Paris Hilton no longer has "Screwed" -- she's lost the song, which was to be her first single, to Haylie Duff, who says she blocked the hotel heiress from attempting to release the song. "Paris has talked to the people who wrote the song, and I think it's all under control now," Duff told USA Today. ...

Print and broadcast PSAs featuring Christina Aguilera and Outkast's Andre 3000 encouraging young people to vote will hit magazines and airwaves later this month. Declare Yourself, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, is behind the ads, which were shot by fashion photographer/video director David LaChapelle. ... R. Kelly made an unexpected appearance in a Chicago court Tuesday (July 13) to ask permission yet again to travel. Kelly put in a request to perform in Detroit at the Detroit Music Festival on July 24, which would require him to leave Chicago on July 23 and return by July 26. The court granted his request. ... Rosa Parks will not be compelled to give a deposition in her lawsuit against Outkast and Arista Records. According to Parks' lawyer, a judge ruled in her favor at a hearing Tuesday (July 13) after the group's attorneys argued that they should be allowed to question her. Last month, a January 10, 2005, trial date was set for the lawsuit. In addition to this suit — in which Parks claims Outkast violated her trademark rights and defamed her when they named a song after her — Parks' lawyer said a second suit will be filed against Arista. That lawsuit concerns the song's placement on several compilations and the alleged willful defamation of Parks' name that occurred by having the video for the song directed by former pornographer Gregory Dark. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers hold the honor of having staged the highest-grossing concert event at a single venue so far this year, their three-day sold-out stint at Hyde Park in London. The June 19, 20 and 25 shows took in more than $17 million, according to Reuters. Highlights from the shows have been captured on the upcoming double CD Live in Hyde Park, which comes out overseas on July 26, but which is not scheduled for release in North America. ... Britney Spears' fiancé, Kevin Federline, has been having a few troubles lately. He's being sued in small-claims court by a car dealership that claims he was delinquent with payments for his truck. Classic Chevrolet in Anaheim Hills, California, claims Britney's beau owes them $1,600. The truck has since been repossessed. Meanwhile, anti-Kevin shirts and hats -- bearing logos such as "Kevin Federline Must Be Stopped" and "Just Say No to Kevin Federline" -- are now available at http://www.cafeshops.com/sexandthecity/333057. ...

Prince has released an exclusive track called "Silver Tongue" at his online music store, www.npgmusicclub.com. The song is available for download for 99 cents for non-members of his fan club. ... Mandy Moore posted on her Web site on Monday that she's collaborating with Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz -- whom she calls "one of my favorite people" -- for her next record. "I guess he heard Coverage and really liked it and somehow we ended up writing some kick-ass music together," she wrote. "It's all very exciting. Hopefully some of it will end up on the finished album." ...

Alanis Morissette is now offering a ticket auction for her Au Naturale Tour with the Barenaked Ladies. Ticket packages include two seats in the front row and a meet-and-greet with the singer. The auction is taking place through www.stubhub.com and www.alanis.com. Proceeds benefit Equality Now, an international organization working for the rights of women and girls. The trek kicks off Tuesday in Cleveland. ... Rockabilly singer Ersel Hickey has died at the age of 70. Hickey, best known for his 1958 song "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," had been hospitalized at NYU Medical Center in New York after surgery to have his bladder removed because of a tumor, his friend Johnny Vallis told The Associated Press. The singer died after coming down with an infection. Hickey's "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" was re-recorded by the Beach Boys. He also wrote songs for such artists as Jackie Wilson and LaVern Baker. ...

After six years, the legal wrangling between Dead Kennedys members East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro and singer Jello Biafra and his label Alternative Tentacles Records is finally over. The San Francisco Superior Court's May 2000 decision to award the bandmembers more than $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages after finding Biafra guilty of fraudulently shortchanging them will now stand, as the singer has dropped all countersuits. ... First season "American Idol" runner-up Justin Guarini has signed on to star in "Good Vibrations," a musical based on the music of the Beach Boys about a group of teens on the beaches of Southern California. The production opens July 29 at the new Martel Theater at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. ...

Social Distortion, Pennywise, A Static Lullaby and Kottonmouth Kings will perform at Moto Music Mayhem, a festival blending music with motocross set for August 21 at the National Orange Show Events Center and Speedway in San Bernardino, California. ... The next set of Elvis Costello reissues has been slated for August 3. His albums Almost Blue (1981), Goodbye Cruel World (1984) and Kojak Variety (1995) will each feature an extra bonus disc with 27, 26 and 20 songs, respectively, of demos, outtakes and unreleased tracks. This marks the fifth batch of LPs from Costello's catalog that has been re-released over the last two years. ...

Sebadoh are expanding their tour and will be hitting the West Coast this summer. The tour kicks off July 31 in Austin, Texas, and will hit Sacramento, California; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Tucson, Arizona; Phoenix and San Diego before wrapping in Los Angeles on September 2. ... Previously unreleased tracks by Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold are available on the 14-track compilation of punk, hardcore and metalcore songs Hopelessly Devoted to You, Vol. 5. The collection is available for $3 from www.hopelessrecords.com. ...

