50 Cent has launched a short tour to promote his major-label debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', due February 11. The dates begin January 25 in Las Vegas and wrap February 16 in Baltimore. ...

Bobby Brown has been released from the hospital, according to his lawyer Xavier Dicks. While the nature of the singer's illness was not known at the time of his admittance Tuesday (see "Bobby Brown Moved From Jail To Hospital"), his lawyer said Brown had been experiencing chest pains. "They ran a few tests, and he's out now," Dicks said. "He looked okay to me." ...

Justin Timberlake, Brian McKnight, Jamie Foxx and others will face Nelly, Ice Cube, Mark McGrath, Tim McGraw and more in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Atlanta on February 7. The showdown will air live on TNT. ... Angie Martinez is expecting her first child in a few months. The Hot 97 radio personality/ recording artist is five months along, and Nokio from Dru Hill is the daddy, according to Martinez's label. While Angie talked on-air earlier this week about taking time off from hosting on the radio, she isn't going to stop making music — her spokesperson said she is expected to head back to the studio next month and begin recording her third album, which is due in stores before the end of 2003. ...

Lil' Kim has set a March 4 release date for her third album, La Bella Mafia, which features a guest appearance by Missy Elliott and production from Scott Storch (Busta Rhymes), Kanye West (Jay-Z) and Swizz Beatz (DMX). The first single, "The Jump Off," was produced by Timbaland and features Mr. Cheeks. ... Maybe Swizz Beatz should change his first name to "Swift," as he'll need to concoct music soundscapes at an even more feverish pace than usual. Besides scoring such movies as "Biker Boyz" and the sequels to "Charlie's Angels" and "Bad Boys," he has a whole new set of artists to make tracks for. On Wednesday (January 22), a joint venture deal between Swizz's Full Surface and Clive Davis' J Records was officially announced; among the acts the 24-year-old producer will be putting out are veterans Keith Sweat and Bounty Killer, newcomer Cassidy and multimedia personality Big Tigger. ...  

Even before a winner is decided in Super Bowl XXXVII, one man will be crowned prince of the pigskin ... the PlayStation2 pigskin, that is. The ninth annual Madden Bowl is set for Thursday in San Diego. At the tournament party, expected to be attended by members of 'NSYNC and Carmen Electra, eight NFL players will compete in Madden NFL 2003 and attempt to take the title from two-time retiring champ Jacquez Green. ...

Reel Big Fish, the Toasters and Voodoo Glow Skulls will headline the Ska Summit at the Desert Breeze Skate Park in Las Vegas on March 29. The Selector, Mustard Plug, Rx Bandits, Buck-O-Nine, Let's Go Bowling, the Skeletones and the Specials are also on the bill. ... A book on the life of punk forefather Joey Ramone, titled "I Slept With Joey Ramone," will be written by Joey's brother Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil, author of the seminal punk tome "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk." A retrospective from birth to death told through memoirs and anecdotes, the book is expected to be in stores by Christmas. ...

According to a post on the band's official Web site, the Dismemberment Plan have decided to break up. They plan to continue playing the shows they've booked this winter, and may add a few additional dates as a last outing. "We certainly still love to rock the stage, so we have talked about continuing to play irregular shows in D.C. or doing benefits for things we think are important," the band said. ...

The Blue Man Group will release their second album, The Complex, in April. Unlike the Grammy-nominated debut, the instrumental Audio, the percussive troupe's new one is a full-fledged rock effort, featuring collaborations with Dave Matthews, Tracy Bonham and producer extraordinaire Dan "The Automator" Nakamura. ... Steely Dan will follow up their Grammy-winning Two Against Nature with Everything Must Go on May 6. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's 2000 album upset Eminem, Radiohead and others for Album of the Year. ...

01.21.03

Jay-Z was looking for love in all the right places over the weekend as he shot his video for "Excuse Me Miss." Jay, who was backstage with R. Kelly on Thursday at the Power 105.1 Powerhouse concert in New Jersey, filmed scenes for his video in the Garden State and New York with director Little X. In addition to members of the Roc-A-Fella camp, who will turn up in the clip dressed in suits, Neptunes hitmaker Pharrell Williams makes an appearance. ...

Madonna is slated to make her small-screen debut on an upcoming episode of "Will & Grace," according to an NBC spokesperson. Details about her character are still being worked out. The episode, which will tape in March, will air during the sweeps month of May. ... Hank Williams Jr.'s "Are You Ready For Some Football?" may have sufficed being played before ordinary games broadcast on ABC, but for the big game on Sunday, ol' Bocephus will get a little help from Kid Rock. The pair have recorded a new song, "Are You Ready for the Superbowl?," which will premiere just prior to Super Bowl XXXVII on ABC. ...

Lisa Marie Presley has set an April 8 release date for her debut album, To Whom It May Concern, on which Elvis' daughter wrote or co-wrote all of the material, with producers ranging from Glen Ballard to singer/songwriter Gus. "You're going to see who I really am and not what the tabloids say or whatever anyone has to say about me," Presley explained in a statement. ... Aside from her judging duties on "American Idol," Paula Abdul is writing songs for Kylie Minogue and other pop stars, and is recording her own comeback album. "My fans want to dance and that's what I want to do," she said. "It's going to be funky, but I'm doing a lot of different things, keeping it fresh." ...

