• Adam Lambert Shocks AMAs With Racy Song
• Lambert on Potential Censorship of AMAs
• American Music Awards Live Blog
• Green Day Record “21 Guns” With Idiot Cast
• Rihanna’s Cabin Fever Led Her to Rated R
• ?uestlove on the Roots’ Hot Fallon Gig
• Maroon 5’s Levine on Jason Segel as a Rocker
• Weekend Rock List: Phone Songs
• New Anthology for Critic Robert Palmer
• Site Selling Beatles MP3s Shut Down After
• Miley Cyrus’ Tour Bus Driver Killed in Accident
• Lady Gaga Meets David Bowie in Mashup
• News Ticker: Chris Brown, Roger Daltrey
• Bruce News: Darkness Box Set, Dream DVD
• Eminem Says Relapse: The Refill Due in Dec.
• STP Postpone Tour to Finish Album
• Jack White Says New Dead Weather in 2010
• Bonnaroo Confirms Dates for 2010 Fest
• Big Star Bring Classic Pop to Rare NYC Show
• Oscars Snub Rock Docs Anvil!, Loud
• Janet “Shocked” By Michael’s Propofol Abuse
• Ringo Starr Grabs McCartney for New LP
• Dead Weather, Death Cab Rock the Woodies
• Alice in Chains Announce North American Tour
• Aerosmith Concerned About Tyler’s Sobriety
• Bon Jovi Top the Charts With The Circle
• Breaking: Harper Simon

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

Photo: Djansezian/Getty

In approximately 30 minutes the West Coast will get a look at the American Music Awards performance that has everyone talking: Adam Lambert’s racy rendition of For Your Entertainment’s title track. When Lambert finished his song — complete with simulated oral sex with a male backup dancer and a passionate kiss with a male keyboardist — earlier tonight, fans hit the Internet to debate whether the American Idol runner-up’s first major televised performance since the Idol finale pushed the envelope too far. Lambert tells Rolling Stone he didn’t do anything female performers haven’t done on television already — and that if ABC cuts any part of his performance for the rebroadcast it will amount to “discrimination.”

Adam Lambert shocks, Taylor Swift soars: the 2009 AMAs in photos.

“It’s a shame because I think that there’s a double standard going on in the entertainment community right now,” Lambert tells RS backstage after the show at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre. “Female performers have been doing this for years — pushing the envelope about sexuality — and the minute a man does it, everybody freaks out. We’re in 2009; it’s time to take risks, be a little more brave, time to open people’s eyes and if it offends them, then maybe I’m not for them. My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom.” (more…)

For his first televised performance since the Season Eight finale of American Idol, Adam Lambert aimed for the kind of controversy Britney Spears and Madonna are known for generating, completely stunning the audience at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and the millions watching the American Music Awards live on ABC with a risqué rendition of “For Your Entertainment.” Rolling Stone didn’t label Lambert the Wild Idol for nothing, and Glambert definitely delivered on his promise of a “sexy” performance as he closed the live show with simulated oral sex from a male backup dancer, a brief make-out session with his male keyboardist and a giant mirrored prop so the audience could see the looks on their own shocked faces. Rolling Stone has learned that producers weren’t informed about the guy-on-guy kiss in advance, and after the show, Lambert told RS the musician he kissed is a straight man.

Lambert also told RS that if ABC decides to cut any parts of his performance for the West Coast rebroadcast, it would amount to “discrimination.” Read the full story here.

Adam Lambert shocks, Taylor Swift soars: the 2009 AMAs in photos.

The ‘09 American Music Awards featured performances from blockbuster stars like Whitney Houston, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, Green Day, Eminem and Rihanna, but newcomer Lambert was selected to close out the show, and his performance was advertised as “eye-popping” and something you’d be talking about tomorrow. (more…)

< Photo: Djansezian/Getty
Tonight, nearly all of the music industry’s biggest names are in one room: at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre for the 37th Annual American Music Awards. Janet Jackson, Eminem, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Jay-Z — they’re all scheduled to perform at what’s shaped up to be one of the most star-studded events of the year. VMAs victim Taylor Swift has the most nominations (with six) and Eminem and Michael Jackson are tied with five nods each. Stick with us here at Rolling Stone as we track all the action live, and stay tuned for photos from the big show and reports straight from the scene. (more…)

• Rolling Stone confirmed that the Who will be the latest Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to perform during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami just hours after the band’s “My Generation” was played on Monday Night Football.

