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In the months leading up to his sudden death last week at age 50, Michael Jackson was “adamant” about receiving a powerful intravenous sedative called Diprivan or Propofol, nurse/nutritionist Cherilyn Lee, who treated the star, tells the AP. And just four days before he died, one of Jackson’s aides placed a desperate call to Lee, indicating Jackson was extremely ill. ” ‘One side of my body is hot, it’s hot, and one side of my body is cold,’ ” Lee overheard Jackson saying in the background. She advised him to rush to a hospital, assuming “somebody had given him something that hit the central nervous system.”

An overdose of a sedative like Diprivan can cause a person to stop breathing, leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide in the body that ultimately leads to erratic heartbeat and cardiac arrest, an anesthesiologist tells the AP. Jackson did not go to the hospital on June 21st when Lee was called, however he was rushed to UCLA Medical Center on June 25th after falling unconscious in his Los Angeles home and not responding to CPR. Lee tells the AP, “He was in trouble Sunday and he was crying out.”

Lee says that Jackson was experiencing severe insomnia as he rehearsed for his “This Is It!” run of comeback concerts due to kick off July 13th at London’s O2 Arena. She first met the superstar in January when she treated his children for minor colds with vitamins. Jackson reported his difficulties sleeping and demonstrated his inabilities to stay asleep when Lee stayed over one evening to monitor his nighttime behavior. Jackson went to bed with classical music playing on a sound system and Donald Duck playing on a computer he kept in bed with him. After awaking after only three hours’ sleep, Jackson said, “All I want is to be able to sleep. I want to be able to sleep eight hours. I know I’ll feel better the next day.”

“He wasn’t looking to get high or feel good and sedated from drugs,” Lee told the AP. “This was a person who was not on drugs. This was a person who was seeking help, desperately, to get some sleep, to get some rest.” Lee says she advised Jackson the drug was dangerous — “The only problem is you’re going to take it and you’re not going to wake up” — but Jackson said he had received the drug before, refusing to name the doctor who administered it.

Questions over Jackson’s alleged use of prescription drugs have filled the papers since his death last week. “We know he was taking some prescription medication,” the coroner’s office said when initial autopsy results were released; cause of death will not be established until toxicology tests are returned in four to six weeks.

Today TMZ reported that police search warrants for Jackson’s home specified controlled substances and needles, and that the LAPD is also seeking to question the singer’s onetime dermatologist Arnold Klein (who Us Weekly named as the father of two of Jackson’s children) over prescriptions he may have issued to Jackson. Former Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman also told Us Weekly, “I warned them there was the misuse of prescription medications by people who were enabling him; his handlers, folks who should never have been permitted to allow him to use those medications in the manner I observed.”

Daughtry’s plan to Leave This Town includes an August full of club dates, Alice In Chains hit the road in support of their upcoming first album in 10 years Black Gives Way To Blue and Andrew Bird plots a jaunt that spans from July 10th to October 28th. Full dates for all three treks, after the jump.

Daughtry
August 2 - Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
August 4 - Foxboro, MA @ Showcase Live
August 7 - Columbus, OH @ Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
August 8 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
August 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cabooze
August 11 - Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
August 12 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
August 14 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
August 16 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
August 18 - Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
August 19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Music Box
August 20 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
August 22 - Las Vegas, NV @ Pure

Alice in Chains
July 18 - Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park
August 22 - Pomona, CA @ Epicenter
September 4 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
September 5 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
September 7 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
September 8 - New York, NY @ The Fillmore
September 15 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
September 16 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
September 19 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
September 20 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
September 21 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
September 26 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Grill
September 28 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

Andrew Bird
July 10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
July 11 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
July 13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Red Butte Garden
July 14 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 16 - Jacksonville, OR @ Britt Pavilion
July 17 - Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheatre
July 18, 19 - Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
July 26 - Olympic Valley, CA @ Squaw Valley Ski Resort
August 7 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
September 19 - Madison, WI @ Overture Hall
September 29 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
September 30 - Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note
October 2 - Austin, TX @ Zilker Park
October 3 - New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s
October 5 - Birmingham, AL @ WorkPlay Soundstage
October 7, 8 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
October 9 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
October 10 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
October 12 - Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
October 13 - Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
October 14 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
October 16, 17 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
October 18 - Kalamazoo, MI @ State Theatre
October 19 - Columbus, OH @ Southern Theatre
October 21 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall
October 24 - Portland, ME @ South Portland High School
October 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
October 26 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
October 27 - Providence, RI @ Lupo’s
October 28 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

Wilco return with their seventh album, the almost-eponymous Wilco (The Album) this week. Now seven years removed from their 2002 breakthrough Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Jeff Tweedy and crew obliterate all the experimental vestiges from that disc for an album that finds the band channeling George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Kraftwerk. “Wilco’s seventh studio album is a triumph of determined simplicity by a band that has been running from the obvious for most of this decade,” Rolling Stone’s David Fricke says in his four-star review. Highlights include “I’ll Fight” (a hit if Top 40 recognized rock music) and the krautrock-tempered murder fantasy “Bull Black Nova.”

