Rihanna
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Between the commercials, the halftime extravaganza and lingerie-clad counter-programming, it's hard to remember that the reason the Super Bowl is the most-watched TV event of the year is because of, you know, the football game.

Music has increasingly become the biggest distraction from the gridiron action, and this year, that's truer than ever, with a Grammy-night-worthy roster of acts lining up to get a bit of shine on football's biggest day.

There is, of course, the prime-time halftime slot, which has become a haven for classic-rock acts, with one of the biggest one taking the stage this year: the Boss. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will run onto the field between halves — two days before their latest album, Working on a Dream, drops — but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Faith Hill will sing "America the Beautiful" before the game on Sunday, and Jennifer Hudson will give her first public performance since the murders of her mother, brother and nephew when she sings that national anthem at the game.

On Thursday, the Pepsi Smash concert will air live from the Ford Amphitheatre on VH1, with sets from Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and Lifehouse, with actor Jerry O'Connell hosting. The next night, Enrique Iglesias will headline Pepsi Musica Super Bowl Fiesta at the Ford on Telemundo, which will air Saturday. Friday night will also bring the Miller Lite Super Party in St. Petersburg at Williams Park starring Hoobastank, and the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration at the USF Sun Dome.

Saturday night boasts the Hard Rock Hotel's Rock & Soul Super Saturday Night show featuring the ubiquitous Will.I.Am and DJ Ruckus, with possible appearances by invited guests including Paris Hilton, Brody Jenner and the Kardashians.

That's not to be confused with the Seminole Hard Rock Revolution party on Friday night, hosted by "Entourage" star Kevin "Johnny Drama" Dillon and Khloe Kardashian, with music from DJs Colleen Shannon and Selfborn.

If you're in Florida, you gotta see Flo Rida, right? You're in luck, because the "Low" rapper is playing at the Green Iguana in Tampa as part of a Low Dough Pregame Show. Celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson will take to the decks at another Green Iguana outlet in Tampa, in the Westshore Hotel, following the game for a Celebrity Postgame Show, and Tampa's Club Underground is promoting the I Am Legend Super Bowl party, hosted by Jay-Z, on Saturday night.

Not to be outdone, Diddy, NFL legend Deion Sanders and boxer Winky Wright are hosting what's being called a three-day, star-studded party leading up the game called the Good Life Experience at the Venue in St. Petersburg from January 29-31. Among the guests promised to drop by are comedian Dane Cook and football legend Warren Sapp, and Diddy is set to host the final night's events, called the Icons of the Good Life Diamonds and Pearls Gala.

And just like you can't have a party without Will.I.Am, you can't host an event without the equally everywhere-at-once Dave Navarro, who will be MCing the Rock-N-Babes gig at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Saturday with J-Mello. Another party staple, DJ AM, will be spinning with DJ Jazzy Jeff at a Super Bowl kickoff party at AJA on Thursday night in Tampa. Journey and John Legend will also be part of the pregame festivities, performing adjacent to Raymond James Stadium at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Some other random acts making the scene: DJ Kid Capri at the 2009 Players After Party; Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander at the Band Together charity show on Saturday at the Sirata Beach Resort in St. Petersburg; actor Kevin Costner with his band, Modern West, at the Super Sunday HQ party on Saturday night at TPepin Hospitality Centre with New York Giants legend Michael Strahan; Nelly and Jermaine Dupri co-hosting the Under the Veil 2 party on Saturday night at the Museum of Science and Industry; and Nick Lachey teaming up with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for the Super Skins Party at the Hula Bay Club in Tampa on Friday, followed by the Super Skins Celebrity Golf Classic the next day.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Snoop Dogg is performing at the Anheuser-Busch-sponsored pregame Bud Bowl concert at Channelside in Tampa on Friday night, with 3 Doors Down playing the next night.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Snoop Dogg
• Rihanna
• John Legend
• Will.I.Am

Lil Wayne
Photo: MTV News

If you believe Universal Records' latest schedule, then you'll believe that Lil Wayne's Tha Carter, Vol. 3 is coming out sometime in October or November.

"November 2008?" Weezy asked with a grin last week in Miami when asked if his reps' idea for his release date matched his own timetable.

Even though he was joking about the disc coming out at the end of next year, he was serious about maintaining what he told Mixtape Monday earlier this month: He does not want to put out his highly anticipated project anytime this year (see "Mixtape Monday: Lil Wayne Plans His Own Leak; Cassidy's Live-From-Jail Rhymes"). No joke.

And who can his fans — who have been devouring his mixtapes, like The Drought 3 — thank for this delay? The leader of the St. Lunatics.

"A lot of things [are] coming out this year," Weezy explained. "My artist Currency, I don't wanna drown him. Then I'm on a lot of people's stuff. A lot of people want to use the songs I'm on as singles. That would be a quick, 'No, reject,' if my album was out. I don't like that. I want all that to be when I come out. ... Plus I was given advice by my big brother Nelly about how to do that. He said, 'You gotta make them want you.'

"I got a song with Enrique Iglesias and people who sell a million records on their own," he continued about his recent collaborations. "Then I got songs with people from the 'hood. I got songs with everybody. Put their fans with mine, 5 million [albums sold]!"

Iglesias recently gushed to MTV News about "Push," his unlikely collabo with Weezy that surfaced on the Latin heartthrob's just-released Insomniac.

"The cool thing about this song is it wasn't about 'let's do a song and stick a rapper on it,' " Iglesias said of the track. "Lil Wayne is one of my favorite rappers. We thought about that and said, 'OK, let's give him a call and see if he wants to be on the song.' He liked it and was kind enough to rap on it."

• Lil Wayne
• Nelly
• Enrique Iglesias

Fabolous' <i>From Nothin' to Somethin'</i>
Photo: Def Jam

A decade ago Tuesday (June 12), inter-league play was introduced into Major League Baseball, tearing down the wall that prevented American and National League teams from competing outside the World Series — and giving migraines to fans who hate designated hitters.

So what more appropriate place to celebrate the 10-year anniversary than in a column about new CDs (talk about inter-league play!)? Well, ESPN, probably — but we're going to have a little fun anyway by pitting disparate artists from different genres against each other and seeing what happens. Let's play ball!

Fabolous vs. Queens of the Stone Age
Fab was wise to wait a week before finally releasing his forever-delayed From Nothin' to Somethin' — last week he would've be up against Rihanna, Daddy Yankee and T-Pain, whereas this week he's got the hip-hop playing field pretty much all to himself. Having said that, Rih Rih and T-Pain actually both pay a visit on Fab's LP — as do Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, Akon, Ne-Yo and basically every other major rapper you can name.

But QOTSA have a few friends too — namely affiliate Mark Lanegan and Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, both of whom tag along with the band as it ushers in its new Era Vulgaris. Trent Reznor, another pal of frontman Josh Homme, collaborated with the band as well, but their resulting song — called "Era Vulgaris," actually — is being reserved for bonus-track purposes. Speaking of which, Best Buy has a bonus all its own — a cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding."

Betting Line: Fab unloads a ton more discs than QOTSA, but "White Wedding"? Come on. Homme gives a better interview too.

DJ Khaled vs. Enrique Iglesias
Miami hip-hop is staying hot thanks in part to DJ Khaled, whose 99 Jamz WEDR radio show is the most popular one in the city. He's hoping his hometown success translates across the rest of the country with his sophomore album, We the Best — which comes almost exactly a year after he dropped his Listennn ... The Album debut. He's got a ton of friends in tow to ensure chart appeal: T.I., Game, Lil Wayne, Akon, Ludacris, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Juelz Santana and Young Jeezy — and that's not even the whole list.

