• Madonna Tour Setting Sales Records
• Springsteen Unveils Video for “My Lucky Day”
• Britney Spears From Disney to Circus
• Ron Wood Says Faces “Ready to Go”
• What You Won’t See on Coldplay’s Yahoo! Set
• Lars Ulrich: Updates on Metallica Tour
• Ticketmaster, Live Nation Battle Escalates
• Gerard Way’s Comic Headed to Big Screen
• New Pornographers Plan Album, Solo LPs
• Hot List: The Answer
• Hot Hits and Misses: 808s, Don Piper
• Hendrix, Queen Recordings in Grammy HOF
• On Tour: Joel & John, Britney Spears
• News Ticker: Rick Astley, Jay-Z, Paris Hilton

Top stories from the last three days:

• The 2008 Hot Issue
• Video: Behind the Britney Spears Cover
• Axl Rose Demands Dr Pepper Apology
• Noel Gallagher: “I Am Brilliant Every Night”
• New U2 Album Has Title, No Rick Rubin
• Clips From Britney: For the Record
• James Taylor Explains His Favorite Covers
• Radio Having Worst Year Since 1954
• The New Cover: Britney Spears Returns
• Bono Launches Africa-aiding Download Service
• Label-Free, Lars Ulrich Considers the Internet

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way will see his graphic novel The Umbrella Academy on the big screen in the somewhat-near future after reports that Universal has put the Way-penned comic on the fast-track to production. Way and Dark Horse owner Mike Richardson have reportedly already signed off on the deal, with producer Scott Stuber overseeing the “cool and sexy” project. Back in October, Children of Men director Alfonso Cuaron was rumored as interested in helming the film, but no director has been announced as yet. (more…)

Photo: Allegri/Getty

Billy Joel and Elton John plot out the first three dates of their joint tour, Shwayze map out a very busy December and Britney Spears gets the giraffes ready for her Circus run. Follow the jump for the complete set of dates.
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Photo: Gentner/Getty

Metallica’s massive world tour behind Death Magnetic is still in its infancy, but Lars Ulrich has visions of it lasting beyond next year. “We’re booked up through August of next year, and right now we’re sort of laying out Fall of ‘09 and the Spring of ‘10,” he says. “We’re waiting for a few other countries to be actually formalized as nations so we can be the first band in. We’re also waiting for the polar caps to stabilize so we can go play there. There’s talk about some other planets too.” As of now the band is on planet earth, playing American arenas for the first time in four years. “It’s great to be back indoors,” says Ulrich. “We’re right in the thick of it in the middle of the arena. It completely exposes every nuance and that adds a real tone of vitality and excitement.” (more…)

Photo: Yahoo

When Coldplay took the stage at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom on October 22nd to film a performance for Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music, the 200 fans in attendance found themselves in the midst of an unusually intimate set — the Ballroom usually holds 2,000 or more people, and Chris Martin and Co. were in the midst of an arena tour. The performance and two-part question and answer session premiere online today in 13 countries, but not everything made the final cut, so here’s a rundown of what Rock Daily saw behind the scenes:

• Frontman Chris Martin was riding the wave of the Presidential election at the late October shoot, joking about Joe the Plumber and quipping that he was “sweating more than a John McCain adviser” as he took off his overshirt midway through the performance.

• While Coldplay buddy Jay-Z watched the entire set from a seat in the venue’s opera boxes (it was easy to spot his head enthusiastically bopping during the entire set), he didn’t join the band on stage to turn “Lost!” into “Lost+”. (more…)

Photograph by Peggy Sirota

It’s amazing to consider that Britney Spears has been in show business for two thirds of her 27 years. In that time, she’s been a Disney TV star, a teen-pop phenomenon, a tabloid staple, a tragedy and a comeback queen. With her new album out tomorrow (her birthday!) and a spot back on the cover of Rolling Stone, now is a great time to take a look at Spears’ career in photos. Click below for a complete look at her showbiz life in photos, from the early years to Circus.

• Britney Spears’ Timeline: The Rise, Fall and Comeback of a Pop Icon

Related Stories:

• The Return of Britney Spears

• Video: Behind the Scenes at Britney Spears’ Cover Shoot

• Britney Spears on the Cover of Rolling Stone

• More From Issue 1067

Photo: Niemeier / K&K Center of Beat / Retna

Jimi Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Police, Queen and Ennio Morricone were among those whose music was inducted into the Grammys Hall of Fame. Specifically, Hendrix’s famed Woodstock rendition of “Star-Spangled Banner,” Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and 26 more recordings were all honored and will be featured in the Grammys’ brand new Los Angeles museum, set to open December 6th. Queen’s “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions,” Police’s entire Synchronicity, Morricone’s The Good, The Bad & The Ugly soundtrack, Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” and the “Love Theme” from The Godfather were also selected. (more…)

Photo: Winter/Getty

In honor of the long Thanksgiving weekend, we asked our readers to tell us which songs offered up the most thanks. We counted the votes, and My Morning Jacket were named your MVP of the turkey holiday, beating out the likes of Led Zeppelin, Dido and Depeche Mode. Check out the list of the top ten thankful songs below.