07.10.04

Brandy scored a hit single talking about love, so she's doing it some more. The R&B singer, whose "Talk About Our Love" helped her Afrodisiac debut at #3 on the Billboard albums chart, is following up the single with the LP's title track. " 'Afrodisiac' is about a love, a desire, a need for somebody," Brandy said. ...

In the wake of her canceled summer tour, Christina Aguilera's one-off show that was to take place in Pittsburgh on Saturday has now been scrapped as well -- because the promoter filed for emergency bankruptcy at the last minute. Though a total number of fans who bought tickets has not been disclosed, up to 20,000 of them paid between $75 and $150 for passes to Elements, an all-night dance party which would have been the singer's first public performance since strained vocal cords caused her to cancel her tour. Ticketholders now have to wait for bankruptcy court to review the promoter's assets and debts (which he has to provide within two weeks) before they can be considered claimants and get any refunds, even if they paid through Ticketmaster or PayPal. A lawyer representing the promoter said that they're going to make every effort to pay back fans, but there's no guarantee. ...

Alicia Keys is the first artist announced for an international pop music concert at the Great Wall of China to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Great Wall restoration project. The event, which will take place September 25, will mark the first time a concert is staged in front of the national landmark. The Wall of Hope - China 2004 concert will be the first of a series of benefits planned for Beijing, Shanghai and Guanzhou. Proceeds will go to the China Children and Teenagers' Fund. ... Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl played drums for Nine Inch Nails during a session at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, on Friday. The performance will likely make NIN's upcoming album, Bleed Through, for which no release date has been set. ...

Following his sentencing last week for a DUI, Scott Weiland issued a statement late Friday, stating that he has been clean and sober for more than eight months and has reunited with his wife and children. He claimed that the drugs in his system during the DUI, from October, were prescribed by his doctor. "Now that this is all behind me, I will be able to set the record straight," Weiland said. In an interview with Stuff magazine, the Velvet Revolver singer said that he had been on medication for manic depression, for which he'd sometimes medicate himself with heroin. "I was in a suicidal depression, a narcissistic, obsessive depression," he told the magazine. "And the only thing I could think about was my own self-centered, dark world. My thoughts today are not on myself." ... Seventeen-year-old English soul singer Joss Stone will release her new album, Mind, Body & Soul, on September 28. Stone's sophomore LP, the follow-up to her breakthrough debut, The Soul Sessions, will feature original songs this time around, and such guests as Betty Wright, the Roots' ?uestlove, producer Salaam Remi, Angie Stone and Portishead's Beth Gibbons. ...

One of TV's most famous wives and mothers, Isabel Sanford, died of natural causes on Friday in Los Angeles. Sanford, an Emmy winner best known for playing George Jefferson's spouse, Louise ("Weezy"), on the long-running sitcom "The Jeffersons," was 86. ... Hanson's "I Will Come to You" is going to be used in a multimedia Volkswagen campaign -- but only in China. The band is planning to tour Asia in November, and the car company will co-sponsor the group's dates in China. Sony Music Asia will also release a special version of the band's Underneath album containing a live recording of the song as an exclusive bonus track. ...

The first full account of Belle and Sebastian's history is due on bookshelves next year. "Just a Modern Rock Story" will be the first biography on the enigmatic group, notorious for avoiding the press. In addition to giving author Paul Whitelaw in-depth interviews, lead singer Stuart Murdoch is also donating pictures for the book and art for the cover. The tome is due out in the spring/summer of 2005, to coincide with the release of the band's next album. ... The White Stripes are also ending up on bookshelves, thanks to the handiwork of Detroit rock journalist Chris Handyside. His book, "Fell in Love With a Band: The Story of the White Stripes," includes their entire history, from inception to current day. The book is due in October. ...

Apple's iTunes has found a winner for its contest where the person who purchased the 100,000,000th song from the iTunes music store would win an Apple gift pack. Kevin Britten of Hays, Kansas, will win a 17-inch PowerBook laptop, a 40GB iPod and a gift certificate for 10,000 iTunes songs. The track he downloaded to win? Danger Mouse's remix of "Somersault" by the group Zero 7. ... Wilco planned to play select shows at Lollapalooza before it was canceled, and now they've announced six replacement U.S. shows. Dates start in Milwaukee August 2 and wrap up in Newport, Rhode Island, on August 8. ...

Ben Folds has produced and co-written a new album for "Star Trek" actor William Shatner. Titled Has Been and due October 5, the record includes tunes co-written by novelist Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity") and country singer Brad Paisley, and a cover of Pulp's "Common People." Shatner last worked with Folds on the latter's Fear of Pop, Vol. 1 in 1998. ... On Saturday night at Strata in New York, clubgoers were treated to a surprise performance of "Slow Motion" by Juvenile and Wyclef Jean. Clef also performed renditions of "Gone Till November" and "Guantanamera" while Robert Iler of "The Sopranos" looked on. ...