Avril Lavigne
Photo: George Pimentel / Wire Image

While some bands continue to cancel Toronto dates over SARS fears, Canada's music elite, including Avril Lavigne, Sum 41 and Sarah McLachlan, are joining forces to battle the city's tourism troubles, which began when the disease broke out there earlier this year.

The acts will headline a June 21 concert that will also feature Barenaked Ladies, Our Lady Peace, Glenn Lewis, Remy Shand and the Tragically Hip, according to a spokesperson for the event.

Lavigne and the others will perform at either Toronto's Skydome or the adjacent Air Canada Centre, with all performances being broadcast on giant screens in both venues, which hold a combined 70,000 people.

"We rely on concerts to bring in a lot of tourists to Toronto in the summer, so the reason this was put together by various levels of government and promoters was [because] we saw an opportunity to give back to the city using Canadian acts, showing the world that Toronto is open for business," said Brett Gallagher, vice president of concerts for the Skydome. "[Those of us] living here are going [on with] our normal work days. We have to be smart about it, but we're still living life."

Since Toronto's outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in March, the disease has caused 27 deaths in the area and the tourism industry has lost approximately $763 million (see "SARS Continues To Affect Concerts, Promo Dates Worldwide").

The World Health Organization revoked a travel advisory to Toronto earlier this month, although the city has returned to a list of "areas with recent local transmission of SARS."

The announcement of the June concert comes on the heels of Kelly Clarkson, Lisa Marie Presley and others canceling Toronto appearances. Just this week, Staind called off an autograph session and concert with Cold over fears of the reemergence of the disease.

• Avril Lavigne
• Sum 41
• Sarah McLachlan
• Barenaked Ladies
• Our Lady Peace

Tweet
Photo: Elektra

Ooops, there goes my tour ...

That's what R&B newcomer Tweet was forced to say earlier this week when she and Glenn Lewis cancelled their co-headlining trek.

After turning down opening spots on the summer tours of such big-time acts as Usher and Musiq, in early April Tweet announced that she intended to go out on the road with the more similarly sized Glenn Lewis.

With Tweet's popular, autoerotic anthem "Oops (Oh My)" and Lewis' soulful, Stevie Wonder-esque "Don't You Forget It" both burning up the airwaves of urban radio, the tour seemed like a no-brainer. The two planned a 24-city U.S. club tour that kicked off in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 12 and would have come to a close June 28 in Cincinnati (see "What's In A Name? Tweet's Not Sure, But Glenn Lewis Tour Is A Go"). However, days before the festivities kicked off, almost the entire tour was scrapped. A survey of the proposed venues suggested soft ticket sales may have been the culprit, though when asked what happened, management for both acts declined comment. Label reps insist that the tour will be rescheduled, though no specific plans have been finalized.

Hard fans of Tweet and Lewis can still get their fill, though — that is, as long as they don't mind filling their tanks. The tour's remaining date is still scheduled for this Sunday at the New York nightclub B.B. King's.

• Tweet
• Glenn Lewis

B2K
Photo: Sony

The folks responsible for the Now That's What I Call Music! series are taking their next compilation LP to the street.

Off the Hook, a hip-hop/R&B version of Now, is scheduled for release May 21, according to a Columbia Records spokesperson. Like the Now series, the LP is a collaborative effort between Sony Music, Universal Music Group, EMI and Jive Records.

The album's 20 previously released tracks feature the smooth R&B of B2K, the soaring sultriness of Aaliyah and the aggressive bounce of Mystikal. The newest cut on the LP, "Feels Good" by Naughty By Nature featuring 3LW, comes from the rappers' next album, Iicons, due May 7 (see "Naughty By Nature, 3LW Save The Day In 'Feels Good' Video").

Off the Hook track list, according to Columbia Records:

• Jermaine Dupri featuring Ludacris - "Welcome to Atlanta"
• B2K - "Uh Huh"
• Jagged Edge featuring Nas - "I Got It 2"
• Lil' Bow Wow - "Take Ya Home"
• Aaliyah - "More Than a Woman"
• Mystikal - "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)"
• Joe - "Let's Stay Home Tonight"
• Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule - "I'm Real (Murder Remix)"
• Nas - "One Mic"
• Glenn Lewis - "Don't You Forget It"
• Ruff Endz - "Someone to Love You"
• Keke Wyatt featuring Avant - "Nothing in This World"
• City High - "City High Anthem"
• India.Arie - "Video"
• Angie Stone - "Wish I Didn't Miss You"
• Janet Jackson featuring Missy Elliott - "Son of a Gun"
• N.E.R.D. featuring Lee Harvey and Vita - "Lapdance"
• Mr. Cheeks - "Lights, Camera, Action"
• Petey Pablo - "Raise Up"
• Naughty By Nature featuring 3LW - "Feels Good"

• Jermaine Dupri
• B2K
• Aaliyah
• Mystikal
• Jennifer Lopez

Tweet
Photo: Elektra

Why name a songbird Tweet? It's a simple question, but Charlene Keys, a.k.a. Tweet, can't remember exactly how the nickname came about.

