Joe Kavanagh's Music News

U2 musical Spider-Man appears to be in some difficulty, after production was temporarily shut down last week due to an alleged "cash-flow problem". Producers were quick to assert that the musical extravaganza will be back on track in ample time to make its scheduled Broadway debut in February of next year, though given U2's status as one of the wealthiest bands in the history of music (and one of the most business savvy), it's difficult to imagine cash-flow being the problem. Spider-Man: The Musical has been in the works for several years and is due to star Evan Rachel Woods and Jim Sturgess...

U2 also made the news for breaking the attendance record at London's Wembley Stadium, when their 360 Tour rolled into town last weekend. According to reports, the band packed in an astonishing 88,000 people for their shows, a full 5,000 more than Rod Stewart's previous record, which was set in 1995. While the figure is certainly impressive, I'm not sure that you can compare records given that Stewart set his in the old Wembley stadium, which only had a capacity of 82,000, whereas the new version fits 90,000. Apples and oranges really...

The final U2-related story concerns a report claiming that Bono's wife, Ali Hewson, is initiating legal action against Stella McCartney, regarding a copyright matter. In 2002, the fashion designer and daughter of Paul McCartney launched a perfume titled Stella, and is now gearing up to launch a follow-up named Stella Nude. Hewson has a range of products called Nude Skincare, so she and business partner, Bryan Meehan, are claiming that McCartney's use of the word "nude" constitutes a copyright infringement. Given the vast resources of both sides, this could get ugly but I really don't understand how anyone can claim copyright over a word that is over 500 years old...

George Michael is back in the headlines again, after his Range Rover collided with a truck during the early hours of Saturday August 15, leaving him so stunned that he allegedly sat behind the wheel for almost 10 minutes after the crash, and stumbled around the road when he did finally emerge. Police arrested the singer on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, but released him without charge five hours later. Hey, at lest he's okay and this incident didn't involve him removing his own or anyone else's pants because I'm still trying to get the image of that fat truck driver out of my head. Michael only got his license back from police in June, after serving a two-year ban for a string of incidents, which included falling asleep behind the wheel, crashing into parked cars and operating a vehicle whilst being more stoned than the cast of Up In Smoke...

Roisin Murphy, has sought to quell any notion of a feud between herself and Lady Gaga, after she was widely quoted as accusing the latter of stealing her fashion sense. The Arklow-born singer told an interviewer last week: "As far as I was concerned I was doing a short interview to promote I'm Every Woman, a charity record for ActionAid and ended up getting myself into a tabloid trap. As the press are inclined to do, they have taken some comments I made completely out of context and completely fabricated others. I respect Lady Gaga's work as an artist and as a fellow fashion icon. She is a very talented performer, playing the piano, singing live and dancing too. I don't care about shoulder pads! Not every female artist needs to be at odds with their contemporaries - I prefer to focus on the wonderful things happening in my life, which are plentiful. I am a very honest person (which can often be problematic when it comes to doing press) but I am not a b**chy person. All the best to Lady Gaga - she is fantastic."...

Snow Patrol front man, Gary Lightbody, is nursing sore ribs after a go-carting crash in Germany. Seeking time out after an appearance at a recent music festival in Cologne, the singer and his band mates retired to the nearest race track, only for Lightbody to crash into a barrier. Speaking to Scottish newspaper, Daily Record, the Chasing Cars singer claimed: "I had my very best idiot trousers on in Germany at the Street gig and we did a go-kart track in Dettenheim. I did say beforehand that I shouldn't be in charge of anything that can go over 20 miles-per-hour, and secondly I am the most accident-prone idiot in the western world. Did I heed my own advice? No! Crash after crash I finished on a particularly nasty one that put me in hospital where I discovered I had a broken rib." I wonder if, upon being asked for his advice, the paramedic that arrived on the scene said: "If you lie there, if you just lie there". I know, cheesy but that's the type of guy I am...

Speaking of ailing front men, several rockers took tumbles on stage last week. First up was Placebo singer, Brian Molko, who collapsed in a heap while performing in Tokyo a week ago, leading to the cancellation of several dates. A spokesperson for the band later claimed that Molko had fallen victim to their "grueling and intensive schedule." Even more impressive, in an ambulance-chaser kind of way, was the collapse of Jet frontman, Nic Chester, who fainted not once, but twice, while the band were performing in London last week. Chester was later discovered to be suffering from gastroenteritis, acute vomiting and dehydration, but in true show business style, he went on to perform at several other London dates later in the week, on the provision that the venue provided extra water and an ambulance close to the stage. You just know that there were A&R men sitting off stage at these shows thinking: 'God be with the days when we'd just dose them up on coke until their hearts popped.' ...

Speaking of old-school rockers with a penchant for the old Columbian marching powder, Lemmy is furious with the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, after one of his favorite leather jackets went missing during a special Motorhead exhibition. The singer stated: "I'm sure someone's girlfriend is wearing it. Places like that don't lose things, man. Someone steals them." If I were looking for suspects, I'd be more inclined to keep an eye out for some bloke with a mullet walking around Cleveland in all fairness...

Tired of all the plastic surgery jokes and jibes about Botox, Kylie Minogue's sister, Dannii, has vowed to stop using the latter in an attempt to return to her natural look. After all the stuff she's injected, nipped and tucked, I think she'll find that her natural look will now resemble that of a Sharpei...

UK photographer, Rankin, has vowed never to work with Christina Aguilera, after spending time with her on a recent photo shoot. The celebrity snapper claimed: "Christina was a diva from hell and pure torture to be around. She's so self-obsessed. She insisted that her chauffeur drive her indoors into the studio so she wasn't papped (snapped by the paparazzi) - even though there was nobody outside. Then, she crashed my after party and her bodyguard stood outside the bathroom shouting, 'Nobody but Christina uses this toilet.' She's a joke." Maybe she made such a stink in there that she was embarrassed to let anyone else use the loo after her...

The Verve have split for the third time, after band mates accused singer, Richard Ashcroft, of using the group to further his own solo ambitions. Considering I haven't heard a peep about Ashcroft's solo career, methinks his master plan is not exactly working out. Anyway, when it comes to Verve breakups, my thinking kind of went this way. First time: 'What a pity, they were an excellent band.' Second time: 'What a pity they can't get on with each other?' Third time: 'What, the Verve were back together'...

I read where Mel Gibson has laid down some vocal tracks for an upcoming album release by his Russian girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. What a great idea because as we all know, Mel Gibson is world famous for his singing talent. Grigorieva denies that she had anything to do with splitting the actor up from, Robyn, his wife of 28 years, telling an interviewer: "I thought he was happily married until I was reassured otherwise. And then it happened. We live in the same city. I don't control who I meet. I meet many people in art and music and film, but love is inexplicable." Yeah, like he'd have turned her head if he was Mel Gison: sanitation worker. I've seen this movie before but in the other version of it Paul McCartney ended up losing a lot of dead presidents from his wallet.