The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2008 inductees have been chosen. They include Madonna, John Mellencamp, the Dave Clark Five, the Ventures and Leonard Cohen. Also being inducted are Little Walter in the sideman category and producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the non-performer category. The 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in New York on March 10, 2008.
On December 12, 76-year-old guitarist and rock pioneer Ike Turner died at his home in San Marcos, California. The controversial legend hired Tina Turner (real name Anna Mae Bullock) in the late 1950s to front his band the Kings of Rhythm. Ike and Tina's hits include "Proud Mary," "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" and "Nutbush City Limits." Tina divorced Ike in 1976 and wrote about the abusive relationship in her 1986 autobiography, "I, Tina." They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Ike was in prison at that time serving a sentence for cocaine possession charges. Following Ike's death, the Recording Academy released a statement that said, "There is no doubt that Ike Turner was one of rock and roll's great architects with his genre-defying sound as an instrumentalist and bandleader. His innovative musicality helped lay the foundation for rock n' roll and R&B more than 50 years ago. As a bandleader, his well-rehearsed ensembles were some of the most exciting live groups the world had ever heard. As a two-time Grammy Award winner and recipient of The Recording Academy's 2004 Heroes Award, Ike's legacy as a groundbreaking pioneer in the music industry will never be forgotten."
Toxicology reports show that 52-year-old Kevin DuBrow, singer for the hard rock group Quiet Riot, died of an accidental cocaine overdose. DuBrow was found dead on November 25 at his home in Las Vegas. Quiet Riot is best known for its 1983 Top 5 hit, "Cum On Feel The Noize."
19-year-old Dancing With The Stars champion Julianne Hough will have a Country album released in early 2008. She was recently signed to Mercury Records in Nashville and will begin work on the album in January. Earlier this year, Julianne's first single, "Will You Dance With Me," was released on iTunes.
The Backstreet Boys' Howie Dorough married his longtime girlfriend Leigh Boniello on December 8. The ceremony took place in Orlando, Florida. Dorough proposed to Boniello last New Year's Eve. He says, "She wasn't expecting it, and I was quite nervous - more nervous about proposing to her in front of 40 family and friends than about performing in front of 40,000 people onstage." The Backstreet Boys' latest album, Unbreakable, was released in October of this year. Beginning in February, the group will perform overseas shows in Japan, Australia and Europe.
The iTunes online music store released its top-selling albums and singles Tuesday, though it declined to release actual sales figures.
Maroon 5's sophomore album, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," was the No. 1 seller on the site, followed by Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and Kanye West's Graduation. Winehouse and West are also leaders heading into the 50th annual Grammy Awards - he has eight nominations, she has six.
Rounding out the top five best-selling albums were American Idol alum Chris Daughtry's band's self-titled debut, Daughtry, and Coco by newcomer Colbie Caillat, who has the hit "Bubbly."
Fergie came in at first and fifth place in single sales. Her hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" was the top-selling single of the year for iTunes, while "Glamorous" finished in fifth. Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" came in second place, followed by Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah" and Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend."
NEW ALBUM RELEASES
New albums scheduled for release on December 18th include: "Growing Pains" by Mary J. Blige, "The Cool" by Lupe Fiasco, "The Makings Of A Man" by Jaheim, "Smiler" by Rod Stewart and the original motion picture soundtrack to "Sweeney Todd" (new Johnny Depp film).
TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION
This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Poco. To celebrate the mark, the two folk-rock groups will co-headline the "Party In The Dirt" tour in 2008. Joining them on the outing is Jim Messina, who performed in Poco until 1970, founded Buffalo Springfield and was half of the popular 1970s duo Loggins & Messina. Dates have not been announced.
AWARDS INFORMATION/WINNERS
Nominations for the 65th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced on December 13. Nominees for Best Original Song are Eddie Vedder for "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild, Shakira and Antonio Pinto for "Despedia" from Love in the Time of Cholera, Clint Eastwood and Carole Bayer Sager for the title song from Grace Is Gone, Alan Menken for "That's How You Know" from Enchanted and Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan for "Walk Hard" from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Best Original Score nominees are Eddie Vedder, Michael Brook and Kaki King for Into the Wild, Clint Eastwood for Grace Is Gone, Alberto Iglesias for The Kite Runner, Dario Marianelli for Atonement and Howard Shore for Eastern Promises. The Golden Globe Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on January 13, 2008. (Complete list of Golden Globe Award nominees available at www.goldenglobes.org)
