Iggy Pop’s already legendary closing set at the Tibet House benefit concert on February 26th will go down in the annals of rock history in another way: The recent Hall of Fame inductee has gone on the record saying that the infamous dive off the Carnegie Hall stage will be his last. “When I landed, it hurt, and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive,” Pop told Rolling Stone’s Austin Scaggs in a Q&A in our current issue.

Five decades of Raw Power: Iggy Pop and the Stooges in photos.

Various news outlets have reported that the audience let him fall, but visual evidence of the event has been hard to come by. Now Rolling Stone has video of exactly what went down.

We were in the third row, enjoying the Tibet House annual gig’s typically eclectic mix of rockers and world artists (read our full report on the show). Patti Smith had just revved up the crowd with a classic extended take of “Gloria,” and then ceded the stage to “one of our sacred veterans” while her band played the opening chords to “The Passenger.”

Iggy stalked the Carnegie Hall stage, ripping his black shirt off barely 30 seconds into the song (”Aw, fuck this shirt!”) and doing his patented iguana dance. He owned the place. I turned to my friend Steve and asked facetiously, “Do you think he’s going to stage dive?” Steve smiled and continued to record video of the performance on his cell phone.

Before the set closer, Iggy demanded that the house lights be turned on. When the Patti Smith group launched into “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” the audience went nuts. With the crowd in the palm of his hand, Iggy hovered near the edge of the stage. A man with glasses, who had earlier entertained the crowd when he rushed the stage to bop along to Smith’s set, was right underneath him and beckoned to Iggy to jump. I thought this was it, get ready, because depending on the trajectory of his launch, Iggy could have landed right on us.

But he never made it. Although some people in the front put up their hands to catch Iggy, those in his direct path let him drop, including the gentleman who had been goading Iggy to dive. Once Iggy was airborne, the man, in a total George Costanza move, pulled his arms back and stepped to the side. Others in the first and second row parted like the Red Sea. I screamed, “Completely uncool!” at the people in front of us as Iggy crashed face-first into a seat.

As the band kept playing the riff to “Dog,” Iggy was stunned, if only for a couple of seconds. Then, digging the punk-rock momentousness of his actions, he smiled, stuck out his tongue and started singing the song while still draped over the seats. Iggy got up, climbed back on stage and finished the performance — and further cemented his legend as the ultimate rock & roll provocateur.

[Video courtesy of Steve Boyle]

Photo: Rojo/AFP/Getty
Axl Rose’s former managers have slapped him with a roughly .9 million lawsuit that claims the Guns n’ Roses leader reneged on a verbal agreement from 2008. The .9 million represents the 15 percent commission Irving Azoff’s Front Line Management was promised of the estimated million Gn’R have earned so far in their tours of Southeast Asia, Canada and South America.

In legal documents filed yesterday at Los Angeles’ Superior Court, Front Line accuse Axl, or “William Bill Bailey” as he’s referred to in the complaint, of breach of contract for “failing and refusing” to pay Front Line the promised fees. Neither Front Line nor Guns n’ Roses’ camp have commented on the lawsuit, and Rose has yet to remark on it on his active Twitter feed. Guns n’ Roses are currently on tour in South America.

Check out photos of Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy world tour.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Rose revealed last month that he is now managed by Doc McGhee, Kiss’ manager since 1996 and the man credited with helping artists like Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Hootie & the Blowfish rise to fame. The sudden shift in management came less than two years after Rose revealed that he’d joined forces with Azoff’s Front Line, which helped broker the deal between Guns n’ Roses and Best Buy for the exclusive release of Chinese Democracy in 2008. Months after signing Gn’R, Front Line Management was purchased by Ticketmaster, and Azoff was elevated to CEO of that company.

Related Stories:

• Axl Rose Refutes Rumors, Announces New Manager in Supersize Tweet
• Is “Chinese Democracy” Close? Axl Rose Gets Top Management Team
• Guns n’ Roses “Vigorously Contest” Claims “Chinese Democracy” Stole a Sample

Time to give it up for some more German heavy metal this week on Gears of Rock with Sting in the Tail from the legendary Scorpions.  The latest studio effort is a 12 track affair that goes heavy on the sting and light on the filler as it clocks in at about 44 minutes.

I’m not going to lie to you here.  The riffs and progressions push no boundaries.  This is pure 80’s hard rock.  It is predictable, catchy, and yet irresistible.

