Early this morning, one of Miley Cyrus' tour buses crashed in rural Virginia. The vehicle was carrying several members of Cyrus' production crew but not the singer herself. The driver of the bus is dead and one of the crew members was sent to the hospital.

There are all sorts of tragedies that are inherently tied to rock music (overdoses, car crashes, production accidents and the like), but there have been far too many incidents involving tour buses. It shouldn't be shocking, as they are unruly mammoths forced to push forward (usually in the middle of the night) over all manner of terrain for hours and hours at a time. They're difficult to handle and difficult for other drivers to deal with.

Last week, Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk updated her MySpace blog to let fans know that her tour bus had run off the road (she blamed the incident on her driver falling asleep). Just a few months ago, Bret Michaels' tour bus was struck by another car (though no injuries were reported on either side). In August, Canadian rockers MercyMe were involved in a crash that killed two people in Indiana. Last fall, Roots' drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson sent a Twitter message from an ambulance after their bus crashed outside of Paris, France. That's five major accidents in just a year, and the list goes on and on.

Of course, the most notorious (and tragic) bus accident in rock history came in September of 1986, when original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died when the band's bus skidded off the road and crashed in Sweden (there's even a memorial stone by the crash site). The driver was awake and alert but undone by black ice in the middle of the night.

The tour bus is typically the best and most cost-effective way for most bands to cross the country (or the continent), but there's clearly a safety issue here. Are there any solutions? It's hard to tell, but something needs to be done.

It's been 10 days since Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington disappeared during a Metallica concert at an arena at the University of Virginia. State police are still searching and following up on tips, and the FBI has also gotten involved. Even Metallica have lent a hand: The band posted a news story on their official Web site with Harrington's description, some photos and contact information for anybody who has a tip about her whereabouts. "We are deeply concerned about the disappearance of 20 year old Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington, who was last seen while attending our concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA, on Saturday night," the site says. According to WTTG, Metallica frontman James Hetfield has contacted Harrington's parents and has offered to add $50,000 to the $100,000 reward being offered for information the could lead to Morgan's return.

Morgan's parents were on "Today" this morning to talk about their daughter's disappearance, and they both assume that some kind of foul play is involved. "This is every parent's worst nightmare," her father said.

A few more details have emerged since Harrington's parents filed the initial missing persons report, and a narrative has been built around the incident. At some point during the show, Harrington got separated from a group of friends to go to the bathroom. Somehow, she ended up outside the venue and was not let back in (per the re-entry rules of the house). She called her friends to let them know she would find another way home — the last time anyone heard from her. Police found her purse and her cell phone on the ground between the arena and an adjacent athletic field (strangely, the battery for the phone was missing). Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Virginia State Police or the University of Virginia Police, and updated information can be found at FindMorgan.com.

At this stage, a clearer picture is coming together about "Michael Jackson's This Is It." Using a combination of rehearsals, fly-on-the-wall meetings and proper performances, it shows the once-unstoppable pop star gearing up for his big career comeback using some of his most beloved hits (and sending a message about hope and humanity in the process).

A great music doc is made up of a combination of signature moments, incredible performances and an ineffable something that can give the fan sitting on the couch that same twinge of electricity you get standing three feet from a sweaty lead singer in a packed stadium, or that awkward cringe you get seeing your favorite rock star fall apart on film. In his prime, Jackson had that magic (both kinds, unfortunately) when he took the stage, and we'll find out for sure next week if he still had it near the end of his life.

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite music documentaries, all of which have one or more of the qualities that could make "Michael Jackson's This Is It" great if producers decided to pull no punches and present the King of Pop in all his complicated glory.

Three Chords And The Truth
The Ramones, "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones"
How could I not include this bare bones 2003 movie about my favorite band? From their early days at New York's defunct punk ground zero CBGB to massive crowds in South America, this low-budget flick is like the band themselves: Raw, fast and kind of messy. Mixing concert footage, interviews, home movies and classic TV appearances, members talk about their unlikely rise from the New York underground to legendary status, even as they lament their failure to grab the commercial brass ring and make no secret of long-simmering tensions.

Sold Out, Not Sell Out
Nirvana, "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!"
I will watch anything about Nirvana. Hell, if there was three hours of tape of Kurt Cobain tuning his guitar in a dark room, I'd get two copies on Blu-Ray. In the meantime, this 1994 live DVD will have to do, and considering it has classic takes on some of the band's best and most beloved tunes ("About a Girl," "Come as You Are," "Polly," "Lithium" and, yes, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"). This band had to be experienced live and, unfortunately, this is the closest you can currently get.

