AP reports: Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25.

Satriani's copyright infringement suit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, claims the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida" incorporates "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly."

The outspoken Gama Bomb frontman goes onto explaining why downloading is such a vital part of the experience of "the music fan of the 21st century" and why artists shouldn't be completely against it, either: "Reading Mudvayne's Chad Gray's blog on illegal downloading on this site, I couldn't help feeling like I'd heard his spiel about musicians getting shafted before. Chad's analogy of a man (read: band) making a fine wooden chair (read: record), only to have the chair stolen (read: downloaded) out from under him, was a striking one, but it's an oversimplification.

Dirty on Purpose have decided to call it quits. After spending an "unusual and unhealthy" amount of time together over the years, the band will play their farewell show at Mercury Lounge on New Years Eve with close friends, A Place To Bury Strangers.more

Trent Reznor has posted on Nine Inch Nails' Web site that he plans to take a break from touring after 2009, and also his plans for a high-tech concert film of this year's Lights In The Sky tour have fallen through. more

Grandmaster Flash is to release his first album of new material in 20 years. The legendary DJ and producer releases 'The Bridge: Concept Of A Culture' on February 23. more

Morrissey has announced details of three live shows for 2009 - one of which will take place in his native Manchester on his 50th birthday. The former Smiths singer will play at the London Royal Albert Hall on May 11, then at the Manchester Apollo on May 22 and 23. more

The recently announced Musink Tattoo & Music Festival has been cancelled. The bill was supposed to feature Social Distortion and Motorhead and hit 25 dates from January to March 2009. more

Rush's Snakes & Arrows DVD was released on November 24th and in it's first week of release it has topped Billboard's Top Music Video Chart at #1. more

Rick Rubin has received his fifth Grammy nomination as Producer of the Year, acknowledging his work over the eligibility period with an eclectic group of artists and projects including Metallica/"Death Magnetic," Neil Diamond/"Home Before Dark," Jakob Dylan/"Seeing Things," and Weezer/"Red Album."

The jury has gone out to consider its verdict in the case of singer Boy George who has been accused of beating and chaining a male escort to a wall.more

Testament's video for "More Than Meets The Eye," a song off their Billboard-charting new album, The Formation Of Damnation, will debut online at MTV2's Headbangers Blog this Friday, December 5th and on-air this Saturday, December 6th between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on MTV2's Headbangers Ball.

The Infernus led version of Gorgoroth has now received a full lineup. Handling vocals will be Pest, who is back after an eleven year hiatus from the band and the rest of the lineup consists of Infernus and Tormentor on guitars, Frank Watkins on bass and Tomas Asklund on drums.more

Tune in to catch rock favorites Fiction Plane in the latest webcast from online-concert-channel www.fabchannel.com. On the 7th December, the band will take to the stage at the legendary Paradiso in Amsterdam. Viewers from all over the world can join the audience at the venue, live atwww.fabchannel.com/fiction_plane. The webcast will start at 20.30 (GMT). A few days after the live show, the entire recording will be included to Fabchannel's online video archive.

Order Of Ennead, who recently released their self-titled debut album, have uploaded two new tracks from the album to their MySpace page for streaming. Check out the two new tracks, "As Long As I Have Myself I Am Not Alone" and "Introspection And The Loss Of Denial" here

Horse The Band has announced the imminent departure of bass player Dashiell Arkenstone. more

MTV's parent company, media conglomerate Viacom Inc., said Thursday that it will slash about 850 jobs and freeze some senior-level raises in a move to weather the global economic downturn. The owner of MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures said the job cuts will affect about 7 percent of its work force and hit all departments. The biggest losses are in the film division but low MTV ratings hasn't helped. Wonder why no one is tuning in? here.

Bob Geldof picked up the Key to the City in Winnipeg Wednesday. more

Doves is back amid the friendly confines of Astralwerks for the North American release of its fourth album, due in April.more

Mithras singer/bassist Rayner Coss has announced his departure from the band via the following statement: "I have some sad news for all our Mithras fans; the ZT Xmas bash on the 14th of December will be my last show with Mithras as I am leaving the band." more

The latest single from singer Leona Lewis has become the fastest-selling digital-only track in the UK. Snow Patrol cover Run, which was never originally intended to be released as a single, was downloaded almost 70,000 times in its first two days. more

Fifteen of the best rising music stars have been announced as the longlist for the BBC's Sound of 2009. The list is designed to find the best up-and-coming acts for the coming year, with the winner to be named in January. more

Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison is back proving once again that he can't hold back with an edgy new collection of fifteen stellar tracks with the recent release of "Crossroads Moment". The Rock Rapport caught up with Jimi at his home in Memphis to talk about the new disc and what's on the Rock Docket for 2009. Check it out here

Vince Neil has released a statement blaming the cancellation of his European solo tour on "the promoter's breach of contract." He said, "I regret not being able to come over to Europe at this time due to circumstances beyond my controlmore

George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) joined the Smashing Pumpkins on stage last night (Wednesday, December 3) at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California for a rendition of the song "Gossamer".more

After releases with Epitaph, Nitro and others, Guttermouth is coming home to Hopeless Records. The band actually helped kick off the label back in 1993 with the 11oz. 7-inch which was the first release for the label.more

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will play Xbox LIVE members on Saturday, December 6, in Gears of War 2. If you're an Xbox LIVE Gold member, and you want a chance to play with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, send a friend request to the following Gamertag * RedJump GWF and be online half an hour before (2:30 P.M.) the Game with Fame session starts on Saturday, December 6, 3:00 P.M. ET.

The troupe are celebrating the 90th birthday of its founder and namesake � hence the title Merce Cunningham At 90.

"The guys here at Tapulous all love Weezer so we're delighted to offer this game on the Apple App Store just in time for the holidays," said Bart Decrem, Tapulous CEO. "Today's announcement underscores how artists and record labels are realizing the value of this new platform for distributing music to fans on the most exciting mobile devices on the planet."

Disturbed's Music As A Weapon tour will also feature Killswitch Engage and Five Finger Death Punch.

Hundreds attended a memorial service held at a Toronto church for MacLean, who was found dead in his apartment on Nov. 24, just days after performing at a party to promote his upcoming CD.

I wrote the lyrics for "Fingertips" after a pretty heated discussion with my girlfriend at the time about spirituality and religion. I took away from that discussion the realization that the only thing you know for certain is that you know nothing at all.

There is no absolute truth, but it is still possible to find meaning. To me, "Fingertips" is about realizing that you can't put your faith in anyone, or anything else, until you truly believe in yourself.