• Big Star’s Alex Chilton Dead at 59
• Jimi Hendrix’s Last Days: The New Issue
• Best New Bands of 2010
• Dixie Chicks Team With Eagles for Tour
• Phish Announce Big Summer Trek
• Idol Survives Rolling Stones Night
• Frank Black Talks Sexy Disc NonStopErotik
• Hot Chip Recast as Boy Band in “I Feel Better”
• Ludacris Beats Gorillaz to Number One
• Breaking: Local Natives
• New Music Report: Titus Andronicus
• News Ticker: Rolling Stones, Jack White
• Stooges, Genesis Join Rock Hall of Fame
• Jackson Estate, Sony Strike Huge Deal
• Grohl Fiends for Caffeine in Studio Footage
• Eddy Grant Accuses Gorillaz of Infringement
• Abdul Rumored for Star Search Reboot
• New Reviews: Drive-By Truckers, Whigs
• Lady Gaga Announces Summer Arena Tour
• Fricke on Allman Brothers in NYC
• Photos: Ryan Adams Backstage on the Road
• Pearl Jam, Casablancas Rock SNL
• Kings of Leon “Stoked” for Summer Tour
• Watch Warren Haynes Live @ RS
• Gaga Talks “Telephone”; Clip Not Banned
• Help the Editors! Take a Survey!
• Fricke’s Picks: The Kristofferson Vaults
• Win the White Stripes’ Box Set

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Alex Chilton, singer and guitarist of Big Star, one of the most influential rock groups to emerge from the early 1970s, has passed away at the age of 59. Chilton reportedly suffered a heart attack today in New Orleans, just days before Big Star were scheduled to perform at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. Chilton had been complaining about his health earlier in the day, and was eventually taken to a New Orleans hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Big Star drummer Jody Stephens confirmed Chilton’s passing, Memphis’ Commercial Appeal reports. “Alex passed away a couple of hours ago,” Stephens said. “I don’t have a lot of particulars, but they kind of suspect that it was a heart attack.”

Chilton began his musical career in his teens as a member of the Box Tops before returning to his native Memphis to form Big Star with guitarist/co-songwriter Chris Bell, drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel. Blending power pop with the sound of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, Big Star were critically acclaimed but largely ignored commercially. In their short time together in the early-’70s — though Bell exited the band after #1 Record, Hummel after Radio City — Big Star only released three studio albums, but what three incredible albums they were: 1972’s #1 Record, 1974’s Radio City and 1978’s dark but beautiful Third/Sister Lovers all placed on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and their classic tracks “Thirteen” and “September Gurls” both made the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Read David Fricke’s review of Big Star’s last New York City concert here.

While they only lasted a few years, Big Star’s impact continues to reverberate decades later. R.E.M. and the Replacements both named Big Star and Alex Chilton as major influences, and the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me features a song titled “Alex Chilton.” Chilton became a cult musical icon, and artists as diverse as Beck, Wilco, Elliott Smith, R.E.M., Cheap Trick, Jeff Buckley, Garbage, Bat For Lashes and Whiskeytown have covered Big Star’s songs. Renewed interest in the band’s music led to a reunion of sorts in the early ’90s and a new album in 2005’s In Space, which featured two members of the Posies, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer. Just last year, a box set celebrating Big Star’s entire catalog, Keep an Eye on the Sky was released.

“It’s not like I’m a ‘big star’ constantly getting noticed, but I do get recognized,” Chilton told Rolling Stone in 2000 of the fame that eluded Big Star during their first years together. “What’s nice is that the people in my neighborhood just know me as Alex. It’s funny, because I spent so much of my life moving from place to place and I went through a few dark periods, but in the last few years I’ve kind of settled down.” Chilton is survived by his wife Laura and son Timothy.

