ALICIA KEYS CANCELS TWO SHOWS DUE TO VOCAL PROBLEM

Throat problems have struck Alicia Keys' North American tour again, with the headliner forced to cancel two shows, Reuters reports. Swollen vocal cords prompted the 27-year-old entertainer to scrap shows scheduled for Tuesday (April 22nd) in Pittsburgh and Thursday (April 24th) in Cleveland. Those dates represent the third and fourth stops on Key's tour supporting her chart-topping album, As I Am. The trek, which began last weekend in Hampton, Virginia, is expected to resume Saturday (April 26th) in Columbus, Ohio, with dates on tap through a June 18th appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

One of Keys' opening acts, 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, has been forced to take time off to rest her voice. Her label, Jive Records, expects her to join the tour next month.

JORDIN SPARKS TO RETURN TO ALICIA KEYS TOUR AFTER VOCAL REST

Despite reports, reps say Jordin Sparks did not suffer a "career-threatening" vocal cord injury this week. Rumors were circulating that last year's American Idol winner had an "acute vocal cord hemorrhage." But Sparks' spokesperson told Us Magazine, "Jordin is on vocal rest and is expected to make a full recovery. There is no life-threatening issue." Sparks is now expected to join Alicia Keys on tour next month.

In the meantime, Sparks is expected to rest her voice. Her record label rep added, "Now she's going through the normal course of learning how to manage and care for her voice."
The 18-year-old singer was forced to cancel a round of tour dates, including the first few nights of her outing with Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo this past weekend. Sparks was scheduled as the opening act.
Sparks also scrapped a performance in State College, Pennsylvania, on Sunday (April 20th) and an Earth Day show on the National Mall in Washington, DC on Monday (April 21st).

ELTON JOHN SAYS HE TOOK ON 'BILLY ELLIOT' MUSICAL TO MAKE PEACE WITH HIS FATHER

Elton John appeared in New York City on Tuesday (April 22nd) at the Professional Performing Arts High School to introduce the three teens who will play the title role in the upcoming Broadway adaptation of Billy Elliot: The Musical, for which he wrote he score.  The musical opened in London in 2005, to critical and commercial success.

Elton told the New York Daily News that he took on the project to please his late father, explaining the parallels between his and the character Billy's lives: "My life was about music from the word go. I was always trying to please my father, but he really never got what I wanted to be and disapproved of it completely. He... wanted me to have a safe job in a bank or an accountancy firm. And that wasn't for me... At the end of the film, Billy's father sees (his son) dance at Covent Garden. My father really never got to do that when I became successful later on in my career. So I kind of missed that."

Billy Elliot is John's fourth Broadway score, after The Lion King, Aida, and Lestat. The show is set to begin its New York run in November.
The three teenagers who will play Billy Elliot are David Alvarez, 13, from Montreal, Quebec; Trent Kowalik, 13, from Wantagh, New York; and Kiril Kulish, 14, from San Diego, California.
Elton John says that he gets a special thrill from being around and working with young artists in various areas of the arts: ["I'm the sort of artist that gets inspiration from seeing and hearing young musicians, young artists, painters, photographers. I like to hear what they have to say -- unlike a lot of my peers, I do listen to what they have to say -- and I'm inspired when I play with them."] SOUNDCUE (:12 OC: . . . play with them)
Elton John Performs tonight (April 24th) in Gainesville, Florida at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

MARIAH CAREY'S NEW ALBUM OPENS AT NUMBER ONE

Mariah Carey now has six Number One albums under her belt. Her latest effort, E=MC2, moved 463,000 copies during its first week of release, representing Carey's highest sales week ever. Her previous set, The Emancipation of Mimi, also debuted in the top spot back in 2005. According to Billboard, the 38-year-old singer is tied with Madonna and Janet Jackson for the second most Number One albums among female artists, after Barbra Streisand, who leads the pack with eight. Carey's album features the hit single "Touch My Body."

The debut album from Leona Lewis dropped to the second spot with 95,000 units, and Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert jumped to third place. New country group Lady Antebellum entered at Number Four with its self-titled debut, followed by the NOW 27 compilation, George Strait's Troubadour and the soundtrack to Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Juno soundtrack was the eighth best-selling set, followed by R.E.M.'s Accelerate and Taylor Swift's self-titled effort.

Carey recently told the British version of OK! magazine that having kids isn't a priority for her right now. She said, "I don't think I could properly educate a child right now. Maybe in the future, but I actually haven't thought about it." Carey added, "For now I enjoy my dog Jack's company. It's definitely because of childhood traumatic stuff. The whole not wanting to have a baby as a baby."
Carey isn't completely alone though. While promoting her album in London, she traveled with a crew of 15, which included hairdressers, bodyguards and personal stylists. She also had a $20,000 personal gym installed at her London hotel recently. She said, "You gotta take care of yourself. You have to try and stay pretty, you know."

RICHIE SAMBORA STRIKES PLEA DEAL IN DUI CASE

Richie Sambora reached a plea deal in his DUI case on Tuesday (April 22nd) that requires him to pay a $390 fine and serve three years of informal probation. The Bon Jovi guitarist pled no contest to driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher and prosecutors dismissed his driving under the influence charge. Although the Laguna Beach Police had recommended Sambora face a child endangerment charge because his 10-year-old daughter Ava and her teenage cousin were in the car at the time of his arrest, no such count was filed.

The 48-year-old was arrested on March 25th after police spotted him driving unsteadily. Testing revealed that he had a blood alcohol level of .13 at the time.
Ava is Sambora's daughter with ex-wife Heather Locklear. His current girlfriend, Jenn Mallini, was in the car with him at the time of his arrest.

THE EDGE PUTS PERSONAL ITEMS UP FOR AUCTION

U2 guitarist The Edge hopes to raise money for charity by donating items from his own personal collection. He's putting two Gibson guitars up for an auction that will benefit Music Rising, an organization he co-founded to help replace instruments destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. The "Icons of Music" auction will also feature guitars played by Kurt Cobain, Slash and Johnny Cash, a trumpet played by Miles Davis, and handwritten notes by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Janis Joplin.

Bids will be placed May 31st at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Aaron Neville is scheduled to perform at the event.

The Edge, who will serve as host, told the Associated Press, "A lot of musicians were forced to leave the city, leaving behind their instruments and record collections, everything they needed to do what they do. The kind of organic community music academy that was so supportive of handing down the traditions of this music from generation to generation was really vulnerable."
Music Rising has provided grants to replace instruments and equipment for 2,700 professional musicians and 50,000 students and church parishioners to date.
The Edge created Music Rising in 2005 with record producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson chairman Henry Juszkiewicz.
In other news, U2 is back in Dublin, Ireland working on its new album. The Edge said things are picking up, explaining, "We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We're starting to get serious now." The band expects to release it this year, but the Edge says not to expect it in the next few months.