Rock 'n' roll Babylon

The murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls
One of the focal points of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry was the intense feud between The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) and Tupac Shakur. Following several rounds of lyrical sparring between the two artists, the rivalry became more serious in early 1996, when Tupac released the hard-hitting diss track ‘Hit ’Em Up’. The track saw Tupac claim to have had sex with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans, and also threaten the lives of both Biggie and his fellow East Coast rap figurehead, Puff Daddy.
On September 7, 1996, after attending a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Tupac was murdered in a drive-by shooting whilst riding in a car driven by Marion ‘Suge’ Knight, the head of Death Row Records (the label to which Tupac was signed). Earlier, directly following the fight, Shakur and his retinue became embroiled in a scrap themselves, when they attacked Southside Crips member Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson in the lobby of the MGM Grand.
The altercation supposedly had its roots in an incident a few weeks earlier, when Anderson and a group of Crips had allegedly beaten up a member of Death Row’s entourage at a Foot Locker store. However, Anderson (who was himself subsequently murdered by a rival Crips member in 1998) always denied his involvement.
There was another tragic twist in the saga on March 9, 1997, when Biggie Smalls was shot dead whilst en route to his hotel, after attending a Soul Train Awards after-show party held by Vibe magazine and Qwest Records at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Numerous theories surround Biggie and Tupac’s murders, both of which remain unsolved.
Because of the animosity between the two stars, there was initially speculation following Tupac’s murder that Biggie may have been involved in his shooting. However, Biggie’s family and associates have repeatedly and vehemently denied that he had any part in Shakur’s killing. One book on the whole story which caused a big splash was Randall Sullivan’s LAbryinth (published in 2002), which compiled information on both murders based on evidence provided by retired LAPD detective Russell Poole.
Sullivan’s thesis was that Suge Knight had conspired with David Mack, a retired LAPD detective and alleged Death Row Records employee, to kill Biggie and make both his and Shakur’s death seem to have happened as the result of a fictitious East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Director Nick Broomfield subsequently based much of his investigative documentary Biggie & Tupac around evidence used in the book.
Earlier this year, relatives of Biggie filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. This followed a previous case against the LAPD (based on the evidence championed by Russell Poole), which was declared a mistrial after the judge expressed concern that the police were withholding evidence. For hip-hop itself, the aftermath of the murders was hugely significant. At the request of Louis Farrakhan, several rappers met in 1997 and pledged to put aside any lingering grievances harboured as a result of Biggie and Tupac’s killings.
The East Coast-West Coast feud gradually petered out and hip-hop has not had a rivalry on a comparable scale since.

Marilyn Manson blamed for Columbine Shootings
When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado, in April 1999, certain sections of the media were quick to look for scapegoats in popular culture. Movies such as The Basketball Diaries, The Matrix and Natural Born Killers received their fair share of blame, but the number one target for criticism amongst conservative commentators was schlock-rocker Marilyn Manson.
Manson was hounded relentlessly for a period and even received death threats. Although the performer initially refused any interviews for fear of generating more coverage for Harris and Klebold, he did discuss his experiences in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine, and offered a scathing response to his critics in the shape of the album Holy Wood (In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death). In any case, Manson’s foes were made to look decidedly foolish when it emerged that Harris and Klebold weren’t even fans of his music.

Phil Spector charged with murder
On February 3, 2003, Spector was arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson was found in his home in Alhambra, California. Four weeks before Clarkson’s death, Spector stated in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he suffered from bipolar depression and that he considered himself “relatively insane”.
Since Spector’s arrest, events have been bizarre to say the least. The producer has turned up in court with a series of bizarre toupees and gone through three attorneys, one of whom, Robert Shapiro – an original member of the OJ Simpson “dream team” – he launched a civil suit against. Spector took the action after Shapiro refused to return his $1million retainer, although all charges were dropped in December 2005.
Spector’s current attorney is Bruce Cutler, the former lawyer of New York mafia boss John Gotti. The charge against Spector is second degree murder and, if convicted, he could face a 15-year-to-life sentence.

Pete Doherty's multiple arrests
Since rocketing to fame with The Libertines in the early noughties, Doherty has been at the centre of a bewildering number of controversies. He has been arrested 14 times in the past two-and-a-half years (including twice in one day on January 26, 2006), on charges ranging from alleged assault and driving without insurance to suspected car theft – for which he was subsequently released without charge – and suspected possession of Class A drugs.
A whistlestop tour of other activities includes: fighting Babyshambles bandmate Patrick Warden onstage; the disastrous Live 8 appearance with Elton John; being found in possession of heroin at Oslo Airport; attempting to assault Johnny Borrell at the Leeds Festival; being evicted from his London flat for unpaid rent of £10,000 and damage of blood and graffiti on the walls; being fined £750 after admitting assaulting a BBC Newsbeat reporter; and being left covered in blood from a head wound after fighting with a paparazzi photographer on the last leg of an Italian tour.
All that and we haven’t even mentioned his relationship with Kate Moss.

Axl Rose's feuds
Never a man to keep his opinions to himself, the Guns N’ Roses man has had many a run-in over the years. His first major barney was with Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil, who punched G ‘n’ R guitarist Izzy Stradlin at the 1989 MTV Awards after Stradlin allegedly assaulted Neil’s wife. Neil subsequently took to wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Fuck Axl” and challenging the G N’ R man to a fight, though Rose declined the invitation.
Rose himself subsequently challenged Kurt Cobain to a fight at the 1992 MTV Awards, after Courtney Love jokingly asked him to be godfather to their daughter, Frances Bean. Other high profile figures Rose has clashed with include Velvet Revolver, Tommy Hilfiger (who took a couple of swings at Rose in the Plumm Club in New York in May of last year), Bon Jovi and Eagles of Death Metal, referred to by Rose as “the Pigeons of Shit Metal”.

Courtney Love, Generally
Although Courtney had previously been at the centre of controversies for everything from Kurt Cobain’s suicide to her numerous feuds with other artists, 2004 was her annus horribilis. In February, an arrest warrant was issued for the singer after she failed to appear at a preliminary hearing for drug charges. Next, in March, Love was arrested in New York for allegedly throwing a microphone stand and hitting a man on the head (earlier in the evening, Love had flashed her breasts at David Letterman whilst appearing on his talk show).
In April, Love claimed she was nearly bankrupt, and in July, she missed a scheduled court appearance related to an attempted break-in at a boyfriend’s house, and was found in contempt of court. In recent times, Courtney appears to have got her act together somewhat and recently made her stage comeback at a Linda Perry show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.