Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Monday, July 23, 2007
TODAY'S TOP ROCK HEADLINES

SLASH RETURNS STOLEN GUITAR TO HARD ROCK CAFE WITH MUCH POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE Officials at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas got quite the surprise during a recent ceremony honoring Velvet Revolver (and former Guns 'N Roses) guitarist Slash. At the event on July 14, Slash presented the Hard Rock with a guitar he had taken from its Florida cafe years ago explaining, "I stole that from the Hard Rock in Orlando. It was in the dressing room. I didn't know what it was doing there, so I took it. . . So I've had it all these years and been playing it." Click here for what made Slash finally 'fess up, and visit RollingStone.com/velvetrevolver for more Velvet Revolver.

JIMMY PAGE TO REUNITE WITH JEFF BECK FOR YARDBIRDS TOURAccording to an industry insider, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are going to tour as The Yardbirds this fall alongside founding bassist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, though Beck's manager has denied such reports. The tour is said to kick off this October. It's unclear who will be the reformed Yardbirds' lead singer (original vocalist Keith Relf died of electrocution in 1976). Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds' founding guitarist, has no plans to participate, according to the source. Click here for more on the reunion, and visit RollingStone.com/theyardbirds for more on the Yardbirds.

SUPER-HYPED JOHN LENNON GLASSES AUCTION: WE'RE LOOKING THROUGH YOU According to reports in many reputable media outlets, bidding for a pair of John Lennon's gold wire-rimmed glasses at the music memorabilia site 991.com has reached $1.5 million. If this is true, this would be the most money ever spent on a rock artifact, surpassing the record of $959,500 in 2004 for Eric Clapton's guitar "Blackie." Needless to say, we're skeptical - click here for why we're doubtful, and visit RollingStone.com/johnlennon for more John Lennon.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS TO PERFORM ALBUMS DURING MINI-TOURAlt-country poetess Lucinda Williams has announced she will perform five of her eight studio albums, one night at a time, from start to finish in the fall. Williams will take over Los Angeles' El Rey Theater September 5-6 and 8-10, then head to New York to play September 29-30 at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza and October 2-4 at Town Hall. Click here for more on which albums will be played, and visit RollingStone.com/lucindawilliams for more Lucinda Williams.

KORN TO RECORD COVERS ALBUM When Korn taped their MTV Unplugged earlier this year, the band stocked their set with unlikely covers like Radiohead's "Creep" and a mashup of their own "Make Me Bad" with The Cure's "In Between Days." Apparently, this was a sign of things to come, as the band has started working on a full-on covers album. Though they're releasing a new album of original material July 31, Korn have already banked a bunch of covers including tracks by the Psychadelic Furs and Faith No More. Click here to see who else is getting covered by Korn, and visit RollingStone.com/korn for more Korn.

For more of the latest music news - including the Rolling Stone Rock List of the greatest live acts today - visit RollingStone.com.
TODAY'S PICKS

DAILY TRACK: Rihanna - "Umbrella" "Umbrella" has landed Rihanna a spot in U.K. chart history by landing at the #1 spot on the charts for the 10th week in a row, making it the most successful song in over a decade.

DAILY VIDEO: "Michael Jackson Behind Bars" - 1500 Inmates in a Filipino Prison Reenact "Thriller"

DAILY REVIEW: Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist Zero: That is the exact number of doubts singer-guitarist-songwriter Billy Corgan has about this controversial resurrection of his old band. "I never felt so right and good. . . . You'll never need another sound," he crows in that bleating voice against the titanic fuzz of "Bring the Light." It is classic Corgan bravado, but the cumulative effect of his distortion-orchestra guitar and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's pinpoint thunder is impressive and convincing, a return to the big pop-wise din of 1993's Siamese Dream. Original members James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky are not part of this reunion, but they were hardly on Siamese Dream - Corgan played their guitar and bass parts. By that standard, Zeitgeist, performed entirely by Corgan and Chamberlin, is a Pumpkins record - and a good one. Click here for more on why Zeitgeist is so good.

ARTIST OF THE DAY: THE YARDBIRDS
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TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS


Slash, 42
Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, 27

TODAY'S ROCK ON TV (ALL TIMES EST)

NBC
11:35pm - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: COMMON
12:35am - Late Night with Conan O'Brien: DR. DOG
1:35am - Last Call with Carson Daly: DELORES O'RIORDAN

CBS
11:35pm - The Late Show with David Letterman: GRINDERMAN
12:35am - The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: THE SAINTS

ABC
12:05am - Jimmy Kimmel Live: KELLY ROWLAND