No Show - The Sonisphere rock festival has been cancelled, organisers have confirmed. A web statement said they had fought hard to keep it going but that "a very challenging year" meant the event wouldn't have satisfied fans and the artists. The event was to take place at Knebworth Park, Stevenage on 6-8 July. Adam Lambert was due to headline on Saturday with members of Queen. Ticket holders will receive a full refund direct from their ticket agent.
The Sonisphere statement said, "We also want to send a huge thanks to the Sonisphere fans who stuck by us and we are so sorry that we can't fulfil what we set out to do." Organisers said the cancellation came with "very heavy hearts and much regret". Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, Cypress Hill, The Blackout and Faith No More were also on the line-up.
Country File - Taylor Swift has been named entertainer of the year for the second year running at the Academy of Country Music Awards."I'm so happy about this," she told the audience as she accepted the prize, which was voted for by fans. "To my fellow nominees, I respect you so much and I love you. We work so hard and we try to give back," she added.
Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson all won two prizes each. Lambert won female vocalist of the year and album of the year. Keeping things in the family, Lambert's husband, Blake Shelton, was named best male vocalist.
Farewell - Pioneering banjo player Earl Scruggs, who is credited with helping create modern country music, has died aged 88. Scruggs was known for his distinctive banjo playing technique, which involved just three fingers. It later became known as 'the Scruggs picking style'.
Scruggs rose to prominence when Bill Monroe hired him to play in the Blue Grass Boys, one of the defining groups in the bluegrass musical genre. Hollywood actor and fellow banjo player Steve Martin said, "A grand part of American music owes a debt to Earl Scruggs. Few players have changed the way we hear an instrument the way Earl has, putting him in a category with Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, and Jimi Hendrix."
(Jim Evans)
