Digest: Kelly Clarkson's New Album Delayed; James Taylor Injured on Ski Trip

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Kelly Clarkson's New Album is Delayed
Kelly Clarkson announced on her Facebook page that her fifth album is finished but will not be released until September, which she says is "the best time to release it apparently." According to Clarkson, the new disc is influenced by Prince, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow and Radiohead. [EW.com]

James Taylor Injured in Skiing Vacation
James Taylor broke his leg and injured his shoulder on Monday while on a ski vacation with his family in Utah. No further details have been released, though the email sent to the press by his publicist notes that doctors have given Taylor a splint that would allow him to keep skiing. [Yahoo News]

Arcade Fire to Film DVD in Haiti
Arcade Fire are set to collaborate with British photographer and filmmaker Leah Gordon on a live DVD to be filmed in Haiti, the homeland of band member Régine Chassagne's family. The band have been very active in raising money for earthquake relief in Haiti over the past year. [NME]

Thom Yorke Teams Up With Four Tet and Burial
Radiohead's Thom Yorke is about to release a new 12-inch single in collaboration with electronic artists Four Tet and Burial. The two tracks, "Ego" and "Mirror," have already leaked to the internet. [Pitchfork]

Slash Cancels Shows in Japan
This should come as no surprise given the devastation in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last week, but Slash has canceled his concerts scheduled for this week in Tokyo. [Billboard]

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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