The raging Southern California wildfires that intensified over the weekend are threatening the homes of a number of stars who reside in Malibu. Mel Gibson, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Hanks, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, James Cameron, Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn, Rob Reiner, David Geffen, David Duchovny, Mark Hamill, Olivia Newton-John and Bill Murray are among the stars who have been evacuated or whose homes are potentially in jeopardy. ...

Fall Out Boy have "an album's worth of material" good to go but aren't ready to put out their fifth LP just quite yet, frontman Patrick Stump told Billboard.com. "There's always something that hits me, like a sense of urgency -- now is the time for an album -- and we're not there yet," he said. "I just get this kind of wanderlust of some kind to go back into a studio. It's always a very defined point." Stump added that the band's Infinity on High, which came out in February, hasn't worn out its welcome yet. "I don't really feel like we're done with this one yet," he said. "I feel like it's still in its cycle. There's a lot of songs on it I'm really proud of." Meanwhile, in regards to the new material, Stump said there are "lots of bizarre ideas" in the mix, "everything from folk to ... actually, I was experimenting with piano phases, like Steve Reich, the composer. There'll be some weird stuff, but at the end of the day, it's probably just gonna be a pop record." Stump also said he recently filmed a guest spot for an episode of "Law & Order" that will air in February. ...

Beyoncé's tour comes to a close November 12 in Taiwan -- so, fittingly, she's decided to put out a concert DVD eight days later. "The Beyoncé Experience Live!," recorded at Los Angeles' Staples Center on September 2, features her performances of "Survivor" with the reunited Destiny's Child and "Upgrade U" with beau Jay-Z. It has more than two hours' worth of content in total. ... Tool's long-promised "Vicarious" DVD will be in stores December 18 and include an extended cut of the video for the title track, bonus material and special packaging. ...

The jury trial of Vincent "Don Vito" Margera -- Bam Margera's uncle -- on [article id="1539239"]two counts of sexual assault[/article] on a child is slated to begin Tuesday. Margera is on trial for allegedly groping three underage girls [article id="1538973"]at an autograph signing[/article] in August 2006 in Colorado. The jury in the trial was slated to be seated on Monday (October 22), according to a court spokesperson. ...

Ozzy Osbourne has heart -- he's donating all his net profits from his November 30 show at Los Angeles' Staples Center, including ticket sales and merch, to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program run by his wife. ... Korn frontman Jonathan Davis has beefed up his upcoming solo tour with additional dates -- the trek will get under way November 9 in Hartford, Connecticut, and run through December 11 in Las Vegas. In related news, ex-Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery is now an ex-Korn guitarist too. He has been replaced by Shane Gibson after being forced to leave the band's current "B---h We Have a Problem" run due to a family emergency. ...

Want to get your hands on some Gorillaz stickers, badges and a "Choose Pazuzu" patch? Then make sure to pick up the special-edition version of their upcoming D-Sides collection, which has bumped from a November 6 release date November 20. The special set will also come in a glossy box and have two exclusive prints by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett. ... The ever-outlandish Mars Volta fans are going to be required to wear costumes to the one-off show they'll play at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. The band's next album, The Bedlam in Goliath, drops January 29. ...

The hip-hop promoter who was allegedly attacked by three of Diddy's bodyguards reportedly served the hip-hop mogul on Friday with papers over the rough-up, although they were reportedly having none of it. According to TMZ, James Waldon tried to hand Diddy papers at his Sean Jean store in New York, but his bodyguards apparently smacked them to the ground before eventually retrieving them. They reportedly chased away Waldon, who alleges in his $5 million suit that three of Diddy's bodyguards attacked him after he chatted with the Bad Boy boss at the Box nightclub in New York. ... Relient K have parted ways with drummer Dave Douglas, who will bolt after the group's tour winds down in late December, it was revealed in a Friday post on the band's Web site. No explanation has been given for the departure of Douglas, who had been in Relient K for seven years. Douglas was quoted in the post as saying he will be devoting most of his time to his Gypsy Parade project. ...

Seems there's trouble in the world of CKY. Apparently a physical altercation recently broke out between various members of the group, and they've taken to MySpace to air their dirty laundry. In a post from guitarist Chad Ginsburg, he claims he broke his foot at a gig in St. Louis, and that frontman Deron Miller "has quit CKY to pursue his own band." He added that he, along with drummer Jess Margera, will carry on as CKY. Of course, Miller has a different side to the story. He claims he didn't quit the band, but, "after the San Diego show, I started getting really depressed and couldn't eat or sleep, so of course, I started drinking more and more moderately." According to Miller, he overheard several of his bandmates talking smack about him in St. Louis, and heard some "extremely personal, painful things that were mostly untrue and stupid." Miller said he confronted the rest of the band, after which "a fight broke out. I slapped Jess' hat off of his head and [Miller was jumped] after I put on my backpack to leave the bus." He said he left the band's tour to "detox" and is considering returning to the fold "if I can get and return some apologies, because let's face it, CKY [carrying on] would both be laughable and illegal." Miller also warned that if any of the songs he wrote for the band's forthcoming album end up on the LP, he'd take legal action. ...

