Kanye Muppet- Celebrity Rehab Encouraged Leif Garrett To Relapse?- Josh Groban Sings Kanye's Tweets- Taylor Swift Single Again?- Michael Jackson Sick Before Death?- more

(Billboard) Leif Garrett checked into the latest season of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" to battle years of drug abuse, but according to the pop singer and actor, the reality show had just the opposite effect. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Garrett claims that the "Rehab" producers encouraged him to relapse for dramatic purposes. more

(Billboard) Josh Groban performed a glorious commercial-style skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live advertising his "new album," "The Best Tweets of Kanye West," schooling us all on how to playfully take a jab at King Kanye. It includes 752 original songs on 48 CDs. Wait, what? See it here.

(Billboard) A choreographer who worked with Michael Jackson on his ill-fated concert tour told a judge Tuesday he clashed with Jackson's doctor and others over the superstar's health six days before he died. more

BBC reports that Michael Jackson's doctor tried to conceal having given the singer a powerful anaesthetic shortly before he died, prosecutors say at a hearing more

Meanwhile Yahoo reports that a bodyguard who prosecutors say was ordered by the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death to conceal syringes and other items before calling 911 is expected to shed light on the chaotic efforts that failed to revive the King of Pop. more

You thought Axl Rose was bad? Lauryn Hill showed no remorse after keeping devotees waiting for almost four hours at a recent comeback concert in New York, telling disgruntled fans she was "worth the wait". more

(FMQB) Rapper Rick Ross told WWPR (Power 105.1)/New York this week that his next album will be titled God Forgives, I Don't. more

(Billboard) After a brief, whirlwind romance, Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal have apparently called it quits. more

(Billboard) American Idol seventh season winner David Cook has released a new teaser video for his still-untitled sophomore album, which will follow his 2008 self-titled debut. more

(Yahoo) Kellie Pickler has gotten married. Her label, BNA Records, says in a statement that she wed songwriter Kyle Jacobs on New Year's Day. They held a small ceremony on a private island in the Caribbean more

(ASB) Soulja Boy has sparked controversy in the world of Twitter.com after declaring he is the man responsible for the catchy lyrics to Willow Smith's hit song Whip My Hair.

(BBC) Character actor Bill Erwin, best known for his role as the grumpy old man in US sitcom Seinfeld, dies aged 96. more

And the joke of the day: Justin Bieber's goal in life is to reach the same level of fame as his idol Michael Jackson. more

Swollen Members Madchild Banned from US

The Canadian based emcee is currently unable to enter the United States to tour or record until the matter has been resolved with US customs.

Madchild has released the following statement about the incident: "I was on my way to meet my brothers in Swollen Members to perform some shows in the United States. I went to go through customs at the Vancouver Airport, and I was pulled into the Customs waiting room. I must have sat there for three hours before I was even called up to the desk, which was odd considering there was hardly anybody else in there waiting. When I was finally called up, the agent started questioning me about being a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club and when I replied, 'No', he just continued to repeat the question over and over again. After five more hours of waiting, watching him go back and forth, looking on the internet and asking me the same questions over and over again, I was finally called to the front desk. He asked me another series of questions and after a total of eight and a half hours of questioning I was told that I was officially banned from entering the United States." more on this story

Lady Gaga and Betty White Go Comic

"Fame: Lady Gaga" and "Female Force: Betty White" are scheduled to hit newsstands, comic bookstores and online venues on Wednesday, January 5.

"Fame: Lady Gaga" follows the unknown Stefani Germanotta as she crafted a glam-rock persona and began her climb up the pop music charts with monster hits like "Poker Face" and "Just Dance." The issue also promises to showcase Gaga in some of her more unusual and extraordinary fashion choices as well as her legendary performances. more on this story

Jersey Shore's Pauly D Web Event Today

Livestream will broadcast this exciting event as Pauly takes questions directly from fans via Twitter (#bbpaulyd).

He will discuss his newly announced MTV spin-off about his "life outside of the shore," his energetic first single "Beat Dat Beat," and the upcoming season three of "Jersey Shore."

