Foo Fighters
Photo: MTV News

Back in the summer of 1995, a strange album appeared in stores. It had an odd brown cover with a comically futuristic pistol on it, and was simply labeled Foo Fighters. There was no indication that a member of one of the most important bands in history was behind it — but it's hard to imagine that anyone interested didn't know that it was the first album from ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl's new band, which, at the time, was just him.

On Tuesday (November 3), more than 14 years later, the band releases Greatest Hits, a collection of 14 of their biggest singles plus two new songs, Wheels" and "Word Forward." But this isn't Grohl and his bandmates calling it a career — rather, they see it as a way to recharge the batteries and reevaluate their future as a band.

"The last three records happened within four years, so we were constantly working," Grohl told MTV News last week. "At the end of this touring cycle, it seemed like the perfect time to take a break. We're burnt, the audience needs a break and we need to back off and regroup and re-evaluate and get it back together. But in the meantime, let's put out this thing."

Grohl said their record label has been asking them for a hits compilation for several years, but they've been so inspired to make new music that it never felt like the right time. Of course, he's kept himself busy with side-gigs throughout the band's career, whether playing drums for Tom Petty, Killing Joke or Queens of the Stone Age — or, in recent months, forming a band called Them Crooked Vultures with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Queens' Josh Homme and Alain Johannes (that (that band will release its debut LP on November 17).

Looking back at the body of work the Foos have produced over the years makes their frontman proud — and more than a little amazed.

"It's kind of cool," he said of the album. "I look at the sequence of songs, and it's a pretty accurate representation of what's been going on with the Foo Fighters in the past 15 years. This band started sort of on a dare, and we never intended for it to become as big as it did."

• Foo Fighters
• Dave Grohl

Foo Fighters
Photo: MTV News

It's hard to believe that Foo Fighters, the band that Dave Grohl admits he started "almost on a dare," have been around for 15 years and have cranked out countless hit singles. Those tracks will be celebrated on the upcoming Greatest Hits, a compilation of the group's biggest smashes, including "Learn to Fly," "Best of You" and "Everlong." The album also contains two new songs: a rugged rocker called "Word Forward" and the new single "Wheels," which the band debuted on the lawn of the White House over the summer and which just got a video release.

"On the last tour, we decided to treat soundcheck as a place to write songs and not just to practice," Dave Grohl told MTV News. "So we picked these two songs and called Butch Vig — who I haven't worked with since 1991, when he worked on Nirvana's Nevermind — and he came in and produced them."

Despite the group's devoted following, fan reaction has been somewhat tepid to the group's latest single. But Grohl wouldn't have it any other way. "We kind of took it in this direction that we haven't gone before, which, as a band, is exciting," he explained. "You do a song like 'Wheels' and people go, 'Really? That's the Foo Fighters?' People get all scared. 'Oh no, is that the direction they're going?' It's one of those songs that our biggest fans hate. I like that we have songs that lots of different people either enjoy or dislike."

Greatest Hits will be in stores November 3, and the band will appear in an episode of "VH1 Storytellers" on November 27.

• Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters' David Grohl in "Wheels"
Photo: RCA

Sometimes you need to be reminded that the Foo Fighters are one of the hugest rock acts on the planet. This is because — despite the fact that they've sold millions of albums, won Grammys, toured the globe and jammed out on Zeppelin tunes with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page at Wembley Stadium — they are basically four exceedingly normal dudes. Half of them look like accountants. The other half are drummers. None of them are really rock stars.

I only bring this up because — in the grand tradition of every huge rock act that has come before them — the Foos are finally getting around to releasing a best-of compilation, the unassumingly titled Foo Fighters: Greatest Hits (due November 3). That it took them more than a decade to do so is only further testament to their humility. It's almost as if they kept putting it off, probably because it didn't feel right.

But now, with the band on a semi-permanent hiatus — and frontman Dave Grohl tooling around with JPJ and Josh Homme in Them Crooked Vultures — the timing seems strangely perfect for Greatest Hits. Like I said, sometimes people need reminding.