Also banging out of MIA this week is Iglesias — he wasn't born in Miami (Madrid, Spain, can claim that honor) but is based there. Wayne is buds with him too, apparently — Weezy crops up on "Push," a new track featured on the singer's three-years-in-the-works Insomniac. There aren't nearly as many guests on the 15-track bilingual album as on Khaled's LP — although producer Sean Garrett does help out — but the rap DJ still has a little catching up to do, as Enrique has already dished out more than 40 million copies of his albums over the course of roughly a decade.

Betting Line: Enrique, who loves smack talk, will likely bring the smackdown.

DMX vs. Tia Carrera
He acts, she acts — except the "she" in question is actually a "they." That's right: Tia Carrera (not Carrere, for those of you who are paying close attention) are a blues-metal band from Austin, Texas. TC's new Heaven/Hell release is only an EP, but that's still more fresh material than you'll get from DMX this week. While he's working on a new studio album called Soul of a Man, former label Def Jam has taken the time to issue a 20-track best-of comp — but there aren't any goodies on The DEFinition of X: Pick of the Litter.

Betting Line: X isn't someone you ever want to mess with — in the record racks or anywhere else — and even though Tia Carrera (the band) isn't really the actress, they should still have to live down this movie.

Tupac Shakur vs. Sonic Youth
Like DMX, 'Pac is getting stuck with an archival release with no new material: Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991, which is a straight reissue of the set. Sonic Youth are pouring plenty of treats onto a reissue of their own — a deluxe-edition version of their iconic indie-rock album, Daydream Nation. Dropping 19 years after it was first issued — why didn't the label just wait a year on the reissue and make it an even 20? — the album now features live versions of all the songs featured on the LP, studio bonuses and covers of Beatles, Mudhoney, Captain Beefheart and Neil Young tunes. If you're still not convinced, Daydream Nation was one of the first 200 albums chosen by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Recording Registry. So there ya go.

Datarock vs. Katatonia
The debut album by Datarock — Datarock Datarock, no self-promotion there! — has cemented the Norwegian dance-pop band abroad since the LP's release two years ago. Now the sucker — with its references to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and love letter to Laurie Anderson — is finally hitting the States. "In Norwegian, you would call a computer a 'data machine' ... but in English, 'data' means information, which is even more appropriate because Datarock is essentially the product of 30 years of the information society," Fredrik Saroea," one-half of the duo, said in a statement. Too much in-for-ma-tion!

Veteran doom/goth-metal band Katatonia, from neighbor-to-the-east Sweden, take a, uh, slightly milder approach than Datarock. In a recent statement surrounding the band's recent The Great Cold Distance LP, singer Jonas Renkse said: "While embracing this album, one must know that it will only help to increase the coldness between us. It's a devious life. And this is a soundtrack to it." Now they're dishing up Live Consternation, a CD/DVD set that captures Katatonia's performance at the Summerbreeze Festival in Germany last year and includes Cold tracks as well.

Betting Line: Songs like "Computer Camp Love," "Night Flight to Uranus" and "I Used to Dance With My Daddy" give Datarock the edge.

Would the above list not make for a killer sequel to the "Judgment Night" soundtrack?

Song Title of the Week:

"Woof & Warp of the Quiet Giant's Hem" from Blitzen Trapper's Wild Mountain Nation

Album Cover of the Week:

Child Abuse's Child Abuse

Other Notables:

Pig Destroyer's Phantom Limb "The most deranged metal songs we could come up with." That's what singer J.R. Hayes said in a statement about the extreme-metal band's latest LP, which features "Rotten Yellow," "Girl in a Slayer Jacket" and "Thought Crime Spree." The quartet — which features a sound/noise manipulator but not a bassist, if you can believe it — included signed CD booklets with preordered copies of the disc.

Wooden Wand's James & the Quiet
This songwriter, whose parents named James Jackson Toth, sometimes plays with NYC psych-folk unit Vanishing Voice — or with his own band, which confusingly also plays under the same Wooden Wand moniker. (Adding to the insanity, two members of Vanishing Voice perform on this release, even though it's being credited to Wooden Wand — the man and the band, we presume.) That'll be cleared up soon enough, as this is expected to be the last release Toth will put out under the Wooden Wand alias. None of this seems to have bothered members of Sonic Youth, who have nearly taken him/them in as their own — Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace is the label releasing this album, and Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley lent a hand for it.

Blitzen Trapper's Wild Mountain Nation
In case the band and album names don't already give you the sense that you're lost in the woods somewhere, the conceit is furthered by song titles like "Badger's Black Brigade," "Country Caravan" and "Wild Mtn. Jam." The Portland, Oregon, six-piece is putting out this effort all on its own — but recent and upcoming gigs with Modest Mouse and the Hold Steady should boost Blitzen Trapper's profile. Just don't tell Santa!

New Releases:

· A Perfect Murder - War of Aggression (Victory)
· Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem - Big Old Life (Signature)
· Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (Lidkercow)
· Block - The Last Single Guy (Sona Blast!)
· Blue Scholars - Bayani (Rawkus)
· Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark (Sugar Hill)
· Cherryholmes - Cherryholmes II: Black and White (Skaggs Family)
· Child Abuse - Child Abuse (Lovepump United) [Buy Now]
· Chow Nasty - Super (Electrical) Recordings (Omega)
· Paula Cole - Courage (Decca) [Buy Now]
· The Conformists - Three Hundred (54-40 or Fight)
· Crunchy Black - From Me to You (Asylum)
· Damnation A.D. - In This Life or the Next (Victory)
· Datarock - Datarock Datarock (Nettwerk)
· John Doe - A Year in the Wilderness (Yep Roc)
· Fabolous - From Nothin' to Somethin' (Def Jam) [Buy Now]
Read: "Fabolous' 'All-Stars' Jay-Z, Jeezy, Rihanna Make LP Somethin' To Be Reckoned With"
· Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (Republic)
· Firescape - Dancehall Apocalypse (Red Ink) [Buy Now]
· The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim (XOXO)
· Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd - After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks (Darla)
· Michael Hearst - Songs for Ice Cream Trucks (Bar/None)
· Jon T. Howard - Time for Something New (Mettafour)
· I Hate Sally - Don't Worry Lady (Density)
· Enrique Iglesias - Insomniac (Interscope) [Buy Now]
· Joan as Police Woman - Real Life (Cheap Lullaby)
· Katatonia - Live Consternation (with DVD; Peaceville)
· Toby Keith - Big Dog Daddy (Show Dog Nashville)
· DJ Khaled - We the Best (Terror Squad/ Koch)
· Eddie Levert Sr. & Gerald Levert - Something to Talk About (Atlantic)
· Little Texas - Missing Years (Montage)
· The Lodger - Grown-Ups (Slumberland)
· Mad Juana - Acoustic Voodoo (Azra)
· Jono Manson - Summertime (Sunset)
· The Mission U.K. - God Is a Bullet (Cooking Vinyl)
· Abra Moore - On the Way (Sarathan)
· Laurie Morvan Band - Cures What Ails Ya (Screaming Lizard)
· Napalm Death - Punishment in Capitals (Eagle Rock)
· Mark Olson - The Salvation Blues (Hacktone)
· Paramore - Riot! (MVI album with bonus CD due same day; Fueled by Ramen)
· People Noise - Ordinary Ghosts (self-released)
· Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse)
· Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Interscope) [Buy Now]
Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Usher In A 'Positively Dirty' New Era"
· Mark Ronson - Version (Red Ink)
· Saturna - Some Delicious Enemy (Nexus Underground) [Buy Now]
· Scissors for Lefty - Underhanded Romance (Eenie Meenie)
· SoCalled - Ghettoblaster (JDub)
· Spyro Gyra - Good to Go-Go (Heads Up)
· Takeovers - Bad Football (Off) [Buy Now]
· Tia Carrera - Heaven/Hell (EP; Arclight)
· Tuatara - East of the Sun (Fast Horse)
· David Vandervelde - Nothin No (EP; Secretly Canadian)
· Wooden Wand - James & the Quiet (Ecstatic Peace)
· Various artists - Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur (two CDs; Warner Bros.)
· Various artists - "Nancy Drew" soundtrack (Bulletproof)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Bad Manners - Stupidity (SOS)
· The Bongos - Drums Along the Hudson (Cooking Vinyl)
· Buckethead/ Travis Dickerson - Chicken Noodles, Gorgone and Death Cube K Tunnel (TDRS)
· Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison - Deluxe Edition (with DVD; Jive)
· James Cotton - Vanguard Visionaries (Vanguard)
· Dick Dale - Checkered Flag; King of the Surf Guitar; Mr. Eliminator; and Summer Surf (Sundazed)
· DMX - The DEFinition of X: Pick of the Litter (Def Jam) [Buy Now]
· Yvonne Elliman - Simple Needs (EP; Eborhythm)
· Moe. - Warts & All 5 (three-CD box set; Fat Boy)
· Nada Surf - Karmic (Hi-Speed Soul) [Buy Now]
· O'Death - Head Home (Ernest Jenning)
· Tupac Shakur - Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 (Koch) [Buy Now]
· Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - Deluxe Edition (two CDs; Geffen/UMe)
· Andy Summers - Synaesthesia (Times Square)
· Keith Sweat - Sweat Hotel Live (Shout! Factory)
· Traveling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Collection (two CDs and one DVD; deluxe edition due same day; Rhino)
· Dan Zanes and Friends - How to Grow a Family Band Gift Set (six-CD box set with book; Ryko)

