Tuesday Rock Roundup

20 years ago today, David Coverdale married Tawny Kitaen. They divorced two years later.

Rolling Stone reports: Ozzy Osbourne has put his annual Ozzfest on hold for 2009, opting instead to spend more time working on his follow-up to 2007’s Black Rain, what will be the legend’s 10th studio album. Ozzfest has had some tumultuous treks in recent years: The traveling festival became a free event that relied on sponsorship in 2007, while 2008 saw Ozzfest being reduced to a one-day event in Texas where “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was honored with a heavy superjam. Rolling Stone also has a preview of the new Osbournes: Reloaded variety show coming to Fox.

When Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood hit the road for a 14-city tour this summer, they'll be doing so in support of a two-CD/two-DVD set of their three shows last February at Madison Square Garden in New York. Due out this spring, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood - Live From Madison Square Garden contains 21 tracks on the CDs and 20 on the first DVD. The second DVD contains two documentaries and four bonus tracks, two of which are not on the other three discs.

Peter Gabriel won't be performing at the Oscars Sunday night. He announced on his website that he decided to pull out after learning that the three Best Original Song nominees (the other two are from Slumdog Millionaire) would be performed only as part of a medley. That would allow him and co-writer Thomas Newman to do only 65 seconds of "Down to Earth" from Wall-E. Gabriel still plans on attending the ceremony, and hopes that the Soweto Gospel Choir will take his place onstage. Gabriel added, "Even though they're a small part of the whole filmmaking process, [songwriters] still work bloody hard and I think deserve a place in the ceremony as well. So I'm an old fart, it's not going to do me any harm to make a little protest." I agree: the damn thing goes on for, what, four hours? And he and the other nominees can't do a four-minute song? Stupid...

A New York songwriter is claiming that the song "No Reins" by country act Rascal Flatts is strikingly similar to "Shadows of the Night," the Top 20 hit he wrote for Pat Benatar in 1982. According to the New York Post, D-L Byron filed a federal lawsuit against the country group and the Disney Music Group for copyright infringement. Lawyers for Flatts' singer and guitarist Joe Don Rooney have stated that if there are any similarities, they are purely an accident.

Billy Squier will embark on his first headlining tour since the early '90s this summer. He'll get things going on June 23rd in New York State, with shows scheduled through August 8th in Oklahoma, but he's expected to continue into the fall. Squier is also working on new material, having recently recorded two songs. His dates include July 2nd in Muskegon MI and August 1st in Aurora, IL.

Scott Weiland recently told Spin magazine that Stone Temple Pilots will release a new album in 2010.

NEW RELEASES -

High School Musical 3: Senior Year DVD
Changeling DVD w/Angelina Jolie
Religulous DVD w/Bill Maher
Body of Lies (Widescreen Edition) DVD w/Leo DiCaprio
Choke DVD
Quarantine DVD
The Obama DVD Parade continues with USA Today's America's Journey: Inauguration Day 2009
Dead Like Me: The Complete Collection DVD
Dead Like Me: Life After Death DVD
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - The Eighth Year DVD
and Gandhi (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] and Pulp Fiction (Import) [Blu-ray] hit Blu-Ray