• Phish to Headline Bonnaroo, Sources Say
• Gn’R Leaker Pleads Guilty
• New Reviews: Fall Out Boy, AAR
• Alicia Keys, Flo Rida Top Nielsen Charts
• Lil Wayne Blogs About Mets, Plaxico
• No Doubt: No New Album in 2009
• Dave Matthews, Wilco, KOL to Rock Jazz Fest
• New Music Report: Pavement, Los Campesinos!
• Scarlett Johansson Ponders Next LP
• News Ticker: NIN, Oasis, Portishead

Top stories from the last three days:

• A Guide to Axl Rose’s Online Rants
• Dave Matthews Announces Tour, Album
• Rock List: Readers’ Top 30 Albums of 2008
• Pearl Jam Bringing Ten to Rock Band
• Allman Bros, John Paul Jones at Warren Haynes’ Xmas Jam
• Killers Kick Off Day & Age Tour
• Madonna Divorce Settlement: $75 Million
• American Idol Brings Back Wild Card Round
• Guitar Hero: Metallica Confirmed, Details Emerge
• Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of 2008
• The New Issue of Rolling Stone: Brad Pitt
• Panic’s Ross on Being Mistaken For Jagger
• Backstage With Brian Wilson: Exclusive

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

Photo: Benc/Getty

Sleep easy, Mets fans: Lil Wayne approves of the team’s signing of relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez in the rapper’s latest ESPN blog post. “I’m a big fan of the Mets signing K-Rod. That was a smart move for them because they’ve got all the talent in the world but they’ve lacked that killer instinct to push them over the top,” Weezy writes like a true analyst, though keep in mind the Carter III rapper previously predicted the Tampa Bay Rays would win the World Series. As for what song he’d come out to if he were a major league closer, Wayne fittingly chose Semisonic’s “Closing Time,” with Prince’s “Purple Rain” his song of choice if he were to come to bat.

Lil Wayne also discusses the whole Plaxico Burress incident: “The whole Plaxico thing kind was crazy because immediately afterward everyone was talking about the legal implications and what are the Giants going to do with him now, and no one stopped and said, My God, this guy just shot himself. Is he okay? Was it stupid? Of course. I mean, I accidentally shot myself when I was 12 and that’s a scary lesson to learn.” While Tha Carter III may be Number Three on our Top 50 Albums of 2008 list, Lil Wayne is definitely Number One on our favorite sports writers list. (more…)

Photo: Getty

Fans will have to wait a little bit longer for a new No Doubt record: drummer Adrian Young admitted that the band is unlikely to release any new music until after 2009. In late November, No Doubt revealed plans to end their five-year hiatus and reunite for a 2009 tour, with a gig at next year’s Bamboozled fest their first confirmed concert. “We’ve been working on a new record off and on now for a bit of time, and we’re going to continue to work on a new record next year,” Young told MTV News. “We’re going to continue to work on music while we’re traveling. We’ll have a mobile studio on the bus and eventually get to a new No Doubt record.” When the new album is ready, it’ll have a home at Interscope, the band’s label since 1991.

Related Stories:

• No Doubt to Return With New Album, Tour in 2009

• Fall Out Boy, No Doubt To Headline Bamboozle 2009

• No Doubt Hit the Studio; Gwen Stefani Oversees Proceedings From Afar

We’ve told you all about Rolling Stone’s top-ranked albums and singles, but what’s good that just came out? Christian Hoard breaks down new (and resissued) work from Los Campesinos!, Pavement, Buck 65 and R.E.M. — and recommends the one holiday album that won’t make you nuts. For all that and a quick look at Rolling Stone’s biggest stories, click above.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.

Photo: Getty

The lineup for next year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival emphasizes artists that are decidedly not jazzy. Dave Matthews, Wilco, Kings Of Leon, Aretha Franklin and many more will take part in the event, to be held the weekends of April 24-26th and April 30-May 3rd at the city’s Fair Grounds Race Course. Not exactly Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Sun Ra, but the lineup is still pretty awesome for a jazz fest.

Spoon, the Drive-by Truckers with Booker T. Jones, Erykah Badu, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper and many more help fill out the lineup. Things make a lot more sense on the Heritage side of things, with Wynton Marsalis, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and the Neville Brothers all representing their home city. If the lineup seems more star-studded than in years past, it’s because the festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2009.