For more on Chilton’s musical legacy, watch a handful of Big Star classics below, and be sure to remember Alex by looking back at our Rolling Stone features below:

• Big Star Rock “#1 Record,” “Radio City” Classics at Rare NYC Gig
• Alex Chilton Set to Go
• Big Star Travel “Space”
• Big Star Album Reviews

“Thirteen”

“September Gurls”

“Life is White”

“In the Street”

“Kanga Roo”

Jeff Buckley performing Big Star’s “Kanga Roo”

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Photo: Polk/FilmMagic
She and Him tack on some more post-Coachella tour dates in support of their Volume 2, Korn headline this summer’s Jagermeister Tour and Goo Goo Dolls road test some songs from their in-the-works new album on a jaunt kicking off in April. Full details for all three artists are below.

She & Him
Mar. 18 – Austin, TX @ Cedar Street Courtyard
Mar. 20 – Austin, TX @ Auditorium Shores
Mar. 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
Mar. 27 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Music Festival
Mar. 29, 30 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Apr. 15 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Apr. 16 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Festival
May 28 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre
May 29 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
May 30 – Bend, OR @ Les Schwab Amphitheatre
May 31 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
June 4 – Milwaukee, WI @ Verge Music Festival
June 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
June 6 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Theater
June 7 – Chicago, IL @ Millennium Park
June 9 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Theatre
June 10 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
June 11 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music

Korn
Mar. 26, 27 – Anchorage, AK @ Dena’ina Convention Center
Mar. 29 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Mar. 31 – Calgary, AB @ Big Four Building
Apr. 1 – Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Center
Apr. 2 – Regina, SK @ Agribition
Apr. 3 – Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
Apr. 6 – Toronto, ON @ International Centre Arrow Hall
Apr. 7 – Utica, NY @ Utica Memorial Auditorium
May 2 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
May 3 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
May 6 – Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
May 7 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
May 8 – Lewiston, ME @ Colisee
May 10 – New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
May 12 – Scranton, PA @ Scranton Cultural Centre
May 15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
May 18 – Fargo, ND @ The Venue
May 29 – San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Gardens Amphitheatre
May 30 – Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
June 1 – Laredo, TX @ Laredo Entertainment Center
June 2 – Lubbock, TX @ The Pavilion
July 10 – Devore, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
July 11 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 13 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
July 17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
July 18 – Englewood, CO @ Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
July 20 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 21 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
July 23 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
July 24 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
July 25 – Montreal, QUE @ Parc Jean Drapeau
July 27 – Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
July 28 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 30 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 31 – Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
Aug. 1 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre
Aug. 4 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Aug. 6 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 7 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
Aug. 8 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Aug. 10 – Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre at State Fairgrounds
Aug. 11 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug. 13 – Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
Aug. 14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre

Goo Goo Dolls
Apr. 6 – Augusta, GA @ First Tee Golf of Augusta
Apr. 8 – Wilmington, NC @ Trask Coliseum
Apr. 10 – Oswego, NY @ SUNY Campus Center
Apr. 11 – Wilkes Barre, PA @ FM Kirby Center
Apr. 13 – Hershey, PA @ Hershey Theatre
Apr. 15 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
Apr. 16 – Potsdam, NY @ Cheel Arena
Apr. 17 – Erie, PA @ Penn State Behrend
Apr. 20 – Richmond, VA @ The National
Apr. 21 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
Apr. 23 – Greensboro, NC @ War Memorial Auditorium
Apr. 24 – North Charleston, SC @ Performing Arts
Apr. 25 – Jacksonville, FL @ Moran Theatre
Apr. 27 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
May 2 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
May 4 – Knoxville, TN @ Tennessee Theatre
May 5 – Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace Theatre
May 9 – Columbus, OH @ Palace Theatre
May 11 – South Bend IN @ Morris Performing Arts Center
May 12 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theatre
May 14 – Kettering, OH @ Fraze Pavilion
May 15 – Milwaukee WI @ Pabst Theatre
May 16 – Peoria, IL @ Peoria Civic

In this week’s New Music Report, Rolling Stone contributing editor Christian Hoard presents another segment of Christian Rock, spotlighting Titus Andronicus’s new album The Monitor. Hoard says the Jersey rockers accomplish a strange feat with a “rare punk-rock album that blends Abraham Lincoln and Bruce Springsteen.” The Monitor is a loose concept album about the Civil War, with portions of speeches by Lincoln and other historical figures interspersed between songs about isolation, alienation and youthful angst. Highlights include “A More Perfect Union” and “Richard II.” Hoard adds that Titus Andronicus, named as the “Best Punk Brainiacs” in the Best New Bands 2010 feature in our new issue, “rock as thoroughly as any new band you’ll hear all year.”

