Ontario cops save David Lee Roth's life
Two Ontario police officers have been credited with saving the life of Van Halen singer David Lee Roth - after he suffered a severe allergic reaction.
The rocker was pulled over on a stretch of highway in Oakland, Ontario on June 8 for speeding, and when cops approached the vehicle, they realized the star was in anaphylactic shock.
Roth has an allergy to nuts and was suffering a severe reaction after coming into contact with a contaminated substance.
The officers called an ambulance and kept Roth calm until paramedics arrived on the scene, according to CTV.ca.
Constable Chris Thompson admits he didn't realize that he was dealing with a famous rock star when he attended to the crisis.
He says, "At the time I wasn't star struck, I was just trying to help him. The guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a little silk scarf and flashy clothing - it's not something you see in Oakland too often."
Nickelback signs 3-album deal with Live Nation
Alberta rockers Nickelback are the latest group to sign a global recording and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation, according to the company.
Los Angeles-based Live Nation has previously signed deals with Madonna, Shakira, Jay-Z and U2.
Nickelback, fronted by Chad Kroeger, has signed a three-album, three-tour deal that industry sources valued at $50-$70 million, Reuters reported Tuesday. Live Nation did not release terms of the deal.
Live Nation has specialized in all-inclusive packages. This deal has it handling all of Nickelback's merchandising, licensing, sponsorship, endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights as well as fan club, website and literary rights.
Nickelback's last North American and Australian tour in 2006/07 grossed more than $67 million and its last album, All the Right Reasons, sold 10 million copies.
Three singles from that album — Photograph, Far Away and Rockstar — were top 10 hits on the U.S. charts.
The band still has two albums left to deliver to its Road Runner Records label before it makes any records with Live Nation.
Nickelback has announced a September 2008 tour of Germany, the U.K. and Ireland.
Metallica Reveal More “Death Magnetic” Package Details
More details of the various formats of Metallica’s Death Magnetic have emerged on the band’s Mission:Metallica website. The cheapest option, with a $24.99 price tag, is the simple Digital Death Magnetic package, which gives its buyer the digital album at midnight of street date, plus the option to download two Metallica summer concerts, ringtones and the access to the Platinum areas of the Mission:Metallica site.
The next step up takes that package and adds a physical CD to the mix (with free shipping!). Then, there’s the behemoth Limited Edition Collectible. For $124.99, you can get the digital, physical and 5LP versions of Death Magnetic, plus a lithograph. All three packages enter you into exclusive contests to win a chance to meet the band at select festivals.
And the best part: They all come with $10 off merch or Fan Club membership at Metallica.com. You can peruse which package is right for you here. Death Magnetic is due out in September.
Tenacious D 'One-And-A-Half Songs' Into Next Album
Tenacious D plans to release another album -- just don't hold your breath waiting for it.
Group member Kyle Gass tells Billboard.com that he and Jack Black, his partner in the irreverent rock duo, have begun work on their follow-up to the 2006 film project "The Pick of Destiny." "It's very challenging," Gass says, revealing that "we probably only have one to one and a half songs right now, and we probably need 12 to 15. It might take the rest of our lives, but I think it'll be worth waiting for."
But Gass does say, in his own way, that he and Black are indeed serious about their goals for the album. "We'd like to do one final masterpiece, I think," he acknowledges. "I think we both know we're approaching death, as it were, and we'd like to have a lasting legacy. ('The Pick of Destiny') was kind of a soundtrack to the movie so we had to fulfill obligations that way. And now it's kind of opened up."
Gass says he's also like to finish an album that his side project, Trainwreck, has been working on for five years. "I think that I need to really work harder at completing some of these projects," he notes. I think that I've been living on my laurels. I've been lazy, but now I think it's time to kick ass." Or Gass? "There ya go..."
Gass is spending part of the summer with General Motors' GMnext Plug In program, for which he's traveling to music festivals around the world to shoot "hilarious video clips" of him interviewing and jamming with bands, which are then put up on the GMnext.com Web site.
He was most recently at the Rothbury Festival in western Michigan, where he hosted 311, Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood and the Wailers, among others, and he next goes to Lollapalooza in Chicago.
"They're trying to drive traffic to their Web site," explains Gass, who drives a Lexus but says he'd gladly accept a hybrid Cadillac Escalade. "They've realized they screwed up, and they now want to atone and start making fuel-efficient cars. Can they do it? I don't think so. Are they gonna try? Yes, they are. Do I get paid either way? Yes."
Meet the 'Big Brother 10' cast
STUDIO CITY, Calif. - "Big Brother 10" is returning to its roots.
The claustrophobic CBS reality show is sealing 13 actual strangers — no ex lovers, secret twin partners or long-lost siblings this time — inside a makeshift house on a Studio City soundstage for the chance to be the last houseguest standing and take home the $500,000 grand prize.
