Nick Lachey opens up about the dissolution of his marriage to Jessica Simpson in the next issue of Rolling Stone, on newsstands Friday. There's no easy explanation for the breakup, he says, adding that he doesn't blame "Newlyweds," the interference of his father-in-law, Joe Simpson, or even Jessica's alleged infidelities. "We just didn't work," Lachey said. "I don't know if we would have worked if we'd been soybean farmers in Iowa. ... I don't know if there were other men. But if she did cheat, it was the result of something bigger, not the reason we didn't work." Lachey said that he and Jessica never discussed the cheating allegations (he chose to trust her), but sometimes he wishes he'd caught her in the act, just so he'd know for sure. "That would be clear-cut. End of story." Lachey revealed that he tried to convince Jessica to try marriage counseling when she asked for a divorce, "But she didn't want to go." Lachey also said that he's opted not to pursue spousal support, though he legally reserved that right in February. ...

Twenty of the more than 100 original ringtones that will be available as Pepsi Cool Tones on Motorola phones this summer will be written and produced by Mariah Carey. "I had a lot of fun with this project," Carey said. "It was a great creative outlet because musically I could do things here that I would never think to do for one of my albums." Carey will also star in a Pepsi ad directed by Paul Hunter, due to air in May, and will kick off her summer tour in July with a Pepsi Smash concert at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Speaking of Carey commercials, Mariah is also selling the Escada dress she wore in her Intel Centrino Duo commercial. The auction, to benefit VH1's Save the Music Foundation, runs through May 3 at VH1Auctions.com. And Carey fans who want to benefit themselves can enter to win a specially designed -- it's got butterflies -- Intel Centrino laptop autographed by Mariah at intel.com/centrinoduo. ...

Want LL Cool J's body? The rapper/actor wants to show you how to get one just like it, via a fitness book he's planning to co-write with his trainer, Dave Honig. They've just inked a deal (along with writer Jeff O'Connell) to create "LL Cool J's Platinum Body," which will describe an accessible fitness program with four levels of increasing intensity. Rodale plans to publish the book in January 2007. ... Paris Hiltonhas just signed a deal to develop and market sunglasses, in addition to her other accessories ventures of watches, handbags, small leather goods, cosmetics and fragrances. Hilton has also expanded her watch line to be distributed throughout Europe (excluding Russia) and is working on a third fragrance as well. ... Fresh off her opening slot on the Coldplay tour, Fiona Apple is hitting the road for a headlining trek of her own. Kicking off June 20 in Phoenix, the 34-date tour will run throughout the summer, wrapping up August 10 in Cleveland. Openers will include Damien Rice and David Garza. In addition to the tour, Apple will play two May shows, in Florida and South Carolina, plus a July 26 performance as part of New York's Central Park Summerstage concert series. ...

Velvet Revolver's Scott Weiland and Duff McKagan will be taking a break from recording the band's second LP to act as guest judges on USA's "Nashville Star" Tuesday, according to the band's publicist. The episode will also feature a performance by Hank Williams Jr. ... (ONe), the forthcoming debut from former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro's new band, the Panic Channel, will be in stores September 12. "If there was a channel that showed nothing but hysteria and panic, it would be the highest-rated channel on TV," Navarro said. "We like to think of creating music as a way to channel the panic into something tangible." The group also features drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney, both former Jane's members. On May 16, the day the band will launch its first-ever tour in San Diego, a two-song digital-only release will be made available, including the tracks "Why Cry" and "Tea House of the Spirits." ... California metallers Bad Acid Trip have been added to the second stage for this summer's Ozzfest. The band, which has toured with System of a Down, released their debut, Lynch the Weirdo, on System frontman Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike label in 2004; the album was produced by System guitarist Daron Malakian. This year's Ozzfest begins June 29 in Auburn, Washington, and will run through August 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. System of a Down, Disturbed, and Hatebreed are among the bands lined up for the tour, which also includes Ozzy Osbourne for 10 dates. ...

