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This Week In Led Zeppelin Reunion Talk

Posted 10/28/08 11:59 am EST by in Led-Zeppelin

Will they or won't they tour? That question has been on the mind of every Led Zeppelin fan since the iconic band played a single reunion set last year at London's O2 Arena. And throughout pretty much all of 2008, we've debunked countless rumors regarding a full Led Zep reunion run. It seems there's been at least one rumor popping up per month, intimating that the classic rockers would be staging their return — with frontman Robert Plant swooping in each and every time to crush everyone's hopes by shooting down those rumors.

At this point, Plant's made it more than obvious he doesn't want any part of a Led Zeppelin reunion trek. But apparently, that's not stopping the rest of the band from moving on with their plans.
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It's All About Family: Talking To Vets Before MTV's 'Concert For The BRAVE'

Posted 10/24/08 1:45 am EST by in BRAVE, Concerts, veterans

Tonight, just before the taping of "A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE" (which airs Friday on MTV at 8 p.m. ET), I was out on New York's 44th Street to speak with a number of combat veterans about their experiences overseas, their expectations for the big night and the Bill of Rights for American Veterans (BRAVE), a petition presented by MTV and several veterans' organizations. Most of those I'd spoken with stood outside for hours, braving the increasingly unbearable cold, huddled together as a mass, in an attempt to conserve body heat, waiting for the concert's 7:30 p.m. start.

What struck me about the vets I'd met was the overall sense of family they seem to share. Having all endured similar experiences, war has, for better or worse, bonded these brave men and women, who displayed their dog tags with pride and recounted for me their time in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan — oftentimes, in vivid detail. In fact, one soldier I spoke with was the guy who was ordered into the narrow, dark hole Saddam Hussein was hiding in, beneath a two-room mud shack on a sheep farm ... but I'll have more on that tomorrow afternoon.

Waiting to get inside, I saw Marines greeting each other with that familiar call, "Semper fi, do or die." I saw soldiers reuniting — men and women who'd shared the same battlefields, hugging each other solidly. Veterans shared doughnuts and entire pizza pies with complete strangers — other soldiers they'd just met, but people they share a unique connection with; a familial connection. One soldier, Air Force veteran Jerry McDougal, perhaps summed it up better than any of the soldiers I'd met.

"By being there, we became something of a family," the 27-year-old Alabama son said; he just returned from Baghdad six months ago, and is still adjusting to civilian life. "You bond with the rest of your unit, and you're there to protect each other. When you leave, you're leaving behind family members."

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AC/DC Post Behind-The-Scenes Clip From 'Rock 'N Roll Train' Video Set

Posted 10/23/08 1:57 pm EST by in Uncategorized

On Tuesday, AC/DC released Black Ice, the iconic Aussie band's first studio LP in more than eight years, available exclusively through Wal-Mart. On Thursday, the band posted an online clip featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of their new video, "Rock 'N Roll Train."

Shot on August 15 in London, the video gives fans a first taste of the band's latest album, which, if early sales estimates are accurate, could end up selling 800,000 copies its first week on store shelves.

Directed by David Mallet, the video — filmed largely in front a green screen — was shot with four Red cameras, which have a resolution that exceeds 35 mm film but with the dynamic range of traditional cameras. Several fans were invited to be part of the production, and the video even features a few unintelligible words from frontman Brian Johnson. As one fan put it as he walked into the studio, "The boys are back."

MTV News will be attending this weekend's secret AC/DC show, so check back on Monday for our full report on that experience.

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Guns N' Roses Bring A Free Dr Pepper To All Americans: Here's How To Get Yours!

Posted 10/22/08 6:00 pm EST by in guns-n-roses

Axl RoseNow that the November 23 release date for Guns N' Roses' oft-delayed, more-than-a-decade-in-the-making album, Chinese Democracy, seems to be a reality, Dr Pepper owes every American a can of soda.

Back in March, the beverage company said that it would give every man, woman, and a child in the U.S. a free can of Dr. Pepper should Guns N' Roses release Chinese Democracy before the close of 2008. And now, the event no one — certainly not the folks at Dr Pepper — thought would happen is rapidly approaching.

"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper, said in a statement issued Wednesday. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us." Read More...

