Hip-hop bible Vibe closes

Vibe, the magazine founded by super producer Quincy Jones to chronicle the epic rise of hip-hop and urban culture into the mainstream, is folding.

Just shy of its 16th anniversary, the magazine had grown into one of the biggest music publications in the country. The staff was working to complete a commemorative Michael Jackson issue when it shut down this week.

’’It is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today,’’ said Danyel Smith, Vibe editor-in-chief. ``We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It’s a tragic week overall. . . . It’s a sad day for music, for hip-hop in particular.’’

Often called the black Rolling Stone, the magazine was one of the first national publications to recognize the then-regional Miami bass sound and later covered the careers of Luther ’’Uncle Luke’’ Campbell, Trick Daddy, Trina, Pitbull and Rick Ross.

Another publishing casualty of the recession-related ad revenue decline, the magazine had a paid circulation of roughly 800,000 during the last six months of 2008. A Vibe official said the company staff of 50 will be laid off.

Other magazines that have recently shut down include Portfolio, Domino and Blender.

DEA joins Michael Jackson death probe

Jermaine Jackson said he would be "hurt" if toxicology reports show that Michael Jackson abused prescription drugs, but that he did not know about any drug use by his younger brother.

"In this business, the pressures and things that you go through, you never know what one turns to," Jermaine Jackson said in an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC’s "Today" show.

Asked if he would be shocked or surprised if Michael’s drug use was proven, Jermaine said, "I would be hurt." He said he had heard about prescription drug use in the 1980s when his brother was hurt in an accident filming a commercial but did not know if drug use was a possibility more recently.

"I don’t know about these things, because I hate anything with drugs," he said, adding that it hurts the family for people to say things about drug use "because we don’t know."

The circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s death last week have become a federal issue, with the Drug Enforcement Administration asked to help police take a look at the pop star’s doctors and possible drug use. Allegations have emerged that the 50-year-old entertainer had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants.

Medium Uri Geller, a former Jackson confidant, said Thursday he tried to keep Jackson from abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs, but others in the singer’s circle kept him supplied.

"When Michael asked for something, he got it. This was the great tragedy," Geller said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his suburban London home.

The Los Angeles Police Department asked the DEA to help in the probe, a law enforcement official in Washington told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the investigation’s sensitivity.

Uncertain future for Jackson's Neverland Ranch

With Peter Pan as inspiration, Michael Jackson turned his lush Neverland ranch into a whimsical retreat with carnival rides, a chimpanzee named Bubbles and even a Disney-like train station where he could recapture his lost childhood.

But like the superstar’s career, the property’s idyllic image was tarnished when Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor there in 2003. He was acquitted, but the scandal nearly ruined Jackson and drove him from Neverland forever. Over the last four years, the property fell into disrepair, and at one point it was weeks from being sold at a public auction.

The singer’s death last Thursday renewed speculation about the future of the four-square-mile ranch. Will it be turned into a tourist attraction celebrating the King of Pop, much like Elvis Presley’s Graceland pays homage to the King of Rock and Roll? Restored for his heirs to use? Or perhaps put on the market to cash in on the sudden interest in all things Jackson?

No Minor Problems for R. Kelly

R. Kelly isn’t having girl trouble. Literally.

A rep for the R&B star has vehemently denied a National Enquirer report that Kelly’s home had been searched by Chicago-area police as part of their hunt for a missing 17-year-old girl.

"A wildly exaggerated and inaccurate report has been circulating on the Internet that Olympia Fields police showed up at R. Kelly’s house with a search warrant just before the singer left for his three-week concert tour in Africa last month and then searched the place looking for a missing 17-year-old girl," rep Allan Mayer said in a statement.

"This is completely false. No police ever showed up at Kelly’s house with a search warrant nor was his house ever searched. It is also not true, as the unsubstantiated report claimed, that any such girl ever stayed overnight in Kelly’s house or that she had been there but left shortly before some mythical police search."

Estefans join Miami Dolphins as minority owners

Singer Gloria Estefan and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan, are bringing the Miami Sound Machine to the Miami Dolphins.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced at a news conference Thursday that the Estefans are joining the NFL franchise as minority owners. Gloria Estefan says she is a "hard core" sports fan and is happy to be a part of her hometown team.

Last month, Ross also began a partnership with Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville enterprise, which includes Land Shark Lager. Buffett has yet to accept Ross’ invitation to become a minority owner, but the Dolphins’ stadium has been renamed Land Shark Stadium for this season.

Reunited Sunny Day Real Estate touring again

Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate will return to the road with its four original members this fall, and will reissue its first two Sub Pop albums on September 15. These will be the band’s first shows of any kind since November 2000, and the first with its classic lineup since 1998.

The trek begins September 17 in Vancouver and run through October 16 in Seattle. The reissues of 1994’s "Diary" and the following year’s untitled follow-up (commonly known as "LP2" or "The Pink Album") will include as-yet-unspecified bonus tracks and new liner notes.

Sunny Day Real Estate’s bracing blend of emotionally resonant hardcore struck an immediate chord with listeners on "Diary," which was produced by Brad Wood. A second full-length record with Wood arrived in 1995, but internal tensions, including frontman Jeremy Enigk’s conversion to Christianity, had already broken up the group by the time the disc was released.

A three-year hiatus followed, during which time Enigk released a heavily orchestrated, pop-leaning solo album, "Return of the Frog Queen," while drummer William Goldsmith and guitarist Nate Mendel joined Foo Fighters. But in 1998, the band suddenly regrouped -- minus Mendel, who remained with Foo Fighters and was replaced in SDRE by a succession of bassists -- to record the acclaimed album "How It Feels to Be Something On."

That set was supported with several tours, as well as the 1999 concert document "Live." But Sunny Day imploded again following the release of the 2000 album "The Rising Tide," although Enigk, Mendel and Goldsmith regrouped shortly thereafter minus SDRE guitarist Dan Hoerner in a similar sounding new band, the Fire Theft. That group released a lone self-titled album in 2003 on Rykodisc.

Enigk has since released two solo albums and an EP, the latest of which, "OK Bear," came out May 12 on his own Lewis Hollow label and features a return to a heavier, Sunny Day-ish rock sound.

The band reconvened in March for rehearsals, and decided to give a full tour a go. The set lists will largely stick to material from the first two albums that were written and recorded by the original lineup.

Pop Legend Michael Jackson Dead at 50

Music icon Michael Jackson died Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital, a source close to the family told FOX News.

Debra Opri, a former Jackson family attorney, confirmed that the legendary singer, 50, was rushed to the hospital Thursday afternoon, where he later died at 3:15 p.m. EDT after falling into a deep coma.

Multiple reports claimed that shortly after noon Thursday, Jackson went into cardiac arrest and had to receive CPR in the ambulance. As the news broke, Joe Jackson, his father, told multiple news sources that his son was "not doing well."

Paramedics responded to a 911 call at around 12:26 p.m. PDT, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was reportedly not breathing at the time of their arrival.

A Jackson spokesman was unavailable for comment.

His death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.