2004

Melissa Etheridge has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has canceled upcoming tour dates to accommodate treatment. The 43-year-old artist will undergo surgery and her doctor expects a “speedy and complete recovery,” her publicist says in a statement.

“I am fortunate to be under a wonderful doctor’s care and thankful that this was caught early,” Etheridge says in the statement. “I am looking forward to a quick and full recovery.”

The artist had North American dates in support of the her latest Island album, “Lucky,” scheduled through the end of the month. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.

It is unclear if Etheridge’s illness will affect her work on her upcoming ABC sitcom, in which she stars as a gay woman raising the daughter of a friend with her straight male roommate.

Source billboard.com.

Bluegrass veteran Del McCoury won his ninth entertainer of the year award at the 15th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards last night (Oct. 7) at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. McCoury and his band also netted the album of the year accolade for “It’s Just The Night.”

The awards show is the highlight of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) World of Bluegrass Oct. 4-10 trade show and festival. Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski, taking their second consecutive turn at the podium, hosted the ceremony.

Larry Sparks won his first award in the male vocalist of the year category, a victory that was especially sweet as Sparks is celebrating his 40th anniversary in bluegrass. This year also marked a milestone for Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The group celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and picked up a fourth consecutive vocal group of the year trophy.

Perennial favorite Rhonda Vincent garnered an unprecedented fifth win in the female vocalist category. Vincent also won song of the year for “Kentucky Borderline” from her Rounder album “One Step Ahead.” Vincent co-wrote the song with Terry Herd of the Bluegrass Radio Network and Sirius Satellite Radio, who was also named broadcaster of the year.

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder earned their sixth win for instrumental group of the year. Blue Highway received their second award for gospel recorded performance of the year for the Rounder album “Wondrous Love.” The band’s Rob Ickes took home his seventh trophy in the dobro player of the year category.

The recorded event of the year was the Universal South album “Livin’ Lovin’ Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers.” Produced by Carl Jackson, the tribute to Charlie and Ira Louvin featured performances by Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Vince Gill, Terri Clark, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Dunn, Leslie Satcher, Kathy Louvin, Patty Loveless, Dierks Bentley, Larry Cordle, Dolly Parton, Sonya Isaacs, Marty Stuart and Pam Tillis, among others.

The 2004 IBMA Bluegrass Hall of Honor inductees were Curly Seckler and the late Bill Vernon.

The awards were broadcast live on Sirius Satellite Radio and syndicated to radio stations in more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks.

Source billboard.com.

Bob Weir has canceled a fall tour by his band Ratdog due to exhaustion. The Dead singer/guitarist’s side project was expected to kick off the run tomorrow (Oct. 7) in Ridgefield, Conn., and run through a Nov. 26-27 stand in Camden, N.J.

According to a statement, Weir has “reached a point of complete physical exhaustion” following months of touring with the Dead and Ratdog, other appearances and promotional work related to the March release of the career retrospective “Weir Here” (Hybrid).

Weir hopes to return to performing in the spring. It is unknown if this tour will be rescheduled at that point or later in the year.

The Dead staged a two-leg summer tour that played to more than 400,000 fans across 34 shows that grossed $18.5 million, as reported to Billboard Boxscore. It was the band’s first run with Allman Bros./Gov’t Mule singer/guitarist Warren Haynes in the lineup.

Source billboard.com.

Jay-Z is headed to the big screen in the Paramount Classics documentary film “Fade to Black,” which opens Nov. 5 in U.S. theaters. The rapper is the star, narrator and an executive producer of the film, which centers on his all-star concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 25, 2003.

Other artists who appear in the concert footage include Beyonc

British music magazine Q said in its October issue that there’s another band that’s ready to follow The Pixies’ return to the stage: the classic lineup of Pink Floyd. So far though, a rumor is all there is to the story.

Q is the only print source that’s even hinting at something in the air. According to the magazine, Floyd, with bassist/lyricist Roger Waters, will play a “series of lucrative shows next year.”

To do so, the members would have to set aside 20 years of differences. That includes acrimony left over following Waters’ 1986 legal action against his former bandmates. He sued guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason to keep them from using the band’s name without him. Waters lost.
A reunion tour of any significance could generate more than $100 million in gross revenues.
This isn’t the first time Pollstar has heard rumblings of Floyd’s return but in the past, the rumors all went south. During the last go-around, one reliable source told Pollstar it was false, adding one that Gilmour “didn’t need any more houses.” This time, the same source laughed out loud before putting the kibosh on the report.

One major promoter who would likely have involvement with a potential tour told Pollstar there was no information. Barbara Skydel of William Morris Agency, who has had longtime ties to Waters, responded to our inquiry by saying it was the first she had heard of the rumor.

Still, she contacted Waters’ manager for verification, then passed along to Pollstar that there was no truth to the rumor “at this time.”

According to fan Web site www.rogerwatersonline.com, Q recently published a special edition magazine devoted to Pink Floyd that included interviews with Waters and Mason. The Web site speculated the magazine may have used at least one of the two musicians as a source.

Source pollstar.com.

How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a … Nobel Prize-winning songwriter? It’s a question being asked increasingly in literary circles, as the annual debate over who should win the Nobel Prize in literature