Also out is Cradlesong, the newest solo album by Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas. Now we know what you’re thinking, “Rob Thomas, give me a break,” but RS‘ Jody Rosen really liked this album, giving Thomas’ second solo album four stars and calling the “Smooth” singer the last great pop-rock singer and the possible heir to Phil Collins. “Now he’s older and more easeful, less rock and more pop — but no less adept at the big money-shot chorus. The results are infectious,” Rosen writes in his review.

Moby also takes a time out from the dance floor to soundtrack the chill-out lounge with his new ambient-influenced album Wait For Me. As Will Hermes writes in his three-and-a-half star review of Moby’s latest, “Moby has always had a thing for the blues. His unlikely 1999 megahit, Play, used them literally, grafting ancient samples into inviting electronic grooves. His latest uses them spiritually, giving his melancholy streak room to brood and blossom.” Among the standouts are “Pale Horses” and the instrumental “Shot in the Back of the Head,” which as Rock Daily previously reported featured a video directed by David Lynch.

Win Butler says the Arcade Fire have begun songwriting sessions for their next record, the NME reports in the issue on stands now. “Before Funeral, me and Régine had this big room to rehearse in… People would come by and work on a song,” Butler tells the U.K. mag. “Now the guys are calling and wanting to come over. We’re writing and allowing the arrangements to happen. It’s exciting.”

After wrapping up a tour for Neon Bible, the Arcade Fire went off the radar, save for a few scattered appearances — including the staff ball during President Obama’s inauguration festivities earlier this year. It was part of a conscious decision the band made to take a hiatus, but Butler tells the NME that the band members simply found themselves playing together again over the last few months.

Butler was hesitant to confirm a timeline for the album’s release, but he remains optimistic: “It could be that we’ll play live [soon] and maybe we’ll end up bashing [another album] out fast. We’re in the middle of writing, things are coming together, it’s a great feeling.”

It’s no surprise that Michael Jackson’s album and song download sales have had incredible spikes in the days since his death. But despite the legacy of hits that Jackson has had, the top-selling track on iTunes has been “Man in the Mirror.” While “Man in the Mirror” is not a bad song by any stretch of the imagination (and was a chart-topping single in 1988), why would people gravitate towards it and not “Thriller” or “Beat It” or “Rock With You”?

There are a number of valid theories, but pop musicology professor Stephen Pennington thinks the root is in the unresolved questions about Jackson’s life. “The thing about ‘Man in the Mirror’ is that it isn’t completely uplifting. It’s got an uplifting sound to it, and it talks about making the world a better place, but we never get that better place,” he explains. “It’s incomplete and unresolved, just like his life.”

Pennington is excited about the current conversation about Jackson’s legacy. “If you look at the controlling forces about what is important in pop music, it’s a lot of stuff from the ’60s — the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Beach Boys. There are very few people of color, almost no women and not many contemporary artists. So people want to place him as important, but he’s such a complicated person that you can’t go with ‘Thriller’ or ‘Heal the World,’ because those are too far in either direction. So right now, ‘Man in the Mirror’ is the most logical song to sum up his legacy.”

Levon Helm kicks off his new album Electric Dirt with the Dead’s “Tennessee Jed,” and it’s a fitting opener to the legendary Band drummer’s first proper rock & roll record in ages, writes Will Hermes in his four-star review. Helm returned from throat cancer with 2007’s mostly acoustic Dirt Farmer, and on Electric Dirt — recorded with Larry Campbell and the rest of the band from Helm’s Midnight Ramble gigs at his Woodstock, New York, home — Helm is ready to rock. The album hits stores today, and Rolling Stone has “Tennessee Jed” right here:

Even though their latest album No Line on the Horizon came out back in February, U2 are only just hitting the road for their “360″ tour, which begins tonight in Barcelona, Spain. The show is a massive affair: The band spent millions of dollars constructing one of the largest concert stages ever built, complete with a giant metal structure known as “The Claw.”

The set list focuses mostly on the band’s last three albums (as well as a few shout-outs to Michael Jackson), but that doesn’t mean the band isn’t expanding their horizons. When Bono and Adam Clayton sat down with Sway back in March, they talked about how much they’ve learned from Kanye West and Jay-Z. Bono was especially enamored of Jigga’s consonants.