Fans can tune into the live interview on Billboard's Livestream page here

New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys Add More Dates

The groups announce 16 new shows for a total of 41 confirmed dates for the highly anticipated 2011 boybandbananza!

The extraordinary NKOTBSB tour, produced by Live Nation, begins June 2nd with confirmed shows through July 30th. Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale beginning Saturday, January 15 at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. more on this story

Starlings, TN Come Out of Hurricane Katrina Induced Hiatus With New Album

Since hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf coast in late August of 2005, Steven Stubblefield has been working on a new Starlings, TN record. "That storm was like a bad acid trip," Stubblefield says. "It lasted as nearly as long too. It was eight hours of chaos that left years destruction in its wake."

With more than $10,000 worth of damage to his home from Katrina, Stubblefield spent the next three years helping others recover from the storm. He worked for the first ten months in Biloxi, MS with the humanitarian organization, Samaritan's Purse. But, when a job working for the American Red Cross opened up in his home town of Hattiesburg, MS, he made the move back home. more on this story

Andy Friedman To Deliver Laserbeams and Dreams

Produced by noted guitarist and producer David Goodrich (Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey), the album was recorded in Friedman's Brooklyn neighborhood and cut in 24 hours with one overdub and mixed in the studio.

Andy Friedman first hit the road as a self-described "Slideshow Poet" in 2002, leaving his day job as an office assistant in the Editorial Department at The New Yorker to accompany projections of his paintings, drawings, and Polaroids with readings of his poetry in dive bars and rock clubs around the nation. more on this story

Grown Ups Set Spring Release

The band released their debut EP Songs in 2009 and their first full-length More Songs was re-released by Top Shelf Records.

Grown Ups are currently on tour. All upcoming tour dates are listed here

Ray Charles Trumpeter David Hoffman Releases New Album

David Hoffman approaches music from several perspectives. Traveling the world as trumpet soloist/arranger with the legendary Ray Charles, and his extensive experience in the world of Jazz formed an artistic platform, that enhanced his performance on stage and in recording projects. His current environment plays an important role in the inspiration behind his passion for music and nature to gently flow together. Having played with Ray for the last 13 years of his illustrious career, Hoffman moved back to his Midwest home, located in a converted rural Congregational Church, living and making music in the recording studio located in the former sanctuary. Corn, Pumpkin, and Soybean fields, with their mixture of colors, the sounds of the wind rustling through the meadows, and the scents of the seasons, offer a "Calmness of Spirit".

It's this environment that inspired Hoffman's most recent CD, 'Calmness of Spirit'. "My desire was to merge the sounds of the neighborhood with calming music, but in a different way than is standard. I feel like with much music of this type, the nature sounds are added on without really being a part of the music". On the first cut on the CD, "The Singing Frogs of Guadeloupe", Hoffman started with a track recorded in his back yard on a late summer's night. "The tree frogs were singing, and I sat outside with a digital recorder, enjoying their songs. Some other neighborhood animals joined in. You can distinguish at least two types of frogs, crickets, and a lone coyote in the distance. When I took the recording inside and listened to it, I discovered a very musical 'whir' caused by a small bug flying dangerously close to the microphone." It wasn't until Hoffman had listened to this "neighborhood" music that he started on his part of the project. "What I wanted to do is to accompany the frogs, which took figuring out their general rhythm and key center". What results is an integration of nature and music. The last part of the equation was the addition of Paul Adam's Hulusi, which is a wind instrument native to China. Somehow it fit in, giving a lighthearted feel to the finished track. more on this story

Jenny O. Bootleg Residency

Jenny's been quite busy as of late, between release her EP Home in November via Manimal, as well as two holiday singles (including one on Target's holiday soundtrack).

Jenny O. defines the laid-back sound of Southern California, combining elements of 60's & 70's pop; sometimes folky, sometimes not, but always irresistible. One spin of her debut EP will prove that. Jenny writes, records, and performs original material reminiscent of those classic early influences. more on this story