And, of course, every massive rock band knows that a best-of comp needs some new material thrown in to sweeten the pot. (The Foos might be unassuming; they are not, however, dummies.) So, in keeping with grand tradition, Greatest Hits features a pair of fresh tracks: "Wheels" and "Word Forward," both produced by Butch Vig. "Wheels," which hit radio last week, draws the honors of serving as the first single. That it would be accompanied by a music video was a given.

Sam Brown (who did the video for the Foos' "The Pretender") helms the clip, and unlike their previous collaboration, it's a decidedly mellow affair. There are no exploding walls of viscous fluid or charging men in riot gear this time out. Rather, the whole thing sort of looks like the cover of Death Cab for Cutie's Plans album: There is much super-imposing of foliage and hazy, gauzy light fixtures that flicker just so. It is a pretty low-key affair — as if the Foo Fighters would have it any other way.

This is not to say that it's not also pretty good (it is), and it fits the well-worn, workmanlike hum of "Wheels" itself, which would not seem out of place among the latest offerings by Chris Daughtry or David Cook on adult-contemporary radio. These days, with modern-rock stations mining the inner recesses of their program director's iPod (or disappearing altogether), that's a decidedly brilliant play for Dave Grohl and company. After all, even huge rock bands need to have their songs heard by the masses.

So while the song (and video) might be slight departures, the Foo Fighters haven't strayed from the course. They are still a massive act. "Wheels" might make them even more massive, which, given that they're currently on hiatus, is somewhat fitting — it's the most unassuming way to go about things, after all.

• Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl (file)
Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Officially, Lollapalooza ended Sunday night in Chicago's Grant Park, with dueling sets from the Killers and Jane's Addiction. Unofficially, it ended very early Monday morning, across town at venerable rock club the Metro, with a surprise show by Them Crooked Vultures.

To the unfamiliar, the Vultures might seem like an odd choice to close out Lolla weekend ... until you realize that they're made up of Foo Fighters frontman/ former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age mastermind Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin legend John Paul Jones. And their gig at the Metro was their world premiere.

According to some reports, the Vultures actually turned down Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell's request to replace the Beastie Boys as headliners at the festival, opting to debut in front of some 1,100 super-psyched fans at the Metro, rather than 75,000 in Grant Park (tickets for the gig were announced via Foo Fighter/ QOTSA fan clubs). Meaning that, in a lot of ways, this was the most sought-after ticket in town.

Taking the stage just after midnight, the Vultures — Grohl on drums (of course), Homme on guitar and vocals, Jones on bass and keys and frequent QOTSA contributor Alain Johannes on guitar — ripped through 12 songs in 80 minutes, all taken from their upcoming debut, which may or may not be called Never Deserved the Future, and may or may not be hitting stores on October 23 (early "promo" videos touting both those facts were revealed over the weekend to be hoaxes perpetrated by QOTSA fans).

The songs, with appropriately Homme-ian titles like "Scumbag Blues," "Mind Eraser (No Chaser)," "Caligulove" and "Interlude w/Ludes," sounded pretty much how you'd expect, given the band's pedigree. They rocked, hard — Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot described them as "fresh, invigorating and just plain nasty" — delving off into psychedelic, reverb-filled excursions and exploring proggy territory, "both of the old-school Yes variety, and the more modern Tool flavor," according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Jim DeRogatis.

It's not known if Monday's Metro performance was a one-off event for the Vultures — there have been whispers of a full-blown tour, but a spokesperson for Homme had not responded to MTV News' request for comment at press time. Nor was it clear whether or not they'll have an album out in October.

Early Monday, a Crooked Vultures Twitter account, which had previously posted links to the band's official-looking Web site and the Metro's online ticketing site — posted a link to what appears to be the group's first bit of official merchandise: a Deserve the Future T-shirt. Cost: $30.

• The Lollapalooza 2009 Experience

• Vampire Weekend, Jane's Addiction, More At Lollapalooza 2009

• Foo Fighters
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Led Zeppelin

Metallica's James Hetfield
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

Metallica are so excited about their upcoming "Guitar Hero" video game that they couldn't wait to tell their fans what songs were in it.

The band's official Web site recently revealed the full set list of songs that will appear in "Guitar Hero: Metallica," due March 29, which includes 28 tracks spanning Metallica's entire career, as well as tunes from 21 other artists, such as Foo Fighters, Slayer, Queen, Alice in Chains, Lynyrd Skynyrd and System of a Down.

