Despite eschewing commercialism for her latest album, American Life, Madonna is about to be very commercial for her new single, "Hollywood." The Material Girl has just signed up with the Gap to do a TV ad for their corduroy jeans line, which would also feature Missy Elliott. The concept is to have Madonna sing "Hollywood," while Missy would do a rap interpretation of Madge's "Into the Groove." Details weren't available about the shoot, but Gap traditionally shoots their fall ad campaigns at the beginning of July. ...

The first single from R. Kelly's greatest-hits album is ready to hit the airwaves. It's called "Thoia Thoing" and a video shoot is currently being planned. Kelly's collection of hits and remixes, The R. in R&B, is slated for this fall. ... The White House's most famous ex-intern, Monica Lewinsky, was among those who took in sets by Wilco and Sonic Youth at New York's Central Park on Friday. ...

Ruben Studdard is nearly finished with his debut album, which is due August 19 and will feature a collaboration with Fat Joe. "It was wonderful, man," the "American Idol 2" winner said of working with the rapper. "Fat Joe is one of the greatest hip-hop artists I know and the single is going to be hot, man." ... A video for "Bloody Cape," from the Deftones' latest album, was shot Saturday in Sacramento, California, by director James Minchin (Ryan Adams). The tune will serve as an international single only; a Stateside follow-up to "Minerva" has yet to be chosen. Meanwhile, the guys who comprise singer Chino Moreno's side project Team Sleep plan to record some tracks without Moreno, who'll add his vocals later. ...

Lenny Kravitz has started a record label named after his late mother, Roxie Roker, best known for playing Helen Willis on the '70s sitcom "The Jeffersons." Among the new signings to the Warner Bros.-distributed Roxie Records is singer Dan Dyer. Kravitz, meanwhile, is expected to drop his new LP, Funk, in the fall. ... Taking a cue from their song "Fight Test," the Flaming Lips "thought it better not to fight" and settled with Yusuf Islam's publishing company, which brought up similarities between that song and Islam's 1970 tune "Father and Son," released under his former name, Cat Stevens. Both artists have agreed to split the "Fight Test" royalties. ...

Roscoe will gather his brother Kurupt and other West Coast rappers to shoot a video in July for his next single, "Smooth Sailin'," from Young Roscoe Philaphornia. "We gon' get on a big yacht, we gon' put the yacht in my backyard in the pool because the pool real big," he said. "That's what I'm talking about." ... Due to ongoing band illnesses, CKY were forced to cancel seven of the 10 dates in July they had scheduled with the Deftones when the latter were not performing with the Summer Sanitarium Tour. However, the band will still play shows in Detroit (Saturday), Syracuse, New York (Hellfest, Sunday), and Old Bridge, New Jersey (July 11). Although the band could never kick that cold while on the road, singer Deron Miller had been writing songs for the follow-up to last year's Infiltrate, Destroy, Rebuild and the group hopes to release a DVD by the end of the year. ...

British R&B duo Floetry will record their Thursday show at House of Blues in New Orleans for a live album due in the fall. "That's what we do, that's how we got here," singer Marsha Ambrosius said. "Coming over to the U.S., it was really about being onstage and performing -- the deal and the album came later. So we're trying to emphasize that right now." ... Detroit garage rockers the Von Bondies have inked a deal with major label Sire Records, which is expected to release the quartet's follow-up to 2001's Lack of Communication, produced by the White Stripes' Jack White. The band is currently working with Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison, who has also produced albums by Live and Creeper Lagoon. ...

06.27.2003

Luther Vandross, who suffered a stroke in April, is now out of the hospital and in a rehabilitation facility. According to People magazine, Vandross is beginning to speak and is reportedly aware of the fact that his new album, Dance With My Father, is doing well at the upper reaches of the Billboard albums chart. ...

DMX is going home to Yonkers to shoot the video for "Where the Hood At?," off his upcoming Grand Champ LP. X is still looking for directors for the clip, which his spokesperson says will be shot in the projects on July 11 and 12. ... Thirteen new dates have been tacked on to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' North American Tour, beginning September 6 in Washington, D.C. More shows are expected to be added after the last confirmed date, September 25 in Milwaukee, to take the trek through November. ...

The second annual Snoop Dogg Celebrity Charity Basketball Game is set for Saturday at Long Beach Poly High School. Lance Bass, Nate Dogg and Warren G will join the D-O-Double Gizzle for the event. ... Lance Bass will join country songwriter Hank Cochran and blues legend Willie Dixon in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. He will be inducted in Jackson on August 9. Bass was born in Laurel, Mississippi, in 1979. ...

Eve by any other name ... is still Shelly? The upcoming UPN sitcom she will star in has changed names from "The Opposite Sex" to "Eve" to capitalize on her star power, though Eve's character will still be named Shelly. ... Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, Busta Rhymes, MC Lyte, and Phife from A Tribe Called Quest have teamed up under the name the Spitballers to record a sports anthem called "Let's Get Loud (Everybody Get Up)," which will debut as the opening song for the ESPY Awards on July 16. A video will follow. The Spitballers will likely be joined by Aerosmith on the hook, though that has not yet been recorded. ... Da Brat's Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz has been pushed back to a July 15 release date. ...

