Amidst the cavalcade of stars -- including Prince, Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy -- sitting courtside Thursday night at Los Angeles' Staples Center for game four of the Lakers/ Timberwolves playoff game were Justin Timberlake and Usher, seated side by side, looking like old chums. ... Though Timberlake's upcoming film "Edison" has yet to find a distributor or secure a release date, initial images from the movie are starting to become available. Timberlake co-stars with Morgan Freeman, who plays a semi-retired investigative journalist who helps Timberlake's rookie character make sense of evidence he's uncovered in a big city crime scandal. ...

Rapper T.I., who was sentenced to three years in Cobb County, Georgia, last month, was recently moved to a work-release program for the rest of his sentence. He'll now be able to go back to recording. A spokesperson for the Cobb County district attorney's office noted it was a common occurrence, saying they like to encourage those with jobs to continue working. T.I. is expected to only serve nine months to a year of his sentence. ... Bidding started at $5,000 two weeks ago for the Britney Spears room at Boston's Onyx Hotel, even though details about the room weren't fully available. Now, as it turns out, the room has been designed by Britney's mother, Lynne Spears, to resemble Britney's bedroom at home in Louisiana -- with soft green shades and gold accents. The room will feature rare glass-beaded wallpaper, an honor bar stocked with Britney's favorite snacks and all of her CDs, and a 42-inch plasma-screen TV. Ten percent of the room's revenue supports the Britney Spears Camp for the Performing Arts. Bidding continues on the room through June 11 on www.stubhub.com and www.onyxhotel.com. ...

Want to smell like Paris? The Hilton heiress has signed on to develop, manufacture and distribute fragrances under her name via Parlux Fragrances (who've also done the honors for Perry Ellis, Ocean Pacific and Guess?). ... Courtney Love has added more tour dates to her schedule, including stops in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on June 22, Detroit on July 6, Chicago on July 7, Minneapolis on July 8, San Diego on July 14, Las Vegas on July 18 and San Francisco on July 21. ...

Wyclef Jean, Rah Digga, MC Lyte and Chuck D will be participating in the National Hip-Hop Political Convention this year, June 16-19 in Newark, New Jersey. A film festival, voter registration and, of course, concerts are all set to take place. ... Aussie garage rockers the Vines have canceled Friday's (May 28) show in Sydney, Australia, due to illness, according to the band's label. No other information was given. The cancellation comes a day after bassist Patrick Matthews walked offstage halfway through the first song of a radio show in Sydney, leaving singer Craig Nicholls and the rest of the band to continue the hour-long set without him. ...

Slipknot recorded a four-song live session earlier this week for London's BBC radio. The session, which features "(sic)," "The Blister Exists," "Duality" and "Pulse of the Maggots," can be heard in its entirety on bbc.co.uk. ... Mudvayne have completed a dozen songs for their third studio album. The as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2002's The End of All Things to Come is due this fall. ...

As they've been doing on their North American tour, the Pixies will be making available limited-edition live recordings of each of their four U.K. shows, June 2-5. The double-CD sets, limited to 1,000 copies per show, are being made available through DiscLive starting next week, while an additional 1,000 downloads of each set will be available through the company's NetBurn brand. The Pixies also plan to issue CD recordings for each of the shows on their expanded North American tour in the fall. ... The Beatnuts, the hip-hop duo responsible for a handful of club classics in the '90s, will return with a new album, Milk Me, on August 31. It'll feature such guests as Freeway, Rahzel and Akon. ...

A double-DVD 20th anniversary edition of Prince's film "Purple Rain" will be released on August 24 along with single DVDs of his other films, "Under the Cherry Moon" and "Graffiti Bridge." "Purple Rain" 's extra discs will include a number of bonus materials, including a featurette on the making of the movie and eight of Prince's music videos. ... A three-disc deluxe reissue of Jeff Buckley's classic Grace will include the newly remastered original album, 13 rare tracks (some previously unreleased) and a DVD with four videos, in-studio footage, interviews and live performances. The package is set to street August 23. ... A meeting between the ACLU, Luther Campbell and Miami city officials ended abruptly Thursday after a dispute over the number of police officers assigned to patrol Campbell's annual Umoja Festival this weekend in South Beach. Campbell and the ACLU feel that police are unnecessarily putting the festival under extra scrutiny. ...

