Leighton Meester and Cyndi Lauper present the Woodie of the Year
Photo: MTV

Things were pretty raucous at the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, what with the keg stands and all, which is pretty much the only way to explain this pairing.

At the tail end of the show, which airs on December 4 at 10 p.m. 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU, "Gossip Girl" star (and budding pop princess) Leighton Meester and music legend Cyndi Lauper joined forces on the Woodies stage, to present the night's final award (for Woodie of the Year). And, no, Leighton couldn't believe it was happening either.

"I can't believe I'm standing here with Cyndi Lauper!" she shouted, as the crowd whooped in appreciation. "She's damn sexy. Sorry, it's true."

But it wasn't just attraction that brought the two together. As she embarks on her solo career — she's working with the likes of Robin Thicke and Lil Wayne — Meester would do well to take notes from Lauper, whose legacy has spanned some 30 years, thanks to iconic hits like "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time."

And onstage at the Woodies, she was clearly listening, as she paid tribute to the woman who has shaped her taste in pop.

"That is what the Woodies is all about — celebrating alongside artists that inspire you," Meester said, turning to Lauper. "I have heard you tell some magnificent stories, give some good advice, but the best is what I heard you say tonight: 'We make music, and music is awesome.' "

She's right, you know. Music is awesome. And, thanks to moments like this, so were the 2009 Woodies.

Don't miss the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, airing on December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU!

• Leighton Meester
• Cyndi Lauper

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea in 1999
Photo: MTV News

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• AC/DC
• Jane's Addiction
• Metallica
• Beastie Boys

Cyndi Lauper speaks with Kurt Loder in June of 1988
Photo: MTV News

Where do old interviews go to die? Since 1988 they've gone into the MTV News vault, but we've been exhuming them to bring you these classic natterings. Here's the latest in the series, which runs every Tuesday.

In June of 1988, just days after celebrating her 35th birthday, singer Cyndi Lauper was back in her native Queens to mark another milestone — her long-delayed high school graduation. It was a little odd. Lauper was at that point one of the world's most recognizable pop stars — a thrift-store-fashion pioneer with an endearing nasal honk that morphed, onstage, into a phenomenal alto wail that could pin back your ears. Her 1984 debut album had spun off some very big hits — chief among them, the deathless "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (currently featured in "Baby Mama") and the chart-topping "Time After Time" — and the title track of its follow-up, the 1986 "True Colors," had returned her to number one.

And yet there she was, up on a little stage at Richmond Hill High School, in cranberry robe and mortarboard, waiting in a line of more conventionally successful students to pick up her diploma. "I really tried doin' the formal education," she told us, noting that she'd flunked out of four different high schools altogether. "I figured, I'm a dummy, OK, I can deal with that."

Lack of high school certification didn't affect her career, obviously (1988 was also the year she made her first feature-film appearance, starring with Jeff Goldblum in a movie called "Vibes," which, alas, went nowhere). She was hampered, however, by the loud, wacky image her video fame had been built upon — wackiness having a fairly short shelf life. She remains a great singer, though, and has in fact never stopped making albums for her original record company. Her latest release, just out, is called Bring Ya to the Brink. The wackiness is long gone, but the voice remains undimmed. You might want to give it a listen.

Enjoy digging through The Loder Files? You'll find more here, and there's much more to come from the vaults — check back every Tuesday!

• The Loder Files: A Trip Inside The MTV News Vaults

• Cyndi Lauper

Gwen Stefani
Photo: Mark Squires

The last time someone tried to write lyrics for Gwen Stefani, she fled from the studio, crying. But when the same thing happened with a new collaborator during sessions for her new LP, The Sweet Escape, she didn't freak out. She didn't run away. This time she smiled, because she got exactly what she wanted.

