• Inside the Michael Jackson Memorial Issue
• Jackson’s Death May Be Homicide, LAPD Says
• Perez Hilton Confirms Warner Music Imprint
• Leonard Cohen Asks for “Hallelujah” Break
• Beyoncé Dances Fiercely for “Sweet Dreams”
• Neverland Burial May Still Be Possible
• Spoon Debut Tunes at Sweaty Austin Gig
• Weekend Rock List: Magic Songs
• White Stripes Meet Dance on Reality TV
• News Ticker: Shakira, Beastie Boys, Muse
• Report: Janet Jackson Planned Intervention
• Jackson Memorial’s Huge Audience, Price Tag
• Pearl Jam Confirm Tour, LP Release Date
• Guitar Hero 5 Adds Dylan, KOL to Set List
• Mariah Apologizes for Jackson Performance
• Incubus Cover Prince on Monuments Set
• Linkin Park’s Bennington Readies Side Project
• McCartney Talks Beatles’ Rights, Jackson Will
• Jackson Catalog Tops 800K in Sales
• Soungarden Talking B Sides, Box Set
• Beck Interviews Tom Waits in New Web Series
• It Might Get Loud: Guitar Doc Unveils Poster
• Panic at the Disco “Alive and Well”
• Breaking: The Script
• Lita Ford on “Sexual” LP, Runaways Rift
• Richard Hell Repairs Voidoids’ Destiny Street
• Web Radio, Labels Strike Royalty Deal
• Jackson: How He Wanted to Be Remembered
• NIN Announce Tiny U.S. Club Tour

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

Photo: Galella/WireImage

• The world said goodbye to Michael Jackson at an all-star memorial service featuring Mariah, Stevie and a few new faces. Rolling Stone was there, and put out our special commemorative issue — go inside it at Michael Jackson Remembered.

• Pearl Jam announced tour dates, while ’90s compatriots Nine Inch Nails revealed the end of their road with 10 final U.S. club shows before they wave goodbye for good.
• Rock Daily hit Green Day’s tour opener, witnessed Jeff Beck’s fit of musical Tourette’s in Montreal, dove through Blur’s catalog in London and watched our favorite American Idol contestants perform live in Portland.
• Panic at the Disco’s Ryan Ross and Jon Walker announced they were leaving the band, but Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith pledged to keep PATD alive by continuing work on their new album, sticking to their scheduled tour dates and reuniting Panic and the !
  

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Madonna got Sticky & Sweet in Paris (after paying tribute to the King of Pop the night prior in London), the Dead rocked Rothbury, and the E Street Band headed to Denmark. Plus, Robert Plant became a Commander of the British Empire, Britney Spears stepped out with her kids (drama-free!) and a host of stars flocked to L.A. for Michael Jackson’s public memorial). Check all out those shots and many more:

• The Week in Live Shots: Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, The Dead and More

• Random Notes: Robert Plant, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and the Week in Rock

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Tom Felton, the actor who plays Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, was just in our office filming an upcoming segment for Off the Cuff with Peter Travers, and he said if this weekend’s Rock List wasn’t somehow Half-Blood Prince-related, he’d turn us into frogs or something. Thus to avoid spending the weekend in a swamp, we’re asking our readers to tell us their favorite Magic Songs. Any tracks pertaining to the dark arts or wizardry are also acceptable. Keep checking the Travers Take for Draco Malfoy’s interview with Peter Travers, but until then check out our magical picks:

• Heart – “Magic Man”
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – “I Put A Spell On You”
• Electric Light Orchestra – “Strange Magic”
• The Beatles – “Magical Mystery Tour”
• Black Sabbath - “The Wizard”

Trent Reznor announced Nine Inch Nails‘ final U.S. tour dates via Twitter today, making the prospect of a world without NIN a stark and impending reality. As we get nostalgic about the past 20 years of Nine Inch Nails, Rock Daily was going to embed a video of Nine Inch Nails performing Soft Cell’s “Sex Dwarf” from 1989 in this week’s Flashback, but instead we present this video of Reznor performing with Soft Cell-style hair as a member of the Exotic Birds in 1985.

