Norman Greenbaum injured

Norman Greenbaum - who is so closely linked to Spirit In The Sky his personal website is spiritinthesky.com - has been injured in a motorcycle accident.

He was a passenger in a car involved in a collision with a motorcycle; the bike rider, Ihab Usama Halaweh was killed in the crash.

Greenbaum was taken to hospital where most recent reports say he was in a critical condition.

David Crosby hits jogger

David Crosby has hit a man. Unfortunately, Crosby was in a car driving at 55 miles an hour, and the man he hit was a jogger.

Crosby's people have issued a statement:

“David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone. And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life threatening,” his rep tells Us Weekly in a statement. “He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery.”

"Mr. Crosby was cooperative with authorities and he was not impaired or intoxicated in any way. Mr. Crosby did not see the jogger because of the sun," California Highway Patrol Spokesman Don Clotworthy told CNN.

So, it sounds like a terrible accident, and that Crosby is pretty shaken by it.

Indeed, the police seem to be happy to put most of the blame on the victim:

Clotworthy also stated that the jogger was on the same side of the road as Crosby. Pedestrians, including joggers, are supposed to be on the left side of the road going towards traffic.

Although in this case, the traffic was clearly going towards the jogger.

Bono: The emergency exit shouldn't be an exit, and that's an emergency

Even inanimate objects can't stand Bono. As if having a giant mechanical lemon whose doors failed to open when they should wasn't humiliation enough, now his plane doors are opening when they shouldn't:

The rear hatch of the aircraft taking the U2 lead singer from Dublin to Berlin was missing when the aircraft landed at Berlin Schonefeld Airport on Wednesday.

In some places, like the Daily Mail, this is being touted as some sort of near-death scrape for Bono:

Bono cheats death after private jet door falls off: U2 singer 'extremely lucky' after plane's tailgate becomes detached during flight to Berlin with four friends

That sounds scary, although let's not forget that in newspaper terms the Mail Online is less a paper of record, more one of those tablecloths you get at Romano's Macaroni Grill that the waiter writes his name on in crayon.

Because, as CNN reports:

The ground crew discovered that the hatch was missing shortly after the aircraft landed at 12:26 a.m., 11 minutes after it blew off, Freitag said.

So was this a chilling moment when the people on the plane saw their lives flashing before their eyes (Bono's would have been directed by Anton Corbijn, obviously)? Not if nobody noticed until, after the plane had landed, someone turned up to carry the cases off the plane and realised they didn't need to unlock the door.

Still, I'm really pleased that no harm came to Bono. Can you imagine how grim Saturday's Band Aid Rehash session would have been if it took place under the shadow of a Bono who had fallen to earth and simultaneously ascended to heaven? I'm betting that rather than assign it to somebody else, the whole track would have fallen silent for the duration of "tonight, than God, it's them instead of you".

Jeffobit: Joey Covington

Joey Covington, the drummer from Volunteers-era Jefferson Airplane, has died.

According to his personal website, when he announced plans to become a professional drummer, his father wasn't entirely supportive:

"So you wanna be a drummer son, huh? Okay, but you have to understand, there won't be any social security, and what about your medical?"

He muddled through, though.

Covington had drummed with Hot Tuna, the band parts of Jefferson Airplane had formed during a hiatus enforced by Grace Slick's surgery; he followed them back into the band when Spencer Dryden quit. He stuck around for Bark, but left the band while they were recording Long John Silver.

Covington's sedan left the road in Palm Springs on Tuesday afternoon, crashing into a wall. He died at the scene. Joey Covington was 67.

Paul McCartney sort-of-close-to-being-in-accident

I suppose even if you knew how many near-accidents take place in the sky, you might be slightly interested in an accident that didn't actually happen if Paul McCartney was involved:

The couple avoided a potentially fatal collision with the treetops with only two feet spare when the pilot managed to pull the chartered Sikorsky S-76C helicopter away from the danger and land safely at a nearby airport, reports the The Mail On Sunday.