Music DVDs:

· Black Sabbath - "Up Close and Personal" (Hurricane) [Buy Now]
· Deep Purple - "Live at Montreux 2006" (Eagle Vision) [Buy Now]
· Keith Sweat - "Sweat Hotel Live" (Shout! Factory) [Buy Now]
· Various artists - "Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built" (Rhino)
· Various artists - "Glastonbury" (two DVDs; Velocity)

Digital Releases:

· The Dilettantes - 101 Tambourines (in stores July 10; StrangerTouch)
· Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (available exclusively on iTunes until June 26, when it is properly released; Last Gang) [Buy Now]

Coming Attractions:

June 19: · Mandy Moore - Wild Hope (Firm) [Preorder]
· Tomahawk - Anonymous (Ipecac)
Read: "Tomahawk Actually Starting To Sound Like An American-Indian Band"
· White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.) [Preorder]
Read: "White Stripes Reveal Icky New Album Details"

June 26: · Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up (Capitol) [Preorder]
· Kelly Clarkson - My December (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Kelly Clarkson On Her Revealing New LP: 'I'm Not Even This Open With Boyfriends!' "
· Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (Last Gang) [Preorder]

July 3: · Kelly Rowland - Ms. Kelly (Columbia) [Preorder]
· T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Atlantic)
Read: "T.I. Taking On T.I.P. With Help From Eminem, Justin Timberlake"
· Velvet Revolver - Libertad (RCA) [Preorder]
Read: "Scott Weiland Pumped For Velvet Revolver LP, Solo Collabo With Pharrell"

• Fabolous
• Queens of the Stone Age
• DMX
• Sonic Youth
• Tupac

Ludacris performs at Wango Tango on Saturday
Photo: MTV News

IRVINE, California — Nearly 20,000 fans gathered at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California, on Saturday to see Fergie, Ludacris and Kelly Clarkson headline the 10th annual KIIS-FM Wango Tango music festival. And while all of the musicians on the lineup — which also included Omarion, Robin Thicke, Enrique Iglesias, Elliott Yamin and Pitbull — brought their A-game, Luda stole the show.

Ludacris took the stage with a vengeance for his 30-minute set, wearing a white T, a hoodie, black jeans and a whopping diamond-encrusted map of Africa around his neck. The Grammy-winning rapper moved from one hit song to the next, grabbing the audience from the start and not letting go for the entire set. Luda and his DTP crew busted out such hits as "Pimpin' All Over the World," "Stand Up," "Move B---h" and "What's Your Fantasy?" topped off with "Money Maker". For the duration of the act, fans were standing on their seats, shouting out lyrics and shaking their own moneymakers.

Following Luda was The Dutchess herself. Outfitted in a black cape, black hat and tight gray leggings, Fergie was on a mission to rock the crowd — and since L.A. is her hometown, she was also working to impress one special lady in the audience. "This is nice because my mom is here," she said. After the onstage shout-out, Fergie got down to business. She teamed up with Luda for her hit "Glamorous," nailed "London Bridge" and rocked out a cover of Heart's "Barracuda." But it was her performances of "My Humps" — with a surprise guest, fellow Black Eyed Pea Will.I.Am — and her next single, "Big Girls Don't Cry," that had audience members swaying and singing at the top of their lungs.

(See Fergie explain how fans will be the real VIPs on her next tour.)

Kelly Clarkson also got the crowd moving. During her 15 minutes of stage time, the first "American Idol" victor served up her hits "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "Since U Been Gone" to the overwhelmingly teen audience. "Never Again," the single from her upcoming album My December, got the biggest response from the crowd.

We spoke with Kelly before for the show, and she addressed rumors that she butted heads with her label over the new record. "This time everybody made a big deal about the label and I disagreeing with the record, but that's happened every record," she said. "This is just the only one people know about, so there's nothing new." Clarkson said she's always been willing to stand up for her music, explaining, "I've never once compromised myself. I don't think you should; that's when you start to lose fans and credibility. I think you definitely need to keep doing what you love, because I'm the one that needs to sing it every night."

(Watch Kelly Clarkson face label-battle rumors head on.)

Enrique Iglesias did his part to heat up the stage before Kelly Clarkson took it. During his set, the Latin heartthrob plucked a fan out of the front row, brought her onstage, and serenaded her with "Hero," even kissing her on the forehead at one point. Iglesias also had all the couples in the crowd swooning to his 1999 hit "Bailamos" and "Do You Know," the new single from his Insomniac LP, due next month. "I've been making this album for three years," Iglesias told MTV News. "It's been the most frustrating, most difficult album I've ever made in my career. But they say the more difficult the album is, the more frustrating it is, the better it comes out. If that's true, than hopefully this is the best album of my career."

(See Enrique talk about his Insomniac struggle — and working with "rock star" Lil Wayne.)

Other Wango Tango 2007 highlights:

» Wearing a white tuxedo jacket and T-shirt, Omarion started the show off with intoxicating moves and slick vocals on his hits "Entourage" and "Ice Box."

