Welcome to CraveOnline's weekly music news roundup! Covering all the latest in the hits, the bombs and the trainwrecks, we sift through the headlines and bring you just what you need to know about musical current events.

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Top 5 Billboard Albums

U2 landed its seventh #1 on The Billboard 200 with their excellent return to form, No Line on the Horizon. The album moved 484,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, the best sales week for an artist since early December. This ties U2 with Led Zeppelin for the third-most #1s among groups, behind only the Beatles' 19 and the Rolling Stones' 9.

That means that Taylor Swift, who'd grown quite used to domination in her 11-week non-consecutive run at the top of the charts, slips down to #2 with 52,000 on a 29% sales decline.
 
Neko Case earns her biggest charting week yet as her Anti- album Middle Cyclone debuts at #3 with 44,000. Her last album, 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, debuted and peaked at No. 54 with an 18,000 initial draw.
 
Lady GaGa's The Fame bounces from #7 to #4, while everybody's favorite "Why Won't You Go Away" band, Nickelback, sticks around at #5 for a second week with 36,000.


Billboard Hot 100 Update

Flo Rida's terrible "Right Round" (featuring Ke$ha) remains at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a fourth week in a row, while T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake's "Dead and Gone" spends a fourth straight week at #2 and Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" earns the Greatest Gainer/Airplay award at #3 with the still surging song. "Kiss Me Thru the Phone," by Soulja Boy Tell'em featuring Sammie, also holds its place at #4, while The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" is also a non-mover at No. 5. Every single one of those songs suck. What the hell is wrong with the teeny-boppers these days?

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Imagine Gerry Garcia turning on his loyal followers, narc'ing out all the Deadheads as they arrived at his show. Well, the next shittiest thing happened, as police reportedly confiscated about $1.2 million in illegal drugs and more than $68,000 in cash from concertgoers attending Phish's reunion show in Hampton, VA. Authorities arrested 194 Phish fans during the three-night celebration of the band's return to the stage after a nearly five-year absence. Of course, most of the arrests were for drug possession, use and distribution.

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Amy Winehouse won't perform as planned at the Coachella festival next month, because she's a goddamned crackhead.

Spokesman Chris Goodman said Monday that Winehouse isn't going to the festival in Indio, Calif., in "light of current legal issues."

Cracky McBeeHive was charged with assault last week for allegedly attacking a fan at a London party in September. The singer is due in court next week.

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Oh Coolio, crack is so '80s Detroit. The "Gangster's Paradise" rapper was charged on Tuesday with possession of crack cocaine and battery following his arrest last week at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Grammy winner, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, was taken into custody at the airport on Friday after authorities said they found the drug and a crack pipe in his luggage. Who the hell packs a crack pipe in their luggage? That's right, a crackhead.

He faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison if convicted and is scheduled to appear in court on April 3.

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While the rest of us wait patiently for the next White Stripes record, Jack White has formed yet another new group. This one's called The Dead Weather, and in it are The Kills frontwoman Alison Mosshart.  The Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence and Queens of the Stoneage guitarist Dean Fertita, in addition to Mr. White, who plays drums on this one.

The group debuted a handful of new tracks Wednesday night (March 11) in Nasvhille, taken from their forthcoming album Horehound, due June 9 on White's Third Man Records imprint.  Two of the songs are available now on iTunes: "Hang You From The Heavens" and a cover of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" But you can check 'em out at http://www.thedeadweather.com/

The group performed for an intimate crowd of 150 at the opening of White’s new headquarters, which includes not only the label office, but also a vinyl shop, photography studio and performance stage.

The Dead Weather is planning to support “Horehound” with a tour this June. Which means we probably won't see another Stripes record until 2010. Goddamnit.

The music was bluesy, raw and aggressive, with Mosshart handling lead vocals and White playing drums. They played in a performance space in the same building as White's label offices, set in a gritty neighborhood of warehouses and adult businesses.

Mosshart and White wrote most of the album's 11 tracks, except for one lone cover - a revved-up rendition of Bob Dylan's "New Pony."

"We didn't write that one," White cracked during the preview.

White, 33, is known for his electric guitar work, but he started out a drummer. He said the new project allows him to reconnect with the instrument.

"I produced from the drummer seat, and I really loved it so much because I haven't done it since I was a teenager, 15 years ago," he said. "I wanted to go back to my first love which was the drums. I did it on James Bond with Alicia (Alicia Keys, who collaborated with White for the theme to the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace"), and I wanted to do it with a band. I wanted to produce from the drummer's seat and see what happens."

The project emerged after a Raconteurs show, from a backstage conversation between White, Mosshart and Lawrence

"The idea was to do a 7-inch single and be done," White said. "But we started writing songs and something happened."

White describes the band's name as a patchwork of references to other musical groups, and insists that this new project won't affect their other endeavors.

"Everything is going on at the exact same time," Mosshart said. "We all collectively decided that 2009 is the year of the daredevil. No days off. We're just going to work every single day no matter what we're doing."

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Michael Jackson has now brought his London farewell concert run to a total of 50 shows, according to Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG Live, promoter of the shows.

