really very long -- of, of writing, we, we had an album that we wanted to put together."

The Syn will return to their old stomping grounds next week when they play the Marquee Club in London on November 15th. Their North American tour gets underway in January.

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Carlos Santana and his wife Deborah, who are well-known for their support of charitable causes, have donated $25,000 to the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children to help needy kids hit by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and $25,000 to America's Second Harvest for their Katrina Relief Fund. Also, during their recent tour stop in San Antonio, Texas, Santana donated $50,000 to the San Antonio Hurricane Relief Fund to aid local efforts to help hurricane victims.

In a statement released to the press, Carlos and Deborah said, "We send our prayers and thoughts to each person affected by Hurricane Katrina. This is a great tragedy and also a cause that we will continue to support."

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John Lennon's solo catalogue will finally be available via digital download starting this week, with his entire catalogue due online by December 5th. Lennon's widow Yoko Ono spoke to Billboard, saying, "I am very happy that John's music is now available to a new generation of music fans. New technology is something he always embraced and this is something he would have loved. I always say that he would have been very excited by all the opportunities offered by the development of new means of communication."

Although Ono hasn't yet announced the online download providers supplying the Lennon tracks, one thing is certain -- they won't be available via Apple's iTunes. The Beatles' company Apple Corps. has been in a 15-plus year battle with the software giants over copyright infringement.

In an early '90s multi-million dollar settlement, Apple was allowed to keep their name and promised to refrain from producing any music hardware. The advent of iTunes and the ongoing lawsuits between them and the Beatles, have prevented any Beatle music from being available online.

Last month Ono issued the two-disc greatest hits CD Working Class Hero - The Definitive Lennon.

On November 22nd, remastered versions of Lennon's Some Time In New York City and Walls And Bridges albums will be released on CD. Both discs feature exclusive bonus tracks.

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Led Zeppelin has been named one of two winners of the annual Polar Music Prize. The Swedish group that gives out the award called Zeppelin "one of the great pioneers of rock," and the citation also said, "Their playful and experimental music combined with highly eclectic elements has two essential themes: mysticism and primal energy. These are features that have come to define the genre 'hard rock.'" The awards, as well as a cash prize worth over $120,000, will be handed out by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Stockholm Concert Hall on May 22nd.

Guitarist Jimmy Page is no stranger to the Polar Music Prize. He was in Stockholm in May 2004 to read the official citation when B.B. King got his award.

The other 2006 Polar Music Prize winner is Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.

Others who have been honored include Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan.

The Polar Music Prize is given to artists "in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. The prize breaks down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music."

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The Marshall Tucker Band has gotten a head start on the holiday season this year. The band just released an album called Carolina Christmas, which combines seasonal favorites like "White Christmas," "Jingle Bells," and "Silent Night" with originals including "Christmas In Carolina" and the hysterical, non-traditional holiday song "Christmas In Custody." Snippets of each track can be heard at the official marshalltucker.com website.

The next show for the Marshall Tucker Band is Saturday (November 12th) at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois.

The tracklisting for Carolina Christmas includes: "White Christmas," "Christmas In Carolina," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", "Silent Night," "Snowfall In Georgia," "Christmas In Custody," "Jingle Bells," "Merry Christmas Baby," "Leave The Christmas Lights On," and "T'was The Night Before Christmas."

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Rolling Stones fans have a new way to show their love for the band. The Celebrity Cellars winemaker is selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines that come in Stones-inspired bottles. There are 10 bottles in all, some with different versions of the group's tongue logo, and others with artwork from their 1971, 1972, 1975, and 1989 tour posters. To make an order, go to celebritycellars.com.

The Stones and their A Bigger Bang world tour will hit PETCO Park in San Diego on Friday (November 11th).

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Phil Collins says he's open to performing with Genesis again. Although a reunion has not been announced, the 54-year-old British singer revealed that the possibility is being considered. According to the Associated Press, Collins said, "If it doesn't happen, it won't be because we don't want to. It will just be because there are too many things in the way. I'm happy to sit behind the drum kit and let Peter Gabriel be the singer, but if it happens, I'll be there."

Collins also said he's still good friends with Gabriel and the other band members.

Genesis first got together in the late Sixties. Gabriel fronted the band before going solo in 1975. That's when Collins, who drummed for the band, stepped in as lead singer. After a series of lineup changes, Genesis finally called it quits in 1998.

Collins is currently on tour in the Middle East.