» Pitbull commandeered the stage in dark sunglasses, a light blue shirt, and white pants for a blistering set that kept the sold-out crowd on its feet. While toweling the sweat from his head, Pitbull delivered lyrics and moves that had the audience going nuts.

» Dressed smartly in a tie and black sweater, Robin Thicke brought his seductive style of R&B to the Wango Tango stage. With his eyes closed and arms in the air, Robin delivered "Wanna Love U Girl" while the audience danced in the aisles.

(Watch Thicke reveal collaborator 50 Cent's big secret.)

» Elliott Yamin clearly had a power over the ladies. During his three-song set, "ooh"ing and "aah"ing could be heard throughout the venue.

» Paula DeAnda — dressed in sexy black shorts and a black shirt — delivered her hit "Too Much" to an audience that was dancing like they were in a tropical club. Baby Bash came out to provide some vocals and the house went wild.

» Everyone stood up and went crazy when Gym Class Heroes broke out "Cupid's Chokehold." During their big hit, lead singer Travis McCoy declared, "This is the best song ever written" as fans screamed.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Kelly Clarkson, Ludacris, Fergie And More At Wango Tango 2007

• Ludacris
• Fergie
• Kelly Clarkson
• Black Eyed Peas
• Robin Thicke

50 Cent with Bart Simpson
Photo: FOX

50 Cent will bring his game to Springfield when he guest stars on "The Simpsons." In an episode called "Pranksta Rap," Bart sneaks out of the house to attend a 50 concert and then fakes his own kidnapping to avoid being grounded. The episode airs February 13 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. ...

Though R. Kelly's lawyer wasn't feeling well enough during Friday's scheduled hearing in Chicago to proceed, the prosecution gave him a get-well gift of sorts when they finally handed over a crucial piece of evidence in the singer's upcoming child-pornography trial — their original copy of the alleged sex tape. The tape should have been handed over during discovery months ago, Kelly's attorney Ed Genson said on Wednesday (February 2). "I honest to God don't know why [it wasn't handed over earlier]," he said. "All I care about is that it's not my fault." Genson predicts that a lot of trial issues will be sorted out at the next hearing on February 18, such as possible sentencing parameters. ...

Though filming had supposedly wrapped long ago, Justin Timberlake shot a final few scenes for his upcoming film "Edison" late last week in Los Angeles. With co-star LL Cool J, the two actors pulled a "dead" body down a flight of stairs. There's no release date yet for the film, according to Timberlake's rep. ... Axl Rose is about to become an even richer man thanks to a multimillion-dollar publishing deal he recently signed with the Sanctuary Group. The deal covers Guns N' Roses' back catalog as well as any future material Rose might put out (think the long-awaited album Chinese Democracy), according to The Associated Press. A lawyer for Duff McKagan — who, along with fellow former GN'R member Slash sued Rose last year to determine who controls the rights to the old Guns songs — told the AP he was surprised by the deal, given that "neither Sanctuary nor Axl Rose have provided the remaining partners with a copy of that agreement." ...

Anna Kournikova's man, Enrique Iglesias, has started a new relationship — with Tommy Hilfiger. The singer has signed on to be the spokesperson for Hilfiger's new fragrance, True Star Men, the men's cologne counterpart to the women's perfume True Star Women, which was inspired by Beyoncé. The scent is set to hit stores worldwide in the fall. ... The lawsuits keep piling up for Courtney Love. The latest one — another for non-payment for services — was filed Thursday in New York federal court by the studio in France where she recorded much of her solo album, America's Sweetheart. Studio Miraval claims that the singer has not paid the balance of her bill from spring 2003, despite its "numerous attempts" to get her to do so. ...

Paula Abdul gets to dabble in the art world in her upcoming guest spot on "Less Than Perfect." In an episode called "Distractions," the "American Idol" judge plays Kathleen, the girlfriend of Will Butler (played by Eric Roberts) who owns a prominent New York art gallery displaying photographs taken by Owen Kronsky (Andy Dick). The episode airs Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ... Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis may be more well-known for their producing skills than their acting, but they're going to give it a go. The production duo share a guest spot as themselves on "Half & Half," airing February 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET on UPN. ...

Continuing his flirtation with country living, Uncle Kracker has signed on for a spring tour with Kenny Chesney and Gretchen Wilson. The trek, Kracker's second outing with "Last Night, Again" duet partner Chesney, kicks off on March 9 in Houston and wraps on May 15 in Oklahoma City. Kracker will return to the studio after the tour to record his fourth album, due out in the fall. ... The second annual Kokua Festival in Oahu, Hawaii, will feature sets from Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, G. Love & Special Sauce and Ozomatli. All proceeds from the April 16 event will go to the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, a nonprofit funding environmental education programs in Hawaii. ...

Fountains of Wayne will play the Hollies on the March 20 episode of NBC's "American Dreams." The band will perform "Bus Stop" on the show's version of "American Bandstand." ... The String Cheese Incident are mounting a tour of ski towns called the Spring Ski Incidents. The outing, which will include afternoon shows at the bottom of ski hills, begins March 24 in Denver and hits Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Boise, Idaho; Park City, Utah; and other towns before wrapping April 9 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... Ash are hitting the road with the Bravery, starting March 9 in Philadelphia, the day after Ash's new album, Meltdown, hits stores. Their 21-date trek will wind up April 13 in Toronto. ...

02.01.2005

In what comes as no surprise, Usher is among the top nominees for this year's Soul Train Awards. The singer scored four nominations, including Best R&B/Soul, Male for "Confessions Part II," Best R&B/Soul Album, Male for Confessions and best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut for "Yeah!" The video for "Yeah!" also earned Usher a nod for the Michael Jackson Award for best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video. Fellow ATL native and R&B ingénue Ciara also scored four nominations, including Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Best R&B/Soul, Female for "Goodies" and Best R&B/Soul Album, Female for Goodies. Other multiple nominees include Alicia Keys, Prince, Jill Scott and Beyoncé, who is nominated both as a solo artist and as part of Destiny's Child. The Soul Train Awards will be held February 28 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. ...

Want to join TLC? The group is holding open-call auditions, starting Saturday in New York at the Hilton and continuing through the rest of the month in Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami. Camera-shy singers need not apply, as they're shooting the auditions for their upcoming reality show for UPN, "R U the Girl with T-Boz and Chilli." ... Seattle radio station 96.5 K-Rock has assembled a lineup of Seattle's finest (circa mid-1990s) for its "Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert" on February 18. Topping the bill are the re-formed Alice in Chains — Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez — who will perform together for the first time in more than eight years. There is no word yet on who will front the band, whose lead singer, Layne Staley, died in 2002 from a drug overdose. Also scheduled to perform are former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Sea-town booty enthusiast Sir Mix-A-Lot. Tickets for the event are $40, and go on sale February 10 on K-ROCK's Web site, www.965KRock.com . ...

Fans of Radio 4 got a big surprise last weekend when Beck and his band played a surprise set opening for the New York rockers at the Echo in Los Angeles. It was the second unannounced set the singer played at the club last month, and served as a warm-up for the touring that will follow the March release of his new LP, Guero. ... Ever wonder what inspires artists like Björk, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore? Check out Thrill Jockey's "Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration" DVD (February 22), which collects personal stories from more than 100 musicians about the concerts, records and artists that have motivated them. Others interviewed for the movie — the proceeds from which benefit Greenpeace — include Mike Watt, Jon Spencer, Vic Chesnutt, Steve Albini, Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) and Carl Craig. ...