05.27.2004

Blink-182 got in touch with their inner philanthropists on Wednesday when two of the three members helped paint a Habitat for Humanity house in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. According to The Associated Press, drummer Travis Barker had to watch from the sidelines since recent foot surgery put him on crutches. The band was in town to play a show at nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania's Star Pavilion that night. ...

Ozzy is wondering if you have what it takes to share his stage. The Prince of F---ing Darkness and his wife are looking for eight unsigned bands to compete for the chance to perform on the main stage of Ozzfest, alongside headliners Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Slayer. Winners also receive a second-stage slot on Ozzfest 2005, music equipment and cash. More info is available on www.ozzfest.com. ... The Pixies have added another crop of dates to their reunion trek, filling in some blanks on a tour that runs through December 6 in Washington, D.C. New markets on the band's itinerary include Camden, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Birmingham, Alabama; Las Vegas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Nashville. ...

Famed DJ Scratch is working on a documentary on the origins of his career in turntablism. "The DJ: The DJ Scratch Story" features interviews with Jay-Z, Redman, Busta Rhymes and others. The DVD is expected to drop this fall. ... Basement Jaxx have been added to Lollapalooza's main stage for four West Coast shows: July 15 in Seattle, July 18 in San Francisco, July 21 in Ventura, California, and July 23 in San Diego. The electronic duo's latest album, Kish Kash, was released in October. ...

Chaka Zulu, music entrepreneur and co-CEO of Ebony Son Entertainment/ Disturbing Tha Peace Entertainment, will be promoting fatherhood a little before Father's Day. Ludacris' longtime business partner and friend, Zulu will be the keynote speaker at the National Fatherhood Initiative's Seventh Annual National Summit on Fatherhood. The summit takes place on June 8 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. ... U.K. hip-hop sensation the Streets will embark on a Stateside tour to support his second album, A Grand Don't Come for Free. Five dates of the three-week trek, which begins June 11 in Mountain View, California, are with fellow Brit b-boy Dizzee Rascal. ...

Former Queens of the Stone Age bassist and singer Nick Oliveri will release a solo acoustic record later this summer. Oliveri also continues to work with his band Mondo Generator on a new album, which is being produced by former Queens drummer Gene Trautmann. ... Megadeth's still-untitled new album will come out September 14. In addition, seven records from Megadeth's back catalog will be released July 27. Each disc will feature up to four bonus tracks. ...

Lars Frederiksen won't be seeing much of his humble abode this summer. The Rancid guitarist and his band the Bastards will set out on the Punks Vs. Psychos Tour (June 1-13) with the Horrorpops, Nekromantix and Disasters before beginning a headlining tour (June 14 to July 6) that will bleed into their monthlong stint on the Vans Warped Tour, which begins July 20 in Milwaukee. The Bastards' second album, Viking, is set to drop July 29. ... Thrice and indie label Sub City Records were honored last week at the first Sub City/ Thrice Scholarship awards ceremony at the A Place Called Home youth center in South Central Los Angeles. The band and label raised over $57,000 for the center by donating a portion of each sale of Thrice's 2002 album, The Illusion of Safety. A portion of sales from the group's 2003 Island Records album, The Artist in the Ambulance, has also gone to charities. ...

The Allman Brothers Band will release the first anthology to span their 35-year career on June 8. The two-CD Stand Back: The Anthology will feature 32 digitally remastered recordings, at least one from each of their 13 studio albums and Live at Fillmore East. ... Rush will release an eight-song covers EP on June 29 to celebrate their 30-year anniversary. The disc features versions of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and "Mr. Soul," the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things," the Who's "The Seeker," Alice Cooper's cover of Love's "Seven and Seven Is," Blue Cheer's rendition of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and Cream's take on Robert Johnson's "Crossroads." Rush launched their 30th anniversary tour on Wednesday in Nashville. Dates run through August 22 in their hometown of Toronto. ...