Though his old bandmates have yet to secure a new guitarist, ex-Limp Bizkit axeman Wes Borland has found a vocalist for his new project, Eat the Day. According to a post on the band's Web site, the group is in pre-production with the as-yet-unnamed new singer and is eyeing a summer release date for its debut album. ...

In a post on the band's official Web site, Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara said he's patched things up with guitarist Meegs Rascon, who's currently writing three new tracks set to be included on a live album that should surface in the spring. The two had been publicly feuding in the months prior to the recent firing of drummer Mike Cox, but have since "been speaking every other day." ... Apex Theory have reached their peak with Andy Khachaturian. The singer and principal songwriter has parted ways with the group, which is in the process of auditioning new vocalists. With the white-topped singer, Apex Theory released their debut, Topsy Turvy, in April. ...

Ozzfest veterans Neurotica have called it quits. Vocalist Kelly Shaefer, who recently auditioned for the new band featuring former members of Guns N' Roses, has already begun writing for a new project. ... Twice the Sun have split up, despite the fact that they just recently signed a deal with Roadrunner Records. ...

Class is back in session for Rival Schools, who plan to hit upstate New York's Bearsville studios in February to record the follow-up to last year's United by Fate. So far the post-hardcore quartet has written a half dozen tracks for the LP, which is expected to drop in the spring or summer. ... When you're making out your Kissmas list and checking it twice, here's an item you might want to include: "Kiss: The Early Years," written by the band's Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, which will be issued November 26 by Three Rivers Press. The 192-page book features over 250 rare photos and chronicles the band's history from 1972 to 1982. ...

Like a killer Bond gadget, Flexplay's recently unveiled proprietary DVD technology self-destructs after just a few hours, or just long enough to give someone a taste of a movie or album before they purchase it. After the DVD is removed from its packaging, a dye between the DVD's layers is slowly released, eventually rendering it unreadable from minutes to days later; the technology had its debut at last month's MTV Video Music Awards Latin America. The technology was also recently employed to promote the new Bond flick, "Die Another Day." ...

11.18.02

R. Kelly will make a 90-minute appearance on his hometown urban radio station, WGCI (107.5 FM), between 8 and 10 p.m. Monday during the Bad Boyz show. Unlike rival WBBM, WGCI has been supportive of Kelly as he battles child pornography charges, agreeing earlier this summer to play his song "Heaven, I Need a Hug." ...

Jam Master Jay's widow, Terri Corley-Mizell, and brother Marvin came out on Sunday night to help kick off the inaugural H2O Hip-Hop Odyssey Film Festival at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York. Others on hand were radio DJ Doctor Dre, who paid tribute to the slain Run-DMC DJ, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Redman and more. ...

Nirvana's recently released greatest-hits album has helped push the band's catalogue sales past 50 million units, while late singer Kurt Cobain's "Journals" will debut at #1 next week on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list. ... The original, handwritten lyrics to P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation" will soon be hung among the illustrious words of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Paul Simon in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Lyric Room. That's not the only piece of P.O.D. up against a wall: The Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas has put the jumpsuit frontman Sonny wore in the "Boom" video on display. ... While the surviving members of Drowning Pool continue to search for a new singer, Rob Zombie has recorded the tentatively titled song "The Man Without Fear" with the band for the soundtrack to the Ben Affleck flick "Daredevil." Drowning Pool's DVD, Sinema, featuring tributes to late singer Dave Williams, hits stores Tuesday. ...

Guns N' Roses will attempt to earn a spot in the "Guinness Book of World Records" next month when they play back-to-back shows at Philadelphia's First Union Center (December 6) and, in a just-announced show, neighboring First Union Spectrum (December 8) — and no, it's not the record for most riots. After an unsuccessful attempt to lobby the Guinness folks with a similar stunt in 1999, the venue's owners will try to persuade the record book to create a new entry for "The Shortest Distance Ever Traveled Between Arena Rock Shows," as the venues are only 758 feet apart. ... The surviving members of Control Denied plan to release a new album next year tentatively titled When Machine and Man Collide. The band's original frontman, Chuck Schuldiner (who also once fronted seminal death metal band Death), wrote most of the new material before he died from a brain tumor in December 2001. ...

