Briefly News and Comment: Joey Ramone tribute

plus: R.E.M. in Toronto. Alanis in Alaska. David Cassidy. Dispelled rumors.

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New York's Hammerstein Ballroom will host a tribute to Joey Ramone on May 19, Sonicnet reported. The lineup of performers includes Blondie, Cheap Trick, the Cramps and the Misfits.

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R.E.M. is scheduled to play a free concert in downtown Toronto on May 17, Billboard.com reported.

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Alanis Morissette will follow a two-month tour of Europe and Japan with a July 31 appearance at the Egan Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Tickets go on sale on Saturday (5/12), according to promoter Goldenvoice.

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David Cassidy is suing Bell Records for releasing what he claims are more "Best Of" releases than his contract permits. Arista Records and BMG, which owns Bell Records, are also named as defendants.

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Here are two recently dispelled rumors:

Billboard.com also reported that Michael Jackson released a statement on Wednesday (5/9) that said "I want to clarify a silly rumor: the Beatles Catalogue is not for sale; has not been for sale and will never be for sale."

(Younger readers perhaps aren't aware that, in 1985, Jackson outbid the Beatles' Paul McCartney to own the rights to the catalogue, and as Billboard pointed out, it was after Jackson owned the catalogue that Nike used the Beatles' song "Revolution" in a commercial, which hurts just to think about. McCartney later said in a interview that Jackson had told him--while the two were recording together--that he, Jackson, would one day own McCartney's songs.)

And JamShowbiz.com reported that there was an email going around, made up to look like a Reuters news report, that said that Lou Reed had OD'd on heroin, but Reed is reportedly alive and living in Amsterdam.

We really should be hearing these rumors before they're debunked, but we never do.