8:00 PM: It’s Grammys’ 50th Birthday and the 2008 Rock Daily Grammys Live Blog is underway with a gentle reminder that things were easier for the record biz in 1958 (Alicia Keys is performing “with” Frank Sinatra). Seriously, does anyone actually think duets with dead stars are a good idea?

(Click here for photos from this year’s Grammy Awards.)

8:05 PM: Carrie Underwood is wearing vinyl. Last year’s Best New Artist winner performs “Before He Cheats” with a kind of Blue Man Group-esque ensemble beating on trash cans and attempting some Christina Aguilera-like vocal runs. Sorry kid, playing in the garbage doesn’t exactly make you dirrty.

8:09 PM: Prince presents Best Female R&B Vocal Performance to Alicia Keys for “No One,” making her the first winner of the night to thank God. Now that Prince is no longer required onstage, he can go back to filing lawsuits against his fans.

8:17 PM: Jimmy Jam brings out the original members of the Time (with a keytar). Rihanna joins them and starts singing — what else — “Umbrella,” then “Don’t Stop the Music.” There’s a perfect moment for Michael Jackson to come out here, but … he doesn’t. (more…)

The 2008 Grammy Awards are underway, and Rock Daily already has this year’s most memorable images from the red carpet and the performances. Check out the comprehensive Grammy photo gallery here.

Before the show even kicked off, a whole bunch of big names won brand new decorations for their mantles. Kanye West took home three awards (including the prize for Best Rap Solo Performance), while Amy Winehouse won Best Pop Vocal for Back to Black. Other winners included Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson, Justin Timberlake and the White Stripes. Check out the list after the jump. Be sure to check out the rest of tonight’s Grammy news and views over at Rock Daily’s live blog. (more…)

The 50th annual Grammy Awards show airs this Sunday, and Rock Daily has got you covered. We’ll be live-blogging the event, posting the best photos and reporting from the hottest parties. To catch you up before Sunday, here’s the rundown of everything you need to know leading up to the ceremony:

• Kanye West, Amy Winehouse Lead Nominations for 50th Annual Grammy Awards
• The 2008 Grammys: Instant Predictions
• Photo Gallery: The Most Memorable Grammy Moments
• Rock Star Predictions: Who Will Win at This Year’s Grammys
• Amy Winehouse Will Perform at Grammys, Via Satellite; Kanye Joins Mix

(more…)

• Winehouse to Play Grammys Via Satellite
• Scott Weiland Enters Rehab
• McCain Stops Using Mellencamp Songs

Top stories from the last three days:

• Complete Britney Timeline and Cover Stories
• R.E.M., My Morning Jacket Lead SXSW Festival
• Scorsese Premieres Rolling Stones Doc
• Pearl Jam, Metallica, Kanye to Play Bonnaroo
• Tour Preview: Avril Lavigne

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

• Britney Spears left a psychiatric hospital early, challenged her parents, and then landed on the cover of this magazine and was all over this site.
• John Mellencamp took umbrage with John McCain’s use of “Pink Houses” and “Our Country.” McCain acquiesced to Mellencamp’s demands.
• Some big names, including Metallica, Pearl Jam and My Morning Jacket, showed up on the lineups for Bonnaroo and South By Southwest.
• Amy Winehouse was questioned by police, settled her Grammy plans and had her teenage years exposed care of some old teachers.
• There was all manner of tour-related shennanigans: Avril Lavigne gave us a preview of her upcoming trek, Kid Rock let us hang out in his dressing room and John Mayer went a little crazy on his own cruise ship.

Chasing the Britney Spears story means become acquainted with the star’s ever-changing circle of friends, assistants, love interests and collaborators — and doing a lot of fast driving. Click here for a guide to Spears’ universe over the past few years, which includes everyone from Justin Timberlake and her parents to current paparazzo boyfriend Adnan Ghalib. And keep reading for an interview with cover story writer Vanessa Grigoriadis, who discusses the lengths she traveled to track Spears, why she thinks our culture is so obsessed with the minutia of Britney’s life and how the troubled star’s story is like Lost.