1. My Morning Jacket - “Thank You Too”
2. Led Zeppelin - “Friends”
3. Sly & The Family Stone - “Thank You (Falettinme be Mice Elf Agin)”
4. Alanis Morissette - “Thank U”
5. Dido - “Thank You” (more…)

Photo: Kempoin/Getty

The members of Canadian power-pop crew the New Pornographers are keeping plenty busy these days. Singer-guitarist Carl “A.C.” Newman will release his second solo album, Get Guilty, on January 20th. And in March, singer Neko Case will put out her latest set of country-pop tunes. Titled Middle Cyclone, the disc features an all-star crew of guests including the Band’s Garth Hudson, M. Ward and many of her New Pornographers bandmates, in addition to her five-piece backing band. “Whenever I’d hear a musician was in town, I’d be like ‘Get ‘em down here!’ ” says Case.

Case also tells Rolling Stone that the New Pornographers are prepping their follow-up to last year’s Challengers. (more…)

Photo: Getty

Ron Wood has confirmed long-standing reports that the Faces are gearing up for a reunion tour next year. “We had a few fantastic rehearsals last week and we’re ready to go,” Wood tells Rolling Stone. “It’s like no time has passed by.” Rod Stewart’s touring bassist Conrad Korsch sat in on bass, replacing original Faces bassist Ronnie Lane who died in 1997. “There’s a lot of guest bass players that want to do it — including Flea,” says Wood. They plan on hitting the road sometime in 2009, though no dates have been set. “We just have to sort out when and where and drop all of the management egos and just do what we can. We know we can do it. It’s just a matter of getting everyone’s availability sometime next year.” New studio work might also be in their future. (more…)

Bruce Springsteen has unveiled a new video for “My Lucky Day,” the second song released from his upcoming Working On A Dream. Starting today, you can download the song exclusively through Amazon’s MP3 Store for one week only. Besides being embedded above, the video is also up at Springsteen’s MySpace page, where it’s joined by two minutes of behind-the-scenes footage. (more…)

The Hot List has been a Rolling Stone tradition since 1986. All this week, Rock Daily takes a look back at the people and trends that stayed smoking and the ones that cooled off. Today, we flash back a decade ago to 1998.

Hit: The 808 drum machine. Called out ten years ago because of a call-out in the Beastie Boys’ “Super Disco Breakin’” and a swell of underground dance acts like Baesment Jaxx bubbling up into the mainstream, the 808 was enjoying a revival and remains a go-to box for any hip-hop heads seeking a heavy, glitchy, scratchy drum sound. As Rolling Stone wrote, the 808 is “essentially the drum in drum-and-bass.” Kanye West loves the 808 so much that he named his latest album after the machine.

Miss: Don Piper. Named “Hot Singer-Songwriter” because of his EP A Don Piper Situation, Piper was a self-described “mod” who channeled Harry Nilsson, John Lennon and Alex Chilton. Though he sparked a major-label bidding war (won by Capitol), his full length never got released on the label. Piper cotinues to release albums himself.

Related Stories: (more…)

Photo: Getty

When Live Nation announced they would be launching their own ticketing initiative, many in the industry thought that would mean the end of Ticketmaster. Instead, Ticketmaster struck back by buying an interest in Front Line Management, essentially putting them in competition with Live Nation not just for concert ticketing but also for album sales, downloads and merchandising opportunities. “It’s a seismic shift, in terms of what’s occurring with the retail of tickets,” says Jim Guerinot, manager of Nine Inch Nails and Gwen Stefani. “But it’s far bigger than that. It’s going to develop into a seismic shift in the selling of music.” Click below for more on the war in the industry that will likely determine the future of how fans get to hear and see their favorite bands.

• Ticket Battle Shakes Music Biz

Related Stories:

• More From Issue 1067

• Live Nation Plots Digital Service

• U2 Net $19 Million In Live Nation Shares in Touring Deal

• Live Nation Prepares for Ticketing Venture With New Hire

With their big stadium rock blues riffs and no post-Watergate influences, it’s no wonder the Answer were drafted to open AC/DC’s massive world tour behind Black Ice. Their debut EP Never Too Late is chock full of wah-wah riffs and singer Cormac Neeson’s Robert Plant-ian bellow, which has lead to opening spots for the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith as well. “I think they pick us because we remind them of themselves in their youth,” says bassist Mickey Waters. “We do honest rock & roll with no clichés.” Click above to hang out with the Answer back stage at Madison Square Garden, and follow below for the rest of the 2008 Rolling Stone Hot List, including chaste vampires and dance rock.

• Hot Rock Gods in Training: The Answer

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• This year’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was Rick-Rolled by none other than Rick Astley himself. As evidenced by the above video, the viral reclamation project surprised the audience by singing his “Never Gonna Give You Up” on a float promoting Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
• Check out Jay-Z’s new “Brooklyn We Go Hard,” featuring Santogold and production by Kanye West. The song will reportedly appear on both Jigga’s upcoming Blueprint 3 and the Notorious soundtrack.
• Something to be thankful for: Paris Hilton has finished work on her second album. “I wrote all the songs myself,” Hilton said of the album, which is still in need of a label.
• In addition to his own second volume of demos, Rivers Cuomo says Weezer will release an “odds and ends” album, a collection of “great songs, but for some reason they didn’t make the final cut for a record,” Cuomo said.