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]

Photo: Vasquez/Wireimage

Pixies frontman Frank Black has released plenty of solo albums over the years, but perhaps nothing as freaky as his forthcoming NonStopErotik, due out on March 30th. The disc — which was co-produced by longtime collaborator Eric Drew Feldman — features some of his most overtly sexual songs, including the swirling ballad “When I Go Down on You” and the snarling, mid-tempo anthem “Lake of Sin.” Rolling Stone caught up with Black to talk about his inspiration, why raising five kids hinders his ability to work and the future of the Pixies.

Check out a gallery of Frank Black and the Pixies in action.

Many of these songs are overtly sexual in a way, including “Lake of Sin,” where you sing about someone undressing behind ferns. What was the inspiration for that?
When I was a kid, in second grade, “fern” was a euphemism or code word for vagina. I don’t know where that came form. I guess the record has some graphic sexual detail but it’s only really referenced in a literal way; it’s just me talking about ferns.

Many indie-rock bands don’t discuss sexual topics so openly in their songs.
You know, I read a disparaging review that questioned whether someone wants to listen to old Frank Black singing about vaginas or whatever. I understand the point, but really the record is not meant to be a sexual appendage to your own experiences. It’s not meant to be a record you make love or masturbate to. I wouldn’t masturbate to a recording of my own voice either!

You recorded most of these songs while on the road. Why?
I’ve got five kids. Maybe I can sit at the kitchen piano and start to work on something for a few minutes. But in general, I work on the road and in hotel rooms or studios.

NonStopErotik includes a particularly revved-up version of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Wheels.” Where’d that come from?
I forced Pete Yorn to record that for a session of his that I was working on. He did a fine, tender version of it. I realized at the time that the obsession with that song was my own obsession and that I need to do it myself. I didn’t want to do anther country rock version of it so we just changed the tempo — you know, the whole “let’s give it the Velvet Underground, indie-rock treatment.” A lot of eighth and sixteenth notes. I’m pleased with the Velvet Underground treatment.

Any plans to do a solo tour?
I don’t have anything on the books yet. I’m working something out with this film company and we’re trying to do a simulcast with a Q&A and a band performance. It’ll be a performance of the record with these little films and then a Q&A. We’re still working on that, though.

What’s the status of another Pixies album or tour?
I certainly hope to tour again. I don’t want to misspeak but Europe and Israel are happening and there’s other stuff happening in the fall. But that’s still to be confirmed. As for an album, we’re not doing one officially. I think everyone in the band is creative and writing and stuff. But we haven’t raised the flag, like, “The Pixies are currently recording.”

Related Stories:

• Kim Deal Says No New Pixies Album “Because I Don’t Want To”
• Pixies’ “Doolittle” Turns 20: Frank Black on the Band’s Return to the Road

Hot Chip have established themselves as much for their quirky music videos as their catchy dance pop, so it comes as no surprise that their hilarious vid for One Night Stand’s “I Feel Better” is another must-see entry in their videography. The clip finds the nerdy Hot Chip recast as a boy band and muses whether the Brits’ music would be more popular sales-wise if the members were all male models. Before trotting down the boring path of cultural commentary, however, a glowing bald figure similar to Steve Coogan in Hamlet 2 emerges from the back of the theater to horrify the screaming teenage girl fans.

From there, the video descends into lunacy: The bald man destroys the four-man boy band by shooting lightning bolts out of his mouth, only they are resurrected as a quintet. Then, a floating head pops in and shoots laser beams from his eyes and mows down the actual Hot Chip, who cameo in the video. The clip comes straight from the warped mind of director and British comic Peter Serafinowicz, who Americans might recognize as the yuppie flatmate-turned-zombie in Shaun of the Dead and who will voice the role of Paul McCartney in Robert Zemeckis’ Yellow Submarine remake.

