The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken to apologize for his anti-cat sentiments expressed in Rolling Stone, and they're holding their next ad campaign over his head until he does. An ad with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog featuring the slogan, "Get Neutered, It Didn't Hurt Clay Aiken" will commence unless Aiken makes amends to cat lovers. Should he do so, the slogan will be changed to "Cut 'em off. They don't taste that great anyway." ...

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey will perform during the halftime show of college football's Orange Bowl on New Year's Day in Miami. If you can't catch the live performance, worry not: MTV has begun taping the second season of "Newlyweds" and will be with the happy couple at the event. ... Jay-Z's 40/40 Club sports bar might be stretching it legs. Plans are being discussed to franchise the establishment in Las Vegas and Miami. ...

A Crow Left of the Murder, Incubus' fifth album, is scheduled to drop February 3. The follow-up to 2001's Morning View was produced by Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Papa Roach), and its first single is titled "Megalomaniac." ... Isaac Hanson, the oldest brother in Hanson, has been admitted to a New York hospital for undisclosed reasons. Isaac, who turned 23 on Monday, was in the city looking for an apartment in the Tribeca/ SoHo area, and had been out on the town Monday night celebrating his birthday. Hanson were also preparing for the launch of their new album this spring. ...

Eminem's ex-wife, Kim Mathers, finally showed up in court to answer on two dates she skipped last week. In a Macomb County court near Detroit in the morning, Mathers posted $50,000 bond on cocaine-possession charges and was released. The judge placed her on an electronic tether (to indicate when she leaves her home) and ordered her to drug rehab and testing while also setting a December 18 hearing. In the afternoon, Mathers headed to Warren, Michigan, to catch up on her other missed court date. A District Court judge reinstated her outstanding $3,000 bond and set a hearing for December 16. ... Ashlee Simpson's reality show pilot was picked up by MTV for a full season. "The reason I chose to do the show is because I want kids to see the process [of recording an album] and to see that it's reachable for them and that they can do it too," Jessica's sister said excitedly. ...

After collecting the Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Female Artist award at Sunday's American Music Awards, Missy Elliott took a minute backstage to explain the title of her new album, This Is Not a Test. "You normally hear the [warning] and 'This is only a test.' That mean don't get alarmed, it's not the real emergency. But this album is the real thing. And you don't have time to go get yourself together. This is the real jump-off." ... Also backstage at the event, Macy Gray revealed details on several upcoming projects, including a fashion line launching in the spring, a collaboration with David Bowie for the upcoming Olympics (the two are also touring together in early 2004) and her contribution to the upcoming "Mona Lisa Smile" soundtrack, "Santa Baby." "I did it with [Art of Noise's] Trevor Horn," Gray said of the track. "It was like a big band, like horns and strings and all that sh-- and he did it authentic, like we really recorded in the '30s or '40s." ...

In an effort to both appease hungry fans and nip piracy in the bud, the Dixie Chicks are pushing the release date of their double CD/DVD package Top of the World Tour Live from November 25 to November 21, duplicating the same move made earlier this week by Korn. Not only are the Chicks the first country act to advance their release date, they're the first women to do so. ... When JC Chasez launches a club tour in early December, he will bring along a full band. "I'm gonna squeeze everybody I can on that stage," he said recently. "The important thing to me now is touching hands and seeing eye to eye with these people and things like that." ...

Young Gunz recently shot a video in Los Angeles for "No Better Love" featuring Rell, the first single from their debut LP, Tough Luv, due January 27. The album will also include the "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" remix with Chingy and a Juelz Santana collaboration built around the Hall & Oates track "Rich Girl." ... 112 took them to church Tuesday night while performing at an album-release party for their new LP, Hot & Wet. The highlight of their set at Webster Hall was an extended version of their song "Player." Kelis also performed her hit "Milkshake" in an opening set. ...

A year after he unleashed "the f---ing fury" on a female airplane passenger, Yngwie J. Malmsteen will unleash his new album, Attack!!!, on January 13. Malmsteen's 20th album will be the metal virtuoso's first domestic release in over three years. …

11.18.03

Britney Spears is already a star -- but now she has a bronze one on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to prove it. Before almost 2,000 screaming fans, the singer got her star added to the famed sidewalk on Monday, a day before the release of her latest album, In the Zone. "I'm seriously speechless right now," she told the crowd. "This is something I've dreamed about since I was a little girl, and I can't believe I'm actually here with all of you amazing fans. I'm really honored." Spears is the 2,242nd performer to receive the honor. ...

The pathologist who performed Aaliyah's autopsy testified Monday at the opening of a coroner's inquest that the singer died of severe burns and a blow to the head after her plane crashed in the Bahamas in 2001, according to wire services. Dr. Giovander Raju also said Aaliyah had a weak heart and "went into such a state of shock, even if she had survived the crash, recovery would have been near impossible." Investigators who are examining the crash and the deaths of Aaliyah and the other passengers believe the plane was 700 pounds overloaded. Aaliyah's parents reached an undisclosed settlement in a negligence lawsuit against the airline in September. ...

