Wednesday, August 20, 2008

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND SAXOPHONIST LEROI MOORE DEAD AT 46

Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore died Tuesday (August 19th) at a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 46, the Associated Press reports. The exact cause of death is unknown, but was related to complications from critical injuries Moore sustained in a June 30th all-terrain vehicle crash on his farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. Moore, who suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs in the accident, recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical rehabilitation but complications forced him back into the hospital.

Moore's accident prevented him from joining Dave Matthews Band on their current tour, which coincidentally was scheduled to play Los Angeles Tuesday and Wednesday (August 20th). In a message posted on their website, LeRoi's former bandmates said they were "deeply saddened" at news of his death.

Although Plant has enjoyed a successful solo career since 1982, he will always be best known for his years fronting Led Zeppelin and co-writing the majority of the band's songs with Jimmy Page.

Despite last December's Zeppelin reunion in London featuring himself, Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham filling in for his late dad John Bonham, Plant has been the lone hold-out in committing to any future performances. Several of the industries' top promoters have essentially offered the band a blank check should they commit to any number of road dates.

Coincidentally, just as the Zeppelin reunion rumors first began to catch fire last year, Plant enjoyed the biggest success of his solo career with his collaboration with Alison Krauss on their joint album Raising Sand, which hit Number Two on The Billboard 200 album charts. Plant and Krauss' cover of the Everly Brothers' "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" scored the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Frampton's concert set lists still draw heavily on his 1976 multi-platinum double album Frampton Comes Alive! -- as well as spotlighting Frampton's most recent album, the Grammy-Award winning instrumental set, Fingerprints.

Last week, Chapman was turned down for parole for the fifth time since 2002. The Associated Press reported that the transcript for last week's parole hearing was made public, in which Chapman, who's now 53, said in part, "I recognized that that 25-year-old man -- I don't think he really appreciated the life that he was taking, that this was a human being. I feel now at 53 I have grown into a deeper understanding of what a human life is. I have changed a lot."

Chapman shed light on his state of mind during the days he stalked Lennon and eventually shot him to death. He recalled that he had hoped the murder would give him a sense of identity and notoriety: "I would be something other than a nobody, and that was my reasoning at the time."

Reuters reported that the opening acts for the tour will be Death Cab For Cutie, who'll play the first portion of the tour from opening night in Minneapolis until November 29th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when Wilco will then replace them as the tour's opener.

Young wraps up his European tour on Saturday (August 23rd) in Coburg, Germany. On September 20th, Young will appear with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and others in Mansfield, Massachusetts for the annual Farm Aid benefit.

Over 50 Gannett newspaper and TV station websites, including USATODAY.com, will exclusively offer full streaming audio of That Lucky Old Sun in the days leading up to its September 2nd release. The album will be streamed from August 22nd to September 1st. Log on to brianwilson.com to see a full list of Gannett websites from which the album can be streamed.