Kid Rock's 40th birthday bash includes 45K fans

DETROIT – Kid Rock took the stage in Detroit to a most fitting tune: "Birthday" by the Beatles.

Tens of thousands of fans weren't disappointed Saturday night as the hometown rocker brought in special guests to help celebrate his 40th.

More than 45,000 tickets sold out in only 19 minutes for the special birthday concert at Ford Field, the city's downtown NFL stadium, in honor of the man born Robert Ritchie.

Early in the show, fellow musician Uncle Kracker joined Rock on stage for "Good To Be Me." Talk show hosts Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno appeared on two oversized video screens on either side of the stage in taped messages wishing their friend a happy birthday.

O'Brien told Rock: "Happy 40th birthday ... and rock on Detroit!"

Michael Jackson Threatened to Cancel Concerts If He Didn't Get His 'Milk'

The preliminary hearings in the case against Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, continued yesterday in Los Angeles with some of its most outrageous testimony yet. For their 20th witness, the prosecution called Detective Orlando Martinez, one of the investigators who interviewed Dr. Murray for three hours just two days after Jackson's death, to detail Murray's own account of what happened the night Jackson died on June 25th, 2009. In short, Murray admitted to administering Jackson with Propofol the night the singer died, but only after various other methods -- rubbing Jackson's feet and back with skin lotion, meditation, and administering less powerful sedatives -- failed to help Jackson sleep the night after a "fabulous" rehearsal, the AP reports.

Instead, Murray told investigators that Jackson demanded his "milk," Jackson's playful term for Propofol, the powerful sedative used mostly for in-hospital and surgical use, because of its cloudy white appearance in its vial. According to Murray, Jackson even threatened to cancel his already-delayed This Is It run of 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena if Murray didn't help Jackson sleep. The physician placated Jackson by giving him a 25 milligram dose of Propofol, half the amount Murray had given Jackson six nights a week for two months. However, after administering the Propofol and taking a bathroom break that spanned a few minutes, Murray told investigators he returned to Jackson's bedroom to discover the singer had stopped breathing.

Last week, prosecutors presented evidence that Murray's "short bathroom break" was actually much longer, as phone records showed Murray spent nearly an hour making personal calls during a crucial time when he should have been observing his patient. When Murray finally did find Jackson unresponsive, a Jackson bodyguard previously testified that Murray blundered CPR efforts and failed to contact paramedics in a timely matter. Murray was also accused of hiding vials of Propofol and other evidence in the hours after Jackson's death; police later recovered 14 vials of the reported 255 vials of Propofol Murray had ordered from a pharmaceutical company.

Since this is only a preliminary hearing, a judge will ultimately decide whether the prosecution has produced enough evidence to bring Murray to a jury trial. Because the burden of proof is entirely on the prosecution in these proceedings, Murray's defense lawyers have just sat back at these hearings and listened to what the prosecution has against them. If Murray does go to trial, it's expected that his defense will revolve around his claim that, during that long bathroom break, Jackson actually administered the deadly dose of Propofol to himself.

Green Day's NSFW Album Title: Not Just Egomania

Is the live rock & roll experience so wild and uncontainable, so raw and unpredictable that bands just have to stretch the limits of the PMRC when they capture shows on tape? Green Day's upcoming live CD/DVD set, due in March, will chronicle their raucous "21st Century Breakdown" tour. The title, "Awesome as F---," follows in the footsteps of the Replacements (1985's "The S--- Hits the Fans"), Metallica (1993's "Live S---: Binge & Purge"), and the Beastie Boys (2006's live film, "Awesome; I F-----' Shot That!").

The Green Day title is not profane for profanity's sake, though we wouldn't put that past the band that sang a tune called "It's F--- Time" eight times -- yes, you read that correctly, and it was seriously painful in person -- during a two-hour set as their alter egos Foxboro Hot Tubs in New York last year. Fansite GreenDayMind explains the evolution of the phrase as it relates to Billie Joe Armstrong and Co.:

In short, Fans started to holding up signs simply reading "Thanks" at Green Day shows, and Armstrong began acknowledging them on Twitter. A fan named Abbey posted on a message board that the signs were "awesome as f---," and another fan suggested she bring a placard communicating that sentiment to a show. So she did, at the Denver show at the Comfort Dental Amphitheater on August 28th, 2010. The signs clearly caught Armstrong's eye -- he tweeted about them after the gig, and mentioned them during "Good Riddance" (4:12 mark of the video here). The signs became a movement and voila: new album title that could come off as a little egocentric but is really just enthusiastic.

In other Green Day news, Armstrong interrupted an interview with a New York Times reporter this week to put on a dress and crack up his "American Idiot" co-stars (taking notes from Dave Grohl, perhaps?) and says he's considering teaming with his Broadway collaborator Michael Mayer on an original new show. Here's someadvice from U2: Don't base it on Superman.

Janet Jackson Announces North American Tour Dates Singer is touring to promote her greatest-hits album, Number Ones.

Usually when you go to see legends in concert, they're happy to play the hits, but they also expect you to sit through a half dozen songs from their latest projects.

But for a U.S. tour announced on Monday, pop icon Janet Jackson is promising to play only what fans really want to hear. Jackson's "Janet Jackson Number Ones, Up Close and Personal Tour" is slated to kick off at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, on March 4 and keep the singer on the road through a Las Vegas show on April 23, when she will wrap up a two-night stand at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

The unique format of the tour will have Janet choosing from a roster of the 35 #1 global hits contained on her Number Ones CD. According to the release, she's also chosen venues that will allow her to be "up close and personal in a much more intimate setting." She's promised to offer "something different" in every city so that no two shows will be the same.

"This tour is Janet more revealed, more intimate, and more personal than ever before," reads the release announcing the gigs. "Don't look for special effects. Just listen to and look at Janet, as you have never seen her before."

Current plans also call for Jackson to meet 20 young community leaders under 20 years old in each city, with prospects asked to submit their pitches to meet the singer through her website, Janetjackson.com. Those 20 will be VIP guests at the show and get to go backstage, along with the people who nominate them online. "There are many young people changing the world and I want them to be recognized during my tour," she said. "I want them to be my guest at my show and they will come backstage as I learn from them how young people are changing the world. You all know someone who is making a difference, so get in touch."

The North American dates are the first from Jackson since her troubledRock Witchu Tour in 2008, which was plagued by a series of postponements and cancellations due to a bout of migrane-associated vertigo.

Dates and venues for Janet Jackson's tour are as follows:

» March 4 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Stadium

» March 7 - Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre

» March 8 - Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre

» March 12 - Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

» March 16 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena

» March 18 - New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall

» March 22 - Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall

» March 25 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center

» March 26 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center

» March 29 - Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre

» March 31 - Saint Louis, MO @ Fox Theatre

» April 2 - Grand Prairie, TX @ Verizon Theatre

» April 6 - Denver, CO @ Wells Fargo Theatre at the Colorado Convention Center

» April 8 - Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theatre

» April 9 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Santa Barbara Bowl

» April 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre

» April 19 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

» April 22 - Las Vegas, NV @ Caesars Palace — The Colosseum April 22 & 23

» April 23 - Las Vegas, NV @ Caesars Palace — The Colosseum