Odds & Ends: Stevie Nicks, Grammys, Conor Oberst, One Direction

A representative for Conor Oberst has released a statement via his publicist following allegations that were recently posted online accusing the Bright Eyes singer of raping a fan 10 years ago.

The alleged victim, who claims she was 16 years old at the time of the incident, reportedly accused Oberst of the crime in the comment section of a story on the online magazine xoJane.com. The Dec. 16 story is titled “It Happen To Me: I Dated A Famous Rock Star & All I Got Was Punched In The Face.”

After posting the accusation on xoJane.com, the alleged victim reportedly created a Tumblr blog to reveal more information and answer questions. Both the initial comments and blog have been deleted but other Tumblr users have reportedly reblogged the Tumblr posts.

Oberst’s publicist sent AbsolutePunk.net the following statement:

“Usually we wouldn’t feel the urge to comment on spurious blog chatter but the recent allegations made about Conor Oberst by an anonymous commenter on the xoJane website are flagrant enough to demand our response. This individual’s accusations are absolutely, unequivocally false. Unfortunately, the internet allows for groundless statements like this to travel the world before the truth has any time to surface. This is a particularly serious and sickening allegation and there is no truth to it. Conor has nothing but abhorrence for the perpetrators of such crimes of sexual violence. The behavior attributed to him by this individual is in direct opposition to his principles. Conor is consulting with a libel attorney regarding this matter.”

During a three-hour conversation in London this fall Stevie Nicks gave Katy Perry a tip about dealing with rivalry in the music industry – forget the word rivals exists.

Nicks told ABC News Radio (via Rolling Stone) that one topic that came up during their lengthy chat was the launch of her solo career with 1981’s Bella Donna.

“She said to me, ‘So when you did Bella Dona who were your rivals?’” Nicks told ABC News Radio. “And I was, like, speechless. I was, like, ‘I didn’t have any rivals.’ And she said, ‘Really? None?’ I said, ‘No…the girls in Heart [were] friends. Pat Benatar [was a] friend.”

Perry blamed the Internet and overzealous fans for sometimes pitting female pop stars against one another. She noted that the singers don’t condone the behavior.

“I said to her, ‘Katy, let me tell you something. You don’t have any rivals,’” Nicks told ABC News Radio. “‘So forget that. Never say that word again. You don’t have rivals. All of those girls? Friends. You’ll probably work with all of them at some point. Friends.’”

Speaking of Katy Perry, she’s one of the acts that was added to the lineup for the 56th annual Grammy Awards, along with Lorde, Metallica, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder.

Wonder will team up with previously announced performer Daft Punk and the RAM (Random Access Memories) session players including Chris Caswell, Nathan East, Omar Hakim, and Paul Jackson Jr. Metallica will take the stage with Grammy Cultural Ambassador to China Lang Lang.

Today’s announcement also included a performance featuring Robin Thicke and Chicago.

Performances previously confirmed included Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons; Pink and Nate Ruess of fun.; and Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Blake Shelton.

The Grammys airs live from Los Angeles’ Staples Center Jan. 26 from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Harry Styles reportedly hopes to convince his bandmates that One Direction’s sound should evolve in … another direction (hardy har har).

The news comes to us from the always reputable Daily Star. In other Harry Styles news, the British tabloid recently reported that Styles is going back to school to learn Hebrew, and that the signer was “spotted enjoying a snow-mantic date with Kendall Jenner.”

Anyway, back to the potential riff over One Direction’s sound.

A source that’s apparently close to the band told the Daily Star Styles “thinks their next album is the perfect time to create a much edgier and more rock ‘n’ roll image and he’s already writing songs that he wants them to include on the record.    

“The problem is the rest of the band fear if Harry starts changing their style he’s going to take over the whole thing.”

The source pointed fingers at Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson as the guys who are “especially worried” about messing with a good thing by changing the pop sound. But they’re also reportedly worried that “if Harry doesn’t get his way he could end up walking out and going solo. He doesn’t want to be five years down the line and still doing boyish pop tunes.”

Gossip Cop talked to its own source “close to the situation,” who claims the Daily Star’s story “is 100 percent false.”