The clip, which someone miraculously taped from a 1985 Cleveland news program, debates whether or not electronic music had a future in the rock world. Given Reznor’s body of work, his loyal fans and his ability to find success after breaking away from the record industry, it’s safe to say that the keyboards and machines won out/ (For more vintage Rez, check out this YouTube video of Trent playing keyboards for Slam Bamboo at the 0:57 mark.) For the final NIN tour dates, check after the jump. (more…)

Beyoncé’s new video for “Sweet Dreams,” the latest single from her hit-making machine I Am… Sasha Fierce, officially entered the viral universe today after a leaking earlier in the week. “Sweet Dreams” finds Beyoncé in full-out Sasha Fierce mode, synchronizing her dance moves with her duo of “Single Ladies” doppelgangers and satisfying Fierce’s metallic wardrobe fetish. The video is the seventh off of Beyonce’s third album, including the deluxe reissue version.

“Sweet Dreams” was directed by Adria Petty, who previously helmed a handful of Regina Spektor clips as well as Duffy’s breakthrough “Mercy” video. The video starts off similar to Kanye West’s “Paranoid” spot, with Beyoncé playing the role of restless sleeper instead of Rihanna. From there, director Petty pretty much makes of a video that looks like all of the videos off the bombastic Sasha Fierce section of Beyoncé’s new album, except this time — in addition to dancing in front of a plain white screen — B her dancers spend some time on a desolate surface that looks like a Yes album cover. (more…)

When Michael Jackson suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died on June 25th, the stunned and saddened Rolling Stone team sprang into action, assembling a special commemorative issue dedicated to the King of Pop that is on newsstands now (click here to order it). The issue includes a look back at Jackson’s life and music album by album, our 1971 and 1983 cover stories, an essay by Touré about Jackson’s complicated relationship to his race, an exploration of his downward spiral, dozens of iconic photos and tributes from Quincy Jones, Slash, Brooke Shields and more.

There are a few Jackson features you can dive into right now, starting with Rob Sheffield’s breakdown of the 25 essential song, videos and performances that defined Jackson’s career. Watch the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” plus “Billie Jean,” Jackson’s Motown 25 performance, his 1988 Grammy performance and and more with Sheffield’s commentary: Michael Jackson — The Essential Moments.

Plus, a dozen stars including Adam Lambert, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Stevie Nicks, Chris Cornell and the famous directors of Jackson’s “Scream” and “Remember the Time” videos share their personal memories of the fallen pop icon: Michael Jackson Remembered.

Rolling Stone also takes a look at Jackson’s enduring musical legacy — his unmistakable imprint on pop stars from Justin Timberlake to Chris Brown and beyond, as well as his unlikely influence on a generation of rockers who were inspired by his studio perfectionism and genre blending:
Michael Jackson’s Indelible Pop Legacy and Michael Jackson: The Unlikely King of Rock.

And click above to go behind the issue as RS editors discuss what made Jackson such a pop icon. “He had this old-time Hollywood sense of razzle-dazzle showbiz, but also this proto-hip-hop street dancing thing, but Michael Jackson did it in a way that both Fred Astaire and a hip-hopper could get into,” Rob Sheffield says. “He came out at a time when ‘disco sucks’ was a popular sentiment, there was a lot of controversy over dancing, music that you danced to was for girls, not for boys, and at the time of Off the Wall, he was an artist who made music for boys and girls.”

“He was above genre — he was all music,” says Andy Greene. “I think ‘I Want You Back’ is my favorite pop song of all time,” notes Christian Hoard, while Alan Light calls “Billie Jean” “a flawless record,” and recalls how large it loomed in his life. “Off the Wall is a phenomenal sounding album,” says Brian Hiatt, “almost a perfect album.”