Photo: Hogan/Getty

More than 90,000 fans have piled into Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium tonight for the kick off of U2’s 360° Tour. The biggest stadium in all of Europe is bearing witness to the Irish rockers’ first gig performing songs off their latest album, No Line on the Horizon, as well as getting a look at the band’s massive new stage set-up first-hand. Lovingly dubbed the Claw by the band and the army of crew members needed to erect it on a nightly basis, the stage — anchored in the middle of the field — features a giant 360 video screen, flowing silk screens and a light show that would make Pink Floyd jealous. (Take the interactive tour of the Claw at U2’s official Website — and attempt to watch the show via live stream here.)

(Check out photos of Bono and Co. onstage in Barcelona here.)

“We have here a huge production, there’s no denying that. It’s likely the largest rock & roll touring stage production that’s ever been put together,” said design architect Mark Fisher in an EPK showing the construction of the set. “The inspiration was to make a set that was intimate as you can make it in a stadium. So everybody in the stadium feels like they are real close to the band and the band feel like they’re real close to everybody in the stadium.”

As Bono told Rolling Stone when news of the tour first emerged, the stage set up is “an engineering feat that creates this real physical proximity to the crowd.” While the tour launches tonight, American fans will have to wait until autumn before feasting their eyes on the Claw, as the U2 360° tour arrives at Chicago’s Soldier Field on September 12th. Snow Patrol (who will open tonight’s Barcelona show), Muse, Kaiser Chiefs, the Black Eyed Peas and Glasvegas are among the opening acts for the trek. For much more from tonight’s Barcelona kickoff show, be sure to check Rock Daily tomorrow for photos and more.

Related Stories:

• U2 Announce 360-Degree Tour Details, First U.S. Dates
• U2’s Bono Previews Innovative “No Line on the Horizon” Tour
• U2 in Photos: Three Decades of the World’s Biggest Band

Photo: Walter/Getty(Jackson), Merritt/Getty(Lambert)

As tributes to Michael Jackson pour into Rolling Stone — be sure to keep an eye out for our special issue, out next week — recent cover star Adam Lambert shared his memories of dancing around his parents’ house, lip-synching to “Beat It.” His early childhood was also heavy on “Thriller” (he cites his love of Halloween as a major reason). Lambert also revealed that “Rock With You” was his first American Idol audition song, which impressed one judge in particular: “Paula was really grooving out to it.”

Last Thursday, Lambert was at rehearsals for the American Idols Live tour, where early in the day he spoke with Rolling Stone and revealed the David Bowie songs that made his set list and other plans for the jaunt, which launches July 5th in Portland. In the afternoon, “I was singing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and Lil Rounds ran into the room and whispered something into the producer’s ear. And we were all like, ‘What’s going on?’ ” Lambert says. “I kept singing and looked over at them with a confused look on my face and one of the producers mouthed to me, ‘Michael Jackson just died.’ I went, ‘What?’ and stopped singing. Everybody just stopped.”

Lambert says Idol rehearsals were canceled for the rest of the day, and the Season Eight crew took pains to avoid any negative press about the King of Pop as they digested the news. “What he was capable of as a showman, and what he brought to the world, outshone any of that,” he says. (Get all our essential Adam Lambert coverage — photos, video and more — here.)

Needed more evidence that Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” is about Eminem? Photos from yesterday’s video shoot for Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’s first single is all the proof you’ll need. In the pics, Carey — playing a dude thanks to some major league help from the make-up department — is seen donning Eminem’s trademark hoodie-and-hat look. Compare Carey’s photos with this picture of Eminem. Subtract Carey’s ridiculous beard and they’re nearly doppelgangers.

According to Just Jared, the pics were snapped yesterday, June 29th, outside of New York’s Plaza Hotel on the Brett Ratner-directed video shoot. Pictures of Carey dressed as a male police officer were also taken. As Rock Daily previously reported, Carey and her husband Nick Cannon took issue with Eminem after the rapper penned the creepy ode “Bagpipes from Baghdad” to his supposed former flame Carey. Carey promptly responded with the Tricky Stewart and The-Dream-produced “Obsessed,” which finds the diva singing, “It must be weed, it must be the E… Why are you so obsessed with me? Lying that you’re sexing me.” The lyrics alone were enough of a biting retort, but it appears Carey will bring the battle to the video arena. Read more...

Take a good look at that well-dressed dude below. No, that’s not a new rapper or an extra in “Hotel For Dogs 2.” It’s Mariah Carey, on the set of her new video for “Obsessed.” Carey also appears in the video as a hoodie-wearing dude who looks suspiciously like a certain rapper from Detroit.

Check out more photos from Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” video shoot!

What do you think? Is Carey taking another shot at Eminem? And will Slim Shady fight back?

