The legendary Neil Young is back with a new reord, Chrome Dreams II, out October 23rd.

You can preview FOUR FULL SONGS from the new record on Neil's offical Youtube site:

Dirty Old Man | The Believer | The Way | Spirit Road

Neil Young will begin a North American tour on October 18th in Boise, Idaho, two days after the release of his new extraordinary album Chrome Dreams II on Reprise Records. Concerts continue until December 13th in New York, including two nights at the historic Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada, the site of early legendary shows by the acclaimed singer-songw...

Rockers Eddie Vedder, Metallica and Tom Waits have joined the all-star line-up for Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concert next month. Pearl Jam's Vedder has agreed to play alongside his drummer band mate Jack Irons and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea at the charity gig on October 27th.

Meanwhile, Waits will perform with Kronos Quartet, while John Mayer, Jerry Lee Lewis and Young himself are also slated to take to the stage. The 21st annual event will take place over two days at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in California, near San Francisco.

All the money raised from the eve...

Scarlett Johansson feels guilty about how easily she secured a record contract for her upcoming album of Tom Waits covers because she has musician friends who dream about releasing an album.

Johansson was offered a deal after Warner Brothers talent scouts heard her sing on compilation album "Unexpected Dreams." And the 22-year-old worries her struggling pals will hold her good fortune against her.

She says, "A lot of friends I have are musicians, and here I'm given this bullion on a plate. I had friends who would kill for that."

Johansson's currently untitled Waits covers ...

A galaxy of legendary musicians including Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, Ray Davies, Nelly Furtado, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn and Frank Black are the judges of this year's International Songwriting Competition.

Wannabe songwriters' entries will be listened to by the A-list panel, who will award one lucky winner $25,000 in cash and a further $20,000 worth of prizes. Two runners-up will also take home cash prizes.

Ornette Coleman, former New Order star Peter Hook, The Cure's Robert Smith, Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels, The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Macy Gray and Sean Paul are also on...

It is cliché for a reason, life happens in mysterious ways. If not for a bout of appendicitis that left him in great debt and physically beaten and battered, Boston singer/songwriter Will Dailey might never have made the sparkling album Back Flipping Forward (which will initially be released digitally by CBS Records), a collection that demonstrates why he took home the 2006 Boston Music Award for Best Male Singer/Songwriter.

"I was out in L.A. doing the whole major label showcase and power lunch hustle. It's really just a terrible experience," Dailey says laughing. "You have these pe...

Cult singer/songwriter M. Ward has distanced himself from a credit card commercial on TV - reassuring fans it isn't his sound in the ad.

Ward recently turned down a request by MasterCard to use his cover of the Daniel Johnston song "To Go Home" for a TV promo. He was then surprised to hear a version of the track almost like his own in finished commercial.

Writing on his MySpace.com website, Ward says, "MasterCard was denied permission by M. Ward to use his version of Daniel Johnston's 'To Go Home' - so MasterCard found some anonymous musicians to re-record the song. Neither M. W...

"I've got a sword from all these (Pirates Of The Caribbean) movies and a bow and arrow from Lord Of The Rings, so I'm all armored up now. Nobody wants to try and break into my house." Orlando Bloom on the 'weapons' he's claimed from his epic movies.

"I'm no fool. It's a spiritual insurance policy. Hell, at my age, the next group I put together, everyone may be playing a harp. All kidding aside, I owed His Holiness a favor. He did all my papers in school." Tom Waits jokes about his appearance on new album Healing The Divide: A Concert For Peace & Conciliation, which will be released in...

Little Richard's 1956 hit Tutti Frutti has topped a new UK poll to find the 100 Records That Changed The World. The record, dubbed "a torrent of filth wailed by a bisexual alien," beat The Beatles' I Want To Hold Your Hand and Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel to claim the top spot on the new list compiled by superstar panelists for the new issue of Mojo magazine.

The eclectic panel of stars who took part in the voting included; Bjork, Tori Amos, Tom Waits, Brian Wilson, Pete Wentz and Steve Earle. And Mojo editors claim the 100 "albums, singles and 78s" that made the list make up "t...

