Music Music Bo Byoozic

Well, folks, there's some pretty down news out there this week, so I'll get right into that and we can move on.

Merl Saunders, keyboardist for the Grateful Dead, died this week from complications resulting from a stroke six years ago. Heaven just got a little more trippy.

American Idol star and actress Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were found murdered in their home Friday morning. Her 7-year old nephew was taken from the scene, and a hefty reward was offered for his safe return. Unfortunately, his body was found in an abandoned SUV this morning.

Now that we got through that, let's talk about something happier.

Now that the new Guns n' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is actually officially and definitely coming out (Nov. 23), Dr Pepper is making good on its claim that it would give every person in America a free can of Dr Pepper. You see, way back when it looked like Axl was never going to get his crud together, the soda's vp of marketing (jokingly) promised to give everyone in America free Dr Pepper if the album was ready by the end of 2008.

In related news, Slash is coming out with a solo album. I'm not very optimistic. Slash is a guitarist, not a songwriter. This'll just end up being an album of collaborations, and I hate those.

Now for some ridiculous stuff. Beyonce is leaving Madonna and Cher in the one-name-person club in favor of two names. Crazily enough, she now wants to be called Sasha Fierce.
Sasha...
Fierce...

And Bono, who has just been tapped to write a column for the New York Times, was caught, via facebook, flirting with a couple of 19-year old girls. They posted pictures and told all their friends and probably giggled about it, too. Good job, Bono.


I'll leave you on a lighter note. Here's Louis Armstrong performing his great American classic, Cheesecake. Don't watch unless you want it stuck in your head forever.