U2 fans, get your boots on. The first song from the band's first album in five years is ready for you to hear. U2 began broadcasting the up-tempo single "Get On Your Boots" Monday � first on RTE, Ireland's state broadcasters, then for free on the group's Web site. more

Video footage of "piano man" Billy Joel performing a cover version of the AC/DC classic "Highway To Hell" on Friday, January 16 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida can be viewed here

Franz Ferdinand have completed the line-up for the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards Big Gig. The Scots will play ahead of The Cure's full 90-minute set at the 02 Arena in London on February 26. more

Arctic Monkeys have been announced as the headliners of Oye Festival in Norway. The yearly event will take place on August 11th until the 15th, in Oslo. more

Atlantic Records is pleased to announce details of the upcoming third installment in Rush's continuing compilation series. "Retrospective III (1989-2008)" arrives in stores on March 2nd in the UK (we told you about the March 3rd North American release yesterday. details

The "No Rest For The Wicked"-era (1983) lineup of the Canadian hard rock band Helix will reunite for a one-off recording session where they will be laying down a cover version of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock And Roll". The song will appear on an AC/DC tribute CD being released through Metal K-Tel (a.k.a. Perris Records). more

Drummer Jarno "Jake" Vanhanen (Tacere) has rejoined the Finnish melodic death metal band Embreach. more

Jennifer Hudson is the latest performer to be added to the lineup for the 2009 Grammy Awards, which will be handed out February 8. more

PJ Harvey and John Parish have announced a UK tour. more

Yngwie Malmsteen will team up with Deep Purple for a Japanese tour in April. dates

The set will be released by musician Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records, and Johnson also will also perform on the album.

"We will work with them hand in hand to cover all aspects of what needs to be done with the next Placebo album, coming out in June, to make it a very big success," announced PIAS Entertainment's co-founder Kenny Gates.

"Last night in Corpus Christi, Texas, Our money box was stolen from one of our merch bins with almost $2000 in it... every penny we had as a band, all money that we needed to pay off our merch debt, van insurance, and oh yeah, gas to get to every show. In the 6 years Endwell has been a band there's been 4 Vans (one of which flipped), more drummers than spinal tap, we've been kicked off tours and even dropped from a record label for playing what we want to play...in 3 years of touring full-time we have NEVER come home with any money. We get in the van and at the end of they day if we can eat and crash on a friends floor then it's all worth it. We've made some of the best friends we have from touring and bonding with like minded people and its a beautiful thing. We want to thank all the kids who donated a few bucks to us last night so we could get to our next show.

Q: Is there any resentment toward the new lineup in Brazil? In North America, it seems the old lineup is that all people want to concern themselves when it comes to Sepultura.

The Liar Liar star was watching Fiddy and G-Unit live in concert as he was enjoying his 47th birthday celebrations, at the Sundance Film Festival's Vitaminwater in Utah.

The tour kicks off on January 30th in Memphis and will wrap up on April 24th in Denver. Along the way they'll headline as well as offer support for The Black Keys, Andrew Bird, Gaslight Anthem at some stops on their tours.

One special stop on the tour includes a March 11th performance at the legendary venue Carnegie Hall in NYC as part of a night tribute performances to REM.

To be honest, I'm a bit surprised that this song went over so well. I had initially planned on kicking off our recent album "The Fruit Fallen" with this track, but due to its ten minute duration and controversial subject matter, I opted to instead bury it someplace near the end of the album in an ill-conceived attempt to ruffle fewer feathers in the already sparse progressive rock world. Despite its less-than-showcased album placement, "The Sixth Day" has nevertheless been frequently plucked from the pile and named as a favorite track by Edensong fans and reviewers alike. It happens to be one of my favorite Edensong tunes as well. In fact, I can't remember a single show where we didn't play it! I tend to write "serious" music, songs about the problems I see in the world, and in this way "The Sixth Day" is archetypical Edensong. I'm just glad that despite the potentially divisive content, or perhaps even because of it, "The Sixth Day" has been greeted enthusiastically.

"The Sixth Day" addresses the role of organized religion in society. I wanted to examine the reasons that drive people toward and away from God, the political use and abuse of religion, the fear and intolerance instilled by religious doctrine, and the hatred and holy wars that stem from religious extremism. While I'm sure that religion brings stability, comfort and guidance to the lives of many, I can't ignore that it tears apart the lives of many others.