"Metallica gave us input on guest artists they'd like to see in their game, bands that they felt were really important to them," the game's lead designer, Alan Flores, told MTV News during a demo in New York earlier this month. "Guitar Hero: Metallica" is similar to November's full-band music game, "Guitar Hero: World Tour," but players will get to jam to songs strictly by Metallica and the musicians that inspire them.

The game's plot line is based on a true story of European fans who attended every Metallica show until they were finally invited by the band to open for them onstage. Players will take on the role of musicians trying to follow in Metallica's footsteps, but they'll also be able to play as singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

"The very first thing you do is you play as Metallica," Flores explained. "We wanted to hit you hard, and we didn't want to put that off."

Flores, a longtime Metallica fan himself who's worked on past "Guitar Hero" games, said that when his company, Activision Blizzard, showed the band their work on June's "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith," it was a no-brainer. "They were really impressed by it, and they basically wanted a similar treatment," he said. "So we took that as a blueprint and crammed a lot of new bonus stuff in there."

The bonus material includes virtual re-creations of the venues Metallica's played in, pop-up trivia about the band's history and lyrics, unlockable videos of live performances and exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage from their motion-capture sessions.

The biggest addition is the "expert-plus" difficulty to all the gameplay modes, which adds a second bass pedal so that "Guitar Hero" drummers can play double bass drum tracks with both feet, just like Ulrich does. The second bass pedal, compatible with the existing "Guitar Hero: World Tour" drum peripheral, will be sold in stores separately when "Guitar Hero: Metallica" is released.

"It's a game that can be really hard if you're up for that challenge," Flores said. "But if you want to get in there and just play some songs, it's there for you. Even if you don't like Metallica but you like 'Guitar Hero,' the songs are just so fun to play."

The track list for "Guitar Hero: Metallica," according to Metallica's Web site:

Metallica Tracks:
• "All Nightmare Long"
• "Battery"
• "Creeping Death"
• "Disposable Heroes"
• "Dyers Eve"
• "Enter Sandman"
• "Fade to Black"
• "Fight Fire With Fire"
• "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
• "Frantic"
• "Fuel"
• "Hit the Lights"
• "King Nothing"
• "Master of Puppets"
• "Mercyful Fate (Medley)"
• "No Leaf Clover"
• "Nothing Else Matters"
• "One"
• "Orion"
• "Sad but True"
• "Seek and Destroy"
• "The Memory Remains"
• "The Shortest Straw"
• "The Thing That Should Not Be"
• "The Unforgiven"
• "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
• "Wherever I May Roam"
• "Whiplash"

Other Artists:
• Alice in Chains - "No Excuses"
• Bob Seger - "Turn the Page"
• Corrosion of Conformity - "Albatross"
• Diamond Head - "Am I Evil?"
• Foo Fighters - "Stacked Actors"
• Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
• Kyuss - "Demon Cleaner"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Tuesday's Gone"
• Machine Head - "Beautiful Mourning"
• Mastodon - "Blood and Thunder"
• Mercyful Fate - "Evil"
• Michael Schenker Group - "Armed and Ready"
• Motörhead - "Ace of Spades"
• Queen - "Stone Cold Crazy"
• Samhain - "Mother of Mercy"
• Slayer - "War Ensemble"
• Social Distortion - "Mommy's Little Monster"
• Suicidal Tendencies - "War Inside My Head"
• System of a Down - "Toxicity"
• The Sword - "The Black River"
• Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back in Town"

For more gaming coverage, check out our Multiplayer blog.

• 'Guitar Hero: Metallica' Music Videos

• Metallica
• Foo Fighters
• Slayer

Taylor Swift
Photo: MTV News

Taylor Swift is never one to hide her emotions. These days, she's developing quite a reputation for sharing her feelings about everything — boys, clothes, music — even if it gets her into trouble. Fortunately, we're pretty sure that talking about her birthday (December 13) won't be one of those instances.

"I'm so excited," she told MTV News at the rehearsal for the Grammy Announcement Concert on Tuesday. "I'm turning 19. ... It's not 18; it's not 21. But it's going to be fun. It's the last year of my teens."