Related Stories:

• Dave Matthews Band Announce Spring 2009 Tour, New Album

• Will Oldham, Members of Flobots, Fleet Foxes, Los Lobos Rock for New Orleans Musicians

• R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Lil Wayne Salute New Orleans, Obama at Voodoo Festival

Scarlett Johansson is reportedly hoping to record a second album. Johansson released her debut LP, a collection of Tom Waits covers titled Anywhere I Lay My Head, last spring to mixed reviews. Next time, however, Johansson will have a go at writing her own songs, possibly inspired by a subject she’s normally reluctant to discuss in the media: her marriage to actor/onetime fiancé of Alanis Morissette, Ryan Reynolds. “I don’t think I’d do covers, so it’d be a project that I have to dedicate myself to,” Johansson told MTV. Johansson does have some experience penning her own tunes, writing Anywhere’s “Song For Jo.” If another covers album is in the future, Johansson has already expressed an interest in Leonard Cohen, with whom she’d like to collaborate.

Related Stories:

• How Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie Got Together: Album Preview

• Scarlett Johansson Album Available Online; Read the Review

• Scarlett Johansson and Debbie Harry Chat on MySpace

Photo: Brass/Getty

This year’s Nielsen numbers are in and Alicia Keys is a double gold medalist, securing both the year’s Top-Selling Album and Most-Listened-To Radio Song. Keyes’ As I Am was the year’s biggest seller, finishing ahead of Josh Groban’s Christmas ‘07 hit album Noel and Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, which came in third despite a platinum-selling debut week.

Over on the Most-Listened-To Radio Songs chart, Keys’ “No One” was heard by an estimated 3.08 billion listeners, which means every American citizen heard that song on the radio about 10 times. Flo Rida’s “Low” also had an astounding number — 3.02 billion heard the rapper sing about Apple Bottom Jeans and boots with the fur. Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” ranked third with 2.75 billion listeners.

There was consolation for Flo Rida and T-Pain, however, as “Low” ranked tops among Most Downloaded Songs, beating out Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” and Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl.” And in one more fascinating stat, Washington, D.C. won the award for Adults Living In A Household With An MP3 Player with 40 percent, a mere 1 percent higher than Salt Lake City. Check out the full lists of Top Selling Album and Most Downloaded Song after the jump. (more…)

Photo: Winter/Getty

Folie à Deux is Fall Out Boy’s most exuberantly cheeky release yet, writes Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen in his review of the band’s new disc — and it’s also their most rock-star-ish. The guest list boasts names that only an A-list band could corral, from emo homeboys (Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy) to rappers (Lil Wayne, Pharrell) to eminences (Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry). The music suggests that Fall Out Boy, now firmly established as leading Gen Y rock torchbearers, are starting to think about their place in history.

For the full review and the rest of the week’s new releases click below:

• Fall Out Boy’s Folie à Deux

• All-American Rejects, When the World Comes Down

Photo: Getty

• Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini has left the band to concentrate on his own projects. “It’s been exactly four years since I joined Nine Inch Nails and the time has come for me to move onto new things,” Cortini said. Trent Reznor told the crowd at their Las Vegas concert this weekend that they’ll continue on as a four-piece.

• Oasis’ “Wonderwall” and, strangely, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” among the biggest vote-getters in a recent U.K. poll of songs that mothers sing to their babies as lullabies. “We were really surprised to find that mums would rather sing modern pop tunes than traditional lullabies,” said a spokesperson for the study.
• Even though it took 11 years for Portishead to release Third, the wait for the band’s next disc won’t be nearly as long as the band has already settled on what direction to take. “When everyone’s had a bit of a break, I think we’re just going to plough onto it,” Geoff Barrow said about going back into the studio.

Photo: Getty

Bonnaroo, the East Coast’s premiere multi-day, multi-stage gathering of the vibes (held in Manchester, Tennessee from June 11th to 14th) usually doesn’t release its lineup until early February — but RollingStone.com hears from reliable sources close to Phish that the band will top the bill for two nights, restoring the fest to its jam-friendly roots. It would be the fifth time frontman Trey Anastasio appears on the ‘Roo stage, having performed as a solo artist in 2002 and 2004, with bandmate Mike Gordon in 2006 and alongside Matisyahu in 2005. Phish announced their official reunion and first public gigs in four years (their March 6-9th Hampton, Virginia shows) in early October; reps for the band and the fest declined comment for this story. Also being buzzed about with some legitimacy: Bruce Springsteen as Sunday night’s closer. No pressure, but there is a deadline approaching for pre-sale tickets and VIP packages.

As for Coachella, the fest reputed for reuniting many a dormant band (the Pixies in 2004, Rage Against the Machine in 2007), Blur is believed to be a frontrunner, though a show scheduled for London’s Hyde Park in July raises some doubt (more…)

Photo: Getty

The blogger arrested for leaking nine songs that ultimately wound up on Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy pleaded guilty to federal copyright violation. Kevin Cogill made the plea at a Los Angeles court yesterday, admitting that he did leak the songs in June on his Antiquiet Website. Cogill initially pleaded not guilty at his first court date, but agreed to change his plea in exchange for the prosecution recommending he only receive probation. Cogill still faces a year in federal prison, probation and a large fine.

