Blink-182
Photo: Jared Milgrim/ FilmMagic

Perhaps taking a page from the Osbournes' concet-planning playbook, or perhaps realizing how many people are unemployed these days, organizers of the Virgin Mobile Fest announced late Tuesday that they're putting on a free show this year.

Or, more specifically, a free festival, headlined by Blink-182 and Weezer.

Dubbed the Virgin Mobile Free Fest, the free, day-long show takes place August 30 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Joining Blink and Weezer on the bill are Franz Ferdinand, Taking Back Sunday, Public Enemy, Wale, the Hold Steady, Girl Talk, the National and more.

Organizers will give away nearly 35,000 free tickets for the show, where parking will also be free. After Virgin Mobile customers get first crack through Ticketmaster on June 25-26, the rest of the tickets will be available to the public starting on June 27.

The Virgin Fest debuted at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course in 2006, and featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Who atop the bill. It expanded to a two-day event the following year, with a bill that featured the likes of 311, the Smashing Pumpkins and Velvet Revolver. Last year, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nine Inch Nails and Bob Dylan all appeared. In previous years, tickets to the Virgin Fest cost $100 per day.

"In a time of economic challenges and daily sacrifices, we wanted to throw a fantastic party so people could let loose and have a great time — on us," Sir Richard Branson, founder and president of Virgin Group, said in a statement.

For more information, check out the festival's official site, VirginMobileFestival.com.

• Blink-182 Party In Honor Of Their Summer Tour

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

• blink-182
• Weezer
• Franz Ferdinand
• Taking Back Sunday

Bruce Springsteen's <i>Working On A Dream</i>
Photo: Columbia

It took the Boss to finally unseat country-pop dynamo Taylor Swift from the top of the Billboard albums chart after eight weeks at #1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Working on a Dream will debut in the top spot next week on sales of 223,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, ending a two-month run by Swift's Fearless album, which will drop to #2 on sales of 55,000.

Dream is Springsteen's ninth #1 album, but despite a prominent slot at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, not to mention a rousing performance at the Super Bowl, the new album sold 100,000 fewer copies in its first week than the band's previous album, 2007's Magic.

It was a bit of a shake-up in an otherwise slow week, during which Scottish dance rockers Franz Ferdinand notched their best-ever Billboard chart debut by sneaking in at #9 with 30,000 units shifted of their latest, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. They provided some of the only movement in the top 20 during yet another mostly down week for the business. Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce slipped a notch to #3 on sales of 51,000, followed by Nickelback's Dark Horse (43,000), Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak (33,000), newcomer 2009 Grammy Nominees at #6 (32,000), Jamie Foxx's Intuition (31,000), Keyshia Cole's A Different Me (30,000) and, at #10, Britney Spears' Circus, which crossed the 1.3 million mark thanks to another 28,000 copies sold.

The ninth volume of WWE: The Music hit the charts at #11 on sales of 24,000, Hoobastank's cleverly named latest For(n)ever squeezed out 15,000 in sales to debut at #26, the Rihanna remix album Good Girl Gone Bad: Remixes managed to move just under 5,000 copies to debut at #106, and smooth English singer/songwriter James Morrison popped up at #130 for the first week for his Songs for You, Truths for Me album, thanks to 4,000 in sales. MTV's favorite teen metallers, Crooked X, rocked up to #176 with their self-titled debut, which whipped up just over 3,000 in sales.

A couple of scrappy indie albums that took advantage of the January doldrums took serious tumbles, including Antony & the Johnsons' Crying Light, which dropped more than 50 percent and 84 slots to #149 on just over 3,600 sold; Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, which fell 41 slots to #57 with 9,000 new converts; and Animal Collective, whose Merriweather Post Pavilion tripped from #13 to #52 on 10,000 copies, but was off nearly 60 percent from its debut. Also swan-diving in a similarly spectacular fashion was sensitive fiddler/whistler Andrew Bird, whose Noble Beast plunged from #12 to #50 on sales of more than 10,000.

Springsteen and Swift should be relatively safe next week, with debuts from the Fray, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and the latest Kidz Bop album.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Taylor Swift
• Franz Ferdinand
• Nickelback
• Beyoncé

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos
Photo: Christopher Hunt/ Getty Images

When Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos and guitarist Nick McCarthy walked away from an auction last year in their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, carrying a large wooden box containing human skeletal remains recovered from a dead doctor's office, they never imagined they'd use the bones for anything more than morbid studio decorum. But as it turns out, you can capture some pretty awesome percussive sounds by jangling a femur across the rim of a pelvic bone.

"I remember we were working on a song called 'Kiss Me,' and we wanted to have a real dry, percussive sound in the chorus," Kapranos recalled during a break from the mastering of the band's forthcoming record, tentatively titled Tonight, which will feature guest vocals by Gorillaz collaborator Rosie Wilson. "And we had this skeleton in a box that just ended up sitting in the corner of the studio, and we all sort of looked at it, and decided to experiment with it. Nick had the hands and was clapping the bones together. [Drummer] Paul [Thomson] was working with the pelvis bone and a femur. We put the teeth in a glass jar and rattled that about. We smacked the ribs together and we got this really weird, f---ed-up kind of a sound that was wicked. I can't think of any records with human bones on it."

Turning human bones into percussive instruments was all part of Franz Ferdinand's reaction to the way records are made these days, where sounds are often tinkered with after the fact, through a computer program. The band wanted to manipulate sound in as natural and physical a way as possible, which means Franz's forthcoming LP — which could be in stores as early as January — will be one of their most experimental.

"We were finding new ways of getting the sounds on the record," Kapranos explained. "One of the most exciting moments for me was when we were recording the song 'What She Came For.' We wanted to play with the Doppler effect — like when you have an ambulance passing by, and the siren changes tone as it approaches. I love that sound, and one of the rooms we have in our place in Glasgow was part of an old town hall, so it has 50-foot ceilings. One day, Nick climbed up to the rafters and lowered a microphone cable down to the ground. We put the guitar amp on its back and turned it up, full whack."

Kapranos said that as he played his guitar, producer Dan Carey hurled the microphone through the air — from one end of the room to the other — and over the amplifier. "The sound we ended up with sounds like a cross between a guitar and a World War II dive-bomber," Kapranos said excitedly. "It's wicked."

Franz began writing material for the follow-up to 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better more than a year ago, after taking a much-needed break from being Franz. They took their time with the songs, sometimes popping into hole-in-the-wall bars to test out the new material on an audience. It helped them determine which songs worked and which were "utter crap," and when they knew which tracks were going to make the final cut, they hit the studio with Carey, whom the singer likened to a "mischievous professor."

At times, Franz left the confines of the studio to experiment. Some songs they recorded in the studio's basement with just a single microphone, to capture the live energy of the tracks. And it didn't become apparent to Kapranos until the band was finished recording just what Tonight is all about.

"This record is a nighttime record, and all the songs relate to different nighttime vibes and activities," he said. "It wasn't a deliberate or a considered decision, but a reflection of where our lives are at and the way we were living, and it came through in the music when we were playing. There's definitely that vibe to it, like that part of the night where you're on the dance floor, but also those moments where you're psyching yourself up when you're about to go out for a bit of a hedonistic night out. There's also the other moments: The song 'Bite Hard' is full-on escapism, almost like a chase scene, and by the time the new version of 'Lucid Dreams' rolls around, it's like a full-on freak-out. By the end of the record, it's like those moments where you're sort of sitting alone in your room at the end of a crazy night, wishing whatever's in your system would be out of your system."

Generally speaking, though, Kapranos didn't find Tonight — which will also feature the songs "Ulysses," "Turn It On" and "Katherine, Kiss Me" — to be a challenging record to create.

"Right from the beginning, we set out to make a record that had joy in it," he said. "Even if you're singing about the darkest of subjects or tragedy, there has to be joy in the performance. There has to be that energy in the performance. If it's not there when you put it down on the record, it won't be there when you hear it back through the speakers. Sometimes, you've got to have the guts to reject all of the high-fidelity principals that should be involved in making a record."

• Franz Ferdinand

Yung Joc
Photo: Jason Campbell

Yung Joc was seven hours late to an arraignment on a felony gun charge on Wednesday and was scolded by the judge in the case after an arrest warrant was issued. But the rapper (born Jasiel Robinson) tried to clear his name in a statement released through his lawyers. "I have the utmost respect for the laws of this country and would never deliberately commit an act that would jeopardize my freedom, my family or my career," he said, according to TMZ. "I've worked very hard to achieve my goals, and it's unfortunate that this current situation has garnered more attention than the many donations I've made and the charitable work I've done with various organizations. ... I'm proud to be a citizen of America, where we are taught to believe that every person is afforded the presumption of innocence. That being said, I have full respect for the judicial system and its due process. I look forward to resolving this situation and moving forward to a positive and prosperous 2008." Joc is due back in court on January 25 in connection with his arrest Sunday at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where authorities said he tried to take a loaded gun onto a flight. He faces a possible sentence of up to 18 months for the charge. ...