Pharrell Williams, Evanescence's Amy Lee, Jason Mraz, Stacie Orrico, Moby and Dido are among the artists who will be on hand at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on December 4 to announce the nominations for the 46th annual Grammy Awards. The ceremony will take place on February 8. ... R. Kelly as well as 50 Cent with G-Unit have been added to the list of performers for the Vibe Awards, taping Thursday in Santa Monica, California, and airing Friday on UPN. Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Russell Simmons, Quincy Jones, Ashton Kutcher and the cast of "Girlfriends" will appear at the event, while Monica, Musiq, Kelis, Free and Nona Gaye have been added as presenters. ...

A Christina Aguilera concert shot at London's Wembley Arena recently will air November 30 on the WB. Titled "Stripped ... Live in the U.K.," the special will be released January 13 on DVD. ... Justin Timberlake's upcoming TV special, "Down Home in Memphis," was scheduled for broadcast November 25, though NBC has now bumped its premiere to November 28, a day after Thanksgiving. In the one-hour program, Timberlake gives viewers a tour of his hometown and performs "Rock Your Body" and "Cry Me a River" from Justified, as well as a duet with the Rev. Al Green on his classic 1971 hit "Let's Stay Together." ...

Creed are ramping up for a big 2004, promising to release a collection of hits, unreleased material and new recordings as well as solo projects from frontman Scott Stapp and guitarist Mark Tremonti. No timetable has been set for the releases. ... Months of touring have not stopped 3 Doors Down from writing material for their next album, which they plan to record early next year. "We stay busy on the road, we write every day," guitarist Matt Roberts said. ...

Big-boned rocker Meat Loaf, touring to support his eighth album, Couldn't Have Said It Better, collapsed on a London stage Monday night and was taken to a hospital for observation. Loaf's spokesperson cited exhaustion due to a prolonged, non-life-threatening viral infection as the cause. He remained hospitalized Tuesday and canceled his show that night, per doctor's orders. ... Wu-Tang Clan's RZA has been forced to cancel the 21 remaining dates on his national tour due to exhaustion, a problem that landed him in the hospital for a few days last week. The producer/rapper, who just released a solo album, Birth of a Prince, is resting for a couple of weeks and will not reschedule the dates. ...

Another brick in the wall ... another rock music action figure. Six of the memorable characters, hallucinations and icons from Pink Floyd's 1982 movie, "The Wall," are now available as part of a toy statuette box set. Each figure -- Scorpion & Pink, the teacher, marching hammers, the judge, megaphone hammer and eagle warplane -- is 6-8 inches tall and comes attached to its own piece of "the wall." The figures are available from thewalldirect.com. ... A lawsuit filed by P. Diddy's former business associate Kirk Burrowes against the hip-hop mogul was thrown out of federal court Tuesday because the complaint failed to meet the requirements to continue at a federal level. A determined Burrowes now plans to take his case to state court. ...

Kid Rock is checking in with fans before determining the next single from his just-released self-titled album, but he knows what he would like to get on the radio. "I'd love to get some of that rock and roll blues stuff from the record," said Rock, who played an unexpected show Friday at the Malibu Inn along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. "We went into the club to have a drink and then there was a band playing and they said, 'Hey, would you guys like to play?' We said, 'Of course, we'd love to,' and they made a big production out of it. The owner did a sneak move and went and put our name on the marquee." ... Rock attended Sunday's American Music Awards with on-again, off-again girlfriend Pamela Anderson, who said she is launching a clothing line in February. "Pamouflage?" Rock asked. "No, that's just one thing," she answered. "Damn, I like that name," Rock responded. ...

When Chevelle return to the studio in March, the Chicago trio hope to score the assistance of a big-name producer. "I want Dave Grohl, actually," singer/guitarist Pete Loeffler said. As for the direction of the album, drummer Sam Loeffler added, "We're a heavy rock band, so we're gonna stay with that, heavy and melodic. We've got some ideas of things to make it just bigger, more double-kick [drum] stuff and things like that." ... Indie-rock bastions Pavement haven't been a band for four years, but Spiral Stairs' solo career keeps climbing. Guitarist Scott Kannberg's post-Pavement venture, Preston Schools of Industry, is gearing up for its second album, Monsoon, due in January. The follow-up to 2001's All This Sounds Gas features Wilco's Jeff Tweedy on a track called "Get Your Crayons Out." Meanwhile, Kannberg is looking through his archives for a deluxe, expanded reissue of Pavement's breakthrough classic, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, originally released in 1994. ...

Without a TV show on the air, Tom Green is staying busy writing an album to follow up his infamous "The Bum Bum Song." Among the subjects the comedian is tackling with his lyrics are the Grand Canyon, monkeys and vegetarianism. "It's gonna be really positive," he said. "Not a lot of the sex stuff that's in music these days, that's really kinda corrupting our youth." ... One of the country's largest CD-bootlegging operations, believed to have illegally manufactured more than $50 million worth of CDs by artists such as Ja Rule, Ludacris, Britney Spears and Eminem, was busted earlier this month in Atlanta, police announced last week. A raid resulted in the confiscation of more than 127,000 CDs and brought multiple counts of conspiracy and pirating-of-copyrighted-material charges against six alleged ringleaders. ...