Pearl Jam
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Pearl Jam has announced the dates for their first tour of Europe in six years. The trek includes a handful of festival appearances and begins on August 23 in Dublin, Ireland, wrapping up on September 30 in Athens, Greece. Opening acts will be announced in the near future. Pearl Jam's highly-anticipated new self-titled album will be in stores on May 2.Coldplay lead the nominees for the Ivor Novello Music Awards, which are given to the best British songwriters and composers. The band is up for three awards, for Best Song ("Fix You"), Most Performed Work and International Hit Of The Year (both for "Speed Of Sound"). James Blunt is nominated for a pair of Novello awards, with Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Athlete, Robbie Williams, Kaiser Chiefs and KT Tunstall among the other nominees. The winners will be announced on May 25.
The reformed Alice In Chains have announced the initial five U.S. club dates in their upcoming tour. The Grunge greats (with William DuVall on vocals) will play Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and New York City in mid-May.
Chris Brown will release the DVD Chris Brown's Journey on May 30, according to Billboard.com. The DVD contains the videos for Brown's first single, "Run It!" featuring Juelz Santana, "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" and "Gimme That (Remix)." It also features behind-the-scenes footage and comes with a bonus CD of rare tracks.
Taking Back Sunday have announced the itinerary for their summer tour, with Angels & Airwaves, Head Automatica and The Subways also on board. The trek begins at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ on June 22, winding up in San Diego on July 23. Louder Now, the new album from TBS, arrives in stores tomorrow, April 25.
Diddy
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Diddy is the latest rapper to say that his next album will be his last. He told MTV Europe that he will drop his final solo album on September 19, and it will feature guests like Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Busta Rhymes, Nas and Will.I.Am. "I'm taking from what I've learned from dance music, electro-clash, techno, Hip-Hop, Soul and Pop, and kind of fusing it together," Diddy said. "It's like everything in Hip-Hop is so hardcore with guns and problems and beef, and nobody is being romantic - not in a corny way, but just giving all of yourself. It's still going to have that gangsta vibe to it, but it's a musical journey. It's going to feel good."
The initial six dates of AFI's summer tour have been revealed, with stops in Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Denver. The band has also chosen June 6 as the release date for their new album, Decemberunderground. AFI will also be performing at a number of Warped Tour dates this summer.
Godsmack singer Sully Erna and illusionist Criss Angel are working together on a new version of the theme song from Angel's A&E series, Mindfreak. The pair are reworking the song for Angel's forthcoming album. "The theme song was more electronic, more Ministry, and Criss wanted to make it more power and rock," Erna told Billboard.com. Erna also will make an appearance on Mindfreak during the new season, which debuts May 31.
Evanescence have titled the follow-up to their hit album Fallen. The new album will be called The Open Door and likely see release sometime in August. Frontwoman Amy Lee tells Blender magazine that, "I don't want to insult my first record, because I love it. But I love this 10 times more — it's sexier. On the first one I was young and small and afraid to express myself. Now I'm talking from my true heart — which isn't always miserable."
As part of their 40th anniversary celebration, The Doors will soon offer for digital download more than a dozen live concerts from 1967 to 1970. Fans will be able to visit TheDoors.com and pick and choose from the live selections, many of which are previously unreleased, rather than having to buy a complete show, says Billboard. Meanwhile, in October, Rhino will release a Doors box set with two-disc sets of every studio album: a CD with new stereo mixes and freshly remastered classic mixes, along with a DVD with stereo mixes of the album along with outtakes, alternate takes and video clips.
Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson, a.k.a. #0, will release his debut solo album, The New Leader, in June on N2O Records. It is said to give fans a look at his "mashed up solo work as a Hip-Hop and Jungle music producer, scratch DJ, broken beat virtuoso, and cutting edge classical pianist."
