TOUR UPDATES (Click on More to view all articles): Liam Gallagher Walks Off Stage

The opening show of OASIS' US tour was thrown into chaos on Friday night August 2) when LIAM GALLAGHER quit four songs in because his voice gave out.

The band were playing the 3,000 capacity Pompano Beach Amphitheater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when during 'Go Let It Out' Liam announced his voice had gone "awry" and apologizing, he walked off. Noel Gallagher decided to carry on with the show and after a couple more full band tracks, he played an eight track acoustic set which concluded with 'Wonderwall' – played for the first time since Noel announced he would not play it again live following his split from ex-wife Meg Mathews.

Oasis blamed Liam's vocal problems on "the long plane flight to Florida".

Oasis Members Hurt in Taxi Crash

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three members of the British rock band Oasis are recovering after being hurt in a car crash.

The musicians were in a taxi Tuesday afternoon when it was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle in downtown Indianapolis.

Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell and Jay Darlington were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they were treated for shock, cuts and bruises, according to a statement issued early Wednesday by concert promoter Clear Channel Entertainment.

Gallagher, who was sitting in the front of the taxi, suffered heavy facial bruises and seat belt cuts. Darlington, a keyboard player, injured a hand and was to return to the hospital for further treatment on Wednesday.

Doctors have ordered the musicians to rest for two days to let medication take effect, the statement said.

The band was scheduled to play Wednesday evening at the Murat Theatre, but that concert has been postponed. Fans were advised to keep their tickets until the show can be rescheduled, the statement said.

Oasis became wildly popular in the mid-1990s. Their 1995 album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. and became the second-best selling album in British history.

150,000 Fans Enjoy Country's WE Fest

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (AP) — Red, white and blue bandanas, baseball caps and cowboy hats nodded along to the beat as an estimated 150,000 country music fans enjoyed the 20th WE Fest celebration.

This year's four-day party, organized around a "Love Your Country" theme, ended Sunday as American flags waved and the crowd swayed and mouthed the words to songs by Gary Allen, Trisha Yearwood and Brooks & Dunn.

Attendance was the second largest in WE Fest history, topped only by the festival in 1996, said WE Fest President Jeff Krueger.

Country music "reflects who we are. There's a thread of patriotism that runs through it, standing up for our country," Krueger said.

Brooks & Dunn's opening song, "Only in America," was accompanied by digital images of an American flag.

Yearwood told the crowd that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she and her band decided that an American flag would be on the stage whenever they perform.

Performers also included Toby Keith, who sang "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)."

Kylie Minogue Launches Aussie Tour

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Draped in an Australian flag, pop star Kylie Minogue said it was good to be home as she launched a sold-out, 12-date tour of her country of birth.

Although she now spends most of her time in London, the former star of the soap opera "Neighbours" has legions of Australian fans and they turned out in force to her opening concert Friday at Sydney Entertainment Center.

Opening the show in a silver space suit, Minogue went through a series of costume changes including draping herself in the national flag.

Minogue told the 10,000-strong crowd she was relieved to be in Australia after a grueling world schedule.

"There's a lot that I can say in words, it's just easier that I didn't," she said. "I'm one very happy girl to be home."

Fans roared their appreciation.

37 Years Later, Dylan Plays Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — This time, Bob Dylan knew better than to walk onstage at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric guitar.

The legendary singer-songwriter last played Newport in July 1965, when he famously "plugged in" for the first time, smashing barriers between folk and rock, and was booed by folk-music purists.

Thirty-seven years later, Dylan returned to Newport, and fans had nothing but applause as he walked onstage around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, slung an acoustic guitar over his shoulder and, with Al Gore standing just offstage, led his four-piece backing band into an acoustic version of "Roving Gambler."

These days, the 61-year-old Dylan is more Nashville than Greenwich Village. He wore a white cowboy hat and a black vest and managed a shuffling two-step during a few songs.

Next came countrified takes on "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Desolation Row," and "Mama, You've Been On My Mind," before the band traded their acoustic instruments for electric ones.