• Aerosmith’s Joey Kramer talked to RS about the band’s search for a new singer to replace Steven Tyler, while Brad Whitford told us Tyler “doesn’t act like a sober person.” Meanwhile, our Readers’ selected who they think should temporarily replace Tyler.
• Bruce Springsteen flunked a geography exam in Detroit, accidentally calling the Motor City “Ohio.” However, E Street made it up to fans by revealing plans for the E Street’s Darkness on the Edge of Town box set and a Working on a Dream DVD.
• Lady Gaga and Beyoncé got their Tarantino on in “Video Phone,” Beck and Charlotte Gainsbourg unveiled their awesome mind trip of a “Heaven Can Wait” video, Bob Dylan got into the Christmas spirit in his “Must Be Santa” clip, and Shakira and Lil Wayne teamed up for “Give It Up to Me.”

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé teamed up recently to record not one but two songs dedicated to phones, “Video Phone (Remix)” and The Fame Monster’s “Telephone,” which was then followed by actor Jason Segel turning his phone number into a chorus at the Swell Season show. In honor of Alexander Graham Bell’s suddenly tuneful invention, we’re dedicating this weekend’s Rock List to all things telephone. Tell us your favorite songs that are in any way phone-related, and on Monday we’ll reveal the Readers’ List of Phone Songs. Before we put you on hold, check out our favorites below:

• Electric Light Orchestra – “Telephone Line”
• Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
• Tommy Tutone – “867-5309 (Jenny)
• Steely Dan – “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”
• The Replacements – “Answering Machine”

When Michael Jackson died suddenly on June 25th, the stunned and saddened Rolling Stone team snapped to action and devoted a commemorative issue to the King of Pop. Now the magazine’s editors are proud to present an even bigger version of that special edition of RS: Michael, a book devoted to Jackson’s life and career that features more than 100 rare photographs from his Jackson 5 days through his troubled later years.

RS contributor Jon Dolan writes about Bad, Jackson’s last truly great album, and Alan Light examines the making of Thriller, the biggest album of all time. Rob Sheffield contributes a guide to Jackson’s videos and the 25 moments that defined his career. Michael also includes tributes from Slash, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and others who worked with and admired Jackson.

Order the book, and dive into our special Michael Jackson coverage right here on RollingStone.com, too:

• Michael Jackson: The Rolling Stone Covers
• Photos: Michael Jackson’s Life and Career

Has any artist this decade been busier than Jack White? The past 10 years alone have seen White emerge from relative obscurity to front three marquee bands — the White Stripes, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather (with whom White is already plotting a new album) — plus produce country legends like Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson. On the big screen, White has rocked out alongside Jimmy Page and the Edge in It Might Get Loud and the Rolling Stones in Shine A Light, plus showed off his acting chops in Cold Mountain and Walk Hard. This week’s Flashback looks back at White at the beginning of the millennium, with Meg and Jack performing their De Stijl standout “Hello Operator” in December 2000 at Chicago’s Empty Bottle.

Bonus Flashback: The White Stripes cover Iggy Pop’s “I’m Bored” in 1999 at their hometown Detroit’s Gold Dollar: (more…)

Photo:Edelson/NBC

As Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien battle for late-night supremacy, one thing has become clear: Jimmy Fallon has the hottest house band. In their eight months on the air, the Roots have played with everybody from Paul Simon to Christopher Cross to Weird Al Yankovic, and have been hilarious in skits. As the group preps for a show featuring Hulk Hogan and Edward Norton, ?uestlove reveals that the network was initially skittish about bringing them onboard. “All they knew of us was ‘rap group,’ ” the drummer says. “They were a tad bit worried if we had range or not. In the beginning they were throwing a lot of debris and Hanna Barbara-style Acme TNT obstacles at us to see if we could obstacle the course. On a whim, four hours before the show they said to us once, ‘We’re going to do a Broadway song. Can you learn it? Here’s the sheet music.’ I was like, ‘Wait a minute, you guys are trying to get rid of us. You think we cant do this.’ ”

In those early days, NBC also put the group on 13-week contracts. “Once we did [the sketch] ‘Freestyling With The Roots’ for the first time, they knew we were there for life. At this point they have complete faith in us.” (For even more on the Roots’ Fallon gig, grab the current issue of RS.)

?uestlove’s Fallon countdown: his favorite all-star jams, celebrity slams and more. (more…)

Photo: Gilkas/FilmMagic

Miley Cyrus‘ tour bus was reportedly involved in a fatal accident this morning at 8:15 a.m. ET, outside of Richmond, Virginia. Cyrus was not on the bus at the time of the crash. According to NBC 12, the bus driver, whose identity has been withheld until next of kin are informed, was killed after the tour bus overturned. Nine people were on the bus, including members of Cyrus’ production crew, and one passenger sustained minor injuries.

