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Marilyn Wonka? 
siN’s metal news reports: Johnny Depp is keen to take on the lead role in Tim Burtons's, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake, but he'll happily step aside if rocker Marilyn Manson wants the part.

Manson and Depp are the only names in the running to recreate the beloved Roald Dahl eccentric, and Depp admits the rocker would be the perfect Wonka.

He says, "It's an exciting possibility for me to go back and do another film with Tim. It would be a ball. I'll keep all my digits crossed, as it were.

"That said, I'd go and see Manson as Willy Wonka. I'd go and see him in anything."

And Depp admits he'd also consider playing Ozzy in a new biopic: "Sharon and my agent have spoken. I'd think about it, sure."
Click Here for the Full Story

RIAA Sues Downloaders
Much Music reports: Earlier today, the Recording Industry Association of America launched its long-threatened legal assault on downloaders. The American recording industry group filed 261 federal lawsuits against individual Internet-users accused of illegal downloading and file-sharing. The RIAA says that they are targeting what they describe as "substantial" violators who have distributed 1,000 or more songs through file-sharing sites like Kazaa and Gnutella. Under American law, damages for copyright violations range from $750 to $150,000 (U.S.) per work. No word yet on if and when the lawsuits will make it to court.- Click Here for the Full Story

Warren Zevon Dies at 56
Anthony Breznican, AP’s Entertainment Writer reports:  Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who battled death with the same twisted sense of humor found in his songs "Life'll Kill Ya," "Werewolves of London" and "Excitable Boy," has lost his yearlong fight against lung cancer at age 56. 
 
Zevon, among the wittiest and most original of a broad circle of performers to emerge from Los Angeles in the 1970s, died in his sleep Sunday at his home, publicist Carise Yatter said. 

Zevon announced in September 2002 that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had only months to live. 

….After being diagnosed, Zevon spent much of the rest of his time visiting with his two grown children and working on a final album, "The Wind," which was released to critical acclaim last month. 

…In his last months, he told various interviewers he had no regrets, expressing particular gratitude that he had quit boozing in time to watch his children grow up. 

"I got to be the most (expletive deleted) rock star on the block, at least on my block," he once said. "And then I got to be a sober dad for 18 years. I've had two very full lives." 

Family and friends were arranging a small private memorial service to scatter Zevon's ashes in the Pacific Ocean, said manager Brigette Barr. A public memorial service may occur at a later date, she said. .- Click Here for the Full Story and More on Zevon

Coldplay Aid the Third World
Aversion reports: Who says Bono's the only superstar with a political agenda? Coldplay continued to press for fair trade, this time for Mexican farmers. 
Singer Chris Martin operated a hand-drawn plow during a break in touring in Mexico to help shed light on the plight of small farmers in the Central American country. The opening of free trade policies in Third World countries to agricultural markets will drive small, independent farmers out of business, he told reporters. 
"This is an injustice," he told Annanova. "These people should be fairly rewarded for their work. We get fairly rewarded for ours." 
Martin has long been a proponent of fair trade, working with Make Trade Fair for several years. 
- Click Here for the Full Story

Brides Wed To Label?
Blabbermouth reports: BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION, the new band featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns, vocalist London LeGrand, and drummer Scot Coogan (ex-PAUL GILBERT, ONI LOGAN/ROWAN ROBERTSON, SINÉAD O'CONNOR), have finished mixing their debut album with producer Steve Thompson (KORN, METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES) for a tentative February 2004 release. "The album sounds insane," Sixx writes in his latest online posting. "Turning it in with art this week. Will sign final papers on worldwide deal in the next two weeks."

The as-yet-untitled CD, which will feature contributions from previous members John Corabi (ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION) and Kris Kohls (ADEMA), will contain album-quality demos recorded during the pre-production sessions for what was supposed to be the group's "proper" full-length debut. The band have already secured a Japanese deal with Universal and are said to be finalizing an agreement with an as-yet-undisclosed label for the European and American territories.
.- Click Here for the Full Story

Aerosmith Sued
Blabbermouth reports: The former manager of AEROSMITH has slapped the band with a libel lawsuit over a VH1 "Behind the Music" special, according to the New York Daily News.

David Krebs, who managed the Massachusets rockers from 1972 through 1984, claims AEROSMITH defamed his name and reputation in the show by suggesting that he stole from them through unfair transactions.

The manager and AEROSMITH have a long history of bad blood, music sources said. The band members are said to be bitter over deals Krebs and his partner Steve Leber crafted back in the early 1970s that gave the handlers a big stake in the band's music publishing rights.

In the program, AEROSMITH frontman Steven Tyler and band member Joe Perry moan about their money woes in the early '80s, and according to Krebs they suggest that he and his partner are to blame.

Krebs said he tried to call Tyler after the program aired last year but got no response. .- Click Here for the Full Story. 

Rolling Stones Will Rock China
AP reports: The Rolling Stones are making good on their promise to play a concert in China. 

They're scheduled to play in Beijing on Nov. 14. The Stones are also discussing playing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, although details still need to be hammered out. 