Michael Jackson’s body will be transported Thursday, July 2nd to the singer’s Neverland Ranch for a public viewing, CNN reports. The viewing will be held Friday morning, with a private memorial service planned for Sunday, July 5th. Law enforcements officials told TMZ that Jackson’s body would be transported in a 30-car motorcade. Security and traffic control are being discussed, TMZ notes.

Despite rumors that Jackson will be laid to rest at Neverland, no official confirmation regarding where the singer will be buried has been announced. According to the Huffington Post, Mayor Rudy Clay of Gary, Indiana is lobbying hard to convince the Jackson family that Michael should be laid to rest in the singer’s boyhood city. The plan would call for the downtrodden city to reportedly erect an entire museum and performing center dedicated to the Jacksons, with Michael’s grave the heart of the attraction. “If they can do it for Elvis Presley in Graceland, we can do it for Michael Jackson in Gary,” Clay told the AP.

According to CNN, Clay expects Jackson’s body will be present when the city holds a memorial to the singer next week. “I believe that his body will lie in state in Gary, Indiana,” Clay told CNN. “Now, it may not happen, but I believe it will.” The Gary, Indiana memorial is just one of the many Michael Jackson tributes reportedly planned in the coming months. As Rock Daily reported, the singer’s planned This Is It! concert may become an all-star tribute in the coming weeks.

In other Jackson news, CNN reports that Jackson family lawyer Londell McMillan said that they’ve located a Michael Jackson will dating back to 2002. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, it is unclear if the unearthed will is the latest version. According to the WSJ, the 2002 will leaves Jackson’s assets to his three children, his mother Katherine and various charities, but nothing to his father Joe Jackson.

Related Stories:

• Michael Jackson’s “This Is It!” Show May Become All-Star Tribute
• Reports Question Paternity of Michael Jackson’s Children
• Michael Jackson: Inside His Final Concert Rehearsals

Fans of bottom-heavy, groove-rich rock have reason to rejoice well into the Fall. Full-throated stoner rock journeymen Clutch have set a July 14th release for their new album, Strange Cousins From the West, and also unveiled a new string of U.S. dates that reaches deep into October.

The band kicks off its <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/05/news-ticker-chri
stina-aguilera-wilco-clutch-and-iron-maiden/">U.S. tour with Baroness and Lionize this week, and has now added a run of shows with fellow doom-rock icon Wino and Revolution Mother that kicks off on September 9th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (complete dates below).

With Clutch chugging along into its 18th year, Strange Cousins marks the band’s ninth album and the first on its new Weathermaker Music imprint. Produced with J. Robbins at Magpie Cage Studios in Baltimore, the collection finds the band further exploring the blues and jam excursions they’ve experimented with on recent releases, but still keeps thick riffs and frontman Neil Fallon’s sardonic, surreal lyrics squarely in place.

The album is currently available for pre-order via Newbury Comics, while the iTunes version of the album will include a 10-minute documentary on the band.

Clutch new Fall tour with Wino and Revolution Mother:

September 9 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Smalls
September 10 Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom
September 11 Philadelphia, PA @ The Electric Factory
September 12 Hartford, CT @ The Webster Theater
September 13 Montreal, QC @ Lee Saints
September 15 London, ON @ London Music Hall
September 16 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
September 18 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
September 19 Jackson, MS @ Club Fire
September 20 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
September 22 Mobile, AL @ Soul Kitchen
September 23 Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom
September 24 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
September 25 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
September 26 Chicago, IL @ The Metro
September 27 Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
September 29 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
September 30 Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
October 1 Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont Club
October 2 Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theatre
October 3 Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
October 4 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival
October 6 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
October 7 Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
October 8 Richmond, VA @ The National
October 9 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
October 10 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

Fantasia Barrino won the third season of American Idol in 2004. Since winning the prized title, Fantasia has made a name for herself in the R&B world, musical theater world, and has won many awards.

After winning American Idol, Fantasia released her debut CD, "Free Yourself," which included the single "I Believe." The single debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which made Fantasia the first artist in history to achieve this with a first single. "I Believe" then spent 11 consecutive weeks at number one on the sales charts, giving it the longest consecutive stay on top of that chart for an American Idol contestant. The CD single of "I Believe" was the top selling single of 2004 in the U.S. and went double platinum. Fantasia received four Grammy Awards for "Free Yourself."

In 2007, Fantasia starred as Celie in the Broadway musical "The Color Purple." Fantasia received rave reviews for her performance and even performed at the 2007 Tony Awards. In 2008, Fantasia returned to the American Idol stage to perform during a Season 7 results show.

Currently, Fantasia is working on a new album. She has also been cast by Oprah Winfrey to play Celie in the movie version of "The Color Purple."

Happy Birthday, Fantasia!

