Guess that ring didn't mean a thing after all. Despite Ciara sporting a rock from Bow Wow that many assumed was an engagement ring, the couple don't appear to be headed down the aisle anytime soon. Ciara's rep confirmed the couple's split. ...

Nine of the 10 Ozzfest dates that Ozzy Osbourne will be headlining during this summer's trek have been revealed. The festival's namesake will top the bill during the tour's first night in Auburn, Washington, on June 29, as previously reported, and he'll also close out shows in San Francisco (July 1); San Bernardino, California (July 8); Chicago (July 16); East Troy, Wisconsin (July 22); New York (July 29); Boston (August 1); Camden, New Jersey (August 4); and Bristow, Virginia (August 6). The Ozzman's 10th appearance will be announced in the coming weeks. Bands on the lineup for this year's Ozzfest include System of a Down, Disturbed, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society and Atreyu. ...

"South Park" is used to getting slammed by everyone from the Catholic League to Scientologists, but the foul-mouthed cartoon got some good news Wednesday when it was announced that it picked up a prestigious Peabody Award. In announcing the win, the Peabody panel said that "primitive animation is part of the charm of TV's boldest, most politically incorrect satirical series. Its simple style also makes possible the show's unmatched topicality." The awards will be handed out on June 5 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York by former winner Jon Stewart. Other honorees included PBS' "American Masters" series for its Bob Dylan biopic "No Direction Home" and WNYC Radio in New York's Radio Rookies Project, in which teenage reporters recorded moving first-person stories. ...

Kelly Rowland previewed tracks from her upcoming My Story ... at a listening party in New York on Thursday. R&B singer Tank, who worked with Jamie Foxx on his Unpredictable album, helped write and produce two songs, "The Show" and "Ghetto," and Kelly hopes to get Snoop Dogg on the latter track. Kelly told the crowd that the project "sums up my thoughts, my emotions and everything I have been feeling these past couple of years." My Story ... is due July 11. ... Jessica Simpson is being sued again. Tarrant Apparel Group, who she originally signed up with to create her clothing line, filed a breach-of-contract complaint on Thursday in New York, claiming that the singer failed to promote its products. The company's asking for $100 million in damages. ...

JoJo's about 90 percent done with her upcoming album, due late this summer, but there's going to be a longer wait after that for the next one -- the 15-year-old singer said she's hanging it up until she's 18, as far as her music is concerned. "I want there to be growth," she said. "I want to live and experience things. That's something that's important." Until then, JoJo is busy collaborating with Swizz Beatz, Sean Garrett and Billy Steinberg (who co-wrote Madonna's "Like a Virgin"). ... Minneapolis rockers Soul Asylum will release their first new studio album in eight years, The Silver Lining, on July 11. The disc will feature several of the final recordings of bassist Karl Mueller, who died last year of throat cancer. ...

Sufjan Stevens will release The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album on July 25. The New Pantheon award-winning Illinois was initially conceived as a double album, according to a press release, and the 21 songs that didn't end up on the disc were culled together to create The Avalanche. Look for the disc to include the tracks "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies," "The Mistress Witch From McClure (Or, The Mind That Knows Itself)," "The Perpetual Self, (Or, What Would Saul Alinsky Do?)" as well as three alternate versions of the tune "Chicago." ...

According to guitarist Josh Rand, Stone Sour's forthcoming LP -- tentatively titled Come What May -- is in the bag. The band recorded 16 tracks for the effort, including "30/30-150" and "Zzyzx Road." "We're in the process of picking just how many will go on the album," Rand wrote in a posting on the group's Web site. "It's much more diverse and mature than the first record. Sonically, it's amazing." Randy Staub (H.I.M., Avril Lavigne) will begin mixing the album Monday, and it should surface in July. ... Brand New have a free concert set for April 15 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; the show is open to anyone who'd like to attend, even those who aren't enrolled at the school. The band, which has been working on the follow-up to 2003's Deja Entendu, will also be touring for much of the summer, starting with a gig in Sayreville, New Jersey, on June 20. The U.S. trek will make 30 stops before winding down July 27 in New York. ...

Former teen idol Leif Garrett has been jailed for 45 days after failing several drug tests while staying in a strict live-in drug rehab program, according to The Associated Press. The 44-year-old singer/actor began the sentence on March 30 after a court commissioner determined that he had violated the terms of the program, which he was placed in after violating probation in a 2004 cocaine possession arrest. ... The last show of Eric Clapton's European tour will be a first, marking his debut at Moscow's Red Square. Kicking off May 5 in France, the trek will hit 14 countries before wrapping up in Russia on August 3.

04.06.06

Eminem released a statement Thursday (April 6) responding to recent public comments made by his soon-to-be ex-wife. The rapper filed for divorce from Kim Mathers earlier this week, less than three months after remarrying her. He said he'd hoped to keep the matter private, but insisted in his statement that "a few of Kim's statements in a radio interview this morning need to be addressed. First, her allegations regarding my status post-rehab are both untrue and unfortunate. Second, she was aware that I was filing for divorce. We both tried to give our marriage another chance and quickly realized that a wedding doesn't fix the underlying problems." Em and Kim, his high school sweetheart, remarried on January 14. They were first married on June 14, 1999, and separated in October 2001. ...

