Kenny Rogers is gambling with his image again -- only this time he's leaving the plastic surgeons out of it.
Kenny is hawking his newest CD through Cracker Barrel -- the country-themed restaurant chain that's been sued by various African-Americans over the years for slingin' racism along with its delicious butter baked chicken.
Unclear whether the album is available in 8-track or large-print editions.
Filed under: Music, Wacky & Weird
Imagine there's no Jonas Brothers, it's easy if you try -- at least according to John Lennon's son.
Not only does Sean not know who the hell those guys are, but outside LAX yesterday the 32-year-old Beatle spawn asked if they were, "like a Disney cartoon or something?" Yeah, something like that.
You can't expect a guy and his lady friend to know about pop culture, when they just stepped out of "The Great Gatsby!"
Filed under: Music, Wacky & Weird
Our favorite lawsuit of the day: A member of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels -- famous for Devil with a Blue Dress On -- is suing Rhino Entertainment for allegedly screwing the band out of royalties.
The royalty part is your basic snooze. But we haven't heard from Mitch Ryder and the boys for decades. James McCarty, Jr. a guitar player for the band, filed the suit in L.A. County Superior Court on behalf of the entire band. Unclear why the others aren't named.
Here's our conundrum. The lawsuit claims the band is known for the 1966 hits Devil with a Blue Dress On AND Good Golly, Miss Molly. We thought Good Golly, Miss Molly was part of Devil with a Blue Dress On and even have the recording to prove it. In fact, it was released as one track, according to Amazon.com. and Wikipedia.
So why does McCarty's suit claim the two songs are separate and distinct? It's a devil of a question.
Filed under: Music
Melissa Manchester -- famous with songs like "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "You Should Hear How She Talks About You." Guess what she looks like now!
Filed under: Music, Beauty, 'Memba Them?!
After suddenly collapsing on stage and clutching his head in agony, Jojo -- from R&B duo K-Ci and JoJo -- laid frighteningly motionless during a live concert in Australia this weekend -- unfortunately, his brother was more concerned with hitting his high note.
JoJo spent nearly a full minute on the floor by himself, while in the same time, a crew member picked up the fallen microphone, and his brother continued singing -- but neither one paid any attention to the passed out singer. In the video, you can hear people in the crowd asking, "Is he alright" and begging K-Ci to "pick him up, man!"
But here's the rub -- instead of getting him backstage for help ASAP, K-Ci picks up JoJo and drags his stumbling brother to the front of a stage for an ovation. A crew member then quickly grabbed the dazed singer by the arm and hauled him off the stage.
K-Ci told the crowd Jojo was just dizzy from the flight. We're dizzy from the spin.
Filed under: Music, Wacky & Weird
After having to sit through Terrence Howard's first ever live musical performance last night, our spy in the crowd gave us the impression that his show was more torturous than Abu Ghraib -- but shockingly, not everyone in the TMZ newsroom agreed with the negative review.
In his shoot report from Maryland concert, the cameraman writes: "Some people should never quit their day job ... Terrence Howard could not hit the proper notes as he butchered every song. A noted fact, the liquor sales went up that night in the club as concertgoers needed some type of distraction."
Give it a listen -- is it really that bad?
Filed under: Music, Wacky & Weird
Ernest Evans aka Chubby Checker is famous for the 1960 song "The Twist" and the popular dance of the same name. Guess what he looks like now!
Filed under: Music, Beauty, 'Memba Them?!
Pharrell Williams turned into his alter ego last night, and used a Spongebob Squarepants face to block the paps in England.
What a N.E.R.D.
Filed under: Music, Wacky & Weird
Is nothing sacred anymore?
Bono was in his beach house in the South of France, listening to new U2 tracks -- not figuring anyone would wander by, record the songs on a cellphone and post them on YouTube. But someone did.
The real album comes out in November.
Filed under: Music
November rain came three months early, as Guns 'N' Roses drummer Steven Adler broke down in court this AM after pleading "Not guilty" to drug charges.
Adler -- who told us he's already used up his scratch from "Sober Living" to pay for rehab and lawyers -- was busted last month for allegedly being high as a kite.
The judge said Adler must stay in the Pasadena Recovery Center -- and that clearly pissed Adler off.
So after court, our guy told Adler the BEST THING EVER -- he hoped Steven's sobriety would come before Chinese Democracy.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Music
Jonas Brothers, meet jumpable shark.
That's the buzz after flaccid first-week sales of "A Little Bit Longer," which, according to Billboard, fell short of the big numbers. The projections were for 600k-plus and as many as 725, but they came in at 515,000.
In the perspective department, Lil' Wayne did well over a mil in the first week, but Jordin Sparks -- she won "American Idol," memba? Her grand total -- 119,000.
They may not know who they are, but the ever original Jonas Brothers now have something in common with the Beatles other than maniacal screaming teen fans.
The Brothers Jonai unknowingly paid homage to the Fab Four's classic "Abbey Road" album cover by crossing a Virginia Beach street in single file.
And that's where the comparisons end.
Filed under: Paparazzi Photo, Music
TMZ has learned LeRoi Moore, the sax player in the Dave Matthews Band, has died. He was 46.
Moore was seriously injured in an ATV accident June 30 outside Charlottesville. He had a punctured lung and broken ribs. Moore went back into the hospital last month due to complications.
Moore died in Los Angeles this afternoon, after taking a turn for the worse.
We're also told the band will perform tonight as scheduled at the Staples Center in L.A.
UPDATE: A rep for the Band just gave TMZ the following statement:
"LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. Moore had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program."
No dirty, nature loving hippie is going to hike in James Hetfield's backyard -- but the fence he built to keep them, and everybody else, off his property is really pissing off the locals.
Several hikers and cyclists up in Northern Cali have their spandex in a wad because the Metallica frontman has blocked access to a hiking trail by erecting a 10-foot high fence around his property.
According to KTVU, the rockstar supposedly built the barrier to stop vandalism on his newly purchased land (on which the trail runs through) -- but the fence itself has since been vandalized with the words "shame" and "disgrace."
Het's reps had no comment.
Filed under: Music
Admit it, two things you never thought would happen -- Madonna turning 50, and her celebrating the cherished moment with husbore, Guy Ritchie.
Our spies were inside Madge's half-century soiree last night at Volstead, a private party nightclub in London's west end. They say about 90 people showed up for Madge's surprise party -- and she was actually surprised -- including her three kids (who came in through the back). Thousands of red roses were everywhere, her table had a caviar-filled crystal ball on it, and sushi, quail eggs, watermelon martinis and giant bottles of Krug Rose champagne were served.
At one point Guy stood up and gave a lovey-dovey speech about her. Madonna followed (refusing a mic because it was too impersonal), and spoke about how much she loved her loyal friends -- then went on a diatribe about Kabbalah that made people lose interest. Imagine that. The shin dig lasted until 3 AM.
You can e-mail us here or call the TMZ tip line at
1-888-847-9869
Pick up the hot scoop by email from the newsroom floor as it happens!
