Jackson 5 mixed in Nashville in 1981, and Michael…

… spent the whole time on the phone with Brooke Shields! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hey everyone! Intern Justine here.

As we all know, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, passed away on June 25.

As the world mourns and remembers Michael, one Nashvillian shares her memories of when Michael and his brothers were in Nashville in 1981.

Lisa Byrd, now a Nashville realtor, recalls the memories of when the Jacksons’ came to Music City to mix music at the Quad Recording Studio on Music Row. She even had a picture of the brothers playing pool at the Quad, where she ran things then.

When asked about Michael, Lisa said that he was very nice — and that he did his own thing.

“Michael though spend two days in my office the whole time and on the phone with Brooke Shields, giggling and carrying on. They were big friends then,” says Lisa.

Another memory she remembers was Michael’s reaction to MTV, which was only three weeks old at the time.

“Michael stood up and said ‘we would never be involved with something this commercial,’ then probably two or three months after this visit, they were all over it,” says Lisa.

Not only were the Jacksons  here to mix tracks, but to perform their last Nashville concert at the Municipal Auditorium.

Kid Rock chooses Nashville over Red Wings’ game 7

So as you know, the CMA Music Festival is going on this weekend and earlier today we blogged about Kid Rock singing at the show….

Well…. Right as we were leaving the stadium, Kid Rock was outside in front of the LP Field artist entrance, signing autographs and snapping pics with fans before he hit the stage.

News 2 got the exclusive interview with him. And the lifelong Detroit resident said he could have been watching his beloved Red Wings in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, but he chose CMA Music Fest.

Why?

“Well it wasn’t for the money, that’s for sure,” he joked.

Kid Rock added:

“If I had to pick a spot to be it would be Nashville here, with all these great people and a lot of friends you know special surprise with me on stage so i’m looking forward to singing with her.”

That surprise guest he’s talking about is Martina McBride and they are closing the show tonight.

Cop boots John Rich from Cafe Coco after he tosses bottle

Metro Police tossed John Rich from a popular 24-hour Elliston Place eatery early this morning after he tossed a glass bottle into the street.

The episode started around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday when John — in baseball cap and jeans — rolled into Cafe Coco in a classic 1960s powder blue Cadillac convertible, according to News 2 morning reporter Teresa Weakley, who witnessed the whole thing.

John and a guy in a cowboy hat walked up to the counter and ordered a longneck bottle of beer, and they were told they had to finish the beers by 3 a.m., which is state law. Oh, did I mention there was a Metro police sergeant and a News 2 crew on the front porch, thus giving Cafe Coco even more incentive to follow the law?

John asked a young guy playing the guitar if he knew the Star-Spangled Banner. That guy, Clayton Quisenberry, said he did, and then sang the national anthem.

Then John asked if he could borrow the guitar, and John proceeded to play and sing a few songs, including one by Roger Miller.

During his mini-concert, around 3 a.m., a Cafe Coco server asked John to surrender the beer.

“You don’t interrupt me when I’m playing a Roger Miller song,” John said, with a touch of attitude.

The server: “I’ll just take it then.”

But when the server went to grab the beer, John snatched it up first and threw it over the fence into the street — right in front of the police sergeant. You can guess what happened next.

Police sargeant said, “You need to leave,” and John and his cowboy hat-wearing buddy did so.

As John was walking out, the sergeant added, “Thanks for stopping by.” No citation or ticket was issued.

Not a big deal, but all this happened less than a week after John turned himself in on assault and harassment charges stemming from a long-time beef with former Nashville Star contestant Jared Ashley.

UPDATE: Check out our exclusive video of this incident.

Gary Allan to face accused 4-year stalker in court Wed.

Wow, Gary Allan (Watching Airplanes) has had more than his share of intensity in his personal life, right?

Now comes word that Gary has had an aggressive stalker for some four years. And he’ll face her in a courtroom for the first time Wednesday in Sumner County.

Police confirm a Katherine Walker was arrested after a May 2 incident at Allan’s Hendersonville home. Authorities wouldn’t release any details, saying it was an active investigation.

