Pop singer turned country star Dan Seals has died of complications of cancer. He was 61.

Seals died Wednesday at his daughter's home in Nashville, after a battle with lymphoma.

The brother of Jim Seals of Seals & Croft, Dan Seals sang under the name England Dan in the 1970s in a duo with John Ford Coley.

They had several hits, including I'd Really Like to See You Tonight, Nights are Forever and Love is the Answer.

Seals and Coley met in Dallas in 1968, playing in a rock band before perfecting their soft pop sound. The duo disbanded in 1980.

Seals then began a solo career, climbing the country charts with hits such as God Must Be a Cowboy, My Baby's Got Good Timing, Bop, and You Still Move Me.

His duet with Marie Osmond, Meet Me in Montana, was a chart-topper in 1985 and earned the pair a Country Music Association Award for best vocal duo.

Seals enjoyed a successful country career throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, but his soft country sound fell out of fashion in the 1990s and his popularity waned.

He continued to tour and released his last studio album, Make It Home, in 2002.

Born Danny Wayland Seals on Feb. 8, 1948, Seals grew up in a music-oriented family in McCarney, Texas.

He learned to play bass and both his brothers — Eddie and Jim — became musicians.

Source CBCnews.ca

First Michael Jackson was for it, then he was against it, but he still might be for it ... maybe. Such is the confusing saga of an upcoming auction of 2,000 pieces of Jackson memorabilia slated for April 22-25 that has reportedly run into resistance from the King of Pop.

According to The Associated Press, the Hollywood auction house Julien's Auctions was hired by Jackson to sell off the contents of his now-closed Neverland Ranch, including one of his signature black fedoras, some of the singer's signature crystal-encrusted gloves and a pair of his MTV Video Music Awards, along with furniture, artwork, clothing, Neverland's giant ornamental front gates and a blinged-out golf cart.

But then Jackson filed a lawsuit in early March, claiming he had not given permission for the sale of his many "priceless and irreplaceable" items. Julien's filed papers with the court showing that Jackson's representatives had been "deeply and enthusiastically" involved in the sale for months, down to the design of the cover of the auction book, before changing course and, according to president Darren Julien, allegedly trying to intimidate him into postponing the event.

Julien claims that during a February 9 meeting at a fast-food restaurant in Los Angeles, one of Jackson's employees warned that the auction house would be in danger "from [Louis] Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam" if it didn't cancel plans for the sale. "He told us that [Jackson's business manager] Dr. Tohme and Michael Jackson wanted to give the message to us that our lives are at stake and there will be bloodshed," Julien claimed.

A lawyer for Jackson said Julien had made the threat allegations to cover up his own misconduct, but a representative for Jackson could not be reached by MTV News for comment at press time.

"Unfortunately, in the course of this case, Mr. Julien has not felt constrained by the truth while trying to capture the spotlight for the auction or himself with sensationalistic and fictionalized references to supposed threats that never occurred or baseless speculation about potential sales of Neverland," Jackson lawyer Alan Gutman told the AP. Gutman said the consignment agreement in which Jackson allegedly gave up his right to take the items back before the auction was illegal and unenforceable under California law.

Despite the dispute, the two sides reportedly agreed to let some of Jackson's items travel as part of a publicity tour in advance of an April 3 court hearing on the matter. Some of the pieces are in New York this week, after drawing thousands of spectators in Ireland last month and possibly thousands more when a larger preview hits Los Angeles in two weeks.

Julien has estimated that the sale could bring in $10 million to $20 million. The singer would get nearly all the proceeds, minus auction-house commissions and a percentage set aside for charitable causes. Jackson, who has reportedly suffered from financial problems over the past several years, recently sold out 50 dates at the O2 Arena in London.

Source MTV

Aubrey Mayhew, who co-founded Little Darlin' Records with Johnny Paycheck in 1966 primarily as a vehicle for Paycheck's own music, has died at a Nashville hospice at the age of 81. Time and cause of death have not yet been announced. Despite its focus on Paycheck, Little Darlin' became a home to such other country artists as Bobby Helms and Jeannie C. Riley. Mayhew also served as Paycheck's producer, manager and occasional co-writer. Paycheck's first and highest-charting single on Little Darlin' was "The Lovin' Machine," which went to No. 8 in 1966. In all, Paycheck charted nine singles on the label, four of them co-written with Mayhew. Paycheck would go on to achieve his greatest fame at CBS/Epic Records in the 1970s. He died in 2003. Mayhew's other passion was collecting memorabilia of President John Kennedy's assassination, a passion that extended to purchasing the Texas Book Depository building in Dallas from which Kennedy was shot. Some of Little Darlin's extensive catalog has been released on Koch Records, including the 2004 compilation album A Little Darlin' Christmas, featuring seasonal tracks by Helms and Paycheck. Other Little Darlin' artists spotlighted in the Koch re-releases were Riley, Jeannie C. Riley, Don Williams, Lightnin' Hopkins and steel guitar player Lloyd Green.

