Rihanna continues UK dominance

They can't get enough of "Umbrella" in the UK. Rihanna's single, which features a guest verse from Def Jam label honcho Jay-Z, continued its dominance of the UK charts this week, remaining the top-selling song in Great Britain for the seventh straight week. The 19-year-old held off a challenge from singer-songwriter Kate Nash, who debuted at two with the song "Foundations." Rihanna has sold 5 million albums to date. The UK's albums chart saw The Editors take the top slot, as the band's An End Has a Start beat out Kelly Clarkson's My December.

Songwriter blast Lavigne

Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk has no love for fellow Canuck Avril Lavigne. In an interview with Performing Songwriter magazine, Kreviazuk, who wrote much of Lavigne's second album, said they had a falling out and did not work together on Avril's most recent album, The Best Damn Thing.

Asked about working with Lavigne, a subject of a recent story in the mag, Kreviazuk said, "I find it funny that it's in Performing Songwriter. I mean, Avril, songwriter? Avril doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything. Avril will also cross the ethical line, and no one says anything. That's why I'll never work with her again. I sent her a song two years ago called "Contagious," and I just saw the track listing to this [new] album and there's a song called "Contagious" on it--and my name's not on it. What do you do with that?"

When asked why she didn't sick lawyers on Lavigne, Kreviazuk said, "Art should not be subject to that kind of controversy. Art should be pure. In my head it is, anyway."

White Stripes play gig on Winnipeg bus

Public transit has its privileges, particularly in Winnipeg. Some lucky bus riders were treated to an impromptu performance from the White Stripes yesterday. The video below features Jack and Meg White playing an acoustic rendition of their track "Hotel Yorba" to some very excited and boisterous fans. The duo also played "Wheel on the Bus." The White Stripes have played a number of unusual locations in their Canadian tour, including a classroom at Creekside Youth Centre in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Report: Van Halen tour back on

With Eddie Van Halen out of rehab, it looks like that much-hyped Van Halen-with-David Lee Roth tour is actually happening, morphing a would-be summer amphitheater tour into a fall arena trek. Billboard reported today that several arena holds are in place in major markets for potential Van Halen dates. The tour would feature David Lee Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, and Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang on bass.

The tour would be their first outing with Roth at the helm since 1984. "I have hope and faith, and that's more than just the name of a couple of strippers from Albuquerque," Roth told Rolling Stone earlier this year.

Doherty pleads guilty to drug charges

That slight imbalance in the ecosystem caused by the lack of drug-related Pete Doherty news has been corrected. The embattled Baby Shambles frontman pleaded guilty today to a series of charges in a London court stemming from a May 5 arrest. Doherty was pulled over for two driving offenses, and police said they found marijuana and crack cocaine at the time of arrest, and ketamine and heroin after a strip search.

A judge issued an arrest warrant for the 28-year-old Doherty today after he failed to show up for his hearing on the matter, although he did appear more than hours late to enter his plea. The judge sent Doherty back to rehab, and he is due to reappear in court August 7 for sentencing.

Ted Nugent rants about hippies, '60s

It's safe to say that Ted Nugent is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love quite the same as Rolling Stone magazine, which currently has an issue dedicated to the period on newsstands. In a op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Nugent called the 1960s "barren of any positive cultural or social impact." After noting the era's high-profile, drug-related deaths, Nugent wrote, "The bodies of chemical-infested, brain-dead liberal deniers continue to stack up like cordwood."

"Clean and sober for 59 years, I am still rocking my brains out and approaching my 6,000th concert," he wrote. "Clean and sober is the real party." Instead of partying in the '60s, Nugent wrote, "I put my heart and soul into creating the best music I possibly could and I went hunting instead.