Justin Timberlake hit the stage at London's Hammersmith Palais on Thursday night for a set that showcased songs from his upcoming album, FutureSex/ LoveSounds along with Justified favorites. Timbaland joined Timberlake onstage during the intimate gig, which sold out in four minutes. [article id="1536349"](Check out photos of Justin rocking the crowd right here.)[/article] Timberlake's video for "SexyBack" premieres on MTV's "Making the Video" July 25 at 4:30 p.m. ET. ...

A civil court jury, in a split decision Friday (July 14), awarded former Michael Jackson business associate F. Marc Schaffel $900,000, The Associated Press reported. Schaffel originally sued for $3.8 million in the money dispute. The jury also awarded Jackson $200,000 in his cross-complaint against Schaffel. ...

Don't worry, Britney Spears fans: The singer says she has no intention of packing in her performing career when her second child arrives. "After this baby, I'm going to get really intense with it," Spears told Harper's Bazaar, explaining that she's looking forward to getting back into fighting shape once her baby is born. The pregnant pop star -- who poses nude in the magazine's August issue -- said she "can't wait" to return to the stage, "but I really have to take my time and do it right and be safe. Actually ... not that safe. When you perform, you have to be dangerous." ...

She plays Scarlett Johansson's best friend in next year's "The Nanny Diaries," an assassin in the upcoming "Smokin' Aces," and for a new project, Alicia Keys will be taking on the role of a producer -- and a witch. Keys and producer/partner Jeff Robinson have signed a first-look film production deal to develop live-action and animated projects with Disney, Variety reports. Their first film, a remake of the 1958 comedy "Bell, Book and Candle," will star Keys as a witch who casts a love spell to lure a rival's fiance. ... Chris Brown will perform on Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" on Thursday. The live one-hour results show airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox. ...

Cobra Starship, the project featuring Midtown's Gabe Saporta and a who's who of the MySpace scene -- including members of the Academy Is ..., Gym Class Heroes and the All-American Rejects -- will celebrate the release of Snakes on a Plane: The Album, featuring their song "Snakes on a Plane: Bring It," with a show at the Key Club in Los Angeles on August 16. ... Pete Doherty wants a chemical implant to help him beat his drug addiction, he told a judge in London on Thursday. During a progress review of his drug-rehabilitation program, the troubled Babyshambles rocker said he will, within the next two weeks, have a small implant that would stop him from getting high off opiates placed in his abdomen. "You are going in the right direction," Judge Jane McIvor told Doherty, who has yet to pass a drug test while in rehab. "I think your concentration should be, within six months of the order, to get a negative test." ...

Scottish band Travis stopped by No. 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday to leave a note stuck to the door for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "Some steps forward," the giant Post-It read. "Much more to do at G8. Make poverty history." This year's G8 summit begins Saturday in Saint Petersburg, Russia. You can send your own reminder to G8 leaders at Live8Live.com. ... Muse will begin a three-week North American tour Tuesday in San Francisco in support of their recently released LP, Black Holes and Revelations. The trek will make a total of 14 stops -- including gigs in San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Boston and New York -- before winding down August 6 in Atlanta. ... The Yeah Yeah Yeahs asked fans to strut their best YYY stuff on camera for the band's Cheated Hearts clip, and hours of video -- of lipsticked men posing as Karen O and rec room interpretations of Brian Chase and Nick Zinner -- poured in. The final "Cheated Hearts" video and select outtakes are posted at YeahYeahYeahs.com. ...

Mastodon will be issuing a limited edition 7-inch for the tracks "Crystal Skill" and "Capillarian Crest," which both appear on the band's forthcoming LP Blood Mountain, due September 12. Look for the 7-inch to surface August 8. ... A 40-year-old man who stabbed four people inside the Masquerade nightclub in Ybor City, Florida, during a Corrosion of Conformity concert June 23, 2005, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery with a knife and aggravated assault with a knife, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Pyne, who killed Thomas Laskas and stabbed Laskas' wife, Wendy, and two other concertgoers, will be sentenced July 24. ...

