In an unlikely move, The Jam – well, two thirds of them – have announced they will tour for the first time in 25 years.

Bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler have reformed the band for a 20-date UK tour, which starts on May 2 in the intimate Oxford Zodiac venue.

“Fans have been demanding that we play live for years,” said Buckler. “The songs mean so much to so many people.”

Foxton and Buckler have been writing new Jam material and plan to release a new studio album in the autumn. And even though original frontman Paul Weller will take no part in the shows, Foxton and Buckler are offering an olive branch. "Paul is always welcome to join us for the reunion, but until then, we've got a tour and a new album to do!" Foxton said.

The 20 live shows will be a mix of old and new. “We've decided to perform The Jam's greatest hits – ‘Going Underground’, ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight’, ‘The Eton Rifles’, ‘Town Called Malice’ plus some of my own songs,” confirmed Foxton.

Bruce and Rick's reunion also coincides with the band's 30th anniversary and release of their debut album In The City, originally released in April 1977.

We won’t be holding our breaths for the trio to reunite proper, it is alleged that Weller has not spoken to Buckler in over 20 years – since the the split in ’82 when Weller dissolved The Jam to form The Style Council.

The Foxton-Buckler, Jam 30th anniversary tour dates in full are:

Oxford Zodiac (May 2)
Cambridge Junction (3)
Middlesbrough Town Hall - The Crypt (5)
Aberdeen Lemon Tree (6)
Edinburgh Liquid Rooms (7)
Nottingham Rescue Rooms (9)
Stoke Sugarmill (10)
Liverpool Academy 2 (11)
Sheffield Leadmill (12)
Preston 53 Degrees (13)
Bristol Academy 2 (16)
Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall (17)
Cardiff Point (18)
Guildford Surrey University (19)
Isle of Wight: The Venue - Ryde Theatre (20)
Norwich Waterfront (23)
Tunbridge Wells - The High Rocks (24)
Northampton Soundhaus (25)
Reading Fez Club (26)
Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (27)

Tickets go on sale this Friday (February 23) at 9am.

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Donovan has cancelled his upcoming UK tour and sidelined plans for his upcoming studio album. The singer, whose real name is Donovan Leitch, posted a short message on his official website donovan.ie, saying: "Site under re-construction. Donovan Says... I am sorry to say the UK spring tour is now cancelled. There are no plans to re-book it soon. My new album will not be ready for the spring release. Watch this space and in a few weeks I will open the site again."

Donovan was scheduled to kick-off his 13-date UK tour on April 7th in Nottingham, UK at the Royal Center.

Last month Donovan and filmmaker David Lynch made joint appearances in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, talking about the benefits of transcendental meditation.

In 2005, he published his autobiography, titled The Autobiography Of Donovan: Hurdy Gurdy Man.

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Muse are confirmed as one of this years' Isle Of Wight festival headliners.

The festival takes place on June 8, 9 and 10 at Newport's Seaclose Park, and Muse, who have just finished a massive Arena tour of the UK, will top the bill on the Saturday.

The band fronted by Matt Bellamy say they are honoured to be chosen to play. They said in a joint press statement that "The past year has been truly amazing for us and performing live is what we're all about. Getting the opportunity to do that at the Isle of Wight Festival is an honour. Some of our biggest heroes played the festival back in the 70's. It's steeped in history and we can't wait to be a part of that."

Other bands confirmed to headline stages at the festival in June are Snow Patrol, Kasabian and Keane.

Other artists so far set to play also include BRIT winners Amy Winehouse and James Morrison, The Fratellis and Wolfmother - as well as Ash, Paolo Nutini and The Feeling.

There are also excited rumours circulating that The Rolling Stones could be announced as a further headliner for this Summer's event.

The last time Mick Jagger and co rocked a festival in the UK was way back in '76 at Knebworth...

Festival promoters Solo commented that "Bands love coming to the island and feeling the tradition. Tennyson was right about it's magical quality."

Tickets for this years' IOW festival go on general sale from Thursday (February 22) at 9am.

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A series of seven Live Aid stlye concerts, entitled Live Earth, have been announced to take place across seven continents on July 7, 2007 (07/07/07).

Former US Vice President Al Gore, yesterday announced the concert plans; 100 artists will play the seven shows, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sheryl Crow and Duran Duran.

The Live Earth shows will take place in London, Johannesburg, Shanghai and Sydney. Cities chosen in Brazil, Japan and the Eastern states of the US have yet to be confirmed.

The seventh show will take place in Antarctica, the first time a live event has taken place on the continent.

Organisers of the concert, include Kevin Wall, who produced 2005's Live 8 concerts with Bob Geldof and Save Our Selves (SOS) hope that the concerts will reach an audience of 2billion, through the web, tv and radio.

Al Gore, leading the campaign to raise awareness, said yesterday: "The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement. We hope to jump-start that movement right here, right now, and take it to a new level on July 7, 2007.

Gore has been raising awareness of global warming for some time. His film on the environment, "An Inconvenient Truth" is also in the running for two Academy Awards this year.

Only the first 25 artists that will play have been confirmed. Though it is expected that Coldplay, Muse and Oasis will play the show in London.

Muse already have a show planned that day in Ireland, but the Brit Award winners hope to reschedule it so that they can take part in the big day.

Artists confirmed to play as well as RHCP and Duran, are Foo Fighters, Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell and Faith Hill.

Rockers AFI, Fall Out Boy and Korn are also set to play alongside Snow Patrol, Keane and Bloc Party.

Live Earth will implement a new Green Event Standard that will become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events in the future. The Green Event Standard is being developed in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Commission.

More details about the 24 hours worth of concerts and how to get tickets will be available soon.

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David Crosby and Graham Nash have postponed their forthcoming US tour due to Crosby's ill health, Reuters reports.

No specific illness has been stated.

A message posted by the band's manager Donald Miller on http://crosbynash.com on Friday said: "The action was taken because of medical issues that have arisen for member David Crosby."

He added that they "deeply regret that the band will not be able to embark on this (U.S.) tour as scheduled. At this time, we thank you for your understanding and the band looks forward to seeing you this fall."

Crosby and Nash's tour was due to start on March 19 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, finishing on April 15 in Niagara Falls, New York.

Earlier this year, Crosby and Nash were due to pereform concerts in Australia, but they too were cancelled due to Crosby taking ill.

The postponement was reported in an Australian newspaper which claimed that Crosby had contracted pneumonia.

Long-term musical partner Stephen Stills was due to rejoin them on stage for those dates.

Crosby, now 65, has had a history of substance abuse, including contracting hepatitis C and having a liver transplant in 1995.

The US dates will be re-scheduled in the coming months and are expected to take place in the Autumn.

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