The best tunes on the album are the ballad and closer “The Best is Yet to Come” and the poppier sounding “Slave Me.”  Even the cheesy opener “Raised on Rock” is a solid track even though I feel like Saxon accomplished the feel better with last year’s “Live to Rock.”

“Turn You On” opens with a “We’re Not Gonna Take It” drum vibe before taking on its own unique 70’s rock feel.  “Lorelei” is the heartbreak tune and “Rock Zone” serves infectious rake guitar riffs.

The title track is a good song once it gets going, however, parts of it remind me way too much of something that the alternative geek rock band, Weezer, would have put on the Green Album (yuck!).

The Scorpions are still alive and stinging on their latest.  You can bet that I’ll be looking forward to the US tour this summer.

The Scorpions are Klaus Meine (Lead Vocals), Matthias Jabs (Lead Guitar), Rudolf Schenker (Rhythm Guitar), Paweł Mąciwoda (Bass), & James Kottak (Drums).

Track Listing:

1. “Raised on Rock”
2. “Sting in the Tail”
3. “Slave Me”
4. “The Good Die Young (feat. Tarja Turunen)”
5. “No Limit”
6. “Rock Zone”
7. “Lorelei”
8. “Turn You On”
9. “Let’s Rock”
10. “SLY”
11. “Spirit of Rock”
12. “The Best Is Yet to Come”

The Scorpions begin to unveil plans for their farewell U.S. tour, the Psychedelic Furs announce a 25-date trek and after disbanding six years ago, Orbital reunite for three gigs, including sets at the Ultra Festival and Coachella. The full details for all three artists, after the jump.

Scorpions
June 18 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 19 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 22 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

Psychedelic Furs
May 27 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Hotel
May 28 – West Melbourne, FL @ Levelz
May 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
June 1 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
June 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Blockley
June 4 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
June 5 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
June 6 – Fairfield, CT @ Stage One
June 8 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
June 10 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
June 11 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
June 12 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
June 13 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room Lounge
June 14 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland
June 16 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
June 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
June 19 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
June 20 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
June 22 – San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Auditorium
June 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
June 25 – Anaheim, CA @ Grove
June 27 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
June 30 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
July 1 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
July 2 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live

Orbital
March 27 – Miami, Florida @ Ultra Festival
April 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
April 18 – Indio, CA @ Coachella

Photo: Wargo/WireImage

What’s the only thing better than becoming the first acclaimed all-female rock band? Becoming the first all-female rock band to get your own biopic. At least that was the feeling during Wednesday night’s premiere of The Runaways, the true story of the five teenage girls who spent the Seventies kicking their way down the Sunset Strip and into the boys’ club. On the red carpet at New York’s Landmark Sunshine theater, the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt called the Runaways “my heroes.” Debbie Harry embraced Runaways rhythm guitarist Joan Jett. Chloe Sevigny showed up in black leather, perhaps as a tribute to Jett’s favorite kind of pants. Outside, teenage girls lined up for autographs — one was even clutching what looked like a brand-new guitar.

Check out photos from the set of The Runaways.

Asked about the young rockers amassed behind the velvet ropes, Runaways star Kristen Stewart, who plays Jett in the film, was thrilled. “If I go out there and everyone’s wearing shag haircuts like Joan,” she said, “I’ll know we did something right.” Sure enough, if Stewart earned one rhinestone for every shag haircut outside, every inch of the metallic strapless dress she wore that night would be bedazzled by now.

For the second time in the past 30 years, the Runaways are becoming icons, and the film makes it easy to understand why. Director Floria Sigismondi, who’s made music videos for the White Stripes and Marilyn Manson, offers a fresh, unapologetically girlie twist on hoary old rock biopic clichés. So instead of groupie orgies, there’s a very sweet love scene between Jett and singer Cherie Currie, who never takes off her roller skates. And instead of fights over record contracts, there’s heated debates about the fashion-forwardness of pink corsets.

But there’s never any doubt that these feathered-haired vamps aren’t just as serious about playing music as corseted beauties like, say, David Bowie. It’s just that this is a coming-of-age story, not only for the teenage girls in the band, but for rock & roll itself, which was changing right along with them. “The Seventies was a perfect time to be a teenager, because it was such an era of experimentation with sex and drugs and rock music,” says Sigismondi. “And the Runaways were a truly experimental band: they did all the things young girls weren’t supposed to do.” That includes getting high in airplane bathrooms and urinating on some rude rocker dude’s guitar (as Jett does in one scene).