The night before Stefani went in the studio with Keane keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley, she called him to go over a few ideas. "I wanted a ballad. I wanted to write 'Eyes Without a Face' or 'Killing Me Softly' or 'Time After Time,' and he was like, 'OK, Cyndi Lauper, got it,' like he was taking my order," she said. The next day, he played her "Early Winter" on the piano, "and it was the song. It was so beautiful and addictive," she said. "I didn't really attack it because it was kind of done, lyrics and everything."

Stefani let the song sit with her for a bit, then went back in, rewrote some of it and then recorded it. "It's just like one of the most beautiful songs ever. I love it," she said of the track, which is bound to cause speculation about the state of the Gwen-Gavin union, with its poignant lyrics about a couple recognizing the beginning of the end. Just how close it is to home we may never know, because the singer is (perhaps wisely) giving all the credit to her collaborator: "He had never written outside of Keane before, but he's like Clark Kent-subtle, but Superman-talented. I'm lucky I was his first, because I'm sure he's going to go write with lots of girls after me."

And further proof that Stefani is finally letting go of her compulsion to write every last lyric on her solo albums, she's capping The Sweet Escape with the Linda Perry-penned "Wonderful Life," the track that nearly gave the singer a breakdown during her Love, Angel, Music, Baby sessions (see "Gwen Stefani: Scared Solo").

Ditched because she wanted L.A.M.B. to be more uplifting and fun, "not so deep," Stefani felt it was a tragedy that the song had been sitting on her computer all this time. "Poor little song," she said. "I had to pick between that and 'Bubble Pop Electric' for the last record, and I was sitting in the kitchen with my manager like, 'Which one?' Which one?' I ended up saving 'Wonderful Life,' and that's probably the reason why I did this whole record."

But none of The Sweet Escape would have broken free from Stefani's computer had she not had so many leftovers from her L.A.M.B. sessions — even before she started, she was halfway done (see "Gwen Stefani's New LP, The Sweet Escape, Set For December"). Still, she wanted to update the tracks she'd worked on before, and that meant more studio time. Her mixed feelings about recording again are all over the new tracks, just as her hesitation to go solo in the first place was all over Love, Angel, Music, Baby. On "Orange County Girl," she sings, "Don't know what I'm doing back in the studio ... If you gimme a clap, I'm gonna give an encore." And then, on "Yummy," she raps, "Encore/ Sophmore/ Only one solo, I swore."

Though the standout tracks "Early Winter" and "Wonderful Life" are rock/pop ballads, The Sweet Escape wanders all over the musical map, and that's intentional: How could it truly be an escape otherwise? Hip-hop fans will likely gravitate towards the "disco Tetris" beat Pharrell gives her for "Yummy," or the Swizz Beatz drum line on "Now That You Got It," but No Doubt purists will be happy that Tony Kanal is getting his Prince on for "Fluorescent," and perhaps surprised that Akon came up with a playful melody for the title track.

"That was a totally unexpected track that I would never imagine I would have on this record," Stefani said. "People kept saying you have to work with this guy Akon, and I didn't know who he was. I was in my pregnancy bubble, and you don't really know what's going on in the outside world. I think I even canceled a session with him. The head of my label called me and he was like, 'You can cancel everything else in your life, but don't cancel this session.' I thought I was going in for this generic hip-hop, but it was really fresh and fun."

Besides impacting the pace of her recording schedule, the presence of Gwen's baby, Kingston, is palpable on The Sweet Escape — and not just because he can be heard crying on "Yummy." The circus of "Don't Get It Twisted" is about realizing she's pregnant in the first place — a sort of corollary to No Doubt's "Simple Kind of Life," in which she wished for a birth-control mistake. "My head is a block/ Collecting all the symptoms, about to call the doc. ... Tick tock, I guess I'm late again/ You know it's going to come at any point." Later, on "Yummy," she boasts, "I've been up making babies like a chef making donuts and pastries."