The bus was driving southbound on I-85 when it ran off the left side of the road and overturned, eventually coming to rest on its right side. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The bus was one of four in a fleet heading to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the Hannah Montana star’s concert there Sunday, November 22nd. According to reports, the Greensboro concert will still take place as scheduled.

In 1980, music journalist Robert Palmer was invited to drop by the sessions for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy in New York. When Palmer arrived, Lennon was adding background vocals to “(Just Like) Starting Over.” Palmer noted that Lennon had sung his parts perfectly in key. Lennon, impressed by Palmer’s ear, said, “You’ll do.”

As Lennon learned, Palmer — who died in 1997 of complications from liver disease at 52 — led a life immersed in music. He was an author (of Deep Blues, a history of Mississippi Delta music), a record producer, a documentary filmmaker, a college professor, even a horn player. But Palmer was foremost a critic equally skilled at writing about John Contrane, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Philip Glass — and his work has been anthologized for the first time in Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer. (more…)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall star Jason Segel made a surprise appearance at the Swell Season’s November 18th concert at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, entertaining the ladies in the audience with a love song featuring his phone number as the chorus. In case anyone in the crowd couldn’t make out the digits, as evidenced by the video above, Swell Season’s Marketa Irglova held up a sign with Segel’s number around the stage like she was a boxing match’s ring girl. This is the second time in a week Rolling Stone is reporting on Segel’s musical endeavors: The How I Met Your Mother actor will also serve as special guest when Maroon 5 play Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve.

Get a look at more actor-rock stars, from Johnny Depp to Juliette Lewis.

Segel recently joined Maroon 5 onstage when the band performed at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, in early November. “Jason was a little apprehensive about playing with us because we were playing a super religious school,” Maroon 5’s Adam Levine tells RS. “There was a hall monitor that told him not to curse earlier. But I knew the crowd would love him.” (more…)

Photo: Shearer/WireImage
Lady Gaga vs. David Bowie, “Let’s Just Dance” [Mashup]
DJ Terry Urban treats mashups like Cage treats composition, dropping just a micro-fragment of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” behind Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” — to startling effect. This also marks the first occasion for either artist where subtlety has served as an asset.

Kids in the Hall vs. Grizzly Bear, “Leisure Man” [New Track/Mashup]
Well, Grizzly Bear’s entré into hip-hop is officially complete; first Jay-Z shows up at a Brooklyn show, now Kidz in the Hall are rapping over “Two Weeks.” Be honest: did anyone see this coming? And if you did, is there any way we can solicit your insight on, say, the next 15 World Series? (more…)

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction against the digital music vendor Bluebeat after the site offered up high-quality MP3s of the Beatles’ catalog without permission. According to the Los Angeles Times, the judge overseeing the case, which came after EMI Music and Apple Corps. issued a copyright infringement lawsuit against Bluebeat, said there was no distinct difference between the Beatles’ recordings and the “psychoacoustic simulations” that Bluebeat claims they added to the music that would have allowed them by a legal loophole to sell the Beatles catalog digitally.

Explore the Beatles’ full catalog in our album guide.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Bluebeat was recently selling the newly remastered Beatles catalog for a mere 25 cents per track on its now-defunct Website, even though the owners of the Fab Four’s music have yet to agree to any digital deal. Bluebeat was also selling the entire Beatles in Mono box set digitally for only $53.25, well below the market value the Beatles would command on either an iTunes or Amazon MP3 store. (more…)

Photo: Mockford/FilmMagic
With Rihanna’s new album Rated R out on Monday, November 23rd, the “Russian Roulette” singer discussed when she knew she was ready to record the LP after being assaulted by then-boyfriend Chris Brown on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest. “Right after the Grammys this year, I would say months later, I kind of got tired of just hanging out in the house and I got cabin fever, so I was like ‘I have to work.’ I called the label and said ‘I’m ready,’ ” Rihanna told Seacrest.

Rihanna’s fierce fashions: check out photos of the star onstage and off.

Lyrically, Rihanna at first tried not to broach the subject of love in her new music, but she found it hard to avoid. “We went into the studio and first thing we did was figure out the sound. I was having mixed emotions about what I wanted to talk about. I did not want to talk about love at all, because it was sort of expected and I didn’t really believe in love at that point, so I tried to go the other way,” Rihanna said. “But when I went into the studio, it was my peace and my way to vent, so all these real emotions started to come out, so it’s really raw. The album is a roller coaster of emotions. It’s a really personal album and I wouldn’t have made it any other way.” (more…)