• Thousands of Phish fans across the nation immediately quit their jobs, packed their bags and stopped showering when we reported that Trey Anastasio was hinting at a reunion for Vermont’s Finest. Trey was also added to the Rothbury Festival and gave us a free download from his upcoming live album.
• As the new issue implies, we ranked the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs. We also aired video of the star-studded cover shoot, chatted with Jimmy Page and asked you tell us your list of the best six-string jams.
• It wasn’t the best week for R. Kelly, as the testimony of family, friends, ex-assistants and forensic video analysts all have the crooner believing maybe he can’t fly. But there is that mysterious surprise witness…
• Hip-hop was happening, as 50 Cent gained an MTV show but lost a house, Nas screened his new N-worded video, Lil Wayne announced a tour and Kanye West made a trilogy out of his song “Flashing Lights.”

[Photo: Getty]

After confirming to the world that she does indeed have a bun in the oven and that she’s taking on her man’s name, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz apparently drove new hubby Pete Wentz to don a disguise while in public this week. Wentz wasn’t the only fish out of water in the news this week, as Usher hung out on a Navy ship and Mariah Carey seduced the Japanese. Click below for the rest of the news in photos from the week that was.

• Random Notes: Pete Wentz, Ashlee Simpson, Mariah Carey, R.E.M. and the Week in Rock

[Photo: AFM/JAK/Finalpixx.com]

“Make records and then go out on tour to support. Best template: Pearl Jam — best band on the planet. They make a record, tour the globe, leave it all on the stage and go home satisfied. Being a travelling roadshow of freaks and drugs is so last century. C’mon Phish, you guys can do this. I’d buy a ticket!” — FollowedthePhish on Trey Anastasio Hints at Phish Reunion

Sheryl Crow brought her band and her deep catalog of rootsy tunes to New York City’s Central Park last night, where she spoke frankly about her son and her cancer all while playing songs from Detours and old hits like “My Favorite Mistake” and “Strong Enough.” Click below for more photos and a report from last night’s show.

• Sheryl Crow: Live in Central Park

[Photo: Jason Bergman for RollingStone.com]

Rolling Stone has already spoken on The Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time, lead by Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” Now it’s your turn to curate your own list. So Rock Daily asks: What are the greatest guitar songs of all time? So important is this list that we’re going to give you a full week to submit your responses. We’ll tally up the votes, and next week Rock Daily will premiere the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: The Rolling Stone Readers’ Remix. Click below for the RS list, and leave your own votes in the comments.

• The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time

Albums rule the day as Lil Wayne previews Tha Carter III, Liz Phair resurrects Exile in Guyville and Okkervil River preps The Stand-Ins. All the dates are available after the jump.

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• Click here for song picks from upcoming Black Keys collaborations in a special Smoking Section Exclusive

If you worship the Black Keys as much as we do — and you agree that Attack & Release is the best album of ‘08 so far — you should be stoked to know that drummer Patrick Carney and singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach have put their fingerprints on a slew of upcoming albums. Carney is producing fellow Akronites Houseguest, Knoxville’s Royal Bangs (”they’re kind of the shit”) and another Ohio band called Beaten Awake. “Those guys are, like, 33, but they live like they’re still 18,” says Carney, “which is acceptable as long as you don’t have a kid.” Meanwhile, Auerbach is readying records by Buffalo Killers (rockers from Cincinnati), Hacienda (”Mexican-Americans who are obsessed with the Beach Boys”), the low-fi Southern duo Black Diamond Heavies and youngster Jessica Lea Mayfield (”superdark and gloomy — what I like”). In summary, Carney says, “We’re just puttin’ out records, flushing money down the toilet. Unless these bands agree to wear the neon-green outfits I pick out for them, they’ll never be popular.”

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Rod Stewart is as obsessed as we are with the Black Keys, and the S.S. has slowly but steadily been trying to hook up the duo with the Mod so that they make some sweet music together. (more…)

“We’re a really good live band,” R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe said backstage at the Hollywood Bowl yesterday. Not bragging, just laying out the facts. “So even on a bad night, it’s going to be entertaining. And some nights, it’s magical.”

Down the hall, five hours before showtime, guitarist Peter Buck was busy pulling together the band’s set list (one of his longtime jobs in the group). “My job is to mix the new and the old,” Buck said. “All of the new songs are shorter, so we play more songs. It’s like the Ramones.”