RS: What did you learn about how the paparazzi work?

VG: Every outlet has a team of three or four people who are working on it. When you see these paparazzi shots and you can’t believe that they can get her all the time, the reason they get her all the time is they triangulate her. They have one guy sitting up at her house and he works with two or three other paps. As soon as she moves, he has a Nextel walkie talkie and tells those other guys, “She’s coming down Rodeo. She’s taking a right.” And they catch up with her and they know pretty much every place she’s going to go because she goes to the same places. (more…)

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Rich Cohen profile legendary music executive Clive Davis, the last record man. Davis has helped guide the careers of everyone from Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston to Santana and Alicia Keys. Four decades on, he still burns for that next hit (he’s currently working on releases from Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis, and Houston’s long-awaited comeback album). Click here to get a look at some of the biggest acts Davis has guided over the course of his forty year career.

[Photo: Courtesy J Records]

How did John Mayer celebrate the maiden voyage of his “Mayercraft Carrier” concert cruise? By donning the neon green bathing suit made famous by Borat and letting most of it hang out on the high seas. In case you missed Tom Petty at the Super Bowl, the Rolling Stones in Berlin or Amy Winehouse being Amy Winehouse, check out this week’s Random Notes here.

[Photo: Erin Horgan]

In honor of the announcement of the Bonnaroo, Glastonbury and South by Southwest line-ups, this week we ask you, the reader/festival-goer, to tell us headliners would comprise your dream festival. Pick three reasonably plausible acts (you can’t go resurrecting Jerry Garcia or Jim Morrison, but you can reunite the Talking Heads), and on Monday, we’ll draw up the Readers’ Dream Festival Line-Up. Here are our picks:

• Led Zeppelin
• Radiohead
• Pavement
• The Smiths
• Bob Dylan

Four days after John Mellencamp’s reps asked John McCain to stop playing his songs “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” at his rallies, the Republican frontrunner’s campaign spokesman announced today that Mellencamp’s songs would no longer be played as McCain’s rallying cry. Mellencamp, a noted liberal who was supporting John Edwards, took umbrage with McCain using his music as he traveled from primary state to primary state trying to prove to his party that he is a “true conservative.” According to Mellencamp’s publicist, “If you’re such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?” McCain’s people agreed, and have ceased playing the songs.

Related Stories:

• Mellencamp Asks McCain to Stop Using Tunes
• John Mellencamp: “I Don’t Know How Many Times I Quit the Business”
• John Mellencamp Rocks a NYC Bookstore With Bluesy New Tracks, Classic Hits

What It Is: The ultimate for-dummies home server that automatically backs up the entire contents—including all your music files—of up to ten PCs. It also lets you share said files across your home network and access them from any Web-connected computer.

Who It’s For: Anyone who lives in a household in which nearly every member downloads and/or rips music, video or takes pictures. (more…)

Lez Zeppelin use that whole Bonnaroo announcement prank to springboard to a headlining tour, Siouxsie (sans the Banshees) launches her first U.S. solo trek and Seether and Flyleaf entertain the western half of America. Check out the full set of dates after the jump.
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• Kings of Leon, Leonard Cohen and the Verve have joined the previously announced Jay-Z as the headliners for this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

• To commemorate the reissue of their classic albums, Eric Burdon & WAR will perform together for the first time in thirty-seven years for one night only: April 21st at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

• Led Zeppelin fans have launched an online petition demanding that the reunited band embark on a full-scale tour.

• Without a record label to run, Jay-Z and ad-guru Steve Stoute will launch a new advertising agency with Hova acting as chairman and co-owner.

To get yourself ready for this Sunday’s Grammy Awards, check out Rolling Stone’s massive gallery of classic Grammy moments, from Debbie Harry chilling with George Burns to Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” wings. Click here for the full slate of photos, and be sure to stay tuned to Rock Daily for all your Grammy-related needs.

[Photo: Retna]