News Roundup: 6/29/2009
June 29th, 2009 | 2:30 pm est |
Michael Jackson was honored at Sunday Night’s BET Awards by celebrities and family, including his sister Janet and his father Joe. Said Janet, “My entire family wanted to be here tonight but it was too painful. To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family. He will forever live in all of our hearts.” Jamie Foxx, BeyoncĂ©, Marlon Wayans, and LeBron James were among the other stars who paid tribute. In other Michael Jackson news, his autopsy revealed no evidence of physical trauma or foul play, but the cause of death cannot be determined until the toxicology report and other tests are complete four to six weeks from now. Jackson’s death also puts the spotlight on his financial troubles: The 750,000 fans who paid upward of $80 per ticket to see the 50 dates Jackson was scheduled to play at London’s O2 Arena must receive refunds; it’s also unclear how much Jackson had borrowed against his 50% stake in Sony ATV Music Publishing, which collects hundreds of millions of dollars per year in songwriting royalties. [PopEater.com, RollingStone.com]
Glastonbury also saw plenty of Jackson tributes from Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, the Streets, and the Noisettes, among others. Not to be outdone, Nick Cave dedicated his set to the late Farah Fawcett. Blur’s triumphant set at the Pyramid Stage closed the book on the festival. [Stereogum.com, NME.com]
Paul Williams, writer and founder of legendary rock magazine Crawdaddy, is suffering from dementia and needs financial help to maintain his medical care. Williams’ friends and family have set up a donation page on his website. [Hitsville.org, PaulWilliams.com]
The Deftones have scrapped their album Eros, which featured currently hospitalized bassist Chi Cheng. “The songs recorded for Eros are very special to us as they are the latest with Chi (and we certainly hope not the last); they have history and significant meaning to us. However, as we neared completion on Eros, we realized that this record doesn’t best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians,” the band explained in a statement on their MySpace page. [PunkNews.org]
Men at Work are being sued by a music publisher that claims that the flute riff from the band’s smash hit “Down Under” was stolen from a children’s song. Larrikin Music is suing Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia for compensation from the royalties the song earned Men at Work’s Colin Hay and Ron Strykert. The publisher claims that the flute melody comes from “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,” a 1934 song written by music teacher Marion Sinclair; Larrikin says it bought the copyright to the song after Sinclair’s death in 1988. [CBC.ca]
Jezebel gathers some of the most creative Michael Jackson tributes on the Web. [Jezebel.com]






Oh Nick, what a guy!