Pop-rock outfit Matchbox Twenty [ tickets ] is in the studio working on some new material that will turn up on the group's forthcoming hits compilation, "Exile on Mainstream," which is due out Oct. 2, according to Atlantic Records.

The band has recruited Grammy-winning producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Rolling Stones) to oversee the recording sessions, which will yield the group's first new songs in five years.

Matchbox Twenty's most recent studio album is 2002's "More Than You Think You Are." The group has since been on hiatus while frontman Rob Thomas released a successful solo album and mounted a tour behind the set.

"For the first time, we're all writing as a band," Thomas, in a prepared statement, said of MB20's current recording sessions. "In the past, I would write all the songs and the guys would write all their parts. Now it's a band in the hand. We all fight it out... we fight over melodies and lyrics. It's completely unique from anything we've done before."

Two stagehands died today (6/29) in Madrid when part of the stage they were dismantling after a Rolling Stones concert collapsed, according to published reports.

A police spokesperson quoted by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) said that the aforementioned pair of workers "died on the spot," and that two others were injured, but did not offer details about the nature or extent of those injuries. The spokesperson added that it was not clear what caused the accident, but local media reported that a metal structure suspended about 30 feet above the stage, in which the four people had been working, collapsed at around 2 p.m.

"Simon & Garfunkel [ tickets ] Live 1969," an album comprising material recorded during the legendary folk duo's tour of that year, is due out Sept. 18, according to Legacy Recordings. The set will feature 17 songs culled from October and November performances in Detroit; Toledo, OH; Carbondale, IL; St. Louis; Long Beach, CA; and New York.

Lenny Kravitz [ tickets ] has been tapped to headline the Rio installment of the July 7 Live Earth [ tickets ] concert, according to organizers. The show--one of many set to take place around the globe during a 24-hour period in an effort to raise awareness about environmental issues--is expected to draw about 1 million people.

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