"There's somebody for everyone in this cast," executive producer Allison Grodner recently told The Associated Press at CBS Radford Studios. "It's going to be interesting to see people that come from such opposite worlds living together, which has always been a part of this show, but this season, we really do have our most diverse group ever."
The contestants — which will include a gay bull rider, a Hooters waitress, a professional bodybuilder and a 75-year-old former Marine — will spend the summer competing in challenges and evicting each other while being monitored by over 50 cameras. It's the first time since the show's third season that the houseguests are all strangers.
"When approaching this season, we wanted to look at what made this spark and last for 10 seasons," said Grodner, who's worked on "Big Brother" since the second season. "Every season had its unique twist. I think, in a way, going back to basics and having the cast be all strangers is part of the twist of '10.' Of course, there will be more."
In last season's first-ever winter edition of "Big Brother," which was quickly put into production because of the writers strike, contestants were partnered with each other and evicted as pairs for the first four weeks of competition. Grodner said a new "Big Brother 10" gameplay twist would be introduced during the premiere episode on July 13.
"It's really a power-play," teased Grodner. "The game will actually start before they enter the house."
In recent seasons, contestants have come under fire outside the house for controversial remarks made inside the house. During the eighth season, Amber Siyavus said that Jewish people tend to be "really money-hungry" and "selfish." Last season's winner Adam Jasinski was fired by a nonprofit autism organization because he used the word "retards."
"Those types of comments are not something we want to happen," said Grodner. "It's a live show. It's not censored on the Internet. These are real people. We aren't telling them what to say, but we're not telling them what not to say either. Things do happen. We, of course, can choose what we put in the show, and we do so carefully."
This season's contestants seem to be more aware of the repercussions of their actions from the outset. Before meeting their competitors or entering the house, the "Big Brother 10" cast was individually interviewed by the AP while they were voluntarily sequestered — no television, newspapers or telephones — from the outside world in a Studio City hotel.
"If you make a mistake and say the wrong things, you may offend people and be known for that forever," said Steven Daigle, a 35-year-old geographic consultant and gay rodeo competitor from Dallas. "People make mistakes. If I do make a mistake, I hope I can learn from it and know that was some part of my life that I was ignorant or uneducated about."
The rooms inside the "Big Brother" house this season will be themed to different decades. The kitchen, for example, resembles a '50s diner while one of the bedrooms is filled with '70s-inspired furnishings. The timeliness extends to this season's crop of contestants. At 75, Jerry MacDonald will be the oldest "Big Brother" houseguest ever.
"Age does not bother me," MacDonald told the AP. "I hope it doesn't bother them."
Libra Thompson, a married 31-year-old human resources representative from Spring, Texas, left behind her husband and three children — including 4-month-old twins — to participate in "Big Brother 10." During production, Thompson and the other "Big Brother" contestants are prohibited from communicating with the outside world.
"It's better for me that they're younger," said Thompson of her newborns. "At four months old, they're not going to remember much. It's probably going to be a little bit more difficult for my 4-year-old. However, I'm going to stay focused and remember the reason I'm here, and that's the cash. That will help me."
Prize money talks.
"I'm motivated because I'm a big fan of the show, but I'm more motivated that I have a chance to win $500,000," said Angie Swindell, a 29-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative from Orlando, Fla. "I just have to keep telling myself that if I start feeling all queasy about the 24-7 thing, there's an end to the means."
April Dowling, a 30-year-old car dealership finance manager from Higley, Ariz., said she doesn't think the "Big Brother" experience will be any more difficult than the time she had to spend 15 days in a "tent city" jail for drunk-driving charges. She also believes living in the house may remedy some of her obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
"I have seen a therapist," said Dowling. "They tried to put me on anti-anxiety medication, but I'm not big on prescription medication. I just don't like to take it. I'm actually hoping the 'Big Brother' experience will be therapeutic. My life will not end if the green beans aren't behind the corn in the pantry."
The 13 contestants of "Big Brother 10" are:
• Michelle Costa, 28, real estate agent from Cumberland, R.I.
• Steven Daigle, 35, geographic consultant from Dallas
• April Dowling, 30, finance manager from Higley, Ariz.
• Robert "Memphis" Garrett, 25, mixologist and party planner from Los Angeles
• Dan Gheesling, 24, high school teacher from Dearborn, Mich.
• Jessie Godderz, 22, bodybuilder from Huntington Beach, Calif.
• Brian Hart, 27, telecommunication account manager from San Francisco
• Jerry MacDonald, 75, retired marketing executive from Magnolia, Texas
• Renny Martyn, 53, hair salon owner from Metairie, La.
• Bryan Ollie, 27, marketing sales representative from Bloomington, Minn.
• Keesha Smith, 29, waitress from Burbank, Calif.
• Angie Swindell, 29, pharmaceutical sales representative from Orlando, Fla.
• Libra Thompson, 31, human resources representative from Spring, Texas