January 
In Brief. We learned in early January that Radiohead had completed a new studio album,  �Hail To The Thief� (story) - Gwar's Dave Brockie fired back at Slipknot�s Corey Taylor over comments the Slipknot frontman made about Gwar(story) The Feds raided the offices of rap record label Murder Inc. looking for evidence to prove a link between the label and suspected money laundering, drug dealing, weapons violations, and strong arm tactics (story)- The Grammy Nominations were announced to a collective yawn (story)- Vans announced a special edition Social Distortion shoe(story)- Disco pioneer Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees) passed away (story)- Police in England and the Netherlands recovered more than 500 reel-to-reel tapes from The Beatles �Let It Be� sessions during anti-piracy sweep (story) - Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) called for a probe into anti-competitive behavior by Clear Channel Communications, a company that over the past few years has taken over control of a large number of radio stations in the U.S. as well as obtained a large portion of control of live concert venues across America through their concert promotion arm, SFX. Feingold received his soundbites and the story ended there. (story) Audioslave announced their very first North American tour - (story) Metallica made the news by first suing an unsigned band out of Edmonton, Canada for using the name Metallica without the group�s permission (story) Then Metallica surprised fans in Oakland when they performed a short concert from the back of a flatbed truck in a parking lot outside the Network Coliseum where the hometown Raiders were battling the Tennessee Titans for the AFC championship.(story) � KISS and Aerosmith announced that they would tour together(story)- Mark Evans, one of the early members of AC/DC got into a row with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after they dropping his name from the induction rolls (story)- Rapper R. Kelly was arrested for the second time for child porn related charges(story) � A Perfect Circle entered the studio to record their sophomore album(story) - Sharman Networks LTd, the Australian company that runs the KaZaA file-sharing network filed a counter-suit against several record companies and movie studios, claiming that those companies were monopolizing entertainment. (story). 

February
In Brief: The month started out with the announcement that Disturbed would launch the second �Music as a Weapon� tour; taking Taproot, Chevelle and Unloco along for the ride(story)- Fred Durst and Britney Spears had a brief studio collaboration that resulted in a bit of �he said, she said� in the press (story)- Metallica announced the �Summer Sanitarium Tour� that also included Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park (story)- John Densmore, the original drummer of the Doors filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, accusing them of breach of contract, trademark infringement and unfair competition. (story)- Rob Zombie teamed up with R&B crooner Lionel Richie to record a new version of �Brick House,� the classic song from Richie�s former group The Commodores. (story)- Rap music mogul Russell Simmons called for a boycott of Pepsi after the company hired the bleepin Osbournes shortly after they pulled ads featuring rapper Ludacris due to the ranting of a TV commentator over the vulgar content of his music. (story)- Pepsico appeased Russell Simmons and headed off the planned boycott when they agreed to a �multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership� with the Ludacris Foundation and Rush Arts. (story)- Billy Corgan�s short lived band Zwan entered the charts at No. 3 and announce tour plans(story)- Incubus filed a lawsuit against Sony Corporation hoping to get out of their recording contract. They cited a California law that states an entertainer cannot be locked into a contract for over seven years. (story)- VH1 broke the news that Lollapalooza would return in the summer of 03 featuring Jane�s Addiction, Incubus, Audioslave, Jurassic 5 and Queens of the Stone Age (story)- The Osbourne camp couldn�t let Lollapalooza steal all the headlines so they announced that Ozzfest would feature Korn, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson and Chevelle (story)- Jason Newsted blasted his former band Metallica, calling them �sellouts� over their selection of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park as touring mates(story)- Newsted made headlines later in the month when it was learned that he joined Ozzy�s band and that his other band Voivod would be on the Ozzfest tour(story)- Nora Jones cleaned up at the Grammys. (story). 

The biggest story in February was the tragic fire in a Rhode Island night club during a Great White concert. In the end, 100 people died, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley, and more than 160 people were injured. Due to the continuing coverage of the tragedy we set up a special news index page listing the stories as they unfolded, as well as other resources.  � For continuity sake, here is a follow-up story from earlier this month (Dec): After a nine-month investigation, the grand jury returned indictments against the band�s tour manager Dan Biechele, and club owners Jeff and Michael Derderian. All three were charged with 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter with criminal negligence, and 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in violation of a misdemeanor. (story)

March

The month started out with The Eagles announcing their �First Farewell Tour�. (story)- Former AC/DC Bass player Mark Evans spoke with Australian music site Undercover about being the �first person to ever get thrown out of the Hall of Fame� (story)- Blues legend Bo Diddley told a concert audience that rap is a passing thing and it is not �going to last as long as I have.� (story)- The Donnas were added to the Lollapalooza lineup (story)- Anthrax signed a new record deal with Sanctuary Records(story)- A former American Idol contestant was under investigation for manslaughter, following a 2002 bar fight.(story)- Rapper DMX told MTV that he planned to call it quits after the release of his album, �It�s Not A Game�. He apparently wanted to focus on his acting career. (story)- Atlantic Records announced that they would release the �Led Zeppelin DVD� and a new-multidisc-live album �How The West Was Won�(story)- A fan in Bergen, Norway was injured during a Mayhem concert when he was struck in the skull by a flying sheep�s head. (story)- The Police took the stage together for the first time in 18 years during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony(story)- More than a dozen heavy metal musicians and fans were been jailed in Casablanca for moral and religious crimes (story)- Former Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha debuted his first solo song on the Internet (story)- Jason Newsted played his first gig with Ozzy(story)- During a hearing of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, congressman John Carter (Rep � Tx) said that jailing college students who download copyrighted material would help stop piracy. He said that people who download copyrighted music �are committing a felony under the United States code� and that "If you were to prosecute someone and give them three years, I think this would act as a deterrent." (story)- Axl Rose set his legal guns after The Offspring when the So Cal punkers announced they planned to name their new album �Chinese Democrazy (You Snooze You Lose)� (story)- Kelly Osbourne went after the very people that made her a star--MTV--when she gave an interview and complained that the network wasn�t showing her video. (story)- As the U.S. invaded Iraq, 3 Doors Down�s patriotic video shot to No. 1 on VH1(story)- and several artists started lining up to speak out against the war (story).