Cyndi Lauper has been preparing a blues covers album, Memphis Blues, due out in June via independent label Downtown Records. B.B. King, Charlie Musselwhite and Allen Toussaint are among those making guest appearances on the disc.

AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson has agreed to write a few songs for the soundtrack to the upcoming independent film, Doonby.

Art Garfunkel recently suffered from vocal strain issues forcing the postponement of the Simon & Garfunkel tour scheduled to run from April into May. The dates have been moved to allow Garfunkel to make a complete recovery.

The relaunch of Blondie's official Web site brought with it the news of their next studio album, Panic Of Girls. According to Chris Stein, there are several guest artists and hopes are to have 15 tracks or so on there (some covers and a few in French and Spanish.)

The Go-Go's have announced that they plan a U.S. summer tour together, Happily Ever After: The Farewell Tour!, before calling it a day after 30 years.

Professor Green's "I Need You Tonight" featuring Ed Drewett dropped 3 spots to #6 on the U.K. Singles chart. Tina Turner's "The Best" debuted at #9. Glee Cast's "Hello" debuted at #35. Glee Cast's "Don't Stop Believin'" climbed 2 places to #38.

AC/DC's Iron Man 2 soundtrack debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums chart. Paul Weller's Wake Up The Nation debuted at #2. Meat Loaf's Hang Cool Teddy Bear debuted at #4. Free & Bad Company's The Very Best Of Free & Bad Company dropped a spot to #11. Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 1 fell a place to #16. Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: Season One Vol. 2 dropped 4 spots to #17. James' The Night Before debuted at #20. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach fell 15 places to #34. Tony Bennett's Sings The Ultimate American Songbook 1 debuted at #35.

The estate of Michael Jackson won a preliminary injunction against the Heal The World Foundation over the use of the name of Jackson's former charitable group. The estate filed a lawsuit last year against the owners of the foundation, claiming copyright infringement and that the site was improperly using Jackson's likeness and name to seek donations.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have reportedly reworked a song from their catalog for Paul Oakenfold's next studio album, Pop Killer, due out this summer.

Doctors have said that it may be possible that Bret Michaels could be healthy enough to appear on the live finale of the NBC reality series The Celebrity Apprentice on May 23rd. Michaels remains in critical condition in intensive care after suffering a brain hemorrhage last week. His publicist has stated that his "slurred speech, blurred vision and dizziness will be eliminated and all functions will return to normal." At this time, they are planning to resume his tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd on May 26th.

Glee Cast's "Like A Prayer" debuted at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Glee Cast's Glee: The Music: The Power Of Madonna debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. AC/DC's Iron Man 2 soundtrack debuted at #4. Jimmy Buffett's Encores debuted at #7. Willie Nelson's Country Music debuted at #20. The Crazy Heart soundtrack climbed 56 spots to #22. Sade's Soldier Of Love fell 11 places to #23. Ratt's Infestation debuted at #30. Slash's Slash dropped 17 spots to #33. Gorillaz' Plastic Beach fell 4 places to #34.

You can almost call it a festival. Deon Estus, Fee Waybill (of the Tubes), Bones Hillman (of Midnight Oil) and Roy Hay (of Culture Club) will be joining Boys Don't Cry for one night at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California on June 12th. They are even dragging out Martha Quinn to host the event.

Tom Waits, Steve Winwood, Loretta Lynn, Jeff Beck, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert Smith were among the judges of the 2009 International Songwriting Competition. The winning entry (out of 15,000) was King Charles' "Love Lust."

The Nails have reissued their 1981 debut EP, Hotel For Women, (which had the legendary "88 Lines About 44 Women" on it) at their Web site. Wouldn't it be amazing to see the single reissued next year for a 30th anniversary and get the chart presence it deserves?

Rob Halford has announced the release of Halford's Live In Anaheim as a double-CD and 5.1 surround sound 23-track DVD as well as his Crucible: Remixed and Remastered CD this summer (June 21st and July 12th respectively.) Fans can pre-order at http://www.MetalGodShop.com.

Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford told Backstageaxxess.com correspondent Gus Griesinger that current plans are to head into the studio after they finish their tour to finish the album they started several years back. The band's last effort was 2004's Honkin' On Bobo.

D.O.A. release their new studio album, Talk - Action = 0, on June 8th. The album's first single, "I Live In A Car," has been released and a video for it can be seen on YouTube.

Vince Neil's new solo album, Tatoos & Tequila, will be released on June 22nd. Most of the tracks are covers that Neil has said have "a special meaning and I think we’ve been able to make them ours." The title track and "Another Bad Day" (written by Nikki Sixx) are the only original tracks on the album.

Check out Extreme's newly released video clip for "King Of The Ladies" from their new DVD, Take Us Alive.

John Mellencamp's upcoming box set, On The Rural Route 7609, will be released on Tuesday, June 15th, includes a 72-page book and four discs with a total of 54 tracks (17 of which are previously unreleased.) Pre-order at Mellencamp.com.