R. Kelly is finally ready to shoot the video for his new single, "Snake." The singer is in Los Angeles Wednesday (April 30) and Thursday to shoot scenes with guest star Big Tigger and director Little X. The video is said to be themed around Kelly getting stuck in a desert and stumbling across an oasis. Tigger says to expect lots of women and slithering reptiles. ...

P. Diddy, R. Kelly, India.Arie and Ron Isley and the Isley Brothers are among the acts slated for the third annual Detroit Music Festival August 1 and 2. Legends the Temptations, the O'Jays, the Four Tops, Frankie Beverly and the Gap Band are also playing the Comerica Park event. ... Challenge for the Children V, 'NSYNC's fifth annual celebrity-driven basketball fund-raiser to benefit children's charities nationwide, will take place at Miami's South Beach, July 18-20. Last year's event raised more than $2 million. ...

A note to thieves: If you're going to try to rob a rock star, make sure he doesn't have a gun collection. A knife-wielding man who scaled the 10-foot walls of David Lee Roth's estate was confronted by the angry shotgun-toting singer, who cornered the intruder and held him at gunpoint until the Pasadena Police arrived to arrest him. The former Van Halen singer, who should have so much hearing damage by now that he'd have trouble distinguishing between the sounds of a jackhammer and telephone, actually woke up to the sound of cracking branches and leapt into action. ...

Nickelback are in the studio working on the follow-up to 2001's Silver Side Up. The quartet, whose members are producing the effort themselves, has completed four or five songs thus far. Neither a release date nor title has been announced. ... Irish eyes will be smilin' on June 21 in Dublin, Ireland, when U2, the Corrs, Samantha Mumba and Ronan Tynan perform at the opening ceremonies of the 11th Special Olympics World Summer Games. The event will take place at Croke Park and will be hosted by comedian Patrick Kielty. ...

With her third proper release, Coverage, recently completed, Mandy Moore has placed clips of three songs on her Web site (www.mandymoore.com), covers of Todd Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends," XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" and Joan Armatrading's "Drop the Pilot." "[Coverage] is a compilation of some of the most incredible music I have ever heard in my life and the fact that I got to record these songs is still unimaginable to me," Moore said in a post. ... Musiq, Jaguar Wright and Vivian Green will join forces for the Grey Goose Music Tour, which kicks off May 22 in Washington, D.C., and wraps up June 22 in New Haven, Connecticut. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony headlined last year's outing. ...

For the second year in a row, Los Angeles funk-rock group the Peak Show successfully performed two guerilla shows at Coachella, setting up their own stage in the center of Empire Polo Field. The band's debut, produced by Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys), and mixed by Serban Ghenea (N.E.R.D.), is due October 14. ... Deee-Lite singer Lady Miss Kier, whose real name is Kierin Kirby, is suing Sega for copying her diva image. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, she claims the character Ulala in "Space Channel 5" and "Space Channel 5 Part 2" "bears a striking physical similarity and likeness" to her. ...

New York hip-hop pop group 2 Skinnee J's are touring through the end of May to promote their third album, Sexy Karate. 2 Skinnee J's produced and released the record on their own, after struggling with label problems throughout their 10-year history. ... Irish rockers Ash are returning to the States for a tour beginning May 15 in Boston and ending June 13 in New York. Throughout the trek, the band will be selling an EP of live material recorded during its U.S. tour last year. ...

Following opening stints for AFI, the Used and Glassjaw, among others, louder-than-you rockers the Blood Brothers will embark on a headlining tour on Thursday. Seventeen dates through May 23 are slotted to support the Seattle quintet's third album, Burn Piano Island, Burn. ... Sammy Hagar and Lynyrd Skynyrd will hit the road together starting July 19 in Cadott, Wisconsin, and play dates through August 17 in Reno, Nevada. Skynyrd's guitarist Gary Rossington endured a quadruple bypass in February but has recently been given the thumbs-up to return to the road. ...

04.29.03

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. ...