Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas is currently "camping out" in Los Angeles. As part of his excursion, he's doing a month-long residency of shows, playing every Friday at the Broadway Palace Theater. It turns out there's a lot of history at the venue. "I don't think there's ever been a rock show in that place," Casablancas tells Spinner. "It's where 'Thriller' was filmed and it's just a rad place, to be honest. It feels super-grand and kind of dilapidated, but in a charming way. [It's] super-intimate so even the worst seat you can see my expression."

When Casablancas chose the venue, he admits he wasn't aware of the historical significance, as it's the venue where Michael Jackson and his date are watching the movie. The venue even recently recreated the clip's marquee to honor the late pop icon. "I didn't know about it at first and I only found out after I started to fight for it," he says. But it was definitely an added bonus for him. "It's just the vibe is so great and as we're kind of debating, they were like, 'Oh, that's also where 'Thriller' was filmed,'" he recalls. "I was like, 'You're not arguing your case for not doing a show here.' The place feels special already and that definitely doesn't demystify it."

In more than a quarter of a century of rocking, Jon Bon Jovi has seen all of the music industry's well-publicized changes. So what does he see to be among the biggest differences? "It's very hard. Radio is fragmented," he tells Spinner. "There was Top 40 radio and DJs could be influential and you could make a career out of Philadelphia or Cleveland and you built to Chicago and all points west and north. That doesn't necessarily exist."

So are today's artists at a disadvantage? "You got a poor kid that wins 'American Idol' and then he's expected to be on the same level or playing field as the Rolling Stones or U2 or Bon Jovi the next day. That's not fair," Bon Jovi says. "We were allowed to have the third album be the one that was the breakthrough record. I don't know if a kid these days is ever gonna break 100 million in album sales. I don't think that's ever gonna happen again."

Acting is in Lenny Kravitz's blood. His mother, Roxie Roker, starred on the 'Jeffersons,' his daughter Zoe Kravitz is an actress who appeared in 'No Reservations' among other films and he was once married to actress Lisa Bonet of 'The Cosby Show' fame. Now, in the two decades since he began his music career and became a rock star, Kravitz is finally on the silver screen.

The rocker can currently be seen briefly in the hit indie film 'Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.' But the next time he and 'Precious' director Lee Daniels work together, Kravitz will be the star. "I saw him this morning, we had breakfast together, and we're not sure exactly what we're doing. There are two or three options. But yes, I'm going to be doing a film and this time I'm going to be in the lead position," Kravitz tells Spinner. "It's going to be a lot of responsibility and a lot of time -- it's very exciting."

With the news that Jay-Z has signed the Ting Tings to his Roc Nation, rumors are swirling he wants to work with the British duo. If they do end up collaborating, it will be under the direction of Katie White and Jules De Martino, as De Martino says they're determined to produce their new record themselves.

"We produced our first record ourselves and we're gonna be producing this record ourselves as well," De Martino tells Spinner. "We love to experiment in the recording, we throw everything at the wall. It's a very kind of unorthodox way of recording and I think it kind of made the record sound different. So I think we'll probably stick to that method, go on our own and do it."

The hottest soap opera in rock right now is Aerosmith. The question of whether or not Steven Tyler is still in the band is a melodrama that makes the last days of Velvet Revolver and Scott Weiland look downright banal. First a recap of the week's events: Tuesday night in New York City, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler joined guitarist Joe Perry onstage to announce he was not leaving the band and perform 'Walk This Way.' "I just want New York to know, I am not leaving Aerosmith. Joe Perry, you are a man of many colors. But I, mother---er, am the rainbow," Tyler told the audience, prompting fans to take to Facebook, Twitter and Aerosmith message boards to express their immediate relief.

So, drama solved -- Tyler will stay in Aerosmith keeping the 40-year legacy alive and everybody's happy, right? Wrong. The next day Perry dampened the fans' enthusiasm, telling Rolling Stone things aren't as copasetic as they appeared and admitting the cameo was a surprise to him. After Tyler made his splashy public appearance, the two didn't even talk again that night. In fact, Perry, who previously had said Tyler had hung up on him recently, said there's been a decided lack of communication internally. "Basically, any communication that we've had over the last couple of months has been through managers, so that's been pretty strange," he told Rolling Stone.

Rufus Wainwright has written an opera ('Prima Donna'), recreated one of music's most famous vocal performances (Judy Garland's 'Judy at Carnegie Hall') and shared a stage with U2, Courtney Love and more. With those accomplishments, you'd think a piano and vocal record would be a breeze for the singer-songwriter. "I'm recording my next album, which is a solo piano/voice record and it's oddly enough turning out to be the most difficult thing I've ever done, especially after hiding behind a 70-piece orchestra with my opera where you can blame everything on the tuba player," Wainwright tells Spinner.

Why is that? "When I say difficult, I mean challenging and exciting and exhilarating," he says. "I'm enjoying it fully, but it's just very intense and naked. It's just my fingers and my voice and an instrument, so there's no real curtain in front of the Wizard."

Another Super Bowl, another performance from a classic rock icon. Sports Illustrated is reporting this year's halftime spectacular will feature the Who. That's right -- Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and company will provide the musical fireworks when the game hits Miami on Feb. 7.

Ever since the infamous Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake nipple fiasco in 2004, the NFL has gone with "veteran" acts and turned the reins over to one band or artist. Prior to that, there were often medleys and multiple acts, like No Doubt, Sting and Shania Twain in 2003 and the 2001 show that saw Aerosmith rocking 'Walk This Way' with Britney Spears and Timberlake.