Jennifer Lopez promised to go on tour last year, when she was still promoting Rebirth, and now she's finally making good on her word -- kind of. J. Lo is booked for four dates overseas: April 23 in Mumbai, India; April 27 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; April 29 in Athens, Greece; and April 30 in Istanbul, Turkey. "I've tried to plan a tour so many times," Lopez previously lamented to MTV Europe. "Because of the fact that I work in film, it's been hard. It's been hard to map out that amount of time to really do it right." There are no details on the shows just yet, but the singer said she envisions the outing as "just me doing my thing." ... Mark your calendars, Harry Potter fans. You've got a big date lined up. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the fifth movie in the series, is set to hit theaters June 13, 2007, according to Warner Bros. ...

Janet Jackson has titled her upcoming album 20 Years Old, a reference to the 20th anniversary of Control. "I just got to top the last two albums that came out from Usher and Mariah, and this is going to be the icing on the cake," said Jermaine Dupri, who is producing the LP with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Janet's album is due in September, and a single is expected this summer. Dupri, meanwhile, has several other big projects lined up. "We got Monica, Usher is about to go back in the studio, Mariah is going back in the studio, Bow Wow is going back," he said. "It's grind season for me." ...

Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight spoke out on Wednesday, a day after he filed for bankruptcy. The embattled rap mogul said he filed Chapter 11 proceedings for the label on Tuesday to protect it from a threat of being taken over by a court-appointed receivership over an unpaid $107 million judgment awarded to Lydia Harris, who claims to have co-founded Death Row. According to a statement from Knight's publicist, lawyers are planning to file a motion against Harris and her attorneys for their "blatant violation of federal bankruptcy law," following their attempt to hold Knight in contempt for failure to appear at a debtor's examination on Tuesday. "For the last few years there's been a stigma attached to Death Row," Knight said in a statement following the bankruptcy filing. "People like the Harrises have been coming out of the woodwork and it's been like a dark cloud hanging over me. I've decided that I'm serving Death Row its last meal. I'm setting a new table." Knight's lawyers could not be reached for comment at press time. ...

Fans who've caught Mötley Crüe on the band's current Canadian tour have noticed kitman Tommy Lee playing with a brace on his right wrist. Lee's been receiving anti-inflammatory injections to treat tendonitis, and while it's been difficult for him to perform through the pain, he's been taking the stage like a champ. But on April 5, acting on the advice of his doctors, Lee sat the Red Deer, Alberta, show out -- and the Crüe selected a diehard fan to fill the void. Drummer Harvey Warren, who spends his days managing a local Starbucks, was chosen to sit in for Lee. Warren, a member of Canadian Crüe tribute band Bröken Töyz, thought it was a joke when he was contacted by the show's promoter. After some convincing, he realized it was a true offer and accepted but was sworn to secrecy. Warren called performing with the band "a chance of a lifetime." ...

Tha Dogg Pound have set a June 27 release date for their reunion album, Cali Iz Active, due on Doggy Style Records. Along with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Daz Dillinger, the album will feature guest appearances by Busta Rhymes, David Banner, Paul Wall and B-Real and production by Diddy, Jazze Pha and the Alchemist. Tha Dogg Pound will tour this summer with Ice Cube. ... Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel" won country song of the year at Wednesday's 37th annual Gospel Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Brian Littrell won inspirational song of the year for "In Christ Alone," which the Backstreet Boy recorded for the WoW #1's compilation. Littrell's full-length solo debut, Welcome Home, is due May 2. ...

Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch will stand trial beginning September 6 on charges that he assaulted two fans during a concert in Glasgow, Scotland, last October. The alleged victims claim the singer kicked open a bathroom door, striking one in the head and then pushed the other. McCulloch has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was also arrested on a breach of the peace charge, for allegedly screaming, swearing and hurling threats at the pair. ... Last month, Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome announced that the Cleveland punks would be recording new tracks, and were in the process of lining up a bunch of Canadian and European gigs. But in a recent chat with Cleveland Scene, Chrome said that all Dead Boys activity is canceled, and refused to elaborate further. The band (minus frontman Stiv Bators, who died in 1990) regrouped last year for a string of dates. Those gigs spurred talk of something bigger, but it looks like the Boys will remain dead for now. ...

Foetus playing Carnegie Hall? Well, not exactly. Iconoclastic chamber music ensemble the Kronos Quartet will perform a world premiere piece by the Australian industrial pioneer J.G. "Foetus" Thirlwell Friday night in the Zankel Hall portion of the legendary concert venue. This will be a first for the prolific Thirlwell -- possibly more notorious for his aggressive work with bands like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry -- whose work is normally tailored to the tattooed rather than the tuxedoed. The piece in question, dubbed "Nomatophobis," was specially commissioned by the Carnegie Hall Corporation and UCLA Live. In addition to the Foetus piece, the Kronos Quartet will perform a work by the equally confrontational New York post-punk pioneer Glenn Branca.