Lil Wayne told MTV News a couple of months ago that he was planning to drop Tha Carter III: The Leak on December 18, with the official Tha Carter III LP to follow February 12, but he actually slipped out a five-song EP called The Leak through Rhapsody and Amazon on Christmas Day instead. The disc features "I'm Me," "Gossip," "Kush," "Love Me or Hate Me" and "Talkin' About It." "Gossip" has been rumored to be a dis song directed toward 50 Cent, but as Weezy told Mixtape Monday in late October, "I recorded that song in 2006. ... I don't make records or say anything about people. I don't beef with people. Everybody knows that. ... My words are more important than you."...

Jessica Simpson is enjoying Nashville as the relocated singer/actress records her upcoming, yet-untitled country album there. "Nashville is a very warm city," she recently told Billboard.com. "The people are friendly and kind. There is a sense of community, which thrives on music. There is no animosity ... only respect for one another's talent." The effort is due in 2008 through Columbia Nashville and will be the follow-up to 2006's A Public Affair. Simpson didn't provide many more details on the project, and when asked if she would be hitting the road to support it, she said, "Since the record is in the beginning stages, there hasn't been much talk about a tour just yet." ...

Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand's third album doesn't have a name yet either, but the band has shed some more light on the successor to 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better. "I suppose we're heading back to the idea of dance music," frontman Alex Kapranos told RollingStone.com. "It's more of a dance record than a rock record." The band has tapped an unlikely producer — Brian Higgins (Kylie Minogue, Cher) — for some of the songs. "It appeals to my contrary side," Kapranos said. "And I don't like the distance between bands and pop music there is now. Dr. Dre or Timbaland or the Neptunes are making the songs you've never heard before, not the indie kids strumming their f---ing guitars." ...

Chris Rock has jumped into the 2008 presidential-election conversation, comparing Senator Hillary Clinton to the current commander in chief and voicing his support for rival Senator Barack Obama in a recent interview with The New York Times. "I love Hillary Clinton, but to me she is the Democratic version of George [W.] Bush: someone who is running, and the only reason you know who this person is is because of their name. ... She has much more in common with George Bush Jr. than she does with Oprah Winfrey." He added, "It's neck and neck against a woman whose husband was the president, and [Obama is] a black man that no one knew a couple years ago. That is an unbelievable achievement." ...

Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn are divorcing after 11 years of marriage, according to People.com. The "Into the Wild" director and "Beowulf" actress have two children together, boys ages 14 and 16. ... In another marital development, Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese's divorce still isn't finalized yet — Von Teese filed in December 2006, citing Manson's alleged infidelity and partying — but they are now legally permitted to marry other people, People.com reports. Their marital status was terminated Thursday, but the ex-couple have yet to settle their finances. Manson, 38, has been dating Evan Rachel Wood, age 20. ...

While Josh Groban is enjoying a record-setting run atop the charts with his holiday album, Noël, Variety reports that the rest of the music business had a horrible Christmas week. Overall music sales during the Christmas shopping season were down 21 percent from last year. From the week of Thanksgiving through December 23, 83.9 million albums were sold, a steep decline from 2006's total of 105.28 million.

12.27.07

'Tis the season to get engaged, apparently. A day after it was revealed that Fergie and Josh Duhamel are going to be wed comes news that Jessica Alba is engaged to producer Cash Warren, the father of the child the "Awake" actress is expecting. The couple are expecting their first child in late spring or early summer, although a wedding date has yet to be revealed. ...

Miley Cyrus has donated a personalized, autographed Philadelphia 76ers jersey to an auction benefitting charities chosen by the NBA team. The singer/actress also known as Hannah Montana recently performed at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, the same arena where the Sixers play. At press time, bidding for the jersey was at $520. ...

What do Jay-Z, Sammy Hagar, Mel Gibson, Hugh Grant and 50 Cent have in common? All five made the cut on Forbes' list of Biggest Celebrity Paydays of 2007. Fiddy came in second, thanks to the Vitamin Water deal that netted him $100 million, while Jay-Z made $82 million (before taxes) when he sold Rocawear to Iconix Brand Group. Hagar earned almost as much — $80 million — when Gruppo Campari bought his Cabo Wabo tequila brand. ...

Madonna's directorial debut will premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, which will take place in Germany on February 7-17. Madge's short-form comedy "Filth and Wisdom" counts among its stars Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hutz, who also starred alongside Elijah Wood in "Everything Is Illuminated." ... In related news, there's cause for Madonna and Green Day to celebrate: Amazon's DRM-free downloads store began selling tunes from the Warner Music Group catalog starting Thursday (December 27), according to Billboard.biz. The development means all four major labels have now committed to eliminating DRM from their catalogs. WMG will also sell additional digital products, including album bundles with exclusive tracks, through Amazon. ...

Don't mess with Trey Songz. Videos circulating online show the R&B singer lashing out at a fan who apparently threw ice at him during a recent concert. As seen in the clips, Trey Songz tells the DJ to cut the music after the objects are thrown, and he then leaps into the crowd with his bodyguard to go after the fan. He is later seen apologizing to the women in the crowd for the disruption. ...

Good news for Brandy: An unnamed California Highway Patrol source reportedly told TMZ.com that the woman who died in a 2006 car crash involving the singer may have actually caused the crash herself. As officials continue to consider filing vehicular manslaughter charges over the December 2006 accident that took the life of Awatef Aboudihaj, the source told TMZ that rather than being the cause of the accident, Brandy may have been a victim of the pileup. According to the sources, Aboudihaj struck the vehicle in front of her and then slammed on her brakes, which caused Brandy to hit the woman's car. The city attorney has until the end of the day Friday to file criminal charges against Brandy in the incident. In the meantime, Brandy is still facing a $50 million wrongful-death suit from Aboudihaj's family. ...

Never afraid to take the unpopular position, TV physician Dr. Phil McGraw told People magazine that he thinks Lynne Spears is doing a great job raising her kids, despite the current controversy over 16-year-old Jamie Lynn's pregnancy. "We know the Spears family, particularly the parents," he told the magazine. "An asset that Britney and Jamie Lynn both have is a great and dedicated mother." McGraw admitted that his friend Lynne Spears is "troubled right now" but is "really looking for the positives in this." The good doctor's wife, Robin, said of the Spears clan, "They're a very strong, close-knit family. ... They're relying on each other." Just days later, Us Magazine reported that the father of the Spears girls, Jamie Spears, was still so "furious" with reports that his ex-wife arranged a $1 million deal with OK! Magazine for the story on Jamie Lynn's pregnancy, that he didn't spend Christmas with his ex-wife or daughter and instead stayed in Los Angeles and worked. ...

It sounds like Rivers Cuomo may have a bigger vault than we thought. The Weezer frontman told Billboard that he would like to release a sequel to Alone -- The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, the solo demos disc that came out last week. "I would love to put out at least one more," he told the magazine. "I'm talking with the record company [now] to figure out what's the best way for me to get more of this stuff out, and if they're gonna be involved or not. But it's certainly my hope to put out as much of this stuff as I can." Cuomo is also working on what he called a "deep and detailed" memoir covering the years from Weezer's formation in 1992 to the release of their self-titled debut in 1994. He expects to spend another year working on the book before turning it in to the publisher. ...

A man who adopted a rock-star alter ego pulled a gun at a Vancouver, Washington, convenience store on Christmas Eve, after several hours of harassing patrons in the quick stop and other local businesses. According to Portland, Oregon's KPTV, the man — who has not been identified — called himself "Ozzy Osbourne" when he pulled out the gun and threatened to shoot a clerk at the convenience store. Paramedics transported the man to a nearby hospital. ... Dredg have begun writing material for their next album. A statement from the band claims the recording should start before the end of winter, and the group will be on tour in the spring. Songs expected to make the final cut include "Gathering Pebbles," "Mourning This Morning" and "McGuffin." ...

The Anti-Defamation League has come to the defense of actor Will Smith following comments he made about Adolf Hitler during a recent interview with a Scottish newspaper. Smith has claimed his words were twisted, and the ADL has accepted the actor's explanation. "We welcome [his] statement that Hitler was a 'vicious killer' and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise," the group said in a statement, according to multiple reports. The ADL also praised Smith for taking "immediate steps to clarify his words and condemn Hitler."

• Yung Joc
• Jessica Simpson
• Franz Ferdinand
• Josh Groban
• Lil Wayne

50 Cent
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

Think 50 Cent is taking his upcoming face-off with Kanye West lightly? In an interview posted on SOHH.com on Friday (August 10), Fiddy threatened to end his rap career if he gets upstaged by 'Ye when their albums go head to head on September 11. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music," he said. "I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out anymore solo albums." 50's Curtis will square off against West's Graduation. ...

Lily Allen has canceled gigs once again, this time because she has strep throat and sinusitis, she says in a post on her MySpace blog. "I'm back in London eating my mum's chicken soup, 'cause I'm afraid the traveling has caught up with me," she wrote in the post. "Before anyone starts trying to accuse me of neglecting my fans, I want to apologise and say how sorry I am, but I can't risk causing any permanent damage." Defending herself further, the singer also posted an image of her holding her doctor's note. ...

