Rock News

Last week we reported that reggae/hip-hop star Sean Kingston had been involved in a Jet Ski accident in Miami, Florida. Kingston, who is recovering
from a fractured wrist and broken jaw in a Miami hospital, may now also face over $30,000 in fines for disturbing the local population of sea cows. Florida law strictly prohibits "water users [from causing] a wake, or sea turbulence, in areas populated by manatees" and the damage from the Kingston crash, and the reckless driving leading up to it, would have directly violated these
protection laws.

Guitar legend Jimmy Page made a surprise appearance on stage this week at a concert held by 60s folk/rock troubadour Donovan. The concert, which took placeat London's Royal Albert Hall, had Donovan playing his entire 1965 album Sunshine Superman, on which both Page and future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones played as studio musicians. Page joined Donovan to re-create his lead guitar on the albums title song, as well as returning to help close out the show with the song "Mellow Yellow"

Singer Patti LaBelle is being accused of ordering her bodyguards to attack a young man at Huston's George H.W. Bush International Airport. According to lawyers for the victim, 23 year- old West Point senior Richard King, LaBelle's
three bodyguards confronted King when LaBelle thought the young man was standing too close to her luggage. When King pushed one of the bodyguards (in self-defense, according to his lawyers) the three men proceeded to attack King resulting in contusions and a concussion. King is suing LaBelle, her bodyguards and the airport for unspecified damages. LaBelle has issued no
statement on the matter.

Rapper Eminem has filed a lawsuit against car marker Audi for copyright infringement. The lawsuit stems from a European television ad for the new 2012 Audi A6 Avant which features a sound-alike rapper performing a song very similar to Eminem's 2002 song "Lose Yourself." The ad is also being accused of borrowing visual elements from Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" series of ads, which feature "Lose yourself," used with permission. A similar lawsuit brought by musician Tom Waits in the 1980s against Frito-Lay, who hired a "sound alike" singer after Waits refused to grant permission for his song to be used in a commercial, was decided in the artists favor, giving the Eminem suit clear president.

Pop singer Adele has been forced to cancel her North American tour after developing a case of laryngitis. The singer is on doctor's orders to take some time off and recover. Plans are already underway to reschedule all dates for
later in the year.