Tom Waits has been named America's "Most Underappreciated Artist" in a new Internet poll. The gravel-voiced singer/songwriter beat The Replacements and rock veterans Cheap Trick in the Rolling Stone online list. The top 10 are:

1. Tom Waits

2. The Replacements

3. Cheap Trick

4. Sonic Youth

5. Warren Zevon

6. Big Star

7. The Pharcyde

8. Roxy Music

9. Talking Heads

10. Bob Seger

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

Beirut, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Cat Power, Tom Waits and Regina Spektor make up half of the finalists for this year's Shortlist Music Prize. The top 10 albums were narrowed down from an initial list of 61 for the prizegiving, which will take place in Los Angeles at a date and venue to be decided.

The Shortlist Music Prize, the equivalent to Britain's Mercury Music Prize, returns this year after a year off.

The prize is given to the artist who recorded the best album which has yet to sell 500,000 units in the United States.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment Ne...

"Everybody is retouched, stretched... slimmed and trimmed. I could look at a picture of myself from the past and think, 'Why don't I look like that now? It's because I never have. I'm more upset about what they haven't done. The six-foot-long legs I ordered never arrived." Actress Kate Beckinsale on the way she's airbrushed and touched-up for glossy magazine shoots.

"They didn't like the idea of a mobster going to therapy... It's like a joke that falls flat." The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli on why the hit drama didn't take off in Italy.

"The idea that someone is willing to ha...

"I can't control my drugs and gang-banging past. We let The Beatles into the US, so please let me in here." Snoop Dogg, who was refused a visa to tour the UK this week, pleads his case.

"I've always considered Tom Waits to be kind of a composer of modern standards; he has a lot of beautiful ballads and really heartbreaking songs." Scarlett Johansson on her decision to record an album of Tom Waits covers.

"It was a little strange at first... It was the first time we'd seen each other and it was so, like, nerve-racking, but I knew that he was going to be there and he knew. It is wh...

Nicolas Cage's first choice to play evil Mephistopheles in new comic book movie adaptation Ghost Rider was gravel-voiced crooner Tom Waits.

The movie star had his heart set on the Downtown Train singer joining him in the new blockbuster, in which he plays a half-man half-skeleton fireball biker hero, until producers suggested his hero Peter Fonda for the part.

Fonda eventually landed the role of the motor biking villain, and now Cage insists producers cast the part perfectly.

Cage says, "We talked about who was going to play Mephistopheles and originally I wanted Tom Waits, b...

In October, Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, announced that he's leaving the band because he can't live the rock 'n' roll lifestyle again after completing rehab... Weird Al Yankovic's White & Nerdy becomes the parody singer's first ever top-ten hit... and legendary NYC nightclub CBGB, where bands like the Ramones, Talking Heads and Blondie got their start, closed; Patti Smith was the final act... Beck took things to the next level by releasing his latest album, The Information with sets of stickers so fans could create their own cover art; however, the revolutionary move prompte...

Bob Dylan's Modern Times has been hailed the year's best album by rock bible Rolling Stone. The folk-rock icon's acclaimed album beat the Red Hot Chili Pepper's Stadium Arcadium and Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped to the top of the pile in the magazine's year-end poll.

Other top albums from the likes of TV On The Radio and Cat Power also made the top 10, as did Tom Waits' newly-released collection Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards.

Rolling Stone's top 10 albums are:

(click for reviews, info & more)

1. Modern Times By Bob Dylan

2. Stadium Arcadium By Red Hot Chili Pepp...

Happy Birthday to "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" actress Emily Browning (1988), teen singer Aaron Carter (1987), NFL loudmouth Terrell Owens (1973), "The Outsiders" actor C. Thomas Howell (1966), Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird (1956), singer/actor Tom Waits (1949), baseball hall-of-fame catcher Johnny Bench (1947), singer/songwriter Harry Chapin (1942; d. 1981), stage & screen actress Ellen Burstyn (1932), prolific actor Eli Wallach (1915), Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather (1873; d. 1947).

This week in new music: Jay-Z comes out of "retirement"; Snoop Dogg, Il Divo, Killswitch Engage and others drop new albums; while Tom Waits, U2, The Doors, Johnny Cash and more release new compilations and boxed sets. Keep reading for reviews and info on this week's new CDs...

The Beatles - LOVE

Neither an embarrassment or a revelation, LOVE is at first mildly odd but its novelty soon recedes, revealing that these are the same songs that know you by heart, only with louder drums and occasionally with a few parts in different places. Read review...

Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet T...

Lost In Translation star Scarlett Johansson has signed on to appear in her second advertising campaign for Louis Vuitton.