The concerts would be part of the British band's 40th anniversary "Forty Licks" tour. 

The Stones had been scheduled to play in Beijing and Shanghai in April but canceled because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. - Click Here Full Story

Sevendust Vs. Coal Chamber
VH1 reports: For their current single, "Enemy," Sevendust have taken a couple of cues from hip-hop. They've half-rapped the verse, and they've put their beef with another musician on wax.

The song is a diatribe directed toward ex-Coal Chamber frontman Dez 
 
Fafara, who is currently in the band Devildriver. "Enemy" was written and largely sung by drummer Morgan Rose, whose wife is former Coal Chamber bassist Rayna Foss-Rose. The song, a full-on character assassination with a bruising verse and huge, melodic chorus, features such lines as, "Look at your face, look at your name/ Funny you're a loser with only yourself to blame," and "You want to be like me 'cause it's real/ So you steal on your way to fame." 

"That song is about the person in the world that I hate more than Saddam Hussein," Rose said. "It was good to be able to get that stuff off my chest because I was able to express myself without doing anything stupid that would get me in trouble."

"Enemy" was originally called "Pez," a derogatory nickname Rose had for Fafara. "We called him that because I used to say, 'I want to take this dude's head and pull it back and rip his tongue out of his neck,' " Rose grumbled. - Click Here for Full Story

Barenaked Train To Alcatraz
Launch reports: Barenaked Ladies and Train will perform in the first-ever online concert to be broadcast from the infamous island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay on October 16. Tickets for the concert, sponsored by T-Mobile, will be made available to the public via radio promotions and online sweepstakes. In addition, fans from around the world will be able to watch the concert live on t-mobile.com and at America Online (Keyword: tmobileallaccess). Existing T-Mobile customers can win tickets in a sweepstakes by submitting text messages to ROCK (7625).

The Alcatraz concert announcement was made on Thursday (September 4) during a webcast of five simultaneous "T-Mobile All Access" concert events in five cities--Ashanti in New York, Jason Mraz in Chicago, Fuel in Philadelphia, Live in Dallas, and 311 in Los Angeles.- Click Here Full Story

What are they up to now special: Van Halen
What is Van Halen up to now? Just in case you missed the fact with the group’s lack of activity, former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar told an interviewer that there is no Van Halen right now. Read on…

Launch reports: Former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar told Goldmine magazine that at this point in time, "there is not a Van Halen." He said that bassist Michael Anthony (news) has had no contact with guitarist Eddie Van Halen (news) or drummer Alex Van Halen (news) for a year, and that Eddie himself "hasn't played music for I don't know how long." While he says that the Van Halen brothers are both still capable of putting together a great musical project, Hagar added that, "If there's no Sammy, no Mike, or no David Lee Roth...that is not Van Halen." 
 
Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, responding to a fan question on his band's official website, toto99.com, wrote that Van Halen has "an amazing record in the can and...are still looking for THE lead singer." Asked if he would consider taking the job, Lukather added, "I don't think I am the right guy, nor would I want the media heat and hate that would come my way." - Click Here Full Story
 

**Press Releases**
Snippets from some of the press releases that have come in over the past 24 hours

Count the Stars In Accident
From Victory Records:One of the hardest touring bands on Victory, Count the Stars ground to a halt Saturday morning after a bad accident left their van and trailer totaled and singer/guitarist Chris Kasarjian in the hospital with broken ribs, a collapsed lung and stitches.  After their driver lost control of the van, the trailer ripped off its hitch and flew twenty feet into the air, hitting a tree and coming apart, scattering the band's merch and equipment.  The van flipped several times, causing Kasarjian's injuries but only bruises and minor cuts on the rest of the band and crew.  The band will be cancelling [sic] their appearances on The Juliana Theory tour through at least September 20th, the dates following are contingent on Chris's recovery, so check at http://www.victoryrecords.com/tours.html

Women Rock
From Epic: LIFETIME Television, the leading women’s cable network, will once again champion the fight against breast cancer with the fourth annual "Women Rock!” concert it was announced today by Marian Effinger, Vice-President of Reality Programming. Mandy Moore, singer and one of Hollywood’s hottest young film actresses, will host and perform at “Women Rock! Songs From the Movies,” which, for the first time, will feature theme songs from major motion pictures. The concert will feature performances by (in alphabetical order): international pop sensation Anastacia, country artists Alison
Krauss + Union Station, celebrated songwriter/performer Kenny Loggins, hip-hop and soul artist Mya and country legend Dolly Parton among others.

The show will also feature a special performance by Celine Dion. Jessica Alba, Sharon Osbourne, Lisa Rinna and others are set as presenters for the program, which will be produced by Ken Ehrlich Productions ("The Grammy Awards," "VH1's Divas"). “Women Rock! Songs From the Movies” will tape at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on September 30 and will air Thursday, October 23, 10 PM-12 AM (ET/PT) on the LIFETIME Television Network. 

Actress/singer Mandy Moore Will Host and Perform

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