Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Already reeling from the pain of losing a loved one, the family of tragic hero musician Timothy Kennelly, are now facing severe financial repercussions, after the 19-year-old was drowned off the coast of the Brazilian resort of Atalia just over a week ago (Jan 21). Kennelly and his band After Death, were one week into their Brazilian tour, in support of Master, when they took a break from the rigors of touring for a fateful swimming trip, which resulted in the deaths of two band members. Witnesses to the incident saw Kennelly rush into the water when he noticed 21-year-old guitarist Leon Villaba, getting into difficulty in the rough waves, only for both men to be drowned. Devastated parents Rosemary and Diarmuid, originally from County Wexford, immediately traveled out to Brazil, only to be met with the news that their son was not covered by insurance, which means that the family will now be forced to cover the full costs of bringing his body home. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, uncle Eddie McLoughlin claimed: "Unfortunately none of them had any insurance so the families are going to have to spend a huge amount of money repatriating the bodies. Timothy's parents are going to find it hard to come up with the money. Rosemary is a retired teacher and Diarmuid worked as a fish monger but his business closed three years ago.'" He also shed further light on the incident which led to the death of his nephew, saying: "They (the band) told us that they saw Timothy and Leon clinging together in the sea and then they were just gone. Timothy is not a good swimmer but he still did everything he could to try and help his friend. We are all so proud of him. He is a hero." An appallingly graphic illustration of the adage regarding no good deed going unpunished, times two...

Staying briefly on the subject of tragedies, the Haitian earthquake continues to be the focus of vast amounts of goodwill and energy from across the music world, as a telethon, concerts and countless acts of generosity have already raised well over $100 million around the globe. It also emerged last week that the Simon Cowell-inspired, star-studded cover of REM's moving hit Everybody Hurts, will debut at this year's Brit Awards ceremony, which is due to take place in London, in two week's time. Names such as Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle, Kylie Minogue, Miley Cyrus, Bon Jovi and a host of others, are all slated to appear on the track, which will see donate all profits to the ongoing Haitian relief effort...

While we are on the subject of Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation hit the headlines last week when she returned to her Blackburn, West Lothian home, only to be met by an intruder in her house. Boyle and another female friend allegedly arrived in the door only to catch a prowler walking up the stairs in front of their very eyes. The cheeky interloper fled the scene immediately, although police have since arrested a suspect in relation to the break-in. The two women were not the only ones left shaken by the incident as brother John Boyle, admitted: "This is the second time something has happened to Susan at her home and it is extremely worrying. Susan is a massive world star and needs better protection. You look at what happened to John Lennon in New York - it's really worrying." Just a thought but even if you were thinking that you wouldn't say it now would you? There's always some Manchurian Candidate-type nut listening. With comments like that, I'm guessing that Susan got the brains in the family. Tabloids also reported that Simon Cowell offered Boyle an all-expenses paid vacation, in order for her to put the episode behind her, but that the eccentric singer refused his offer, saying that she would not be scared away from her home. Cowell has also allegedly enlisted the services of a local security firm, tasked with protecting Boyle, and lets hope they are more successful than the bodyguard he supposedly hired after the last incident. Mind you, such are the sales of Susan Boyle's debut album that she could now afford a flock of winged monkey bodyguards if she so desired...

In another Susan Boyle related story (what can I say, the woman is everywhere at the moment), Elaine Page has issued an apology, after having a pop at the Scot in UK tabloid the Daily Mirror, essentially asserting that Boyle is a triumph of marketing over substance. The I Know Him So Well singer blasted: "She was like a virus, really, that spread across the world in a nanosecond. She is a girl with no experience of anything to do with theatrics, the music business, or art in any way. I don't particularly feel any pride for her - I'm sure she is proud of what she has done. When I started, YouTube didn't exist but even then with 15 years of experience prior to my success with Evita it was difficult, so I admire the way she handled her sudden success. Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' just take a bunch of people from real life who think they can sing and try and turn them into overnight 'stars' with a couple of songs. It's not entertainment." You could fill a large island with what didn't exist when Elaine Page started out but even so her attack is pretty mean-spirited. After all, Boyle has admitted that Elaine Page is her idol and I didn't hear the latter firing many barbs when she was getting handsomely compensated for performing a duet with Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. Or when she was getting well-paid for performing on Boyle's album. Here's something that didn't exist at the time Susan Boyle made her television debut: Elaine Page's career...

