MUSIC NEWS CONT (2)

• Ex-manager of The Fray fires back over lawsuit

  AP – Tue Dec 8, 6:48 am ET

  DENVER - A former manager of The Fray says the band owes his company more than $750,000 in commission and expenses. Full Story »

• Weezer cancels December concerts after crash

  Reuters – Mon Dec 7, 3:54 pm ET
  Reuters

  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock band Weezer has canceled its December concerts, following a crash of the lead singer's tour bus in upstate New York. Full Story »

• Joel, recovering from pill scare, feeling better

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 6:19 pm ET
  AP

  NEW YORK - A publicist for Alexa Ray Joel says the daughter of Billy Joel is feeling better two days after being hospitalized in New York for a possible overdose of pills. Full Story »

• Galactic enlists New Orleans legends for new album

  Reuters – Mon Dec 7, 1:49 am ET

  NEW YORK (Billboard) - New Orleans' multi-tasking funk outfit Galactic is set to return February 9 with its sixth studio album, entitled "Ya-Ka-May." Full Story »

• Barenboim conducts 'Carmen' at La Scala

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 6:14 pm ET

  MILAN - Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, 25 and just out of La Scala's academy, was showered with flowers for her debut performance in the title role of Bizet's "Carmen" on La Scala's gala season opening night Monday. Full Story »

• Country trio of siblings draws on music old and new

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 9:04 pm ET

  NASHVILLE (Billboard) - The Band Perry, a young trio made up of siblings Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry, has grabbed the attention of country radio with its first single, "Hip to My Heart." Full Story »

• Review: Solid Brown CD still can't escape cloud

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 3:29 pm ET
  AP

  Chris Brown, "Graffiti" (Jive) Full Story »

• Jenni Rivera changes course with mariachi album

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 9:34 pm ET

  LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Jenni Rivera has established herself as a major star with her saucy take on Mexican brass-based banda music, into which she incorporates stories from her own life and gives voice to a hard-partying, hard-loving persona. Full Story »

• Review: The Clipse is back, for better and worse

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 3:24 pm ET
  AP

  The Clipse, "Til the Casket Drops" (Columbia) Full Story »

• Rolling Stone Ronnie's a nightmare says girlfriend's granny

  Reuters – Sat Dec 5, 1:04 pm ET
  Reuters

  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The grandmother of a Russian cocktail waitress who is dating Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood has told him to leave her granddaughter alone after he was arrested on suspicion of assault. Full Story »

• Weezer cancels tour after bus crash in upstate NY

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 3:06 pm ET
  AP

  ALBANY, N.Y. - Weezer has canceled the rest of its December tour after the lead singer was injured in a bus crash in New York. Full Story »

• Singer Blige feels "Stronger" with each challenge

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 7:02 pm ET

  LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - On the chorus of her latest single, "I Am," Mary J. Blige sings in her riveting voice: "Ain't nobody gonna touch you better... more than I am." Since breaking through with her first R&B charting single and first No. 1 in 1992, "You Remind Me," few performers have touched fans' inner emotions quite like Blige. Full Story »

• Shakira shakes up Oxford Union with address

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 2:51 pm ET
  AP

  LONDON - Michael Jackson and Mother Teresa. Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama. And now Shakira. Full Story »

• Elvis Costello enjoys TV role as "carnival barker"

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 5:52 pm ET
  Reuters

  NEW YORK (Billboard) - Elvis Costello, the British singer-songwriter who swept through the London pub scene, the punk movement and the New Wave fad while retaining his signature sound, continues to release great work 30-plus years into his career. His latest project, the country- and folk-inflected "Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane," arrived June 9 on Hear Music. Full Story »

• Billboard names Powter One-Hit Wonder of Decade

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 1:42 pm ET
  AP

  NEW YORK - As far as one-hit wonders go, Daniel Powter (POW'-ter) is king of them all — for this decade, at least. Full Story »

• Fans kept guessing about "Jackson 4" reunion

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 5:23 pm ET

  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's death put a sudden end to long-rumored plans for a Jackson 5 reunion, but brother Jermaine on Friday kept fans guessing about whether there might be a "Jackson 4" concert next year. Full Story »

• Obama salutes jazz great Brubeck at Kennedy Center

  AP – Mon Dec 7, 12:12 pm ET
  AFP

  WASHINGTON - Nearly 40 years ago, a Kenyan father was visiting his son in Hawaii and took him to his first jazz concert. The boy was Barack Obama and the performer was jazz great Dave Brubeck. Full Story »

• Kylie Minogue to release New York live set

  Reuters – Fri Dec 4, 6:33 pm ET

  LONDON (Billboard) - Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue is to release a download-only concert album, "Kylie Live in New York."