For the latest news on Jackson’s death, plus photos of his career and from his Staples Center memorial ceremony — as well as all of Rolling Stone’s Jackson coverage from our archives — visit our Michael Jackson Remembered hub.

Photograph by Mary Rehak

It was a sweltering 97 degrees last night when Spoon took the stage at Stubb’s in Austin for round one of SpoonX3, an All Tomorrow’s Parties-type fest with Spoon as both headliner and opening-band curator back-to-back-to-back nights. It was a mere 67 degrees in Portland, where frontman Britt Daniel spends half his time, but after last night yielded such a massive, adoring crowd, he’s likely not regretting sweating through some new tunes headed for the band’s upcoming seventh album, slated for release on Merge next spring.

First came opening sets by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, an Austin big band combining the funk of the J.B.’s and the strut of the Blues Brothers, and Quasi, a Portland trio featuring former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss and ex-husband Sam Coomes. Then Spoon emerged with an unpopular opener: “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case,” a slow-building, ambivalent number from the band’s most recent album, the wildly popular Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. But the group quickly redeemed itself with “Don’t You Evah,” a cover by the band the Natural History, and then with “Got Nuffin,” the brilliant new single released June 30th. (more…)

Photo: Shearer/WireImage
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has asked for a brief respite from new versions of his classic “Hallelujah,” arguing the large number of artists covering the song and its frequent appearance on soundtracks amounts to overkill. “I was reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it, and the reviewer said, ‘Can we please have a moratorium on ‘Hallelujah’ in movies and television shows?’ and I kind of feel the same way,” Cohen told the Guardian. “I think it’s a good song, but too many people sing it.”

Incidentally, the gratuitous sex scene in Watchmen that used “Hallelujah” actually employed Cohen’s own version of the song, one of the few times Cohen’s original has been unearthed in recent years. Since Jeff Buckley covered the song on his 1994 album Grace — using John Cale’s 1992 version of the song as his guide — “Hallelujah” has taken on hit status, thanks to renditions by the U.K.’s X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and American Idol Season Seven finalist Jason Castro. Kate Voegele, k.d. lang and Rufus Wainwright have also covered the song in the years since its original 1984 release, with Wainwright’s version featuring in 2001’s Shrek. (more…)

Photo: Pimnetel/WireImage
Perez Hilton’s record label under the Warner Music Group finally seems like its about to become a reality, EW reports, nearly 18 months after word of Hilton’s imprint first surfaced. “I have an ear, which is really important in the music world — to be able to hear a hit and to be able to know who has a good song or not… I’m more than just an A&R person. I’m also a marketing person. I’m also a manager,” Hilton tells EW. Today on Perez Hilton’s site, the self-proclaimed “Queen of All Media” hinted at his upcoming record label and linked readers to all his past music recommendations.

Hilton will reportedly announce his first signee later this month. In the past, Hilton has rallied around and helped jettison into the public eye artists like Mika, Robyn, Chester French and many more buzz artists that have frequented his annual SXSW parties. In EW, Hilton also takes credit for helping push Rolling Stone’s Hot Diva Lady Gaga into the spotlight. (more…)

Photo: Buckner/Getty
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The Hold Steady, “Atlantic City” [Bruce Springsteen Cover]
And, sure, the Hold Steady covering Springsteen ain’t exactly novel, either, but the context here is alarming: it comes at the end of a long, involved post about a gruesome murder in 1873. Listen to the song while you read the piece and try not to get chills.

Santigold, “Lights Out” [Tepr Remix]
We almost passed this one by, given that the world hasn’t exactly been hurting for Santigold remixes. And then we listened to it: sleek and elegant, Tepr uses pounding piano chords and tiny electronic squiggles to turn everyone’s favorite Bud Lite Lime jingle into a whole new creature.

Lil Wayne & Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks Til Prom” [Mashup]
At last, a way to make the Lil Wayne rock songs bearable! The pairing of Wayne’s wobbly Auto-Tune and Grizzly Bear’s sky-high harmonies makes a strange and perfect kind of sense. (more…)