"The only thing left is 'The Osbournes on Ice,' " Ozzy Osbourne joked about the possibility of touring with his daughter Kelly, with whom he recently re-recorded the classic Black Sabbath tune "Changes" as a duet for his next album. "I don't think her music and my music are anything like each other," he conceded, "but if anyone throws one f---ing thing at my daughter, I'm on that stage with a baseball bat." ...

Guess you can call her the First Lady of Ruff Ryders and Aftermath. Eve, who was originally signed to Dr. Dre's label before joining forces with the Ruff Ryders, has now come full circle. According to one of her reps, Eve's next LP will be released through a joint venture with Aftermath and the Double R. In March, Eve told MTV News that the Doc will be producing several tracks on the project. ...

Godsmack's European tour, which was to begin July 13 in Manchester, England, was inexplicably nixed. The trek included headlining shows and festivals. ... Kid Rock threw a surprise birthday party for Pam Anderson Tuesday night in Malibu, California. On short notice, Rock enlisted the Lazy Stars, the house band for the alt country Sweethearts of the Rodeo night, held on the first Wednesday of each month at Hollywood's Molly Malone's. The countrified vibe got partygoer David Spade to get up and sing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," while John Stamos sat in on drums. ... Dashboard Confessional's first single off A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar, out August 12, will be the suggestive "Hands Down," previously released on the 2001 EP So Impossible. The new version goes for adds at radio July 15. Meanwhile, Dashboard headline a tour that runs August 30 through September 18. MxPx support for the whole trek, while Vendetta Red will open on select dates to be announced. ...

Nick Carter continues to work on his second solo record and is currently on his way back from Toronto, where he was laying down a couple of tracks with "Informer" reggae rapper Snow, Carter's management said. Meanwhile, Carter's other collaborator, Tommy Lee, has been angrily defending himself against outraged metal fans who have been criticizing the drummer for working with the Backstreet Boy. "Am I never supposed to write a song for anyone else?" Lee wrote in his Web journal at www.joysmayhem.com. "I'm not joining the Backstreet Boys, I was asked by Nick ... to help him get a more aggressive sound for his new CD!! ... He's a huge rock fan ... You all would be very surprised ... Do I judge your work!?!!? ... It wouldn't get me off posting to everyone how you burn the burgers you flip at Jack in the Box!!" ...

The Goodie Mob insist that the departure of Cee-Lo did not spell the demise of the group. The remaining members, Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo, have been working on their next LP, called Black History. Gipp is just about done putting together his first solo effort, Mutant Mind Frame. That LP is due sometime in August and features appearances from Outkast, among others. ...

Dido's follow-up to No Angel -- which yielded "Thank You," most famously sampled by Eminem in 2000's "Stan" -- is finally finished. The LP, titled Life for Rent, hits stores September 30, while the album's first single, "White Flag," arrives July 7 at radio. Other songs on the record include "Stoned," "Mary's in India," "Sand in My Shoes," "This Land Is Mine" and "See the Sun." ... Singer/songwriter Ben Lee makes his film debut in the Australian coming-of-age comedy "The Rage in Placid Lake," in which he co-stars with Miranda Richardson (his girlfriend, Claire Danes, makes a cameo). Lee plays the title character, the son of two hippie parents who are horrified when he takes a job at an insurance company. The film makes its world premiere this month at the Melbourne International Film Festival. ...

The Ying Yang Twins will release their third album, Me and My Brother, on August 25. Until then, the duo can be heard on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz's "Get Low." "It's possessing women's bodies," Jon said of the song. "If you don't believe me, go to the club and watch what happens when the song come on." ... New York laid-back hip-hop crew the Fun Lovin' Criminals are scheduled to drop their new album, Welcome to Poppy's, September 9. The LP is the studio follow-up to 1999's 100% Colombian. ... Truth Hurts is recording the follow-up to her 2002 debut, Truthfully Speaking, which will again feature production from mentor Dr. Dre. "You will definitely still hear beats and you will definitely still hear the real talk and it will definitely be me," she said. ...

