2003

Stephen King, brand-name writer, master of the horror story and e-book pioneer, is receiving this year’s honorary National Book Award for lifetime achievement medal for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters. The prize, worth $10,000, was announced Monday by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sponsors the awards.
“This is probably the most exciting thing to happen to me in my career as a writer since the sale of my first book in 1973,” King said in a statement issued by the foundation.
“I’ll return the cash award to the National Book Foundation for the support of their many educational and literary outreach programs for children and youth across the country; the Medal I will keep and treasure for the rest of my life.”
King, who turns 56 next Sunday, will be presented the award at the annual National Book Awards ceremony, on November 19.
Source cnn.com.

Next spring, 34-year-old Scott Rogers will begin a journey down the entire length of the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail. Like all distance athletes, he will proceed toward his goal one step at a time. What separates Rogers from other hikers, however, is the fact that his steps will be powered by a high-tech prosthetic leg. If Rogers succeeds in the trek from Georgia to Maine, he will be the first through-hiker to complete the journey with an artificial leg. “This is the result of a lifelong dream,” said the Georgia native. “I decided that if I were ever to accomplish this, the time is now while I’m still relatively young.”
Source Outsideonline.com.

Former Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan announced that Zwan, the band he had started two years ago has broken up.
Corgan said his heart was always in the Smashing Pumpkins and admits he was na

David Bowie has announced US dates for his upcoming winter tour They follow Bowie’s U.K. arena outing and will continue through the new year Macy Gray is slated to accompany Bowie as a special guest on the North American leg. Additional shows are forthcoming.
The trek, titled A Reality Tour, is expected to include 17 countries over an anticipated seven months. Currently, Bowie is wowing fans in Europe on the arena outing, a marked change to his tour plans in recent years. The US portion begins December 6th in Atlantic City and includes shows at Boston’s Fleet Center and New York’s Madison Square Garden.
For a full list of the tour schedule visit Pollstar.com.

A DVD of consisting of rare performance footage will round out a nine-disc Black Sabbath collection due out for the holiday season. The bulk of “Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978)” will consist of remastered versions of the band’s eight original studio albums. The set will be released Nov. 4 via Warner Bros./Rhino.
The DVD boasts live performances of “Iron Man,” “Paranoid” and a cover of “Blue Suede Shoes,” plus a promotional clip for the 1970 album “Black Sabbath.”
All of the albums feature the band’s original lineup: vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler and drummer Bill Ward. Each set — “Black Sabbath,” “Paranoid,” “Master of Reality,” “Vol. 4,” “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” “Sabotage,” “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die!” — will be packaged in individual slip cases within the box.
In addition to the albums, the non-album studio track “Evil Woman,” originally released as a single in 1970 prior to the band’s self-titled debut, is also included.
All of the lyrics from each will be included in an 80-page book, which comprises vintage photographs, a group timeline and essays. Also included will be testimonials from the likes of Rob Zombie, Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett and Zakk Wylde, the guitarist in Osbourne’s band.
Source Billboard.com.

Former Beatle George Harrison, Prince, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne are among the nominees on the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot.
Harrison, who died of cancer in November 2001, is already in the rock hall as a member of the Beatles. Former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney preceded him for their solo work.
Previous nominees back for another try include the Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gram Parsons and Patti Smith. Other nominees include the Dells, the “5” Royales, Bob Seger, the Stooges, Traffic and ZZ Top.
Ballots were mailed this week to voting members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released. The inductees likely will be announced in December.
Soure Billboard.com.

A new DVD of Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Legend Live, features the last two recorded concerts before the reggae legend

The album blues great John Lee Hooker was working on at the time of his death will be released next month. “Face to Face,” which Hooker was completing with his daughter Zakiya, is due Oct. 28 via a previously reported licensing deal between the Hooker estate and Eagle Rock Entertainment. The album features feature guest appearances by Van Morrison, George Thorogood, Elvin Bishop, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, Johnny Winter and Jack Casady, among others.
The album is a collection of leftover songs that are in many cases embellished with overdubbed performances from the various guests. The raw tracks, all of which feature Hooker on vocal and guitar, were recorded during the sessions for the Pointblank/Virgin albums he released over the last decade of his life.
Source Billboard.com.

Three years after the death of founding member Allen Woody, Andy Hess has been named permanent bass player for Gov’t Mule. The new lineup will begin a fall tour Oct. 3 at the Backyard in Austin, Texas.
Hess, who has recorded and toured with John Scofield, the Black Crowes, Joan Osborne and Freedy Johnston, among others, is one of many musicians who has performed with the band since Woody’s passing, touring briefly with the group in 2002.
Gov’t Mule’s “Deep End” projects — which found the band collaborating with a host of legendary bassists — were special, Hess adds, “but I think those guys are also really psyched to have a unit again, to be a group just coming together and playing music, maybe doing some recording — becoming a band again.”
As previously reported, ATO will on Oct. 7 release “The Deepest End” CD and DVD, chronicling a six-hour, all-star Gov’t Mule concert held May 3 at New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre. The group will appear the following evening on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”
Source Billboard.com.

Perhaps the most widely recognized voice in country music, Cash recorded more than 1,500 songs, which appeared on nearly 500 albums. His careerspanned more than four decades with trademark hits like “A Boy NamedSue,” “Folsom Prison Blues, “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line.”
While Cash has long had one of the premiere voices in country music, his success crossed well over onto the pop scene. He had 48 singles onBillboard’s pop charts, rivaling both The Rolling Stones and The BeachBoys.
Source CNN.com.