A Brit teen set to appear in the next "Harry Potter" flick was killed yesterday after being stabbed in a fight -- over one little phone. 18-year-old Rob Knox died early Saturday morning after being shivved outside a bar in southwest London, say coppers, when he tried to defend his little brother over a missing cell phone.

Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan; Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer of Aerosmith; Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick; Frank Beard of ZZ TOP; and Andrew WK are among the musicians who are expected to participate in the inaugural Save the Planet Invitational golf tournament hosted by longtime and popular PGA Tour member Peter Jacobsen. The tournament will be at the private Members Club at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Monday, June 2 more

Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and Plus-44 fame has announced that he will be producing the next full length from New Found Glory. more

Gene Simmons will appear in an upcoming episode of "Battleground Earth", a reality competition that features Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and hip hop superstar Chris "Ludacris" Bridges more

At first it seemed like overkill, being able to download American Idol performances from iTunes the day after they aired. Until we realized we could pay 99 cents and listen to David Cook's version of "Hello" as many times as we wanted! And thousands of people are clamoring for more, giving the newly crowned Idol winner four out of the five top spots on iTunes' list of Top Songs. more

Paul McCartney received an honorary degree from the university at the commencement ceremony at the University's Old Campus. Curiously, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair mentioned Paul in his Class Day speech Sunday. "Be prepared to fail as well as to succeed, and realize it is failure, not success, that defines character. Sir Paul McCartney reminded me that the first record company the Beatles approached rejected them as a band no one would want to listen to," Blair told the students. Read more and check out video at Abbeyrd's Beatles Page

Dima Bilan has brought Russia its first Eurovision song title with a glitzy performance that included a famous ice skater. Bilan beat Ukraine's Ani Lorak and Greece's Kalomira with an R&B ballad "Believe" before thousands of flag-waving fans of Europe's most glamorous pop song festival. more

The Ting Tings scored a UK Number One album with their debut album, 'We Started Nothing', going straight in at the top spot on its first week of release. more

Hurt has parted ways with their label, Capitol Records. The band is currently on tour with Course of Nature in support of their latest album 'Vol. II' which was released in September 2007 via Capitol. more metal news

Sonic Youth are releasing a hits compilation disc, but rather than choose the songs themselves, Universal solicited the help of 14 celebrity curators including Radiohead, Beck, and The Flaming Lips among other heavy hitters. The compilation titled Hits Are For Squares also features an exclusive bonus track called "Slow Revolution." The disc will only be available at Starbucks retailers starting June 10. more

The Vines will release their fourth album, 'Melodia', in July. The album was produced in Los Angeles by Rob Schnapf, who produced the band's first two albums. more

Folk singer Bruce (U. Utah) Phillips, a freewheeling storyteller and Grammy-nominated musician known for his extensive touring over nearly 40 years and strong support of peace groups and labour unions in his works, has died. He was 73. Phillips died of congestive heart failure on May 23 at his home in Nevada City, Calif.more

KISS made the following announcement: The legendary KISS are back on the road and this time Concert Live are going with them! KISS live performances are renowned across the globe so it's with great pleasure and excitement that we're announcing the KISS Alive 35 limited edition series of live CDs. With ten dates being recorded throughout their European tour this is sure to be an exhilarating few weeks with many a memorable performance captured forever. This series is strictly limited edition so be sure to bag yours before they go! Don't miss out! Grab your KISS Visa and feed the beast here

Earl was best known as guitarist for Aesma Daeva, God-Awful, Disturbed (not the Chicago multi-platinum band, but the original), and much earlier with Morticia, among others.

More than 200 drummers applied and five of them were invited to audition with the band. George Atlagic stood out from the five candidates, not only for his talent, but also because of his personality and for being a kindred spirit with the band. Hanoi Rocks comment on the decision: "Jolle is technically a very skillful drummer and his style is greatly in the vein of the former Hanoi Rocks drummers, Gyp Casino and Razzle. He also already looked like he was playing in a successful rock band."

"We would've loved to be on that tour, but plain and simple, we couldn't afford to do it. I'm not going to say how much money we were offered, but at the end of the day the numbers didn't make any sense.

Blaze Bayley has cancelled his appearance, but is being replaced by original Iron Maiden singer Paul DiAnno, who will sing three songs with French Tribute Band Coverslave. Dreamcatcher is also on the bill.

An excerpt from the interview follows below : Nightwatcher's House Of Rock : You have a brand new album, 'Eric Sardinas And Big Motor' out on Steve Vai's label Favored Nations, which is your first album since 2003's 'Black Pearls'. Why did it take 5 years between albums, and are you happy with the response the album has been getting so far?

On June 6, 2008 their ninth and tenth works, 'Duologue' and 'A Box and a Word,' will be released. A journey through beauty, tension and darkness awaits the listener. Some may consider the 57-minute 'A Box and a Word' their most ear-friendly and personal release to date. Listen as Scott Hamill, James Day and Christopher Brown converge once again to explore and flesh out the unfamiliar.