• Lil Wayne’s Sentencing Delayed to March 2
• Ringo Starr Honored on Walk of Fame
• White Stripes Furious Over Air Force Ad
• Hear Johnny Cash’s New “Ain’t No Grave”
• Joe Jackson Hints at MJ Murder Conspiracy
• Weezer, Lips, Phoenix: Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup
• MTV Removes “Music Television” From Logo
• News Ticker: MGMT, Graham Nash
• Conrad Murray Charged for Jackson’s Death
• The Who Rock Super Bowl XLIV With Big Hits
• Howard Stern Says He’d Consider Idol Job
• Joan Baez Joins White House Concert Lineup
• Timberlake Dons Drag for Harvard Honor
• Grohl Pulls Double Duty on SNL
• Readers’ Rock List: Best Drummers
• Fans React to the Who’s Big Set
• Black Eyed Peas Open E.N.D. Tour in Atlanta
• Ke$ha Hijacks Hollywood Sign in Prank
• Cold War Kids Rock Live at Rolling Stone
• Depp Directing Keith Richards Doc
• Wentz, Simpson Joke About Naked RS Covers
• Swift’s Label Defends Grammy Performance
• Drake on Lil Wayne’s Prison Time
• Kelly Clarkson Riled By Anti-Idol Comments
• Mayer Treats Fans to Free Rehearsal Gig
• Breaking: Yeasayer
• Pete Wentz Hints at End of FOB in Blog Post

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Lil Wayne’s prison sentence was expected to begin today, but the MC was granted a brief reprieve. Wayne will report back to a New York courtroom on March 2nd because his lawyers argued the Rebirth rapper had to undergo dental surgery before his prison sentence began, the AP reports. The judge overseeing the case told Lil Wayne’s legal team that their client would be sentenced on March 2nd and no later. Since the surgery is scheduled for February 12th in Miami, the judge advised Lil Wayne to return to Miami today to ensure he avoids the snowstorm that is expected to blanket the Northeast, MTV writes. The surgery requires a recovery time of a week to 10 days. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Lil Wayne is expected to spend a year behind bars at New York’s Rikers Island after pleading guilty to weapons charges stemming from a 2007 arrest.

Lil Wayne’s World: look back at the rapper’s rise in photos.

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Wayne told RS he hasn’t asked his inner circle for advice on life behind bars. “This is Lil Wayne going to jail. Nobody I can talk to can tell me what that’s like,” Wayne said. “I just say I’m looking forward to it.” (more…)

In a move that signifies the end of an era, MTV will no longer include the words “Music Television” under its iconic logo. The Wrap was the first to report on the new logo, which will still feature the monolithic “M” and its dripping “TV,” but no underlying text. The shift seems to confirm what many have suspected for years: Following the cancellation of TRL and the success of Jersey Shore, The Hills and the Real World spin-offs, music is no longer MTV’s main priority.

“The people who watch it today, they don’t refer to MTV as music television. They don’t have the same emotional connection that, say, the people who are writing about [the logo change] do,” MTV’s head of marketing Tina Exarhos told the Los Angeles Times. Exarhos adds that the marketing department had previously toyed with removing “music television” but felt the text was too sacred and that higher-ups wouldn’t approve the idea. Since the network is introducing some new on-air designs, “now felt like the right time” to update the logo, Exarhos said. (more…)

“There ain’t no grave/Can hold my body down,” Johnny Cash sings on the title track of his final album, the sixth in his American Recordings series with Rick Rubin. The disc, American VI: Ain’t No Grave, will arrive on February 26th, what would have been Cash’s 78th birthday. As Rolling Stone reported, Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers play on the LP, along with Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, Smokey Hormel, Matt Sweeney and Jonny Polonsky. Producer Rubin explained the album was completed while Cash was in poor health, in between trips to the hospital and during the time Cash was mourning the loss of his beloved wife, June Carter Cash. But despite the hardships, Cash was defiant. “He didn’t really have fear and he already was dealing with pain,” Rubin said. “I think he had acceptance. When he knew he was going to die, he was calm and matter of fact about it, and … that was it.”

Check out classic photos of Johnny Cash.

Rubin took Rolling Stone through American VI track by track in our next issue, on stands February 17th. Pick up a copy then for the full story, and hear “Ain’t No Grave” here now:

(more…)

Photo: Loccisano/Getty
The lineup for the 2010 Bonnaroo Festival is very slowly rolling out as artists playing the Manchester, Tennessee fest are revealing the news via Twitter, MySpace and their official Websites. It’s all part of the Internet-wide global “virtual event” that organizers planned to drum up excitement for this year’s fest, which will take place June 10th to 13th. Tickets for the festival will go on sale around 12 p.m. EST at the official Bonnaroo Website. At that time, a sampling of the artists recruited to play the 2010 fest will be revealed, with the full lineup scheduled to be unveiled tonight.

Relive ‘Roo ‘09 in photos: Bruce, Phish and more.