If it's not Scottish it's crap? This could be the rationale for the new Ewan McGregor/Tilda Swinton film "Young Adam," scored by ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Byrne, born in Scotland, collected Glasgow's musical elite -- including members of Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, the Reindeer Section and Future Pilot A.K.A. -- to assist in composing the upcoming film's soundtrack, due September 7 on Thrill Jockey Records. ... Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan will embark on his first solo tour of North America on July 18 in Atlanta. The 21 dates that follow, through August 25 in Los Angeles, support his solo debut, Paper Monsters, released June 3, and its new single, "I Need You." At the shows, expect to hear new material as well as Depeche Mode favorites. ...

07.02.2003

There won't be a rubber match between Ruben and Clay. August 19 was to be the brawl to settle it all, the day the "American Idol 2" champ and runner-up were set to release their debut LPs. But after Studdard beat Aiken on the show, and Clay outsold the big man when both released singles last month, the showdown has been called off. Now both albums will drop separately in September. ...

In late August, two months before dropping their new album, Use Your Erection 1 & 2, Blink-182 are scheduled to perform two shows for troops stationed in the Persian Gulf. For security reasons, the exact dates and locations were not disclosed. ... Nickelback will film the video for "Someday," the first single from the band's as-yet-untitled fourth album, July 8 and 9 in their hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, with director Nigel Dick (Britney Spears, Guns N' Roses). The follow-up to the four-times platinum Silver Side Up is due September 23. ...

'NSYNC's annual Challenge of the Children charity basketball game is set for July 19 in Miami's South Beach. Those expected to join the group members on the court include TLC's Chilli, Good Charlotte's Benji Madden, actress Shannon Elizabeth and O-Town's Trevor Penick, among others. The game is part of the weekend-long Challenge for the Children V, which provides money to children's programs and charities throughout the country. ...

Kanye West premiered the video for his underground song "Through the Wire" Tuesday night at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in New York. During a speech in front of his well-wishers, West told the crowd he funded the $33,000 video himself and that he would be producing some tracks for Alicia Keys' upcoming LP. ... If you're not in the 33 cities that athletic apparel company AND-1 is visiting with its mixtape tour, don't worry: On Tuesday ESPN will start airing the second season of AND-1's traveling reality show/ streetball tournament, which kicked off in June. In it, NBA stars judge amateur b-ballers competing for endorsement deals, and at halftime, hip-hop ballers like Jadakiss, Drag-On and Obie Trice get it bouncin'. ... Trice, meanwhile, has been added to the Rock the Mic Tour as an opening act. ...

Tommy Stinson, the bassist for legendary train-wreck punk band the Replacements as well as for the current incarnation of train-wreck hard rock band Guns N' Roses, made a stop at New York's Mercury Lounge on Tuesday to showcase new songs he's shopping around for a solo deal. He also played songs by his previous bands Perfect and Bash & Pop, as well as covers of Big Star's "Nightime" and Loudon Wainwright III's "One Man Guy" (more recently covered by son Rufus Wainwright), much to the delight of attendee Winona Ryder. ... Killer Mike, who is featured on Bone Crusher's "Never Scared" and the upcoming Outkast single "Flip Flop Rock," has put his March release, Monster, behind him to work on his second album, Rap or Die, due in early 2004. "Unfortunately, man, the record company said, 'We out of money for this year.' " ...

Liz Phair's summer tour, during which she'll co-headline some of the dates with Jason Mraz, begins July 21 in San Francisco. The 22-date trek runs through August 28 in Minneapolis. ... Ms. Jade is hard at work on the follow-up to 2002's Girl Interrupted, which is due in the fall. "I just want it to be a classic album," she said. "I just want it to explain what I'm going through right now, like what I've learned with past situations, past music industry things." ...