Rock Star Supernova

Rock Star Supernova
Origin	United States
Genre(s)	Hard rock
Years active	2006–present
Label(s)	Burnett/Epic Records
Website	www.intothesupernova.com
Members
Lukas Rossi Tommy Lee Johnny Colt Gilby Clarke Jason Newsted

For the TV series through which the band was created, see Rock Star: Supernova. For the band's debut album, see Rock Star Supernova (album).

Rock Star Supernova is a reality television formed supergroup consisting of drummer Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), bass player Jason Newsted (Voivod and ex-Metallica), guitarist Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses), and new singer Lukas Rossi (Rise Electric and ex-Cleavage).

Lee and Clarke performed together in an all-star KISS tribute band at the inaugural "VH1 Rock Honors" event on May 25, 2006 in Las Vegas.

History

Rock Star:Supernova

Supernova formed the basis of the second season of the Rock Star television program on CBS in the quest to find a lead singer. The show began online on the Rock Star web site on MSN on Monday, July 3 with an Internet exclusive weekly episode and premiered on CBS on July 5, 2006. Votes were cast via the Rock Star website. On September 13, 2006, Lukas Rossi was crowned the winner.

Name controversy

The band was originally formed as "Supernova", but the legality of the use of that name was called into question by another band of the same name: Supernova, a pop punk trio from California founded in 1989 and best known for a song contributed to the soundtrack of the 1994 film Clerks. On June 26, 2006, the latter band filed a federal lawsuit against Mark Burnett Productions, Rockstar Entertainment, CBS, Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, and Gilby Clarke. The California band is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as trademark protection of the "Supernova" name, the destruction of all Rock Star materials bearing the name "Supernova", and clarifying statements made on the show. One of their primary pieces of evidence is a message from Butch Walker on the social networking website MySpace, in which he notes that the defendants had been informed of the existence of a prior band of the same name, but decided to proceed anyway.^[1]

Lee, Newsted, and Clarke were dropped as defendants in late August at the request of the original Supernova's lawyers..

On September 12, 2006, San Diego Judge John Houston ruled in favor of the original Supernova, granting their request for a preliminary injunction. The injunction keeps the producers of "Rock Star: Supernova" — which concluded September 13 as a television show, but will continue as a recording, touring, and merchandise entity for some time to follow — from "performing rock and roll music, or recording, or selling rock and roll music recordings under the same [name], pending a trial of this action on its merits, or until otherwise ordered by the court."

The decision bars the CBS-created rockers from touring, recording and selling merchandise as "Supernova" once the order takes effect. First, the original Supernova must post bond, the amount of which has yet to be determined by the court.^[2]

Currently, all promotional material being released and sold generally bears the name "Rock Star Supernova" on it. This is especially evident on the band's MySpace page, which lists them as Rock Star Supernova and not Supernova, whereas INXS have remained INXS, and not kept the "Rockstar INXS" name, because INXS was already an established band before the show.

Rock Star Supernova (2006)

Songwriter/performer Butch Walker has been hired to produce the band's first album. Walker, named Rolling Stone 2005 "hot" producer, has written or produced tracks for Avril Lavigne, Pink, Bowling for Soup and Tommy Lee.

Professional music critics have offered mostly negative reviews of the album.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior critic of Allmusic, writes, "At no point does this band make sense ... it's gloriously bad, the kind of music that can only result when three talented musicians are contractually obligated to work with a wannabe singer who would be a laughing stock on a local level."

Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone thought the album had a few bright spots, "but most of the tunes feel tired, if not retrograde: Opener 'It's On' could have come from Collective Soul, the ballads suck, and there are some dark, sub-Alice in Chains bangers."

Even though there has been a lot of criticism, the album has gone platinum in Canada and has lots of positive reception on iTunes due to Lukas Rossi's huge fan base.

Their first video, Headspin was recorded in early October, and was released in January 2007.

Recent Developments

On October 23, 2006, Jason Newsted was injured while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and biceps tear in the right. He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and is now undergoing a lengthy rehab process which could detain him for up to nine months.

While Newsted recovers, former Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt will serve as a temporary replacement and was with the band on its national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 21. [1]

The band is currently on tour with supporting acts Dilana, Juke Kartel (the band of Australian Rock Star: Supernova contestant Toby Rand) and The Panic Channel.

On April 12, 2007, there was a rumour stating Gilby Clarke quit the band. It was later confirmed that he is still part of Rock Star Supernova^[3]

In June of 2007, Rossi released "The Love and Lust EP", a recording of 4 acoustic tracks. He toured across the USA and Canada during the summer and spent time with the fans that have supported him.

In 2007 Gilby Clarke released a best of album featuring tracks from all of his solo albums as well as two songs from the Col. Parker project and a re-recording of the song "Black", featuring vocals by Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana.

In mid September drummer Tommy Lee quit his main band Mötley Crüe due to lawsuits the other members filed against him. After he quit Mötley Crüe he stated that he will never be in another band again because he enjoys DJing too much. It is unclear what the future holds for Rock Star Supernova, or who is even in the band. After irrate Crüe fans vent their frustrations on the Crüe's Website Tommy Lee issues a statement denying that he left MÖTLEY CRÜE, stating that he hopes he can work any outstanding issues with the other members of the group.

"I am a founding member of MÖTLEY CRÜE," he said. "Based on internal band issues aired publicly, my future with the band is uncertain. I have tried to meet with my bandmates repeatedly without success but have informed them that I'm not walking away from my band of 25 years. It troubles me that the current legal issues which were filed by the corporations against my personal manager are separating us and causing more dysfunction. I hope we can work this out amongst ourselves."

Discography

Album

Rock Star Supernova (November 21, 2006) #101 US, #87 Australia, Platinum in Canada, debuted at #4

Singles

Year	Title	Album
2006	"It's All Love"	Rock Star Supernova
2006	"Be Yourself (and 5 Other Cliches)"	Rock Star Supernova
2007	"Headspin"	Rock Star Supernova
2007	"Can't Bring Myself To Light This Fuse"	Rock Star Supernova

Band Members

Lukas Rossi-Vocals (2006-Present)

Tommy Lee-Drums (2006-Present)

Gilby Clarke-Guitars (2006-Present)

Jason Newsted-Bass (2006-Present)

Johnny Colt-Bass (Touring Replacement) (2006-Present)

Reference

External links

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