His band, which included Tony Garnier on bass, Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell on guitars and George Ricelli on drums, matched Dylan in Hank Williams-style black.

They switched between electric and acoustic several times during a 90-minute set that included 15 songs. Highlights included a hard-rocking version of "Down in the Flood," a song dating to Dylan's days with The Band, and an acoustic rendition of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere."

Jim Sullivan of Falmouth, Mass., who was just 7 the last time Dylan played Newport, brought his own 14-year-old son, Ben, to witness a bit of history Saturday. Both wore hats and T-shirts from Dylan's current tour. Like his father, Ben is a big fan, and belongs to an Internet chat group devoted entirely to Dylan.

"I was a Dylan fan all by myself for my whole life," Jim Sullivan said. "Then he was born, and I made sure he was a Dylan fan. Now I have someone to go to shows with."

After a 10-minute break, the band returned for a four-song encore that began with "Not Fade Away," and "Like a Rolling Stone," a song that hit the airwaves just days before Dylan's last appearance at Newport and would became an anthem of the 1960s. "Blowin' in the Wind," and "All Along the Watchtower," rounded out the encore.

"He's in better form than ever," said Mark Kunkel, a 51-year-old longtime Dylan fan who drove 1,300 miles from his home in Carrollton, Ga., in a 1977 Volkswagen microbus to witness Dylan's return to Newport.

The 10,000 tickets to Saturday's show at the two-day Apple & Eve Newport Folk Festival sold out faster than in any other year in the festival's history, fueled mainly by Dylan's long-awaited return.

Whether the boos in 1965 were for him or because of the poor sound quality — still a matter of intense debate — Dylan's three-song electric set that year has attained mythic status.

But the times indeed have a-changed.

"I can't think of anything he could do that would make me want to boo him this time," said Jack White, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for WPRI-TV in Providence.

White, who was then a 22-year-old college senior, was among the folkies who jeered at Dylan the last time he played Newport. He even stormed off the festival grounds before Dylan was through.

"I've mellowed with age," said White, now 59. "I think you could probably say the same of most of my contemporaries."

Dylan's acerbic, at times sarcastic, protest songs captured the mood of America's increasingly disenfranchised youth during the early years of Vietnam war and the civil-rights struggles.

At 24, however, he was maturing personally and artistically. Earlier in '65, Dylan released "Bringing It All Back Home," an album of both acoustic and electric songs.

Then Dylan and his new sound hit the stage at Newport, the sacred hub of the folk movement.

"Newport was definitely the most dramatic place to do it," said Dylan biographer Michael Gray, author of "Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan."

"Everybody knew that he'd gone electric. It was there on the album. But the folk music establishment was hanging onto the notion that he was still one of theirs."

Dylan strode onstage late in the afternoon on Sunday, July 25, 1965, with a Fender electric guitar and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They stunned the crowed with a raucous rendition of "Maggie's Farm," followed by "Rolling Stone" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Dylan then came back for an acoustic set with "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Mister Tambourine Man."

Witnesses differ over whether the boos and catcalls were because Dylan "plugged in," or because of the sound system's shortcomings. Some say the harsh reception was due to the brevity of the set.

Whatever happened, popular music would never be the same.

"It exploded the possibilities of what you could do in popular music," Gray said. "After Dylan went electric, you could control your material as an artist and, in a way, your career, too."

Diana Ross Cancels Calif. Concert

CERRITOS, Calif. (AP) — Diana Ross has canceled the California leg of her North American concert tour because of health problems, her talent agency announced.

The 58-year-old pop diva was scheduled to appear Aug. 9-10 at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

However, the center said this past week that it was informed by Creative Artists Agency "that the state of Ms. Ross' health makes it impossible for her to fulfill her touring obligations."

A call to the talent agency was answered by an operator who was unable to comment.

Ross voluntarily entered the Promises drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Malibu for 10 days beginning around May 20 for an undisclosed condition.