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One of the highlights of July's Live 8 concerts was the reunion of Pink Floyd's best-known lineup in London's Hyde Park. The group's entire five-song set is featured on the new Live 8 DVD that comes out today (Tuesday, November 8th). The group's Roger Waters told us that he enjoyed it as much as the fans: "Live 8, I really enjoyed it. It was great to have the opportunity to get back on stage with Nick (Mason) and Rick (Wright) and Dave (Gilmour). It went really well. It felt really good. I thought the songs sounded great. And if we get an opportunity to do something like that in the future, I'm up for it."

Live 8 marked the first time this lineup of Pink Floyd had played together since 1981. Waters left the band in the mid-Eighties, and sued his former bandmates when they tried to continue as Pink Floyd. The case was settled out of court.

Though he would be in favor of regrouping Pink Floyd for future charitable events, Waters has ruled out the idea of a full-scale reunion tour.

Waters recently released his first opera, Ca Ira, which is based on the French Revolution. He'll stage a concert performance of it on November 17th in Rome, and is considering some North American dates for 2006.

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U2 was among a handful of groups that played both Live Aid in 1985 and this year's Live 8 concerts on July 2nd. The group is featured on the new Live 8 DVD that comes out today (Tuesday, November 8th), and guitarist The Edge told us that there was quite a bit of difference between the two global events: "Different because Live Aid was a much more fraught situation. Everyone was scrambling to make it work. No one had done anything on that scale before, not since Woodstock, and, you know, technology had changed so much. It was really a wing and a prayer at the time, at Live Aid. This time we actually got a chance to run through the songs, have a little sound check. Things were a lot more under control, I felt."

U2 is seen on the Live 8 DVD joining Paul McCartney to open the show at London's Hyde Park with the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," before playing its own "Beautiful Day," "Vertigo" and "One." The Irish group played early in the day because it had another concert that night in Vienna, Austria.

Other Live Aid alumni on the Live 8 DVD include McCartney, the Who, Elton John, Madonna and Neil Young.

Organized by Band Aid/Live Aid founder Bob Geldof, Live 8 was a series of concerts held in nine cities around the world on July 2nd to raise awareness of poverty in and promote debt relief for developing nations, particularly in Africa.

U2's Vertigo tour continues tonight in Oakland, California.

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Brian Wilson has issued a special charity single to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The single, called "Walking Down the Path of Life," was premiered on last summer's tour and is performed in a medley with a re-recording of his song "Love And Mercy" -- which has been his concert closer since he returned to the road in 1999. The CD single is available for $10 through the brianwilson.com website. A special autographed edition is also on sale for $50.

Last week, Wilson's cousin and Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love, filed suit against him for "misappropriating" Love and the group's image last year, on a freebie CD given away by a British newspaper.

Love's suit claims that Wilson abused the Beach Boys' trademark by allowing vintage photos of the group to appear on the disc's sleeve.

Love, along with the Beach Boys, have also been doing their part to raise money for Katrina victims, recently performing two high-profile benefits in Los Angeles for the Red Cross -- with Love personally donating $100,000 from his Love Foundation charity to aid Katrina victims. Love told us that despite the charity's imperfections, it's by far the best way to help: "We just felt that in the past there have been issues, with people feeling like the Red Cross didn't do the right thing in this way or that way, or whatever. But when you look at what they've done, and how much they do, it's just an amazing organization."

In other Beach Boys-related news:

Last Wednesday (November 3rd) Mike Love's youngest sister, Stephanie Love, died of an undisclosed illness. Mike Love is the oldest of the Love clan.

His sister Maureen played harp on several Beach Boys hits such as "Catch A Wave," and "In My Room." Stephanie was also a harpist.

His brother Stephen managed the Beach Boys in the mid '70s. Love's other brother Stanley -- who played basketball briefly with the Baltimore Bullets -- also worked briefly within the group's organization.

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Eurythmics' Ultimate Collection is released today (Tuesday, November 8th), featuring 17 hits from the band's career as well as two brand new songs. Singer Annie Lennox told us that compiling the set, as well as reissues of the group's individual studio albums, gave her and partner Dave Stewart a chance to think about what they've accomplished with Eurythmics' music: "It's just part of my history and part of my life's work and it's a special thing, I think, looking at it from this distant point of view. I think the songs we've written and recorded together span quite a long period of time, and they're beautiful songs. It's a certain kind of sound. It's a certain kind of identity, I guess."

The two new songs on Ultimate Collection include the single, "I've Got A Life," and "Was It Just Another Love Affair?"