Speaking of dead careers, Pete Doherty was in the news last week after a Gloucester court fined him $1,200 for possession of 13 wraps of heroin. Nothing out of the ordinary in that you might say, but for the fact that Doherty was arrested with the heroin in his possession while attending the same court last December for charges stemming from driving offences. The judge openly questioned whether the troubled singer had actually brought the heroin into court with him in order to drum up more publicity because, let's face it, that's about as dumb a move as you can possibly get and puts him in the running for a future Darwin Award. The judge also refused to offer Doherty the opportunity to participate in a state-financed drug rehabilitation program, as the Babyshambles front man is currently taking part in a private drug treatment program. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that that's not going too well...

Controversy continues to swell in the run up to the scheduled appearance of classic rock act The Who, as the headlining act for this year's Super Bowl halftime show, which is due to be held in Miami this coming Sunday (Feb 7). Several child protective groups in the US have continued to voice their outrage over organizers' decision to invite the band, due to guitarist Pete Townnshend's well-publicized arrest for possession of child pornography seven years ago, though the NFL remains adamant that the show will go on as planned. The ante was upped considerably last week when a flyer was distributed to 1,500 local homes by a group calling itself Protect Our Children Inc., ostensibly to warn parents of the danger that Townshend could pose to their children. The guitarist was placed on the UK's sex offenders' register in 2003 when he was found to have used his credit card to download several images of child pornography, which he claimed to have done as a matter of research for a book on the subject. Townshend steadfastly denies any charge of being a pedophile, though there is still no sign of the book. Also, just a year before his arrest he wrote an essay which charged that the internet contained a "pathway to 'free' pedophilic imagery is - as it were - laid out like a free line of cocaine at a decadent cocktail party: only the strong willed or terminally uncurious can resist." I don't know about you but I wouldn't find it all that difficult to resist an image like that. Instead of "strong-willed" and "terminally uncurious", I would be inclined to put "irredeemably perverted" and "fantastically disgusting". I'm not saying that Pete Townshend is a kiddie-fiddler, but there is no way in hell that I would leave him alone with children...

Fresh off their recent collaboration with the equally vacuous Vanilla Ice, Irish reality TV stars John and Edward Grimes claim that they are ready to collaborate with a host of hip hop stars in the coming months, as they seek to capitalize on their baffling popularity in the UK. Better known by their collective moniker Jedward, they recently told MTV: "We would like to collaborate with Eminem, 50 Cent, Tupac, even though he's dead. Maybe Tupac has got a track that hasn't been released yet that we could record our vocals over?" Yeah because two creepy twins with nary an ounce of talent, who look like slightly older, post-op versions of the twins from The Shining could really add to Tupac's legacy. I don't know what these kids are smoking but it's stronger than anything available in the current hip hop community because they couldn't rap knuckles. Jedward also spoke of their recent turn with Vanilla Ice, saying: "When the song Ice Ice Baby first came out, we weren't even born but always knew the riff to it and I cant believe we are collaborating with him on it." I can't believe it either and perhaps the reason that they knew the riff is because it is Queen's Under Pressure. Actually perhaps not because that would infer that they had some clue about music. Here's hoping that their career last as long as Vanilla Ice's...

Fresh off his critically-acclaimed turn as Ian Dury in the recently released biopic, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Andy Serkis is keen to assume the personas of still more rockers in the future, with some Irish musicians chief amongst his thespian targets. Speaking to the media last week, the celebrated actor claimed: "I could do Bono. Someone will have to write the screenplay." He also confessed that he would be interested in playing another Irish songwriter, saying: "Someone also suggested Shane MacGowan to me, that's not a bad story." Not a bad story? Are you kidding me? I would go so far as to say that a week in Shane MacGowan's life is imminently more interesting than what occurs in the average career of most rock stars. Serkis is currently set to begin shooting for upcoming blockbuster, The Hobbit, where he will reprise his role as the hobbit Sméagol, so at least we know that he's tall enough to play Bono...

After speculation in the UK press regarding his soccer allegiances in recent weeks, rap superstar Jay-Z announced that he is an unabashed Arsenal fan last week, going so far as to list club captain Cesc Fabergas as his favorite football player. Speculation had been rife that the rapper was a Chelsea fan, given that a group of Chelsea players met up with him after he performed a gig in London last year, but Jigga pinned his colors to the mast, joining the ranks of noted American celebrity soccer fans like Tom Hanks (Aston Villa), Sylvester Stallone (Everton), Meat Loaf (Hartlepool United) and Michael Jackson (Exeter City). Jay Z has even extended the Gunners an invitation to New York declaring: "I want (the Arsenal team) to party in New York, my city. I will look after them and make sure that they have some amazing nights out." What's this "my city" business? I wasn't aware that Jay Z bought New York. I hope the locals got more for it than $24 dollars worth of trinkets that it cost the last time.