Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump has written a candid and lengthy personal blog post on his website calling himself a "has-been" at 27 and questioning his desire to make music again after the commercial failure of his recent solo album, Soul Punk.

In the post, Stump describes being insulted by fans and spending his savings on a tour in support of the album.

"The barrage of 'We liked you better fat,' the threatening letters to my home, the kids that paid for tickets to my solo shows to tell me how much I sucked without Fall Out Boy, that wasn’t something I suppose I was or ever will be ready for," he wrote. "That’s dedication. That’s real palpable anger. Add into that the economic risk I had taken [In short: I blew my nest egg on that record and touring in support of it] the hate really crushed me.

"There’s no amount of money that makes you feel better when people think of you as a joke or a hack or a failure or ugly or stupid or morally empty," he added.

He writes that things started to get difficult when Fall Out Boy's last album, Folie A Deux, bombed and sparked a fan backlash. "Touring on Folie was like being the last act at the vaudeville show: We were rotten vegetable targets in Clandestine hoods," he wrote.

Although he points out that the band has not broken up, a reunion isn't possible until the other members finish their respective solo projects and he's not optimistic about a live return in another form any time soon: "Whatever notoriety Fall Out Boy used to have prevents me from having the ability to start over from the bottom again. I can’t even go back to playing basement shows. As the saying goes: I couldn’t get booked at the opening of a letter."

However, all is not lost. He also wrote that he's been keeping busy with acting gigs and songwriting and producing for other artists. He's also mulling over releasing an unfinished follow-up to Soul Punk.

"I hate feeling like the awkward adult husk of a discarded once-cute child actor. I’m debating going back to school and learning a proper trade," he wrote. "It’s tempting to say I won’t ever play/tour/record again, but I think that’s probably just pent up poor-me emotional pessimism talking (I suppose I can be excused of that though right? I am the guy from That Emo Band after all)."

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• Man found shot dead outside of Rick Ross' home

Police in Miami are investigating the shooting death of a man at the home of Rick Ross.

TMZ reports that officers are looking to speak with the rapper after a 40-year-old man was found dead inside the front gate of his Miami Gardens mansion on Wednesday morning (February 29).

Ross was not home at the time and is not considered a suspect, but because he is listed as the owner of the residence, they would like to speak with him.

"I was there when there were shots," a witness told a local news outlet. "I don't know what car, but they got away down the street."

Ross has not commented on the incident.

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• Jennifer Hudson on witness list for family murder trial

Singer Davy Jones has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.

TMZ reports that a rep for the Monkees singer confirmed the news and an official from the medical examiner's office in Martin County, Florida also confirmed they received a call from Martin Memorial Hospital informing them that Jones had died on Wednesday morning (February 29).

He is survived by his wife Jessica Pacheco and four daughters from previous marriages.

The Monkees were a pop group assembled by television producers in 1965 to star in a TV series inspired by The Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night about a rock & roll group . Their popularity took off and Jones, the lone British member, became one of the era's teen heartthrobs.

The rest of the group was comprised of Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and Michael Nesmith. They released 11 studio albums between 1966 and 1996. Their hits include "Daydream Believer," "(Theme From) The Monkees," and "I'm A Believer."

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New details about the 2008 slayings of singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew have emerged.

Billboard reports that court documents list the former "American Idol" contestant on the witness list for the upcoming Chicago trial of the man accused of the triple homicide, which begins on April 9. However, prosecutors have not confirmed whether the star will testify against William Balfour, who was the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Hudson told police that she spoke to her mother every day and knew something was wrong when she hadn't heard from her on the morning of October 24, 2008.

Hours later, her 57-year-old mother Darnell Donerson and 29-year-old brother Jason Hudson were found shot to death in their home. The body of her nephew Julian King was discovered several days later in a vehicle located several miles away. A gun was also found near the vehicle.

Hudson told investigators that she's known Balfour since childhood and warned her sister against marrying him, adding the family didn't know the two were married until months after the 2006 nuptials took place.

Prosecutors allege that Balfour killed the family because he was angry that Julia Hudson was dating another man.

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• Girls Gone Wild creator threatens to sue Madonna

Country star Taylor Swift is rumoured to be making a guest apperance on rapper B.o.B.'s forthcoming sophomore album, "Strange Clouds."

According to Rap-Up (via Taste of Country), the Atlanta rapper isn't confirming or denying whether Swift will lend her vocals to a song off the new LP.

"I can’t discredit nor confirm the rumour,” he said, adding, "Once it’s began, it’s begun and it will take its course.”

If  true, it won’t be the first time the two artists have collaborated. Last fall, Swift called him to perform his hit song "Airplanes" with her during her North American tour.

"She actually got my number from Hayley [Williams of Paramore], and she hit me up and was like, 'Hey Bob, I know this is kind of random, but it’s Taylor Swift,'" he said. "So I'm like, ‘What?’ 'Yeah, I'm coming out to Atlanta and I hear you’re gonna be in Atlanta and I wanna bring you out.'"

Since he was already booked to perform that night he joined Swift during a concert in Dallas at a later date.

"Strange Clouds" is due out May 1 and will also feature guest spots by rappers Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, T.I. and Jim Jonsin.