Last night, R.E.M. ended up cramming twenty-six songs into a blitzkrieg-bop show running a bit under two hours. On the third date of their summer tour, they made their 2008 agenda clear: rock, rock, and in addition, a bit more rock. (more…)

With a legion of fans eager to buy coffins, comics and whatever else they’re peddling, it’s not surprise that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS have a lot of money. While the band wouldn’t elaborate how big their fortune actually is — Gene Simmons’ worth is estimated near $100 million — the band will admit “We have more money than some small countries.” “It’s a privilege to do what we do, and let’s say we make a living,” Simmons said.

Perhaps she was trying to enlist the KISS Army’s support John McCain in the event that she’s chosen as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the band prior to their performance in Stockholm, Sweden. The band provided Rice and her staff with autographed memorabilia and backstage passes. “It was really fun to meet KISS and Gene Simmons,” Rice told reporters while avoiding more important questions like whether she likes Destroyer or Love Gun more.

[Photo: Getty]

A “suspicious” fire broke out at a Dix Hills, New York, home owned by rapper 50 Cent and occupied by the rapper’s ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Perkins and their 10-year-old child Marquise. All six people in the house at the time, including Perkins and her son, were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The house was at the middle of a legal battle between 50 Cent and Perkins as 50 moved to evict Perkins and his son if they didn’t pay $4,500 a month in rent. Asked why he felt the fire was “definitely suspicious,” the Dix Hills Fire Chief said “The rapid movement of the fire…It was engulfed. The home was totally gutted.” Adding more fuel to the fire is this video of 50 Cent and Perkins arguing with one another on the streets of New York City just days before the fire.

[Photo: Getty]

Every week, Rolling Stone hops in the wayback machine to take a look at the ghosts of magazines’ past.

• From the Cover Story: “I want people to understand something: My husband has never, never disrespected any woman.” — Whitney Houston

• Number One Album: Janet Jackson, Janet

Top Five Singles

1. Janet Jackson — “That’s the Way Love Goes”
2. Silk — “Freak Me”
3. H-Town — “Knockin’ The Boots”
4. SWV — “Weak”
5. Robin S — “Show Me Love”

How is it possible that so many Led Zeppelin songs are based around some of the greatest riffs in history? Jimmy Page reveals the secret. “It has energy and attitude. There’s sex in it as well. It was definitely my concept to have a riff-based band,” he says. Click below for more on Page, including a complete Led Zeppelin album guide.

• Secrets of the Guitar Heroes: Jimmy Page

[Photo: Ross Halfin]

Duffy, “Cry to Me” [Solomon Burke Cover]
New British soul star tackles old American one with effective results. In 20 years at the Grammys, their holograms can duet.

R.E.M., “Ignoreland” [Live]
Stipe and Co. finally (!) dust off this 16-year-old rocker for their current tour. Unwelcome surprise: the song’s message is still depressingly relevant.

Big L, “Put it On” (J Dilla RMX) [Remix]
Legendary VJ Ralph McDaniels syncs this Big L classic to J Dilla’s remix of the same. Essentially, these are three geniuses, operating at the peak of their powers. Like that time Charles Dickens and Amanda Lorber wrote that one episode of Twin Peaks. (more…)

“Detroit had become like an iron-maiden sort of torture device,” says Jack White. “I couldn’t breathe anymore in that scene. The musical environment in the South has always been supportive — that’s where all the greatest music is from.” White has had plenty of opportunity to get out of his home town while on tour with his ultra-tight combo the Raconteurs. Austin Scaggs caught up with White and the rest of the band for a report in the current issue of Rolling Stone, where they discussed the evolution of the group and their new album Consolers of the Lonely. Click below for Scaggs’ full report.

• Murder Ballads and Southern Grooves: The Raconteurs Are Back

In case two videos didn’t satisfy your appetite for “Flashing Lights,” Kanye West has dropped a third clip, this time abandoning the trunk of a car for that mansion from Psycho and a dinner party out of Clue. While the visuals this time around are more suitable for a Siouxsie and the Banshees video, it’s still fun to watch Kanye eat soup, follow a chalk line drawn by a female servant and go floating upward after being thrown out of a window. Sure beats being beaten by a shovel. The whole thing plays out to be either the coolest perfume commercial ever or the most morbid Madonna video not to star Madonna. Also, there’s some dangerous soup involved. We can wait to see what West has planned for the fourth act. Keep reading for Kanye’s explanation as to why he released the video, straight from his blog. (more…)