"I want him to grow up and know how important he is," Stefani said. "He is the most delicious thing. He's growing up so quickly. Everyone warned me it goes so fast, and I don't want to miss any of that. I didn't have the luxury I did before of going into the studio at any hour. So making the album this time, it was really condensed and focused. He's been in every studio, on the jet, on the helicopter, everywhere. He's such a chill guy and he likes to hang out. He's very easy."

Kingston is also coming along on Gwen's tour, the North American leg of which kicks off in April with tickets on sale in February. Tour dates for Central America, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe have not yet been announced.

Gwen Stefani tour dates, according to her Web site:

» April 21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Pavilion
» April 22 - Chula Vista, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
» April 24 - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center
» April 25 - Bakersfield, CA @ Rabobank Arena
» April 28 - Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
» April 30 - West Valley City, UT @ "E" Center
» May 2 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
» May 3 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
» May 5 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Centre
» May 6 - Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
» May 8 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
» May 9 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheatre
» May 11 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
» May 12 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
» May 14 - Raleigh, NC @ Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek
» May 15 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
» May 17 - Washington DC @ Nissan Pavilion
» May 18 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
» May 20 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
» May 21 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
» May 23 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
» May 24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
» May 26 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Hotel and Casino
» May 27 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake
» May 29 - Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
» May 30 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
» June 1 - Detroit, MI @ Palace of Auburn Hills
» June 2 - Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
» June 4 - Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center Omaha
» June 5 - St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
» June 7 - Milwaukee, WI @ Bradley Center
» June 8 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
» June 10 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
» June 12 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
» June 13 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
» June 15 - Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
» June 16 - Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
» June 18 - Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
» June 19 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
» June 22 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

• MTV News RAW: Gwen Stefani

• Gwen Stefani
• Cyndi Lauper
• Akon
• Linda Perry

St. Lunatic Murphy Lee recently shot a video for the Jermaine Dupri collaboration "What the Hook Goin' Be?," the first single from his solo album, Murphy's Law, due in September. The album will also include Lil' Wayne, Snoop Dogg and the Murphy Lee/P. Diddy/Nelly "Bad Boys II" single "Shake Your Tailfeather." "Benny Boom shot both videos," Lee said. "They're amazing." ...

The Donnas shot a video for a remix of "Too Bad About Your Girl" in Los Angeles over the weekend. The song will be featured on the soundtrack to the skateboarding movie "Grind," which opens August 15 and stars Mike Vogel ("Grounded for Life"), who will also appear in the video. ... Beyoncé Knowles, Shania Twain, Craig David and David Gray partied in London's Hyde Park for an open-air concert benefiting disadvantaged children on Sunday. More than 100,000 tickets were sold and more than $1.6 million was raised for the Prince's Trust, the charity headed by Prince Charles, the Associated Press reports. ...

Nelly will soon kick off a six-city tour, and this time it isn't just to rock the stage. Nelly will be hitting Miami, Atlanta, Houston, New York, Los Angeles and St. Louis to find a model for his new women's clothing line, Apple Bottom. According to Nelly's publicist, proceeds from the tour will go to the Jes Us 4 Jackie Foundation with the hopes of increasing the number of donors on the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. ... "Time," a previously unreleased track from Saliva, has found a home on the soundtrack to the "Tomb Raider" sequel, alongside a remixed Moby track, Paul Oakenfold's reworking of P.O.D.'s "Satellite," and album cuts by Filter, the Dandy Warhols and Conjure One, which features guest singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" hits the silver screen July 25, and its soundtrack drops three days earlier. ...

Eddie Vedder has written the introduction to rock photog Charles Peterson's latest collection, "Touch Me I'm Sick," due in November. Like Peterson's previous work, this volume continues to document the grunge era, focusing on the birth of the Seattle scene via early live shots of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Sleater-Kinney, among others. ... My Bloody Valentine founder Kevin Shields is scoring "Lost in Translation," Sofia Coppola's follow-up to "The Virgin Suicides." The soundtrack, due August 9, will include four score pieces, along with the first two Shields songs to be released in 13 years, plus material from Air, Jesus and Mary Chain and Death in Vegas. ...