If you transpose this story to another form of transport, it's akin to the Mail On Sunday running 'Idiot driving like a dick pulls out too sharply in front of Mick Jagger's taxi'.

Gordon in the morning: Cole's terror at, er, zero feet

Gordon leads today with a massive splash about Cheryl Cole's flight horror horror shock shock horror:

Cheryl Cole’s storm terror on private jet

The "storm terror"? Er... there was some lightning quite near her plane. Before it took off.

The bad weather was right over the grounded private jet and lightning struck the runway just a few metres from the plane.

Coming tomorrow: Sugababes experience nightmare as captain warns of turbulence and switches the seatbelt sign on.

[Cheryl Cole] said: “We were stuck in the plane and just sitting on the runway and a bright massive flash of light hit outside the aircraft. I said to my friend, ‘That’s lightning’ — then it just didn’t stop.

“I was so scared that I thought, ‘This is it. I’ve got an album to promote and I’ve got so much yet to do!’”

Yes, imagine all the lip-syncing and polite replies to inane questions the world would have missed out on.

Cheryl Cole might have taken comfort in the knowledge that lightning strikes on planes are common, but actual accidents as a result incredibly rare - a commercial plane won't get through a year without being hit by lightning. Instead, she reached deep inside herself:

“But I remembered I’d climbed Kilimanjaro, so took a bit of strength from that.”

Yes. If a lightning strike did manage to knock out the electrical system of my plane, sending it hurtling to the ground, having climbed a mountain is even better than adopting the brace position.

Radiohead cancel after stage collapse kills Scott Johnson

Terrible news from Toronto, where drum tech Scott Johnson was killed after the Radiohead stage collapsed while it was being erected.

Johnson, who had also worked with White Lies, Keane and many others, was from Doncaster; he was one of four people unable to get out in time as wind brought down the temporary structure.

Punkobit: Maxim Soria

Maxim Soria, the drummer in the original line-up of Valencia, has died in a motorcycle accident.

Soria immigrated to America with his parents when he was four, and grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He joined Valenica - named for the Vonnegut character - at the outset, staying with the band for six years and two albums, and a number of dates across the US and around the world.


Police believe Maxim Soria lost control of his bike and died when he hit a guiderail. He was 28 years old.

Death comes to the fair: Four killed in stage collapse

There's video of this on YouTube, so if you're the grisly sort who wants to watch people being killed I suppose you can go and search for it, but the details are bad enough: strong winds at the Indiana State Fair brought the staging down on top of fans waiting to see Sugarland.

Four people died; the local TV station WTHR reports over forty were injured.

Jedward: Not even a walking disaster area any more

We were talking earlier this week about people who hung around long after their fifteen minutes was up - people, indeed, for whom Andy Warhol had been over generous in sharing out the fame.

What a time, then, for Jedward to reappear and reveal that they can't actually stand up and perform at the same time.

Jed - or possibly Ward - managed to fall over while doing Ghostbusters and was "rushed" to hospital, says the Mail. It also says he finished the song. Not entirely sure you can be rushed anywhere if you put it off until you've finished your Ray Parker Junior cover.

Bono goes a bit Jack Duckworth

"Ooooh... The Edge, me back's gone...."

Bono's put his back out rehearsing for the next U2 world ticket-sales endeavour.

Alexisonfire too hot for the Olympics

Of all the likely security nightmares for Olympics organisers, who'd have thought a gig by Alexisonfire would be the point where it all broke down?

They'd been supposed to play a gig last night as part of the cultural events tied to the games - it's the winter Olympics, so clearly the definition of "cultural" is as loose as the defintion of "sports".

7,600 people turned up to watch; more than anyone was expecting. Result? The barriers gave way:

The Vancouver Sun reports about 20 people were injured as a result of the pushing and barricade collapse, with nine people taken to hospital.

The band pulled the gig. The audience responded with boos.

This would be the aftermath:

Accident at Prodigy gig

Police are still investigating 'did he fall or was he pushed' after a man fell from a balcony at a Prodigy gig in Dundee.

