Beyoncé Knowles, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Lisa Marie Presley will join Mary J. Blige, Jewel and Chaka Khan at "VH1 Divas Duets." Queen Latifah is hosting the annual event, which will be broadcast live May 22 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. ...

Dexter Ottley, director of street team promotions for Murder Inc. Records, was arrested last week on gun charges by federal officers in Encino, California. Officers say during the raid of the Inc.'s offices in January they found a .25 caliber handgun allegedly belonging to him. Ottley, who is still in custody, was arrested at the Inc.'s rented California residence, along with the head of their radio division, Tarik Williams, and rapper Caddillac Tah, who were not charged with any crime. ...

Courtney Love has recorded a cover of Kim Carnes' 1981 #1 hit "Bette Davis Eyes" for possible inclusion on her upcoming solo debut, America's Sweetheart. Former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry (Pink, Christina Aguilera) is co-writing with Love. ... Over 100 bands dispersed among eight stages in three days marks the return of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, taking place September 19-21 at Zilker Park. Artists confirmed thus far include R.E.M., Liz Phair, Lucinda Williams, Spoon, Ween, Gomez, and the Shins. A full lineup will be announced June 12. The first incarnation of the festival inspired by the PBS music series of the same name featured Wilco, Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris and the Jayhawks. ...

Inching ever closer to usurping David Bowie's title as the chameleon of rock, Beck assumed the roles of Nelly and Justin Timberlake for covers of the hits "Hot in Herre" and "Cry Me a River" at a secret show at the London Union Chapel Monday night. Beck remains in the U.K. through Friday, before embarking on a North American tour with Dashboard Confessional and the Black Keys in support of his latest album, Sea Change. ... Fans of indie art-rock, rejoice. British experimental darlings Radiohead and Icelandic ambient rockers Sigur Rós will debut their musical collaboration October 14 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York. The project was created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company piece "Split Sides." Both groups will play 20 minutes of live music, and the first time the dancers will hear the pieces is opening night. From October 16 to 18, the dance company will perform to recorded versions of the music. ...

Echo & the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch will headline a short U.S. tour next month to promote his new solo album, Sliding, which features Coldplay's Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland. The outing begins May 19 in Washington, D.C. and ends May 28 in Los Angeles. ... The Chinese calendar says it's the Year of the Goat. Year of the Rabbit would beg to differ. The textural hard rock band features former Failure frontman Ken Andrews and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Garber, formerly of National Skyline. Its self-titled debut will come out on June 24. ...

04.28.03

Clothing designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who created the super pointy bras Madonna wore onstage for her 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour, will tailor the clothing for Marilyn Manson's trek to support his next album, The Golden Age of Grotesque, which comes out May 13. ...

Not only does Bone Crusher have an unofficial remix of his record "Never Scared" with the Diplomats getting burn on the radio and mixtapes, the Atlanta gargantuan has just completed an official reworking of his tune as well. This new version also features Cam'ron, in addition to Busta Rhymes and Jadakiss. ... Pearl Jam have had just about enough of their own hot air, so they've joined up with the environmental organization Conservation International to help reduce the damage caused by the estimated 5,700 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions caused by the trucks, buses, planes and cars used on their current tour. To balance the scales, Pearl Jam have bought the same amount of carbon from the Makira rain forest conservation project in Madagascar, thereby preventing it from burning and emitting more carbon dioxide. ...

The owners of a guitar that once belonged to Jimi Hendrix are free to sell the ax, despite a lawsuit by the late guitarist's family. Rock Stars Guitars claimed a former roadie gave them the 1967 Fender Stratocaster, which they then tried to put on the eBay auction block. The Hendrix estate questioned the authenticity, and filed suit to stop the bidding, but a judge ruled against them. Their lawyer said they'd appeal. ... A pair of Motörhead disciples in Portland, Oregon, have tracked down a black hat stolen from frontman Lemmy Kilmister last May, and returned the article to its rightful owner. The fans said they were at a party in Portland and saw Lemmy's chapeau on display. So they snatched the cap and snuck out before anyone noticed it was gone. They then drove three hours to Seattle to hand-deliver the headpiece. "I would like to thank from the bottom of my black heart two people who brought the hat. Thanks to you both," Lemmy posted on Motörhead 's Web site. ...

Opting for economy over verbosity, Louisiana metal band Superjoint Ritual have changed the name of their upcoming record from Striking Fear Into the Enemy: A Lethal Dose of American Hatred to A Lethal Dose of American Hatred. The album is due in June and is the follow-up to Use Once And Destroy, which came out last year. Superjoint Ritual is a side band of Pantera frontman Philip Anselmo. ...