The latest headlines: Nicks enjoys seconds, Swift faces trouble, Yeezy tweets Zimmy, a metalhead goes mental and more.
1 The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 29 in New York City. Fleetwood Mac singer Nicks is apparently the first woman to be inducted for the second time. Good for her. I can only assume that Def Leppard will be the first band with a one-armed drummer to be inducted. That oughta count for something. And it’s nice to see Roxy Music, The Cure and Radiohead getting in, I guess. Still, yawn. Call me when they induct GG Allin.
2 Taylor Swift reportedly installed facial recognition software in a kiosk at her stadium show after receiving numerous death threats, according to NME. Now, death threats are no laughing matter. But hoping your homicidal stalker will look at some random kiosk seems like a pretty inefficient solution. And even if he did, so what? Presumably, by the time the software did its job and security were alerted, he’d be long gone. Wouldn’t it be better to just, you know, not let him in the stadium in the first place? And I have to say: If you are getting so many death threats that you need elaborate, high-tech security measures to defeat them, maybe it’s time to rethink some things.
3 Kanye West apparently wants to hang out with Bob Dylan. Or at least that’s what we are left to presume after he tweeted: “Calling out to Bob Dylan Let’s get together” on Wednesday. Shockingly, Dylan has not publicly responded. Presumably, he’s more of an Instagram guy.
4 The guitarist from death metal band Cannibal Corpse was arrested last week after allegedly breaking into his neighbour’s home in Florida and shoving her to the floor — after his own house, which was reportedly full of military weapons and explosive devices, went up in flames. According to another report, he then hid in the closet and started babbling about the Rapture and that someone was after him, before being arrested and Tased by cops. If this is not the basis of several songs on their next album, Cannibal Corpse are missing a golden opportunity.
5 Dave Grohl is supposedly filming a documentary about his life and career. Now, I like Grohl as much as the next guy — and having had the pleasure of interviewing him and watching him interact with his bandmates and other artists during the Grammys — I can vouch for his status as one of rock’s good guys. But between the Foo Fighters doc, the Sonic Highways series and all the Nirvana and grunge documentaries that are already out there, what is there about his life that we don’t already know? There is such a thing as being too nice, you know?
6 A U.S. judge has upheld a ruling forcing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay nearly $5 million to the estate of Marvin Gaye over the similarity between their Blurred Lines and his Got to Give It Up. Thicke’s personal share of the bill comes to $1,768,191.88. The very fact that he probably has enough money to pay this without breaking a sweat says so much about what’s wrong with this world that I don’t even know where to begin. But I urge anyone who’s ever written a song to compare it with anything he’s ever written. Maybe if we all pull together on this, we can get rid of him for good.
