Plenty of singer/songwriters and a few pop stars have been busted using teleprompters on stage to help keep track of song lyrics as they perform. The former have often been so prolific that even they can’t keep up with their oeuvre over the years and the latter have more important things to remember, like dance routines. But is it really that hard to remember, “Like a chump (Hey) / Like a chump (Hey)”?

Limp Bizkit returned to the stage last night for the first time in eight years in Latvia and NME reports, “Fred Durst was taking no risks after so long away, and was using an autocue.” Obviously, this was just a warm up gig and Limp doesn’t want to blow the whole reunion by flubbing a few lines. I’m sure Durst will have the words to “Hot Dog” down before they make their stateside debut in Vegas this summer.

The Daily Swarm spotted another reunited band recently rocking the teleprompter: Jane’s Addiction (click here for photo). Perry Ferrell has three screens in front of the stage where the mash pit would’ve been in the 90s. That way he can seduce the crowd, but keep his crib notes within view at all times.

To be clear, we don’t mean to disparage these guys; just wanted to point out a funny new piece of equipment that you won’t be seeing at Guitar Center anytime soon.

Trent Reznor posted a plea today on nin.com for one of the latest victims of the U.S.’s current health care system. Eric De La Cruz has been rejected twice from the heart transplant list because he’s on Nevada Medicaid and there are no transplant centers in the state – he cannot obtain private insurance or Medicare because he has a preexisting condition.

For donations of varying size, Reznor is offering time with Nine Inch Nails at their shows while on tour with Jane’s Addiction: “We’ll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/JA show of your choice. You and a guest can watch soundcheck, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you’d like.”

Reznor confirms that 100% of the money contributed will be allocated directly to Eric’s fund.

For more information, visit weloveeric.com, and to make a contribution on Trent’s official donation page, click here.

**Update: Since this went up only 3 days ago, Trent has raised $645,990 for Eric. Also, Tony Hawk is donating 100 signed skateboards to the cause and Tom Morello has joined the soundcheck/meet and greet.

(Thanks for the tip, Jarrett!)

When Metallica underwent group therapy in Some Kind of Monster, they ended up losing bassist Jason Newsted and making St. Anger. Perhaps they really needed a fellow rocker instead of an “enhancement coach.” Apparently, Jane’s Addiction’s reunion with original bassist Eric Avery has been marred by constant infighting, but Trent Reznor, their most recent producer and upcoming tourmate, has been trying to mediate the friction.

“[Reznor] did his best to be both producer and psychologist,” Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell told Reuters. “He was very respectful, trying to get out of the way and not overproduce. I wish honestly he would’ve produced a little more, but he was a little gun shy after seeing us explode on each other in the studio. He became the referee for a day and after that day I think he was done.”

As the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails, Reznor probably isn’t used to breaking up fights (if bands were governments, NIN would likely be a monarchy). Was the feuding in the studio the reason they ended up with just an EP? Perhaps, but Ferrell doesn’t really mind a little drama. “If my band didn’t have issues, if they didn’t throw tantrums, I would think I was with a bunch of suckers,” he said.

See Dr. Trent, sometimes you have to let fighting rock stars fight. For more from Reuters about Jane’s Addiction’s plans to release free music and Ferrell’s thoughts on the Led Zeppelin reunion, click here.

Now that digital music has eliminated the need for a physical product, we’ve ironically entered an era of album packaging decadence. For artists with a rabid fanbase, selling a limited edition piece of bling can not only offset losses due to album leaks and pirating, but it’s become the best way to pay the rent (or Ferrari payments, as it were). The merch table is now the merch showroom.

First, Trent Reznor took Radiohead’s “pay-what-you-want for the mp3 album or pay a sh*tload for limited vinyl” scheme and made it better. Nine Inch Nails immediately sold out of the 2500 limited signed copies at $300 a pop (that’s $750k) and sold an undisclosed number of the $75 Blu-ray/DVD/CD upholstered set. You’d think the tacky box set packaging of the 1990s would go the way of the slap bracelet, but instead it’s gotten worse: It’s become furniture.

Here’s the new Jane’s Addiction box (via LA Weekly, HT The Daily Swarm):

Who knew Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell had such an eye for arts and crafts? It feels like they should be standing behind their 3-fold album display at a science fair.

Prince’s new 37.5-pound $2100 Opus iPod, however, belongs at the World’s Fair (via TDS):

This “mouth watering and collectable” iPod is limited to 950 lucky (read: loaded) fans and includes a 40-minute documentary about Prince’s 21-night stand in London in 2007.

Only Kevin Smith’s canned Prince documentary could justify the price, but instead the movie includes mouth-drying interviews with Elton John and Diddy. I paid $210 to see Prince at SF’s Orpheum Theatre in 2007, so his new Opus makes me happy that I paid 10 times less for what is arguably a better deal.

It turns out Trent Reznor has been up to a lot more than mocking Chris Cornell on Twitter: The Nine Inch Nails frontman dropped a surprise 6-song ep today, featuring 2 new Reznor-produced songs from NIN, Jane’s Addiction and Tom Morello’s new group Street Sweeper. To download the album NIN|JA in lots of different formats, click here.

The two Jane’s Addiction songs on the album, “Chip Away” and “Whores,” are new recordings, but they did already appear on the band’s live album back in 1987. The new Nine Inch Nails tracks are called “Not So Pretty Now” and “Non-Enity.” A free EP is certainly a great way for the three acts to promote their forthcoming summer tour together. Click here for tour dates of the bands featured on NIN|JA.

Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor posted a news bulletin today on his official website, stating the rumors that he has been recording an album with Jane’s Addiction are true and they plan to go on a “run of shows across the globe this year” for what could possibly be NIN’s last tour.

“In NIN world, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our first releases,” Reznor wrote. “I’ve been thinking for some time now it’s time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year’s ‘Lights in the Sky’ tour was something I’m quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production.”

So does that mean the band is going on a hiatus? “I reached out to Jane’s to see if they’d want to join us across the US and we all felt it could be a great thing,” Reznor wrote, adding that the shows will be “more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye.”

There’s no word yet on when or where the tour dates will be, but Jane’s Addiction is playing a tiny show at LA’s Echoplex tonight, so maybe Trent will show up and you can ask him.