Music News Headlines

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran heavy-metal band Black Sabbath landed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, more than four decades after the rockers debuted their first album in the United States. "13," the 19th studio album from Black Sabbath, sold 155,000 copies in its …

LONDON (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones released a career-spanning digitally re-mastered back catalogue on Apple Inc's iTunes Store on Wednesday as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. The new iTunes release chronicles the British group's entire oeuvre, from their introductory 1963 cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On" …

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West pushes the boundaries of hip hop with his latest album "Yeezus," using aggressive electro-dance music beats to channel his anger and win over critics, who have called the record "daring" and "ambitious." "Yeezus," the 36-year-old rapper's seventh solo studio album, …

By Patricia Reaney and Tim Ghianni NEW YORK/NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Legendary country singer and songwriter Slim Whitman, known for his smooth falsetto and high-pitched yodeling talent, died in Florida on Wednesday at the age of 90, his son-in-law said. Roy Beagle, who is married to Whitman's daughter Sharon, said the singer-songwriter …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Teen pop star Justin Bieber struck a photographer with his Ferrari sports car while driving away from a comedy club in Los Angeles on Monday night, but the accident was not considered a hit-and-run, police said. Video taken outside the Laugh Factory comedy club showed Bieber behind the wheel of his …

(Reuters) - British folk band Mumford & Sons' bassist Ted Dwane posted a message on Monday saying he was recovering after brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Dwane posted a picture of himself with a shaved head on the band's official website with the caption, "Bear with a sore head! Thanks so much for all the well wishing, …

By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Jay Z's upcoming studio album will go to a million users of Samsung smartphones three days before its official release in a promotional deal, but the distribution is unlikely to count toward official sales figures, an industry expert said on Monday. Jay Z, 43, announced on Sunday …

By Ellen Sowerby LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran British rock bands Motorhead and Black Sabbath were crowned the kings of heavy metal on Monday, winning the top accolades at the UK's top metal music awards, the Metal Hammer Golden Gods. Motorhead, best known for its 1980 hit "Ace of Spades", received the Golden Gods awards at …

By Todd Cunningham LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - 28 Entertainment has begun work on a movie about iconic country music singer George Jones and his wife Nancy, the company announced Tuesday. It has acquired the rights to the project, written by Dennis L. Baxter and produced by Baxter and 28 Entertainment's Jay Hoffman and …

By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - The British rock band Black Sabbath's album "13!" has given them a first British Number One album in nearly 43 years, a record interval between chart-toppers, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday. Black Sabbath were last at the top of the UK chart with their second album, "Paranoid". …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kim Deal, the bass player behind some of the Pixies' biggest hits, has left the 1980s alternative rock band, its remaining members said on Friday. Deal's pulsing bass and understated singing punctuated the influential group's early songs, which won critical acclaim for their quick bursts of sound …

By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger appear in the new film "Twenty Feet from Stardom," but only to shine the spotlight on the unsung backup singers who make them sound even better. Opening in New York and Los Angeles on Friday and expanding across the United States in coming weeks, …

By Constance Watson LONDON (Reuters) - Singer Bob Dylan will embark on a 33-date tour of Europe starting in Oslo on October 10 and ending at London's Royal Albert Hall on November 28, a statement on his website said on Friday. The "Blowin in the Wind" singer - who is scheduled to finish his "AmericanaramA" tour in Mountain …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The wife of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus has filed for divorce in Los Angeles after 19 years of marriage, the couple said in a statement. Tish Finley Cyrus, the mother of 20-year-old pop star and actress Miley Cyrus, married the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer in December 1993, and the couple have three …

By Constance Watson LONDON (Reuters) - British folk-rockers Mumford & Sons canceled the final three U.S. dates of their "Summer Stampede" tour on Friday and said bassist Ted Dwane was out of hospital after brain surgery. The Grammy award-winning band said Dwane was on the road to a full recovery and that the decision to …

By Constance Watson LONDON (Reuters) - British singer George Michael is writing a new album while he recovers from head injuries sustained during a car accident last month, his spokeswoman said on Thursday. The 49-year-old former Wham! frontman has been recuperating at home after nearly two weeks in hospital. British media …

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Christina Aguilera is returning to "The Voice" sooner than expected. The "Bionic" singer, who took a break from her coaching duties on the current cycle of the NBC singing competition but will return for its next cycle in the fall, will be back on the show for its season finale …

By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Happy Birthday to You," the ditty sung around the world in tribute to everyone from toddlers to centenarians, belongs to the public, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday. The proposed class action asks a federal court to declare the song to be in the public domain and that Warner/Chappel …

VIENNA (Reuters) - The Salzburg Festival has agreed to let director Alexander Pereira go early after falling out over his new post as manager of Milan opera house La Scala. Pereira, who upset Austria's cultural establishment by taking on the La Scala role before finishing his term at the Salzburg classical music festival, …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Replacements will be reuniting this year - more than two decades after the American rock band's last concert for three stops on the Riot Fest & Carnival tour. The band said on late Wednesday that it will perform during the Riot Fest in Toronto August 24-25, in Chicago for the September 13-15 …

By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's summer music festival season kicks off this week with a line-up ranging from the Rolling Stones to Beyonce to exiled Tibetan monks designed to attract the modern festival-goer - a 36-year-old with a well-padded wallet. Music festivals have become an integral part of summer …

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rockers Queens of the Stone Age scored their first No. 1 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, knocking electronic duo Daft Punk off the top spot. "...Like Clockwork," the sixth studio album from the California band, sold more than 90,000 copies in its first …

By John Russell LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr put snapshots of his musical and creative life on display in a new exhibit, "Ringo: Peace & Love," which opened on Tuesday at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Starr, 72, was on hand at the exhibit, which offers an in-depth look at his career as …