Gap will host free, all-ages concerts at select stores on the next three Thursdays. The Chicago flagship (located at 555 North Michigan Avenue) will host Love Arcade (July 20), Living Things (July 27) and Plain White T's (August 3). A Los Angeles store (Grove at Farmer's Market) will feature Graham Colton Band with Joe Purdy (July 20), Waking Ashland (July 27) and the Hush Sound (August 3). New York's 680 Fifth Avenue shop will be rocked by Mike Doughty with Tristan Prettyman (July 20), Matt White (July 27) and Army of Me (August 3). A San Francisco Gap 2040 Chestnut Street) hosts Thriving Ivory with Samantha Stollenwerck (July 20), American Music Club with Graham Colton (July 27) and Ronnie Day (August 3). ... Lennon, who released her debut album, 5:30 Saturday Morning, in 2001, will end her recording silence with Damaged Goods, due September 19. So what's taken so long?" I've spent the last three years making sure it would be an album I'm truly proud of, and it is," the singer/songwriter/pianist said.

07.13.2006

It's been a heck of a year for Jessica Simpson, who made her big-screen debut in "The Dukes of Hazzard," filmed another comedy and divorced Nick Lachey in the 12 months since she turned 25. The singer/actress, who celebrated her 26th birthday Monday, told OK! magazine that she's using the milestone as an opportunity to make a fresh start. "I think every year you become more clear about why it is you're here," Simpson said. She continues to work on her upcoming album and has "Employee of the Month" out in September, but Simpson insists that her hectic career keeps her sane. "I'd be bored without chaos. I go stir-crazy if I have nothing to do." And without work, Simpson -- who denied reports that she's dated "Employee" co-star Dane Cook -- says she really wouldn't have much going on. "I don't feel right about dating yet," she said. ...

Pink has signed on to perform at TV Guide's post-Emmy party on August 27. DJ AM and Samantha Ronson are spinning at the shindig. ... Kelly Clarkson will headline an HBO concert special next year, the network announced Wednesday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. The performance, which will be broadcast live from London's Wembley Stadium, will air February 3. ...

The Killers' second album will be called Sam's Town, according to a spokesperson for their label, Island Records. The title is a nod to Sam Boyd, who arrived in Las Vegas in 1941 with just a few dollars in his pocket but worked his way up from card dealer to casino owner by the end of the '60s. In '75, Boyd opened Sam's Town, a casino and resort hotel that catered to locals, and the establishment still bears his name to this day, serving as a landmark of "old Las Vegas." Sam's Town -- the album -- is due in stores on October 3. ... Jurassic 5 are releasing the Dave Matthews Band collaboration "Work It Out" as the first single from their new album, Feedback, due July 25. The clever video follows President Bush (OK, an impersonator) on a jog through downtown Los Angeles, where he comes face to face with a number of the direct effects of his presidency. ...

Prince has pulled the plug on his NPG Music Club. Shortly after a trademark lawsuit was filed on July 3 against NPGMusicClub.com by the British owners of science-book company Nature Publishing Group, the site for Prince fans was shut down. The singer's attorney told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the events are unrelated, and said Prince has the approval of the name for the 5-year-old Webby-award winning site from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Last month, an e-mail went out to NPG club users that hailed the history of the site and said, "In its current [form] there is a feeling that the NPGMC has gone as far as it can go. In a world without limitations and infinite possibilities, has the time come 2 once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These r ?s we in the NPG need 2 answer. In doing so, we have decided 2 put the club on hiatus until further notice." The letter said a time of "great reflection and restructuring" was coming. Prince's lawyer would only say, "Wait and see." ...

Jacob Arabove, known throughout the hip-hop world as Jacob the Jeweler, appeared before a judge in Detroit on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to money-laundering charges, The Associated Press reports. The premier bling purveyor's bond was continued at $100,000. Arabove was arrested June 15 in New York on a federal warrant issued in Detroit and agreed to turn himself in to Detroit authorities this month. He is one of 41 people named in a federal indictment released in May that accuses the jeweler and members of the Black Mafia Family of drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy. ...

Prosecutors will not be filing charges against a photographer who was arrested last month outside the Malibu, California, preschool that Angelina Jolie's son Maddox was attending. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office told the AP that there was insufficient evidence to prove that photographer Clint Brewer trespassed on school property while trying to snap pictures of Jolie's 4-year-old son. Jolie, who recently gave birth to a daughter with Brad Pitt, has signed on for two new movie projects. Variety reports that she will star in "A Mighty Heart," playing the widow of journalist Daniel Pearl, who was abducted and killed by a militant group in Pakistan in 2002. The film, produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B and directed by Michael Winterbottom, is scheduled to begin shooting by September. Jolie will also lend her voice to the animated feature "Kung Fu Panda," starring Jack Black and Jackie Chan. ...

