Mariah Carey is zeroing in on the Beatles' record of 20 #1 hits thanks to her latest chart-topper, "Don't Forget About Us." The singer's 17th #1 song hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on Thursday, putting Carey in a tie with Elvis Presley at #2 on the all-time list. ([article id="1519269"]Click here [/article]for photos from a surprise party held in Aspen, Colorado, to celebrate Mariah's 17th #1.) ...

A judge threatened Foxy Brown with jail time and forced her to apologize after she stuck out her tongue in a New York court on Friday (December 23), according to The Associated Press. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson asked Brown to stop chewing gum, at which point Brown -- who said she did not have gum in her mouth -- opened her mouth and wagged her tongue, according to the AP. Brown was then handcuffed and a shouting match ensued between her and a female court officer. Brown later apologized after the judge threatened her with 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine; she was in court because of assault charges stemming from a nail-salon fight in Chelsea ...

A 100-year-old historic home in Olympia, Washington, owned by Courtney Love has been put up for public auction to pay off debts in a foreclosure case. According to The Associated Press, the house on 13 acres was bought by Love eight years ago and was most recently occupied by the sister of her late husband, Kurt Cobain. Love owes about $367,000 on the home, including the loan balance and legal fees. According to documents filed in a lawsuit over the

property, Love stopped making mortgage payments on the property in December 2003. Love can hold onto the house if she pays off the debts before the public auction on January 6. ...

Howie Day was arrested for rowdy behavior on Wednesday at Logan International Airport in Boston after allegedly mixing alcohol with a sleeping pill on a flight, according to The Associated Press. The singer/songwriter was charged with interfering with the flight crew but pleaded innocent when he was arraigned in a Boston court on Friday. Day was released on personal recognizance and is due back in court March 16. ... Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy's got himself a side project -- with his wife of five months, Manuela. Called Box Codax, the electro synth-pop duo plan to release their first single, "Naked Smile," next month in the U.K. through Thin Man Records. The disc will also feature the track "Red Wine in Tunis." Both cuts have been made available for download on iTunes. ...

The fifth Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is scheduled for June 16-18 on the same 700-acre site in Manchester, Tennessee, which last year drew tens of thousands for sets by Dave Matthews, the Mars Volta, Jurassic 5 and Modest Mouse. Though organizers have not announced a lineup yet, they said they are reducing the capacity of the event by 10,000 in order to make it more manageable. ... Relient K will celebrate guitarist Matt Hoopes' birthday on February 15 with the launch of a 24-date tour that kicks off in Kansas City, Missouri. Called the Matt Hoopes Birthday Tour, the trek will run through April 1 in Columbus, Ohio. ...

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy has announced plans for a solo tour in 2006. The trek kicks off January 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and runs until February 12 in Los Angeles. Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche will support Tweedy on most of the dates. ... The New York Dolls are returning to the studio on January 15 for the first time since 1974. Jack Douglas, the veteran producer who worked on the Dolls' self-titled debut in 1973, is returning behind the board. ...

Enigmatic guitarist Buckethead will be working his way down the West Coast this February as part of a nine-gig trek that kicks off February 17 in Seattle. The guitarist -- who was briefly a member of Axl Rose's retooled Guns N' Roses -- will wrap up the tour on March 1 in Flagstaff, Arizona. ... Boston punks the Dropkick Murphys will mount an 18-date tour on March 1 in New York. The trek will also feature Sick of It All, Horrorpops and the Tossers. The run will wind down in Beantown with five shows at the Avalon March 16-March 19. ...

12.22.2005

Ho, ho, Hova! Jay-Z is proving he's no Scrooge this holiday season. With millions of New Yorkers finding it so difficult to maneuver through the city due to the transit strike -- which has now come to an end -- the Jigga sent out several limousines to pick up pedestrians around the city who were trying to make it to work over the past three days. Then on Christmas, Jay will hold his annual toy drive in Brooklyn, New York's Marcy Projects, where kids will receive $10,000 worth of toys. ...

Parts of the Golden Globe-nominated Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line," will look familiar to the inmates at California's Folsom Prison when they get a special screening of the flick on January 3. That's because the movie opens and closes with scenes of Joaquin Phoenix as Cash playing his famous shows at the prison nearly 40 years ago that became the basis for the classic Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison album. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phoenix will be on hand for the screening. ... On Tuesday, the third state law signed this year to ban the sale of explicit video games to minors became the third to hit a legal bump in the road. A federal judge put a temporary hold on a California law that would have gone into effect on the first of the year, saying game-industry lawyers had raised sufficient doubt about the state's ability to prove that ultra-violent games can cause psychological harm to children -- the state's impetus for the law. In recent weeks, a similar temporary hold was put on a Michigan law, while a bill in Illinois was struck down pending appeal. ...

Though there's still no title or release date for the album they've been working on since August, Radiohead have announced who'll be producing the record -- and it's not who you'd think. For the first time since their 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, the band will be working with someone other than Nigel Godrich: Mark "Spike" Stent, who's worked with Madonna and Björk, will helm the sessions for the new album, set to resume in February. Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien made the announcement on BBC Radio Wednesday night, adding that while the band remains good friends with Godrich, it was looking to break the "comfort zone" it had built over the decade-plus partnership. "You've got to do stuff that you're scared of doing," O'Brien said. "With Nigel, we've been working together for 10 years, and we all love one another too much." ... Every Time I Die have been added to the Warped Tour's 2006 lineup, which also features Motion City Soundtrack, Thursday, From First to Last, NOFX, Anti-Flag, Underoath, Rise Against and Against Me. ...

Nickelback have added two more stops to their upcoming North American tour with support act Trapt: February 7 in St. Louis and February 9 in Wichita, Kansas. ... The Flaming Lips are aiming for an early April release date for their new album, At War With the Mystics, according to their label, Warner Bros. The first single off the record, "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," is due to hit radio in March. Mystics is the Lips' first album of new material since 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. ...

The Velvet Underground's "Live MCMXCIII" will hit stores on January 24 on DVD. "Live MCMXCIII," which has been available on VHS for years, features live footage shot back in 1993 in Paris during the band's brief reunion trek. ... Irish rock legends the Pogues have booked a nine-date East Coast tour. The group will kick things off in Washington, D.C., with a pair of shows on March 9 and 10. Then it's off to Atlantic City, New Jersey, on March 11, followed by two dates in Boston on March 14 and 15. The run ends in New York with four concerts scheduled for March 16-19. ...