Little Richard To Retire From Touring At End Of Year

Little Richard, 69, plans to retire at the end of the year. "This is my last tour," he told the New York Post in a long interview. "I'm retiring at the end of the year. I'm going to be 70 years old on December 5. I've been making music since I was 8 years old, and I'm tired now. I've never taken a vacation. I work every day, year in, year out. I think that when you get tired it's time to move over. Since this is the end, I'm gonna give everything I've got in every show I have left."

"I give 100 percent on stage," he maintains. "You want to see Little Richard, the Architect of Rock 'n' Roll, and have a good time, hurry because this is it. This is going to be a historic event. I'm going back to the South for rest. I'm from Georgia, and I want to rest there. Los Angeles isn't restful at all. I haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I won't be traveling for rock."

One of his last shows was August 4 at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, Long Island on a bill with Chuck Berry. However, Richard has had a long standing rift with his fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
"We've got a big problem with him," he told the paper. "Well, you know, everywhere he plays, he wants to be the star. Do you understand? I like him, I respect him. He is a great pioneer of music, a great legend. When he has a party, I go, but he's not the friendliest man in the world.

Sharon Ships Ozzy Back To OZZfest

Ozzy Osbourne wanted to be by his wife/manager Sharon's side while she underwent chemotherapy for colon cancer, but after nearly passing out during her first treatment, he's being sent back on the road.

"After attending his wife Sharon's first chemotherapy treatment, he nearly passed out and had to be taken to a recovery room," his spokesperson said in a statement. "Sharon now realizes that Ozzy is better off on the road so she's shipped him back out to finish OZZfest."

Osbourne, who planned to take a three-week break (August 3-22), will now only will miss two OZZfest dates — August 3 in Columbus, OH Columbus and August 4 in Cleveland — before rejoining the tour in Michigan on August 7.

Sharon Osbourne, who underwent colon cancer surgery early last month, began chemotherapy because the cancer had spread.

Bill Gaither & Friends To Tour This Fall

Grammy-winning gospel singer and composer, Bill Gaither, and more
than a dozen of his Homecoming Friends will hit the road for a 29-city fall
tour, produced by Clear Channel Entertainment.

Friends joining Gaither on the tour include: Jake Hess, The Gaither Vocal Band,
Vestal Goodman, The Talley Trio, The
Isaacs, Ben Speer, The Easters, Lynda Randle, Ivan Parker, Jessy Dixon, Taylor
Mason, Janet Paschal, Kevin Williams, Anthony
Burger, The Hoppers, Mike Allen and The Booth Brothers.

"The events of this last year have caused us to reflect on what is most important in
our lives … faith, family and friends," says Gaither. "I invite everyone to join me and
my homecoming friends for a musical extravaganza as we honor the past and
celebrate the
future."

2002 Gaither Homecoming Tour Dates

September 6 Buffalo, NY HSBC Arena
September 7 E. Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
September 14 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
September 18 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Arena
September 19 Saskatoon, SK Saskatchewan Place Arena
September 20 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
September 21 Edmonton, AB Skyreach Centre
September 26 Jackson, MS Mississippi Coliseum
September 27 Knoxville, TN Thompson/Boling Arena
September 28 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

October 4 Lubbock, TX United Spirit Arena
October 5 Houston, TX Compaq Center
October 16 Las Vegas, NV Thomas & Mack Center
October 17 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
October 18 San Jose, CA Compaq Center
October 19 Anaheim, CA The Pond
October 25 Moline, IL MARK of the Quads
October 26 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena

November 8 San Antonio, TX SBC Center
November 9 Oklahoma City, OK Ford Center
November 15 Charleston, SC N. Charleston Coliseum
November 16 Fayetteville, NC Crown Coliseum

December 5 Evansville, IN Roberts Stadium Arena
December 6 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
December 7 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
December 12 Omaha, NE Omaha Civic Arena
December 13 St. Louis, MO Savvis Center
December 14 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
December 31 Phoenix, AZ America West Arena