Valens, Ritchie

Taylor Swift leads U.S. pop chart as sales slide (Reuters)

Reuters - The year is off to a bad start for the music industry with U.S. album sales off 6.2 percent from the first week of 2008, according to data issued Wednesday.

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T.I. cuts $8,000 check for overdue lawyer fees (AP)

AP - Rapper T.I. went to court and promptly paid an $8,000 overdue lawyer bill for the mother of two of his sons, telling a judge the debt was an oversight.

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Bon Jovi to Hillary Clinton: I'll Be There for You (E! Online)

E! Online - Forget government bailouts! Former first lady Hillary Clinton is hoping Jon Bon Jovi can help with her financial crisis.

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Lisa Marie Presley defends Scientology (AP)

AP - Lisa Marie Presley is expressing her condolences over Jett Travolta's death and defending Scientology, the religion that Presley, John Travolta and Kelly Preston follow.

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Britney Spears' official Twitter account hacked (Yahoo! Music)

Yahoo! Music - An anonymous hacker has reportedly hacked into Britney Spears' official Twitter account, leaving an obscene message.

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Aerosmith gets back to work after '08 break (Reuters)

Reuters - Aerosmith is ready to return to work on its next studio album, according to drummer Joey Kramer.

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Lupe Fiasco abandons rap and launches post-punk band? (Yahoo! Music)

Yahoo! Music - Rapper Lupe Fiasco is rumored to have started a post-punk band called Japanese Cartoon.

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Jay-Z to play concert on eve of Obama inauguration (AP)

AP - Jay-Z isn't performing at President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, but he is planning to make a big splash on the eve of the event.

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Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson 'targeted by Islamic extremists' (Yahoo! Music)

Yahoo! Music - Reports have emerged today (January 7) claiming that Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson have been included on a "terror target" hit list made in reaction to the current conflict in the Gaza region.

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Apple to sell copy protection-free songs (Reuters)

Reuters - Apple Inc has reached a deal with major record labels to sell digital songs without the copy protection software that had prevented fans from sharing music bought from its iTunes store, the maker of the iPod and iPhone said on Tuesday.

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Big Bopper's coffin to be sold on eBay (Yahoo! Music)

Yahoo! Music - The son of iconic '50s rock n' roller the Big Bopper has said he plans to sell his late father's casket--which he was buried in for 48 years--on eBay in the next few weeks.

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Mariah Carey told off by scientists for E=MC2 claims (Yahoo! Music)

Yahoo! Music - Scientists have criticized Mariah Carey's mathematics skills, after she appropriated Albert Einstein's mass-energy equivalence formula for an album title.

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Knowles, Keys, Hudson grab music, film Image noms (AP)

AP - Beyonce Knowles, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson are all multitasking for the NAACP Image Awards, earning nominations Wednesday in both music and film categories.

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Jay-Z, Bruce, Miley Providing Inaugural Soundtrack (E! Online)

E! Online - HOVA's in the (white) house.

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Modern music patron Betty Freeman dies at 87 (AP)

AP - Betty Freeman, patron to such contemporary musical masters as John Cage, Philip Glass and Pierre Boulez, has died. She was 87.

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Is Madonna's Little Girl Meant for Stardom? (E! Online)

E! Online - We've been anxiously awaiting the acting/singing/modeling debut of Madonna's firstborn, Lourdes Ciccone Leon, for a while. The 14-year-old, who looks like she just fell out of an American Apparel ad, always seemed destined to follow in her mother's creative footsteps.

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Michael Jackson leases pricey Bel Air estate (AP)

AP - The King of Pop is back in town, that is.

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New Eminem, 50 Cent songs hit radio and Web (Reuters)

Reuters - There's still no solidified release dates for upcoming albums from Eminem and 50 Cent, but new music from both rappers has emerged in the past 24 hours.

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Judge seals records in Eddy Arnold paternity case (AP)

AP - A judge has sealed records in a paternity suit filed by a California man who claims he is the biological son of the late country singer Eddy Arnold.