News Roundup: The Killers, John Cougar Mellencamp, Sufjan Stevens

The Killlers are back, with a new holiday single (an annual tradition for the Vegas band), dubbed “¡Happy Birthday Guadalupe!” Proceeds from the single will go to the (RED) campaign, which fights AIDS in Africa. For all you 90210 and 8 Seconds fans, the video stars veteran actor Luke Perry. “Well I woke up Christmas morning and what did I see/I saw a lovely Senorita staring back at me….”

Despite having a heart attack in 1994, John Cougar Mellencamp remains a heavy smoker. So his son Speck has launched a Facebook page in an effort to get his famous dad to quit the habit. “I made a deal with my dad that if I get a 1,000,000 to join this group he will quit smoking,” Speck writes. Sign your name here and help preserve John Cougar Mellencamp a little bit longer.

Don’t expect anymore albums extolling the virtues of the 50 states from Sufjan Stevens. The critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter, who’s new album is called BQE, tells Interview he was being facetious.

Says Sufjan: “That was all publicity. It wasn’t really serious… I think there’s a risk of becoming a cliché of myself. I would probably do it again, but I don’t need to work on that right now. I’ve been working a lot on figuring out how to sing differently and better.”