The Donnas, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Folk Implosion, Tortoise and a reunited Camper Van Beethoven are among the headliners scheduled for the 11th annual Noise Pop festival from February 25 to March 2 in San Francisco. A complete schedule, also featuring Cat Power, Hot Rod Circuitand No Knife, is available at www.noisepop.com. ... Raise a glass and keep the frat boys at bay, because the second annual Jagermeister Music Tour is back for a second round. The six-week tour, sponsored by the get-loose juice preferred by four out of five frat houses, will feature headliners Saliva and (hed) Planet Earth, as well as Breaking Benjamin, Systematic and Stereomud. The tour opens March 6 in Philadelphia, with last call coming April 20 in Detroit. Last year, the tour featured Drowning Pool, Coal Chamber and Ill Nino. ... Promoters have landed Thursday, Andrew W.K., the Used and Goldfinger, among others, for the third annual Skate and Surf Festival, set for April 25-27 at the Convention Center Complex in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The three-day concert will also feature a surf contest and skate and BMX exhibitions. ...

Common will release the Jill Scott collaboration "I Am Music" as the second single from his recently released Electric Circus. After a cameo in last fall's "Brown Sugar," the Chicago rapper is also hoping to star in a film this year. "I'm working on my acting chops right now 'cause I don't wanna be just a rapper trying to act," he said at last week's American Music Awards. ... Nivea will shoot the video for "Laundromat," the second single from her self-titled debut album, in Los Angeles this week with director Nzingha Stewart (Bilal, Common). "It was written and produced by R. Kelly, so that's pretty interesting," she said of the song at the AMAs. "It's a beautiful song, incredibly written and produced and I think people will love it." ...

Zakk Wylde has drafted Ozzy Osbourne to record vocals on one track from the next Black Label Society album, The Blessed Hellride. Ozzy sings on the song "Stillborn." ... Pitchshifter have announced that their March U.K. tour will be the band's last, and that the group will split up after the trek. Everyone involved has stressed that this decision isn't due to any rift within the camp, but rather because Pitchshifter have reached a natural end. The band will release a live album to coincide with these farewell shows. ... Cradle of Filth will release their new album, Damnation & a Day, through Epic on March 10. ...

Mainstays of the SoCal punk scene, NOFX, have begun to record their next album, titled The War on Errorism, the follow-up to 2000's Pump Up the Valuum. Prior to its release on May 6, the band will issue Regaining Unconsciousness on March 25. ... On Friday, teen R&B singer Mario pulled a muscle in his back while rehearsing for the video shoot of his next single, "C'mon." The injury forced him to cancel an appearance on an upcoming episode of "Showtime at the Apollo." Mario is recovering at home, and will proceed with his Erik White-directed video shoot on January 28. ...

Caricature artist Al Hirschfeld, whose good-natured pen-and-ink sketches of stars ranging from Madonna to Woody Allen to Aerosmith graced newspapers, magazines, Broadway playbills and album covers, passed away in his sleep on Monday at the age of 99. ... "Bodysong," the experimental film scored by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, will debut at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam on January 27. The movie tells the story of an archetypal human life using images taken from all around the world and the last 100 years of cinema. ...

• 50 Cent
• Justin Timberlake
• *NSYNC
• Lil' Kim
• Swizz Beatz

Ja Rule and Charli Baltimore are setting out to be the hip-hop version of Mickey and Mallory — the clip for Ja's "Down Ass Chick," featuring Charli B-more, will be a takeoff of Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," according to a source close to Ja. Over the course of the three-day shoot, which begins February 22 in L.A., he'll also film the remix video with Baltimore, Ashanti and Ashanti, according to Def Jam; Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti will direct both. ... If you're dreaming of becoming a professional DJ, it's time to take your skills out of the bedroom and into the classroom. For the next two months in New York City, celebrity DJs including Jam Master Jay, Kuttin' Kandi, Mista Sinista and Evil Dee will lead courses in disciplines such as battle, mixtape and performance (visit www.scratch.com for more information). ...

Indie music festival Noise Pop 2002 takes place next week (February 26-March 3) in San Francisco with performances by the Dismemberment Plan, New Pornographers and Big Star, among others, and to commemorate its decade-long tenure, a double-disc Ten Years of Noise Pop will be available locally and through the festival's Web site (www.noisepop.com). A portion of the proceeds from the album, which features cuts from past performers including Guided by Voices, the Flaming Lips and Creeper Lagoon, benefits the Popular Noise Foundation (www.popularnoise.org), a nonprofit charity that provides aid to the Bay Area music scene. ... Dixie Chick Natalie Maines will appear in the first celebrity edition of the TLC series "Trading Spaces," according to The Associated Press. Maines will race to redecorate a room in her mother's home (and vice versa) in 48 hours for $1,000 or less in an episode airing April 20. ...

