U2 have rescheduled the dates for the North American leg of their 360 tour for Spring/Summer 2011

Irish rock band U2 have rescheduled the dates for the North American leg of their 360 tour for Spring/Summer 2011 with all tickets valid for the new performance dates, their concert promoter said Tuesday.The North American leg will kick off on May 21 next year at Invesco Field in Denver and end on July 23, 2011 in Minneapolis, music concert company Live Nation Entertainment said. The 2010 European tour will begin on time on August 6, 2010 in Turin.The North American tour dates were canceled and U2 missed a date with Glastonbury music festival after frontman Bono underwent emergency surgery on his back in May.”Following Bono’s recovery from recent back surgery, U2 are now readying themselves for the opening of their European Tour,” Live Nation said in a statement.

It said band members Adam, Larry, Edge and Bono have filmed a message for everyone at Web site u2.com on the eve of their return to say: “Thank you for standing by us.”U2 manager Paul McGuinness also thanked the band’s fans for their ongoing support.”We’re delighted the dates are rescheduled and in all the same venues we originally planned to play,” he said in the statement. “Above all we want to thank the U2 fans for bearing with us. They’re the best and the band wants to get back to where they belong, surrounded by their audience.”With hits like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Where the Streets Have No Name,” U2 are one of the world’s biggest bands and have sold over 150 million records, according to unofficial estimates.The 50-year-old singer’s injury was a blow to the band and the millions of fans who were hoping to see U2 this year on the second leg of their world U2 360 Tour.

It was also expected to hit music concert company Live Nation, which signed a 12-year deal to handle merchandising, digital and branding rights as well as touring.The 2009 part of the tour helped the band earn $109 million last year, according to music journal Billboard.The 360 tour, so-called because fans surround a giant circular platform, was predicted to become the highest-grossing tour in history.(Reuters)

Alicia Keys’ new album is about overcoming depression

Alicia KeysThe ‘Girlfriend’ singer almost quit the music industry when her grandmother passed away in 2006 but has learned to channel her emotions use them to create a ‘new sound’ for her latest LP ‘The Element of Freedom’.She explained: ‘I found more freedom. Before, I thought I could only show the strong side of me. Now there’s a mixture of strong and delicate. A new sound, a new emotion. That’s a lot of who I am right now.

‘In the past, I was locking myself in the studio because I thought it was the only way to create music. This was a more casual way to do it.’The tour will take me all over the world for a year and I can’t wait to play these songs.’In 2006, the 28-year-old songstress almost suffered a breakdown after her grandmother passed away. She took a three-week holiday in Egypt to grieve for her loss before she released ‘As I Am’ a year later.She explained to Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: ‘With the last album, I was really trying to find myself and I was feeling extremely overworked. I was also starting to understand that I was dealing with certain people in business that were not really for me and they all had their intentions and thoughts. I was snappy, I was nasty, I was mean, losing my grandmother during that time as well. Everything felt like it could all just tumble down at once

Jennifer Hudson singing for US President Barack Obama.

The singer-and-actress is to perform for the president, his wife Michelle and 320 guests at a state dinner at the White House tonight (24.11.09). It is not known what she will sing.It will not be the first time Jennifer has performed for the Obamas.In 2008, she sang the American national anthem at the Democratic National Convention where the then-Senator Obama accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for president.She is not the first soul act to play at the White House, in Washington.At the Governor’s Dinner in February, funk band Earth, Wind and Fire – whose most famous hits include ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and ‘Let’s Groove’ – performed for guests.

Jennifer suffered personal tragedy last year when her mother Darnell Donnerson was murdered along with her brother and nephew.The 28-year-old star recently claimed she believes she is protected by her mother’s spirit and feels inspired by her when parenting her three-month-old son David.

Asked if she feels her mom is with her all the time, Jennifer – who is in a long-term relationship with David Otunga – said: “Oh my God, yeah. Definitely. Every day I’m like, ‘Wow! I didn’t realise I was so like my mother until now, you know?
“My mother was the strongest person I’ve ever seen.”

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Cranberries will ASAP to release new album

The Cranberries are set to release a new album – their first for eight years.The Irish band recently reunited for their first tour in six years and singer Dolores O’Riordan admits they are desperate to record some fresh material.She said: ‘It would be nice to come up with a new record. I don’t see why not. The ideas are always there, so hopefully something will come out of it.”

If The Cranberries are going to commit to an LP – which would be their first studio release since 2001’s ‘Wake Up and Smell the Coffee’ – Dolores wants it to be as good as it can be.The ‘Linger’ singer – who has been working on new material with guitarist Noel Hogan – added in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper: ‘Noel has been sending me lots of music, and I’ve been continually writing. It’s one of those things where we have to see what happens. There’s no point in bringing out a crappy record. You want it to be good, so hopefully the creative juices are flowing.”and see  The Cranberries video music

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