Taking Back Sunday and Angels & Airwaves will hit the road together this summer on a North American tour. While details are sketchy, a spokesperson for TBS' label, Warner Bros., said the trek will kick off June 22 in Jackson, New Jersey, and that dance-minded rockers Head Automatica have been tapped to open. ... Seether will release a live acoustic album called One Cold Night on July 11. The collection, recorded at Philadelphia's Grape Street on February 22, will also include a DVD. Meanwhile, Seether just shot a video for "The Gift" in Oaxaca, Mexico, with director Meiert Avis. ... Alanis Morissette will reprise her role in the play "The Exonerated" for a week in London from May 23 to 28. Morissette first starred in the off-Broadway production in 2003 as Sunny Jacobs, a hippie who spent 16 years on death row after being framed for the murder of two policemen in the mid-1970s. ...

Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss will be among the first inductees in the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, according to the official Kiss Web site. The museum will honor artists or groups that were either born in Long Island, New York, or resided there for a significant portion of their career. Billy Joel, the Ramones, Neil Diamond, Louie Armstrong, Twisted Sister and Tony Bennett will also be honored by the fledgling hall. In related news, Kiss have teamed up with Gemini Cosmetics, Inc. to develop a line of his-and-her Kiss fragrances that will hit stores in September. "Like Kiss, these fragrances make no apologies for embodying an attitude that is unrepentedly sexy, aggressive and incredibly unique," Stanley said in a press release. Simmons explained that the fragrances, the latest in an ever-growing line of Kiss-related products that even includes coffins, "have the smell of success for us ... and for all the men and women who will wear it. These fragrances hit all the right notes and will top the charts in no time."

04.18.2006

Michael Jackson had planned to release his forever-forthcoming Hurricane Katrina charity single on a fledgling label called Two Seas Records, which was set up by his benefactor, Bahraini Prince Abdulla Hamad Al Khalifa. But now the singer's signed to the label himself, promising to record a new album for release by next year, the label announced Tuesday (April 18). British music-industry exec Guy Holmes, who has been named CEO of the label, will also take on the role of Jackson's manager. "I am incredibly excited about my new venture," Jackson said in a statement, "and I am enjoying being back in the studio making music." ...

Jennifer Lopez is putting the finishing touches on her upcoming Spanish-language album, Como Ama Una Mujer (which translates to How a Woman Loves), but she's already brainstorming her next project, she revealed to Harper's Bazaar in the magazine's May cover story ([article id="1528880"]Click to see Lopez's Harper's Bazaar photos.[/article]) The singer said her follow-up will be a ska-tinged pop album and spoke highly of former ska-pop queen Gwen Stefani. "Women who've started their own trends, who don't care what other people are thinking ... I admire Gwen Stefani's style and Madonna's. Those two have blazed their own trails." Meanwhile, Lopez has revised the dates for her upcoming international tour. She's nixed shows in Mumbai, India, and Istanbul, Turkey, and has added one in Sofia, Bulgaria, on May 2. ...

Ashley Parker Angel shows off his lack of cooking skills on Tuesday's episode of Diddy's weeklong series, "Celebrity Cooking Showdown." "I do not cook," Parker Angel said. "I'm the first one to say it. Coming into this thing, I knew how to make Eggo [waffles] and ice cubes, and that was like it." Competing with the likes of Tom Arnold, Patti LaBelle and Gabrielle Reese, the former O-Town singer said he had to overcome his fear of chopping off his fingers to please his partner chef, Wolfgang Puck. "Wolf was like, 'Faster, faster,' and I play guitar, I play piano, I need my fingers, you know?" If Parker Angel makes the cut, he'll compete again on Thursday for the final cook-off. The show airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, and the winner will be announced live on Friday. ...

Yellowcard will hit the road this summer for a string of festival and club dates. The tour kicks off in earnest May 7 at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee, and makes stops at radio festivals in Boston, Providence and Columbia, Maryland, before hitting its stride with the first club gig June 1 at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona. The club tour is currently scheduled to run until the end of June, but more dates are expected to be announced shortly. Matchbook Romance and Hedley will join YC for the shows. ... After visiting an AIDS clinic in Masaka, Uganda, last week, Alicia Keys was in Durban, South Africa, Tuesday to visit more Keep a Child Alive-sponsored sites, including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Ithembalabantu ("people's hope" in Zulu) Healthcare Center. The clinic provides free medical care and antiretroviral treatment to thousands of children and families living with HIV/AIDS. Keys and the KCA group spent two hours visiting a few hundred patients, about 50 of whom were children. ...