Eighties icon Cyndi Lauper has collaborated with the Minus 5, the side project of R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Young Fresh Fellows' Scott McCaughey, on a song for the upcoming Wig in a Box, an audio tribute to the play-turned-cult-film "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Their "Midnight Radio" will appear next to cuts by the Breeders, Polyphonic Spree, Spoon and Jonathan Richman as well as Hedwig creators Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell. The LP is due October 21 and will benefit the Hetrick-Martin Institute, home to the Harvey Milk High School for gay, lesbian and transgender students. ...

Felix Da Housecat will follow-up his acclaimed Kittenz and Thee Glitz with A Bugged Out Mix on September 9. ... David Bowie's last trek to the Big Apple was documented by a series of photographs to be released in the upcoming book "David Bowie: Live in New York." Portrait photographer Myriam Santos-Kayda followed the singer during his October 2002 marathon tour, capturing him on five nights in five venues in each of the five boroughs. The book, due in October with a foreword by Bowie, contains shots of the Thin White Duke onstage and backstage. ...

07.03.2003

"The only thing left is 'The Osbournes on Ice,' " Ozzy Osbourne joked about the possibility of touring with his daughter Kelly, with whom he recently re-recorded the classic Black Sabbath tune "Changes" as a duet for his next album. "I don't think her music and my music are anything like each other," he conceded, "but if anyone throws one f---ing thing at my daughter, I'm on that stage with a baseball bat." ...

Guess you can call her the First Lady of Ruff Ryders and Aftermath. Eve, who was originally signed to Dr. Dre's label before joining forces with the Ruff Ryders, has now come full circle. According to one of her reps, Eve's next LP will be released through a joint venture with Aftermath and the Double R. In March, Eve told MTV News that the Doc will be producing several tracks on the project. ...

Godsmack's European tour, which was to begin July 13 in Manchester, England, was inexplicably nixed. The trek included headlining shows and festivals. ... Kid Rock threw a surprise birthday party for Pam Anderson Tuesday night in Malibu, California. On short notice, Rock enlisted the Lazy Stars, the house band for the alt country Sweethearts of the Rodeo night, held on the first Wednesday of each month at Hollywood's Molly Malone's. The countrified vibe got partygoer David Spade to get up and sing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," while John Stamos sat in on drums. ... Dashboard Confessional's first single off A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar, out August 12, will be the suggestive "Hands Down," previously released on the 2001 EP So Impossible. The new version goes for adds at radio July 15. Meanwhile, Dashboard headline a tour that runs August 30 through September 18. MxPx support for the whole trek, while Vendetta Red will open on select dates to be announced. ...

Nick Carter continues to work on his second solo record and is currently on his way back from Toronto, where he was laying down a couple of tracks with "Informer" reggae rapper Snow, Carter's management said. Meanwhile, Carter's other collaborator, Tommy Lee, has been angrily defending himself against outraged metal fans who have been criticizing the drummer for working with the Backstreet Boy. "Am I never supposed to write a song for anyone else?" Lee wrote in his Web journal at www.joysmayhem.com. "I'm not joining the Backstreet Boys, I was asked by Nick ... to help him get a more aggressive sound for his new CD!! ... He's a huge rock fan ... You all would be very surprised ... Do I judge your work!?!!? ... It wouldn't get me off posting to everyone how you burn the burgers you flip at Jack in the Box!!" ...

The Goodie Mob insist that the departure of Cee-Lo did not spell the demise of the group. The remaining members, Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo, have been working on their next LP, called Black History. Gipp is just about done putting together his first solo effort, Mutant Mind Frame. That LP is due sometime in August and features appearances from Outkast, among others. ...