"We stopped it at 45 in the pre-sale to save shows for the public on sale, which is tomorrow," Phillips says. Jackson could do 100 shows at the O2 if he wanted, Phillips says, but he has other goals, including film and recording. "He can’t live his life in London, he has a lot of things on his agenda." Right.

The shows have largely sold out already, and while more than 90% of the tickets were purchased from the U.K., but "the rest is France, Germany, Poland, everywhere in the world. People bought tickets from Botswana," Phillips says.

The intensity of demand has been a "shot of adrenaline" for Jackson, Phillips says. "He feels great. He feels reborn," Phillips adds. "He's been gone for 12 years, so there was trepidation there." Yeah, and that whole pedophile thing might've been a bit of a nerve-wracker.

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Prince will perform a string of three nights on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," March 25-27, as he attempts to build anticipation for the March 29 release of his two new albums, LOtUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND. He'll also return to the "Tonight Show," on May 28th, in celebration of the end of Leno's run as host of the show. Because we should all celebrate that.

Both immensely annoyingly-named CDs, along with a third by new artist Bria Valente, will be available as a three-disc set exclusively through Target for a price of $11.98. Great deal, if you're into that kind of thing.

Prince is just the latest artist to promote new music with a multi-night run on a late night talk show.  Last week, U2 performed five nights in a row on the "Late Show with David Letterman"  to promote their new album, No Line On The Horizon, as well as their upcoming world tour.  The White Stripes and the Strokes both did multiple nights of performances on the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

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Radiohead are working on their first batch of new material since last year's In Rainbows, according to guitarist Ed O'Brien. He also hinted to BBC Radio 1 that the band will be announcing live dates soon.

He said: "We are working on new material… We'll be doing some more recording. It's business as usual."

Cue maniac fanboy reactions and messageboard wildfires.

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Speaking of wildfires, Nine Inch Nails mainman Trent Reznor feels pretty much exactly the way I do (and any self-respecting rock fan does) about former Audioslave/Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell's new solo record Scream.

"You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable?" Reznor asked recently on his Twitter page. "Heard Chris Cornell's record? Jesus," he wrote.

I couldn't agree more.

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In his endless quest for beef, 50 Cent will reportedly release a sex tape featuring the mother of one of Rick Ross's children. Clearly dismayed by the fact that nobody gives a shit about him anymore, the rapper has reportedly bought a raunchy video of his so called 'baby mama' to help continue his beef with Ross. Because that will make people care.

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Metallica frontman James Hetfield has been sidelined by some bad oysters. The metal god headed home to the United States on Monday morning (March 9) after being hospitalized in Stockholm, Sweden over the weekend, thus forcing the cancellation of their gig in the Swedish town.

In a posting on Metallica's offical web site, Hetfield writes, "James here, alive, at about 80% but getting better. I want to say sorry for missing the second Stockholm gig on Sunday due to illness. The cause/diagnosis at the hospital was narrowed down to either a 24-hour virus or a bad oyster...yes, hate to admit, an oyster could have taken me down."

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Finally, one tiny piece of good news in the boiling cauldron of badness that is this Chris Brown/Rihanna story. Brown has withdrawn his name from two categories at this year’s Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards due to the two felony charges he is facing as a result of the "alleged" February 8th assault of Rihanna. “Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated,” a spokesperson told CNN.

Brown had been nominated in the Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song categories. Incredibly, he was also featured on the Kids Choice Awards’ Website yesterday until his picture was taken down on the KCA Nominees page.

“We agree with and respect his decision, and are looking forward to presenting a great event for our audience,” Nickelodeon said of Brown’s withdrawal.

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Hobo rapper Joaquin Phoenix caused a ruckus in Miami earlier this week because of a heckler. The actor/rapper's short hip-hop set at the LIV nightclub was cut short when Phoenix jumped off the stage and attacked a clubgoer who was making fun of him. Security guards had to restrain Phoenix, who was then kicked the fuck out. Of course, cameras handled by actor Casey Affleck — Phoenix’s brother-in-law and the director of the documentary detailing Phoenix’s immersion into the world of hip-hop — captured the entire incident.

The heckler was likely not alone in his animosity towards the former actor, being that Phoenix’s performance listed a 10:30 p.m. start time, but the bearded wonder didn't take the stage until nearly four hours later. Once onstage, Phoenix began rapping incomprehensibly to the beat, and before long began arguing with a heckler, calling him names and bragging about how much money he had in his bank account. Then Phoenix dropped the mic and dove into the crowd to confront the guy. End scene.

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Not only do The Roots kick serious ass, not only are they the most badass house band to ever grace a "Late Night" stage, but they throw a hell of a party as well.

TV On The Radio, Public Enemy, the Black Keys and Santigold are among the acts that have been handpicked by The Roots to play the band's second annual hometown Roots Picnic on June 6 at Festival Pier in Philadelphia. In a move of sheer awesomeness, Public Enemy will perform the classic album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its entirety, backed by The Roots and Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band Antibalas. The Roots will also play two sets, opening and closing the festivities. The Roots Picnic runs from 2:00 pm - 11:00 pm.

The Pipes featuring Zoe Kravitz and Busdriver are also set to play on the main stage, with DJs Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff spinning sets in between the bands. Writtenhouse, Back to Basics, Making Time, Busdriver, Kid Cudi and Asher Roth will all play on a second stage.