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• Hole guitarist to publish 'Letters to Kurt' book

John Mayer has posted "Shadow Days," the lead single off his forthcoming "Born and Raised" album on his website for streaming and announced his first tour in two years.

The singer-songwriter will play an 18-date U.S. tour in April in support of the record, which is due out around the same time. MTV reports that the tour will also raise funds and awareness for the Northern California Institute of Research and Education (NCIRE), which "provides veterans with a healthy reintegration into civilian life."

Mayer also set up an eBay auction in which fans can bid on front-row tickets and a backstage meet-and-greet, with proceeds going to NCIRE.

Produced by Don Was and Mayer, "Born and Raised" will feature vocal and instrumental guest spots from singers David Crosby and Graham Nash, keyboardist/pianist Chuck Leavell, bassist Sean Hurley and drummer Aaron Sterling. Guitarist and vocalist David Ryan Harris, guitarist Doug Pettibone and percussionist Michito Sanchez will make up his touring band.

Listen to "Shadow Days" here and check out the list of spring tour dates here.

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• 'Girls Gone Wild' creator threatens to sue Madonna

The guirarist that co-founded landmark '90s grunge rock band Hole has written a book about Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and the fallout from his suicide in 1994.

"The New York Times" reports that Eric Erlandson (pictured, above right), who co-founded Hole with Courtney Love, Cobain's widow, will publish a book about his reflections on rock ‘n’ roll, drug abuse and the the grunge icon's untimely death called "Letters to Kurt." It will comprise prose, poetry and "free association" and come out on April 8 through publisher Akashic Books.

"It just wasn’t feeling right to write a memoir-style book and this one just came out of me a couple years ago,” he said in an interview with the "Times." "It felt like the right way to go, but at the same time, I had a lot of hesitation. At some point it just started to click and I started to honor it."

He added that he remains friendly with former bandmates Patty Schemel and Melissa Auf der Maur, but has had disputes with Love since Hole's initial break up a decade ago. When Love revived the group to record a new album and tour, he did not participate.

"Up until September of last year, October, she was asking me to play with her," he said. "But I felt like there was no transformation in our relationship at all. So that kind of worked its way into the book. I never mentioned to her that I had written the book, and I’m sure she’s heard of it now.”

He also dismissed a potential reunion of Hole's classic line-up. "I’m just not thinking that way," he said.

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• Writers group honours Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen

The creator of raunchy video series "Girls Gone Wild" is threatening to sue Madonna over her latest single, "Girl Gone Wild."

According to gossip site TMZ, a lawyer for Joe Francis sent the pop diva a cease and desist letter that threated legal action if she performed the song during her Super Bowl halftime show on February 5.

In the document, Francis' attorney said that by naming a song after his series, Madonna is attempting to get a "free ride on the valuable consumer goodwill and brand recognition" of the nudie videos. "Your misappropriation of my clients' trademark will not be tolerated," he added.

However, when Madonna posted the song, which is due for release as the second single off her forthcoming 12th studio album 'MDNA,' on YouTube for streaming, the title had been changed from "Girls Gone Wild" to "Girl Gone Wild. The switch that did not go unnoticed by Francis and his legal team.

Madonna's manager Guy Oseary has denied that the singer caved to Francis' threat and changed the title. In an interview with TMZ, he said the change was made to reflect the way Madonna sings the lyric in the song and was part of ongoing tweaks to the record in the lead up to the release.

He also said that Madonna has never even heard of Francis, much less read his letter.

Listen to the official stream of "Girl Gone Wild" here.

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• Lil Wayne to release signature shoe line

Rapper Lil Wayne will follow in the footsteps of Kanye West by releasing his own signature line of running shoes. Although an official announcement is still a few weeks away, the New Orleans MC spilled the news in a recent interview with "VIBE."

Weezy, who has made headlines with various skin-tight animal print and neon fashion choices lately, gave few details but said that the sneakers are being designed with a "well-known brand" rather than through his streetwear line, Trukfit:

"VIBE": Do you guys plan on doing Trukfit shoes?

Lil Wayne: That will probably be further way down the line. I do have a shoe coming out soon but it won’t be Trukfit. I have a shoe with a well-known company. I just don’t want to say yet because I haven’t dotted the line yet. But it’s done

Can you give us any hints? Is it going to be a major shoe company like Nike or Reebok?

Nah, it’s not a Nike or Reebok, I can tell you that much.

Rock legend Chuck Berry (pictured) and Canadian music icon Leonard Cohen became the first songwriters to receive PEN New England's Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award at a ceremony held at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston on Sunday night (February 26).

"Rolling Stone" reports that the world's oldest literary and human rights organization convened a panel of musicians and authors that included Elvis Costello, U2 frontman Bono, Roseanne Cash, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, author Salman Rushdie and poet Paul Muldoon who chose Berry and Cohen as the recipients of the inaugural award.

During the ceremony, Elvis Costello and surprise guest Keith Richards performed a musicial tribute to Berry who accepted his award by grabbing Costello's guitar and performing his hit "Johnny B. Goode."

In a tribute to Cohen, Shawn Colvin covered the song "Come Healing" off his new album "Old Ideas" and then Rushdie presented the award, quoting Cohen's song "Bird on the Wire": "Like a bird on the wire/ Like a drunk in a midnight choir/ I have tried, in my way, to be free."

"Put simply," he added. "If I could write like that, I would."

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