Arch MUSIC NEWS for 8/20/12

The film Katy Perry: Part of Me movie will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on September 18 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The package will be available in several different configurations, which will include new, never-before-seen footage from the movie.

Peter Gabriel‘s 1986 album, So, has been digitally remastered for a 25th anniversary edition that will be released on October 23. It will be available in multiple physical and digital configurations, such as an expanded three-CD version and a box set with live DVDs. Gabriel will do a 16-date North American tour in September and October during which he will play So in its entirety.

Their story made headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2009. But despite all the drama, Rihanna says she still loves Chris Brown. She let her guard down in a candid and emotional interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday on OWN. Rihanna told Oprah she still cares for Brown and wants him to be happy because of the love they once shared. She reveals that repairing her relationship with her father allowed her to forgive Brown for abusing her in 2009, pointing out that her own father was abusive toward her mother. Rihanna says she put on a tough exterior and held on to the anger after the incident with Chris because she didn’t want to be perceived as a victim. She says she has now moved on and made peace with what happened.

Anti-gay activists in Russia are filing suit against Madonna. The group says the pop superstar insulted their feelings when she spoke out in support of gay rights at a recent concert in St. Petersburg. They want ten-million-dollars in damages. The activists claim Madonna had been warned in advance to behave in accordance to a new law that imposes fines for spreading what they call homosexual “propaganda.” Madonna reportedly called the city law a “ridiculous atrocity.” The group says since she ignored the warning in words, they will speak in the language of money. They say encouraging homosexuality results in fewer children being born and moral suffering. The group is pledging to donate any money they win from its case against the singer to orphanages.

Yoko Ono continues to oppose the release of the man who killed John Lennon. The late Beatle’s widow is among the people who have sent letters to the New York Department of Correction parole board, which will decide this week whether to allow Mark David Chapman to go free. Chapman has been serving a sentence of 20 years to life since pleading guilty to fatally shooting Lennon outside of the singer’s New York City home in December 1980. In her appeal to keep Chapman behind bars, Ono told the parole board she believes her husband’s killer still poses a threat to her; Lennon’s sons Julian and Sean; and also to himself. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia says the parole board is expected to announce its decision on Chapman by the end of the week. This is Chapman’s seventh’s opportunity to apply for parole since he first became eligible in 2000. He had spent the past 31 years at New York’s Attica Correctional Facility before he was transferred to the maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York a few months ago. The reason for the transfer was not made public.

Former Clash guitarist Mick Jones is among the stars paying tribute to his one-time band mate. Jones took the stage at last weekend’s “Strummer Of Love” festival, a charity event honoring the late Clash frontman Joe Strummer. Jones played a set of Clash songs with with The Justice Tonight Band. When he was announced as the event’s closer, Jones told Music-News.com that Joe was with him “all the time,” and that he could still “feel him in so many ways.” The Pogues, Don Letts, and Billy Bragg were also some of the headliners for the British event, which took place in Somerset, England last Friday through Sunday. “Strummer Of Love” commemorated what would have been the pioneering punk rocker’s 60th birthday. Joe Strummer was born on August 21st, 1952. He died in December 2002 of an undiagnosed heart defect he’d had since birth. Money raised through the festival is going to Strummerville, an organization established in Joe’s memory to support aspiring musicians and to promote change in the world through music.