Related Stories:

• Hot Chip Keep Heart, Beats Pumping on New Disc “One Life Stand”
• New Music Report: Hot Chip
• Actors, Tribute Band Cast as Beatles in Zemeckis’ “Yellow Submarine” Remake

Photograph by Free Energy

Rolling Stone’s new issue, on sale today, includes a special feature on the hottest new bands of 2010, from Philly power-pop group Free Energy to stoner Atlanta MC B.o.B. We asked all seven acts to snap candid photos on the road and compiled the best shots here:

• The Best New Bands of 2010’s Most Candid Shots From the Road

Keep reading for a quick dossier on all the artists. Plus, check out the exclusive premiere of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ new video for “Tiny Light,” which was directed by Paul Minor (Muse, Queens of the Stone Age):

Free Energy: Philly power poppers who mine the best of glammy Seventies-style arena jams on their James Murphy-produced debut Stuck on Nothing.

The Dirty Heads: Cali surf bros who revive Sublime-style reggae rock, rapping and harmonizing on their April disc Any Port in a Storm.

B.o.B.: Atlanta-bred rapper signed by T.I. whose eccentric loves (Animal Collective, collecting crystals, gospel) create a fascinating mix on The Adventures of Bobby Ray.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals: Rowdy blues road warriors fronted by singer-organist Potter, who learned to appreciate the wonders of acid at the tender age of 12.

Titus Andronicus: Jersey punks with an intellectual streak — their latest LP The Monitor is a concept album about the Civil War.

Neon Indian: 21-year-old Alan Palomo, a laptop virtuoso who’s become the face of “glo-fi” thanks to the dreamy keys on Psychic Chasms.

Mumford & Sons: Acoustic U.K. folk band whose old-timey folk-rock is inspired by mythology and bluegrass.

Photo: Loccisano/Getty
Bust your patchwork pants out of mothballs and tune-up your VW Bus. After last year’s triumphant return to summer touring, Phish have announced that they will hit the road again for a 29-date tour that kicks off June 11th in Chicago. The upcoming trek features multiple-night stands in major cities, including three back-to-back nights at the relatively intimate Greek Theatre in Berkely, California, starting August 5th. And while Phish haven’t planned have any of their trademark festivals — such as last October’s Festival 8 in Indio, California — the band has slotted in plenty of shows in more bucolic settings, such as the two-night stand at the scenic Telluride Town Park in Telluride, Colorado.

Check out photos from Phish’s Festival 8.

A ticket request period is currently underway through this Friday at 11:59 at Phish’s website; tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 2nd.

The announcement follows weeks of speculation that the jam-band kings would tour. On March 4th, bassist Mike Gordon hinted to Rolling Stone, “It’s looking like [a tour] is in the talks. We knew we wanted to wait until summer to do something.”

Of course, Phish haven’t exactly laid low over the past few days. On Monday in New York, Phish paid tribute to Hall of Fame inductees Genesis, performing note-perfect live versions of the prog-rock kings’ “Watcher of the Skies” and “No Reply At All.” If you missed that performance, expect those tunes to pop up in their set lists for the upcoming tour.

Check out a gallery of Phish-heads hanging out pre-show at the band’s Hampton reunion gig.

To get fans pumped for the upcoming tour, Phish will release a 3-D version of their Halloween festival in April. Details on theater locations and ticketing will be announced shortly; more information is available here.
June 11 – Chicago, IL @ Toyota Park
June 12 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
June 13 – Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
June 15 – Portsmouth, VA @ Telos Pavilion at Harbor Center
June 17 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
June 18 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
June 19 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 20 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 22 – Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
June 24 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 25 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 26 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 29 – Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC
July 1 – Raleigh, NC @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
July 2 – Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 3 – Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre @ Encore Park
July 4 – Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre @ Encore Park
August 5 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
August 6 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
August 7 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre
August 9 – Telluride, CO @ Telluride Town Park
August 10 – Telluride, CO @ Telluride Town Park
August 12 – Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 13 – Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 14 – East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 15 – East Troy, WI @Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 17 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
August 18 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon Theater at Jones Beach