Watch a video of Fantasia discussing her album and "The Color Purple."

As authorities begin to weed through the custody issues related to Michael Jackson’s three children, a number of reports are emerging that question the paternity of Prince Michael Jr., 12; Paris Michael Katherine, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7. Our colleagues at Us Weekly are reporting that Los Angeles dermatologist Arnold Klein — Michael’s former doctor and boss of Jackson’s onetime wife, Debbie Rowe — is the biological father of elder children Prince Michael Jr. and Paris. “He and Debbie signed an agreement saying they would never reveal the truth,” an insider tells the magazine. “I’m doing a favor for a good friend,” Rowe reportedly told a friend when she was pregnant with one of the children. She gave up custody of the two children after she and Jackson divorced in 1999; when Jackson was facing child-molestation charges in 2003 she briefly regained custody, but gave it up again in 2006. An unnamed surrogate gave birth to Prince Michael II.

All three children are currently in the care of Jackson’s 79-year-old mother, Katherine, per a court order for temporary custody granted yesterday. The court will examine the children’s permanent placement at a July 6th hearing. Rowe’s attorney Eric George tells the Los Angeles Times his client will decide in the next several days whether to petition for custody or visitation rights.

TMZ also reports that Michael Jackson was not the biological father of any of his three children — and that the superstar did not legally adopt them because there was no presumed third party who would try to take custody of them. As Rolling Stone previously reported, there is no mother named on youngest son Prince Michael II’s birth certificate, though Jackson is listed as the father. Rowe is named as the mother of Prince Michael and Paris, the AP reports.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It! show — the mammoth comeback production that was due to launch July 13th at London’s O2 Arena — may still come to the stage as a tribute concert to the King of Pop, MSNBC reports. The concert will reportedly replicate Jackson’s planned stage show for his 50-concert sold-out run, but with an all-star cast of performers filling in for the fallen singer. According to MSNBC, the This Is It! tribute concert will take place in the next few weeks. “Every major celebrity has been reaching out, saying they want to participate in the show,” a source working on the show tells MSNBC. “Kenny Ortega and Travis Payne have been given authorization to proceed in deciding who will take the stage,” the source adds, referring to Jackson’s director and choreographer.

The city and venue for the proposed show has not yet been decided, but MSNBC reported over the weekend that Los Angeles — whose Staples Center hosted the This Is It! rehearsals — is the frontrunner; the network now reports that the concert may be performed over more than one night.

On person who didn’t get a chance to pay tribute to Jackson at Sunday night’s BET Awards was Chris Brown. The young star’s camp began talks with the network just hours after Jackson’s death was announced, but “Chris was really hesitant when it was first proposed and actually turned BET down,” a source tells Rolling Stone. “When the idea of doing ‘Man In The Mirror’ was suggested, he came around. Chris wanted to do something to honor Michael, and thought that song was a good fit because it’s one he can relate to.” A BET Awards source notes, “To have Chris Brown there would have been too much of a distraction. He wasn’t nominated and was not invited and any sort of performance or MJ tribute was never confirmed.” Today, BET reps denied Brown was ever going to participate in the show, telling MTV News “the rumors are false.” As Rock Daily previously reported, the BET Awards became an impromptu celebration of Jackson’s life and career, and Michael’s sister Janet made an appearance to thank fans for their continued support.

In other tribute news, Harlem’s Apollo Theatre will be the site of a celebration of Jackson’s legacy starting today and continuing through tomorrow night, when the venue’s famed Amateur Night will be dedicated to Jackson and feature a Moonwalking contest, the New York Daily News reports. The Apollo will screen Jackson videos throughout the next two days, and invite fans to adorn the venue’s stage flowers and other memorabilia.

And the Filipino prisoners who had a viral hit a few years back with their rendition of “Thriller” have taken to YouTube with a new tribute to the King of Pop.

Related Stories:

• Janet Jackson Speaks Out at BET Awards: “We Miss Him So Much”
• Music World Mourns Michael Jackson’s Death
• Michael Jackson Photos From “This Is It!” Rehearsals Emerge

On the commentary track for the Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head reissue the trio hinted that Bob Dylan would guest in some capacity on their upcoming album The Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1. However, when details of the album were announced, only Nas and Santigold were listed as features on Pt. 1. So what happened to the Dylan collaboration? The Beasties tell Drowned in Sound that Dylan will appear on the upcoming Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, but not in the conventional way. “We sampled his ass,” MCA tells DiS. The Boys previously borrowed a bit of Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” for Head’s “Finger Lickin’ Good.”