Dido's follow-up to No Angel — which yielded "Thank You," most famously sampled by Eminem in 2000's "Stan" — is finally finished. The LP, titled Life for Rent, hits stores September 30, while the album's first single, "White Flag," arrives July 7 at radio. Other songs on the record include "Stoned," "Mary's in India," "Sand in My Shoes," "This Land Is Mine" and "See the Sun." ... Singer/songwriter Ben Lee makes his film debut in the Australian coming-of-age comedy "The Rage in Placid Lake," in which he co-stars with Miranda Richardson (his girlfriend, Claire Danes, makes a cameo). Lee plays the title character, the son of two hippie parents who are horrified when he takes a job at an insurance company. The film makes its world premiere this month at the Melbourne International Film Festival. ...

The Ying Yang Twins will release their third album, Me and My Brother, on August 25. Until then, the duo can be heard on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz's "Get Low." "It's possessing women's bodies," Jon said of the song. "If you don't believe me, go to the club and watch what happens when the song come on." ... New York laid-back hip-hop crew the Fun Lovin' Criminals are scheduled to drop their new album, Welcome to Poppy's, September 9. The LP is the studio follow-up to 1999's 100% Colombian. ... Truth Hurts is recording the follow-up to her 2002 debut, Truthfully Speaking, which will again feature production from mentor Dr. Dre. "You will definitely still hear beats and you will definitely still hear the real talk and it will definitely be me," she said. ...

If it's not Scottish it's crap? This could be the rationale for the new Ewan McGregor/Tilda Swinton film "Young Adam," scored by ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Byrne, born in Scotland, collected Glasgow's musical elite — including members of Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, the Reindeer Section and Future Pilot A.K.A. — to assist in composing the upcoming film's soundtrack, due September 7 on Thrill Jockey Records. ... Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan will embark on his first solo tour of North America on July 18 in Atlanta. The 21 dates that follow, through August 25 in Los Angeles, support his solo debut, Paper Monsters, released June 3, and its new single, "I Need You." At the shows, expect to hear new material as well as Depeche Mode favorites. ...

• St. Lunatics
• The Donnas
• Beyoncé
• Nelly
• Saliva

Past Best New Artist recipients: Cyndi Lauper, Shelby Lynne, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sheryl Crow, Lauryn Hill, Sade, and Culture Club's Boy George

Alicia Keys, Linkin Park, Nelly Furtado, India.Arie and David Gray are up for the Best New Artist Grammy. Perhaps they should be afraid.

If peer admiration is the best kind of compliment, winning a Grammy is indeed music's highest honor. Determined by the ballots of those who have worked on six or more commercially produced songs — as musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers or in other capacities — the award overlooks critical non-factors such as record sales or radio popularity to identify "true" artistic achievement.

While this form of flattery doesn't exactly get you nowhere, sometimes the ride is over quick. Ask some past winners of the Best New Artist award what their Grammy and a buck will get them and they're liable to point to the McDonald's dollar menu. For others, walking away with a Grammy leads to a road paved with gold and platinum.

Of the genre-spanning "big four" awards — Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (given to the songwriters) and Best New Artist — expectations hang heaviest on the latter. Like the Rookie of the Year or Heisman Trophy, the Best New Artist award, while recognizing a stellar year, is viewed as a predictor of bigger and better things. And while some have used the honor as a stepping stone, the careers of others have sunk under its weight.

Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow were each dubbed Best New Artists in the voting years their respective debut albums, Mariah Carey and Tuesday Night Music Club, were released, and while 1990 was the only time she caught Grammy gold, albeit twice (also for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Vision of Love"), Carey is 37 times platinum in the eight albums since. Crow added to her glory with six more Grammys and 11 platinum plaques from the three albums that followed her 1994 maiden win.

Early '80s artists Sade, Men at Work, Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper also benefited from Best New Artist buzz. Sade continues to strike precious metal, with last year's Lovers Rock certified double platinum, and though the careers of the others faded one or two albums later, it wasn't before they sold millions of copies and produced a flurry of hit singles.

