Destiny's Child invited a few special guests backstage at their show Friday night in Philadelphia -- families and kids staying at the Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey and Delaware Ronald McDonald Houses. The ladies gave them a special backstage reception prior to their performance. "Music may be our passion, but the life we lead off the stage and our love for kids is really important to us as well," Beyoncé said. ...

50 Cent is taking his story to the streets, and doing what all good authors do to help pump book sales -- he's pressing the flesh and signing copies for his adoring fans. 50 will set up shop at the Virgin Megastore in New York's Union Square Tuesday at 11 a.m. and sign copies for the first 300 fans who purchase their copies of "From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens" at the store. Those interested in coming out can start lining up at 9 a.m. ... Apparently viewers can't get enough of Bobby and Whitney shopping for Preparation H, eating lobster and dry-humping in public. Bravo has announced that it is adding an extra two episodes of "Being Bobby Brown," the chronicle of life with the R&B singer and wife Whitney Houston that was originally slated to run eight episodes. The new shows will take viewers inside the stars' homes in Atlanta and New Jersey, with the clip-show finale airing August 25. ...

More bad news for Glassjaw fans: The band's been forced to cancel its upcoming tour with the Used and 30 Seconds to Mars due to singer Daryl Palumbo's recent Crohn's Disease relapse. Head Automatica, Palumbo's other band, were forced to cancel their most recent spate of tour dates last month. Glassjaw guitarist Justin Beck posted the announcement on the band's Web site: "This is a serious condition that affects us as a band and most importantly, Daryl as a person," the message reads. "He's more than a musical act, and for this reason I ask only for understanding. Glassjaw is still a band. The truth of the matter is that it's simply health and timing." ... Madonna has set a November 15 release date for her next album, Confessions on a Dancefloor. The first single, "Hung Up," will hit radio outlets on October 17. ...

P. Diddy -- who now just wants to be called "Diddy" -- knows by now that names and words have power. After all, he's being sued in Chicago federal court over the marketing slogan for his Sean John clothing line: "It's not just a label, it's a lifestyle." Gregory Hilderbrand of Illinois is claiming patent infringement, unfair competition, defective trade practices, and consumer fraud, because he patented the phrase "It's a lifestyle" three years ago for his clothing line. Hilderbrand says the two slogans are causing marketplace confusion and making his clothing line seem like a Sean John knockoff. He's asking that Diddy stop using the phrase, or anything similar to it, and is seeking to recover lost profits as well as punitive damages and attorney's fees. ...

Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club member Ibrahim Ferrer died on Saturday at age 78. The Cuban singing star of the 1940s and '50s was retired and living on a pension and shining shoes for extra money when American guitarist Ry Cooder drafted him to join the Buena Vista project in the late 1990s. The soft-spoken Ferrer, known for singing in the traditional "son" style, became one of the break-out stars of the project, touring the world and releasing several solo albums. ... The impact of Bruce Springsteen's music on American pop culture will be the subject of a three-day symposium kicking off September 9 at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. This conference, launched in conjunction with Penn State, will include an eclectic mix of keynote speakers, special events and a host of sessions that will take a look at the Boss' legacy and influence. Topics include "Bruce Springsteen and the Creation of Community," "A Walk Down E Street" and "Bruce Springsteen and the Vietnam Veterans Movement." ...

Ryan Cabrera, who's getting ready to release his second album, just shot the video for his first single, "Shine On," with director Kevin Kerslake. The summertime-themed clip will feature the singer driving down a highway en route to a party. ... Veteran reggae artist Sizzla has signed to the Damon Dash Music Group, which will release his next album in early 2006. Sizzla launches a U.S. tour August 18. ... "Walking in Memphis" singer Marc Cohn was shot in the head by an unsuccessful carjacker Sunday night after a show in Denver, Reuters reports. A bullet struck the Grammy winner in the head but reportedly did not penetrate his skull. The shooter was fleeing police on foot when he attempted to steal the van Cohn was riding in. Cohn had surgery to remove the bullet and was released. ...

Pixies drummer David Lovering is turning his focus back to his first love: the art of prestidigitation (or "magic" for those not in the top-hat-and-rabbit circuit). On Thursday, Lovering will perform with former Possum Dixon frontman Rob Zabrecky and a mysterious third party named Fitzgerald as "The Unholy Three" at Los Angeles' Steve Allen Theatre to celebrate the release of the trio's DVD, "The Unholy Three Live at the Magic Castle," due out next month. ... Want your car to sound like the General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard"? Well, they haven't yet figured out a way to download the horn's distinctive sound to your car, but you can make your phone ring just like it. Four ring tones from the hit movie are now available on select wireless carriers, including the Dixie horn, the "Good Ol' Boys" theme song, "Boom Shakalaka!" and "Official Police Business." ...