After Axl Rose’s long-awaited opus performed poorly on the sales charts, Cogill’s leak joins Best Buy’s lack of promotion and Rose’s refusal to promote the album as leading reasons why Chinese Democracy has been disappointing from a business perspective. For Cogill, the plea bargain is just the latest chapter in a long and litigious year that has included a clash with Gn’R’s management and a visit from the FBI. “If legal proceedings come my way, I’ll face them 100 percent,” Cogill told Rock Daily in June. “I’m not afraid of that. I did what I did, and I’ll face the music if I have to.”

Related Stories:

• “Chinese Democracy” Leaker Changes Plea to Guilty

• Did Guns n’ Roses Leaker Know He Broke the Law? Kevin Cogill Asks for Financial Aid

• “Chinese Democracy” Leaker Arrested on Suspicion of Violating Federal Copyright Law

Photograph by Danny Clinch

The Dave Matthews Band have announced the first dates of their 2009 tour and revealed that their still-untitled new album will be released April 12th. The album, DMB’s first since 2005’s Stand Up, was produced by Rob Cavallo, who’s known for his work on Green Day’s American Idiot and other harder rock artists. Two days after the album hits stores, DMB will take the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Opening acts for the tour include the Roots, Jason Mraz, Old Crow Medicine Show and the Avett Brothers. The new album is the Dave Matthews Band’s first since the death of founding saxophonist LeRoi Moore earlier this year. Saxophonist Jeff Coffin, trumpeter Rashawn Ross and guitarist Tim Reynolds will all join the band both on the road and on the new album. The full list of tour dates is after the jump. (more…)

Photo: Getty

Axl Rose didn’t give any magazine or TV interviews to herald the release of Chinese Democracy. But just days after breaking his silence with a pair of Q&As on Guns n’ Roses message boards, Rose has published a 4,594-word post and an additional Q&A on the two fan sites. Those who haven’t been following the Gn’R saga for the past 20 years may be a bit confused by some of his references to age-old beefs with Slash and other bits of Guns jargon. We’ve broken out the juiciest bits and explained them here:

Claim I. I didn’t swindle my bandmates.

Backstory: Slash has alleged that Axl refused to go onstage one night during the Use Your Illusion tour in 1992 unless the band signed away the name rights to the band. “Unfortunately, we signed it,” said Slash. “I didn’t think he’d on stage otherwise.”

Axl’s take: “Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it. Had that been the case I would’ve have been cremated years ago legally, could’ve cleaned me out for the name and damages. It’s called under duress with extenuating circumstances.”

Plausibility: Axl makes a surprisingly strong case. Might Slash not have had the clearest head during that tour? (more…)

Last week, after revealing Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of 2008, we asked readers to tell us their favorites. As predicted, the Killers fans came out in full force to ensure the band’s third album Day & Age made it to the top of the readers’ list, and it did by a landslide, beating out Coldplay and Kings of Leon. But where did albums by Kanye, Metallica and Chinese Democracy land? Where did the readers rank Rolling Stone’s Number One album, TV on the Radio’s Dear Science? Check out the full list of Readers’ Top 30 Albums of 2008 below.

1. The Killers - Day & Age
2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
3. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
4. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
5. Guns n’ Roses - Chinese Democracy (more…)

Photo: Dino Perucci

Guitarist Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jams are known for their jaw-dropping “wow” moments, but this year’s star-studded, 20th anniversary throw-down — held December 12th and 13th in Haynes’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina — had more than usual. The one that silenced the 7,200 partiers who packed the Asheville Civic Center on the first night came when Haynes and one of his rock & roll heroes, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, appeared onstage together and played a stirring, acoustic guitar and mandolin version of the Zeppelin classic, “Going to California.”

When Haynes changed the lyrics to “Going to Carolina with an aching in my heart,” the crowd erupted. The duet came about three-quarters of the way into the Friday night show, which began with a performance by Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule, at about 7 p.m., and didn’t end until more than nine hours later, at 4:20 a.m. Saturday morning, when Haynes’ other group, the Allman Brothers Band, hit the last note of “One Way Out.”

Sandwiched in between were performances from the Derek Trucks Band, Joan Osborne, country singer Travis Tritt, bluegrass king Del McCoury jamming with gospel group the Lee Boys, and New Orleans funk band Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. (more…)