No Bail for Beanie

Beanie Sigel (a.k.a. Dwight Grant) will be unable to perform at any further dates on the Roc the Mic Tour after a judge ordered the troubled rapper to be held without bail until his trial on federal weapons charges.

Sigel offered $50,000 and the homes of his mother and sister as a guarantee against flight, but U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Faith Angell cited his record, which includes eight arrests for crimes ranging from assault to various drug infractions and, most recently, attempted murder, for her decision to deny bail. She specifically referred to his April 20th arrest for weapons possession while on bail for a January assault. Sigel's attorney, Fortunato Perri, plans to appeal the decision.

Though Sigel's legal tangles pre-date 2003, three arrests this year led to his incarceration. He appeared in court last week and had the January charge reduced from aggravated assault to simple assault. But no sooner had Sigel knocked that felony charge down to a misdemeanor than federal authorities arrested him, claiming that his April 20th arrest (during which police retrieved a weapon during a routine traffic stop) was a parole violation, prompting new, federal charges. Sigel was also arrested two weeks ago and charged with attempted murder for a July 1st shooting in west Philadelphia. He denies all of the outstanding charges.

Without a reversal of Judge Angell's decision, Sigel will be held at a Federal Detention Center in Center City, Pennsylvania, until further hearings regarding the case are scheduled.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

More Song Stories entries »

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