Swift plans to throw a combination birthday bash and holiday party to celebrate the end of her teen years. "I am having a party with my band and my crew," she said. "A year-end, you-guys-are-awesome party."

The country star only wants simple gifts for her birthday present. "The best gift for me would be stationery — I really like cards a lot," she revealed. "I asked my family for new glasses, 'cause mine broke, and I need them to drive. I've been, like, taping them, which is, of course, not the best look for anyone."

Swift also talked a bit about her music, saying that the song "Fearless," off her million-plus-selling album of the same name, won't be released as a single for a while. Instead, she will soon be hard at work for the video for "White Horses." "It's a really sad song," she said, adding that video will therefore have "a dramatic theme."

Right now, she's most excited to be a part of the Grammy festivities, which allowed her the opportunity to meet the Foo Fighters. "I'm such a big fan of them," she said. "They've been so cool to me. Sometimes you don't want to meet your heroes, [but] they were so amazing. They do not take themselves seriously."

And she seems to already be taking cues from the Foos' goofy sense of humor. "I probably shouldn't rap at all," she joked. "I am going to announce the rap nominee for the Grammys. I think I'll stick to what's not going to be horrible."

• Taylor Swift
• Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

First, the campaign of Republican presidential nominee John McCain angered the members of Van Halen. Then, about a week later, it incensed Heart. Now, the campaign has raised the ire of Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters.

In a statement issued by the band's publicist Wednesday morning (October 8), the Foo Fighters slammed the McCain camp for its unauthorized use of the group's 1997 hit single "My Hero" as its latest campaign theme tune.

"This isn't the first time the McCain campaign has used a song without making any attempt to get approval or permission from the artist," the statement reads. "It's frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property. The saddest thing about this is that 'My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song. We hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song — and start asking artists' permission in general."

The band issued the statement after receiving press reports that McCain had been using "My Hero" as the "latest in a number of unauthorized theme songs at his campaign rallies," without seeking permission from the band, its management, record label or the song's publisher.

In late August, Van Halen lashed out at the McCain campaign after it used their track "Right Now" as the candidate's entrance theme during a rally in Dayton, Ohio. The band's publicist told MTV News that Van Halen were not informed that McCain was going to use their song and that they were never approached for permission. "Had they asked, permission would not have been granted," the publicist said.

About a week later, Heart objected to the campaign's use of their song "Barracuda" at McCain rallies and events. The campaign continued to use the track, even after Heart asked that they cease further usage.

"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," Heart said in a statement. "We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored."

• Foo Fighters
• Van Halen

Lil Wayne performs at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival
Photo: Paul Morigi/ Getty Images

BALTIMORE — Fans got more than they bargained for at this weekend's Virgin Mobile Festival — more Kanye, anyway.

Not content to close out the two-day festival with his headlining Sunday slot, Mr. West stormed the stage earlier in the day, joining Lil Wayne for a meeting of hip-hop's hottest. Maybe 'Ye was pulling double duty to outshine the legends (Bob Dylan, Iggy and the Stooges), big rock veterans (Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Offspring), and upstarts (Paramore, Jack Johnson, Duffy) who took the Virgin stage over the weekend at Pimlico Race Course.

Rocking a Louis Vuitton backpack, West joined Weezy on Sunday afternoon to spit his verse from the "Lollipop" remix without skipping a beat. The collabo was the high-energy point of a blistering, better-late-than-never performance. Showing up a half-hour late for an hourlong set would be a cardinal sin for most artists, but Weezy more than made up for it. The crowd chanted his name and even booed briefly while waiting for his set, but it was all love once Lil Wayne hit the stage. Wayne came with a mix of old-school, new-school and a lot of gratitude. "How many of y'all got Tha Carter III?" he asked. "I f---in' appreciate you."

He even took time to honor Static Major, asking for a moment of silence for the late rapper and songwriter before jumping into the song that catapulted Wayne from an underground mixtaper to an undeniable mainstream superstar. After welcoming Kanye up for "Lollipop," Wayne wrapped his set with even more gratitude and some laughs, lip-syncing to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" before leaving the stage.

