Happy Birthday to Robert Plant who turns 60 years old today (August 20th).

Although Plant has enjoyed a successful solo career since 1982, he will always be best known for his years fronting Led Zeppelin and co-writing the majority of the band's songs with Jimmy Page.

Despite last December's Zeppelin reunion in London featuring himself, Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham filling in for his late dad John Bonham, Plant has been the lone hold-out in committing to any future performances. Several of the industries' top promoters have essentially offered the band a blank check should they commit to any number of road dates.

Coincidentally, just as the Zeppelin reunion rumors first began to catch fire last year, Plant enjoyed the biggest success of his solo career with his collaboration with Alison Krauss on their joint album Raising Sand, which hit Number Two on The Billboard 200 album charts. Plant and Krauss' cover of the Everly Brothers' "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" scored the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Raising Sand producer T-Bone Burnett was sure that the duo would click immediately: "I know Alison's adventurous, and I didn't know Robert until we started working together. But, I've certainly followed him and I knew that he was adventurous, and I knew they were both interested in the history of music. So I suspected we could find common ground pretty easily."

After 40 years in the business, Plant says that up and coming musicians should stay as independent as possible: "Stay away from a major label. You know, you've got to be able to deal with people who are telling the truth. You can't be in a position where, if things aren't happening for you within four weeks, you're history and you're left dangling forever. I know quite a few artists of my era who are in that position now, who just can't get away."

Although Led Zeppelin guards its catalogue against use in commercials, in 2004 they allowed their song "Rock And Roll" to be used by Cadillac, and more recently let NBC use their song "Bring It Home" to be used in Olympic TV spots. Plant says that he actually doesn't mind the use of their material on TV, providing it's done with taste: "I think that's appropriate. I don't know how people view it, but as far as a young generation goes, if you hear that music in as many possible places as you can outside of the normal home for it, then it can only be a good thing."

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss tour dates (subject to change):
September 23 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
September 24 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
September 26 - Houston, TX - Mitchell Pavilion
September 27 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park
September 30 - Portland, OR - Theatre of the Clouds
October 1 - Seattle, WA - WaMu Theatre
October 3 - San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Speedway Meadow
October 4 - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor
October 5 - Saratoga, CA - Mountain Winery

John Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman, says that he's ashamed of murdering the former Beatle in 1980, and that he's changed over the past 28 years in prison.

Last week, Chapman was turned down for parole for the fifth time since 2002. The Associated Press reported that the transcript for last week's parole hearing was made public, in which Chapman, who's now 53, said in part, "I recognized that that 25-year-old man -- I don't think he really appreciated the life that he was taking, that this was a human being. I feel now at 53 I have grown into a deeper understanding of what a human life is. I have changed a lot."

Chapman shed light on his state of mind during the days he stalked Lennon and eventually shot him to death. He recalled that he had hoped the murder would give him a sense of identity and notoriety: "I would be something other than a nobody, and that was my reasoning at the time."

Mark David Chapman, is serving a 25 years-to-life sentence for Lennon's murder. He is housed in protective custody at Attica Correctional Facility, which is about 30 miles east of Buffalo, New York. He works as a law clerk and in the prison's kitchen.

Since 1992 Chapman has been receiving conjugal visits with his wife Gloria Abe, through a state program called "family reunion" which allows prisoners to spend up to 44 hours at a time in an unsupervised home setting on prison property.

Neil Young has announced a 19-date North American tour to kick off on October 14th in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center, and wrap up on December 15th at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Reuters reported that the opening acts for the tour will be Death Cab For Cutie, who'll play the first portion of the tour from opening night in Minneapolis until November 29th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when Wilco will then replace them as the tour's opener.

Neil Young North American tour dates (subject to change):
October 14 - Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
October 16 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
October 18 - Regina, SK - Brandt Centre
October 19 - Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome
October 21 - Everett, WA - Comcast Arena At Everett Events Center
October 22 - Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
October 29 - San Diego, CA - Cox Arena
October 30 - Inglewood, CA - The Forum
November 1 - Reno, NV - Reno Events Center
November 4 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
November 5 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center Omaha
November 29 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Metro Centre
December 1 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
December 2 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
December 4 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
December 7 - Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace Of Auburn Hills
December 9 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena
December 12 - Philadelphia, PA - The Wachovia Spectrum
December 15 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden Arena

Young wraps up his European tour on Saturday (August 23rd) in Coburg, Germany. On September 20th, Young will appear with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and others in Mansfield, Massachusetts for the annual Farm Aid benefit.

Neil Young has yet to announce the dates and lineup for his upcoming Bridge School Benefit show, which is usually held in late October in Northern, California.

Peter Frampton has extended his current tour into October, adding seven additional East Coast North American dates. Newly added stops include Belleville, Ontario; Foxboro, Massachusetts; West Palm Beach, Florida and other dates.

Frampton's concert set lists still draw heavily on his 1976 multi-platinum double album Frampton Comes Alive! -- as well as spotlighting Frampton's most recent album, the Grammy-Award winning instrumental set, Fingerprints.

Frampton says that putting together a two-hour show that keeps the crowd interested and moving is almost an art form:"Certain numbers just don't lend themselves to live. And I've always been able to really balance and build a show. We don't come out and just scream at you from the word 'go' until the end. It's always a build. And it goes up and down in the middle. Certain numbers just don't lend themselves to stage. And some I haven't tried."

Peter Frampton tour dates (subject to change):
August 29 - Indianapolis, IN - Rib America Festival at Military Park
August 30 - Milwaukee, WI - Harley Davidson Anniversary at Summerfest Grounds
August 31 - Nashville, TN - Riverfront Park
September 3 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
September 5 - Bossier City, LA - Horseshoe Casino
September 6 - Robinsonville, MS - Bluesville At Horseshoe Casino
September 7 - Elizabeth, IN - Caesars Indiana
September 9 - Easton, PA - State Theatre Center For The Arts
September 11 - Belleville, ON - Empire Theatre
September 12 - Foxboro, MA - Showcase Live!
September 13 - Lakewood, NJ - GPU Energy Park
October 22 - Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theatre
October 24 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall
October 25 - West Palm Beach, FL - Kravis Center
October 26 - Melbourne, FL - King Center For Performing Arts

Frampton's recent shows have included a cover of Jr. Walker & The All Star's "Shotgun," his hit version of Stevie Wonder's "Signed Sealed Delivered," the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which was featured on his 2003 album Now, his instrumental version of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" which was included on his recent instrumental album Fingerprints, and the longtime Humble Pie closer, Ashford & Simpson's "I Don't Need No Doctor."

Peter Frampton's last album, Fingerprints, won the 2007 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore died Tuesday (August 19th) at a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 46, the Associated Press reports. The exact cause of death is unknown, but was related to complications from critical injuries Moore sustained in a June 30th all-terrain vehicle crash on his farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. Moore, who suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs in the accident, recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical rehabilitation but complications forced him back into the hospital.

Moore's accident prevented him from joining Dave Matthews Band on their current tour, which coincidentally was scheduled to play Los Angeles Tuesday and Wednesday (August 20th). In a message posted on their website, LeRoi's former bandmates said they were "deeply saddened" at news of his death.