D'Angelo received suspended jail sentences Friday after pleading guilty to charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, The Associated Press reports. A Virginia judge revoked his license for 13 and a half months and fined him $1,250, with additional penalties suspended. A reckless-driving charge was dropped. ... Beastie Boys finally said hello to Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday night with — if you can believe it — their first-ever concert in the borough. RollingStone.com reports that the group, which played at at McCarren Pool in Greenpoint, aptly opened the set with "Hello Brooklyn" and closed it with "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." ...

Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and Joss Stone are chipping in for Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, which arrives in stores September 25. Paul McCartney, Elton John, Robert Plant and other classic-rock vets also salute the bluesman on the two-disc set, the sales from which will go toward buying instruments for public schools in New Orleans, rebuilding Domino's home there and helping other Crescent City-related programs. ... Emma Bunton, a.k.a. Baby Spice, gave birth to a, um, baby boy in London on Friday. It's the first child for the singer and boyfriend Jade Jones, who used to be in a pop act of his own: boy band Damage. ...

Bright Eyes are lighting up their tour schedule with seven additional dates: September 14 (Boise, Idaho); September 15 (Spokane, Washington); September 18 (Fairbanks, Alaska); September 19-20 (Anchorage, Alaska); September 23 (Eugene, Oregon); and September 24 (Chico, California). ... Waiting for a Cure LP? Well, the wait just got a bit longer. The band's new album was supposed to drop earlier this year, got bumped to the fall — and now won't be ready until the spring, Billboard.com reports. The band is busy touring and frontman Robert Smith hasn't finished writing yet. ...

Underoath will hit the road with Every Time I Die, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster and Poison the Well for a fall tour beginning September 22 in Houston and ending November 6 in Orlando, Florida. ETID, who are still on the Sounds of the Underground Tour, will drop their new Ferret release The Big Dirty on September 4. Earlier this week, they posted "No Son of Mine" — a track from the Steve Evetts-produced (Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura) effort — on their MySpace page. ... Queens of the Stone Age will not perform as part of Samsung and AT&T's free Summer Krush series on Monday in Los Angeles, as previously reported by Billboard.com. Plain White T's will play the gig instead. ...

As promised, Pearl Jam have posted the edited and unedited videos of their performance of "Daughter" at Lollapalooza on their Web site. Some segments of the performance were missing in AT&T's live "Blue Room" webcast, including critical remarks frontman Eddie Vedder made about President Bush. A spokesperson for AT&T recently told MTV News the omissions were not intentional and were mistakenly made by a webcast vendor. ...

Spoon, Coheed and Cambria, Devin the Dude and others have been confirmed for this year's CMJ Music Marathon, going down October 16-20 in New York, Billboard.com reports. UNKLE will play one of their first gigs ever with a live band, and surprise VMA Video of the Year nominees Justice will also hit up the fest. ... Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, Deerhoof, Grizzly Bear and David Byrne are among the acts who are contributing performances of songs written by David Shrigley for Worried Noodles, an unusual package containing two CDs and a hardcover book by the Scottish artist. The book of words and drawings was previously issued and caught the attention of the musicians, who have chalked up new songs for the set. ...

Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones flick is rolling into next year. The film, originally slated for an August 26 theatrical release, will open in April instead, to allow the band more time to promote it. ... Speaking of rock docs, IFC has secured the rights to "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten," a flick about the former Clash frontman that will hit select theaters November 2 and be televised on the cable channel thereafter. ... An unreleased Mick Jagger song produced by John Lennon in Los Angeles in 1973 will surface on The Very Best of Mick Jagger, due October 2. Jagger recorded the song, which has been on bootlegs for decades, with a cast of all-stars that included Harry Nilsson, Jack Bruce, Al Kooper and others. ...

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a special edition of the album will be released August 28. The three-disc collection will look like a cloth-covered book, and include remastered stereo and mono versions of the album plus bonus tracks. The effort will also include a 12-page reproduction of Syd Barrett's notebook. ... Notorious ex-David Bowie manager Tony Defries will release his autobiography, Gods and Gangsters, in 2008. Also known for his work with the Beatles and Stevie Wonder, Defries is best remembered for helping to fashion the string of iconic characters rolled out by Bowie in the 1970s, as well as helping launch the solo careers of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Luther Vandross and John Mellencamp. ... The world's leading record label, Universal Music Group, has announced that it will experiment with offering a large part of its catalog for download without copy protection at least through January. According to The New York Times, Universal (home to 50 Cent, Amy Winehouse and Akon) will offer the songs without DRM through RealNetworks, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Google and some artists' sites — but not on top download service iTunes.

08.09.07

Gwyneth Paltrow wasn't so into the initial idea of singing onstage last year with Jay-Z at London's Royal Albert Hall, she admitted to W magazine for its September issue. "Jay was playing at the Albert Hall on my birthday, and he said, 'Will you sing on this song?' " the actress told the mag. "At first I didn't want to do it!" Paltrow also talked a little about her husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who was also onstage for the strange collabo. "When Chris gets home, we're not going to do anything other than what any regular couple does," she said. ...

A day after Amy Winehouse canceled two European festival dates following a trip to a London hospital to deal with what her label termed "severe exhaustion," a spokesperson for the singer said doctors have ordered Winehouse to rest in bed. For now, she's still expected to perform at the Virgin Festival in Toronto on September 8 as well as a string of U.S. dates in September. Winehouse's spokesperson would not comment on British tabloid reports that said the collapse that lead to the singer's hospitalization was possibly drug-related. ...

A woman is peeved that no one from Britney Spears' camp has contacted the woman about her car, which the singer was seen driving into earlier this week in Studio City, California. Kim Robard-Rifkin told CelebTV.com on Wednesday that, "It was simply like my car didn't matter to her, my inconvenience didn't matter to her." Robard-Rifkin, who filed a police report Thursday (August 9), added, "I'm not asking for money. I'm not asking for a new car. ... I simply want my car fixed, the same as I would fix somebody's car if I had done that." ...

Hilary Duff is branching out. The singer/actress has partnered with Michaels stores for Stuff by Hilary Duff, a new fashion-crafts line that includes bracelets, necklaces, charms, patches and more. All Michaels stores will host in-store demonstrations of the products on August 26 from 1-3 p.m. local time. ... An "American Idol" hopeful went into labor during her audition on Monday at Texas Stadium and had contractions as she was singing, People reports. After that, Antoria Gillon, who was taken to a local hospital, gave birth to a healthy son. She will be on the next round of the show. ...

John Mayer has been confirmed for the upcoming season of "Austin City Limits," Pitchfork reports — but the program will be heavily weighed toward indie-rock acts too. Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Regina Spektor and Wilco have also been booked for the PBS series, which will start airing in October. ... The lineup for the first-ever Monolith Music Festival, to be held September 14-15 at Denver's historic Red Rock Amphitheatre, will include the Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon, the Decemberists, Editors, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spoon, Cake, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Das EFX and many more acts. ...

Thrice have pegged October 16 as the release date for The Alchemy Index: Vols. I & II - Fire & Water, the first two parts of a four-volume concept effort. The other two chapters, Vols. III & IV - Earth & Air, will be released in the spring. Both sets will be issue by Vagrant, the new label the band calls home after parting ways with Island in June. Earlier this year, frontman Dustin Kensrue called the Alchemy project "daunting" in an interview with MTV News. ... If you've been exchanging MySpace messages with Chris Cornell in recent weeks, chances are you were dealing with an imposter. The real Cornell logged onto his MySpace page on Wednesday to clear up matters. "Over the past several months, several incidents have taken place where others felt the need to engage in activities pretending to be me," he wrote. "I have been wanting to make a clear statement to fans, friends and anyone this may concern." He added the confounding remark, "Under no circumstances, under any name or address, do I or have I ever communicated or corresponded with anyone online or otherwise." ...

Want to get up close and personal with Velvet Revolver? You can get your chance for $250, thanks to meet-and-greet packages being offered for the hard-rock group's Tuesday gig at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The package includes a VIP laminate, personal photograph with the band, exclusive 8x10 color poster and autograph. ... Three unaired Alice in Chains performances taped during the band's "Unplugged" session in April 1996 are being unearthed for a revitalized version of the package, Billboard.com reports. The new Unplugged will drop September 18 and feature a bonus DVD boasting "Angry Chair," "Frogs" and "The Killer Is Me." ...

Expect to catch an eyeful of U2 rehearsing songs from their new album in "Here It Is," a documentary about the band's longtime producer Daniel Lanois that is set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, RollingStone.com reports. The feature film captures Lanois and the band in a studio in Morocco, with Billy Bob Thornton, Willie Nelson and others making guest appearances. ... Ricky Martin wants to start creating "a family of many colors" this year by adopting "one [child] from each continent," the singer told reporters Wednesday in his Puerto Rico homeland. The 35-year-old Martin is not married. ...

A fifth woman will be allowed to testify that Phil Spector threatened her with a gun, the judge in the music producer's trial ruled Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. Former Spector employee and girlfriend Devra Robitaille was expected to testify Thursday after jurors returned from a tour of Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California, where he allegedly killed actress Lana Clarkson. The defense — which on Wednesday called to the stand a neuropathologist who said the way Clarkson's body was found was consistent with a suicide — objected strongly to the decision to let Robitaille testify.