The Brooklyn trio says that Bob Dylan’s contribution will be a “spoken word” piece lifted from the singer’s Theme Time Radio Hour show. Dylan once praised the Beasties on an episode, and that recording of the compliment will appear in some capacity on Pt. 2. As for that Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2, the Beastie Boys tell DiS that the album is almost finished, but while Pt. 1 is being released through the traditional channels, Pt. 2 will being distributed in a less orthodox method more befitting of today’s technology. “MP3s could just rain from the sky,” Ad-Rock told DiS. Previously, the Beastie Boys surreptitiously sent fans who ordered their Check Your Head reissue an additional 7′’ vinyl featuring a sneak peak at Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1, so a similar method might be utilized for Pt. 2.

Drowned in Sound also has a look at Pt. 1’s zany artwork. As Rock Daily previously reported, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 will be released on September 15th. Nas, who joined the Beasties at Bonnaroo, features on the track “Too Many Rappers,” while Santigold guests on the song “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win.” Additionally, the trio will headline multiple festivals these next few months, including All Points West, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

Related Stories:

• Beastie Boys’ “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1″ Out Sept. 15th
• Phish Deliver Giant Set, Beasties Bring Nas to Bonnaroo Day Two
• The Story of Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique”: Free 33 1/3 Audiobook

It seems strange that the phrase “literary device” would show up anywhere on Twitter, but that was songwriter, guitarist, cruise captain and social-networking aficionado John Mayer’s explanation for a series of notes he left last night. In a fantastically meta experiment, Mayer invented three Tweets that are ostensibly reviews of Thriller, written as “a fantasy as if the internet was around in ‘83.” (Note to Mayer: Thriller actually came out in ‘82.)

Mayer manages to totally nail the tone of today’s finicky online music critics. “So far, after my first listen, ‘Thriller’ is my least favorite song on the album,” goes one Tweet. “It just seems, I don’t know, overproduced.”

There is also a nod to the constant hunger for downloadable bootlegs and leaks in Mayer’s experiment. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just used to the demo of ‘Billie Jean’ that leaked, but the final version seems ‘off’ to me,” goes one of the messages. In the third and final one, Mayer expresses the sort of sentiment that first-adopters tend to feel when they love something small that suddenly gets big: “MJ is going to reach a lot more people with this record. It sucks that he won’t be ‘ours’ anymore, but good for him.” (Of course, that suggests that Jackson’s pre-Thriller audience was only as large as that of Arcade Fire, which wasn’t the case.)

Those were the only three notes that Mayer wrote, but he does bring up an interesting point about the current nature of criticism and the lack of consensus about just who is a star.

What do you think? Would Michael Jackson have been as big a star had he been forced to put up with the current day Internet music scrutiny?

Michael Jackson will likely be the King of Pop Charts this week after three of the singer’s albums sold more than 100,000 copies following news of his sudden death, Billboard.biz reports. Final numbers aren’t due until tomorrow, but Thriller, Number Ones and The Essential Michael Jackson are expected to top six-figures based on sales through Sunday, June 28th. The three releases are more than likely to top the Pop Catalog Charts, with Jackson on pace to potentially fill six to nine (or even all 10) of that chart’s Top 10 with albums like Bad, Off the Wall, greatest hits collections and even some Jackson 5 compilations. Last week, the entire Jackson catalog combined only sold 10,000 copies, according to Billboard.

While the three Jackson albums would also likely top the Top 200 charts — the Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. is on pace for less than 100K sold — because the Jackson albums are considered catalog releases, they are ineligible for the Top 200 charts and will instead feature on the Pop Catalog chart and the Top Comprehensive Albums chart. Catalog releases are albums that were released at least 18 months ago. Last year, Jackson’s Thriller reissue topped the Pop Catalog chart with 166,000 in sales in its first week, Billboard notes.

According to Billboard, the majority of Jackson’s new sales came from digital outlets, as physical stores were unable to keep their shelves stocked to keep with the demand for Jackson — a phenomenon Rolling Stone witnessed first-hand in the hours after Jackson’s death. The Essential Michael Jackson alone was downloaded roughly 70,000 times. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Jackson dominated both the iTunes and the Amazon MP3 charts in the day following news of his death. The album sales mirror Jackson’s meteoric rise on the radio as well, with Jackson’s airplay up 1,735 percent from the previous week per Nielsen.

Related Stories:

• Michael Jackson’s Hits Post Huge Radio Numbers, Nielsen Reports
• Michael Jackson Catalog Sales Soar on iTunes, Amazon
• Michael Jackson’s Legacy Includes Tangled Financial Web

• MGMT and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O guest on the Flaming Lips’ upcoming double-LP Embryonic, according to an interview Wayne Coyne gave to a Swiss Website (unearthed by Pitchfork). “For the Karen O tracks, I just called her up in her hotel room and we just did it right over the telephone,” Coyne said. “It’s pretty absurd.”