Conversely, winning the Best New Artist award is sometimes a Pyrrhic victory. For every Carey and Crow, there are those for whom the award marked the apex of their careers.

Big things seemed in store for 1991 Best New Artist Marc Cohn. His "Walking in Memphis" was a hit and his self-titled debut was certified gold at the time of the awards ceremony. Unfortunately for the singer/songwriter, "Walking in Memphis" strode alone. Nothing Cohn released off his two successive albums, 1993's The Rainy Season and 1998's Burning the Daze, came close to matching its magnitude, and combined they've yet to sell 500,000 copies, according to SoundScan. Marc Cohn reached platinum status five years later, while its creator works as a session player.

Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind" and "Sailing" blew the 1980 winner into stardom and off the musical map just as quickly. Although his self-titled debut album fostered two other singles, and his "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," from the movie "Arthur," was a hit, his eight albums since paled in comparison to his first LP, which has been certified five-times platinum. Hootie & the Blowfish (1995) and Arrested Development (1992) are among the others whose careers suffered after taking home the Best New Artist trophy.

Recent recipients Lauryn Hill and Christina Aguilera must surely be feeling the pressure as they prepare their post-Grammy follow-ups, especially considering Shelby Lynne's disappointing après-Grammy showing. I Am Shelby Lynne, the 2000 album that afforded her the award, sold more than 225,000 copies to date, while its successor, last year's Love, Shelby, has yet to break 70,000 in sales.

While the Best New Artist award can hint toward an artist's future success, it may also mark the emergence of a predominant musical style. Like Aguilera's win that punctuated the female teen pop boon of 1999, and LeAnn Rimes' score in the midst of a country crossover trend in 1996, might a victory for India.Arie point toward a neo-soul happening? Would one for Nelly Furtado reclaim the prize for the light, funky ones? If it goes to David Gray or Alicia Keys, who herself might not be a contender if it weren't for Lauryn Hill in 1998, would soul-baring be the new rap-rock? Or would rap-rock persevere as a post-modern outlet for aggression if Linkin Park take home the trophy? We'll have to wait and see.

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

Stick with MTV News for complete coverage when the Grammys are handed out on Wednesday. You can catch the action live from the red carpet on "Backstage at the Grammys" beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) on MTV, and get up-to-the-minute news and reaction from the stars on MTVNews.com throughout the night.

• Alicia Keys
• Linkin Park
• Nelly Furtado
• India.Arie
• David Gray

John Lennon
Photo: Capitol

Although John Lennon was a man of peace, many of his songs were created during wartime — the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the culture war. Still, his words of tolerance and love reflected with hope and faith in the goodness of mankind, no matter how rotten it appeared at any given moment.

When Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and producer Ken Ehrlich planned a benefit concert to pay tribute to the former Beatle, they intended to use the proceeds to fight for gun control and help end youth violence — a noble cause to commemorate the noted pacifist (see "Lennon Tribute To Air Live From NYC; Dave Matthews, More Sign On"). "Come Together: A Night for John Lennon" was to take place September 20 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Lennon's adopted home and the city in which he was assassinated.

When terrorists flew two Boeing 767 airplanes into the twin towers September 11, however, demolishing the buildings and killing thousands, the date, name and focus of the benefit changed.

"He had a prophetic ability to be way ahead of most of us," actor Kevin Spacey said backstage after Tuesday night's "Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music," which was broadcast live on TNT and the WB. Spacey hosted the event and even sang a dramatic version of Lennon's "Mind Games."

While the event featured stars from past eras — Lou Reed performed a punk-rock version of "Jealous Guy" and Cyndi Lauper sang "Strawberry Fields Forever" from Central Park's Strawberry Fields garden — most of the evening's entertainers — including Dave Matthews, Stone Temple Pilots, Marc Anthony, Alanis Morissette, Shaggy, Craig David, Yolanda Adams and Shelby Lynne — were thoroughly contemporary.