After weeks of speculation, it was revealed that Jay-Z would be among the headliners at the 2010 fest. Hova will also headline at the Coachella festival in April. Phoenix were the first band to “officially” announce they’ll be performing Bonnaroo, with Weezer coming in a close second. Jeff Beck, Jeff Fogerty, OK Go, Martin Medeski & Wood and the Avett Brothers also confirmed they’ll be on hand. As Rolling Stone previously reported, the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne accidentally let slip that his band will perform Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon during a late-night set, while still-unconfirmed reports named Paul Simon as a potential headliner. Dave Matthews left a long gap in his summer touring schedule around the festival, and the band’s slot on the lineup was confirmed three hours into the announcement rollout. (more…)

Photo: Getty
Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson appeared on Larry King Live just hours after Dr. Conrad Murray was arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the death of Michael Jackson and revealed his belief that Murray was part of a conspiracy to murder the King of Pop — and that the real individuals responsible have yet to be charged. “To me, he’s just a fall guy,” Jackson said of Murray, according to CNN. “There’s other people, I think, involved with this whole thing. But I think that [if Murray's] interrogated — he would come clean and tell everything he knows.”

Look back at Michael Jackson’s life and career, in photos.

Joe Jackson isn’t the only member of the Jackson family to contend Michael’s death was the result of a murder plot: In a statement read after Murray’s arraignment, LaToya Jackson told the press, “Michael was murdered and although he died at the hands of Dr. Conrad Murray, I believe Dr. Murray was a part of a much larger plan. I will continue to fight until all of the proper individuals are brought forth and justice is served.” Joe Jackson told Larry King that Michael expressed concern he would be murdered because he felt he would be unable to complete his planned This Is It run of 50 concerts at London’s O2 Arena. “He couldn’t do all those shows back-to-back. Even his kids say that he had told them that he would be murdered,” Joe Jackson said. (more…)

Photo: Gemnich/WireImage
The White Stripes and their management have accused the Air Force Reserve of swiping “Fell in Love with a Girl” for a recruitment commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. “We believe our song was re-recorded and used without permission of the White Stripes, our publishers, label or management,” the band writes in a statement on their official Website. “We have not licensed this song to the Air Force Reserve and we plan to take strong action to stop the ad containing this music.” Watch the offending commercial on the Air Force Reserve site. UPDATE: The video and page housing it have both been pulled from the Air Force Reserve site.

A short history of rock stars in Super Bowl ads.

A comparison of the White Blood Cells single and the Air Force Reserve commercial reveals that the music is nearly exactly the same, with Jack White’s guitar riffs firmly intact and another guitar replicating the cadence of the original vocal medley. The commercial initially seems like an X Games ad until three fighter jets fly into frame during its final seconds. The “Grab Some Air” recruitment spot “features the high-octane thrills of action sports at its best. This is sure to capture the interest of even the most enthusiastic sports fan,” the Air Force Reserve site writes while listing two-dozen television markets where the ad will air. The Air Force Reserve makes no mention of the White Stripes. (more…)

Photo: Rodriguez/Getty
Ringo Starr returned to the iconic Capitol Records Tower and a gathering of several hundred Beatles fans to celebrate the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday night. “I want to thank Capitol Records,” Starr said to cheers, glancing up at the tower. “It’s nice to look at a building that you helped pay for.”

The ceremony began as a column of local high school marching band drummers in red uniforms poured out the tower lobby pounding a festive beat. “OK, drummers!” announced Starr as he stepped to the podium, where the occasion was marked with speeches from Joe Walsh, Ben Harper and Don Was. “It’s also cool to get it at night,” Starr said, dressed in a black suit and shades. “Where I live the stars come out at night.”

Look back at the Beatles’ history in photos.

The Beatles were awarded a star on the walk in 1998. Starr is the third Beatle to be honored as a solo artist, following stars given posthumously to John Lennon and George Harrison. (more…)

Photo: Granitz/WireImage

• MGMT’s Congratulations, the follow-up to breakthrough disc Oracular Spectacular, is due April 13th. The nine-track LP, which is “sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence” per their label, features guest vocals from Royal Trux’s Jennifer Herrema and production by Sonic Boom.

• Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Brendan Benson and more artists have rerecorded songs from Graham Nash’s 1971 debut for Be Yourself: A Tribute To Graham Nash’s “Songs For Beginners” that’s due May 25th. A portion of the profits will benefit Wavy Gravy’s Camp Winnarainbow.
• Kanye West has been working on the follow-up to 808s & Heartbreak, and now the MC has revealed he’s also been prepping a new blog. West writes on his Website the new project will be live this week.
• Dave Mustaine has announced that original Megadeth bassist David Ellefson is returning to the band. “This shows the power of brotherly love and forgiveness,” Mustaine sad in a statement. “Next we are going to show you the power of getting your asses kicked… hard!” The band’s tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Rust In Peace begins in March.