P. Diddy, Rah Digga and female R&B quartet LovHer were among the guests who came out to support Jay-Z and the Roc-A-Fella family at a Roc-A-Wear fashion show in New York Thursday night. Jay and company partied up at the Metropolitan Pavilion while the men's and women's fall 2002 lines were introduced. ... "Rush Hour" star Chris Tucker will host the 33rd annual NAACP Image Awards on February 23 at the Universal Amphitheater. The ceremony, scheduled to air March 1 on Fox, will feature music-world appearances by Alicia Keys, India.Arie and the Isley Brothers as well as Steve Harvey, the Rock, Jamie Foxx and Angela Bassett. ...

There's nothing funny about the popular appeal of crossover heavyweight Jennifer Lopez — she'll be crowned Female Star of the Year by the film industry's power elite at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. She and previously announced Male Star of the Year Will Smith will be honored at a banquet next month in recognition of their drawing power at the box office. ... The soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's "The Last Waltz" — a filmed concert by the Band which featured a cavalcade of special guests including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Muddy Waters — will be remixed and released with bonus tracks on April 16. The movie will be released on DVD May 7. ...

Liverpool's arty synth-poppers Clinic will support their second album, Walking With Thee (due February 26), with a three-week Stateside jaunt that begins March 13 in Atlanta. The tour includes a showcase at music-biz conference South by Southwest on March 15. ... El Meswy, Spain's best-selling hip-hop artist, was in the studio recently recording Se Habla Español, his follow-up to 2000's Nadie. M-1 and Stic.man of Dead Prez were on hand to lend lyrical support to the as-yet-untitled project. ...

My Bloody Valentine founder Kevin Shields has recorded "Outro," an instrumental, for the compilation album You Don't Need Darkness to Do What You Think Is Right, which comes out April 1. Other artists who will appear on the LP include the Pastels, Future Pilot AKA and Jesus and Mary Chain partners Jim and William Reid recording as Sister Vanilla. ... Sting, Elton John, James Taylor and Ravi Shankar comprise the first wave of artists announced to perform at the Police-man's annual Rainforest Foundation Benefit Concert, which will take place at New York's Carnegie Hall on April 13. ...

02.15.02

Post-adolescent punks Sum41 are expected to begin working on the follow-up to last year's All Killer No Filler in late April, after their Tour of the Rising Sum sets in Texas on April 21, according to their publicist. The album is expected to surface late this year or early 2003. ... Eve, who's currently in Chicago filming "Barbershop" with Ice Cube, is ready to devote some time to her day job. Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti and his beatmaking cohort, 7, said they're gearing to go in the studio with Ruff Ryders' first lady at the end of the month. ... Nickelback, Default and Injected will head out on the spring 2002 incarnation of MTV's Campus Invasion Tour. An itinerary has yet to be announced. ...

Megaproducer Megahertz (P. Diddy, R. Kelly & Jay-Z, Nas) just completed a remix with P.O.D. of the band's "Youth of the Nation," the producer's rep said. ... FenixTX have dropped off the SnoCore Rock Tour due to scheduling conflicts, according to MCA Records. They have been replaced by Apex Theory. ... Face to Face will launch a national tour in April to support their new album How to Ruin Everything, which hits stores April 9 through Vagrant Records. The jaunt starts in Salt Lake City on April 4 and runs through May 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona. ... Industrial icons Ministry will release Sphinctour, a live album recorded during their 1996 tour, on March 19. The 11-track LP, which had been a widely circulated bootleg, includes harrowing cuts such as "Psalm 69," "Filth Pig" and "Thieves" and can be previewed at ministry.advancelisten.com. ...

Innovative prog-rocker Peter Gabriel is apparently "down wit' OPP" — he hooked up with Jersey hip-hoppers Naughty by Nature on a track called "Fight Back" for the group's guest-filled April 23 release, Iicons. ... Speaking of Naughty, the group's Treach was among the celebrities who hit New York hotspot Spa on Tuesday night to support Joi (Lucy Pearl), who performed songs off her next LP, Star Kitty's Revenge. The Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo (bandmate of Joi's husband, Big Gipp) and Kelis were also in attendance (click for photos from the performance). ...

Fuel have issued a cease and desist order to Toyota, corporate sponsors of the Fuel the Music Tour, demanding Toyota stop using that title for the rock outing. The band, who says it has fought to make a name for itself and wants it protected, was alerted after confused fans began emailing its Web site inquiring about the outing because a magazine ran an ad for the event on the same page as a picture of the group, who are not involved. ... A London High Court judge has ruled that Robbie Williams will have to pay 25 percent of the royalties from his "Jesus in a Camper Van" — around $75,000 — to Woody Guthrie's publisher, Ludlow Music. Williams, who admitted to parodying Guthrie's "I Am the Way" on the track, will also have to pick up Ludlow's legal fees, which amount to another $75,000.

• Ja Rule
• Charli Baltimore
• Ashanti
• Jam Master Jay
• The New Pornographers