Eurythmics' last album of new material was Peace in 1999. The duo donated proceeds from the album and subsequent tour to Greenpeace and Amnesty International.

Eurythmics will release expanded and remastered versions of their studio albums on November 15th.

The duo will be inducted into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame on November 16th in London. VH1 will tape the ceremony for broadcast on November 26th.

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Bon Jovi's Live 8 rendition of "Livin' On A Prayer" is captured on the new Live 8 DVD, a four-disc package that's released today (Tuesday, November 8th). The New Jersey rockers were part of Live 8's Philadelphia concert, and Jon Bon Jovi told us he had an interesting view of the event: "When I went out there, you get that adrenalin rush and you're all jazzed about being there and you get on that stage at the foot of the museum, and all you see is a life-size, bigger than life-size statue of George Washington on horseback. So from the microphone's perspective, I didn't see the 600,000 people. I looked up the a** of a bronze horse for my three songs, and you had to play to the television camera. It was a funny anecdote, but true."

The Live 8 DVD also includes performances by Pink Floyd, the Who, U2, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Sting, Madonna, Rob Thomas, Maroon5, Mariah Carey, Brian Wilson, R.E.M., Bon Jovi and others.

Bon Jovi's Have A Nice Day tour continues tonight in Cleveland, Ohio.

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New Paul McCartney video footage comes out today (Tuesday, November 8th) on the Live 8 DVD. The four-disc set includes McCartney's performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2, which opened the concert in London's Hyde Park, as well as the former Beatle's set with his own band. McCartney told us he has warm memories of the event: "Live 8 was good. That was a very inspiring day. The music and all the kind of acts that were there and sort of friends that I would meet up with. And, you know, the fun of playing with U2 and then closing it with my own band. It was a really cool day as far as that was concerned."

McCartney closed Live 8's London concert with a set of Beatles songs, including "Get Back," a duet with George Michael on "Drive My Car," "Helter Skelter," "The Long And Winding Road," and an all-star finale of "Hey Jude."

The Live 8 DVD also includes performances by Pink Floyd, the Who, U2, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Sting, Madonna, Brian Wilson, R.E.M., Bon Jovi and others.

Put together by Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof, Live 8 was a series of concerts held in nine cities around the world on July 2nd to raise awareness of poverty in and promote debt relief for developing nations, particularly in Africa.

McCartney continues his US Tour tonight in San Jose, California.

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Steve Winwood dips into his recent past today (Tuesday, November 8th) to re-release his 2003 album, About Time. The set, which was Winwood's first release in six years, originally came out on the former Traffic frontman's own Wincraft Music label. Now, Winwood told us, he hopes a major-label re-release will give it a strong second life: "I was very happy with the record, and of course it didn't get a very wide distribution. And I've often spoken to people who, who are aware of lots of other things I'd done in the past but weren't aware of this new record, so I'm glad that's getting the wider distribution that I think it perhaps deserves."

The new version of About Time is a DualDisc that includes three live tracks, as well as Winwood concert footage.

Winwood was on tour earlier this fall to promote the new Traffic DVD, The Last Great Traffic Jam, filmed during the group's 1994 reunion tour.

Winwood also guests on Eric Clapton's new album, Back Home.

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Paul McCartney announced that he'll be performing with Tony Bennett on November 15th, at the Adopt-A-Minefield Benefit Gala in Beverly Hills. The gala, which McCartney and wife Heather organize each year, will once again be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. This will be the third time that McCartney and Bennett have teamed up. Last year, at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in Northern California, the pair dueted both nights on McCartney's favorite song, "The Very Thought of You." No word on how many songs the two will sing this time around.

The day before the event (November 14th), McCartney will be the sole guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Check your local listings for station and times.

McCartney performs tonight (Tuesday, November 8th) in San Jose, California at the HP Pavilion At San Jose.

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Black Sabbath will finally get their Hall Of Fame induction this year, but it's not the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The band has been added to the list of honorees for the second annual U.K. Music Hall Of Fame ceremony, which is being held November 16th at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Also being inducted this year are Bob Dylan, Eurythmics, Jimi Hendrix, Joy Division/New Order, the Kinks, and Pink Floyd.

The show will air on VH1 on November 26th, then move to VH1 Classic starting November 27th.