True to that spirit, Sigismondi is also doing a few things she’s not supposed to do, like casting two former child stars — Stewart and Dakota Fanning, both flown in from a little vampire movie franchise you might have heard of — in a feature that deals frankly with subjects like pill-popping and softcore porn and masturbation. As one blog recently joked, it’s Twilight Girls Gone Wild.

At first, Fanning was anxious about playing Cherie Currie, especially since she knew her real singing voice would be used in the film. “Even the thought of singing karaoke has always terrified me,”admits the 16-year-old actress. “And I had never felt the power of a band behind me.” So Sigismondi arranged for Fanning to practice with the Living Things, an L.A. rock band that features the director’s husband, Lillian Berlin. Currie also taught Fanning her favorite trick: wrapping the microphone chord around her leg, and then unspooling it until it flies into the air for her to catch. Soon, Fanning was so comfortable onstage that she invited her own mother to watch her writhing around to the jailbait anthem “Cherry Bomb,” which includes heavy-breather lyrics like, “I’ll give you something to live for / Have you, grab you ’til you’re sore!”

Currie was impressed. “I got knots on my head the size of lemons when I didn’t do that microphone thing right,” she admits. As a token of her admiration, she lent Fanning a prized Runaways relic: a Davie Bowie belt she’d made herself at age 15. Fanning wears it proudly during the film.

Stewart also heavily researched her role, though she did most of her homework on the bathroom floor of Joan Jett’s hotel room in Seattle. She’d flown out to see Jett play on New Year’s Eve of 2008, and the two women spent the whole night sprawled on the linoleum, talking excitedly about the Runaways. Jett burned albums and live bootlegs for Stewart, and even allowed her to borrow tape-recorded letters to an aunt that Jett had made at age 13. “Getting her voice down at that age was really important to me,” says Stewart, 19. “She’s just saying things like ‘I’m eating a microwave pizza now!’ It’s funny that this total rock star was once just like any other lazy teenager.”

Now, that former lazy teenager couldn’t be more proud. Jett admits that seeing the 19-year-old actress on screen was “like looking into a mirror.” And she’s proud that her band is finally getting its due. Though their debut album never sold more than 25,000 copies, Jett has since gone platinum with her group the Blackhearts, and Runaways lead guitarist Lita Ford may be the best-known heavy-metal goddess of all time. Plus, Jett says, the Runaways’ message — that girls can do whatever the hell they want to — is still important for people to hear. “Women are still second-class citizens,” she says. “I was flying back from a show in Japan, and the flight attendants walked around first class asking all the men what they wanted to drink, and no one asked me. That’s why it’s important for me to get this movie out there, not just to inspire girls to pick up an instrument, but to tell them, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Make your own victories. Make your own mistakes.’ ”

That also goes for Currie, who once refused an interview with a certain music magazine. “I turned down the cover of Rolling Stone, because I knew the girls would kill me,” she says. “Kids, how do they deal with something like that? We were so young.”

Related Stories:

• Watch a New Runaways Trailer, See Exclusive Photos From the Set
• Joan Jett Talks Big Hits, Career Blows and Runaways Drama
• Lita Ford Returns With “Sexual” LP, Explains Runaways Movie Rift

Tonight at New York’s Waldorf Astoria, the Stooges, Genesis and Abba will join the esteemed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt and Wyclef Jean will induct the honorees, and Chris Isaak, Faith Hill, Ronnie Spector and members of Maroon 5 are scheduled to take the stage to cap with the ceremony with live performances. As RS reported, Peter Gabriel will not attend the ceremony, preventing a full Genesis reunion; similarly, half of Abba will not be in attendance.

Stay tuned for a full report from the scene, plus photos from tonight’s big event and the scoop on what went down behind the scenes. And watch the show live on Fuse, starting tonight at 8:30 p.m.

