Photo: Spellman/WireImage

Elton John has a famous fan in Lady Gaga, but not everyone appreciates the awesome power of “Tiny Dancer.” A Georgia man was arrested Wednesday for making terrorist threats against Sir Elton. Last month Neal Horsley, 65, posted a YouTube video of himself standing in front of the singer’s Atlanta apartment complex holding a large red sign that said “Elton John Must Die.” Horsley was upset about a Parade magazine interview in which John said he thought Jesus was a “compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”

“We’re here today to remind Elton John that he has to die,” Horsley says in the video. “What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ.” He goes on to use homophobic slurs and quote scripture.

This isn’t the first time Horsley — who has a surprisingly thorough Wikipedia page — has raised eyebrows. A militant anti-abortionist, he started a Website in the late 1990s that listed the names and addresses of doctors who performed abortions. Two years ago, Horsley founded the Creator’s Rights Party in Georgia and claims to be a candidate for the 2010 governor’s race. According to the AP, he kicked off his campaign wearing a placard showing a picture of an aborted fetus. The state ethics committee, meanwhile, has no record of his campaign.

Horsley’s bail is set at $40,000. Elton John’s publicist confirmed that the singer has an apartment in Atlanta, but wouldn’t tell the AP anything more.

American Idol eliminated its final four semifinal contestants last night, removing any chances of another Idol hero named Lambert breaking out this season — or of original songstress Lilly Scott getting a chance to bring her quirky style to the Top 12 stage. Scott, the blond-haired multi-instrumentalist who shouted out her Moog synth and performed an interesting take on the Beatles’ “Fixing a Hole” during the Top 24 rounds, was voted off along with Alex Lambert (who didn’t take the news well, to put it mildly), dramatic crooner Todrick Hall and earnest 19-year-old Katelyn Epperly. Watch Scott’s “A Change is Gonna Come” above.
Photo: Becker/FOX
That means the Top 12 singers — who will be tackling songs by the Rolling Stones — include Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Lacey Brown, Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynche, Paige Miles, Siobhan Magnus and Tim Urban.

The Rock Daily favorites: Siobhan Magnus, who turned out three fascinating and powerhouse performances during the semifinals (of Aretha Franklin’s “Think,” Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”), and Crystal Bowersox, whose gritty blues vibe finally gelled on her cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason.”

Bowersox:

Magnus:

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

At Monday night’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, one half of Abba will dance, jive and have the time of their lives while being honored by a roomful of the biggest names in music. The other two will be at home.

Fans hoping the Swedish pop masters would turn out a sparkling rendition of “Dancing Queen” — something they haven’t done since 1982 — will instead be serenaded by Faith Hill. It’s possible, though, that Abba’s Benny Andersson will perform. “If someone asks me to, yeah, I will,” he told Billboard.com. “I’ll see if I can play something from the old catalog.” Andersson will be attending the ceremony with ex-wife Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad). His songwriting partner Bjorn Ulvaeus can’t go because of a family event and Agnetha Faltskog “doesn’t like to fly,” Andersson told the USA Today.

Check out all of Rolling Stone’s Hall of Fame coverage.

In December, Andersson told Rolling Stone that he was shocked Abba received a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nod. “I didn’t think this would happen, because we were a pop band, not a rock band,” he said. “Being a foreigner from the North Pole, this feels really good.” Though he wasn’t certain, even then he predicted the group — which formed in 1970 — would not reunite. “The people who are really fond of Abba for what we did, I think we are doing them a favor by not going out. We all feel the same. It’s been too long of a time.”

See all of the Hall of Fame’s inductees.

Genesis, the Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and the Stooges will also be inducted into the Rock Hall on Monday night, but only the Stooges will perform. As Rolling Stone reported, Chris Isaak, Ronnie Spector, Adam Levine and Fefe Dobson are among the guest performers. Rolling Stone will have complete coverage from Monday night’s ceremony in New York, so stick with us for photos, interviews and more.

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Photo: Getty

Lawyers for producer Phil Spector have appealed his 2009 murder conviction, claiming he didn’t receive a fair trial. Last May, Spector, now 70 years old, was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his California mansion in 2003. Citing judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct, his legal team requested the conviction be overturned and he be given a new trial, the AP reports.

The Rise & Fall of Phil Spector: Photos from his famed studio sessions.

In papers filed Wednesday, the attorneys claimed prosecutors improperly used testimony from five women who claimed that Spector threatened them with guns in the past. The accounts, they wrote, “became the heart of the state’s case” and were used to persuade jury members to convict Spector “based on his bad character and evil propensities.” His lawyers said their testimonies had nothing to do with Clarkson’s death and that none of their stories “involved events in which Mr. Spector put a gun in someone’s mouth, much less fired it.”

Phil Spector on trial: photos from the crime scene to the courthouse.

Spector’s lawyers criticized the actions of Judge Larry Paul Fidler, citing that he allowed prosecutors to use the word “pattern” more than 40 times in describing Spector’s history with women and guns. They also decried the judge’s decision to allow jurors in the second trial to see a taped hearing from the first trial that was conducted outside the presence of Spector. On the tape, the judge was seen interpreting a forensic witness’s testimony about the position of the blood spatter on Clarkson’s body. “Under California law, a judge may not offer evidence in a trial over which he presides,” the appeal states, adding that the judge could not be cross-examined by the defense on what the prosecutors said was the most important fact of the case — whether the blood spatter showed who pulled the trigger.

The state attorney general’s office is expected to file a reply brief next month.

Related Stories:

• Jailhouse Rock?: Charles Manson Reaches Out to Phil Spector
• Phil Spector Moved To California Facility For Prison Sentence
• Full Coverage: The Phil Spector Trial