• 50 Cent
• Lily Allen
• Spice Girls
• Bright Eyes
• The Cure

50 Cent
Photo: Jason Campbell

The news happens all the time, even while you're catching up on beauty sleep. Check out this brief rundown to bring you up to speed this morning — a quick heads up from your friends at MTV News.

Here's what we've got:

Swizz Beatz tells us that he may have said that he'd be going it alone on his new album — which now features Kanye West, T.I. and E-40 but he's got a good reason for changing his mind. "I didn't want to beg anybody for anything," Swizz explained. "Now with my songs out, I'm getting approached from people I respect." ...

We talked to Franz Ferdinand at Bonnaroo, and the band revealed that their next album (due in 2008) will put a synth-heavy spin on their dance rock sound — all because of bandmember Nick McCarthy's choice of accessories. "[He] bought himself a new velvet cape and we needed an excuse for him to wear it, so we had to get him a big bank of synthesizers to play," Alex Kapranos said. ...

And bringing the story of a real person to life onscreen isn't a new experience for Angelina Jolie, but she told us that starring in "A Mighty Heart" as Mariane Pearl — whose husband, reporter Daniel Pearl, was killed while following a lead in post-9/11 Pakistan — has been the most challenging. "The responsibility of [telling Pearl's story] became really daunting and more pressure than I've ever had on anything," Jolie said.

Quote of the Day: "If a girl's hot and her mama's ugly then she's gonna be ugly in a couple of years." Will.I.Am

Here's what everyone else is talking about:

50 Cent spilled big movie news to New York's Daily News. Gossip column "Rush & Malloy" reports that the rapper's upcoming film with Robert De Niro has a new castmember &38212; Al Pacino. "I'm not even sure they know yet," 50 said of the "Righteous Kill" change. "Me and Robert were supposed to shoot a film where I played a police officer, but now Al and Robert play the cops." ...

Britney Spears "is not listening to anyone and doing exactly what she wants" according to New York Post's "Page Six," but while the source says "sometimes she doesn't know best," the independence may prove to be the ticket to a solid comeback, as another source tells the column that Britney has "four definite hits on the next album. It's amazing." ...

Spoiler alert! Reuters reports that a hacker who claims that he's busted into a computer at London publisher and knows the fate of Harry Potter and his comrades in the boy wizard's final chapter has posted details of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" online a month ahead of its July 21 release "to make reading of the upcoming book useless and boring." A rep for Scholastic wouldn't say whether the hacker's revelations were accurate. ...

Bon Jovi, White Stripes and Brad Paisley could end up in a photo finish for the top of Billboard's albums charts, according to Hits Daily Double's one-day sales reports. Bon Jovi are the projected winners, with 230,000, thanks to their LP/ ticket sales deal, but the Stripes and Paisley are close behind with a projected 210,000 each. ...

Are Aerosmith and the surviving members of Run-DMC reuniting onstage this weekend? World Entertainment News Network (via Blabbermouth) reports that Rev. Run and DMC will join the band Sunday for their set at London's Hyde Park Calling festival. ...

A missing Homer Simpson has been found in Malaysia. A life-sized statue of the cartoon giant stolen from a movie theater in Kuala Lumpur was tracked down by police on Thursday, The Associated Press reports. Two college students are allegedly behind the theft. ...

It's been up since Tuesday, and no names has been posted yet, but blog Thou Shall Not Leak (via Idolator) is threatening to post "the names, indelible and set out for all to see" of people who leak advance copies of albums. The blogger only goes by JP ("I work in the industry and people's lack of care or respect for the hard work artists and the people who put out records appals me") and has received 20 comments as of Thursday morning (June 21), some applauding the idea, some wondering if JP is prepared for any libel claims and one music blogger outing himself. ...

PerezHilton.com was back in business Wednesday night, but if you wondered why the site was eerily quiet all day, there's a reason. The PerezHilton.com Web host took the site offline Wednesday, after repeated warnings over Mario Lavandeira's use of copyrighted images, Variety reports. The site was dark for a few hours while it moved to a new host. "He has a skeleton or temporary situation where he can still post," said Matt Lum, owner of the company that manages the site. Eight photo agencies have sued Lavandeira for posting celebrity photos without permission. ...

And Wes Craven is suing Pauly Shore, TMZ.com reports. And while it would be a whole lot more fun if it was a case of the horror master accusing Shore of somehow ripping his Weasel persona from "The Last House on the Left," the dispute is of the standard bad-neighbor variety. The suit claims that Shore didn't keep up his pool and sprinklers, and water from his property caused a landslide near Craven's home.

• MTV News RAW: 50 Cent
• MTV Rough Cut: Angelina Jolie

• "A Mighty Heart"

• 50 Cent
• Britney Spears
• Swizz Beatz
• Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos
Photo: MTV News

In the time since Franz Ferdinand's last tour concluded in the fall, the Glaswegian rockers decided to take it easy for a few months before regrouping to craft fresh material for the inevitable album numero tres. The off-time freed up frontman Alex Kapranos to produce a new LP by English trio the Cribs and afforded the rest of Franz some time to compose riffs and beats for the follow-up to 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better.

All rested, Franz Ferdinand are gearing up for their return, which should come early next year in the form of a new album. The boys still need to come up with a title and write six or seven songs for the effort, which they've been working on since January. And, according to Kapranos, no one should expect a drastic shift in the band's trademark get-that-body-movin' sound.

"The new songs have got a much heavier synth/dance kind of element to them," he explained backstage before the band's set last week at this year's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee (see "Bonnaroo Recap: White Stripes, Police, Lily Allen Bring Heat To Already Scorching Fest"). "[Keyboardist and guitarist] Nick [McCarthy] bought himself a new velvet cape and we needed an excuse for him to wear it, so we had to get him a big bank of synthesizers to play."

Kapranos said the band, whose You Could Have It So Much Better was produced by Rich Costey (Muse, Interpol), is in the process of tracking down a producer to helm the next record. Erol Alkan, a London DJ they worked with for a cover of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends," is an early front-runner for the gig.

"He's young, and he sees things in a different way than a lot of old-school producers," he explained. "I reckon he'll be the Andy Warhol of our age. He's a good guy."

Recently, Franz Ferdinand have been previewing some of their newest material, playing shows in New York and Glasgow, in addition to last week's Bonnaroo appearance, just to "see how people like the new tunes," Kapranos said. So far, they've finished six tunes, with five more on the verge of completion. The completed tracks are: "Favourite Lie," "Anyone in Love," "Flight of the Galvatron," "A New Thrill," "English Goodbye" and "Turn It On."

" 'Turn It On' is a song about obsession," Kapranos said. "It's like when you talk to someone who's completely obsessed in a maniacal, insane kind of way. People you meet in everyday life, and they talk as though it's completely ordinary to them, this completely crazy obsession they've got — that's the real way you can tell if someone's completely nuts ... when they don't realize they're nuts at all."

"A New Thrill" centers on characters from Truman Capote's 1965 tome, "In Cold Blood," and "it's about how people who are relatively ordinary can get together, and that combination of characters will [make] ordinary people do exceptional things — sometimes exceptionally great things, and sometimes exceptionally evil things," Kapranos said.

"English Goodbye," he explained, "is an expression that's used in Germany." When Kapranos would visit friends in Berlin, "we'd go to these parties that would go on pretty late into the morning, and [someone] would say an English goodbye when he was leaving a party and didn't actually want to say goodbye to somebody. That's because Germans presume that only the English would be rude enough not to say goodbye to people. So, if you're going to say goodbye without actually saying goodbye to someone, that's an English goodbye."

Kapranos projects the forthcoming Franz LP will be done in time for an early 2008 release, completely ruling out the possibility that it'll be in stores this year.

• Bonnaroo Blitz: Lily Allen, White Stripes, Franz

• Bonnaroo 2007 Performances

• Franz Ferdinand

The 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
Photo: MTV News

On The Record: Braving Bonnaroo

Up until Monday afternoon, I was living in a tent. Showering with bottled water. Wandering aimlessly through a dust bowl, looking for shade, water and food. Fighting for survival, skin bubbling and lips cracked. Hallucinating. Dying.

For four days, I was on assignment down in Manchester, Tennessee, camping out with the unwashed masses at Bonnaroo. I got sunstroke, I got covered in dust and I ate a lot of stuff out of cans (or in burrito form). I also had a great time — I believe in my half-dusted haze I may have even called Bonnaroo "probably the best [festival] in America" (see "Bonnaroo Recap: White Stripes, Police, Lily Allen Bring Heat To Already Scorching Fest").

Somewhere in between all the heatstroke and the hyperbole, I began to jot down notes about my experience, and since I just got back into the office late Monday (via helicopter, 'cause that's how MTV News rolls), I've decided to turn my innate ramblings into this week's edition of BTTS (lucky you!).

I've edited out all the gems like "Friday — 2:47 p.m.: Tempeh not just city in Arizona, Seitan not just Lord of Darkness," but what's left is a pretty good look at my dance with death at Bonnaroo 2007, not to mention a convenient way to take potshots at hippies and link to photos like this and this. Read on if you're looking for the inside scoop on the 'Roo (or if you have five to 10 minutes to kill at work).