Not quite sure that putting a dance band in a venue where there's balconies to fall over is that wise an idea in the first place.

The man who fell is in hospital, in a "serious" condition.

Miley Cyrus bus crash contains no Miley Cyrus

It's a nasty bus crash - and, unfortunately, it involves loss of life, but it isn't really a Miley Cyrus bus crash, what with her not actually being nowhere near the buses at the time.

The bus, carrying members of production crew working on her tour, left the road in Virginia and overturned. One person is reported as having died at the scene; another person was badly injured.

Friends shouldn't let George Michael drive... at all, really

What is it with George Michael and cars? He's just spent five hours sitting down with Thames Valley Police following a crash on the A34:

The 46-year-old was held on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs but released after five hours.

He was taken to Loddon Valley police station near Reading following the incident in the early hours of Friday.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said the singer was later released without charge.

Surely Michael could afford a taxi, if not a proper chauffeur? I'm sure Leonard could spare Thomas for a few hours every now and then.

Festival stage collapse

High winds at The Big Valley Jamboree in Alberta have brought the stage down, killing one and injuring fifteen.

One of the Billy Currington band guitarists [who was onstage at the time], Doug Collins, told the Calgary Herald: "I was playing slide guitar and I have to look constantly at my hands. All of a sudden, I saw this blast coming at me and I ran off the stage.

"One amp started falling toward me and that is when it got bizarre. That's when I ran."

Kevin Costner's vanity band, Modern West, had been scheduled to be on stage after Billy Currington.

Rock sick list: Official Secrets Act

Official Secrets Act drummer Alex McKenzie has had more trouble following the incident where he was knocked off his bike, and has again had to stand down from the band. They've discovered he's got a broken backbone; faced with these breaks, Brakes have helped out with a spare drummer:

Official Secrets Act are dismayed to announce they have lost their drummer Alex McKenzie for the second time in as many months due to injury. Originally hurt in a cycling accident two months ago, when he was struck by two cars, drummer McKenzie has been detained in hospital again following an MRI scan that revealed a broken vertibrae. The band, currently enjoying a fantastic reaction in Europe were forced to cancel their Dot-To-Dot UK festival appearances over the weekend, recruiting Alex White of labelmates Brakes to pick up the sticks for the remainder of the tour. His first date in Paris last night (Monday 25th) went off well, but McKenzie will remain out of the picture for the immediate future until doctors can ascertain whether he will require surgery.

Best wishes to McKenzie, and let's hope he's back at work soon. Or as soon as he'd want to be.

Madonna facts straightened a little

Despite Madonna's team's claims that the Adopt-o-matic had fallen off her horse when evil photographers startled her horse, the official police report somehow makes no mention of any third party being involved.

And the police seem convinced there was no boogerman-snapper, either:

And now local police Sgt Herbert Johnson reveals there was no mention of a photographer in the police report Madonna filed.
He tells TMZ.com, "There is no mention of photographers. It's a matter of spin control that went out of control. If they felt there was something else, they would have written 'paparazzi' in the form."

The paparazzi are odious enough; you don't need to make things up about them. And there's no shame in falling off a horse.

Stalky photographer bloke says he didn't frighten the horses

The paparazzo who was hanging about taking pictures of Madonna on horseback has denied Liz Rosenberg's claims that he startled the horse and caused the accident. In fact, he says he'd left before the incident and only returned after hearing that she'd fallen off her horse.

You obviously can choose who you want to believe, but...

"If I had startled the horse, I would have gotten pictures!"

is quite a compelling argument.

Another horse rejects Madonna

The last time Madonna was thrown from a horse, you'll recall, The Sun insisted that it doomed her marriage. Who knows what horrific new era, then, will be ushered in by another horse deciding it doesn't want her on his back.

The blame, of course, is being put on the press:

According to her spokeswoman, the 50-year-old singer fell when her horse was "startled by paparazzi who jumped out of the bushes" to photograph her.

Which is disgusting if true, although does sound a little like Liz Rosenberg might have added a dramatic element to the storyline.