While Wayne's day was done, Kanye was just getting started. He returned to the stage later that night like a hurricane, shrouded in flashing lights and fog. Fans threw up their Roc-A-Fella diamonds early and held them high all night. No irony was lost on 'Ye, who made it a point to prove his authenticity before jumping into "Diamonds From Sierra Leone."

"I work real hard at this rapping sh--," he said. "This is real rap."

Kanye dove into a set spanning his entire career, from his most recent verse from Young Jeezy's "Put On" to his humble beginnings on "All Comes Down," asking fans to "scream so loud I can't hear the music" if they knew the song.

And, of course, 'Ye talked, touching on everything from his mother's death to Barack Obama's nomination to crime in the festival's host city of Baltimore. He freestyled as well, expressing his gratitude for fame and his frustration that comes along with it. The raw emotion was undeniable. "I lost my mama/ I went through so much drama/ I went through so much drama/ I'm for Obama," he rapped. He then described his journey over to Pimlico Race Course, noting the flashing blue lights above cameras stationed throughout the 'hood and being content with the fact that even though many Baltimore natives couldn't afford to attend the concert, they could still see and hear the show from the parking lot outside the gates. He also shouted out MySpace, the Internet and Lil Wayne before beginning "Touch the Sky."

West took a bit of a jab at the festival's schedule, specifically the choice concertgoers had to make between his performance and one from Nine Inch Nails happening at the same time at the other end of the park (a dilemma faced by fans at Chicago's Lollapalooza a week earlier). "It's not a black-or-white thing, it's not a rap-or-rock-and-roll thing," he exclaimed. "It's a good-music thing. We jam about good things from the heart. How can you pick between me and Trent Reznor?"

But at the end of the day, Kanye's focus all came back down to his fans. Again freestyling, 'Ye expressed his eagerness to please those who came out to support him. "I hope you had a good time ... f--- that, the time of your life!" And with diamonds high in the sky and screams that could be heard around the block, the crowd's enthusiasm matched Kanye's (no easy feat).

The day before, it was up to West's fellow Chi-Town native Lupe Fiasco, who had fans bobbing their heads and singing along to "Superstar" and "Kick, Push." Despite technical difficulties, Lupe aimed to please, shouting after his microphone problem was resolved, "Let's hype this bitch back up, all right?" Given the amount of crowd-surfing during his set and the volume of fans chanting his name when he left the stage, he seemed to succeed.

But the weekend wasn't all about hip-hop. The Foos, the Stooges, Paramore and NIN brought the rock, but the guitar heroes of the day might have been Stone Temple Pilots. Taking the stage later than expected (thanks, Weezy), STP seemed to be the picture of reunification. The band was completely in sync thanks to its current 65-date tour. The focus wasn't mainly on themselves, though. Scott Weiland shared the love, shouting out those sharing the bill. "What a great day of f---ing music!," he gushed. "How about Iggy and the Stooges? And Nine Inch Nails are coming up!" He also had love for the crowd. "What a sea of energy," he exclaimed just before the crowd sang and bobbed along to every note of the band's breakthrough hit "Plush."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports. And send your own concert pics, videos and reviews to MTV News You R Here!

• Paramore, Lil Wayne, More At Virgin Mobile Festival 2008

• Lil Wayne
• Kanye West
• Young Jeezy
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Nine Inch Nails

Ne-Yo
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/ Getty Images

One-hundred miles and ... you're pulled over: Ne-Yo was arrested early Tuesday for reckless driving in Cobb County, Georgia, after police clocked him doing "well over 100 mph" in his 2006 Range Rover, according to TMZ. Ne-Yo (real name: Shaffer Smith) was charged with reckless driving and not having a valid license. A representative for his label, Def Jam, had no comment when reached by MTV News. ...

A lot of drama went into getting a restraining order against Sam Lutfi to prevent him from seeing or contacting Britney Spears, but the hearing regarding the matter on Friday (February 22) was uneventful. Jeffrey Wexler, an attorney for the singer's father, Jamie Spears (who has conservatorship powers over his daughter), told the court that after three weeks, Lutfi had finally been served on Thursday with the order that was to expire Friday. A federal judge had extended the order on Thursday until March 17, and since it regards the same matter, Lutfi is not longer required to be served in person but can have the temporary restraining order mailed to him. Wexler disputed any federal jurisdiction in the matter, which the judge said would be discussed at the next hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, to be held March 17. ...

