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Today’s Music News: You won’t believe what Rick Springfield is standing trial for

by Staff

January 15, 2015

80s pop icon Rick Springfield is currently standing trial in Syracuse, New York for a 2004 incident at the New York State Fair. Vicki Calcagno claims that during a performance that year, Springfield entered the crowd and, while standing atop a chair to play guitar and sing, fell over and struck Calcagno with his buttocks. Calcagno alleges that Springfield's posterior knocked her unconscious and caused "serious, permanent, and disabling injuries." Calcagno's lawsuit has been in trial and retrial since 2007, and Tuesday on the witness stand, Springfield raised his voice to say he was being called a liar, then began to cry. "I get emotional sometimes," he said. (Syracuse.com)

Nominees for Best Original Song in the 2015 Oscars are Tegan and Sara and the Lonely Island ("Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie, written by Shawn Patterson); Glen Campbell ("I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me); John Legend and Common ("Glory" from Selma); Rita Ora ("Grateful" from Beyond the Lights); and Adam Levine and Keira Knightley ("Lost Stars" from Begin Again, co-written by Gregg Alexander of the New Radicals). (Local Current)

"Canadian Recordings"? Justin Bieber is apparently "making history," whatever that means, with producer Rick Rubin. (Billboard)

Fleetwood Mac are coming to town this Friday, and if you were planning to buy tickets on the resale market, take a deep breath: the Mac are currently the most expensive artist to buy scalped tickets for, with seats averaging over $300 each. Following Fleetwood Mac on Forbes's most-expensive list are Maroon 5Taylor Swift, and Neil Diamond. (Consequence of Sound)

Montage of Heck, the authorized Kurt Cobain documentary set to air on HBO later this year, will be accompanied by a companion book featuring "a mixture of animation stills, rare photography and other treasures from Kurt Cobain's personal archive." (Rolling Stone) Meanwhile, very unauthorized t-shirts printed with Cobain's suicide note have been removed from eBay following an online campaign that called them disrespectful and inappropriate. (NME)

Following reports that the NFL was exploring the idea of asking artists to pay for the privilege of being featured in the Super Bowl halftime show, this year's performer Katy Perry has definitively stated that she made no such agreement. Perry's 12-minute performance on Feb. 1 will visit two different "worlds" and will feature an appearance by Lenny Kravitz; she's apparently been taking inspiration from a Canadian avant-garde dance troupe.

This year's Newport Jazz Festival, taking place July 31 through Aug. 2, will feature performances by Dr. John and Cassandra Wilson. The festival is still produced by George Wein, who founded the festival in 1954 and later founded the Newport Folk Festival. Wein will receive a special Grammy this year for his contributions to music. (Billboard)

Taylor Swift's 1989 is spending a ninth week atop the Billboard album chart; the album is a monster hit, but it's still a long, long way from setting a record for total weeks atop that chart. The three leaders to date by that measure are Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (31 weeks), Michael Jackson's Thriller (37 weeks), and the West Side Story soundtrack, which topped the album chart for a whopping 54 weeks in 1962-63.

Swift is sharing the wealth—she just sent a $1,989 check to a fan to help pay off student loans. (Billboard)

If Chris Martin is dating Jennifer LawrenceGwyneth Paltrow has no problem with that. (Billboard)

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