08.05.2005

Eminem's performances at the New York stops of the Anger Management Tour on Monday and Tuesday will be taped for a concert special to air on Showtime in early December, according to a spokesperson for the channel. ...

Foxy Brown was in a New York court on Friday (August 5), where her lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the complaint charging the rapper with assault and harassment stemming from an August 2004 dispute at a New York nail salon. Brown, who again rejected a plea bargain that would have ensured no jail time, is due back in court on September 22. ... Marion "Suge" Knight pleaded no contest on Friday to driving without insurance and making an illegal U turn and was fined $691, The Associated Press reports. The Death Row Records founder was arrested in February and spent a week in jail after San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies pulled him over and allegedly found marijuana in his truck. Drug-possession charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. A female passenger was charged with providing false information to police and released. Her case is still pending. ...

3 Doors Down fans in Cincinnati were treated to an unexpected unplugged set during the band's show at Riverbend Music Center Thursday night when, halfway through the 70-minute show, the lights went out after a tree downed some nearby power lines. Following a 10-minute delay, singer Brad Arnold and drummer Greg Upchurch -- using a snare drum and a small PA -- performed for 40 more minutes while a stagehand shined a flashlight on the singer and the audience pitched in on the choruses. Refunds will not be issued, but the band is considering returning in September for a second date. ...

Queens of the Stone Age main man Josh Homme is a whole lot of things, but superstar DJ is generally not considered to be one of them. But soon that might change, because he's recently completed work on a couple of remixes for tourmates-to-be Death From Above 1979. Homme rejiggered the DFA1979 tunes "Black History Month" and "Romantic Rights," both of which could be seeing the light of day soon on vinyl. Or, as it says on QOTSA.com, if you can't wait for that, "You better start combing the Internet in a desperate attempt to find that little piece of gold." The Queens of the Stone Age/ Nine Inch Nails tour -- on which DFA1979 will serve as the opening act on some dates -- kicks off on September 16 in San Diego. ... Nine Inch Nails have created a special ticketing program for the tour designed to combat scalping. Tickets to the shows will be available through the band's fan club; those who purchase tickets in this fashion will be directed to pick them up 30 minutes before doors open in each city and will be immediately escorted into the venue. Frontman Trent Reznor said that "the only complaints will be from scalpers and those who want to put our true fans at a disadvantage." There will also be a series of online auctions conducted through Ticketmaster's Web site starting on Monday at noon. Proceeds above the ticket's face value will be donated to nonprofit organization the Innocence Project, which provides post-conviction DNA testing that can yield conclusive proof of guilt or innocence. ...

Want to see Madonna with bright pink hair? A forthcoming photo book called "Maripolarama" features Polaroids taken in New York's Lower East Side during the early '80s of the scene's emerging artists -- including the future Material Girl as well as Debbie Harry, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Grace Jones, Sade, Naomi Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Klaus Nomi, Vincent Gallo and even David Lee Roth. Designer Anna Sui wrote an essay for the collection, due in November. ... Another trip down memory lane is in store with the book "Where They Were at 22," which profiles celebs such as P. Diddy, Pam Anderson, Bill Murray and even Karl Rove and shows where they were at this turning-point age. The essays will be compiled by Court TV editor Brad Dunn for publication next spring. ...

Just in time for Halloween, punk-rock burlesque troupe Suicide Girls are prepping a compilation called The Suicide Girls' Black Heart Retrospective. The set of goth/industrial songs compiled by Skinny Puppy producer Dave Ogilvie features 13 classics by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, the Cure, the Cult, Bauhaus and more, as well as two previously unreleased songs by the Alkaline Trio and Atmosphere. The LP will hit shelves on September 27. ... Also on September 27, Sanctuary Records will release Rantology, a 15-track retrospective of Ministry's 25-year career. The album will feature remixes and alternate mixes created by frontman Al Jourgensen in addition to the previously unreleased track "The Great Satan." ...

England's Go! Team have already won over critics and fans in their homeland with their goofy, peppy, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to dance music, and now -- more than a year after its release -- their debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, is finally coming to America. The U.S. version of the Mercury Prize-nominated album (given to the U.K.'s record of the year) features two bonus tracks and re-recorded vocals on the song "Bottle Rocket," and it's due in stores on September 27. The Go! Team will launch a U.S. tour in support of the album on October 14 in Houston. ...