Arch MUSIC NEWS for 11/13/12

Arch MUSIC NEWS is compiled by Jay Philpott -

Rihanna has revealed the seven lucky countries who made the list for her 777 world tour. Starting on Wednesday, the singer will be hitting the following seven countries to promote her upcoming “Unapologetic” album: Mexico City, Toronto, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, London and New York. Her stop in London will fall on November 19th, which is the date the album is set to drop. According to a press release, Rihanna won’t be announcing the venues of her concerts in each city until the day she arrives. In the release, the singer says that she thinks that “when it’s over it will be the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

INXS could be coming to an end. Australia’s PerthNow.com says drummer Jon Farriss told the crowd at the band’s concert in Perth Sunday night that he was “getting teary” because they were playing their last show. INXS reportedly plans to issue a statement Tuesday to formally announce that the group is disbanding. INXS formed in Sydney, Australia in 1977. The group had their breakthrough in the U.S. in 1985 with the album “Listen Like Thieves.” They followed up with what became their biggest disc, 1987′s “Kick.” The band has been celebrating that album’s 25th anniversary this year. The hits continued to follow for another decade. However, INXS has struggled since the 1997 death of founding frontman Michael Hutchence.

Def Leppard is setting up shop in Las Vegas. The band has announced an exclusive nine-show residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, beginning next March. Guns N’ Roses kicked off a 12-show, three-and-a-half-week engagement at the Hard Rock on October 31st. Def Leppard’s Hard Rock run at The Joint will begin Friday, March 22nd and run through April 10th. Shows begin at 8:00 pm. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 16th.

ZZ Top is set to be honored at the “Classic Rock Roll of Honour” awards. The group has been tapped as this year’s Living Legend, which recognizes artists who have established a lasting legacy in rock. But the band could win an award as well. The Texas trio is in the running for Band of the Year along with Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Joe Bonamassa, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Rush. Rush and Bonamassa also face off for Album of the Year, while the latest studio efforts from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Alice Cooper, Slash, UFO, and Van Halen are also vying for the award. “Classic Rock” magazine is behind the ceremony, which will take place in London tonight.

Bono is in Washington, DC this week, with plans to do more talking than singing.  Bono began his appearances last night to give the keynote speech at an event called the Global Social Enterprise Initiative at Georgetown University.  He congratulated America for “electing an extraordinary man as president”, joking about attack ads, and imitating former President Bill Clinton.  Later in the week, he’ll be sitting down with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and senior Obama administration officials to urge them to keep funding for U.S. foreign assistance programs, emphasizing their effectiveness in fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world. The Irish singer has been an avid advocate for the poor for a long time, but his trip to the nation’s capital this week isn’t a coincidence. President Obama and members of Congress are busy trying to come up with a way to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts that could come early next year. Bono is trying to make sure U.S. development assistance programs survive the process.

Green Day may be on the sidelines while frontman Billie Joe Armstrong spends some time in rehab, but the band continues to give fans new music with today’s release of “¡Dos!” The aptly titled album is part two of the punk rockers’ trilogy of albums, which started back in September with “¡Uno!” and will come to an end on December 11th with “¡Tré!”

Christina Aguilera‘s seventh album “Lotus” is out today. When she first released the single “Your Body” in September, Christina said it was the first time she had felt so inspired since 2002′s “Stripped.”

Whitney Houston‘s greatest hits arrives today. “I Will Always Love You – The Best Of Whitney Houston” features 18 of the singer’s most loved songs. It will also include two unreleased tracks, “I Look To You,” a collaboration with R. Kelly, and the Jermaine Dupri-Bryan Michael Cox-produced “Never Give Up,” which was leaked last week. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of “The Bodyguard,” the 1992 film starring Whitney and Kevin Costner.

Pink is adding a rock act to her upcoming The Truth About Love tour. She’s also announced that Swedish band The Hives would be joining her for the North American leg of her tour, which kicks off in Phoenix on February 13th.

Daniel Craig already has a new Bond girl in mind. In an interview with Global Grind.com, the “Skyfall” actor said if he had to choose between Rihanna and Beyonce as a Bond girl, he’d choose Rihanna. When asked why, he replied because “she’s dirtier.”