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Bryan Adams is nearing the end of his tour with Def Leppard. Both acts joined forces this past summer and will wrap up the fall leg this weekend (Saturday, November 11th) in Irvine, California. Adams told us that he enjoyed touring with the rockers: "It's been a really good little tour. I mean we started last -- I guess June. We played baseball parks across America. Of course, you know, for anybody, who's into that kind of music, it was a good night because you get a lot of songs. We toured through the summer, and I said, 'Why are we stopping? Let's just keep on going."

After wrapping things up Def Leppard, Adams will head to his native Canada for a headlining tour.

Adams recently released a two-disc set, called Anthology, featuring the new Pamela Anderson duet, "When You're Gone."

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Mike Love, lead singer and co-founder of the Beach Boys filed a lawsuit last Thursday (November 3rd), against cousin and former group member Brian Wilson, for conspiring with several English companies -- including London-based newspaper The Mail On Sunday -- for copyright infringement. The trouble stems from a give-away CD from last year, titled Good Vibrations, which featured Wilson's live re-recordings of such Beach Boys hits as "California Girls," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and "Good Vibrations." Love's lawsuit, which alleges, "... a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate his name and image," basically centers around the fact that the free CD -- which contains no actual Beach Boys recordings -- infringes on Love's copyright by including, along with a recent photo of Wilson, three vintage Beach Boys photos from 1962, 1966 and 1967 -- and, by doing so, implies that the disc is a "Beach Boys" CD made with Love's involvement. Love is seeking unspecified damages.

Mike Love issued a statement saying that, "Once again the people around Brian, my cousin and collaborator on many hits, who I love and care about, have used him for their own financial gain without regard to his rights, or my rights, or even the rights of the estates of his deceased brothers, Carl and Dennis (Wilson) and their children." He closed by saying that, "Unfortunately, history repeats itself. Because of Brian's mental issues he has always been vulnerable to manipulation. I simply want to stop the infringers and stop the deception!"

A representative from Love's camp told us that Love has nothing but the utmost love and respect for Wilson, and that the suit is against actions that Wilson's representatives took and not a personal attack on Wilson himself. In an exclusive to us, Mike Love says that his issues are strictly with Wilson's managers and advisors: "You see, Brian is manipulated. He has his mental issues and he's very easily manipulated because he's paranoid-schizophrenic. I mean he's afraid. He takes medication, he has what they call 'auditory delusions,' so he has his issues, and the poor guy is manipulated."

A representative for Wilson issued a statement declaring that, "The lawsuit against Brian is merit less. While he will vigorously defend himself (and) he is deeply saddened that his cousin Mike Love has sunk to these depths for his own financial gain."

Love's suit also names Associated Newspapers LTD., Bigtime.TV and Sanctuary Records Group as defendants.

The estimated three million copies of the Good Vibrations CD were given away as a promotion for Wilson's recent re-recording of the group's legendary "lost" Smile album.

Many insiders have speculated that Love's suit is actually based in part on the fact that during nearly all of Wilson' promotions for his Grammy winning Smile album, he's taken pot-shots at Love, blaming him for the album originally being shelved in 1967.

Love has successfully sued Wilson twice before. In 1993, a libel suit against Wilson for disparaging remarks made against him in his ghost-written autobiography titled Wouldn't It Be Nice, was settled in Love's favor.

The next year, Love won half of Wilson's $10 million dollar settlement against music publishers Irving Almo Music, who had purchased the group's pre-1969 songwriting catalogue. Wilson had alleged that at the time, his father Murry sold the catalogue without his permission.

As part of the ruling in his case against Wilson, Love was officially awarded co-credit for 39 songs including, "California Girls," "I Get Around," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Help Me, Rhonda," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)," and many more.

Love and Wilson are partners in the Beach Boys corporation Brother Records, Inc. along with Al Jardine and the estate of the late Carl Wilson. After his death in 1983, founding member Dennis Wilson's estate was forced to sell its share of Brother back to the group in early 1984 to repay back loans.

Mike Love holds the sole license to perform using the Beach Boys' name.

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A new Peter Gabriel album might be on the horizon. While he often takes a long time between releases, rollingstone.com reports that for the past few months, he's been working on material for a new record that's got a working title of I/O, which stands for "input/output." He hasn't yet called in the full band, because he said, "My mental process is so slow that it's not really fair to take that time out of anyone else's life."

Gabriel told us that part of what takes him so long to make records is that he has trouble getting the words down on paper: "I'm much quicker getting the musical ideas than I am sort of sorting out and finishing lyrics, which, to get past my editor, is a lot harder. That's me, I'm afraid. You know, your own sort of quality control, but the point at which you say, 'OK, that's all right to go out. I'm not gonna be embarrassed by that one,' I can do that very quickly with music and very slowly with lyrics."

