Joe Kavanagh's Music News

A new book challenges the story of the death of Doors frontman, Jim Morrison, casting doubt on the official report that claimed the Lizard King died from heart failure while taking a bath. Until now, the story of Morrison's death was provided by his sometime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who claimed that the singer was feeling unwell in their Paris hotel room and decided to take a bath, where he was found dead of suspected heart failure several hours later. A new autobiography, Life, Death, Legend, by Paris nightclub owner, Sam Bernett, now claims that Morrison died of a heroin overdose. Bernett says that the singer came to his nightclub looking to buy heroin for his girlfriend and eventually met two dealers who provided him with the drug. Morrison then went to the toilet but when he failed to return, the two dealers kicked in the door of the cubicle and found him lying there with blood trickling from his nose and foam around his mouth. After several failed attempts to revive the singer, the two dealers took him back to his hotel room and placed him in the bath in one final effort to revive him. The story is given credence by the fact that an autopsy was never performed on Morrison and Courson herself succumbed to a heroin overdose in 1974. Morrison was 27-years-old when he died...

The Cure make a welcome return with the release of their thirteenth studio album this October, made all the more welcome by the fact that it will be the legendary band's first ever double album. Singer Robert Smith says that it was just too difficult to whittle the songs down into a one-disc collection for the as-yet-untitled album. Speaking to the press last week Smith claimed: 'Rather than cut it down, at the stage we're at with the band, I'm making this record because I want to enjoy the process and be proud of the finished result.'...

Rod Stewart claims that he was horrified by the bad language on display at last week's Live Earth concerts and even went so far as to say that he would give each person in the audience $10 if they heard him swearing during a performance. Man, there's a big incentive to try and make him crack if ever I heard one. Stewart declared that he was appalled when he heard the scatological language used by performers such as comedian Chris Rock and Phil Collins. Mind you there are some people out there that are appalled at the fact that a man can marry a woman who is a third of his age and still convince himself that she is after him solely for his charm and wizened looks...

Some in the media are predicting the end for Liverpool act, The Zutons, after guitarist, Boyan Chowdhury, quit the band last week, citing 'musical differences'. Both parties state the split was entirely amicable but that's what they all say. Initially...

Snow Patrol keyboard player, Tom Simpson, will face charges of cocaine possession in a Glasgow courtroom on July 31, after his sensational arrest after the band's performance at Live Earth. Simpson was forced to spend most of last weekend in jail after being picked up on an outstanding warrant, stemming from an incident in the Scottish city last summer. The stint in pokey meant that Simpson was unable to attend the band's performance at Ireland's Oxegen Festival and a drug conviction could have major repercussions for future US tours...

It's not quite the story of the young keyboard player sneaking into the room and performing during the recording of Bob Dylan's, Like A Rolling Stone, but the story of a young British tea-boy who has managed to secure a new job thanks to Coventry act, The Enemy, is still enough to warm the heart. The three-piece were recording recently when their producer stepped out to take a break and the tea-boy stepped in behind the desk as a bit of a laugh. The Enemy frontman explains: 'His name's John Paul and he's literally been making cuppas in our studio for ages, waiting for his studio break. We discovered what a wicked engineer he is one night when our producer had to rush out. We asked if he knew how to use the mixing desk and he said yes. When Barney our producer came back and listened to it he was in shock. John's stopped making the tea now and has got a job with our producers.' Ahhhh...

Ozzy Osbourne has come out swinging against the amount of money the British government is spending on the 2012 Olympics, claiming that the whole venture is a colossal financial error. The Prince of Darkness told journalists: 'That thing is going to cost about nine billion pounds! That's a lot of money to watch some guy run around a f**king track. I could go to some gym and see that for free.' In the interests of objectivity, there are probably those out there that say paying $100 to see a jittery, unintelligible has-been is a colossal waste of money too, but it hasn't stopped Ozzy touring...

James Blunt has revealed how a funeral in Ireland resulted in him selling his sister on eBay, setting off a chain of events that would eventually lead his younger sibling down the aisle. Speaking to reporters last week, the simpering singer stated: 'I came back to the flat where my sister was staying and she was crying because she couldn't get to a funeral in Ireland. The planes were on strike, the ferry was out of season, and there were no trains. I ended up whacking it on eBay: 'Damsel in distress seeks knight in shining armor! Desperate to get to a funeral in southern Ireland, please help!' The bids flooded in and the guy who won had a helicopter. He flew her to the funeral. That was three years ago. This summer they're getting married. That was the stupidest thing I've ever sold on eBay - my sister.' The guy sells a gazillion albums and he can't spring for a chopper for his own flesh and blood? What gives?