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Original Jane's Addiction Lineup To Reunite For Los Angeles Gig Thursday

Posted 10/22/08 1:04 pm EST by in Reunions

Jane's Addiction

If you're a Jane's Addiction fan who lives within driving distance of Los Angeles, cancel your plans for tomorrow night. According to guitarist Dave Navarro's Web site, the founding members of Jane's — Navarro, frontman Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins — will be reuniting once again for a "secret" gig Thursday night (October 23) at La Cita Bar in downtown L.A. for what will be the original group's first full concert in more than a decade.
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Smashing Pumpkins Enjoying Their Independence, Prep For 20th-Anniversary Tour

Posted 10/20/08 3:07 pm EST by in smashing pumpkins

Billy CorganOver the weekend at the Scream Awards in Los Angeles, MTV News caught up with the two remaining original members of the Smashing Pumpkins — frontman Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin — to discuss a number of topics, including the band's upcoming 20th-anniversary tour and the Pumpkins' newfound freedom. They're no longer under contract with a record label, and they issued their latest single, "G.L.O.W.," last month as an independent release.

"For years, we always dealt with this idea that some guy in some office somewhere was going to make a decision we wouldn't have any control over, and now, that's not a problem anymore," Corgan said about being free from the shackles of the majors. "I never gave a sh--, but when they gave a sh--, it was a problem." Read More...

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Who's Funnier -- Barack Obama Or John McCain?

Posted 10/17/08 12:02 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, John-McCain

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain
In just over two weeks, one of the two men vying for our nation's highest office will be out of a job. One will get ready to move into the White House, and one will head home — or to one of his seven homes. Sure, the loser will still have a gig in the Senate, but with this year’s presidential campaign winding down, could either John McCain or Barack Obama — who hoisted verbal attacks at each other during the third and final debate Wednesday night — secure future work on the stand-up circuit? Last night, both candidates attended the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where they swapped punch lines about themselves and each other.

(Watch the video after the jump!)
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Janet Jackson Resumes Tour After Vertigo Diagnosis

Posted 10/16/08 12:46 pm EST by in Concerts, Janet-Jackson

Janet Jackson

Two weeks of concert cancellations ended last night in Washington, D.C., when Janet Jackson returned to the stage at the Verizon Center to resume her tour, which was sidelined by a mystery illness that's now been identified as vertigo. According to The Associated Press, Jackson, sporting a Mohawk, charged the stage amid fireworks and clouds of smoke, playing a bevy of her earliest hits, like "Pleasure Principle" and "What Have You Done for Me Lately."
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It's Back To Work For DJ AM

Posted 10/16/08 11:23 am EST by in Concerts, DJ AM

Jay-Z and DJ AM

It's been less than a month since DJ AM and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker walked away from a jet crash that claimed the lives of four others. Two skin-graft surgeries later, AM (born Adam Goldstein) was back to work last night, manning the decks for Jay-Z's concert marking the reopening of the Hollywood Palladium.
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Danity Kane: The Real Reason For Aubrey's Dismissal

Posted 10/16/08 9:25 am EST by in Danity-Kane

Danity KaneAccording to UsMagazine.com, Tuesday night's dismissal of Danity Kane members Aubrey O'Day and D. Woods came down to image. Dawn Richard, one of the three remaining members of the group, told the site that Sean "Diddy" Combs "did not like [O'Day's] image ... where her image was going for the group."

It seems O'Day's recent spread in Complex magazine, for which she posed topless, was the final nail in the coffin, especially after the band's new endorsement deal with Dollhouse Teen, which Richard said "is for 13, 14-year-old young girls. So, we can't do that one day and then the next day do an obnoxious cover ... [Diddy] wants the fans, and he says he can't do that if we can continue to go in the direction that we were going."

Check out what else Richard had to say about the Danity Kane dismissals here.

So it was O'Day's provocative image that got her axed? Does anyone else find this incredibly hard to believe? Look at any of Danity Kane's videos, and you'll notice those girls do not dress like matrons. Danity Kane is, after all, a pop group, and whether Diddy wants to admit it or not, sex sells pop music — and a lot of other things.

Do you think there's more to this split than Danity Kane's members — or Diddy — are willing to let on? Let us know in the comments section below.

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