Music News & Notes

"Hair" Director Passes Away

Tom O'Horgan, the director of the original production of Hair, passed away on Sunday at the age of 84. He had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

Along with Hair, O'Horgan also directed and wrote the music for the Broadway production of Lenny and directed and designed Jesus Christ Superstar for the stage.

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Pretenders Video Contest

The Pretenders, PETA and YouTube are joining forces for a video contest where entrants are asked to lipsynch to the group's Boots of Chinese Plastic while showing off their footware made from plastic. The winner will be flown to Los Angeles to appear in the group's video for the song.

Chrissie Hynde commented, "This is a fun way to raise awareness for a very serious cause. We are looking forward to seeing our fans and animal loving friends perform Boots of Chinese Plastic via YouTube."

For more information, go to the Pretenders' website. http://www.thepretenders.com/petacontest.html

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New Morrissey Single

Morrissey is releasing the first single from his new album, Years of Refusal, on February 9. I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris will be available in the U.K. as a digital download, a vinyl single with a live version of Death of a Disco on the B-side, and as a 2-CD set with the additional tracks Because of My Poor Education and Shame is the Name (with Chrissie Hynde).

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Slipknot frontman plotting solo album

As Slipknot prepares to hit the road later this month, the frontman for the masked Iowa metal band is making plans to record his first solo album.

"I know I have this album that I need to make," Corey Taylor tells Billboard.com, "and I'm the kind of guy that if I can't get that done then it's going to hold me back from all this other stuff I want to do. I just know I've got to make it or I can't branch out."

Taylor, who keeps busy on the side with the band Stone Sour, describes the solo material as a cross between the Foo Fighters and Social Distortion "with some Johnny Cash mixed in."

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Cheap Trick May Be Bringing Sgt. Pepper to Vegas

It is being reported by a number of sources that Cheap Trick is close to a deal to perform the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in its entirety in Las Vegas. The show is seen as a good bet with the Beatles' Love still playing to large crowds almost two years after it first opened.

If the deal goes through, the group will be playing the album with a full orchestra for nine months at the Las Vegas Hilton. Word is that the performances could start as early as March and run through the end of the year.

It is also being reported that the band's original members would be involved with the run.

The idea is not new to the group. Cheap Trick played the entire album at a August 2007 concert in L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl with a number of guest stars, including Ministry and Joan Osbourne. They've also covered a number of Beatles' tracks throughout their career.

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Times Square Virgin Megastore To Close

The Times Square Virgin Megastore, which is the highest volume music store in the U.S., will shut down come April.

The store has been at the center of speculation since August 2007 when the Virgin Entertainment Group North America was acquired by two real estate companies - the Related Cos. and Vornado - in a joint venture.

Last June, a Vornado executive told Reuters that the store would shut down in the first quarter of 2009. The decision to close the store appears related to real estate and the value connected to the location. That executive was quoted as saying that Virgin pays only $54 per square-foot when the market rent in the area is about $700 a square foot.

So, while the store, which does an estimated $55 million in annual volume, is profitable to the tune of $6 million, according to sources, the space would be even more profitable for its owner with a higher rent tenant. Vornado bought the 180,000 square foot retail component of the Bertelsmann building, which houses the Times Square store, in 2006, and will lease the space to Forever 21, according to press reports.

The closure leaves the Virgin chain with five stores, and one of them, the Union Square store in New York, will now be the city's premiere record store, with an estimated $40 million annual volume. But the status of that store is also at question as the Related Cos. and Vornado leased the ground floor of the store to Nordstrom Rack for the holiday season, only to have the deal fall through.

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Jennifer Hudson to sing at the Super Bowl

Jennifer Hudson is using sports' grandest stage — the Super Bowl — to make her return to the spotlight following the slayings of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed Wednesday that Hudson will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 1. E! News first reported Tuesday that Hudson would perform.

Hudson hasn't made a public appearance since her 57-year-old mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson; 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson; and 7-year-old nephew Julian King were slain in Chicago in October. Her estranged brother-in-law has been charged in the killings.

Hudson, who had released her self-titled debut album shortly before the killings, is also scheduled to sing at the Grammys' MusiCares event in Los Angeles a few days later. She is nominated for four awards at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards.

The Super Bowl is one of the most viewed spectacles on television. Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to sing during halftime of the pro football championship game.