Despite being behind bars, C-Murder will release his new album, The Truest **** I Ever Said, on March 22 via Koch Records. The album features guest appearances from the late Soulja Slim, Akon and Capone, among others. C-Murder's first single, "Y'all Heard," features B.G. A video for the single, shot in prison and in New Orleans, will be available later this month. C-Murder is currently in jail on second-degree murder charges. ... Warren G, Talib Kweli and Fantasia are all upcoming guest stars on the UPN show "All of Us" (which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET). Warren G plays a warrant officer on February 8, while Kweli and Fantasia both appear as themselves on the March 1 episode. ...

NBA players Alonzo Mourning and Carmelo Anthony will host "Zo & Melo's 8-Ball Challenge" on February 17 at Denver's Wynkoop Brewing Company. A host of celebrities and athletes including Ludacris, Fabolous, Philadelphia Eagles' Terrell Owens, New Jersey Nets' Vince Carter and members of the WWE are scheduled to be on hand to showcase their billiard skills and compete for an exotic all-expenses-paid vacation and NBA All-Star Game tickets. The event will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, and will also include a silent auction featuring items from Michael Jordan, Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, and LeBron James as well as Anthony and Mourning. The net proceeds raised will benefit charities supported by Alonzo Mourning Charities, Inc. and the Carmelo Anthony Foundation Fund. ... While Courtney Love has been resolving some of her criminal matters, she's still facing legal problems of a financial sort. Saturday is the deadline for her to resolve non-payment of legal fees in one civil case, while another company is now also claiming non-payment, according to a complaint filed recently in Olympia, Washington. WMC Mortgage Corp. is seeking foreclosure on a 13-acre property which Love bought in 1997 for Kurt Cobain's family, which would mean that the home would be put up for bid at a public auction. Love owes about $318,000, and the company says she hasn't paid the bills in over a year. ...

Sharon Warren, who won rave reviews playing Ray Charles' mother in "Ray," spent a lot of time on the set talking music with Jamie Foxx, as she too is releasing an album. Warren, who has written for Lenny Kravitz, will debut in the spring with the single "There." ... Cher is threatening — or promising, depending on how you feel about her — that her current tour will be her last. Though she's intimated that about past tours, she's now saying that this trek, called the Farewell Never Can Say Goodbye Tour, will end April 30 at the Hollywood Bowl with her last live performance ever. ...

For the price of a T-shirt and a hat, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine will personally tear your demo tape to bits. Fans who purchase a shirt/hat combo from Mustaine's merchandising company, BandMerch.com, can enter a contest to have their demo critiqued by the singer. As if chiding and derision from a rock star weren't enough of a prize, the winner will also receive an ESP Dave Mustaine Guitar and Line 6 Guitarport. The deadline for the contest is February 11. ... Canadian rockers Hot Hot Heat will hit the road for a trek across the U.S. prior to the release of their major-label debut, Elevator, in early April. Beginning February 21 in Seattle, the band will hit 14 cities across the country, ending up in Dallas on March 15. ...

Ben Folds' second solo studio LP, Songs for Silverman, has been pushed back from February to April 26. Folds recorded his follow-up to Rockin' the Suburbs with bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson, making it his first album with a band since Ben Folds Five's final LP in 1999. Songs for Silverman includes the first single, "Landed," as well as a tribute to Elliott Smith called "Late." ...

• 50 Cent
• R. Kelly
• Justin Timberlake
• Axl Rose
• Enrique Iglesias

Liv Tyler (file)
Photo: Getty Images

Liv Tyler and husband Royston Langdon (former frontman for Spacehog) are now parents. The actress gave birth to a boy at 4:11 a.m. Tuesday morning (December 14) at a New York hospital, and her rep Stephen Huvane said, "Both baby and mom are doing great." ...

Congrats appear to be in order for Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova — the couple got married in a very small and very secret ceremony a few weeks ago on a beach in Mexico, according to Us Weekly. "Enrique is great. Everything is awesome. We are married," the retired tennis pro told onlookers at a charity tennis event in Boca Raton, Florida, on Sunday, while wearing a wedding band. ... After spending much of 2004 running his Vote or Die! campaign and acting, P. Diddy will focus on music in 2005, mainly his next album, which is no longer titled PD5. "I'm taking my time, it has to be right before it comes out," Diddy said. "I'm also coming out of retirement as a producer, I'm back behind the board, so the takeover of the dance floor is about to begin." ...

With former Bad Company and Free singer Paul Rodgers serving as frontman, Queen will kick off their first tour since singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991. "It really all came about because of the Fender 50th anniversary gig that I did with Paul Rodgers," Queen guitarist Brian May wrote on his Web site. "We were both so amazed at the chemistry that was going on." May writes that they are looking at venues for a spring tour, which will likely begin in April. ... Courtney Love was scheduled to start her trial on Tuesday on felony drug-possession charges in Los Angeles, but the case was postponed until January 12. ...

DIY blues-rock tandem the White Stripes are joining forces with DIY hipster clothing line Neighborhoodies — which allows the fashion-conscious to design their own T-shirts, sweats and bags — for a good old-fashioned design contest. On Neighborhoodies.com, fans can "dream up the coolest White Stripes Neighborhoodies sweatshirt, tee or bag" and submit their designs to a panel of judges. The winners will take home $50 worth of Neighborhoodies swag and "a bucketful" of Stripes gear. The contest runs until January 31. ... All you ever wanted to know about former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin can now be found in one convenient location: "Dust N' Bones: The Untold Story of Izzy Stradlin." According to Black Market Publishing, which expects to release the biography on February 17, the book will chronicle Stradlin's "rise with hard rock's most notorious frontman, W. Axl Rose, from Lafayette, Indiana, to the streets of Hollywood in the early 1980s." The tome will feature interviews with "GN'R insiders" and members of Stradlin's band the Ju Ju Hounds. ...

Twenty years after they first had record-store clerks abuzz, the first three albums from alterna-rock pioneers Dinosaur Jr. are being reissued by indie stalwart Merge Records. Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me and Bug are all remastered and come with beefed-up liner notes and never-before-seen photographs, plus live tracks and early videos. All three LPs hit stores on March 22. ... Alanis Morissette is planning to spend the rest of December traveling — and not for a concert tour. The singer headed to India earlier this month to perform at the MTV Immies 2004 — the Indian Music Excellence Awards held in Bombay — on Friday, and she'll be spending about two weeks there before heading to Bali for Christmas. She'll be back in the U.S. for a New Year's Eve show at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. Next year, Alanis will celebrate the 10th anniversary of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill, and she's planning to mark the occasion by not only reissuing the album with extra acoustic tracks, but also by putting out a greatest-hits disc. ...

The winners in the HP Music Video Awards contest were announced on Tuesday, and the creator of a clip for "I Am Crushed," by the Vandals, took home the top honor and $15,000. Michael Estrella's backward, single-shot video bested first- and second-place team entries by Eric Lee and Sam J. Stanton, and Michael Horowitz and Gareth Smith, who used Sugarcult's "Memory" for their entries. The contest, announced this fall, offered amateur filmmakers the chance to choose one of five songs from bands featured on the Warped Tour and create a clip for the track. The three winning videos can be seen at http://hpmusic.shockwave.com. ...