Behind The Music
Metallica, "Some Kind of Monster" Read more...

On Saturday night (October 17), Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington traveled to the John Paul Jones Arena on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville with a group of friends to catch Metallica in concert. At some point, she got separated from her friends and hasn't been seen since. State police continue to search for Harrington and say they have several leads, though they encourage anybody with information to reach out to the them at 434-924-7166 or via e-mail at appomattox@vsp.virginia.gov.

"We talk to her almost daily," Harrington's mother Jill said. "We need to know where she is and get her back home safe as soon as possible."

Dan Harrington described this behavior from his daughter as "atypical."

The 20-year-old Harrington was last seen wearing a black Pantera T-shirt and a black skirt. According to Lt. Joe Rader of the Virginia State Police, it's unlikely that she is carrying identification or a cell phone.

Several friends have started a Facebook group to help spread the word about Harrington and to help gather information about her whereabouts.

This weekend, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its way to Dallas for a show headlined by a catchweight match between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. Watching UFC remains a favorite pastime in the Newsroom (as well as at Hayley Williams' house), and this weekend's card looks like it'll be a satisfying sleeper. Franklin and Belfort are both former champions trying to re-establish themselves as contenders in a crowded field. But no matter what the tale of the tape says, everybody knows the difference between sweet victory and crushing defeat comes down to a single criterion: Who has the better entrance music?

It's worked well for a number of fighters. Brock Lesnar used Mötley Crüe's "Shout at the Devil" as his music in his first fight (which he lost in 90 seconds), switched to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and hasn't lost since, becoming the heavyweight champion in the process. Chuck Liddell rode DMX's breathless, borderline-psychotic intro to It's Dark and Hell is Hot to a championship run, while Matt Huges has won a staggering 43 fights in his career, many with the assistance of Hank Williams, Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive."

So who will walk away as the winner of the main event Saturday night in Dallas? One would think that Belfort has a leg up, as he has a wacky custom-made theme, which is always good for bonus points. But Franklin has a hell of a counter, as he has used both Cypress Hill's "(Rock) Superstar" (an underrated adrenaline-pumper) and AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)," easily one of the ten greatest rock songs ever written.

A good try, Vitor, but Franklin will have the power of the cannons behind him.

While most of the music world was still trying to process the MTV Video Music Awards (and working to parse Kanye West's apology for hijacking Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for Best Female Video), some bands were getting up to business as usual. Road-tested rock veterans Metallica kicked off their "World Magnetic" tour at the Sommet Center in Nashville last night. Metallica have gone theatrical before, memorably constructing a massive stage (which was demolished most every night) during the tours for Load and Reload, but based on their first show, this run will be all about stripped-down production and good old-fashioned Reagan-era shredding. The band relied heavily on the throwback-sounding songs from last year's Death Magnetic, and they proved that they've still got the muscle and brutality to turn a group of unassuming metal fans into an adrenalized, fist-pumping mob.

That's not to say Metallica have completely abandoned their visual sense. The one bit of arena-rock theatricality added to Monday night's savage set? Lasers!

Toward the end of the set, the band busted out the big guns to surprise the fans. They welcomed Motörhead frontman and metal legend Lemmy Kilmister to the stage for two covers of Motörhead tunes: "Too Late Too Late" and "Damage Case." Metallica have covered Motörhead in the past, most notably on the 1995 Motörheadache EP that was later folded into the Garage, Inc. collection. (Those covers included the two they played last night, plus "Overkill" and "Stone Dead Forever.") Other highlights in the set included a quiet "Nothing Else Matters," the epic "Battery" and a big metal singalong on "Enter Sandman." Metallica are in Cincinnati tonight and then cover all the crevices in North America, including a two-night run at Madison Square Garden in November. Click here for more photos from Metallica's first show from the "World Magnetic" tour in Nashville!

The men from Metallica continue to plow through the country on a seemingly never-ending tour for their most recent album Death Magnetic, and this morning they find themselves the subject of two very different but equally compelling news stories. The first comes from an interview with Slayer's Kerry King in U.K. rock magazine Metal Hammer. King told the magazine the he has heard from several sources that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was thinking about planning a tour that would feature Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax (referred to in metal circles as the "Big Four" of thrash). "I don't know Lars that well and I haven't heard it from Lars, but apparently he's talking to somebody about it," King said. Such a tour would not only be really loud but would also represent a homecoming for Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, who was Metallica's original guitarist.