In the meantime, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton suggested a way that Britney could protect herself from Lutfi as well as the paparazzi: "stay home." In an interview on KPCC-TV on Wednesday, the LAPD chief said there was no need for the law proposed recently by city Councilman Dennis Zine to prevent photographers from getting too close to stars like Spears. "What we need is Britney Spears to stay home instead of traipsing all over town," Bratton said. "That would solve the problem. We don't need additional laws. I've got laws coming out my ears to deal with this issue. ... Quite clearly, some of these characters so favored by the paparazzi are in need of services. Not police services, but psychiatric services." ...

Snoop Dogg was ticketed Wednesday night after NYPD officers caught the rapper smoking marijuana outside a New York nightclub. According to Snoop's manager, the "Sensual Seduction" crooner was not collared: "He did not get arrested. He received a ticket for possession of marijuana," Donald Ezra told the New York Post. ... In a separate development, pop singer Aaron Carter was arrested for investigation of marijuana possession on Thursday after he was pulled over for speeding, according to People.com. Carter, the younger brother of the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, was taken into custody in Junction, Texas, and will appear before a magistrate on Friday morning (February 22), Kimble County Sheriff Mike Chapman told the site. Officers found marijuana in the car after pulling Carter over for speeding, the sheriff said, adding that no one else was in the car. ...

Foo Fighters have filed suit against Marvel Comics, according to E! Online. The band claims that the creators of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four pulled big chunks of two of their songs, "Best of You" and "Free Me," to score a trailer for the company's upcoming animated series "Wolverine and the X-Men." The suit seeks unspecified damages from Marvel. ... Amy Davis might have been booted from "American Idol" on Thursday night, but she already won a new competition Friday. The pop-star wannabe was named "Today's Girl" by Maxim.com for "all her hard work and 'American Idol' hotness," a rep for the magazine told MTV News. Davis competed in the 2007 Maxim Hometown Hotties competition and was voted by the mag's readers as a contender for the crown. Photos from that pictorial are displayed for her "Today's Girl" honor. Maxim is in the middle of its 2008 Hotties campaign, and readers can vote in the "Hottie Primaries" to narrow down the new crop of ladies. ...

Radiohead have been confirmed as both the Friday and Saturday night headliners for the first-ever All Points West Music and Arts Festival, which is set for August 8-10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. The festival will also feature performances from Jack Johnson, Underworld, Kings of Leon, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Cat Power, the Roots, Metric, the New Pornographers, Animal Collective, CSS, Girl Talk, the Go! Team, Sia, Black Kids, Mates of State, Rogue Wave and Your Vegas. ...

Her new single is called "Feedback" but Janet Jacket may get some responses much sooner than she expected. The singer's upcoming album, Discipline, leaked to the Web Thursday. The set features collabos with Missy Elliott and rumored husband-to-be Jermaine Dupri. Several gossip rags are reporting that Jackson has reached out to designers to design a wedding gown for her upcoming nuptials with boyfriend Dupri. ... This might not have been the birthday present Ashton Kutcher was hoping for: The actor and his wife, Demi Moore, are among hundreds of patrons of a New York bar being urged by city health officials to get a Hepatitis A vaccination after a bartender was found to be infected, according to Reuters. Kutcher hosted a 30th-birthday bash at Socialista on February 7. Among the celebrity guests were Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Liv Tyler and others. The city health department issued a statement, warning anyone who visited the hot spot in Manhattan's West Village on February 7, 8 or 11 to get a vaccination. ...

Coldplay have finished recording songs for their next album and are in the process of mixing the effort; the record is slated for a summer release. No additional information about the LP has been released. ... Death Cab for Cutie will issue their next record, Narrow Stairs, on May 13. Produced by the band's guitarist Chris Walla, the disc will be preceded by the single "I Will Possess Your Heart." The band will kick off a tour April 18 in Bremerton, Washington. ...