Source CMT

If you just saw four men on horses ride by, it's not because you live near a stable. It's because Spandau Ballet, those new romantic hitmakers of the early '80s, have announced they're getting back together.

All of which means one thing: every group, no matter how big or small, no matter the genre, will eventually reform.

Spandau Ballet will officially announce their reunion aboard HMS Belfast in London on Wednesday (25 March) when they will reveal plans to release new songs and details of a world tour, which is believed to include a date at FC Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium in Spain.

"Brilliant but different"

"The boys are back in town and we can't wait," lead singer Tony Hadley told The Independent. "It's going to be brilliant, we're very excited, but it will be very different.

"There will be all the hits, the nostalgia, but there will also be a new take on what Spandau Ballet are about."

The band, considered pioneers of the new romantic movement (extreme emphasis on hair and fashion, see also Duran Duran) had lush hits such as Gold and True before busting up in 1989.

The group's five members forged their own solo careers, including spells of acting for Gary and brother Martin Kemp (both of whom received good notices for their roles in the 1990 film The Krays).

Clop-clop-clop-clop! There go those horses again. Something tells us an Adam And The Ants reunion could be upon us.

Source mursicradar

When The Allman Brothers Band encamped recently at New York's Beacon Theater - their 20th year of spending the better part of March at the famed venue, and to mark their 40th year as a band to boot - they promised a host of guest stars.

Sure enough, notables have been turning up each night: Levon Helm, Johnny Winter, Phish's Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, Boz Scaggs, John Hammond, Bonnie Bramlett and Susan Tedeschi (wife of Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks).

Rumors of Showhand spread for months

But even before the Allman's run began, rumors were hot and heavy that a VERY special guest would make an appearance, and last Thursday (19 March) months of speculation came to pass as Eric Clapton joined the band onstage to help them honor the legacy of founding member Duane Allman in the nicest way possible.

Introducing Clapton as "a real great player and a real wonderful person," keyboardist-singer Gregg Allman must've seen history flash before his eyes: four decades ago, Clapton formed the one-time only supergroup Derek & The Dominoes, and the resulting album, considered a classic, featured crucial slide guitar contributions from Duane Allman.

None of which was lost on the ecstactic crowd, who cheered wildly with each number Clapton played with the band: Keys To The Highway, Dreams, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Little Wing and Anyday.

But it was the will-he-or-won't-he-play it? encore of Layla that took the night - and the entire Allman Brothers Band run - to a spiritual high. This journalist has seen Clapton play Layla on dozens of occasions, and last Thursday's performance might be the best he's ever witnessed.

Sit back, click on the video and take it in. You won't be sorry.

Source musicradar

Earlier this month, Metallica were forced to cancel a show in Stockholm, Sweden, when frontman James Hetfield was hospitalized with a stomach bug and dehydration.

A few days after the cancellation, Hetfield posted an apologetic message on Metallica's Web site, explaining that he was taken down by — of all things — "a bad oyster."

It all seemed rather humorous (especially since he's fully recovered), so when MTV News sat down with Hetfield last week at South by Southwest — hours before Metallica stomped through Stubb's for a not-so-secret "secret" show — we had to ask about that oyster. Because, wow, that must've been one monstrous mollusk.

"The oyster that took down Metallica," Hetfield laughed. "Well, yeah, it was at the very last show of the very last leg [of Metallica's European tour], and there's a few places where we're able to do doubles, which is awesome, and this last one was in Sweden, in Stockholm.

"We had done the first show, and there's not many times where all the support acts — we've got Machine Head, we've got the Sword out with us — there's not many places where we're all in the same town, at the same day off, together," he continued. "So there was a night where we went out and had a celebration between shows, and there was a bunch of food that was laid out that was maybe laid out a bit too long, I don't know."

Het said he downed a few oysters and continued celebrating. He felt fine all night, but when he woke up the next morning, something was different.

"I just started to feel really bad. And man, I tried so hard to not cancel the show. It's so lame. It's tough to call in sick to our gig, and I don't want to disappoint people, and we're already there, the gear's there, but I was so sick I swear I could not stand without falling over," he said. "I was so dehydrated. The doctor came in, took my blood pressure — which was, like, 80 over 60 — and he had an IV of saline in his car, and he brought it in, he taped it up to the lamp next to the bed and plugged me in. But of course, the stuff's supposed to be at room temperature. It was freezing, and I went into this — my teeth were chattering. It was an event."

So, with their frontman doubled over and shivering, Metallica were forced to cancel the Stockholm gig, leaving some 16,000 fans totally bummed. But they've already announced a makeup date for the Stockholm show (April 5), and Hetfield said he's determined to take the stage that night.

"I'll be there. For sure. No oyster can stop me," he laughed. "The last time, it was a combination of, I think, bad food — salmonella — along with the stomach flu, and it knocked me out, man. Won't happen again."

Source MTV