Thursday, 10:45 a.m.: JetBlue flight 1043 touches down at Nashville International Airport. Instantly, some doped-out hippie toward the back of the plane bleats, "Bonnnarooo!" I already regret my decision to come here.

11:30 a.m.: Rent car, make trip to Wal-Mart. They have an entire section devoted to biscuits here. No lie. Also, Master P's clothing line, P. Miller, is sold here, and if that isn't an apt metaphor for his entire career, then I don't know what is.

3:47 p.m.: Arrive at Bonnaroo. Survey scene at my campsite.

3:49 p.m.: Want to leave Bonnaroo.

5:31 p.m.: Finish pitching tent in "Guest Camping," which is really only "camping" in the loosest sense of the term ... after all, I have showers nearby and I'm actually sleeping like 5 feet from my rental car. Yet, despite these facts, I will spend the entire weekend A) telling everyone within earshot that I'm "totally camping out"; and B) complaining about the fact that "I only have a tent and an air mattress to sleep on." Also, I decide to keep my hair product packed away in the trunk, as I don't want the heat to make it all gooey.

5:32 p.m.: Question my own masculinity.

8:33 p.m.: The Black Angels totally scare the crap out of anyone on any sort of psychedelic drugs with a droning, terrifying set, one made only more droning and terrifying by the sheer number of helicopters hovering in the night sky, whisking talent on and off the Bonnaroo grounds. I'm not even on acid and I'm scared to death.

10:41 p.m.: Purchase an ironic tie-dyed T-shirt. Feel somewhat bad about doing so. On the flipside, I now have something to wear in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, this summer.

11:10 p.m.: The National take the stage roughly 30 minutes behind schedule, still totally kill it. No joke here: The National rule.

11:30 p.m.: Clutch are, inexplicably, playing Bonnaroo. Begin searching crowd for Bam Margera, as he is required by law to remain within 150 yards of the band at all times.

Friday, 8:02 a.m.: Wake up, sun baking my tent. Totally hate life. One of the kids camping next to me apparently decided to sleep on his cooler last night. It's my first up-close-and-personal interaction with a partied-out "Wookiee," which someone tells me is a term of endearment for jam-band fans with "unshaven faces, long hair and a lack of personal hygiene." (There's even a Web site dedicated to their passing out — complete with awesome Chewbacca sounds.)

8:15 a.m.: Brush teeth. Spend next four hours trying to find shade. Consider crawling under car and dying.

3:50 p.m.: Kings of Leon rock out. Later on in the weekend, a writer who did a story about them will tell me that one of the Kings' mom tailors all their jeans for them, so they're extra tight. Apparently, there are "hidden zippers" involved.

6:12 p.m.: I get a henna tattoo of a unicorn (or, if you ask the woman who gave me the sorta-tat, "A horse with a knife on its head"). I spend the next day walking around with my sleeve pinned up because the henna needs to dry. Get sympathetic looks from several hippies.

9:04 p.m.: Tool. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

11:59 p.m.: Super Jam — an annual Bonnaroo tradition — begins. This year, we've got ?uestlove from the Roots sitting in with John Paul Jones and Ben Harper. At the same time, Sound Tribe Sector Nine — a "five-piece electronic jam band fusing live instruments with electronica," according to their Web site — start up nearby. I begin to wonder if I am allowed to bill MTV for hazard pay.

Saturday, 2:37 a.m.: Sounds like Super Jam is ending. I think STS9 are done too. Of course, I can't be sure, as I am sitting in my tent complaining.

12:30 p.m.: A jam-packed day gets off with a bunch of action in some of the 'Roo's smaller tents, but I am nowhere to be found. Rather, I am debating the merits of R. Kelly with my producer Monty on a shaded picnic table. (He's not crazy about R, but I maintain he's "definitely eccentric. Possibly a genius.") Then we start talking about summer festivals in relation to "Peanuts" characters. We decided that Bonnaroo would definitely be Pigpen, and the Lilith Fair is either Peppermint Patty or Marcie, but we really couldn't decide — oh, wait ... sorry, I think my brain shut off for a minute there.

5:30 p.m.: The Hold Steady finish up a triumphant, fist-pumping set at That Tent. Some drunk guy from Louisville, Kentucky, tries to fight me, then launches into a tirade about how he'll "never come back to Bonnaroo" because security confiscated an ice pick he was trying to bring into the campgrounds. This sucks doubly, because the ice pick was "a family heirloom" and if dude wanted to "f--- someone up, [he] definitely wouldn't need an ice pick to do it." Terrifying.

7:55 p.m.: Franz Ferdinand are totally ruling the Which Stage with a spiky set of tunes both new and old (plus a cover of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends"). Meanwhile, aged fans (and a surprising number of actual police) are trooping over to the What Stage to catch the fest's most hyped set — a purported two and a half hours with the mighty Police.

10:40 p.m.: The Police wrap, a scant 50 minutes before their set is supposed to end. Roughly 77,000 people shuffle off into the night, dreams crushed (I covered the Police's disappointing set in greater depth here). Sting and company presumably hop into gold-plated helicopter, hightail it the eff out of the sticks.

11:22 p.m.: Monty turns to me, asks, "Dude, do you think the Police are even in Tennessee anymore?"

Sunday, 12:12 a.m.: The Flaming Lips prove once again that they're the absolute kings of style over substance (and that they're probably the most underappreciated guys in rock) with a mind-melting, shambling, psych-heavy set that featured a spaceship landing onstage, Wayne Coyne's omnipresent bubble, dancing Santas, hand puppets, confetti and balloons. It's so great that you don't notice that Coyne hasn't been able to sing properly since about 2003. Their set wraps at roughly 2:15 a.m., which makes it the longest performance of their 24-year career.

8:15 a.m.: I finally take a shower.

2:30 p.m.: Hey, Wolfmother are playing! And playing the same songs they've been doing for roughly a year and a half now!

4:40 p.m.: I interview the White Stripes. During the end of our chat, Jack White makes a crack about how people at summer festivals shouldn't wear baseball caps. "Have some self respect," he laughs. Incidentally, Monty is wearing a Yankees cap, and he will spend the next four hours threatening to punch Jack White if he ever sees him in public.

5:00 p.m.: I am officially running out of steam. My notes from this time read like this: "Decemberists = Linen Suits" and "Good too see Jeff Tweedy still looks like the Singin' Hobo." Perhaps my brain is cooked.

8:45 p.m.: With a "God bless Bonnaroo, God bless Tennessee!" the Stripes exit the stage, having just rocked the hemp outta 80,000 or so 'Roo heads. At this point, Monty and I decided we've had about all we can take of Bonnaroo. So we skip Widespread Panic — and miss out on what someone described as "possibly the best 20-minute bass solo you'll ever see" — and decide to get ready to leave.

Monday, 11:20 a.m.: My super-charged helicopter lifts off from Bonnaroo.

As we leave the rolling countryside behind us, I feel myself changing from a sun-kissed, sorta-blissed child of the earth back into the jaded, elitist pr--- that I know I really am. Feels good to be headed home.

B-Sides: Other Stories I'm Following This Week

Seriously, has there been a more hotly anticipated major-label release in recent memory with worse pre-release buzz than Kelly Clarkson's My December? (see "Kelly Clarkson's My December: Rumors Aside, LP Isn't A Radical Departure")

Boy, that Slayer/Manson tour sure sounds like it's getting off on the right foot. (see "Slayer's Kerry King Warns Marilyn Manson About Co-Headlining Run")

A piece that combines the theory of German psychiatrist Hugo Münsterberg, the musings of American critic H.L. Mencken and, uh, the stupid crap of something called "The Beaterator." Stephen Totilo rules. (see " 'Grand Theft Auto' Of 1916; Launching 'Traxxpad'; 'Halo' Toys & More, In GameFile")

Questions? Concerns? Drop me a line at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Bonnaroo Blitz: Lily Allen, White Stripes, Franz

• Bonnaroo 2007 Performances
• The Tribe Of Bonnaroo '07

• The National
• The White Stripes
• The Police
• Kings Of Leon
• The Roots

The White Stripes' Jack White at Bonnaroo '07
Photo: Jeff Gentner/ Getty Images

MANCHESTER, Tennessee — If you're reading this, it probably means that I survived the dust and the djembes of Bonnaroo 2007 ... that I somehow made it back to my campsite night after night, that I didn't expire due to heatstroke or dehydration or bug attack, and that — by some higher grace — I wasn't killed by an overdose of my own New York-bred cynicism.

By now, you've probably heard a lot about Bonnaroo: that it's a hippie festival where no one showers and the air is heavy with patchouli and pot smoke, that it's a vaguely creepy (and sorta hilarous) commune with jam bands noodling on long into the night and kids selling — ahem — sundries out of the back of dusty VW buses.

And, of course, all of that is true: Bonnaroo is, in a sense, a very crunchy stereotype theater. But if you're willing to look past all the peasant dresses and dreadlocks, and if you're not too shy to immerse yourself in it (as I did — catch even more about the bands and my hot, rocking, smelly weekend in this here blog), you'll realize that the festival is probably the best in America: an honest, snark-free celebration of music and music fans. It's also a well-oiled, clean-burning machine (seriously: 80,000 fans separating glass bottles and metal cans from their campsite trash!?!) that has, over the past few years, made a subtle but determined decision to become the best summer fest in the world.

