Bo Bice
Photo: RCA

Judging by his collaborators, the "American Idol" "rocker" is going to keep rockin' post-show.

Bo Bice has just started work on his debut solo album and he's already joined forces with former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody, Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, and producers Howard Benson (Hoobastank, Papa Roach), Marti Frederiksen (Def Leppard, Aerosmith) and John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Santana).

"It's a little bit of everything," the "Idol" runner-up said of his music so far. "People will see my mellow, acoustic side on a couple songs, then my crazy Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, jammy-type stuff, then really groovy '70s rock, revisited with a modern touch. And with some genuine lyrics about my life and things I see around me."

Bo is recording in Nashville, where he is now living. Moody, Kroeger and Sambora have submitted songs for the album, including a Sambora/ Shanks tune called "Remember Me" that is among Bo's favorites.

"More than anything, though, I'd like to do some co-writing with these cats," Bo said.

That's exactly what Bo did recently with Rickey Medlocke, while the Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist was in Nashville to perform on "ReAct Now: Music & Relief."

"He didn't remember, but my band Purge in 1994 opened up for [Medlocke's band] Blackfoot and he was just the coolest guy," Bo said. "I've met some celebrities who were cool, but kinda fickle. It was the coolest thing to meet him a decade later and he's still the coolest, most humble cat. And I told him that and he said, 'We're about always treating people the way we want to be treated.' And I said, 'You just stole the line I use every day in my life.' "

Along with all of the established writers and producers, Bo has also written a dozen songs with his band, Sugar Money, including two inspired by Hurricane Katrina, "We Can't Change This World" and "Changing for the Better" (see "Bo Bice Returning To 'Idol' Tour With Song Inspired By Katrina").

There's no telling, though, what will end up on the as-yet-untitled album, tentatively set for a November 29 release.

"We have to pitch to the record company like everybody else," said Bo, who described his material as being about growth.

"Put yourself in a pond and over time it's going to get stagnant and become a cesspool," he explained. "A river flows, it's ever-changing. You can make a curvy river straight over a million years. And it's not what's on top going down the river, it's those grooves in the bottom. But let's not be ponds. Let's keep growing."

Bo, who missed much of the American Idols Live tour this summer due to illness (see "Bo Bice Has Emergency Surgery, Misses 'Idol' Tour Dates"), will take a break from recording this weekend to headline the 11th annual BayFest Music Festival in Mobile, Alabama.

For more on Bo, check out the feature "Bo Bice: Live On The Sunset Strip," and for a backstage look at the Idols tour, see "On The Road Again With 'Idol.' "

Get "Idol"-ized on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

• Bo Bice
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• Ben Moody
• Evanescence

Ben Moody
Photo: MTV News

Shortly after leaving Evanescence in October of 2003, Ben Moody was picking up the pieces of his life.

On one hand, he was relieved: The goth-rock behemoth had become a chore, and Moody and singer Amy Lee were barely on speaking terms. But he was also deeply depressed that the multiplatinum band — which he and Lee had formed in high school, and in which he had invested almost a decade of his life — couldn't overcome its personal differences (see "Evanescence Co-Founder Ben Moody Leaves Band During Tour").

There was also the drug habit he had picked up to numb himself to the inevitability of Evanescence's demise.

That November, a distraught Moody flew to Los Angeles to write songs with an unlikely partner: Avril Lavigne. While working with her, Moody's life after Evanescence was born — thanks to Avril.

"I didn't know what Ben Moody as a solo artist sounded like," Moody said. "I didn't even know there was gonna be [a solo record] until Avril Lavigne told me I had no choice. I played her 'Everything Burns' and she was just like, 'You're going to do a record, and that's that!' I didn't want to argue with her."

"Everything Burns" is the first single from the new "Fantastic Four" soundtrack, and features dance-pop singer Anastacia in the Amy Lee role of Moody's familiar boy/girl hard-rock schema.

And Moody's solo album, almost two years in the making, is in its final stages (see "Former Evanescence Guitarist Ben Moody Begins Work On Solo Debut"). On it, he's accompanied by Methods of Mayhem bassist Marty O'Brien, Living Sacrifice drummer Lance Garvin, studio guitarist Michael "Fish" Herring and Godhead vocalist/guitarist Jason Miller, who also sings lead on a couple tracks.

Slated for a fall release, the ironically titled Can't Regret What You Don't Remember is a self-deprecating dig at Moody's drug haze, but belies the dark and harrowing times Moody struggled through to get clean.

"It's brutally honest," Moody said of the album, which he describes as heavy, organic and at times stripped-down. "Can't Regret has been very much of a saving grace for me. It [helped me get] through rehab, even. But also, when I had moments of clarity about [drug and personal problems] and could actually, in a constructive and eloquent way, articulate what I was feeling at the time, as opposed to just ranting with rage and hatred."

One of the key songs on the album is "10/22," which commemorates the day he walked away from Evanescence. Originally penned as a diss at Amy Lee, Moody recently had an epiphany about the track.

"About three weeks ago, I realized it wasn't about Amy at all," he said. "It was about me — and I was projecting feelings I had about myself on the day I left the band onto her. It's going to sound like I'm bitching about other people, but I'm not — it's 100 percent focused on myself."

