Chris Cornell Filling In For Robert Plant On Led Zeppelin Tour? That's News To Him

'I have not been approached to fill in for Robert Plant on the Zeppelin tour, but that isn't to say I won't be,' singer says.
By Chris Harris


Chris Cornell
Photo: MTV News

Former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell has spoken out for the first time about rumors that he's been asked to fill in for Robert Plant on a proposed Led Zeppelin reunion tour. The trek would feature original guitarist Jimmy Page, original bassist John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham taking over on drums for his late father, John Bonham.

Cornell has been mentioned — along with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, White Stripes mastermind Jack White and Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy — as a potential Plant fill-in. Plant has already said that he wouldn't take part in the tour.

"I have not been approached so far to fill in for Robert Plant on the upcoming Zeppelin tour, but that isn't to say I won't be," Cornell told MTV News. "I've heard that from about 200 people now, and it might be one of those situations where it's just an online rumor or it might be true. But if you see anyone from Led Zeppelin around, let me know. I think I should actually fill in for Jimmy Page on the Robert Plant/ Alison Krauss tour."

Cornell's denial comes just a day after Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford confirmed reports that frontman Steven Tyler recently met with Zeppelin for an impromptu jam session. "They did it for fun," Whitford said during an appearance on the syndicated show "Todd N Tyler Radio Empire." "I actually think Jimmy wanted Steven to come over and play a little bit because I think he was trying to light a fire under Robert."

Rumors of a Zeppelin reunion tour have abounded since the iconic band played a single reunion set last year at London's O2 Arena. Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider added fuel to the fire last month when he revealed that the group was thinking of touring, with or without Plant.

According to Snider, the rest of the band told Plant, " 'We're all rehearsed, we're ready to go. Here's a gazillion dollars on the table. If you don't do it, we're going out with this kid [Myles Kennedy].' "

"And he can sing the sh-- out of Zeppelin," Snider added. "They're going to hope that Robert, at the last minute, will go, 'OK,' and step in."

In a recent interview, Jones told BBC Radio Devon that a new singer was being sought to take over for Plant. "We are trying out a couple of singers," he said. "We want to do it. It's sounding great, and we want to get on and get out there."

But Jones insists that he, Page and Bonham aren't interested in finding a Plant clone. "It's got to be right," he said. "There's no point in just finding another Robert. You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band. There would be a record and a tour, but everyone has to be onboard."

Of course, even if Zeppelin were to approach him, Cornell might be too busy to take over vocals for the band. His upcoming Timbaland-produced solo LP, Scream, will be released within the next few months. Cornell told MTV News last month that some of his fans might consider Scream something of a departure, but he doesn't see it that way.

"It makes me happy that there's this perception that I have a group of fans that I'm now sort of throwing a curve at and what their reaction will be," he said. "But I've been in this situation so many times already. When I put out [1999's] Euphoria Morning, my main goal was to create an album that sounded like nothing I'd done in Soundgarden, and I did that. I also had that with Temple of the Dog, where I showed up with songs that weren't necessarily riff-based. And then, of course, the pairing of me and members of Rage Against the Machine had everyone sort of speculating about what that would sound like.

"It feels like I've done this so many times that when it's presented to me as being a departure, I feel that's a misconception," he added. "I feel like that's my theme at this point."

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Unreleased Michael Jackson Music On The Way, Rodney Jerkins Says

'It's definitely going to come, but it takes time,' says producer, who worked with King of Pop on Invincible.
By James Dinh


Michael Jackson
Photo: Time Life Pictures/DMI/Time Life Pictures/Getty Im

Michael Jackson had a wealth of unreleased songs in the vaults at the time of his death last year, but very little has since seen the light of day. Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who worked with the King of Pop on his 2001 album Invincible, revealed that he is about to work on a project with unreleased material from Jackson.

"I'm about to work on an unreleased project that we're talking about doing right now," Darkchild revealed in a chat with VladTV. "It's definitely going to come, but it takes time. You got to do a lot of the red tape but there's definitely going to be an unreleased Michael Jackson [album]. There's definitely going to be stuff to come and hopefully I'll be a part of that."

Darkchild later spoke about how working with the entertainer had always been a childhood dream of his.

"It was a blessing. It was definitely a goal of mine as a kid. When I first wanted to be producer, at 11 years old, on a little piece of paper [I] was like, 'One day I wanna work with Michael Jackson.' I just believe that God granted my wish," he said. "I had the chance to work with him. We became friends. Of course, we miss him dearly. He was truly the greatest."

Last year, former Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola revealed to Time magazine that unpublished Jackson music could date back decades. "Let's say 12 or 13 songs end up on the album; Michael could have possibly recorded 15, 20 or 30 songs," Mottola explained. "This would probably go for every album he recorded and probably predating [Sony] to his Motown days."

Jackson was reportedly working on a comeback album at the time of his death with contemporary R&B producers like Akon, Ne-Yo and Will.I.Am. He was also in talks to hit the studio with everybody from Kanye West to T-Pain to Chris Brown.

Based on a recent report from Reuters, more music from Jackson would only further increase music sales for the singer. The entertainer's music has raked in $430 million in sales since June 2009.

An album wasn't the only unfinished project Jackson had on his plate at the time of his death last June. The King of Pop had asked then-newcomer Lady Gaga to open his This Is It shows in London. "I guess I can speak about it now. I was actually asked to open for Michael on his tour. We were going to open for him at the O2," she revealed earlier this year.