Last year, 'Roo organizers decided to shake up the fest's jam-band connotations by bringing in a few ringers — namely Radiohead — plus a host of completely un-jammy acts like Beck, Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes (see "Radiohead Marathon, Beck Puppet Show, Partial Phish Jam Mix It Up At Bonnaroo") to raise their profile. And this year, they decided to pull out all the stops, scoring the coup-de-grace of summer fest headliners (the Police), plus Maynard James Keenan's murky and mysterious Tool, the mighty White Stripes, the critically adored Wilco and, in the interest of keeping it real for the jam-band set, Widespread Panic.

And those were just the headliners. Smaller stages (with aggravating names like the This Tent, the That Tent, etc.) were rocked and swayed by the likes of Lily Allen, the Hold Steady, Tortoise, Feist, DJ Shadow (who, if you were to believe his on-stage banter, chose Bonnaroo as the place to announce his retirement from live performance), the National, Girl Talk, Gogol Bordello and Galactic.

It was as diverse and massive a lineup as any festival around the world, one carefully planned to appeal to both 'Roo vets and newcomers alike. And appeal it did: The fest sold out all of its 80,000 tickets again this year — and everyone, from sunbaked junior Deadheads to junior account executives, partied and danced into the wee hours of the morning, worked the drum-circle circuit back at their dusty campsites and didn't seem to mind sleeping for only a few hours each night.

That dedication was both amazing and sort of scary, but when there's so much music to be heard, sleep sort of becomes an afterthought. For the first time, this year's festival featured a full lineup on Thursday, meaning that there were now four days of nearly nonstop rock to ingest.

But Thursday was still just a warm-up for the three days of serious action that lay ahead. Most got their heads on straight to watch Lily Allen bob and weave her way through a set of sharp-tongued pop, or a bit of nerd-tronica courtesy of Hot Chip. Then, as shadows grew long, the tough choices loomed: spooky avant metal courtesy of Tool, or the warm-and-fuzzy mandolin jams of the String Cheese Incident?

I chose both, admiring the sheer amount of glowsticks SCI fans lobbed skyward during a series of rapidly unspooled solos, then trekking off into the darkness to catch Tool build throbbing basslines into dark, proggy towers, with Keenan cracking jokes about "the marijuana and the LSD" and probably reveling in the fact that he just seriously fried some minds (though we'll probably never be sure, since Tool did no press and allowed no one to film or photograph their set).

Saturday was opressively hot (a recurring theme of the festival, for sure) but that didn't stop fans from bobbing to a spiky set from Franz Ferdinand or getting all goofy for Regina Spektor. And no one seemed to mind the soaring temperatures during the Hold Steady's early evening performance, which featured so much fist-pumping from the audience that even the band seemed surprised.

And by the time the Steady wrapped, things were really shifting into high gear, with hyped-up kids (and, presumably, their parents) pressed hard against the main stage security barrier to catch the Police's much-hyped set, which started out so promising — with a blast of the gong from drummer Stewart Copeland and an incredibly proficient version of "Message in a Bottle" — but quickly devolved into roughly 100 minutes of jammed-out, sorta ambient music with the occasional mega-hit sprinkled in for good measure. It's not that the Police weren't technically sound — they were — it's just that they never really connected with the Bonnaroo crowd, and it didn't help when Sting surveyed them all and decided that they were "80,000 Tennesseans." And all that happened before the Police decided to cut their set short about an hour — which is about as close as you can get to a sin 'round these parts.

But the Police's shortcomings only opened the door for a host of other acts to swoop in and steal the night. Girl Talk cracked open his laptop and delivered a sweaty, super-fun set, and the Philadelphia Experiment — a jazzy side-project of the Roots' ?uestlove — made things cool and funky. But the night belonged to the Flaming Lips, who landed a spaceship onstage, then — flanked by an army of dancing Santas and Martians, and bolstered by their usual assortment of eye-melting live show tricks (dry ice, streamers, hundreds of balloons) — delivered an impassioned, ragged and downright joyful set ... the kind that makes you forget that frontman Wayne Coyne's voice has been shot since about 2003.

With so much energy buzzing in the air on Saturday, it's no wonder Sunday had such a low-key vibe. Most began packing up their campsites by midday, and as the sun began to set on the dusty fields, roughly one-fourth of the previous night's revellers were long gone, which is a shame. Why? Because they missed probably the best sets of the festival: First from Wilco, who injected spacey ambience into their threadbare tunes, and then from the White Stripes, who tore through a thunderous and squealing set with delightful abandon, making more noise than a two-piece should legally be allowed to.

The last band of the fest was venerable jam pioneers Widespread Panic, but, to be honest, by the time they took the stage, I was spent: too much sun, too much sound. But still, it was a blast. Four days of good times and grime. Is it the best festival in the world? Well, that's a discussion for another day. All I know is that myself — and 80,000 like me — had a blast, and I made it home in one piece.

Isn't that enough?

Check out You.R.Here, MTV News' new concert blog, for James' several-times-daily reports from Bonnaroo — and add your own comments and photos!

• Bonnaroo Blitz: Lily Allen, White Stripes, Franz

• Bonnaroo 2007 Performances
• The Tribe Of Bonnaroo '07

• The White Stripes
• The Police
• Lily Allen
• Franz Ferdinand
• Feist

Kanye West
Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images

Kanye West has finally stopped teasing us and released the first record from his Graduation LP. It's called "Can't Tell Me Nothing," and Hot 97's DJ Enuff can brag about being the first spinner to play it. "Wait till I get my money right/ Then you can't tell me nothing right," Mr. West raps on the track. ...

The trophies keep rolling in for Mary J. Blige. The singer will be presented with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' Voice of Music Award at the 20th Anniversary Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. The event will be held June 25 in Los Angeles. ...

Phil Spector said, "I think I killed somebody," and had a gun in his hand after the death of actress Lana Clarkson on February 3, 2003, Adriano Desouza testified in court Tuesday (May 15), according to The Associated Press. The chauffeur said he drove Spector and Clarkson to the music producer's home around 3 a.m. and later heard a "pow." According to Desouza, Spector walked out of his mansion at 5 a.m. with gun in hand and told the driver, "I think I killed somebody." "What happened, sir?" Desouza replied, according to his testimony — Spector responded with a shrug, after which the driver "saw the legs of the lady," he said. ...

Bono's DATA — Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa — advocacy group has released a progress report that shows that G8 members have contributed less than half the amount needed to double African aid to $50 billion by 2010 as promised, AP reports. "The G8 are sleepwalking into a crisis of credibility," Bono said in Germany, where a G8 summit will be hosted next month. "I know the DATA report will feel like a cold shower, but I hope it will wake us all up." ...

Lindsay Lohan is #1, Jessica Alba is #2 and Scarlett Johansson is #3 on Maxim's eighth annual "Hot 100" list, but it's MTV Movie Awards host Sarah Silverman (#29) who made the June issue's cover. Christina Aguilera (#4), Rihanna (#8), Fergie (#10), Beyoncé (#13), Avril Lavigne (#15), Ashlee Simpson (#16), Nicole Scherzinger (#22), Hilary Duff (#23) and Nelly Furtado (#26) were among those who came in ahead of Silverman. ...

Mike Jones has moved the release date of his second LP, The American Dream, from this month to July 10. The rapper, who has been asking fans to call him for years, also announced that he's branching out into e-mail, via AskMikeJones@gmail.com. "There were many times where my friends (fans) couldn't get through [on the phone]," Jones said in a statement. "With the e-mail address, it will be much easier for me to communicate with them." Jones said his Blackberry "is always with me." ... Master P and Romeo have something to say about the recent flap over hip-hop lyrics — and they've started a new record label to prove it. Take a Stand Records will be a home "for hip-hop artists with street music without offensive lyrics," according to the label's Web site, which is littered with video clips pertaining to the rap-lyrics controversy. In addition to P and Romeo, the label also counts Forrest Lipton and Young V on its roster. ...

Franz Ferdinand continue working on material for their next album. According to frontman Alex Kapranos, the Scottish band is still working in a practice space, fine-tuning new songs. He revealed a couple of song titles ("A New Thrill" and "English Goodbye") via the band's MySpace page but didn't make any projections about when the guys would enter the studio to record the follow-up to 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better. ... OK Go's Damian Kulash, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, the Indigo Girls and others are helping New Orleans rebound with a Future of Music Coalition benefit show to be held May 27 at Tipitina's Uptown. Proceeds will go to Sweet Home New Orleans, a nonprofit group that provides rental help for displaced musicians. ... Crowded House have lined up their first U.S. tour in more than 10 years. The reunited band will hit the pavement August 4 in Northampton, Massachusetts, and keep chugging along until September 12 in Atlanta. Pete Yorn, 16 Frames and Fountains of Wayne will trade off opening duties. ...