In other Metallica news, they have been cited in a U.K. study that is looking into how human music may have evolved. Researchers played a series of musical selections for tamarin monkeys and gauged their response. The scientists played songs by Nine Inch Nails, Tool and Samuel Barber, as well as "monkey music." The only human tune they had any noticeable reaction to? Metallica's "Of Wolf and Man" (from 1991's self-titled record). Amazingly, the metal tune had a calming effect on the animals, which is unusual considering its aggressive nature. Perhaps the tamarins will soon be able to see their new favorite band — along with Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax — live in concert.

Though the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was first established in 1983, it took 12 years before it finally settled on an actual home. On September 2, 1983, Yoko Ono and Little Richard cut the ribbon to officially open the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. The hall, designed by legendary architect I.M. Pei, the Hall houses seven floors of music history and memorabilia, from Keith Moon's velvet suit to Janis Joplin's 1965 Porsche. Though the criteria for getting into the Hall is sketchy at best, in recent years they've done a better job about embracing older rock pioneers from the '50s and more underground and hip-hop acts from the modern era.

This year's inductees included Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Run-D.M.C., Metallica and Bobby Womack. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been slow to embrace metal, so the welcoming of Metallica is especially interesting and should open up the category to more than just them and Black Sabbath. (It seems like Slayer and Sepultura are long overdue for some proper acknowledgment.) Metallica brought speed metal to the masses and made hard music radio-friendly, but they almost certainly couldn't have gotten to the top of the metal mountain without the help of some (typically disturbing) music videos. "One" put them on the map and "Enter Sandman" gave birth to a million video clichés (though nobody did them with more conviction than the boys in Metallica), but they continue to push the envelope today. Though it was somewhat overhyped, Metallica's 2008 album Death Magnetic was a satisfying jolt of old-school metal, and the video for "The Day That Never Comes" was a grim and satisfying effort that belongs among the best rock clips ever made.

Late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury broke down boundaries, played to sold out stadiums and with "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You" changed the way we experience sports. But he may have just received his greatest honor. In a poll taken in the U.K., Mercury took the top prize as "Britain's Greatest Ever Moustache." It's hard to argue with that logic, as Mercury's 'stache is pretty killer.

But is Mercury's lip fuzz the greatest in music? As this photo gallery proves, he's got some stiff competition. Brandon Flowers of the Killers sometimes rocks a very Mercury-esque facial accessory, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer spent a few years carrying a full-on porn-stache. Of course, there are plenty of rockers who have spent their entire careers cultivating their mustaches, like David Crosby's bushy adventure and Bob Dylan's mysterious addendum. And the rap world is not without it's great facial hair either — just check out Ja Rule's fashionable 'stache.

But for my money, I've got to hand the award off to Metallica's James Hetfield, who has always toyed with his facial hair in various forms throughout his career. At the moment, he has a scary-looking goatee, but for a long time he had an elaborate mustache that was second-to-none.

(Click here for more of MTV's "Mustache Mania" gallery, including Jamie Foxx, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Eagles of Death Metal!)

What do you think: Does Mercury's mustache reign supreme or does somebody else take the top nose-tickler prize? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the final day of the original Woodstock (the music actually carried over into the wee hours of August 18), so a lot of people are re-evaluating the lasting legacy of the festival. Did it really usher in a message of peace and love, or was it simply the beginning of a brand name? Is it truly a great representation of the era's mentality or just another slice of Boomer nostalgia? Whatever the case, Woodstock left a pretty bad taste in everybody's mouth when the festival celebrated its 30th anniversary with another three-day affair in upstate New York, featuring Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The aggro attitude of the music combined with the questionable resources of the festival and a general feeling that everybody had been ripped off led to violent mosh pits, multiple cases of sexual assault, vandalism and fires. MTV was there live (and often the victim of the crowd's aggression) and captured the debauchery on film.

The aftermath certainly put the concept of Woodstock to bed for a while. In fact, promoters intended on celebrating the 40th anniversary with another festival but had trouble recruiting sponsors and support funds. The now-poisonous Woodstock name probably had something to do with it, but they were also dealing with a frigid economy and a musical landscape overflowing with festivals (in '99, Coachella was a small upstart event, Lollapalooza was dormant and events like Bonnaroo, All Points West, Outside Lands and Virgin Fest were years off). But Woodstock '99 didn't do the legacy any favors, and replaced the images of peace and love with notions of aggression, misogyny and greed. It certainly taught future festival organizers what not to do, but couldn't we have learned those lessons without so much unchecked brutishness?

What do you think: Were the Woodstock '99 organizers to blame, or did the bands not do enough to try to control the crowd? Was it simply a matter of macho guys trying to outdo each other? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com and make your voice heard!