Ike Turner an essential and largely undervalued figure in the history of both rhythm & blues and rock & roll, died in his home in San Marcos, California, earlier today. He was seventy-six years old. The cause of his death is unknown at this time.

To the public, Turner was best known as half of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, a hard-hitting R&B band that tore off a string of hits in the Sixties and early Seventies — most notably a torrid version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary” that cracked the Top Ten and became a pop-culture staple on the basis of Tina’s smoldering spoken introduction to the song (“We never, ever do nothin’ nice and easy”). Influential far beyond its hits, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. (more…)

In 1971, Rolling Stone music editor Ben Fong-Torres ventured into the Inglewood, California home of Ike and Tina Turner, and emerged with this classic feature. Click here to read the whole thing, and also check out a photo gallery and links to classic tracks.

• Photo Gallery: Ike Turner, Five Decades of Rock and R&B
• The World’s Greatest Heartbreaker (RS 93, October 14, 1971)
• Ike Turner Dies at 76
• Ike Turner: “Rocket 88″ [Listen]
• Ike and Tina Turner: “River Deep, Mountain High” [Listen]
• Ike and Tina Turner: “Proud Mary” [Listen]

Alicia Keys, KT Tunstall, Melissa Etheridge and Kylie Minogue were among the many musicians and actors on hand last night in Norway at the Nobel Peace Prize concert to honor former Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore. The evening was hosted by Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman, who called Gore “sexy” and said the former VP “seems to be flourishing and following his calling. It’s just the most enviable thing in the world.” While the Norwegian Nobel Committee picked the night’s performers, Gore was permitted to select one (he chose a rocker who’s equally passionate about the environment: Etheridge).

The Peace Prize concerts began in 1994 and have grown exponentially ever since; this year’s event was seen by more than 400 million people in 100 countries and will be broadcast in the U.S. on Fox’s My TV network in January. Check out some additional photos from the event after the jump. (more…)

Yes, he killed a man (in self-defense), but after Alabama-born rapper Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis got out of jail for allegedly beating a man with a pool stick, Ludacris showed up with some inspiring advice. To find out more about the Dirty South MC who got his start as “a ghetto Weird Al” and his latest album Back to the Traphouse, head over to the Breaking Blog.

In the new issue of Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield takes a close look at Rocklahoma, the mid-July weekend festival where 100,000 fans gather in a giant field on the outskirts of Pryor, Oklahoma, to rock alongisde their Sunset Strip sleaze-metal guitar heroes. As a bonus, Andy Greene whipped up a chart tracking the career highs, lows, outrageous moments and current status of six hair-metal bands, from Ratt to Skid Row.

• After tantalizing Croatia with his “did he or didn’t he” video, 50 Cent has Norway abuzz by telling a magazine there, “File-sharing doesn’t hurt artists.” Fiddy explained that the industry needs to “maximize its income from concerts and merchandise” in order to “make their marketing money back,” thus explaining what 50 is doing hanging out in Croatia and Norway in the first place.

• Eddie Vedder will put his soundtrack skills back to work, as he (and John Legend) will contribute tracks to an upcoming documentary miniseries based on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Vedder, who earlier this autumn released a solo soundtrack for Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, is a noted longtime Zinn supporter.

• Britney Spears is (supposedly, but who knows with her) considering a film role that would cast her as the Virgin Mary in a satirical retelling of the Christmas story. Sweet Baby Jesus tells the story of a Bethlehem, Maryland, nineteen-year-old who, unsure of her baby’s paternity, gives birth on Christmas, causing townspeople to believe she’s giving birth to the second coming. To research the part, Spears had two children in the span of two years.

• With his role as the CEO of Def Jam in limbo, Jay-Z is venturing out into yet another industry: hotels. Jay and three investors will open the J Hotel in New York’s SoHo district, and Jigga will also open up a Las Vegas offshoot of his 40/40 Club on December 30th.

• For the second consecutive year, American Idol will air its “Idol Gives Back” special. Last year’s episode raised more than $75 million for U.S. and African charities. No guests or performers have been announced for this year’s event, which will air April 9th.

Click here to check out vintage shots of Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley and Burning Spear — plus some incredible 1978 photographs of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger with Peter Tosh backstage during Saturday Night Live rehearsals — and even more from Roger Steffens & Peter Simon’s Reggae Scrapbook, a new book that traces the history of the genre.

[Photo: Peter Simon]

Wu-Tang Clan “The Heart Gently Weeps”
The unlikely pairing of the Wu-Tang Clan and Dhani Harrison finds new life in the Beatles classic.
[Listen]-[Review]

Wyclef Jean “Fast Car”
Clef proves himself a capable Garfunkel in this reggae-folk duet with Paul Simon straight out of the Tracy Chapman school of metaphor. (more…)

The Big News: Josh Groban’s Noel sold another 581,470 copies in its ninth week of release to stay atop the Billboard chart for a third straight week. Alicia Keys and the Eagles played see-saw once again, as Keys’ As I Am reclaimed the Number Two spot with 234,370 copies sold, while the Eagles swooped to three with 204,490 copies. In the battle of the American Idols, the result was … a draw. Blake Lewis’ Audio Day Dream debuted at number ten, the same spot Jordin Sparks’ self-titled debut landed at two weeks ago.

Debuts: At ten, Lewis has the highest-charting debut of the week. Other than that, hip-hop ruled, with four rap debuts entering the charts within the top fifty: (more…)

By now, you’ve read David Fricke’s concert review, perused the post-show aftermath and watched the fan footage on YouTube. So what’s next for Led Zeppelin? As soon as Jimmy Page rested his guitar following “Whole Lotta Love,” tour rumors started swirling. According to Gigwise, who cites a non-existent story on NME.com (at least we couldn’t find it), Led Zeppelin is in talks to play two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium, per two “industry insiders.” Those “industry insiders” may be the same anonymous sources who leaked that Led Zeppelin will play this summer’s Bonnaroo festival. Well, they were a quarter-right: Reports now indicate that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform at the Tennessee fest as part of the Raising Sand tour. But then there’s the biggest rumor of them all, courtesy of British newspaper The Sun via Blabbermouth via NME, which said backstage banter between bandmembers led to one of them admitting he wants to return to the States to play three shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the site of the concert flim The Song Remains the Same. While all these rumors remain just that, the fact is Led Zeppelin mania has returned — the band’s merchandise and discography has enjoyed a significant increase of sales in the weeks leading up to, and the days following, their O2 Arena concert.

Related Stories:

• Led Zeppelin: The Full Report From David Fricke
• Led Zeppelin: The Reunion Set List
• Led Zeppelin Roundup: Backstage and Beyond

[Photo: Halfin/AT/Getty]