There's no word on when I/O might come out, but Gabriel is already thinking about a tour, and he said he might preview some of the songs live. He said, "What I've always wanted to do is finish the songs, get them arranged for the band, tour for a month or so, then record them. That would give me a different type of immediacy -- because sometimes when I work and work on stuff, people feel that it loses some of its flair."

Gabriel's last studio album was UP, which came out in 2002.

His next release is a DVD called Still Growing Up -- Live And Unwrapped. It's due next Tuesday (November 15th).

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Roger Daltrey has confirmed that he and Pete Townshend will go back to work on a new Who album early in 2006. There's been some work in recent years on what's being called Who2, and Daltrey joked, "I don't want to stop and I don't think Pete does. We're at the pinnacle of our decline," according to rollingstone.com. Daltrey added that Townshend's child pornography arrest in early 2003 will be addressed on the record: "He's...angry about what happened to him. Make no mistake about it, it will come out in his music."

Charges against Townshend were eventually dropped, but he still had to list his name on a sex offenders registry for five years.

The next release from the Who comes tomorrow (Tuesday, November 8th), when the three-DVD package Tommy And Quadrophenia Live With Special Guests is released.

The Who will be inducted into the U.K. Music Hall Of Fame on November 16th. Also being honored at the Alexandra Palace in London that night will be Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Eurythmics, Jimi Hendrix, Joy Division/New Order, the Kinks, and Pink Floyd.

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U2 is among the bands featured on the Live 8 DVD which comes out tomorrow. In addition to the group's own set, the DVD begins with U2's version of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with Paul McCartney in London's Hyde Park. U2 guitarist The Edge told us it was a thrilling moment for the band: "It was great. I mean, to play with Paul McCartney, to play with a Beatle, was just mind-blowing. It was a kind of 'Can this really be happening?' kind of experience. And 'Sgt. Pepper,' he hasn't ever performed that version. He did the end of the Pepper album a couple of times on different tours, but the opening rendition he'd never done before since it was recorded."

U2 and McCartney performed "Sgt. Pepper's" because the opening lyric, "It was 20 years ago today...," referenced the fact that it had been 20 years since the Live Aid concerts.

The Live 8 DVD also includes U2's performances of "Beautiful Day," "Vertigo," and "One."

It's not U2's only DVD release this month. The group comes out with Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago, filmed on the first leg of its North American Vertigo tour, on November 15th.

The tour continues tomorrow (Tuesday, November 8th), when U2 opens a two-night stand in Oakland, California.

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Yoko Ono officially apologized to Paul McCartney for comments which he construed as a knock against his lyric writing. Last month in London, Ono made a speech while accepting an honor for husband John Lennon at Britain's Q Awards, in which she said that Lennon often complained that more artists covered McCartney's songs than his. Ono recalled telling Lennon that his songs were essentially a tougher sell than McCartney's saying, "You're a good songwriter, it's not 'June with spoon' that you write."

The comment, which McCartney took as a knock, prompted him to tell the British press last month that Ono, among other things, "Wasn't the brightest bulb." Ono explained to Rolling Stone that, "I certainly did not mean to hurt Paul, and if I did, I am very sorry... People like to picture Paul and me in a boxing ring, feuding all the time, otherwise it's not exciting or interesting for them."

Ono went on to say that, "People need light-hearted topics like me and Paul fighting to escape all the horror of the world, but it's not true anymore. I'm sure the next time we see each other it will be fine."

She added that, "We have clashed many times in the past. But I do respect Paul now for having been John's partner and he respects me for being John's wife."

Although McCartney and Ono's relationship has been strained since she first hooked up with Lennon in 1968, there have been several instances in which they have been friendly:

Prior to moving into their first London apartment together, Lennon and Ono actually lived with McCartney for several months in the spring of 1968.

Footage exists of a jam session between Lennon and Ono with McCartney playing drums, during the Beatles' legendary January 1969 Let It Be sessions.

McCartney was instrumental in convincing Lennon to try and woo Ono back during their 14 month separation in the mid '70s.

In 1994, Ono asked McCartney to induct Lennon into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Later that year, McCartney, his first wife Linda, along with their children Heather, Mary, Stella and James collaborated on an unreleased song with Ono and her and Lennon's son Sean.

The track titled, "Hiroshima Sky Is Blue," has made the rounds on bootlegs, but has yet to see an official release.

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