"We were very concerned about having stars that represent this generation, because I wanted to make sure we can communicate to the young," Ono said from the press room shortly before showtime. She added that the evening's message took on extra urgency after September 11. "When the attack happened, I was really in a shock, just like I was in a shock when John passed away," she said. "It was so sudden. It reminded me very strongly of that day. I think most of us are still in shock. So it was very important for us to do this show in New York City."

The artists' mixed moods of melancholy and elation carried through the event. Contemporary gospel vocalist Yolanda Adams, who opened the show with a heartfelt version of "Imagine" backed by keyboardist (and Beatles sideman) Billy Preston, described the atmosphere.

"These are all wonderful performers, so there's a lot of love," she said. "But we are all setting into the fact that a lot of people's loved ones are still lost and missing, so it was pretty somber."

The evening was a musical eye-opener for some artists. Twenty-year-old English R&B heartthrob Craig David, for example, who sang a sultry version of "Come Together," acquired a solid appreciation of Lennon's craft.

"It's massively valuable to understand how he structured harmonies," David said. "His music was catchy and he was a great songwriter lyrically."

Dancehall pop star Shaggy, who closed the night with "Give Peace a Chance," was even more moved by Lennon's words.

"I looked at them closely for the first time and was like, 'That brother was deep,'" he said. "It saddens me, because I listen to music today and there's nothing like that. Everybody's talking about bling-bling and the artists are driving cars they don't own and houses they ain't finished paying for yet in these videos. There's no substance in music. It's so driven by how high some chick's miniskirt is or how low her cleavage is. You gotta give it to John Lennon. He believed in what he believed in whether you cared or not."

The tribute's highlights included Dave Matthews performing a gripping solo acoustic rendition of "In My Life," Stone Temple Pilots rocking out a flamboyant and gravel-voiced version of "Revolution," Alanis Morissette singing the melancholy "Dear Prudence" and Natalie Merchant playing a ruminative "Nowhere Man." Lennon's son Sean was joined by Rufus Wainwright and Robert Schwartzman for "This Boy," and by Moby and Wainwright for "Across the Universe."

"His political ideas, his social ideas, his ideas about love and the brotherhood of mankind are universal," said Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland. "His music continues to be relevant no matter what decade it is. Those ideas will continue to be important so long as people feel the love he spoke about."

For more information on and audience reaction to the attacks, including tips on how you can help, see "9.11.01: Moving Forward".

• John Lennon
• Lou Reed
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Dave Matthews Band
• Dave Matthews

John Lennnon
Photo: Capitol

"Come Together: A Night for John Lennon," a tribute concert for the former Beatle featuring Stone Temple Pilots, Beck and Alanis Morissette, will be broadcast live from New York after being postponed in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks.

The event will take place and air on October 2, according to a TNT spokesperson. The sixth installment of the cable network's TNT Master's Series was to be taped last Thursday and broadcast on what would have been Lennon's 61st birthday, October 9 (see "Beck, STP, Alanis Come Together For John Lennon").

The fundraising concert has been renamed "Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music, Dedicated to New York City & Its People." In addition to its original beneficiaries — the Violence Policy Center and the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence, united with the Million Mom March — the event will assist the American Red Cross, the September 11th Fund, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the New York Fraternal Order of Police WTC Fund, the National Organization for Victim Assistance and the Twin Towers Fund.

The show's lineup, which also features Nelly Furtado, Lou Reed, Marc Anthony, Moby, Seal, Cyndi Lauper and Shelby Lynne, has been updated to include Dave Matthews, the Isley Brothers and Yolanda Adams. Additional artists are expected to be announced shortly.

Tickets for the postponed event, which is scheduled to take place at Radio City Music Hall, will be honored on October 2.

• John Lennon
• Dave Matthews Band
• Dave Matthews
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Beck

Tricky
Photo: Hollywood Records

Like Jenny Craig or Subway-commercial guy Jared Fogle, Tricky's life changed when his diet did.