The civil suit filed against Michael Jackson by former business associate F. Marc Schaffel went to the jury Thursday (July 13), AP reports. In his closing remarks, Jackson attorney Thomas Mundell asked the jury to "send [Schaffel] from this courtroom with nothing," while Schaffel attorney Howard King said, "It's a world where a superstar professes love for Marc Schaffel and entrusts him ... Michael world -- a world without receipts." The jury will return Friday for more deliberations. ...

In other Jackson developments, approximately 50 documents sealed during the singer's child-molestation trial were released this week by the Santa Barbara Superior Court. They reveal the graphic details of seven alleged prior "bad acts," cases in which the prosecution claimed the singer had molested other boys and the witnesses they were planning to call to prove it. Some of those witnesses did indeed testify, although not all the ones the prosecution lists; all seven prior alleged cases weren't presented in court, either. The documents, which were unsealed pursuant to a June 2005 court order, also involve motions for search warrants, contempt of court, protective orders, informants, objections to mental exams for the accuser and his family as well as subpoenas for existing psychiatric records for his mother, items to be suppressed -- which include a Pee Wee Herman holiday card, Polaroid photos of teenage boys, photographs of children from the employee break-room safe, and "bloody bed linen" from the upstairs library room -- on the basis that they were not described in the warrant or were found in areas outside the scope of the warrant. Jackson was acquitted of the charges. ...

In yet more Jackson legal news, ex-wife Debbie Rowe filed suit against the singer last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that Jackson has failed to pay her what he promised when they divorced in 1999. Filed July 3 by Rowe -- the mother of two of Jackson's children -- the suit seeks $195,000 for attorney fees and $50,000 in living expenses so that she can continue her child-custody case against him. Rowe gave up parental rights to Prince Michael Jackson, 9, and Paris Michael Jackson, 8, in 2001, but asked a judge to reinstate her rights in 2003 after Jackson was arrested on child-molestation charges. He was ultimately acquitted in that case. AP reports that Rowe's suit claims Jackson stopped making promised payments to her in late 2003. After their split, Jackson promised to pay Rowe $1 million annually for three years and $750,000 annually for the following six years. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for July 26. ...

There's a lot more Lollapalooza activity in store now that a handful of bands have announced additional post-event shows in Chicago. Mates of State are hitting up the Abbey Pub on August 3, while Blackalicious and Lyrics Born are playing the House of Blues the following night. Of Montreal, Thievery Corporation and Lake Trout are also booked for gigs at various clubs that evening, while Blues Traveler and Particle will be taking over the House of Blues and the Frames and Nada Surf check in at the Metro August 5. ... Author Michael Faber didn't want the audiobook of his short story "The Fahrenheit Twins" to be some boring by-the-numbers listen, so he roped in his longtime pen pal, producer/musician Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads) to record a soundtrack to the story for the 73-minute "Twins" CD. The ambient, subtle sound collage from Eno fits the glacial pace of the story about two odd children set in the Arctic. ...

British dance-pop duo Basement Jaxx will release their fourth album, Crazy Itch Radio, September 12. Guests on the disc include Vula Malinga -- previously featured on the Jaxx single "Oh My Gosh" -- Swedish pop singer Robyn and East London grime gal Lady Marga. A U.S. tour is in the works for 2007, but the Jaxx will be making appearances in New York and Los Angeles this October. ... New York dance-punk rockers the Rapture are also set to release their next LP on September 12. Pieces of the People We Love, their 10-track sophomore effort, was co-produced by Danger Mouse, Paul Epworth (Bloc Party) and Ewan Pearson (Chemical Brothers). The first single, "Get Myself Into It," is currently being streamed on the band's MySpace page. ... Oscar-winning comedian Red Buttons, who starred in such films as "The Poseidon Adventure," "Up From the Beach" and "Sayonara," died Thursday of vascular disease in his home in Culver City, California. He was 87.