Hoobastank and Korean R&B singer Se7en are scheduled to perform live at MTV Japan's Video Music Awards May 27. The event -- which will take place at the National Yoyogi Stadium No. 1 Gymnasium -- will also feature Japanese R&B singer AI, reggae duo Def Tech and Japanese pop icon Kumi Koda, as well as Rihanna for the red-carpet show. Andrew W.K. and Pamela Anderson join previously announced Asian celebrity presenters such as Anna Tsuchiya, Melody and Soul'd Out. ... "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" sure worked its magic on the box office -- the fourth film in the franchise became the first digitally remastered 2D IMAX film to reach the milestone of grossing $20 million, Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX announced Tuesday. "Harry Potter" also set records for IMAX with the biggest three-day opening weekend and highest per-screen average. ...

The reunited Alice in Chains will perform at the 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally August 11 in Sturgis, South Dakota, according to the event's Web site. Other artists lined up to perform include Kid Rock, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Öyster Cult. Alice in Chains will launch a brief U.S. club tour on May 18 in Los Angeles, with Comes With the Fall frontman William DuVall and other guest vocalists filling in for the late Layne Staley. No other dates have been revealed. ... Due to an undisclosed illness, Head Automatica have been forced to pull out of three of the dates on the band's current tour with Coheed and Cambria and Avenged Sevenfold. Head Automatica, whose frontman Daryl Palumbo battles Crohn's disease, missed a performance scheduled in Houston on Monday and will not appear at shows set for San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday and Grand Prairie, Texas, on Wednesday. Head Automatica's new album, Popaganda, hits stores June 6. ...

Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee has been suffering from tendonitis in recent weeks, impeding his ability to pound the kit. But it appears the injury hasn't impacted Tommy's skills behind the ones and twos, as he's lined up a number of DJ gigs. Lee will be manning the turntables at Boston's Avalon (April 29); Louisville, Kentucky's Atlas (May 6); Las Vegas' Ice (May 27); Atlantic City, New Jersey's Mixx (June 9); and Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel (July 17). ... Panic Channel, featuring former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins, will head out on a 17-date club tour that kicks off May 16 in San Diego. Dates run through June 7 in Los Angeles. Navarro will also co-host the upcoming Erotica LA convention, set for June 23-25, with adult-film star Jenna Jameson. ... Melissa Etheridge announced on her Web site Tuesday that her partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, is pregnant with twins. "We are thrilled to announce that Tammy is pregnant, and expecting our twins sometime around this fall," read the statement. "To answer the obvious question: We used an anonymous donor from a [sperm] bank." ...

Jimmy Tamborello, the electronic whiz kid behind the Postal Service, will release a solo album titled Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake under the moniker James Figurine. Due July 11, the 10-track disc will include vocal collaborations with Rilo Kiley and Postal Service associate Jenny Lewis, Kings of Convenience's Erlend Øye as well as designer/animator/poet Geoff McFetridge. ... Having toured the country -- twice -- and sung out loud and proud against President Bush on "The Tonight Show," Conor Oberst is now hard at work on a follow-up to the two Bright Eyes albums he released last year, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. According to the band's label, Saddle Creek, Bright Eyes -- now consisting of Oberst, Saddle Creek utilityman Mike Mogis and trumpet player Nate Walcott -- are writing and recording a new album right now, and they've gotten help from singer/songwriter M. Ward and Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. The still-untitled LP is tentatively due in spring 2007. Bright Eyes will take a break from recording beginning in June to play a handful of shows in Canada, plus an appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. ...

Vanessa Carlton performs on an upcoming episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," in which two grandparents raising three orphaned grandchildren in Philadelphia get a renovated home. The renovation takes place over the course of two back-to-back episodes airing April 30 beginning at 7 p.m. on ABC. Since the children's late mother suffered from breast cancer, Carlton's performance takes place at a breast cancer awareness fundraising concert. ... Patti LaBelle isn't someone you'd immediately associate with country music -- nevertheless, the R&B singer is going to serve as a guest judge on "Nashville Star." "So much of country music's heritage comes from rhythm and blues," the show's executive producer Jeff Boggs said. "Her advice for our contestants will be invaluable." LaBelle will give the five remaining hopefuls helpful hints during episode six, which airs live Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on the USA network.

[This story was originally published at 12:58 pm E.T. on 04.19.2006]