The peculiar electronic-music producer saved himself from insanity by dropping dairy, sugar, yeast and canned foods under doctor's orders, and by switching to macrobiotic products.

Tricky recovered from a severe depression to create a stellar advertisement for his life-changing diet in Blowback, arguably the best album of his decade-long career.

"I went through a lot of mad stuff," Tricky said from his New York studio in May. "This is the first time I've relaxed in three years and you kind of hear that on the record." Unlike the collections of broken beats and twisted words that comprised Tricky's earlier albums, Blowback is total ear candy. On it he works with a slew of hit makers including Alanis Morissette, Live's Ed Kowalczyk, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cyndi Lauper. He even remade "Wonder Woman." It's a far cry from 1999's Juxtapose, the nadir of Tricky's dark and dreary phase.

"I was in a state of insanity," Tricky said of his life following that album's release. "I was seeing a psychiatrist and that didn't work. It was all about my diet. It's hard to stay on it. I broke it last night and feel sick as f---." Tricky also credits his recovery to his desire to bring new sounds to the world.

"I've got nothing against things like Britney Spears," he explained. "My daughter loves her. She is a totally positive artist. Things like Eminem aren't the opposite. He does songs about 'NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys and stuff, but, with no disrespect to him at all, he's exactly like the Backstreet Boys except there's only one of him. It's pop music. It's pop art. There needs to be more art on the radio and MTV." Blowback, released Tuesday, is not a collaborative showcase (see "Tricky Works With Chili Peppers, Morissette, Kowalczyk on Blowback"). Tricky tries to combine different worlds on the album, as when Jamaican prodigy Hawkman and soul singer Ambersunshower tag team on "Over Me" or England-bred Tricky's own distinguished voice tears into Nirvana's "Something in the Way." It may be arty, but it's also the most commercial music Tricky has released. "Evolution Revolution Love," with Kowalczyk and Hawkman, is climbing rock-radio charts, and the producer hopes to expose his new sounds to a wider audience by touring in the fall as an opener for a bigger act (he's hoping for Tool).

"I'm the luckiest man alive, because I can do anything I want," Tricky said. "Some people in England won't like this album because they prefer the darker, stranger stuff. If my name is associated with pop, they're going to not listen to it. I might be called a sellout if I get radio play. All I know is, my music is more honest than most."

• Tricky
• Alanis Morissette
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Cyndi Lauper
• Live

Cyndi Lauper
Photo: Sony

The ever-unusual Cyndi Lauper will return this fall with her seventh studio album, Shine. The trend-setting '80s icon, who turns 48 on Friday, recorded the album in Connecticut and her native New York, co-producing with longtime collaborator William Wittman. Shine, whose title track will serve as its lead single, is slated to hit shelves September 11 on Edel America Records.

The album features a new version of "Who Let in the Rain," which appeared on Lauper's Hat Full of Stars (1992).

Lauper has not made any tour plans in support of Shine, but she has a number of appearances lined up throughout the summer. She'll participate in New York Pride 2001, the nation's largest gay pride parade, on June 24, and she's scheduled to perform at a Fourth of July celebration in Boston.

The "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" singer's last release was the 1998 holiday album Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life. Shyne's track listing, according to Lauper's publicist:

• Shine
• Hard to Be Me
• Madonna Whore
• Wide Open
• Rather Be
• Who Let in the Rain
• Comfort You
• Eventually
• Valentino
• This Kind of Love
• Higher Plane
• Water's Edge

• Cyndi Lauper

Hair Aware

• Busta Rhymes
• Gwen Stefani
• Cyndi Lauper
• Rod Stewart
• P!nk

Dare to Wear

• Gwen Stefani
• Snoop Dogg
• Christina Aguilera
• Mudvayne
• Mary J. Blige

47th Annual Grammy Awards Red Carpet

• Beyoncé
• Kanye West
• Mos Def
• Gwen Stefani
• Black Eyed Peas