Paris Hilton's psychiatrist describes the socialite as "emotionally distraught and traumatized" over her 45-day jail sentence — and currently unable to defend herself from a $10 million civil suit filed by heiress Zeta Graff, AP reports. A Los Angeles judge postponed the trial — which was set to begin this month — to August. The suit, filed in 2005, accuses Hilton of spreading "vicious lies" about Graff. ... Bassist Ryan Sinn is out of Angels & Airwaves — and has been since April 19, according to a message he posted to the A&A fan club. Sinn said the reasons he was given for his dismissal were "severely hypocritical to the point of abhorrent disgust," and explained that despite rumors to the contrary, he "would never leave a band because of a clash of ideas, or control. ... What matters to me now is freedom — freedom to express myself and the freedom to be exactly who I am." ...

Scotland's Aerogramme have thrown in the towel. The indie-rockers revealed they will call it quits after playing out their remaining tour dates — all of which are scheduled for the United Kingdom and Europe. The band's last LP, My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go, was released back in January. "[The] reasons are multiple and complex," the band said in a statement. "It is, however, fair to say that the never-ending financial struggle coupled with an almost superhuman ability to dodge the zeitgeist have taken their toll, ensuring that we just don't have any fight left in us." ... Sylvester Stallone's lawyers pleaded guilty on the "Rocky" actor's behalf on Tuesday in a Sydney, Australia, court, answering charges that he smuggled 48 vials of the banned human-growth hormone Jintropin and several vials of male human testosterone into the country in February. In a statement, Stallone, 60, apologized for what he called a "terrible mistake," saying he has taken the drugs for years for an unspecified medical condition and was unaware that they were banned in Australia, according to an AP report. The action star is expected to be sentenced on Monday and will likely face a fine of $10,000 or more. ...

The attorneys general of eight states sent a letter to a lawyer for MySpace charging that the popular social-networking site has uncovered thousands of known sex offenders using the service, but had not done enough to block them from MySpace, according to The New York Times. "The fact that MySpace failed to come forward immediately with this information is really staggering," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumental said. Officials obtained their information from unnamed but, "highly credible private groups" that got it directly from MySpace, according to the Times report. The letter asked MySpace officials to provide the names and addresses of sex offenders on MySpace along with a list of steps the company has taken to alert law-enforcement officials and other MySpace users. The chief security officer for MySpace responded in a letter that the company had recently begun using new software to "proactively identify and remove any known sex offenders from the site." MySpace was given until May 29 to respond to the request.

05.14.2007

Don't get too excited, Harry Potter fans — despite rumors that J.K. Rowling is considering writing another book in the Potter-verse, that doesn't mean there will be an actual book eight. In fact, as she clarified on her Web site, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" remains the end of the series and another novel is "highly unlikely." "I've got enough story for seven books and I never planned to carry the story beyond the end of book seven," she wrote. "I might do an eighth book for charity, a kind of encyclopedia of the world so that I could use all the extra material that's not in the books ... we'll see!" Rowling previously wrote the Potter reference books "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" under the aliases Kennilworthy Whisp and Newt Scamander, respectively, and proceeds for both went to Comic Relief. Meanwhile, Rowling is requesting that fans go easy on the spoilers for "Deathly Hallows." Spoilers won't stop people from buying the book, they never have — all it will do is diminish their pleasure. ... Even if the biggest secret gets out — even if somebody discovers the Giant Squid is actually the world's largest Animagus, which rises from the lake at the eleventh hour, transforms into Godric Gryffindor and ... well, I wouldn't like to spoil it." ...

A will and probate petition were filed on behalf of Howard K. Stern on Monday (May 14), according to E! Online, and in the documents, he requests to be the special administrator of Anna Nicole Smith's estate. In the filing, Smith's home in Studio City, California, is valued at $1.8 million and her personal property at $10,000 — but her outstanding mortgage reduces the sum to $710,000, according to Stern's petition. Larry Birkhead, father of Smith's daughter Danielynn, is not named as a beneficiary in the will, according to TMZ.com, but the petition to probate lists him as a part with an interest in Smith's estate. Danielynn, Stern and two attorneys Ron Rale and Eric Lund are also listed as having an interest in the estate — although Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, is not named. A probate hearing is slated for June 19, while a custody hearing involving Birkhead and Arthur is set for June 8. ...

Claiming he was distraught, depressed and so strapped for cash at the time that he couldn't afford a lawyer, Bobby Brown filed papers in California's Orange County Superior Court last week challenging the terms of his April 24 divorce from Whitney Houston. Specifically, Brown is trying to fight a judge's decision to grant physical and legal custody of the pair's 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, to Houston. According to MSNBC (citing papers obtained by "Access Hollywood"), Brown claims that after he split from Houston last year, he was so emotionally and financially distressed that he was essentially homeless and couldn't get it together to respond to Houston's petition for divorce. The papers reportedly claim that, "Whitney repeatedly assured Bobby that he need not file a response and that reconciliation was possible," and that, "Whitney did so at a time when she knew that Bobby was particularly vulnerable." A June 15 court date has been set for Brown's new case. ...

Jive wants to bring the Pain a little earlier. T-Pain's new LP, Epiphany, has been brought up to a June 5 release date, a week earlier than its original June 12 date. The set includes the hit record "Buy U a Drank." ... Rapper Bun B, one-half of the group UGK, was in New York over the weekend performing for about 100 people at Lower East Side hipster sneaker store Alife Rivington Club. Hosted by Fab 5 Freddy, the show was billed as "Bun B and Friends," and Papoose, Graph and Talib Kweli all joined Bun during his set. This week in Los Angeles, Bun and UGK mate Pimp C shoot the video for "Int'l Players Anthem" with Outkast and longtime 'Kast director Bryan Barber. ... Legendary Houston DJ OG Ron C celebrated two decades of making music with a four-day-long celebration in his hometown from Thursday through Sunday. Slim Thug, Killer Mike and Dead Prez's Stic.man were among the celebs who attended the various parties and music-conference panels Ron C — known for his mixtape and chopping and screwing skills — staged over the weekend. On Saturday, the DJ was presented with a certificate from the city in honor of his 20 years in the business. ...

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor has lashed out at his record company in blog posts on the band's Web site. "As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more," he wrote. "A couple of examples that quickly come to mind: The absurd retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, [Universal Music Group]. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars (or $29.10 in the States). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne's record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 U.S.)." When Reznor asked his label about the pricing of the LP, he said he was told "it's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out." So, Reznor surmised, "I guess as a reward for being a 'true fan,' you get ripped off." ...

No, Ozzy Osbourne isn't pulling a K-Fed — but he will appear on this week's WWE "Friday Night SmackDown" to perform two songs, including his new single, "I Don't Wanna Stop." The track will also serve as the theme song to WWE's "Judgment Day" special, to air on pay-per-view Sunday. ... Rick Rubin's rumored move to Columbia is official, Billboard reports, although details are scarce. The label released a statement Monday stating that the Grammy-winning producer and head of American Recordings will "form a dynamic and creative executive partnership" with Columbia Chairman Steve Bartnett. Rubin will continue producing for artists at different labels but will bring American to Sony, which distributed the imprint less than a decade ago. ...

Lindsay Lohan and her mother Dina are being sued by a photographer who alleges that Lindsay hit him with a car in New York on March 13, according to court documents obtained by "Access Hollywood." The suit, filed in New York by Giovanni Arnold on Thursday, seeks unspecified damages from the Lohans for "sustained severe and permanent personal injuries." Dina Lohan is named in the suit as the owner of the car Lindsay was driving. ... John Edwards has a new political adviser: John Mayer. New York magazine reports that the two Johns met up at Time magazine's Time 100 event last week, where Mayer, 29, gave Edwards advice on connecting with young people. "He basically said, 'You've got to get me in the first 20 seconds,' " Edwards explained. He said he's set up a meeting with the singer for more insight. ... Neighbors are calling foul over Leonardo DiCaprio's basketball court. Ronald and Joan Linclau claim the actor excavated their property without permission and damaged plants in order to build the court at his home in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press. They are seeking $250,000 in damages. Ken Sunshine, a DiCaprio spokesman, told AP the lawsuit "is totally without merit." ...

The Smashing Pumpkins, who will release Zeitgeist, their first album of new material since 2000, have announced two sets of all-ages residency gigs: nine shows at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, between June 23 and July 5, and eight shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco between July 22 and August 1. The band will be performing songs from its upcoming disc, as well as old material. Fans are "invited to capture the concerts with audio and video recorders," according to SmashingPumpkins.com. ... Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid and Live 8 benefit concerts, has criticized Al Gore's Live Earth music events, saying they lack a specific goal, according to AP. "I hope they're a success," Geldof told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. "But why is [Gore] actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all [expletive] conscious of global warming." ...

System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian will direct the video for "Give Thanks and Praises," the first clip from the forthcoming Bad Brains album Build a Nation. The video will begin production this month and will include footage captured at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington. "I've been a fan of the Brains ever since I can remember," Odadjian said in a statement. "I am going to rock this video for the Brains and try to capture their intense energy. It's a big responsibility. ... I'm honored." ... U.S. immigration officials have turned to Mickey Mouse for help in managing airport crowds, Britain's Daily Mail reports. Disney will teach officials trade secrets from over 50 years of running the most popular tourist destination on the planet, the so-called "Happiest Place on Earth." The move is aimed at luring visitors back to America, many of whom have stayed away due to complaints of long lines, intense interrogation and gruff, surly demeanors. No word on whether that means the ubiquitous rubber gloves will now have four fingers.