But I’m told there’s going to be surveillance video that shows the suspect acting in violent and bizarre ways.

Gary’s camp has declined comment, other than to confirm he will be in the courtroom Wednesday.

Jordin Sparks sings at small Nashville bluegrass club

Guess you literally never know who might pop up in a Nashville club.

There’s a great country/Western group called The Time Jumpers who play the legendary (and tiny) Station Inn in the Gulch every Monday. And the Time Jumpers often have drawn big Nashville bluegrass and country artists to their shows.

But tonight might have been the first time a big pop star, let alone an American Idol winner, made a Station Inn appearance.

First, the Time Jumpers called up “Part-Time Jumper” Vince Gill, who sang a couple. Then Vince explained that he had played the Jonas Brothers’ Ryman show the night before, and he met Jordin, who told him she grew up singing some hillbilly music.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Jordin got up on stage and sang Patsy Cline classic, Crazy – and she just killed it. Awesome.

Then I left the show to write this.

Thanks much to Darlene Spivey of Station Inn for sending us these beautiful pics.

Exclusive: Vincent D’Onofrio to do indie movie in Tenn.

C’mon, you know Vincent D’Onofrio. That intense dude in Law & Order: Criminal Intent? That redneck guy whose body was invaded by aliens at the beginning of Men in Black? Uh, Full Metal Jacket?

Turns out Vincent is good buddies with a casting director from Nashville, one Laray Mayfield.

Together, they plan to make an independent movie in Tennessee this summer, Laray tells me.

But she was quite coy about any details, other than to say it’s a father-daughter movie that’ll be shot in Nashville and Memphis.

And the whole thing will be made for $5 million.

Exclusive: Clint Black has comedy TV show coming soon

No joke: Clint Black tells me today that he has a comedy special of some kind coming to TV in October, adding we should look for an announcement soon.

Clint has always been a funny dude, and you might remember he was on the very short-lived CBS show Secret Talents of the Stars this year.

Turns out Clint did several stand-up gigs, including two right here in Nashville, at Zanies, to get ready for that show.

And that’s when he caught the comedy bug.

The CBS show may not have lasted long, but Clint says it prompted several calls from TV execs and others who were interested in exploring Clint’s comedy stylings. So is Clint.

“Ya know, people have been laughing at me my entire life,” he said, “and it’s time I got paid for it.”

Dolly Parton says she’s alive and kicking, thank you

Have you seen all the rumors that Dolly Parton died of some sort of heart ailment?

Just Google “Dolly Parton dead” and you won’t believe how many entries pop up.

This apparently started Friday night, and the rumors have spread so far and wide that they reached Dolly herself, who of course had a hilarious reaction.

In an exclusive statement to News 2, Dolly said:

“I’m fine. I did about have a heart attack when I found out I was dead. But I am feeling better than ever.”

Skynyrd may get next star on Music City Walk of Fame

You know ‘em, you love ‘em, you’ve consumed gallons of whiskey while crankin’ up that Southern rock music.

So what if Lynyrd Skynyrd isn’t a Nashville band. The band’s management is here, right? They’ve played here a lot. So that counts!

Breaking exclusive news!!

Word is the guys are set to get the next star on the Music City Walk of Fame, that fairly new walk of stars in the park between the Country Music Hall of Fame and the downtown Hilton hotel.

That hasn’t been finalized yet, but it could happen as early as Sept. 18.

Kenny Chesney’s guitarist lands him some sugar (Get it?)

So those of you who saw Kenny Chesney’s show Saturday night at LP Field saw one unannounced guest pop up on stage.

That would be Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. And many of you wondered: Hmmmm, Kenny is single, and Jennifer recently got divorced, so she’s single…. Does Jennifer think Kenny’s tractor is sexy?

Uh, I dunno.

But I do know that Jennifer is dating Kenny’s main guitarist, Clayton Mitchell.

And this little love connection has been going on for more than 9 months.

How’s about that? I asked, but no comment from either camp.

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