Photo: Polk/Getty
Mastodon continue to Crack the Skye with a new leg of headlining dates, Drake lines up a tour of college campuses and “private locations” and Arctic Monkeys return in April in support of their third album Humbug. Full dates for all three treks are below. (more…)

Photo: Brown/Getty

Nearly eight months after Michael Jackson died due to “acute Propofol intoxication,” the singer’s personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for his role in the King of Pop’s sudden death on June 25th, 2009, CNN reports. In a press release, the D.A.’s office writes that Murray “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson … in the commission of an unlawful act, not a felony; and in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced death, in an unlawful manner, and without due caution and circumspection.” If found guilty, Murray faces a maximum four-year prison sentence.

Look back at Michael Jackson’s life and career, in photos.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide after a toxicology report discovered that the powerful sedative Propofol and other sedatives ultimately caused Jackson to go into cardiac arrest. Investigators have long accused Murray of using “gross negligence” in administering Propofol to Jackson, because the sedative is meant to be used strictly in hospital settings for patients recovering from surgery. In interviews with police, Murray admitted administering Propofol to Jackson after the singer himself requested the sedative, which he dubbed “milk” because of its cloudy white appearance, to help his insomnia. (more…)

Photo: Mayer/WireImage
Between Dave Grohl on Saturday Night Live and Zak Starkey filling in for the Who’s Keith Moon during the Super Bowl, drummers were in the spotlight this past weekend, so we asked our readers to tell us the greatest of all time. After counting up the votes, and there were lots of them, it comes as no surprise that Bonzo himself, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, was voted Number One, beating out Moon, Grohl, Rush’s Neil Peart and more. And despite a grass-roots effort to get The Muppet Show’s Animal on the list, we kept the results to drummers with a human pulse. (Check out RS‘ Greatest Singers and Greatest Guitarists stories, too):

1. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
2. Neil Peart (Rush)
3. Keith Moon (The Who)
4. Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures)
5. Stewart Copeland (The Police, Oysterhead) (more…)

Photo: Ufberg/WireImage
Last week Page Six stoked a rumor that Howard Stern is a possible candidate to replace the departing Simon Cowell on next season’s American Idol. Today the shock jock addressed the reports on his satellite radio show, admitting the job wouldn’t be out of the question. “There’s not a better job on the planet than judging a fucking karaoke contest,” Stern said, MTV reports. “It might be possible, we’ll see.”

As Rolling Stone reported last week, Stern’s five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius XM expires in January 2011, freeing up the radio personality to pursue other opportunities. While the New York Post wrote last week that Idol’s overtures to Stern might just be a leverage tool to help secure Stern a lucrative new contract from his current employer, Stern seemed pretty open about taking on the Idol job because he’s long been a fan of the show. “If I do say so myself, I can’t imagine anyone else but me replacing [Cowell],” Stern said. “I mean, how else are they going to make that show work? Who knows how to broadcast and who knows how to be interesting? And who’s not afraid to speak their mind?” (more…)

A pair of supergroups took the stage on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, and while Them Crooked Vultures were the episode’s musical guest, it was Crisis of Conformity — fake reuniting for the first time in 25 years to play a wedding — that delivered the night’s most memorable performance. Featuring SNL’s Fred Armisen on vocals, Bill Hader on bass, Ashton Kutcher on guitar and the Vultures’ Dave Grohl on drums, the hardcore quartet turned the peaceful reception into a “TV Party” with a brutal rendition of “Fist Fight in the Parking Lot.” After the mellow but admittedly amusing Michael Bublé guested last week, a little hardcore was just the shot in the arm SNL needed. For Grohl, it was his second noteworthy appearance in a recent SNL sketch: When the Foo Fighters were the musical guest back in 2007, Grohl was one of Andy Samberg’s victims in the hilarious “People Getting Punched Just Before Eating” digital short.

Check out a history of supergroups in photos.

Them Crooked Vultures performed a pair of tracks from their self-titled debut album, and sadly their combined supergroup powers couldn’t overcome SNL’s infamous sound woes. Josh Homme’s vocals get lost in the mix on “New Fang,” and the 30 Rock version of “Mind Eraser” doesn’t really do the band’s extraordinary live shows justice. Watch both performances below: (more…)

Photo: Martinez/Getty
More than 100 million people tuned in to Super Bowl XLIV last night, and it seems like each one of them has an opinion on the Who’s 12-minute halftime performance. Readers flocked to Rolling Stone’s report on the Super Bowl set to leave comments praising and criticizing Daltrey and Townshend’s pyro-packed show. “The Who were an amazing band, but you gotta face the fact that they really didn’t sound good,” Bob wrote, while Redsox argued, “Everyone can say what they want, but I’ve seen them 28 times over the last 25 years and last night at the ripe age of 65 and 64 they were unreal, living the dream and spreading the genius of Pete’s music onto a new generation.”

Relive the Who’s halftime set in photos.

Many readers lodged complaints over the band’s sound issues — a common issue when rockers perform on impromptu stages in open-air stadiums. Some commenters remarked that their telecast of the performance suffered from a slight delay between sound and visuals. Others felt that the Who showed their old age in the performance, and a small minority claimed that the band onstage wasn’t the Who at all since they were missing drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle.

However, an army of Who devotees applauded the Who’s energetic performance and marveled at their ability to rock in their 60s. (more…)