On paper, the single "Chasing Yesterday" sounds like it could be another struggle with the Evanescence implosion, but the song has darker implications. "It could be about any relationship gone bad that permanently haunts you and you're always trying to chase. That feeling of when it was good ... was about my love affair with many, many narcotics. It's a very constant theme in my life right now, trying to focus on what made me that way to begin with."

The lyrics to "Sanctuary" — a song that Moody calls the grand "opus" of the album — address the good and bad elements battling for control of Moody's soul. The harrowing track climaxes with Moody shouting "I am the enemy! I am the enemy!" over and over again.

Considering the vivid subject matter of the songs, it's not surprising to learn that Moody has already written video treatments for every potential single on Can't Regret.

Balancing his songwriter-for-hire fare and his solo record is one of the many reasons the album took so long to complete (Moody has also worked with Kelly Clarkson and the band Blank Theory, as well as recording a song for "The Punisher" soundtrack with Godhead's Miller and Drowning Pool's Jason Jones). But he says those collaborators are the reason he has a solo career at all.

"The artists I've worked with have been a huge support. Kelly, I swear, is as big a fan as my mom. She and Avril have been a huge encouragement."

• Ben Moody
• Avril Lavigne
• Evanescence

Mya (file)
Photo: Amy V. Cooper

Members of the rock, R&B and acting worlds have joined forces to record a single that will benefit victims of the tsunami tragedy in Southeast Asia.

Brian McKnight, P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval, Mya, Nate Dogg and Papa Roach's Jacoby Shaddix have contributed solos to the original track "Forever in Our Hearts," which will aid the musician-helmed charity Music for Relief (see "Linkin Park Establish Charity To Help Tsunami Victims").

For the past two weeks, songwriter Jason Miller of Godhead and producer Jay Baumgardner (Papa Roach, Seether) have been recruiting celebrities and recording music for the track in North Hollywood, California.

"Rather than have the music track recorded by studio musicians," Miller said, "I wanted to get people from different bands to play on it as well as sing on it."

Instrumentals for "Forever in Our Hearts" were laid down by Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese, 311 bassist P-Nut, Papa Roach bassist Tobin Esperance, Trapt guitarist Simon Ormandy, singer Ben Jelen on piano and violin, and former Evanescence guitarist/songwriter Ben Moody.

"[Ben Moody and I were] working on his solo record together," Miller said. "Between the two of us, we know a lot of high-profile people, so we just decided to ask a few that we knew that we were close to. Then it just sort of steamrolled."

On Sunday, an army of actors including Eric Roberts and Ming-Na ("ER") and artists such as former Extreme members Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone as well as members of Lit, Veruca Salt, Adema and Static-X gathered to record a sing-along of the chorus.

"I just want it to have the maximum amount of appeal as possible," said Miller, "the maximum amount of people so we can raise as much money as we can."

Miller also hopes to get three more high-profile artists to contribute solo vocals to the track, and a source close to the project said Avril Lavigne and Jon Bon Jovi have expressed interest.

When recording is completed, "Forever in Our Hearts" will be released exclusively to iTunes, while a video documenting the recording process will be circulated to TV outlets.

Photos and project details can be found at www.tsunamireliefsong.org.

For more information on the tsunami-relief efforts, see "Tsunami Relief: What You Can Do To Help."

• Mya
• Brian McKnight
• Ben Moody
• Nate Dogg
• Papa Roach

Ben Moody (file)
Photo: Wind-Up

More than a year after leaving Evanescence, Ben Moody is getting ready to start recording his solo debut.

Moody, who co-founded Evanescence with singer Amy Lee while in high school, plans to enter the studio in January to begin work on the still-untitled album, which is slated for release next summer, according to a label spokesperson.

Moody has been writing and demoing songs in Los Angeles since the split, and he is planning on recording all the lead vocals himself — as well as playing most of the instruments — during the sessions.

Moody, who co-wrote all of Evanescence's Fallen, including the hits "Bring Me to Life" and "Going Under," has been largely out of the public eye since leaving the band, but he's been busy behind the scenes. He co-wrote Avril Lavigne's latest hit single, "Nobody's Home" (see "So Where's Evanescence's Ben Moody? Ask Avril Lavigne"), and collaborated on two songs on the new Kelly Clarkson album, "Because of You" and "Addicted" (see "Ben Moody Bringing Kelly Clarkson's Music To Life"). He has also produced tracks for the band Blank Theory and recorded "The End Has Come" for "The Punisher" soundtrack with Godhead singer Jason Miller and Drowning Pool frontman Jason Jones.

No information is available on what direction Moody will take with his solo debut, but following the split with Evanescence, the guitarist suggested it would be more eclectic, and harder, than his former band's emotional goth-rock sound.

"The things that we dealt with in our music were things that people go through that they don't always like to talk about," Moody said earlier this year. "To me, that's purging. Once you do that, you're supposed to come together and say, 'We got it out, and we're all going to be OK.' With Amy, it was like, 'No, nothing's ever going to be OK.' And I just couldn't live that way" (see "Evanescence: The Split").

Prior to the split, Moody said he wanted to expand Evanescence's scope from the dark, introspective themes that marked Fallen and move in a harder-edged rock direction, while also hanging on to some of the elements that fans loved. For her part, Lee wanted more variety.

Evanescence are expected to begin work on their Fallen follow-up early next year (see "Evanescence's New Sound Is Reminiscent Of ... Evanescence").

• Ben Moody

MTV.com Exclusive: Ben Moody Photos 07.06.2005

• Ben Moody