VH1 Confidential Series on Rock Star Deaths VH1 Confidential' Probes the Mysteries, Myths and Urban Legends of Rock In New Series Premiering Tuesday, August 22 at 10:00 P.M. ET/PT) NEW YORK, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Rock 'n' roll is good times, great sounds and unforgettable performers. It's also chilling circumstances, bizarre coincidences and untimely deaths. The new series "VH1 Confidential" delves deep into our culture's hidden files to probe the mysteries, myths and urban legends of rock 'n' roll when it premieres Tuesday, August 22 at 10:00-11:00 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by new one-hour episodes debuting every Tuesday at the same time. Investigating and illuminating topics like rock records' hidden messages, shock rock deaths, missing-in-action musicians and more, each episode of "VH1 Confidential" explores several tales from the turbulent history of popular music, featuring historic film and video footage and photographs, plus new interviews. In the series premiere episode, "VH1 Confidential" examines: * Kurt Cobain, Suicide or Murder?: The leader of Nirvana, a hugely influential artist who changed the conventions of rock music, was pronounced dead at his home of suicide-by-shotgun on April 8, 1994. "It's a classic textbook example of suicide," says Dr. Nikolas Hortshorne, medical examiner of King County, Washington. But Ian Halperin, co-author with Max Wallace of the book "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" claims "there is a lot of compelling evidence that points to a possible murder." * Charles Manson, Musician: In August 1969, deranged hippie cult leader Charles Manson's gang murdered actress Sharon Tate and several others at the Hollywood estate of '60s pop producer Terry Melcher, who was not home at the time. Charlie was an aspiring musician who had even snared the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson into his web for a time. Was Melcher -- who reportedly reneged on a record deal with Charlie -- the real target of the Manson Family murderers? Screenwriter Jason Majik, rock journalist Legs McNeil, Manson archivist John Aes Nihil, rock archivist Michael Ochs and record producer Phil Kaufman are interviewed in the segment, punctuated by Charlie's own rarely-heard songs. * Paul Is Dead: Hidden messages in the form of twisted lyrics, backward recording and album-cover images have long been a staple of rock myth. And as with many rock firsts, it all began with the Beatles. Did the Fab Four deliberately perpetuate the "Paul Is Dead" myth on their last few albums? Did McCartney actually die in a 1966 car crash? Gary Patterson, author of the book "The Walrus Was Paul," helps decipher the fascinating string of clues. * Marley Conspiracy: Reggae god Bob Marley emerged from Jamaica's Trenchtown ghetto in the mid-1970s to become an international music superstar and hero of the oppressed. During Jamaica's 1976 political campaign, Marley -- who had assiduously stayed neutral -- was shot at his home in an attempted murder, but the would-be assassins were never caught. And just five years later, Marley was dead of melanoma, a cancer that is rare among brown-skinned people. Conspiracy theorist Keidi Obi Awadu, Wailers archivist Roger Steffens, author Jonathan Vankin and music journalist Steven Ivory talk about the widespread belief that the CIA ordered the attempts to silence a man who was a spiritual prophet and icon to many. The executive producers of "VH1 Confidential" are Jane Lipsitz and Erik Nelson; producer, Susan Varga; production company, Termite Art. VH1 produces and programs a wide variety of music-based series, specials, live events and acquisition-based programming that keep viewers in touch with the music they love. VH1 is a registered trademark of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV 2: Music Television, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land and VH1 as well as The Suite from MTV Networks, a package of ten digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide. SOURCE VH1 CO: VH1; MTV Networks
