Apr 19, 2006 5:25 PM

From Eminem to Widespread Panic

EMINEM and OBIE TRICE spoke at the funeral service for D12 rapper PROOF, attended by 2,000 people -- including 50 CENT, D12 members BIZARRE, KUNIVA, KON ARTIS and SWIFT -- at Detroit's Fellowship Church Wednesday. "He taught me how to be a leader," Eminem said through tears. "I'm sure everybody who has ever met him, even just once, can testify to the fact that he illuminated a room when he walked in it . . . Without Proof, there would be no Eminem, no Slim Shady, no D12."

Dave Navarro's Panic Channel Launches

The PANIC CHANNEL -- featuring former JANE'S ADDICTION members DAVE NAVARRO (guitar), STEPHEN PERKINS (drums) and CHRIS CHANEY (bass), as well as singer STEVE ISAACS -- will release their debut, (ONe), on September 12th. On May 16th -- the same day the rockers kick off their first-ever tour in San Diego -- two songs, the first single "Why Cry" and "Tea House of the Spirits," will be released digitally.

Strokes Salute Joey Ramone, Extend Tour

The STROKES will join the DEAD BOYS and the DICTATORS' ANDY SHERNOFF at the JOEY RAMONE birthday benefit, scheduled for May 19th -- what would have been Ramone's fifty-fifth birthday -- at New York's Irving Plaza. Tickets for the annual tribute, established after the RAMONES frontman lost his seven-year battle with cancer in 2001, are currently available . . . In other Strokes news, the New York-bred rockers have extended their tour through June, now hitting up the South at the end of May, as well as Santa Barbara, California, on June 11th.

Rod Stewart Brings More "American" to "Idol"

ROD STEWART will perform "The Way You Look Tonight," off his Great American Songbook collection, on Wednesday night's episode of American Idol. Tuesday found finalists singing other classics off the chart-topping Stewart series . . . In other Idol news, last season's drop-out, MARIO VAZQUEZ, will release his debut this summer. The first single, "Gallery," written and co-produced by hip-hopper NE-YO, hits radio this week and digital retailers on May 2nd.

The Raconteurs Go West

The RACONTEURS -- helmed by the WHITE STRIPES' JACK WHITE and singer-songwriter BRENDAN BENSON -- have announced their first-ever West Coast gig at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California, on June 7th. Tickets for the show (limited to two per person) go on sale this Thursday through Ticketmaster. The band's much-hyped debut, Broken Boy Soldiers, featuring the single "Steady, As She Goes," hits stores May 16th . . . In other Jack White news, the Coca-Cola commercial White penned leaked over the Internet this week. In the clip, directed by MICHEL GONDRY (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), a bottle of Coke is exchanged between various people as White sings, "It's the right thing to do, and you know it/It's inside of you, so just show it/Love is the truth." White's share-the-love jingle can be seen on youtube.com.

B.B. King Loses Son, Grandson

On Tuesday, blues legend B.B. KING performed his 10,000th show at the New York Times Square club that bears his name. But according to the New York Daily News, King told the audience at his Monday show that he is grieving the loss of his son, Leonard, who was buried on Easter after losing a battle with colorectoral cancer, and his fourteen-year-old grandson, shot at a convenient store last week. King's current tour continues through the end of August.

Widespread Panic Launch Summer Tour

WIDESPREAD PANIC will launch a thirty-five-date summer tour in support of their ninth studio album, Earth to America, on June 21st in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to kicking off the trek, the band will warm up with a pair of shows in both Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 21st and 22nd, and in their hometown of Atlanta on May 8th and 9th. The May 9th gig will also be simulcast live via satellite into select movie theatres nationwide. All participating theatres are posted on bigscreenconcerts.com. Earth to America, recorded in the Bahamas with producer TERRY MANNING (JOE COCKER, GEORGE THOROGOOD), is due June 13th.

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