12.13.2004

Jennifer Lopez's upcoming album finally has a title and release date. The singer's fourth studio LP, Rebirth, is due out March 1 and features such guests as Fat Joe (on "Hold You Down"), Fabolous (on a remix of "Get Right") and husband Marc Anthony. Other song titles include "Step Into My World," "Still Around" and "Cherry Pie." The video for the first single, "Get Right," will debut on MTV on New Year's Eve, while a "Making the Video" for that song will premiere on January 5. ...

A concert by rapper E-40 that had been scheduled for Saturday in Medford, Oregon, was called off when organizers realized that some local police officers and township officials opposed the show, citing objections to the show's content and the possibility of gang violence. E-40 shows at the venue Vibes that occurred in 2001 and 2003 went off without incident. ... Outkast's Big Boi is stepping out on his own with his Purple Label imprint. The ATLien has recruited Bubba Sparxxx as one of the label's first signings via Virgin Records. Sparxxx was originally signed to Interscope through Timbaland's Beat Club. ...

On February 8, Wilco will embark on the musical equivalent of an author's tour, playing a string of dates in support of their new book, the imaginatively titled "The Wilco Book." The trek kicks off in Champaign, Illinois, and hits 11 cities before coming to an end on February 25 in Cleveland. ... Collective Soul have the first single off the soundtrack to Wes Craven's werewolf movie "Cursed," due out next year. Collective Soul's single "Better Now" will be released January 18, while the rest of the soundtrack, due February 8, includes Bowling for Soup (covering Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs' 1966 song "Lil' Red Riding Hood"), Smash Mouth's Steve Harwell ("You'll Never Catch Me"), Dashboard Confessional ("This Is a Forgery"), Crystal Method ("Bound Too Long") and Three Days Grace ("Are You Ready"), among others. The movie, starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson and Judy Greer, hits theaters February 25. ...

After five albums in nearly a decade, proto-emo quintet Snapcase are about to call it a day. The Buffalo, New York, group's last show is scheduled for January 22 in its hometown. ... The final mixing has begun on Sleater-Kinney's first album for Sub Pop Records after seven years spent on the Kill Rock Stars label. Longtime Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann helped the band complete its as-yet-untitled album in New York's Tarbox studios. The LP is expected to drop in late spring/early summer. ...

Aerosmith's Joe Perry is preparing to make his next solo flight. The guitarist plans to release his fourth album, his first since 1984's Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker, in the spring. ... Aggro-rockers Trust Company are in the final stages of work on their new album, and are eyeing a March 1 release date. The LP, called True Parallels, will be the band's first release since 2002's The Lonely Position of Neutral. On its official site, the band thanks fans for their "continued patience through this long wait. [We] think you will all be pleased with the results." ...

• Liv Tyler
• Enrique Iglesias
• Diddy
• Courtney Love
• Izzy Stradlin

Enrique Iglesias performs at Radio City Music Hall
Photo: Newscom

NEW YORK CITY — It may be the single night of the year most men would even consider being seen at an Enrique Iglesias concert, but on this Valentine's Day, one would have been hard-pressed to tell who among the droves of boyfriends in the capacity crowd at Radio City Music Hall had been dragged unwillingly. From the moment the Latin heartthrob took the stage, with Valentine's Day wishes and exhortations to "get drunk and have fun," his trademark sex appeal became the backdrop for a more candid, rugged and surprisingly funny Enrique than might have been expected, one who seemed to win over the audience's male holdouts immediately.

That doesn't mean he left his hot bod behind, of course. Clad in distressed leather pants, knit cap and a tight white T-shirt he would later replace with a hyperventilation-inducing wife-beater, Iglesias was nothing if not sexy. Something subtle about tonight's brilliant smile and distant gaze, however, made the pop star more palatable to his diverse audience. Besides the usual young girls, in impossibly small tops and jeans better suited for Malibu than Manhattan in the winter, women and men of all ages filled the hall.

Iglesias' performance reflected this. After lively renditions of "One Night Stand," from 2001's Escape, and "Bailamos" and "Rhythm Divine" from Iglesias' breakout English-language debut, Enrique, he launched into a titillating version of "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" with a backup singer whose Shakira-esque gyrations almost overshadowed her incredible voice. The video-screen close-up of Iglesias' hand on the woman's hindquarters sent many an emboldened date to his feet, and couples all over could be seen swaying to the ballad. By the time the onstage couple dropped to the ground, with Iglesias singing above the woman seductively, the hot-and-bothered audience's clamor had reached the upper registers.

Iglesias' ability to focus his emotional energy into intense, seemingly personal moments like these — an inherited talent, father Julio's fans would say — played particularly well. Even with his voice reverberating off the walls and fans screaming his name, he still appeared to whisper to his girl, enraptured. Even when the Madrid native sat down to sing some of the earnest Spanish songs he'd written in his teens (following a "set change" that consisted of bringing out what he called the "ugliest couch" his team could find), the many listeners either unfamiliar with the ballads, or deficient in Spanish, stuck with him.

When Iglesias called two couples ("40 and up," at his request) onstage, it felt like an intimate private party. His borderline-shy reminiscing, recurring offers of "beer, whiskey, wine," and nearly constant banter ("Are you going to get married?") contributed to the atmosphere. He sang "Por Amarte," off his 1995 Spanish-language debut, and, after an attempt to translate it for the English-speaking couples, abashedly relented on the grounds that it "sounds stupid." He rounded out the boyishly self-conscious interlude with Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," which he said he played "over and over" when he moved to Miami from Madrid at the age of seven, and which he sang with a sincerity inherent to childhood.

Nearly an hour and a half after Iglesias took the stage, the crowd was primed for the hard-dancing, fist-pumping sing-along that has become a staple of pop-concert encores. And Iglesias, the pop world's Chris Isaak-meets-Axl Rose, didn't disappoint. "Not in Love," the energetic new single from his current album, Seven, got the girls screaming again. Giving them what they wanted, Iglesias sang his heartfelt hit "Hero," from 2003's Escape, to Nora, a visiting Vietnamese girl whose hands he grabbed midsong and placed squarely on his storied rear end, to the audible delight of all. "Be With You" and, appropriately, Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" closed the festivities in a flurry of white confetti as Iglesias jumped around and enthusiastically ran up and down random fixtures, urging everyone from the balconies to the front row to get loud and give him more.

Amid the chaos, one boyfriend could be heard apparently recanting earlier statements, declaring, "This was a f---ing great idea!" That seemed the prevailing sentiment. As exhausted, satisfied Enrique fans spilled out onto the cold New York streets, one got the sense the night was far from over. One rapidly growing group continued the evening's revelries outside Iglesias' buses, waiting to greet the stuff of sweet adolescent dreams himself.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Enrique Iglesias

Kelis & Enrique Iglesias (file)
Photo: Appio/Amy V. Cooper

Enrique Iglesias has a history of seducing beauties in his music videos. Anna Kournikova, Jennifer Love Hewitt and even "The O.C." star Mischa Barton have all been objects of the lovelorn singer's swooning desire.

Why mess up a good thing?

In the new clip for "Not in Love (Remix)," the de-moled heartthrob recruited a sexy lady to both sing and star in the video — none other than Kelis.

The video was shot last week in Los Angeles by director Jake Nava, who lensed Kelis' confectionary treat "Milkshake" and was also behind the camera for Beyoncé's floor-shaking clip "Crazy in Love."

Because the remix of "Not in Love" moves with a club-friendly bounce, it's not surprising that the setting for the video is in a club, or, more specifically, an after-hours warehouse party bubbling with attractive, downtown revelers.

