--ESPN Saluting Rolling Stones During "Monday Night Football" Games

The Rolling Stones are receiving a special 50th anniversary salute from "Monday Night Football."  ESPN plans to incorporate the band's music into the coverage of the weekly games throughout the fall and winter, with four sets of four songs to be used throughout the 16-week season.  The "Legends to Legends" feature will include the hits, such as "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll," "Hot Stuff," and "One Hit (To The Body)," along with lesser known album cuts.  The material will span more than 40 years of the band's history, from 1972's "Exile On Main Street" to 2005's "A Bigger Bang."  The tracks will be featured in ESPN's "Monday Night Football" pre-game show, post-game highlights show, and the "Monday Night Football" broadcast.  ESPN will launch "Legends to Legends" with this week's game, starting with "Monday Night Countdown," airing at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.


--Led Zeppelin Begins Facebook Countdown; O2 Concert DVD Announcement Expected

A Led Zeppelin countdown is under way.  It started on their Facebook page Saturday with a picture of the word "five" written in the band's signature font.  They followed on Sunday with a "four."  Many media outlets are speculating that the band is planning to make a special announcement later this week regarding the DVD release of their 2007 reunion concert.  Jimmy Page's manager Peter Mensch has been hinting this summer that the project is in the works.  Back in July he tweeted that engineer and producer Alan Moulder was still doing "his stellar mixing of the O2 show," and that it's "almost here."  Mensch added via Twitter on Saturday that he's now "seen it and heard it."

The special one-off event honored the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.  The concert took place at London's O2 Arena in December 2007, featuring surviving Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones with Jason Bonham, the son of original Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.  The highly-anticipated show sparked a ticket frenzy, with several million people submitting requests for the 18-thousand available seats.


--Lynyrd Skynyrd Explain Why They Stopped Using Confederate Flag Image

Lynyrd Skynyrd is no longer using the Confederate flag as one of their symbols.  Guitarist Gary Rossington says the band originally incorporated the flag into their look to represent their Southern roots.  But he tells CNN that over time, the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads, and other hate groups co-opted the Confederate flag, which led Skynyrd to drop it from the band's image. Singer Johnny Van Zant says that while Skynyrd is a proud pioneer of the Southern rock sound, but they consider themselves an American band.  Van Zant says the band appreciates and has drawn influence from all the different musical styles America has to offer.  Lynyrd Skynyrd is currently promoting their new album, "Last of a Dying Breed."


--Scott Weiland Working On New Christmas Song

It looks like Scott Weiland's venture into the world of holiday music wasn't a one-album affair.  The Stone Temple Pilots frontman's business partner and touring guitarist Doug Grean revealed on Facebook over the weekend that he was working on a new Christmas song by Weiland.  Grean added, quote, "it's the record that just won't quit," referring to Weiland's 2011 Christmas release, "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year."  So far, Greane hasn't said when the new Yuletide track will be released, or whether it will be part of another full-length holiday album.


--Eddie Vedder Performs With Bruce Springsteen In Chicago

Eddie Vedder helped Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band bring "Atlantic City" to Chicago Friday night.  The Pearl Jam frontman and Windy City native joined The Boss onstage at Wrigley Field to perform the classic track from Springsteen's 1982 album, "Nebraska."  Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello also joined the fun later in the show for a trio of songs, including "Death to My Hometown" from Springsteen's latest album, "Wrecking Ball."  The track is one of two that Morello recorded with Bruce in the studio.  And if that wasn't enough, both Vedder and Morello returned to the stage for the end of the encore.  They helped Springsteen and company bring things to a close with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and a cover of "Twist and Shout."

Friday's show wasn't the first time Vedder and Springsteen have performed together.  They shared the stage in 2009 at Bruce's Kennedy Center Honors event.


