The Rundown: The week's biggest music news

Cat Power beats out Tom Waits, Kelly Clarkson's woes continue and Bonnaroo kicks off.

Published June 15, 2007 8:00PM (EDT)

Starbucks couldn't give Paul McCartney the kick he needed to get back to the top of the charts. Despite being sold at the coffee chain's shops -- in addition to online outlets and in stores -- McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" entered Billboard at No. 3, behind R&B diva Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" and rapper T-Pain's "Epiphany," which hit No.1 with sales of 171,000.

It was a rough week for Kelly Clarkson. First the former "American Idol" winner and current pop star split from her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz, reportedly over disagreements about her upcoming album, "My December." Then, on Thursday, came word that her summer tour had been canceled, reportedly due to low ticket sales. Saddest of all, Clarkson, 25, told the Associated Press she's never been in love. Aw.

Former boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, who helped create both 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, was arrested in Indonesia on Thursday on a charge of bank fraud and turned over to the FBI. Pearlman, who had been in hiding since December 2006, is alleged to have defrauded investors of more than $315 million in a bogus savings-account scheme and is also said to owe more than $120 million to various lending institutions.

Indie chanteuse Cat Power was announced as the winner of the Shortlist prize for her album "The Greatest." The prize, for which only albums that haven't attained gold sales status are eligible, was awarded by a panel that included Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips and Sufjan Stevens. "The Greatest" beat out albums by, among others, Tom Waits, Belle and Sebastian and Neil Young.

Bags were packed and doobies were rolled as fans prepared for the kickoff of the Bonnaroo music festival on Thursday in Manchester, Tenn. Spread over four days and 700 acres, this year's edition of the five-year old festival features the Police, the White Stripes, Ornette Coleman and Wilco among more than 100 acts. You can listen to live webcasts of the performances here.

-- David Marchese


By Salon Staff

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