A baseball-size wad of Elvis Presley's hair in a vacuum-sealed jar fetched $115,120 from an anonymous bidder in an auction held on Saturday. The hair was collected by Presley's late hairdresser, Homer "Mr. Gill" Gilleland. ... Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has asked American music journalist Bill Wyman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to cease using his given name or face legal action. The move came after the veteran music writer reviewed some recent Stones reissues for his paper, though, ironically, Stone Wyman was born William George Perks, changing his name to Bill Wyman in 1964, while writer Wyman was born in 1961. The writer has vowed not to change his name. ...

• Limp Bizkit
• The Apex Theory
• Coal Chamber
• Rival Schools
• Kiss

Beastie Boy Mike D performs at the New Yorkers Against Violence Benefit on 10.29.01 in New York.  
Photo: MTV News

The Beastie Boys have proven they still have "the skills to pay the bills," raising more than $125,000 for New York victims of September's terrorist attacks with a pair of benefit concerts they spearheaded in October.

The money will benefit the New York Women's Foundation's Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans Inc.'s September 11 Fund For New Americans, according to the Beastie Boys' publicist. The recipients were chosen because of their commitment to help those least likely to receive aid from other major fund-raising sources.

The Milarepa Fund, a nonprofit organization supporting the Tibetan people's nonviolent struggle to regain independence, will oversee the disbursement of funds.

The New Yorkers Against Violence concerts, organized by Milarepa and the Beastie Boys, took place October 28 and 29 at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. The first show featured performances by the Strokes, Rival Schools, the B-52's and Cibo Matto (see "Beastie Boys Kick Off Benefits With Peaceful Sonic Assault").

The following night was highlighted by a surprise appearance by Moby, Michael Stipe and Bono, among sets by N*E*R*D, Mos Def, the Roots and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (see "Beasties, Bono Can't Upstage The Roots At Second NY Benefit"). The Beastie Boys and Pakistani Qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan performed at both concerts.

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

Share your thoughts on the attacks in Afghanistan in You Tell Us.

• Beastie Boys
• The Strokes
• Rival Schools
• The B-52's
• Mos Def

Beastie Boys Ad-Rock and MCA
Photo: MTV News

The Beastie Boys, making their first onstage appearance in more than two years, will headline a benefit concert October 28 in New York for charities helping those affected by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

The show, titled New Yorkers Against Violence, will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom and will also feature the Strokes, Cibo Matto, poet Saul Williams and DJ Stretch Armstrong, Beastie Boys MCA and Ad-Rock told MTV News on Tuesday (October 16). The B-52's, whose singer Fred Schneider was born in New Jersey, round out the primarily New York-area lineup.

The inspiration for the show hit the Boys almost instantly. "[The idea came to us] at about 11:00 on the 11th," Ad-Rock said. "We all watched it happen, and it was like, 'Man, we've got to do something.' The immediate reaction was, we've got to go down there — we could dig — what can we do to help? We're musicians. We know musicians. This is what we're going to do. This is how we can help out."

A second show is being discussed, possibly with post-hardcore vets Rival Schools, MCA and Ad-Rock said.

Tickets for the concert, priced at $50 each, go on sale Wednesday. Proceeds will be donated to a disaster relief fund established by the New York Women's Foundation, a nonprofit group that aids low-income women, and the New York Association for New Americans Inc., a group dedicated to helping refugees and immigrants rebuild their lives, families and communities.

"We're trying to do this in two parts," Ad-Rock explained. "First off, we're doing our part to raise money for the people who need help. While we're doing that, there's a lot going on right now. There's a lot of violence going on right now, and we feel like we need to talk about that."

The last time MCA, Ad-Rock and Mike D passed the mic publicly was for 1999's Tibetan Freedom Concert in East Troy, Wisconsin, alongside Rage Against the Machine, Run-D.M.C., the Roots and Eddie Vedder. Plans for a 2001 TFC in London fell through earlier this year (see "Tibetan Freedom Concert In London Postponed").

Ad-Rock, however, embarked on a brief tour this spring in support of Simply Mortified, the second album by his BS2000 side project, released in February (see "Mike D Producing Spiritualist's Album While Ad-Rock Tours").

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

• Beastie Boys
• The Strokes
• Cibo Matto
• Stretch Arm Strong
• The B-52's