According to Nava's treatment, Iglesias enters the party and meets up with his boys. After making his way to the stage, he performs his song backed by a live band buoyed by the crowd's throbbing energy. Kelis slinks her way to the front, cutting through the crowd and joining Iglesias onstage, tantalizing him and the partygoers with her coquettish winks and lusty voice.

The original version of "Not in Love" appears on Iglesias' most recent album, 7, which was released in November. The singer has also done a Spanish version of the remix, and Kelis appears on that track as well.

"I love working with all kinds of artists," Kelis said of her experience with Iglesias. She said their duet will definitely satisfy a certain part of her heritage, too. "I have a lot of Spanish people in my family, so to do a Spanish record, it's a lot of fun."

• Enrique Iglesias
• Kelis

It's time for new releases, and this is not a test. I repeat, This is Not a Test! Missy Elliott drops her new album this week, featuring the single "Pass That Dutch" plus guest appearances by Jay-Z, Monica and Fabolous.

No Doubt have two albums out this week: The Singles: 1992-2003, which features all of the band's hits from "Just a Girl" to "It's My Life" and everything in between, and Boom Box, a box set that includes the former release in its entirety plus videos, previously unreleased tracks, B-sides and a 1997 concert. In other greatest-hits news, Counting Crows release Films About Ghosts, with their popular singles "Mr. Jones" and "Round Here" plus a previously unreleased cover of the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil."

Madonna's songs have been Remixed & Revisited on an EP featuring remixes of songs from American Life as well as "Into the Hollywood Groove" (a.k.a. the Gap ad), the previously unreleased "Your Honesty" and the live medley of "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" from the VMAs with Britney Spears, Missy Elliott and Christina Aguilera.

Nelly also rremixes his work on Da Derrty Versions — The Reinvention. Meanwhile, another Nelly — Furtado — releases Folklore alongside Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz's Part II, Enrique Iglesias' Seven, Korn's Take a Look in the Mirror and Puddle of Mudd's follow-up to 2001's Come Clean, Life on Display.

Rage Against the Machine's Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium was recorded in September 2000 and features covers of Eric B. and Rakim's "Microphone Fiend," Devo's "Beautiful World," and the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams."

Finally, Johnny Cash's box set has been Unearthed by Rick Rubin, the man responsible for the American Recordings series that spawned his last hit, "Hurt." All of the five discs contain previously unreleased songs, and the set features the Man in Black's commentary on the tracks and a book of photographs.

Out Tuesday, November 25:

• Michael Bublé - Let It Snow(EP, 143/Reprise)
• Bugz in the Attic - Fabric Live 12 (Fabric)
• Burning Bridges - Politics of Dead Friendships (Thorp)
• Andy C - Drum & Bass Arena (React)
• Johnny Cash - Unearthed (box set, Lost Highway)
• Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine - Tuxicity (Ideatown)
• Counting Crows - Films About Ghosts: The Best Of ... (Geffen)
• Demon - Blow Out (Dead Ringer)
• Missy Elliott -This Is Not A Test! (Elektra)
  Read: "Missy Talks Sex, Gets Friendly With Some Battery-Charged 'Toyz' On New LP"
  Buy Now: This Is Not A Test! (Elektra)
• Nelly Furtado - Folklore (DreamWorks)
  Read: "Nelly Furtado Digs Deeper Into Her Roots On Folklore"
  Buy Now: Folklore (DreamWorks)
• Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez - In the House (box set, Defected)
• Grounded - All Too Human (Surprise Truck)
• Kenny Hawkes - Nite:Life 017 (NRK)
• Horse the Band - R. Borlax (Pluto)
• Enrique Iglesias - Seven (Interscope)
  Read: "Enrique Iglesias Hopes To Get Fans 'Addicted' To Seven"
  Buy Now: Seven (Interscope)
• A Jealousy Issue - If the Flames Don't Kill Us ... We Will (Indianola)
• Ella Jenkins - Sharing Cultures With Ella Jenkins (Smithsonian Folkways)
• Klee - Unverwundbar (Ministry of Sound)
• Krafty Kuts - These Are the Breaks ... (DMC)
• Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz - Part II (TVT)
• Lil' Keke - Changin' Lanes (Commission Muzic)
• Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell - Catch the Moon (Artemis)
• Madonna - Remixed & Revisited (EP, Maverick/Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Madonna's Got A Brand New Bag — And Britney's In It"
  Buy Now: Remixed and Revisited (Warner Bros.)
• Méav - Silver Sea (Valley Entertainment)
• Nelly - Da Derrty Versions — The Reinvention (Universal)
  Read: "Nelly 'Reinvents' Himself On Derrty"
• No Doubt - Boom Box (box set, Interscope)
• No Doubt - The Singles: 1992-2003 (Interscope)
  Read: "No Doubt To Tell Fans 'It's My Life' "
  Buy Now: The Singles 1992-2003 (Interscope)
• Puddle of Mudd - Life on Display (Flawless/Geffen)
  Read: "Next Puddle Of Mudd LP Will Have Heartfelt, 'Super Heavy' Songs"
  Buy Now: Life on Display (Geffen)
• Rage Against the Machine - Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (Sony)
  Read: "Rage Against The Machine's Final Concerts Hitting CD, DVD In November"
• Sidewinder - Resolution (Fenetik/Soma)
• Rob Smith - Up on the Downs (Grand Central)
• St. Nick's Lonely Hearts Band - Classic Christmas Songs With a Dash of Pepper (Not Lame)
• Stampin' Ground/North Side Kings - Allied Forces (Thorp)
• Starting Line - The Make Yourself at Home EP (EP, Drive-Thru)
• Tie These Hands/Mr. 1986 - Collective Efforts (Redemption)
• Charles Webster - Remixed on the 24th of July (Peacefrog)
• Various artists - Bargrooves: Espace Privé (Moonshine)
• Various artists - Beatles Go Electro(EDE)
• Various artists - Doghouse 100 (Doghouse)
• Various artists - "Haunted Mansion: The Haunted Hits" soundtrack (Disney)
• Various artists - "Honey" soundtrack (Elektra)
  Read: "Fabolous, Missy, Tweet, Jadakiss On 'Honey' Soundtrack"
• Various artists - "Mona Lisa Smile" soundtrack (Epic)
• Various artists - Piano Strings Soundtrack Tribute to Shrek (Tribute Sounds)
• Various artists - Pickin' on John Mayer (CMH)
• Various artists - Smooth Sax Tribute to Luther Vandross (Tribute Sounds)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Audioslave (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Beyoncé (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Depeche Mode (Vitamin)
• Various artists - The String Quartet Tribute to Warren Zevon (Vitamin)
• Various artists - "Thicker Than Water" soundtrack(Universal)
• Various artists - Tribute to 50 Cent (Liquid 8)
• Various artists - A Tribute to Annie Lennox (Big Eye)
• Various artists - A Tribute to Beyoncé Knowles (Big Eye)
• Various artists - A Tribute to Monica (Big Eye)
• Various artists -Unquiet Grave 4 (Cleopatra)
• DVD: Blue Man Group - The Complex Rock Tour Live (Lava/Blue Man)
• DVD: No Doubt - Rock Steady Live (Interscope)
• DVD: Phantom Planet - Live at the Troubadour (Epic)
• DVD: Reverend Horton Heat - Live and in Color (Image Entertainment)
• DVD: Simple Plan - A Big Package for You (Lava)
  Read: "Simple Plan Compile Their Stupidities In One 'Big Package'"
• DVD: Various artists - Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart and Soul (Image Entertainment)
• DVD: Various artists - This Is Trance Rave — Club Vegas (Hypnotic)
• DVD: Various artists - Hank Williams: The Man and His Music (Eagle Vision)