Revenge of the nerds? According to Moby, he suffered the wrath of the cool-impaired when he briefly dated actress Natalie Portman, who starred in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy. "You don't date Luke Skywalker's mom and not have [fans] hate your guts," the musician said in a feature in next month's Spin magazine. ... Avril Lavigne is ready to expand her pop-punk empire with some new ventures. The singer/actress is working on a fragrance and clothing line, she told MTV News. While she wouldn't give up the line's name, she did tell us about how she has gotten hands-on with the company. "I pick the fabrics, and how I want the fit to be, and I'm really into hoodies, so I'm going to have a lot of cool hoodies and zip-ups," she said. She is also getting involved in the perfume details. "I pick the scent, pick the bottle, and then I pick, like, the theme, and it's really fun!" Lavigne said. ...

Rockers Adema have gone on hiatus. According to bassist Dave DeRoo, the band is "starting fresh and getting a whole new team" together. While "the band is cool," he said, "we just need a new crew." The band recently parted ways with its manager and business team, and "as of right now, regretfully, there are no further plans to tour in support of [the band's most recent LP] Kill the Headlights. We are taking a break ... [and] the best thing that Adema can do for itself is re-group right now, so we can continue to be the band that you've always loved and respected." ...

All That Remains, As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red, the Bronx, the Dillinger Escape Plan, Evergreen Terrace and Every Time I Die are the latest additions to the lineup for this summer's Warped Tour, which gets under way this June. ... Air will mark the 10th anniversary of Moon Safari by expanding the LP into a deluxe edition. The re-release expands on the band's 1998 breakout album with a 10-track disc full of remixes and live cuts collected from the same time period. Look for it to hits stores April 1.

02.21.08

Britney Spears' friend and onetime manager Sam Lutfi was finally served with a restraining order Thursday (February 21), on the eve of his hearing regarding the issue. Lutfi had allegedly intentionally avoided being served with the court papers, as lawyers for the singer's conservatorship claimed in court, to invalidate the restraining order, which requires notification. However, since news of the order was widely reported in the three weeks since it was first granted, Lutfi will have a hard time making an argument that he was unaware of it, if he appears at his hearing Friday (his spokesperson told MTV News he didn't know whether Lutfi would show or not). The order was requested by the singer's parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, on behalf of their daughter. ...

The New York Post reports that a judge ruled this week that 50 Cent has to pay the paper's deputy photo-assignment editor, Jim Alcorn, an undisclosed amount following a 2003 lawsuit Alcorn filed against the rapper for assault. Alcorn, who was a Post photographer at the time, was allegedly knocked down by 50's security detail outside a jewelry shop, after trying to snap a few photos of the rapper. The photographer was treated for neck and jaw injuries at a nearby hospital, according to the suit. ...

Lindsay Lohan's nude homage to Marilyn Monroe crashed New York magazine's Web site, with more than 20 million page views since the shots went up Monday, according to DART and Omniture, a magazine spokesperson said. That's a 2,000 percent increase in web traffic, which benefited non-Lindsay pages as well, with almost four times the site's usual page views (jumping from 1.2 million per day to just under 4 million). Before the Lindsay extravaganza, the largest spike NYMag.com has is during New York fashion weeks, which average 3 million total page views a day. So what does this mean for the magazine? New York says they haven't increased the print run, but they've reallocated an extra 5,000 copies to be used for back-order sales, since more than 1,000 have already been requested. The magazine also grabbed 500 extra subscriptions out of the hubbub, but New York won't know total impact until the issue hits newsstands. ... Meanwhile, Lohan is hoping for a similar success story for her third album, which she'd like to release later this year (no word from Universal Motown on a release date just yet). She's been working with R&B songwriter Jeremy Greene, who played Life & Style a few tracks, include songs called "I Miss You" and "Faith," which were recorded in Los Angeles on February 9. "She's been working hard on her new songs," Greene told the magazine. "Lindsay's going for a pop sound with a house-music feel to it." "I Miss You," Greene said, was written specifically for Lindsay "and what she's going through right now," including her relationship with her father. "Faith" is also about complicated relationships. "With everyone around her, she's definitely dealt with these kinds of relationships," he said. ...