--Neil Young Welcoming Guns N' Roses, Others To Bridge School Benefits

Neil Young is once again bringing together an eclectic group of stars for his annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts.  Guns N' Roses is set to make their debut at the special acoustic shows, along with other first-time participants Jack White, The Flaming Lips, and Foster The People.  The lineup for Young's 26th annual event will also feature Sarah McLachlan and Lucinda William, as well as Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, and Guy Clark Jr.  In addition, Young will turn in a set with Crazy Horse at the shows.  The 26th annual Bridge School Benefit Concerts will take place at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California on October 20th and 21st.

Proceeds from the shows will go to the Bridge School, a special educational facility that helps children with severe speech and learning disabilities.  Young's two sons both went to the Bridge School.


--Elvis Presley's Underwear Goes Unsold, Bible Fetches Twice Original Estimates

Elvis Presley's dirty underwear does not have a new home.  The soiled briefs that were part of an auction in Britain over the weekend failed to sell.  Elvis wore the undergarment at a 1977 concert, and it was never washed after the show.  While bidding on the briefs reached eight-thousand-dollars, it never met the reserve price of eleven-thousand-200-dollars, so there was no sale.  However, Elvis' Bible did generate bids.  Elvis received the book for his first Christmas at Graceland in 1957, and he used it for the next 20 years of his life.  He'd underlined passages and wrote notes throughout the book.  Bidding was expected to top out at around 40-thousand-dollars but the Bible went for more than twice that price, selling for over 94-thousand-dollars.  

Other Elvis items, including shoes, jewelry, and home movies, were also part of the sale.  But the Bible accounts for more than half of the total from the Elvis auction, which brought in more than 160-thousand-dollars.


--Dokken Promoting New Album With "Rockline" Appearance

Dokken is ready with their next album.  The band will be promoting "Broken Bones" with an appearance on the syndicated radio show "Rockline," and fans are welcome to call in and contribute to the conversation.  Dokken, featuring frontman Don Dokken, guitarist Jon Levin, bassist Sean McNabb, and drummer Mick Brown, will be on "Rockline" on September 19th.  "Broken Bones" hits stores on September 25th.  Blabbermouth.net says that along with the standard CD, the eleven-track disc will also be available as a limited edition digipak featuring a 40-minute "Making of The Album" bonus DVD.  "Broken Bones" is Dokken's follow up to their 2008 release "Lightning Strikes Again."


--Today's Birthdays

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is 62.
Former Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow is 63.
Three Dog Night frontman Danny Hutton is 70
Slade drummer Don Powell is 66.
Cracker singer-guitarist David Lowery is 52.
Descendents and former Black Flag drummer Bill Stevenson is 49.
Bush drummer Robin Goodridge is 46.
Fastball frontman Miles Zuniga is 46.
My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way is 32.


--Today In Rock History

In 1956
Record stores were swamped with requests for Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender," the title song from his movie.  The single hadn't been released yet.

In 1965
The Byrds recorded the song "Turn Turn Turn."

In 1973
The BBC banned the Rolling Stones' single "Star Star" because of its objectionable lyrics

In 1974
The New York Dolls broke up.

In 1988
The first Elvis Presley credit card was issued.

Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" hit number one on the pop singles chart.

In 1990
The Hard Rock Cafe opened in Las Vegas.  

In 2000
Kiss announced yet another extension to its farewell tour, with plans to tour in Japan and Australia.

In 2005
Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Brian Wilson, Neil Young, the Neville Brothers, and John Mellencamp were among the wide variety of rock, pop, rap, and country stars who took part in the simultaneous multi-channel Hurricane Katrina fundraiser "ReAct Now: Music & Relief."  Money raised went to several charities, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and America's Second Harvest.

In 2007
The jury began deliberations in Phil Spector's first murder trial.

In 2009
Ozzy Osbourne was honored with a special tribute during the first day of the three-day Sunset Strip Music Festival in Los Angeles.

In 2010
The Sex Pistols' perfume arrived in stores in the U.S.  The fragrance is described as a mix of lemon, black pepper, ambrette seed, aldehydes, leather, and heliotrope with a "patchouli note."