• The bidding war for hot MC Drake has come to an end: As expected, the Lil Wayne protégé signed with Weezy’s Young Money, and Universal will distribute his debut disc, Thank Me Later, MTV News reports. Read our feature on Drizzy here.
• Bon Jovi has recorded a duet of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” with exiled Iranian singer Andy Madadian to transmit “a musical message of worldwide solidarity” to Iranians, the track’s producer, Don Was, tells Billboard. The song isn’t for sale, but it’s “intended to be downloaded,” he said.
• A Florida man seeking to meet Lil Wayne called up 911 and asked for a police escort — or a helicopter — to take him to the MC’s Miami home, according to the Smoking Gun. Michael Kruse was arrested for making false emergency calls.

Is there any band in history better than Kiss? The answer is, “Yeah, probably.” But has any group ever been less subtle in their symbolism and message? The answer there is, “Unless you count Ween, it seems unlikely.” For a group so unflappably goofy, it’s amazing how polarizing they have been for their over 30 year career. Sure, you can probably blame them for softening up hard rock and ushering in the ’80s hair metal era, but then “Detroit Rock City” comes on the radio and you forget all about those Warrant videos you had to sit through.

Anyway, today marks the anniversary of the first Kiss comic book, distributed by Marvel beginning in 1977. The comic is pretty silly, although it was considered a big deal because the ink used contained bits of each band member’s blood. It wasn’t the last time Ace, Peter, Gene and Paul would be immortalized in superhero form, as another Marvel comic came in 1979 and Dark Horse published a series based around their Psycho Circus album in 1997.

To celebrate Kiss’ comic book legends status, here’s “Heaven’s on Fire,” from 1984’s Animalize. It was probably a mistake for the band to take off their make-up, but the lack of horror imagery forced them to focus on nothing but cheeky sex songs — until they put the make-up back on in the ’90s.

Here’s one question that has always confounded the viewing audience of this clip: When Gene Simmons points towards his crotch during the chorus, is he suggesting that he has some sort of social disease? Because that seems like a mixed message for a guy trying to bed as many groupies as there are people in Ecuador.

Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist serving as Michael Jackson’s personal physician for his O2 concert run, waited roughly 20 to 30 minutes to call paramedics after finding the singer with a faint pulse last Thursday, the AP reports. Attorney Matt Alford, a partner in the law firm representing Murray as the LAPD investigates Jackson’s death, said that the delay in calling 911 stemmed from Murray being unaware of his location in Los Angeles. “He didn’t know where he was, didn’t know the physical address,” Alford said. “There was no land line, no phone in Jackson’s room that would have allowed him to call. It was all happening so fast.”

According to the report, Murray went downstairs and found Jackson’s chef, who quickly fetched a security guard who joined Murray in Jackson’s room. The unnamed security guard is the man who placed the 911 call that was released last week as Murray was in the background administering CPR. Paramedics arrived about three minutes after the 911 call was made. Murray has come under fire for attempting to give Jackson CPR on the singer’s bed rather than the floor’s solid surface, however attorney Edward Chernoff defended Murray’s attempts, saying, “He knows how to perform CPR and he performed it properly.”

Chernoff represented Murray during a three-hour interview with the LAPD this past Saturday, a conversation that raised “no red flag,” the Los Angeles Times reported. As Rolling Stone reported, Murray denied reports that Jackson died after being given injections of painkillers; Chernoff called such rumors “absolutely false.” “There was no Demerol. No OxyContin,” Chernoff said. After paramedics spent 42 minutes trying to resuscitate Jackson at the singer’s home, Murray rode along with Jackson in the ambulance to UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead. Following Jackson’s death, Murray spoke to LaToya and Jermaine Jackson, as well as their mother Katherine. Also according to the report, Jackson’s children were permitted to see their father’s body after a consultation with a psychiatrist.

Related Stories:

• Michael Jackson’s Doctor Refutes Claims He Gave Star Injection
• Jackson Family Orders Second Autopsy, Doctor Speaks to LAPD
• Michael Jackson 911 Call Reveals “Only the Doctor Was Here”

Although their still-untitled second album is being recorded in a gritty, super-urban part of Brooklyn, Vampire Weekend say the record has a sunny vibe befitting locales far different than the outer borough of New York. “These songs would be perfect for driving up the Pacific coast,” guitarist-keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij tells RS in our new issue, on stands now. Singer Ezra Koenig adds, “Or making an egg-white omelet. Basically, doing fresh things.”

