Radiohead Show Picketed by Westboro Baptist Church

Radiohead on stage during the band's 2012 tour

Radiohead received an ugly reception this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, when the anti-gay group Westboro Baptist Church protested their show.

As Radiohead At Ease reports, the hate group picketed outside the group's concert with vitriolic signs, slamming the British rockers with homophobic slurs and insisting that God was "their enemy." For their part, Radiohead continued their gig unaffected and their longtime producer, Nigel Godrich, later joked on Twitter that the protest was the "highlight of the tour so far."

This weekend, Westboro also posted on their site:

Meanwhile, God is undoing this nation and effecting [sic] all of your lives, with the moth that quietly eats the very fabric of your national garment. Radiohead is just such an event. Freak monkey's [sic] with mediocre tunes keeps you busy and focused by lightness. It changes nothing, God is undoing and digging up and throwing down this nation.

To be fair, doesn't "freak monkeys with mediocre tunes" sounds a bit like a OK Computer-era Radiohead lyric? Godrich, for one, seemed inspired by the concept.

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Radiohead Show Picketed by Westboro Baptist Church

Radiohead on stage during the band's 2012 tour

Radiohead received an ugly reception this weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, when the anti-gay group Westboro Baptist Church protested their show.

As Radiohead At Ease reports, the hate group picketed outside the group's concert with vitriolic signs, slamming the British rockers with homophobic slurs and insisting that God was "their enemy." For their part, Radiohead continued their gig unaffected and their longtime producer, Nigel Godrich, later joked on Twitter that the protest was the "highlight of the tour so far."

This weekend, Westboro also posted on their site:

Meanwhile, God is undoing this nation and effecting [sic] all of your lives, with the moth that quietly eats the very fabric of your national garment. Radiohead is just such an event. Freak monkey's [sic] with mediocre tunes keeps you busy and focused by lightness. It changes nothing, God is undoing and digging up and throwing down this nation.

To be fair, doesn't "freak monkeys with mediocre tunes" sounds a bit like a OK Computer-era Radiohead lyric? Godrich, for one, seemed inspired by the concept.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Charlotte Church Wins Phone-Hacking Settlement

Charlotte Church arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice before reading a statement to the press in London.

Charlotte Church and her parents have settled a phone-hacking damages lawsuit against the publishers of the News of the World. The Church family will be paid 600,000 pounds – $951,400 – in damages, including 300,000 pounds ($476,000) in legal costs.

Church had claimed that 33 articles published in the now-defunct News of the World tabloid were the product of journalists illegally hacking into her and her family's voicemails. "What I have discovered as the litigation has gone on has sickened and disgusted me," Church said outside the court after making the settlement. "Nothing was deemed off-limits by those who pursued me and my family, just to make money for a multinational news corporation."

Photos: Random Notes
Church is not the only pop singer to have been a target of the News of the World. Paul McCartney and George Michael have both claimed to have been hacked by the publication, which was owned by Rupert Murdoch.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

Charlotte Church Wins Phone-Hacking Settlement

Charlotte Church arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice before reading a statement to the press in London.

Charlotte Church and her parents have settled a phone-hacking damages lawsuit against the publishers of the News of the World. The Church family will be paid 600,000 pounds – $951,400 – in damages, including 300,000 pounds ($476,000) in legal costs.

Church had claimed that 33 articles published in the now-defunct News of the World tabloid were the product of journalists illegally hacking into her and her family's voicemails. "What I have discovered as the litigation has gone on has sickened and disgusted me," Church said outside the court after making the settlement. "Nothing was deemed off-limits by those who pursued me and my family, just to make money for a multinational news corporation."

Photos: Random Notes
Church is not the only pop singer to have been a target of the News of the World. Paul McCartney and George Michael have both claimed to have been hacked by the publication, which was owned by Rupert Murdoch.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Album Premiere: Foxy Shazam's 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Foxy Shazam, 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Click to listen to Foxy Shazam's album 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Cincinnati rockers Foxy Shazam release their fourth album, The Church of Rock and Roll, on January 24th. In February, they'll be hitting the road with The Darkness and that band's frontman, Justin Hawkins, produced Foxy Shazam's latest record. 

Don't bother asking the band to define their sound, but suffice to say it's full of loud guitars and strong, wailing vocals. "We're not concerned with what category we fall into," says singer Eric Nally. "We want to stand for our generation."

The passionate The Church of Rock and Roll is exclusively available to stream now on RollingStone.com leading up to its January 24th release, and you can preorder the album on iTunes. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Welcome to the Church of Rock and Roll
2. I Like It
3. Holy Touch
4. Last Chance At Love
5. Forever Together
6. (It’s) Too Late Baby
7. I Wanna Be Yours
8. Wasted Feelings
9. The Temple
10. The Streets
11. Freedom

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Album Premiere: Foxy Shazam's 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Foxy Shazam, 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Click to listen to Foxy Shazam's album 'The Church of Rock and Roll'

Cincinnati rockers Foxy Shazam release their fourth album, The Church of Rock and Roll, on January 24th. In February, they'll be hitting the road with The Darkness and that band's frontman, Justin Hawkins, produced Foxy Shazam's latest record. 

Don't bother asking the band to define their sound, but suffice to say it's full of loud guitars and strong, wailing vocals. "We're not concerned with what category we fall into," says singer Eric Nally. "We want to stand for our generation."

The passionate The Church of Rock and Roll is exclusively available to stream now on RollingStone.com leading up to its January 24th release, and you can preorder the album on iTunes. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Welcome to the Church of Rock and Roll
2. I Like It
3. Holy Touch
4. Last Chance At Love
5. Forever Together
6. (It’s) Too Late Baby
7. I Wanna Be Yours
8. Wasted Feelings
9. The Temple
10. The Streets
11. Freedom

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »