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For The Record: Quick News On Foxy Brown, Snoop Dogg, Madonna, Taylor Hicks, Tommy Lee & More

Judge warns Brown; police might press charges against Snoop; new twist in Madonna adoption.

Foxy Brown missed her court date Monday (October 23), prompting a New York judge to warn her lawyer that Brown will be arrested and jailed if she doesn't show up at her assault-charges sentencing on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. Brown's attorney said Brown was at home after a dental procedure, but Judge Melissa C. Jackson replied, "I don't take this kindly. I don't believe she is incapable of being here." Jackson also rejected Brown's motion to withdraw her guilty plea pertaining to a fight at a salon in 2004. ...

California authorities are considering pressing charges against Snoop Dogg after a late September incident in which the rapper was found to be carrying a collapsible baton in his laptop case at an airport. The rapper has said the baton was a prop for a movie he was filming in New York, where his flight was headed, but a sheriff's spokesman told AP that the baton is considered a dangerous weapon. ...

The Madonna adoption controversy rolls on. Just days after the singer was reunited with the 13-month-old Malawian boy she adopted while visiting the country, the boy's father has said he didn't realize he was giving up his son "for good." Yohane Banda, the boy's 32-year-old father, has said adoption services in Malawi never told him that the adoption meant that David wouldn't be his son anymore. "I was never told that adoption means that David will no longer be my son. ... If I was told this, I would not have allowed the adoption," Yohane Banda said, according to BBC News. ... I would prefer that David goes back to the orphanage where I can see him any time I want, rather than send him away for good." Banda said he was under the impression that Madonna would just educate and take care of David until he was old enough to return to his home. ... In the wake of this latest controversy, the singer will appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss the adoption of David Banda. Madonna will tape the show on Tuesday, and the interview is scheduled to air Wednesday. ...

"American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks is working with producer Matt Serletic (Courtney Love, Aerosmith) on his major-label debut. "The whole recording process with Matt has been flawless so far," Hicks raved in a statement. "He truly gets where I am coming from, and I completely respect his smarts in the studio and as a real song person." Hicks' LP is due December 5. ...

He's done the clothing line thing, the DJ thing and now Tommy Lee's doing the punk'd thing. The Mötley Crüe/ Rock Star: Supernova drummer is lending his name to a new service called Crankpranks, which sends pre-recorded $1.99 prank calls to cell phones. Among the phony messages are official-sounding warnings from the FAA about joining the mile-high club, as well as pranks with the titles "Gonorrhea," "Psycho Girlfriend" and "Credit Stoppage."... Lee's Web site reports that Rock Star: Supernova bassist Jason Newsted will not be joining the band when it hits the road for its first tour, which is scheduled to kick off on New Year's Eve. Newsted is scheduled for emergency surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a bicep tear in his right arm, injuries he suffered when he was trying to catch a 90-pound bass amp that had fallen from atop his amp stack. The surgery and rehab could keep Newsted sidelined for up to nine months. "I'm freaking out," Newsted said about the injury. "My heart was set on finally getting on the road with these guys, but my main focus now is to build myself back to 100 percent. The stage is set for the band, I wish them the best of luck." Rock Star: Supernova's debut album is slated for release on November 21. No replacement has been named yet. ...

Arctic Monkeys are releasing a single on Tuesday featuring two new tracks: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" and "Put Your Dukes Up, John." A cover of Van McCoy's "Baby, I'm Yours" rounds out the release. ... Jack's Mannequin are re-releasing Everything in Transit on November 7 with a DVD featuring live footage, videos and interviews. Several tracks are culled from singer Andrew McMahon's first concert as a cancer survivor. ... Natasha Bedingfield will release a live DVD on November 21 simply called "Live in New York City." The video was filmed at the British singer/songwriter's June 8 concert at the Nokia Theatre and includes a cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist." ...

CKY have booked several gigs for later this year. The band will perform in Towson, Maryland (December 16); Richmond, Virginia (December 17); Northampton, Massachusetts (December 19); New Haven, Connecticut (December 20); and Philadelphia (December 22-23). ... Sandy West, the drummer in the influential 1970s all-girl rock band the Runaways, died Saturday after a long struggle with lung cancer, according to the group's site. She was 47. West, who kept the beat for the band that included Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Cherie Currie, and performed on such landmark hits as "Cherry Bomb," formed the Sandy West Band after the Runaways broke up in 1979. Former Runaways singer Currie said of her friend, "Sandy West was by far, the greatest female drummer in the history of rock and roll. No one could compete or even come close to her, but the most important was her heart." ...

Just as Courtney Love's "Dirty Blonde" journals are about to hit bookstores, the singer opened up to Billboard about her album-in-progress, which she plans to release on producer Linda Perry's Custard imprint. Love said that when she started writing songs in rehab, "my hand-eye coordination was so bad, I didn't even know chords anymore. It was like my fingers were frozen." Love said she also felt like she had been frozen out of the biz, which only inspired her to try harder. "I'd sit there and try to quietly write and struggle," she said. "I always thought I'd be that girl that lives with no regrets. I've written so many amends letters, I can't even count them. It's still not enough." ... Meanwhile, Courtney's estranged mother, Linda Carroll, has been attempting to use her daughter's chaotic childhood to help other parents. The psychotherapist conducted two workshops Friday in Fairview Heights, Illinois, for a conference called "Piecing It All Together," and said Love was troubled from a young age. "Courtney had come into the world with a biology that created internal torment," Carroll told the Belleville News Democrat. ...

Reprise act Men, Women and Children found their van, trailer and gear stolen during an MTV $2 Bill Tour stop in Detroit on Sunday. In addition to those things, the band also lost Moog synthesizers, Fender and Rickenbacker guitars and a vintage Ludwig drum kit. Still, MWAC plan to stay on the tour, and fans looking to help out can go to the band's Web site, MenWomenAndChildren.com. ... Former Head Automatica drummer Larry Gorman has spoken out about his departure from the band. In a statement issued late last week, he said, "I would just like to make it clear to you all that in no way did I leave this band. I was told by [frontman Daryl Palumbo] through management not to come back. This is due mostly to the fact that the relationship between Daryl and I has slowly been deteriorating over the last couple of years. We simply have lost faith in each other. These things happen and with Daryl it seems to be more often than not. I wish things could have ended differently being that I stood by his side for so many years, in and out of hospitals, on tour, but I guess I just couldn't handle it emotionally anymore. That much I am guilty of. With that being said, once again I would like to thank everyone for their support and words of kindness. Please know that I am fine and it is time for me to move on and put this all behind me."

10.20.2006

Pac's Life, another new collection of Tupac Shakur songs, is due next month. The late rapper's mother, Afeni Shakur, has assembled a host of acts to record a posthumous album, out November 21 on Amaru/ Interscope Records. Featuring contributions from Ludacris, T.I. and Keyshia Cole, Pac's Life will feature just one previously released Tupac verse along with unreleased lyrics and compositions from the late star. ...

Juvenile has hopped onto the Voodoo Music Experience roster. He'll perform in his New Orleans hometown on October 29, the second day of the fest. ... Hilary Duff doesn't just design clothes for the tween/teen set anymore -- she's got her sights set on something ... a lot smaller. "When I was younger, I was so inspired by Barbie," the singer said. "She has been a role model for my friends and me. I love her style and her spirit!" That's why Duff is expanding her fashion foray to include designing apparel for Fashion Fever Barbie. Duff debuted 11 girl- and doll-size head-to-toe outfits, with themes such as stripes, denim and faux-fur accessories in both "sweet" and "rocker" styles, at a girls-only fashion show in Los Angeles during Fashion Week on Thursday. ...

So so gone? According to The New York Daily News, Jermaine Dupri has left his post as president of Urban Music at Virgin Records after blaming the company for its poor promotion of his girlfriend Janet Jackson's latest album, 20 Y.O. The set was executive produced by JD, and Jackson graced the cover of several magazines, however sales for the album have been sluggish. ... Keith Urban, country star and husband to Nicole Kidman, checked himself into a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse on Thursday. "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," Urban said in the statement. ...

NBC's Madonna TV special will not feature the singer on a cross, The Associated Press reports. The concert special, which has been under heavy scrutiny by religious groups, will air November 22. ... Kevin Federline is taking to the road shortly after the release of his debut LP, Playing With Fire, on Halloween. The singer will play the first of eight dates November 4 at New York's Webster Hall and the last one November 22 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Five of the gigs are taking place at HOB venues. ... Russell Simmons will lead a Diamond Information Center fact-finding mission to South Africa and Botswana from November 26 to December 4 to learn how the diamond business impacts and can help enhance the education and economics of African communities. ...

Haley Joel Osment pleaded no contest to misdemeanor drunk-driving and drug-possession charges on Thursday, AP reports. A judge sentenced the 18-year-old actor to three years of probation and told him to spend 60 hours in a rehab program and attend 26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Osment, who did not go to the court hearing, crashed his car into a mailbox in July. ... Bloc Party, the Decemberists, the Walkmen, Lou Barlow, Devendra Banhart, Pretty Girls Make Graves and the Mountain Goats have taped PSAs for a new campaign called Save the Album. Info on the cause, which comes at a time when online single sales are higher than ever, is available at SaveTheAlbum.com. ...

Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. will play a string of East Coast solo dates later this month in support of his solo debut, Yours to Keep, which has yet to be slated for a U.S. release but is available overseas. The rocker is scheduled to perform October 28 in Asbury Park, New Jersey; October 30 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; November 1 in Philadelphia; and November 3 in New York. ... Weston are also touring the East Coast, as part of their three-gig reunion in December. The band, which called it quits back in 2000, claims it would like to "give our fans another chance to experience what made Weston so much fun. There are a lot of people who have told us over the years how much they miss our live performances. Some have said that they've never had a chance to even see us play live." The band plays Atlantic City, New Jersey, on December 29; New York on December 30; and Allentown, Pennsylvania, on December 31. ...

R&B singer Jon B is ushering in the holidays with a Christmas album, Holiday Wishes From Me to You. The LP, which features his renditions of "Oh Holy Night," "Joy to the World" and more, streets November 7. Meanwhile, his follow-up release, Back to Love, will drop in February. ... Incubus are turning to fans for help with the upcoming video for their next single, "Anna Molly." Six hundred Incubus aficionados will attend the band's show in San Francisco on Friday (October 20), and they are being encouraged to use their Verizon phones to record the band when it plays that song. The clip will be an amalgam of video shot during the performance of "Anna Molly." ...

CBS is the first radio corporation to settle with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over accusations that it used illicit pay-for-play practices, according to The New York Times. CBS agreed to use tougher policies in dealing with labels and will pay $2 million to various New York charities. ... A new merit badge is being offered to Los Angeles Boy Scouts who learn "about the evils of downloading pirated movies and music," according to AP. The badge, sponsored by the movie industry, depicts a film reel, CD and the international copyright symbol. ... Bob Seger and Anita Baker will perform "America the Beautiful" and the national anthem, respectively, before the first two World Series games in Detroit, according to AP. ... Sofia Coppola is seven months pregnant with a baby girl, AP reports. The father is Thomas Mars, frontman for French band Phoenix. ... The outlet also reported that Jaime Pressly is engaged to her boyfriend, DJ Eric Cubiche. ...

Staind singer Aaron Lewis is returning to his high school in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, on November 4 for a benefit concert for its art and music programs. "Music education in schools is a vitally important cause," he said in a statement. ... Army of Anyone, the band featuring former Filter frontman Richard Patrick and ex-Stone Temple Pilots Dean and Robert DeLeo, have announced the first dates of their maiden tour. The trek kicks off November 18 in Philadelphia and, before concluding November 30 in Nashville, will make stops in Hartford, Connecticut; Boston; Atlanta; and Orlando, Florida. The band's self-titled debut is due November 14. ... The Zippo Hot Tour featuring Papa Roach will kick off November 13 in Norfolk, Virginia, and wrap up December 17 in Amarillo, Texas. Philadelphia's Stealing December won a contest to be the opening band. ... Fair to Midland, the latest act signed to System of a Down singer Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike Records, will release The Drawn and Quartered EP on November 7. Their full length, produced by David Bottrill (Tool, Muse), is due in March. ...

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