Read Rolling Stone’s full story on the inductees here:

• The Stooges, Genesis, ABBA Lead the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010

Plus, check out our special Q&As and photos of the honored artists:

• Q&A: The Stooges’ Iggy Pop
• Q&A: Genesis’ Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks
• Q&A: ABBA’s Benny Andersson
• Q&A: The Hollies’ Graham Nash
• Photos: Jimmy Cliff

Get all of Rolling Stone’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame coverage here.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

The worst day of the year is upon us: Daylight Savings. This Sunday we’ll lose an hour and feel like crap all week thanks to our sleep deficit. But instead of dwelling on those lost 60 minutes (we hardly knew ya!), we’re going to focus our energy on coming up with the best songs about sleep. And we need your help! What are your favorite drowsy ditties? Your insomnia sing-alongs? Your overtired odes? Check out some of our favorites below and add your suggestions in the comments:

• The Beatles – “I’m So Tired”
• The Wu-Tang Clan – “I Can’t Go to Sleep”
• The Romantics – “Talking in Your Sleep”
• John Lennon – “How Do You Sleep”
• The Postal Service – “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”

Photo: Spellman/WireImage

Elton John has a famous fan in Lady Gaga, but not everyone appreciates the awesome power of “Tiny Dancer.” A Georgia man was arrested Wednesday for making terrorist threats against Sir Elton. Last month Neal Horsley, 65, posted a YouTube video of himself standing in front of the singer’s Atlanta apartment complex holding a large red sign that said “Elton John Must Die.” Horsley was upset about a Parade magazine interview in which John said he thought Jesus was a “compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”

“We’re here today to remind Elton John that he has to die,” Horsley says in the video. “What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ.” He goes on to use homophobic slurs and quote scripture.

This isn’t the first time Horsley — who has a surprisingly thorough Wikipedia page — has raised eyebrows. A militant anti-abortionist, he started a Website in the late 1990s that listed the names and addresses of doctors who performed abortions. Two years ago, Horsley founded the Creator’s Rights Party in Georgia and claims to be a candidate for the 2010 governor’s race. According to the AP, he kicked off his campaign wearing a placard showing a picture of an aborted fetus. The state ethics committee, meanwhile, has no record of his campaign.

Horsley’s bail is set at ,000. Elton John’s publicist confirmed that the singer has an apartment in Atlanta, but wouldn’t tell the AP anything more.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

At Monday night’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, one half of Abba will dance, jive and have the time of their lives while being honored by a roomful of the biggest names in music. The other two will be at home.

Fans hoping the Swedish pop masters would turn out a sparkling rendition of “Dancing Queen” — something they haven’t done since 1982 — will instead be serenaded by Faith Hill. It’s possible, though, that Abba’s Benny Andersson will perform. “If someone asks me to, yeah, I will,” he told Billboard.com. “I’ll see if I can play something from the old catalog.” Andersson will be attending the ceremony with ex-wife Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad). His songwriting partner Bjorn Ulvaeus can’t go because of a family event and Agnetha Faltskog “doesn’t like to fly,” Andersson told the USA Today.

Check out all of Rolling Stone’s Hall of Fame coverage.

In December, Andersson told Rolling Stone that he was shocked Abba received a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nod. “I didn’t think this would happen, because we were a pop band, not a rock band,” he said. “Being a foreigner from the North Pole, this feels really good.” Though he wasn’t certain, even then he predicted the group — which formed in 1970 — would not reunite. “The people who are really fond of Abba for what we did, I think we are doing them a favor by not going out. We all feel the same. It’s been too long of a time.”

See all of the Hall of Fame’s inductees.

Genesis, the Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and the Stooges will also be inducted into the Rock Hall on Monday night, but only the Stooges will perform. As Rolling Stone reported, Chris Isaak, Ronnie Spector, Adam Levine and Fefe Dobson are among the guest performers. Rolling Stone will have complete coverage from Monday night’s ceremony in New York, so stick with us for photos, interviews and more.

Related Stories:

• Chris Isaak, Faith Hill, Maroon 5 to Perform at Rock Hall Induction
• Billie Joe Armstrong, Phish’s Anastasio, Wyclef Jean to Honor Rock Hall of Fame Inductees
• Peter Gabriel Won’t Attend Genesis’ Rock Hall Induction

Early peeks at The Runaways, music video vet Floria Sigismondi’s biopic about the rise and fall of the iconic Seventies girl-punk band, have provided fast-and-dirty looks at the drama surrounding Joan Jett (played by Twilight star Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning). In Rolling Stone’s latest exclusive clip, Stella Maeve as Sandy West and Stewart bang out some raw rehearsal tunes as manager Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) listens on the other end of the phone and offers a few words of encouragement when Stewart reports they’ve been busy practicing: “Well, get back to it, you bitches are going to be bigger than the Beatles!”

Watch the clip above and see another preview, plus click through all our photos from the set. And don’t forget to check out which songs Fanning and Stewart will be handling on the film’s official soundtrack. The movie hits theaters in limited cities March 19th and opens nationally April 9th.