July 03, 2007

Britney Spears Comments On Family Feud; Plus Harry Potter, Kanye West, Diddy, Korn, Velvet Revolver & More

By MTV News staff (MTV.com)

Britney Spears hasn't confirmed that she delivered a letter to her mother requesting that Lynne Spears stay away from Britney's sons Sean Preston and Jayden James if she's on any medication that would "impair her ability to be around them," as TMZ reported Thursday, but all doesn't sound well with the Spears clan judging by what the singer told People. "I'm praying for her right now," Britney said, according to the magazine's Web site. "[I hope] she gets all the help she needs." Meanwhile, the elder Spears predicts a bright future. "I've got a strong family, and everything is going to be fine," Lynne told People. ...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is Amazon's most preordered product, with almost 1.6 million copies bought before the book's July 21 release, Reuters reports. The online retailer said Monday (July 2) that demand had passed the previous record of 1.5 million preorders, which was set by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

England's princes William and Harry hosted a party for 70,000 at London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday celebrating the life of their late mother, Princess Diana, with a concert that featured sets from Nelly Furtado , Kanye West , Pharrell , Diddy , Elton John and Lily Allen . The six-hour show featured some of Diana's favorite acts, such as Duran Duran , Tom Jones (who dueted with Joss Stone on the Arctic Monkeys 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'), the English National Ballet, Rod Stewart and Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Organizers of France's Hellfest plan to file a lawsuit against Korn and the band's management after the group failed to perform at the event last week. In a statement issued June 22 - the day the band was scheduled to play Hellfest - Korn frontman Jonathan Davis blamed "severe weather" conditions "and a negligent promoter who didn't provide adequate cover for our gear" for the band's withdrawal from the fest. "We were advised to cancel the show for risk of the band being electrocuted. The fans were short-changed and that pisses us off. This was an especially important show for us given my illness last year which prevented me from performing. I am seriously bummed." Hellfest organizer Benjamin Barbaud announced his intention to sue Korn on Monday in an interview with French site Maville.com, stating that the band was paid in full although it didn't play, and that all conditions were met to ensure Korn's safety.

Velvet Revolver will celebrate Tuesday's release of Libertad with an intimate club show at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, on Thursday.



Morrissey 's tour is back on track after the singer was forced to postpone dates last week due to a throat infection. He is slated to perform Monday night in Vienna, Virginia, and will make up the interrupted Boston show on Saturday. The other gigs are also being rescheduled.

In a sign that Apple's iTunes is losing some of its iron grip, Universal Music Group has reportedly refused to renew its annual contract to sell music on the leading download site, asking instead to sell music by its artists (which include 50 Cent , Amy Winehouse and U2 ) at will. The New York Times reports that the month-to-month deal would make it easier for Universal to remove its songs from iTunes on short notice, should the two sides fail to agree on pricing in the future. If Universal pulled its catalog from iTunes, Apple would lose access to labels that account for one out of three new releases sold in the U.S.

In a move that has likely brought a grin to Stephen Colbert 's face, South Korean superstar Rain canceled an eagerly expected show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Saturday. The only scheduled American date on the singer/actor/dancer's Rain's Coming world tour was deep-sixed by the promoter's failure to properly set up the stage, the singer told the Los Angeles Times . "When I came to the venue, the LED screen couldn't be set up. I have rain falling in the concert - that couldn't work," said Rain, who is often called the " Justin Timberlake of Asia" - and earned Colbert's ire after taking #1 on a Time readers' poll of the year's most influential people.