"Maybe I had a big head like the Tweety Bird character," she joked recently. "I've been Tweet since I was a little girl. It's been a nickname that everybody in my family wants to get credit for. 'I named her that. No, I named her that.' "

The Rochester, New York, native does know how she can justify naming her album Southern Hummingbird (see "Oh My — Tweet Loving Life At The Top"), despite hailing from the North. That ties back to her kinfolk as well.

"I'm the only person in my family that was born in New York," she explained. "Everybody else is from the South but me. Every summer I go to the South. Everybody thinks I'm Southern because I talk kind of country. My roots are from the South. Why not represent both?"

Last month Tweet was mulling tour offers from Usher, Musiq and Glenn Lewis, and now she's decided to go with the latter. Her co-headlining tour with Lewis will kick off May 12 in Kansas City, Missouri, hitting mostly theaters.

Tweet/Glenn Lewis tour dates, according Elektra Records:

• 5/12 - Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theater

• 5/21 - Boston, MA @ Avalon

• 5/23 - Washington, DC @ Nation

• 5/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory

• 5/26 - New York, NY @ B.B. King's Blues Club

• 5/31 - Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

• 6/1 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

• 6/2 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant

• 6/4 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theater

• 6/6 - San Diego, CA @ 4th & B

• 6/7 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint

• 6/9 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore

• 6/11 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues

• 6/12 - West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues

• 6/13 - Phoenix, AZ @ Club Rio

• 6/15 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater

• 6/16 - Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater

• 6/17 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues

• 6/19 - Orlando, FL @ House of Blues

• 6/20 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle

• 6/21 - Norfolk, VA @ The Boathouse

• 6/22 - Baltimore, MD @ Camden Yard

• 6/27 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues

• 6/28 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's

• Tweet
• Glenn Lewis

Glenn Lewis
Photo: Epic

Glenn Lewis' silky voice may be winning acclaim and earning him comparisons to Stevie Wonder, but the Toronto native says that if he hadn't been seriously doubting himself when he penned the hit "Don't You Forget It," his success might not have ever come about.

"I decided to write about a woman in a situation where she may have left home to come to the big city for the purposes of opportunity or job advantage and finds herself intimidated or overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle and survival-of-the-fittest mentality," he explained. "The plot is based around a woman, but in fact I was actually going through it myself.

"After I'd written it, I discovered that I was writing about what I was feeling at the time. Being intimidated by being in the company of so many phenomenally talented people. Being in the company of [my album's producers] Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, who produced Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild and Michael Jackson. And [hanging out with] Musiq Soulchild. Everybody was so talented, I had to question my place in being here. I had to back up and keep in mind the things I had gone through to get to that point."

Lewis is literally going to be rolling with another highly touted music aficionado, Alicia Keys. The singer was so touched by Lewis' song that she added him as an opening act on her tour that kicks off January 22 in Connecticut. Until a few weeks ago, Keys had no plans to bring anybody with her.

"To my understanding, it was her intention to go out on her own," Lewis said. "Apparently she heard 'Don't You Forget It' ... and said, 'Let's see what this dude is about as an artist.' By the grace of God it all came together. It's a huge blessing to be able to go out with her. She's such an amazing talent and incredible songwriter. We met while I was in New York not too long ago, She was doing a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. She was really gracious, hellafide nice, down-to-earth and cool. It looks like its gonna be a fun tour."

Although his debut LP, World Outside My Window, doesn't drop until March, Lewis said he's hoping audiences will be able to bond with him and find him a familiar soul.

"Honesty, sincerity — I consider my show to be a one-on-one thing," he said. "Hanging out with friends [is what it's going to feel like]. Hopefully people will walk away [saying,] 'Glenn is sort of that dude from down the street that we all know.' I hope people enjoy it."

• Glenn Lewis
• Alicia Keys

Glenn Lewis Photos

• Glenn Lewis