Ashlee Simpson fans in New York and beyond will have two chances to catch up with the singer next week. Simpson will be giving out copies of her new single, "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)," at Wal-Mart in Farmingdale, New York, on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. If you can't make it there, you can catch Simpson on a live chat in MTV's Virtual Worlds on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET. ... When "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner isn't busy with big-screen projects, he takes a trip to the small screen — at least when Mariah Carey comes calling. The filmmaker called in to Ryan Seacrest's Los Angeles radio show to talk about his upcoming video for Carey's latest single, "Touch My Body." Instead of going the serious route (as he did on Mimi's "We Belong Together" clip, starring Wentworth Miller from "Prison Break"), Ratner opted for a funny video. "Mariah is hysterical, and this record is kind of funny," Ratner said. "There's no way we could do a video with a cute guy and [Mariah], so ... we got one of the funniest guys in the world: Jack McBrayer from '30 Rock.' " The video shows McBrayer imagining what it would be like to be with Mariah, who, according to Ratner, "looks better than she's ever looked."

Justin Timberlake is a singer and actor, and now the "SexyBack" star can add cologne pitchman to his résumé. JT will partner with Parfums Givenchy to head a new men's fragrance that will hit shelves sometime in 2008. ... Jay-Z's Rocawear clothing company has tapped Nicole Paultre-Bell (who married Sean Bell in a posthumous ceremony), along with the couple's two daughters, as a pitchwoman for the hip-hop clothing line. The ad features the widow — whose husband was fatally shot by NYPD in a controversial incident that has drawn protest from rappers Nas and Papoose — and her children with the tagline: "We are going to be here to the end, 'til justice is served."

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Tool's Maynard James Keenan
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Revered avant-metallers Tool have been nominated for several Grammy Awards over the years, and they've even won three: Best Metal Performance in 1997 and 2001; and Best Recording Package in 2006 for their most recent LP, 10,000 Days. This year, Tool were up for Best Hard Rock Performance again, for the 10,000 Days track "The Pot," but they lost the award to the Foo Fighters.

Not surprisingly, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has long shunned the Grammys, and had never even been to the ceremony before Sunday night — despite the numerous nods to his band's work. So why the change of heart, Maynard?

"Well, it's the 50th anniversary, and my son's never been to the Grammys, and I've never been to one, so I figured it's probably time," Keenan told MTV News on the Grammy red carpet on Sunday. His date for the event was his 12-year-old son, Devo, who is a cellist for Ashes Divide, the band founded by Keenan's A Perfect Circle co-pilot, Billy Howerdel. "There are other things we could do, but this is very special, I think, and it will be the highlight of the year for him. I think he's pretty stoked about it. We're kind of easygoing."

The reclusive Keenan isn't the awards-show-going type, of course, but, just before heading inside Los Angeles' Staples Center, he admitted he was looking forward to the Foo Fighters' Grammy performance. "It's going to be tremendous," he predicted of the band's outdoor set, which featured a full orchestra conducted by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

But really, talking about the Grammys isn't exactly an exciting endeavor for Keenan, and as fans might expect, the enigmatic singer has a lot on his plate anyway. His idiosyncratic side project, Puscifer, is keeping him quite busy, and so is his Sedona, Arizona, winery, Merkin Vineyards. Late last year, Keenan — who is a passionate wine connoisseur — released a 2004 Nagual de la Naga, a 2004 Nagual del Sensei and a new Primer Paso.

And yes, there's also Tool's fifth studio album to think about. While he wouldn't say much about the forthcoming LP, Keenan did reveal that the band would soon be reconvening to start kicking around song ideas.

"We're going to start writing the new Tool record right away," he said.

That said, there's no time table for the disc — Keenan didn't say when he expected the band to start tracking the effort, when it might be ready for release or what it might sound like. But with Tool's touring schedule wide open for the foreseeable future, he said it's time for the band to buckle down. He also elaborated on Tool's creative process.

"The music always comes first," Keenan said. "We all get in a room, shut out all the extra noises from the other people and what goes on outside the room and just focus on the four of us, where we are that day. And then we just start making sounds."

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2008 Austin City Limits Festival

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Foo Fighters And Serj Tankian Rehearse For The 2007 VMAs

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