Would you be excited to hear unreleased music from the King of Pop? Tell us your thoughts below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644569/20100728/jackson_michael.jhtml

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Lady Gaga Challenger 'Confident' She Could Win In A Sing-Off

'I had my fans writing to me and saying, 'Hey, I think you're better than Lady Gaga,' ' Alisa Apps says on MTV's 'The Seven.'
By Mawuse Ziegbe


Lady Gaga
Photo: Jemal Countess/ Getty Images

Upstart vocalist Alisa Apps has nabbed headlines by challenging megastar pop queen Lady Gaga to a $1 million singing contest. To some onlookers, the contest may have appeared to come out of nowhere, but Apps has explained that her dedicated fans urged her to take on Mother Monster. During an interview that aired Friday (October 15) on MTV's "The Seven," the singer detailed the origins of the vocal battle.

"I had my fans writing to me and saying, 'Hey, I think you're better than Lady Gaga and ... it'd be cool for you to challenge her somehow,' " Apps told "Seven" host Kevin.

The singer maintained that her goal isn't to make nice with Gaga and added that a little rivalry keeps everyone on their toes.

"It's not really about co-existing," Apps said. "I think that competition is a good thing. It makes things more fun and exciting."

Gaga's camp was mum when MTV News reached out for comment about the challenge a few days ago, and Apps revealed that she hasn't "heard anything yet from her camp but I'm excited to."

Although no word about the challenge has surfaced from the "Bad Romance" diva, Apps still seems ready to show off her skills in a singing smack-down.

"I'm confident that, yeah, I am a better singer than her," she said.

When Apps first proposed the $1 million contest, which would entail both singers belting out a series of songs for a panel of judges who would determine the victor, she said she felt it would be the ultimate clash of genuine musicianship versus slick music-industry marketing.

"I feel sorry for Lady Gaga — she's just a plastic doll generated by the music money marketing machine," Apps said a press release. "I stand for the voice of your heart. Be real with me. Come to my world and feel. I want to hear you and for you to hear me. This contest gives people a chance to choose which they prefer: plastic or real."

Are you Team Apps or Team Gaga? Let us know in the comments!

Don't miss "The Seven" every weekday at 5 p.m. ET on MTV.

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Lady Gaga Challenged To $1 Million Sing-Off By L.A. Performer

'This contest gives people a chance to choose which they prefer: plastic or real,' singer Alisa Apps says.
By James Montgomery


Alisa Apps and Lady Gaga
Photo: Alisa Apps/ Reverb Nation

Alisa Apps is a Los Angeles-based singer who really, truly believes she is better than Lady Gaga ... and she's willing to go head-to-head with her to prove it.

On Tuesday, Apps challenged Gaga to a televised sing-off — which she proposed would take place at either New York's Madison Square Garden or London's O2 Arena — with the winner taking home a cash prize of $1 million. Each artist would perform a series of songs, with a panel of judges determining just who is the superior singer.

Challenging the reigning queen of pop music is a pretty ingenious way to garner headlines, but according to Apps, she's not stepping to Gaga to make a name for herself. She's doing it out of pity — and to prove a point.

"I feel sorry for Lady Gaga — she's just a plastic doll generated by the music money marketing machine," Apps said in an alliteration-heavy press release. "I stand for the voice of your heart. Be real with me. Come to my world and feel. I want to hear you and for you to hear me. This contest gives people a chance to choose which they prefer: plastic or real."

Oh snap. Apps — who, according to her MySpace page, is signed to a "major" label (but has, to the best of our knowledge, yet to release a major-label album) — does command a rather robust YouTube fanbase, with a video of her performing an original song called "How Do I Make Right?" racking up more than 1 million views. It also bears mention that, back in 2008, on her official YouTube channel, she took aim at diva Mariah Carey with a stunt she called "The Pop Star Challenge".

Apps did not respond to MTV News' request for comment on the Gaga challenge by press time; nor did a rep for Gaga, though, really, that didn't surprise us all that much.

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Justin Bieber Announces Movie Title: 'Never Say Never'

The February release was named after his single from the 'Karate Kid' soundtrack.
By Jocelyn Vena


"Never Say Never" poster
Photo: Paramount

The final piece of Justin Bieber's movie-poster puzzle was finally posted, and it reveals that his highly anticipated 3-D flick will be called "Never Say Never," the name of his song featured on the "Karate Kid" soundtrack.

After fans were sent on a two-day-long Internet scavenger hunt for all the pieces to the puzzle, the final piece was tweeted by @USAToday early Friday morning, and the whole poster appears in Friday's edition of USA Today. The poster features Bieber dressed in his signature varsity jacket and proudly displaying his swooping bangs from under a hood. Across the center is the newly announced title of the movie, as well as the information that it will hit your local Cineplex this February.

The director also posted a video of fans singing "Baby" as pieces of the puzzle slowly came together. "It's from one of his songs," Chu explained about the flick's title inspiration. "But also the idea of every moment in his life."

MTV News caught up with Chu over the summer and he revealed some details about Bieber's highly anticipated movie. "[It's] a movie for his fans, a movie for people who don't know him, and we're gonna tell the underdog story of where he came from," he explained. "Because it's a really fascinating story and it has a lot to do with our sort of digital lifestyle now. He was able to do what corporations try to do now when they use YouTube and they don't even know what to do with it yet. It's a pretty cool story for our time."

And while Bieber kept the details close to his chest when he caught up with us at the VMAs last month, he did seem excited by the film. "We're in the middle [of it now]," he dished. "You're gonna see a lot of cool stuff! 3-D, 3-D!"

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