MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2015
TRUCK-CRASH-BLUES
If country star Jason Aldean comes out with a new hit single about a truck and a cowboy singing the blues, it might be because he lived through it. Aldean's 2015 Burn It Down tour played in Kamloops, B-C, on Monday night and was headed to a Tuesday performance in Prince George, when the country music cliches played out. R-C-M-P Corporal Cheryl Bush says a semi-trailer loaded with Aldean's equipment crashed on Highway-1 west of Kamloops. She says the driver was slightly hurt when the semi went off the right shoulder of the highway, hit a rock and flipped. Police are investigating the crash. (CFJC)
---
RAP GROUP-VIDEO-ARRESTS
Los Angeles police say at least two people have been arrested after a 1990s rap group posted a video that shows someone flashing a gun while filming a police officer. Police say the video posted on Instagram was investigated as a threat but the department has determined it was just entertainment. Police call it a publicity stunt by ``an early '90s rap group no longer in fashion'' trying to spark a comeback but they have not named the group. The video is shot from inside a car behind a police cruiser.
It shows the gun on the lap of someone in the vehicle, then shows an officer getting out of the cruiser and walking away. Police say they have identified three suspects in the car, one of whom had a prior weapons conviction.
---
YOKO ONO-PEACE SIGN-RECORD-ATTEMPT
Not enough people came out to give peace a chance on Saturday. More than 2,000 people joined Yoko Ono in New York's Central Park in an attempt to set a world record for the largest group of people forming a peace sign in honor of John Lennon's birthday. A Guinness World Records representative says the group had to be at least 5,000 to create an official record.
Lennon's birthday is on Friday and he would have been 75.
---
CHRISTINA AGUILERA-``THE VOICE''-ABSENCES
The reason Christina Aguilera takes time away from ``The Voice'' is because she knows she can't juggle two teams at once. The current season shows the coaches building their teams and getting ready to work with them, but the blind auditions for the spring season are already under way. Aguilera says it's easier for Blake Shelton and Adam Levine to run two teams at the same time for a simple reason: they aren't parents. Aguilera says she's a better coach and a better mom if she does only one season of ``The Voice'' per year. She has also been working on a new record that she hopes to put out next year.
---
KENNY ROGERS-``ONCE AGAIN IT'S CHRISTMAS''
Kenny Rogers snapped a photo of a snow-covered tree with orange leaves while on tour one year in the Dakotas because the tree reminded him of Christmas. That photo is now the cover to his new holiday record, ``Once Again It's Christmas.''
Rogers features classics like ``Little Drummer Boy,'' ``Winter Wonderland'' and ``I'll Be Home For Christmas,'' as well as a few new songs. Rogers says there's a faction of people who really love Christmas music and his record label taught him that when those people buy Christmas music, they want to see songs they know. ``Once Again It's Christmas'' is out now.
---
STEVIE WONDER-DIVORCE
Stevie Wonder is officially single again. A judge in Los Angeles has finalized Wonder's divorce from fashion designer Kai Millard Morris. The action comes more than three years after the Grammy-winner filed to end his second marriage. Wonder and Morris were married in September 2001 and separated in '09. They have two sons together, ages 14 and 10.
---
PATTI SMITH-FOUR BOOKS
Even as Patti Smith releases her new memoir this week, she's looking forward to the next book, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Rolling Stone reports Smith is working on four more books. One is another autobiography about her music and her husband, the late Fred ``Sonic'' Smith of The MC5. The other books are a collection of poems, a detective story and a young adult novel. Smith's book, ``M Train,'' is new this week. Her first memoir, ``Just Kids,'' came out in 2010.
---
RADIO-RATINGS-SCANDAL
A Tampa-based radio host has admitted he tried to tamper with ratings. Bubba The Love Sponge Clem says he's ``humbled and embarrassed'' after 'fessing up to trying to influence the listening habits of a person taking part in a Nielsen survey.
Clem has been off the air since Sept. 25 -- but returned to the air yesterday morning.
---