Joe Jackson — father of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 and their sister Janet Jackson — has died of cancer at age 89. A blues musician, Joe Jackson mentored the future stars among his 11 children and was a driving force behind their early careers.

In adulthood, Michael Jackson described his father as abusive, but continued to acknowledge Joe Jackson's formative influence on his music and career. "My mother nourished me with the most extravagant love imaginable," said Janet Jackson recently. "My father, my incredible father, drove me to be the best that I can." (Billboard)

Second star for Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is set to be one of the few entertainers — and the first woman in this century — to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She already has her own star, and next year she'll receive a second star to be shared with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, her partners in two acclaimed Trio albums.

Another musician set to receive a star next year — albeit only his first — is pop jazz singer Michael Bublé. (Rolling Stone)

Dre and Iovine lose Beats lawsuit

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine owe their former business partner Steven Lamar over $25 million, a judge has ruled. Lamar sued Dre and Iovine for royalties he claims he's owed in an agreement they signed when he left the Beats headphone partnership; at issue is whether Lamar is owed royalties on all models of Beats headphones, or just the very first model. (Pitchfork)

U.S. musicians make $35K on average

When your parents told you music wouldn't be a lucrative profession, they were right. The average American musician makes $35,000 a year, a new survey finds — and only $21,300 of that comes from music. That's from about 14 hours performing, six hours traveling for work, and four and a half hours writing. The income figures are median averages, meaning half of respondents made more and half made less. The rest of the artists' average income derives from several hours of non-music-related work.

The survey of 1,227 musicians also found that 67% of female musicians report being sexually harassed, and that women currently make up just 34% of U.S. musicians. (Pitchfork)