The voluptuous 22-year-old, who has also endorsed products for Calvin Klein and L'Oreal, first appeared in ads for the fashion house in 2004.

Former models for the company include Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen, as well as actresses Jennifer Lopez and Uma Thurman.

Johansson is set to appear in spots for the forthcoming Spring 2007 advertising campaign.

The announcement comes on the heels of news that Johansson will be releasing an a...

Scarlett Johansson has confirmed reports she's filling in time between movie shoots by recording an album. The star has signed a deal to make her first record, "Scarlett Sings Tom Waits." The 21-year-old is a huge fan of the singer/songwriter, and is so keen to do his music justice she's taking all the time she can in the studio.

She says, "It's coming along. There is no rush to get it out there. We're taking our time - doing a week here and week there. I just love his music."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

Scarlett Johansson has signed a deal to make her first record, "Scarlett Sings Tom Waits," according to media reports. The album is being recorded at the moment and sessions will continue through the winter, with a possible release next spring from Rhino Records' currently re-activated Atco label.

According to Fox News, the 21-year-old is recording a whole album of songs by premier singer/songwriter Waits. Sources say the eventual release date will be coordinated to coincide with Johansson's movie schedule.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

Bob Dylan has topped a new magazine poll of the best living songwriters, beating off competition from Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. Writers of music magazine Paste chose Dylan to head up their comprehensive "100 Best Living Songwriters" list, and readers agreed - voting Dylan ahead of Young and Springsteen.

Both the magazine writers' and readers' list of top 10s also feature Elvis Costello, husband and wife Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and Joni Mitchell.

Readers chose to add U2, Paul Simon and Van Morrison to their list - ahead of writers' choices Leonard Cohen, Paul McCa...

Iconoclast and reclusive touring artist Tom Waits is making an unprecedented move by taking his always unpredictably stunning live show on the road, mostly in cities (Atlanta, Memphis, Louisville, Nashville) where he hasn't been seen on stage since the mid-to-late '70s. As for Asheville, NC, Tom has never played a gig; he hasn't performed in Akron, OH or Detroit since the '80s. The most recent stop on this extraordinary tour is Chicago, where Waits played the Chicago Theater for three sold out nights on his "Mule Variations" tour in '99.

"We need to go to Tennessee to pick up some fire...

Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute To Cole Porter is an eclectic musical homage to the legendary songwriter benefiting AIDS research and relief. On April 25th Shout! Factory will release the videos from this successful benefit project on DVD for the first time, combined with a newly remastered CD in the same package. Red Hot + Blue brings together a diverse group of A-list artists including U2, The Neville Brothers, Sinead O'Conner, Tom Waits, David Byrne (who also directs one of the videos) and more to cover Cole Porter gems such as "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Too Darn Hot," "I Get A Kick Out ...

Tom Waits has won a landmark legal victory in Spain, establishing his moral rights in a case brought against car manufacturer Volkswagen-Audi (VAESA) and a Spanish production company for adapting one of Waits' songs and impersonating his voice in a television commercial.

It is the first time that such moral rights -- protecting the personality and reputation of writers and authors -- have been established in a Spanish court, acknowledging an artist's voice as his creative work. The judgement, rendered by the Appeal Court of Barcelona, also recognized that VAESA and the production comp...

Happy Birthday to "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" actress Emily Browning (1988), teen singer Aaron Carter (1987), NFL loudmouth Terrell Owens (1973), "The Outsiders" actor C. Thomas Howell (1966), Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird (1956), singer/actor Tom Waits (1949), baseball hall-of-fame catcher Johnny Bench (1947), singer/songwriter Harry Chapin (1942; d. 1981), stage & screen actress Ellen Burstyn (1932), prolific actor Eli Wallach (1915), Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather (1873; d. 1947).

After intermittent musical collaboration that dates back to their childhood, brothers Oliver and Chris Wood (Medeski Martin and Wood bassist) have created 'Ways Not To Lose' (due March 7 on Blue Note Records), a stunningly spare and raw debut album of original songs.

The saying that artists have their entire lives to make a debut album has never been more true than with The Wood Brothers. Growing up in Boulder, CO, Oliver and Chris were encouraged to play music from an early age by their father Bill Wood, an alumnus of the storied Cambridge, MA folk scene of the late 1950s. Oliver reca...