Link-O-Rama …

Latin Grammys moving to Houston – Associated Press

Wal-Mart dumps DRM before all majors are on board – Wired News

Ringo Starr statue decapitated in Liverpool after making disparaging remarks about the town on TV – The Times Online U.K.

Graham Nash’s sister dies. Sharon Nash was 53 – Daily Breeze.com

Q&A with Zombie Rod Argent – Lancashire Telegraph U.K.

Talking sports with Vanilla Ice – The New York Times / Bats (registration may be required)

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

John Mayer hits the road this summer with Colbie Caillat and Brett Dennen. Shows include a stop at Milwaukee’s Summerfest, plus markets like St. Louis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Watch for a feature item about this tour appearing on Pollstar.com later this afternoon (just as soon as we write it)!

We just posted about 5 kilos of new May & June dates for Erykah Badu. Stops include May 17 (Richmond, VA), May 20 (Boca Raton, FL), May 21 (San Juan, Puerto Rico), May 23 (Atlanta, GA), June 2 (Denver, CO) and June 8 (Oakland, CA).

Delbert McClinton updates today with additional may listings for both sides of The Pond. Delbert plays Greensboro, NC, on May 15, Lynchburg, VA, on may 16, Greenville, SC, on May 23 and Charlotte, NC, on May 24. The artist also slots Helsinki, Finland, on June 28 and Skanevik, Norway, on July 5.

It’s Europe in June for Judas Priest. Dates just posted include Helsinki, Finland, on June 3, Bilbao, Spain, on June 20 and Zwolle Netherlands, on June 22.

And The Click Five plays Australia and the Pacific Rim in May and June. Dates include St. Kilda, Australia, on May 14, Sydney, Australia, on May 16, Taipei on May 23, Seoul on May 27, Manila on May 30, Singapore on June 1, Jakarta on June 4 and Malaysia on June 7.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Percy Sledge, Harper, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, Hamilton Loomis, Great Big Sea, James Cotton Band, Anthony Gomes, Otherwise, needtobreathe, The Freddy Jones Band, Tina Dico and Throw Rag.

And that’s the way it is at the halfway mark. More concert data coming up in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 12 noon (PDT), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1994, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon had become the fourth biggest-selling album in U.S. history. Sales of more than 13 million made it the best-selling album ever in the U.S. by a British act. It’s now estimated to be the 15th best selling album State-side and eighth worldwide. Worldwide, Dark Side of the Moon has sold more than 40 million copies.

In 1983, Danny Rapp, lead singer of Danny & the Juniors, committed suicide at 41. Their “At the Hop” was a number-one record in 1958 and remains one of the most popular rock ‘n’ roll oldies.

In 1985, Wham sold out the 12-thousand-seat Workers’ Gymnasium in Peking, becoming the first Western rock group to appear in China.

In 1986, a young lady named Lynda Matarazzo had her nose broken at a Philadelphia concert by Aerosmith. She sued the group, their record company and the concert promoter, claiming that Aerosmith’s song “My Fist, Your Face” encouraged the crowd to beat her up.

In 1994, Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the pioneering grunge rock band Nirvana, was found dead in his Seattle home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A suicide note was found nearby. Cobain, who was 27, died a month after he was treated in Rome for a drug-induced coma. Nirvana gave grunge an international following in 1991 with the album Nevermind, which included the single “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Another best-selling album, In Utero, followed in ’93.