Rolling Stone visited the band at Brooklyn’s Treefort Studios, where they’ve been nestled since January, just before they hit the booth to record some group clapping, which Koenig notes could really fit on any of the record’s crisp, bright songs. “We’re taking what we did on the first album to the next level,” Koenig says. As on their self-titled debut, Afropop influences (this time more developed) reappear and Batmanglij is once again in the producer’s chair. So what’s different this time around? The band says they’re able to concentrate on the music more. “When we wrote the first album, we all had jobs,” bassist Chris Baio says. “This time, we’re way more focused.” The result: lyrical reference to highbrow and lowbrow topics including a trip to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

The album, expected out this fall, will likely feature the frenzied punk scramble of “California English,” power ballad “Taxi Cab” and the polyrhythmic “White Sky,” as well as one song that is — prepare yourself — “dead-on” reggae. “Maybe when we’re done, I’ll have the time to actually listen to the record on the Pacific coast,” Batmanglij says as he tinkers with some arrangements. For much more on the highly anticipated second album from Vampire Weekend, be sure to check out the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands now.

Related Stories:

• Patti Smith, Vampire Weekend Pay Tribute to Buddy Holly at Tibet House Benefit
• Vampire Weekend Debut New Song as Bonnaroo Kicks Into Gear
• New Music Report: The Mars Volta, Vampire Weekend

Today's Stars Remember Michael Jackson

Justin Timberlake, Ashley Tisdale, Donnie Wahlberg and others discuss the influence the King of Pop had on their careers.

The American Idol display of the judges' desk and chairs at the Smithsonian is being installed this week in the Castle. On the Season 8 Top 3 results show, Ben Stiller, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, and Hank Azaria from "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" announced that the American Idol judges' desk is making its way to the Smithsonian. The American Idol display base and back wall have been designed, built, and are ready to go. The museum has rearranged the Great Hall in order to make room for the American Idol exhibit.

The donor credit panel will read:
FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
19 TV Limited
FOX Broadcasting Company

The desk will be on display starting today and is scheduled to run through the middle of September.

Watch Ben Stiller open the show again.

Radio celebrated Michael Jackson’s music in a huge way following news of the King of Pop’s death, as Jackson’s biggest hits jumped nearly 1,735 percent in overall airplay over the previous week, with many stations solely dedicating their play lists to Jackson’s discography this weekend. According to the Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, which tracks total airplay for terrestrial, satellite and cable radio stations, Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was played the most over the airwaves, logging 4,540 plays from June 22nd to June 28th. Of those, 4,446 plays came after Jackson passed away on June 25th. Last week, “Billie Jean” registered 318 plays total, according to Billboard.com.

In all, 20 Jackson songs registered more than 1,000 plays last week following news of Jackson’s death. By comparison, only Jackson’s “Rock With You” managed to crack 500 plays the previous week. “Thriller,” which was only played twice on Tuesday, June 23rd by all stations combined, was spun 1,497 times on Friday, June 26th, and collected 3,570 plays for the week. Also cracking the 3,000 plays mark were Off the Wall’s “Rock With You” and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.”

Additionally, four Jackson 5 songs managed to crack 1,000 plays: “ABC,” “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Judging by the sales numbers on iTunes and Amazon.com, Jackson is expected to have a similar album on this week’s album charts, with many discs from the King of Pop’s catalog expected to reach the upper echelons of the SoundScan charts.

Related Stories:

• Music World Mourns Michael Jackson’s Death
• Michael Jackson’s Legacy Includes Tangled Financial Web
• Michael Jackson: Remember the Legend In the RS Archives

To pay tribute to Michael Jackson’s musical legacy, we asked our readers to tell us their favorite songs by the King of Pop. The votes spanned Jackson’s entire career, but it was his Thriller hit “Billie Jean” that touched the most readers’ hearts, edging out the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Off the Wall’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and many more classics from the biggest performer of his time. Check out the whole Readers’ Rock List below:

1. “Billie Jean”
2. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”
3. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough”
4. “I Want You Back”
5. “Rock With You”
6. “Beat It”
7. “Black or White”
8. “Remember the Time”
9. “Human Nature”
10. “Man in the Mirror”
11. “P.Y.T.”
12. “The Way You Make Me Feel”
13. “Smooth Criminal”
14. “Scream”
15. “Off the Wall”

While in the midst of talking to Paramore about their upcoming new album Brand New Eyes, MTV’s James Montgomery paused to discuss a mutual source of admiration for both he and the band: Sunny Day Real Estate. The Seattle quartet recently announced their reunion, and the members of Paramore (who cover Sunny Day Real Estate’s “Faces in Disguise” regularly) couldn’t be happier.

“It’s like a religious kind of experience,” said Hayley Williams. “We were all too young to go to one of their shows, but now, I will fly out to see one of those shows.”

Guitarist Taylor York has a particular affection for the group’s six-string work. “Sometimes their guitar lines sound Middle Eastern,” he says. “It’s weird, but I like it.”