December 2:

• Alicia Keys - Diary of Alicia Keys (J)
  Read: "Alicia Keys Mulls Over First Single; Nas Predicts Saddam Misfortune On New Track"
  Buy Now: Diary of Alicia Keys (J)
  

December 9:

• Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell, Part 2 (Lost Highway)
  Read: "Ryan Adams Becomes ' Plaque On The Teeth Of Al-Country' With "
• Nick Cannon - Nick Cannon (Jive)
  Read: "B2K, Nick Cannon 'Feelin' Freaky' On Collabo"
  Buy Now: Nick Cannon (Jive)
• Kelis - Tasty (Arista)
  Read: "Kelis Turning Heads Again With Her Tasty 'Milkshake' "
  Buy Now: Tasty (Arista)
  
• Ruben Studdard - Soulful (RCA)
  Read: "R. Kelly, Missy Elliott Working On Ruben Studdard's Soulful Debut"

January 6:

• Justin Timberlake - Live From London (BMG)
• DVD: Coldplay - Unauthorized (Music Video Dist.)

• Missy Elliott
• No Doubt
• Madonna
• Nelly
• Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias, in support of his soon-to-be-released seventh studio album, 7, is planning a string of intimate, small-hall concerts. The Stateside portion of the trek starts, appropriately enough for the heartthrob crooner, on Valentine's Day at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The jaunt will include stops in Chicago; Oakland, California; Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with more cities to be announced. "I am excited to play the smaller venues first because I get to play the new material for my hardcore fans in an intimate setting," Iglesias said in a statement that also promised a worldwide tour in the spring. ...

Charges against Coldplay singer Chris Martin, which stemmed from his allegedly smashing the windshield of a photographer in Australia, were dropped in court Friday as a result of lobbying by Martin's lawyer, who had been calling for the case to be dismissed. ...Fabolous got to breathe a sigh of relief this week. On Wednesday, gun charges in a New York case were dismissed against the rapper, while on Thursday, gun charges in a separate Brooklyn, New York, case were dismissed as well. "We are happy that everything worked out," his lawyer, Alberto Ebanks, said. Both cases, which originated from arrests earlier this year, are now sealed. ...

Snoop and his Snoop Dogg All Stars will square off against the Southwest Football League Allstars on Saturday in Los Angeles for a charity game to raise money for the Snoop's Youth Working for Change organization and Corona Centennial High School. "This Snoopafly event is for the youth, man, that's what all of this is about," the Doggfather said in a statement. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the school. ... Metallica issued a statement regarding Tuesday's passing of composer/conductor Michael Kamen, who led the San Francisco Orchestra in its collaboration with the band on 1999's S&M. "S&M was Michael's idea, Michael's brainchild," the band's collective sentiment read. "He said he had always felt that our music lent itself to a collaboration with an orchestra ... Michael will be missed by all of us, and will always remain an integral part of the Metallica family." ...

The entertainer-to-politician bug is spreading north. After giving up his career in music, former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic is considering a run for lieutenant governor of Washington state next year. ... Limp Bizkit's current single, "Behind Blue Eyes," will be issued as a CD- and 7-inch single on Monday in the U.K. The vinyl version of the Results May Vary single is backed with "Just Drop Dead," a track purported to be about Britney Spears that Fred Durst posted on the band's Web site this summer. The digital version of the single adds to that a remix of the Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water single "Rollin'." ...

Los Angeles' KROQ-FM announced the lineup for its annual Almost Acoustic Christmas festival on-air Friday (November 21). Linkin Park, P.O.D., the Offspring, Puddle of Mudd, Pennywise, Chevelle, the Distillers and Thrice will perform December 13 at the Universal Amphitheatre, while Korn, Blink-182, Jane's Addiction, 311, Staind, Rancid, Jet, Trapt and Brand New will play the following day. ... Following a November 29 show in Camden, New Jersey, with 311, the Offspring will set out on the radio-sponsored circuit to promote their seventh album, Splinter, due December 9. Five shows are lined up, culminating at the KROQ show. The group did reserve some time for itself, however; it'll headline New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on December 6. ...

The Boss is giving back to the city for which he named an album. Bruce Springsteen and the Max Weinberg 7 & Friends will play three holiday benefit concerts in Asbury Park, New Jersey, December 5-7. Proceeds from the concerts will go to local charities and organizations. ... After three were rescheduled, the remaining dates of Ozzy Osbourne's European tour that were postponed while the metal singer recovered from treatment for his tremors will now take place beginning January 15 in Germany. The three dates that cap the tour, in London and Birmingham, England, in late February, were announced last week. ... Jimmy Coup, the guitarist for Andrew W.K.'s band, parted company with the party-hearty rocker over musical differences. The group's guitar tech will sit in on the current tour until Andrew can find a permanent replacement. ...

11.20.03

Beyoncé, John Mayer, Bow Wow and Enrique Iglesias are just some of the performers who will be shaking sawdust off their boots at the 72nd Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Concerts run from March 2 to 21 at Houston's Reliant Stadium. ... Due to Marion "Suge" Knight's July imprisonment, Riverhead Books has been forced to postpone the release of the hip-hop CEO's autobiography until the first half of 2004. ...

More than a year and a half after dropping one of their career pinnacles, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco have begun work on their fifth album in a New York studio with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke of Sonic Youth. The LP is expected to surface in the spring. ... Isaac Hanson, 23, has been hospitalized in New York for treatment of a venous clot in his right arm. His doctor said the clot may be attributable to a prior injury or repetitive, strenuous activity as a guitarist. Isaac and his brothers, Taylor and Zac, are scheduled to release a new record in March on their own label, 3CG Records. ...

Fourteen pages have been added to the paperback version of Kurt Cobain's "Journals," released last week. The newly discovered material includes lyrics to an unrecorded song, a cookie recipe, a list of the late Nirvana frontman's favorite albums and a story about a serial killer that may have been grounded in fact. ... Ghostface Killah is making sure some needy people have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. The flamboyantly soulful MC is teaming up with the makers of the Troop clothing line to give out 1,000 sleeping bags to homeless people in New York on November 24. The first stop will be the Bowery Mission in Manhattan. ...

The Vans Warped Tour will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a special show in Boston on August 20 that will bring together bands from throughout the tour's history. First, though, next year's edition of the punk-rock summer camp will hit the road with a lineup featuring New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, and others beginning June 24 in Houston. On December 10, unsigned bands will compete in Los Angeles for a spot on the tour. ... For the second installment of "America's Next Top Model," producer Rodney Jerkins has penned a theme song, "Shake Your Body," which will be sung by host Tyra Banks. The reality series premieres January 13 on UPN. ...

Three students who were the first convicted Internet music pirates will not spend time behind bars. A week after pleading guilty to multiple counts of copyright infringement, for which one student faced jail time, a judge in Sydney, Australia, issued two 18-month suspended sentences, two community service orders and a fine. The sentence upset the music industry, which took its leniency as an open door to pirates, though the fact that this was the defendants' first offenses and they didn't financially profit from the crime was factored into the punishment. ...

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