Joshua Gracin, the fourth runner-up on "American Idol 2," has dropped out of the group's summer tour in order to complete military training. "We're sad that Josh won't be able to participate in the tour, but completely respect and applaud his commitment to the completion of his military duties," 19 Entertainment's Tom Ennis said in a statement. ... Fallen "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark had two misdemeanor assault charges against him dismissed after pleading guilty to obstruction of legal process in court Wednesday. Six months unsupervised probation and the eternal question of whether he could have wiped the floor with Ruben Studdard is the price Clark had to pay for hitting his 15-year-old sister. ...

Wondering why singer Tony Lovato is keeping pretty still on the Warped Tour stage, while the remaining members of his band, Mest, jump around behind him? Lovato's not bored, he's just trying to stay healthy. In fact, after missing Saturday's show in Salt Lake City because of an aggravated back injury, he performed the next day in Denver while sitting on a couch. Two days later in Kansas City, Kansas, he rolled up in a wheelchair. He's able to stand in place now. ...

Garbage are hoping to finish working on their fourth album by October. The follow-up to 2001's Beautiful Garbage is expected to drop early next year. ... Me'Shell Ndgeocello has put the finishing touches on two new albums and is working on a third. The first completed project is a deep soul and reggae album that will be released in the first week of October; the second, a jazz LP called Papillon, to be released in early 2004. On deck is a Charlie Parker remix set. In addition to all that, she's recorded a dance/soul version of "Two Doors Down" for the upcoming Dolly Parton tribute album, which also features Norah Jones, Shania Twain, Melissa Etheridge and Sinead O'Connor. ...

06.26.2003

Linkin Park will play three rescheduled Projekt Revolution Tour shows in between Summer Sanitarium dates. The added shows are July 22 in Rochester, New York, with Mudvayne, Cold and Jurassic 5; July 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with Mudvayne and Cold; and July 30 in Wichita, Kansas, with Mudvayne. ...

While on a break before going to Europe to support By the Way in August, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will write and record two or three songs for an upcoming greatest-hits album. The band completed a North American tour leg, with Snoop Dogg in tow, last weekend. ... Tommy Lee has confirmed the end of his engagement to Prince's ex-wife, Mayte Garcia. In his Web journal at joysmayhem.com, the rocker originally wrote, "I'm a free man by the way. NO more probation/court/drama, etc. ... I'm a single man these days ... uh oh!" The reference to his love life, however, has since been deleted, while the line about his probation status remains. ...

Maybe Moby really is made of stars -- he's the music coordinator for the new multimedia show at New York's Hayden Planetarium, which used to host weekly laser-light shows set to the tunes of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and others. Moby's show, in which he'll mix his own music with that of Radiohead, the Flaming Lips and Massive Attack, should debut in October. ... Pharoahe Monch, KRS-One and Big Daddy Kane will be on hand for the inaugural Hip-Hop Peace & Unity Festival in Boston on July 18 and 19. The festival, organized to celebrate diversity and promote positivity, will include roundtable discussions with hip-hop artists and local government officials in an effort to come to a mutual understanding about the origin and culture of hip-hop. There will also be a fundraiser for Boston youth programs that have been subjected to recent cutbacks. ...

Love crooner Daniel Bedingfield will appear on the CBS soap opera "Guiding Light" on July 9 to perform his ballad "If You're Not the One." The dance mix for the song is already used in the promos for CBS Daytime's "Hot Enough for You" ad campaign. ... Thursday have made a new song called "For the Workforce, Drowning" available through their Web site. The track will appear alongside Thrice's "Under a Killing Moon" on a limited-edition clear vinyl split 7" single set for release July 1. The song was recorded during the sessions for War All the Time, Thursday's first full album since jumping to a major label, which drops September 16. ...

Robbie Williams appears in a three-minute public-service announcement sponsored by UNICEF to help fight child trafficking. "It's short, but it's definitely not sweet," he says in an introduction preceding the film, which is based around a poem by Simon Armitage, describing the sale of children into prostitution as if they were an exotic fruit. The film can be viewed at endchildexploitation.org.uk. ... Williams is also reportedly looking to collaborate with journalist Chris Heath on his autobiography, which he would work on throughout his European tour. This would be Williams' second autobiography; his first, "Somebody Someday," took fans behind the scenes of his 2001 tour. ...

To offset cutbacks the state of California made to its educational system, hometown boys Hoobastank have planned a July 15 benefit at a new Calabasas middle school that now can't afford to open. The money raised will be used to hire teachers. Hoobastank's second album is due September 30. ... Britpop band Starsailor have finished their follow-up to Love Is Here. The new album, Silence Is Easy, is slated for release in September, with the title track set to be the first single. Other song titles include "Music Was Saved," "Fidelity," "Shark Food," "White Dove" and "Four to the Floor." ... Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Christopher Walla, who has worked with Hot Hot Heat, will produce Blue Sky Mile's Initial Records debut. The band will begin tracking at the end of July at Hall of Justice studios in their hometown of Seattle. ...