05.14.2007

Don't get too excited, Harry Potter fans — despite rumors that J.K. Rowling is considering writing another book in the Potter-verse, that doesn't mean there will be an actual book eight. In fact, as she clarified on her Web site, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" remains the end of the series and another novel is "highly unlikely." "I've got enough story for seven books and I never planned to carry the story beyond the end of book seven," she wrote. "I might do an eighth book for charity, a kind of encyclopedia of the world so that I could use all the extra material that's not in the books ... we'll see!" Rowling previously wrote the Potter reference books "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" under the aliases Kennilworthy Whisp and Newt Scamander, respectively, and proceeds for both went to Comic Relief. Meanwhile, Rowling is requesting that fans go easy on the spoilers for "Deathly Hallows." Spoilers won't stop people from buying the book, they never have — all it will do is diminish their pleasure. ... Even if the biggest secret gets out — even if somebody discovers the Giant Squid is actually the world's largest Animagus, which rises from the lake at the eleventh hour, transforms into Godric Gryffindor and ... well, I wouldn't like to spoil it." ...

A will and probate petition were filed on behalf of Howard K. Stern on Monday (May 14), according to E! Online, and in the documents, he requests to be the special administrator of Anna Nicole Smith's estate. In the filing, Smith's home in Studio City, California, is valued at $1.8 million and her personal property at $10,000 — but her outstanding mortgage reduces the sum to $710,000, according to Stern's petition. Larry Birkhead, father of Smith's daughter Danielynn, is not named as a beneficiary in the will, according to TMZ.com, but the petition to probate lists him as a part with an interest in Smith's estate. Danielynn, Stern and two attorneys Ron Rale and Eric Lund are also listed as having an interest in the estate — although Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, is not named. A probate hearing is slated for June 19, while a custody hearing involving Birkhead and Arthur is set for June 8. ...

Claiming he was distraught, depressed and so strapped for cash at the time that he couldn't afford a lawyer, Bobby Brown filed papers in California's Orange County Superior Court last week challenging the terms of his April 24 divorce from Whitney Houston. Specifically, Brown is trying to fight a judge's decision to grant physical and legal custody of the pair's 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, to Houston. According to MSNBC (citing papers obtained by "Access Hollywood"), Brown claims that after he split from Houston last year, he was so emotionally and financially distressed that he was essentially homeless and couldn't get it together to respond to Houston's petition for divorce. The papers reportedly claim that, "Whitney repeatedly assured Bobby that he need not file a response and that reconciliation was possible," and that, "Whitney did so at a time when she knew that Bobby was particularly vulnerable." A June 15 court date has been set for Brown's new case. ...

Jive wants to bring the Pain a little earlier. T-Pain's new LP, Epiphany, has been brought up to a June 5 release date, a week earlier than its original June 12 date. The set includes the hit record "Buy U a Drank." ... Rapper Bun B, one-half of the group UGK, was in New York over the weekend performing for about 100 people at Lower East Side hipster sneaker store Alife Rivington Club. Hosted by Fab 5 Freddy, the show was billed as "Bun B and Friends," and Papoose, Graph and Talib Kweli all joined Bun during his set. This week in Los Angeles, Bun and UGK mate Pimp C shoot the video for "Int'l Players Anthem" with Outkast and longtime 'Kast director Bryan Barber. ... Legendary Houston DJ OG Ron C celebrated two decades of making music with a four-day-long celebration in his hometown from Thursday through Sunday. Slim Thug, Killer Mike and Dead Prez's Stic.man were among the celebs who attended the various parties and music-conference panels Ron C — known for his mixtape and chopping and screwing skills — staged over the weekend. On Saturday, the DJ was presented with a certificate from the city in honor of his 20 years in the business. ...

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor has lashed out at his record company in blog posts on the band's Web site. "As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more," he wrote. "A couple of examples that quickly come to mind: The absurd retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, [Universal Music Group]. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars (or $29.10 in the States). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne's record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 U.S.)." When Reznor asked his label about the pricing of the LP, he said he was told "it's because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out." So, Reznor surmised, "I guess as a reward for being a 'true fan,' you get ripped off." ...

No, Ozzy Osbourne isn't pulling a K-Fed — but he will appear on this week's WWE "Friday Night SmackDown" to perform two songs, including his new single, "I Don't Wanna Stop." The track will also serve as the theme song to WWE's "Judgment Day" special, to air on pay-per-view Sunday. ... Rick Rubin's rumored move to Columbia is official, Billboard reports, although details are scarce. The label released a statement Monday stating that the Grammy-winning producer and head of American Recordings will "form a dynamic and creative executive partnership" with Columbia Chairman Steve Bartnett. Rubin will continue producing for artists at different labels but will bring American to Sony, which distributed the imprint less than a decade ago. ...

Lindsay Lohan and her mother Dina are being sued by a photographer who alleges that Lindsay hit him with a car in New York on March 13, according to court documents obtained by "Access Hollywood." The suit, filed in New York by Giovanni Arnold on Thursday, seeks unspecified damages from the Lohans for "sustained severe and permanent personal injuries." Dina Lohan is named in the suit as the owner of the car Lindsay was driving. ... John Edwards has a new political adviser: John Mayer. New York magazine reports that the two Johns met up at Time magazine's Time 100 event last week, where Mayer, 29, gave Edwards advice on connecting with young people. "He basically said, 'You've got to get me in the first 20 seconds,' " Edwards explained. He said he's set up a meeting with the singer for more insight. ... Neighbors are calling foul over Leonardo DiCaprio's basketball court. Ronald and Joan Linclau claim the actor excavated their property without permission and damaged plants in order to build the court at his home in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press. They are seeking $250,000 in damages. Ken Sunshine, a DiCaprio spokesman, told AP the lawsuit "is totally without merit." ...

The Smashing Pumpkins, who will release Zeitgeist, their first album of new material since 2000, have announced two sets of all-ages residency gigs: nine shows at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, between June 23 and July 5, and eight shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco between July 22 and August 1. The band will be performing songs from its upcoming disc, as well as old material. Fans are "invited to capture the concerts with audio and video recorders," according to SmashingPumpkins.com. ... Bob Geldof, who organized the Live Aid and Live 8 benefit concerts, has criticized Al Gore's Live Earth music events, saying they lack a specific goal, according to AP. "I hope they're a success," Geldof told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. "But why is [Gore] actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all [expletive] conscious of global warming." ...

System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian will direct the video for "Give Thanks and Praises," the first clip from the forthcoming Bad Brains album Build a Nation. The video will begin production this month and will include footage captured at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington. "I've been a fan of the Brains ever since I can remember," Odadjian said in a statement. "I am going to rock this video for the Brains and try to capture their intense energy. It's a big responsibility. ... I'm honored." ... U.S. immigration officials have turned to Mickey Mouse for help in managing airport crowds, Britain's Daily Mail reports. Disney will teach officials trade secrets from over 50 years of running the most popular tourist destination on the planet, the so-called "Happiest Place on Earth." The move is aimed at luring visitors back to America, many of whom have stayed away due to complaints of long lines, intense interrogation and gruff, surly demeanors. No word on whether that means the ubiquitous rubber gloves will now have four fingers.

• 2007 MTV Movie Awards: Sarah Silverman On The Nominees

• Our Host Is Magic: Sarah Silverman

• Kanye West
• Mary J. Blige
• Bono
• Lindsay Lohan
• Mike Jones

M.I.A., The Killers, Lupe Fiasco, More At Coachella 2009

• The Killers
• M.I.A.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Franz Ferdinand
• Public Enemy

Paramore, Kanye West, More Come Out For KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas 2008

• Paramore
• Kanye West
• Stone Temple Pilots
• The Cure
• AFI

Lindsay Lohan, T.I., M.I.A., More Come Out For Diesel's Rock 'N Roll Circus In NYC

• T.I.
• Lindsay Lohan
• Franz Ferdinand
• Paris Hilton
• Kate Nash

Bonnaroo 2007 Performances

• The National
• Lily Allen
• Damien Rice
• Regina Spektor
• Damian "Junior Gong" Marley

MTV.com Exclusive Photos: Coachella 2006

• Kanye West
• The Zutons
• Cat Power
• Franz Ferdinand
• Matisyahu

KCRW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening At Gibson Amphitheater In Los Angeles, 3.25.2006

• Death Cab For Cutie
• Franz Ferdinand
• Ben Harper
• Feist

The 48th Annual Grammy Nominees

• Mariah Carey
• Kanye West
• John Legend
• 50 Cent
• Black Eyed Peas

MTV.com LIVE: Franz Ferdinand Photos 10.17.2005

• Franz Ferdinand

2004 EMAs: Franz Ferdinand Rehearsal

• Franz Ferdinand

2004 EMA Red Carpet

• Usher
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Beastie Boys
• Black Eyed Peas
• Franz Ferdinand