Music News

NEW YORK - Scoot over, Simon Cowell. "American Idol" is adding a fourth critic to its panel of judges.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - It's time to get a bigger table.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - This just hasn't been the Barenaked Ladies' year. First, cofounder Steven Page gets busted for drugs. Now this.

MIAMI (Billboard) - The Gibson Showroom in Miami's Design District, ostensibly a place for the guitar maker to showcase its various brands (including Baldwin pianos), has become a haven for all things music in Miami, allowing access to everything from rehearsals and songwriting sessions to showcases and TV tapings.

DENVER - Never mind those stinging "celebrity" ads, or the rebuttal by Paris Hilton. Musicians, artists and Hollywood types are descending on Denver — and so what if Barack Obama doesn't need their star power?

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Kanye West, T-Pain and Akon are among the performers on "True to the Game," a compilation CD of R&B and hip-hop songs that will benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - On a recent subway ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan, soca phenomenon Machel Montano was jolted from the anonymity he enjoys in some areas of New York when a female passenger shouted in a thick Trinidadian accent, "Machel Montano's on this train!," prompting many strap-hangers to hurriedly take out their camera phones.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - R&B star Maxwell will embark on his first tour in six years this fall, beginning October 8 in Boston and running through November 21 in Philadelphia.

DETROIT (Billboard) - The Allman Brothers Band plans to use its 2009 engagement at New York's Beacon Theatre as the focal point for the Southern blues-rock group's 40th anniversary celebration.

ARTIST: THE GAME

ALBUM: LAX

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Game has long threatened that "LAX" would be his last album, so perhaps that's why he recruited the wayward DMX to open it with one of his trademark prayers ("Devil, we rebuke you in the name of Jesus"). The table thus set, the Game goes surprisingly mellow in comparison to his first two efforts. "Touchdown" sports a lazy synth and an airy chorus from Raheem DeVaughn about jet-setting, and Ne-Yo proves himself chivalrous while the Game growls over "Gentleman's Affair." Common pops up on the electric piano-driven "Angel," paying homage to his classic "I Used to Love H.E.R.," and "Never Can Say Goodbye" depicts the Game's creativity as he embodies the voices of Tupac, Biggie and Eazy-E just before they passed away.

JERUSALEM - Sir Paul McCartney is set to perform in Israel, 40 years after his legendary band, the Beatles, were banned from playing in the Holy Land.

Andrew WK has announced his first visit to the U.K. in four years--but he's not going to be playing any conventional gigs.

David Byrne and Brian Eno have revealed the details of their first collaboration in nearly 30 years.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Looks like Avril Lavigne can prove she's "The Best Damn Thing" in Kuala Lumpur after all.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - More than 40 years after the Beatles were banned from playing in Israel, Sir Paul McCartney will reportedly take the long and winding road back to Tel Aviv next month.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has allowed Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne to hold a concert ahead of the country's independence day celebrations, reversing a decision to bar the performance following protests by an Islamist party.

CARDIFF, Wales - Even at 50, the queen of pop just can't stop courting controversy.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - It seems Chris Robinson likes to be his own opening act. Literally, as it turns out. The Black Crowes frontman revealed himself to be a multitalented multitasker. While rocking the stage at the Jackson Hole Music Festival this week, Kate Hudson's ex-hubby also showed off his bartender flair, according to Page Six.

BANATSKI SOKOLAC, Serbia (Reuters) - A Serbian village unveiled what it said was Europe's first statue to the late Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley on Saturday, to promote tolerance in a region still recovering from war.

BANGOR, Maine - The music continues as the American Folk Festival enters its second day along the Bangor waterfront.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Yeah, we know it looks like the Jonas Brothers are opening a dry-cleaning business. Especially coming on the heels of last week's suit giveaway at Madame Tussauds.

DECATUR, Ga. - Da Brat was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for hitting a hostess in the head with a rum bottle during an altercation at a suburban Atlanta nightclub last fall.

Los Angeles (E! Online) -   • With the California Supreme Court declining to light their fire (or hear their appeal), the Doors' keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger will have to fork over more than $5 million in damages to drummer John Densmore and the heirs of Jim Morrison for touring as "The Doors of the 21st Century" in 2002 without permission.

LOS ANGELES - Maxwell is back. The hair is not.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Da Brat has just been given one helluva spanking.

CARDIFF (Reuters) - "Queen of pop" Madonna entered the stage on a throne on Saturday as she kicked off her world tour, and defied her age with athletic dance routines before tens of thousands of screaming fans.

Try saying "Zuma Nesta Rock" five times fast — it's hard. That phonetic flow could be tough to master, let alone live down, for the newborn son of Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Dido is back!

NEW YORK (Billboard) - R&B stars Mary J. Blige and Robin Thicke will hit the road together in North America this fall.