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• Conrad Murray Charged for Jackson’s Death
• The Who Rock Super Bowl XLIV With Big Hits
• Howard Stern Says He’d Consider Idol Job
• Joan Baez Joins White House Concert Lineup
• Timberlake Dons Drag for Harvard Honor
• Grohl Pulls Double Duty on SNL
• Readers’ Rock List: Best Drummers
• Fans React to the Who’s Big Set
• News Ticker: Ozzy Osbourne, Leonard Cohen
• Black Eyed Peas Open E.N.D. Tour in Atlanta
• Howard Stern as Cowell Replacement?
• Ke$ha Hijacks Hollywood Sign in Prank
• Cold War Kids Rock Live at Rolling Stone
• Depp Directing Keith Richards Doc
• Wentz, Simpson Joke About Naked RS Covers
• Swift’s Label Defends Grammy Performance
• Drake on Lil Wayne’s Prison Time
• Kelly Clarkson Riled By Anti-Idol Comments
• Jedward Rule With “Under Pressure” Mash
• Mayer Treats Fans to Free Rehearsal Gig
• Breaking: Yeasayer
• Pete Wentz Hints at End of FOB in Blog Post

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Photo: Polk/Getty
Mastodon continue to Crack the Skye with a new leg of headlining dates, Drake lines up a tour of college campuses and “private locations” and Arctic Monkeys return in April in support of their third album Humbug. Full dates for all three treks are below.

Mastodon
Apr. 16 – Charleston, SC @ Music Farm
Apr. 17 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
Apr. 18 – Richmond, VA @ The National
Apr. 20 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head
Apr. 21 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
Apr. 22 – Hartford, CT @ Webster
Apr. 23 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Apr. 24 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Apr. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Palace Theater
Apr. 27 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street
Apr. 29 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
Apr. 30 – Indianapolis, IN @ Vogue
May 1 – Columbia, MO @ Blue Note
May 3 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
May 4 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater
May 5 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
May 7 – Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater
May 8 – Oakland, CA @ The Missing Link
May 9 – Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
May 10 – Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater
May 11 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
May 13 – Billings, MT @ The Shrine
May 14 – Fargo, ND @ The Venue
May 14 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Hall
May 16 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
May 18 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum
May 19 – Urbana, IL @ Canopy Club
May 20 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood
May 21 – Knoxville, TN @ Valarium
May 22 – Lexington, KY @ Busters

Drake
Apr. 6 – Charleston, IL @ Eastern Illinois University
Apr. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Private Location
Apr. 9 – State College, PA @ Penn State University
Apr. 10 – Boston, MA @ Private Location
Apr. 11 – Lock Haven, PA @ Private Location
Apr. 14 – East Lansing, MI @ Michigan State University
Apr. 15 – Rochester Hills, MI @ Oakland University
Apr. 16 – Morgantown, WV @ West Virginia University
Apr. 21 – Orlando, FL @ University Central Florida
Apr. 22 – Greenville, SC @ Furman University
Apr. 23 – TBA
Apr. 24 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Apr. 26 – Kansas City, MO @ University of Missouri
Apr. 27 – Lexington, KY @ University of Kentucky
Apr. 29 – Lowell, MA @ University Mass Lowell
Apr. 30 – Syracuse, NY @ Private Location
May 1 – Boston, MA @ Private Location
May 1 – East Rutherford, NJ @ Bamboozle Festival
May 4 – Worcester, MA @ Holy Cross
May 5 – Towson, MD @ Towson University
May 6 – Cheney, PA @ Cheyney University
May 7 – Ithaca, NY @ Private Location
May 8 – Plymouth, NH @ Private Location

Arctic Monkeys
Apr. 1 – Miami, FL @ Fillmore
Apr. 2 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
Apr. 3 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
Apr. 5 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
Apr. 6 – Raleigh, NC @ Disco Rodeo
Apr. 7 – Baltimore, MD @Rams Head Live
Apr. 9 – Covington, KY@ Madison Theatre
Apr. 11 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Apr. 12 – Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
Apr. 13 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
Apr. 15 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee

Photo: Brown/Getty

Nearly eight months after Michael Jackson died due to “acute Propofol intoxication,” the singer’s personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for his role in the King of Pop’s sudden death on June 25th, 2009, CNN reports. In a press release, the D.A.’s office writes that Murray “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson … in the commission of an unlawful act, not a felony; and in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced death, in an unlawful manner, and without due caution and circumspection.” If found guilty, Murray faces a maximum four-year prison sentence.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Jackson’s death was ruled a homicide after a toxicology report discovered that the powerful sedative Propofol and other sedatives ultimately caused Jackson to go into cardiac arrest. Investigators have long accused Murray of using “gross negligence” in administering Propofol to Jackson, because the sedative is meant to be used strictly in hospital settings for patients recovering from surgery. In interviews with police, Murray admitted administering Propofol to Jackson after the singer himself requested the sedative, which he dubbed “milk” because of its cloudy white appearance, to help his insomnia.

Charges were expected to be filed last week in the case, but a conflict between the District Attorney’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department delayed the charges until today. Murray entered the Airport Court in Los Angeles to surrender to the LAPD just before 1 p.m. PST, where he was arraigned on the involuntary manslaughter charge. Murray pleaded not guilty to the charge. TMZ reports bail was set at $75,000, three times the usual bail in a case like this. Prosecutors originally sought bail of $300,000 because Murray was born outside the country and could be considered a flight risk. Murray was forced to give up his passport as part of the terms of his bail agreement. Members of Michael Jackson’s family were in attendance for the arraignment. According to the D.A.’s press release, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren will prosecute the case.

Related Stories:

• No Charges for Jackson Doctor Yet; Conrad Murray Expected to Surrender to Cops
• Source: Dr. Murray Likely to Face Manslaughter for Jackson Death
• Michael Jackson’s Death Officially Ruled Homicide

Photo: Mayer/WireImage
Between Dave Grohl on Saturday Night Live and Zak Starkey filling in for the Who’s Keith Moon during the Super Bowl, drummers were in the spotlight this past weekend, so we asked our readers to tell us the greatest of all time. After counting up the votes, and there were lots of them, it comes as no surprise that Bonzo himself, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, was voted Number One, beating out Moon, Grohl, Rush’s Neil Peart and more. And despite a grass-roots effort to get The Muppet Show’s Animal on the list, we kept the results to drummers with a human pulse. (Check out RS‘ Greatest Singers and Greatest Guitarists stories, too):

1. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
2. Neil Peart (Rush)
3. Keith Moon (The Who)
4. Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures)
5. Stewart Copeland (The Police, Oysterhead)
6. Ringo Starr (The Beatles)
7. Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith)
8. Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins)
9. Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones)
10. Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)
11. Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
12. Danny Carey (Tool)
13. Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
14. Buddy Rich
15. Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Does the holiday make you think of love true love? Or just heartache and pain? Just as different people can have wildly different opinions of Valentine’s Day, so too do rock bands approach the topic of love from assorted perspectives. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of the best love songs in contemporary rock, bringing together tales of pure bliss with moments of absolute anguish. After all, whether you’re whispering sweet nothings or crying your heart out, the underlying emotion is the same: What is this thing called love? These 15 songs try to get to the bottom of that eternal mystery.

Check out my list of the Top 15 Rock Love Songs

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Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Valentine’s Day Countdown: Best Rock Love Songs originally appeared on About.com Rock Music on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 19:48:15.

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