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie can't get enough of each other -- the couple are putting together a series for HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The two are creating their first production project, a drama that will chronicle workers in an international aid organization who are assigned to dangerous areas. The series doesn't have a name yet, but it will be written by Scott Burns, who produced [article id="1571757"]Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore's[/article] "An Inconvenient Truth" and co-wrote "The Bourne Ultimatum." ...

Cake are hitting the road for the latest edition of their Unlimited Sunshine Tour series in support of their recently released B-Sides and Rarities compilation. The tour, which kicks off November 28 with a show in Anaheim, California, will also feature performances by Brazilian Girls, Detroit Cobras, Oakley Hall, King City and Agent Ribbons. ...

Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson's divorce is almost officially over -- the ex-couple have filed their divorce papers in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to TMZ. A judge might sign off on the papers later Monday. Robinson filed for divorce in November, and he will share joint custody with Hudson of their only child, son Ryder. ... Lance Hahn, the J Church bassist who also originally fronted the San Francisco punk band, died Sunday from complications arising from kidney disease, according to Austin360.com. He was 40. In July, a tribute album called Let's Do It for Lance! was released to help raise money so Hahn, who had no health insurance, could pay his medical bills. ...

It was a scary moment for punk godmother Patti Smith during a show at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Sunday, when the 60-year-old singer took a fall and almost hit the edge of the stage during a show, according to a report. During an encore of her signature tune "Rock N Roll N-----," England's NME reports that Smith tripped on a speaker and fell on her face, cutting her elbow and laying on the ground for a few "agonizing" seconds. Smith allegedly joked about the fall, saying, "I'm not even f---ing embarrassed because I've done far worse," perhaps alluding to the scary fall she took in 1977 in Tampa, Florida, when she tripped off a stage and broke two vertebrae in her neck. ...

Country legend Porter Wagoner has been diagnosed with lung cancer and has been hospitalized in serious condition in Nashville, according to The Associated Press. Wagoner, 80, known for his rhinestone-dripping stage outfits and blond pompadour, is a Country Music Hall of Famer whose hits include "Misery Loves Company," "Green, Green Grass of Home" and "Skid Row Joe." He helped launch the career of Dolly Parton when he hired her as a duet partner in 1967, and Parton has said she wrote the smash hit "I Will Always Love You" (famously covered by Whitney Houston) in Wagoner's honor. ...

Police in Johannesburg, South Africa, have arrested five people in connection with the murder of reggae singer Lucky Dube, who was shot and killed during an attempted carjacking on Thursday. Reuters reports that the men were arrested in an early morning raid on Sunday, during which stolen goods were found in the house in which they were captured.

10.19.07

If you thought Jay-Z was a little premature in announcing his "retirement" four years ago, you're not alone. The hip-hop mogul admits in a new interview with XXL that he "pulled the retirement ripcord too many times." He added, "I want to never say that again. ... People looking at me like, 'Please shut up.' I was looking at [my retirement movie] 'Fade to Black' the other day. I was embarrassed. I couldn't watch. I'm not playing with you. I had to turn it off. I was cringing." On November 6, Jay-Z will issue [article id="1571481"]American Gangster LP[/article] -- the second album he has put out since making the "retirement" announcement in 2003. ...

Prosecutors in Philadelphia have withdrawn charges against Beanie Sigel after the rapper resolved a dispute over a rental car he had kept long past its return date, The Associated Press reports. Sigel (born Dwight Grant) had rented a 2007 Nissan Altima from Payless Car Rental in July but didn't return the vehicle by its August 13 due date. He also failed to contact the rental company. The car was reported stolen September 6 and was later returned October 5, just as detectives headed to Sigel's home to inquire about the car. Sigel has accumulated $5,000 in late fees, but he has since paid them, which caused prosecutors to withdraw the charges. ...

A Kurt Cobain biopic based on "Heavier Than Heaven," the widely praised 2001 biography of the late Nirvana singer written by Seattle journalist Charles Cross, will be executive produced by Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, according to Variety. The script for the yet-untitled film is slated to be written by "Kite Runner" screenwriter David Benioff, and Universal Pictures is funding the film. The producers have not addressed whether they have the rights to Nirvana's music for the film or which parts of Cobain's life it will cover. ...

Naomi Watts has officially pecked her way into the "Birds" remake, Variety reports. The actress is the first castmember to be announced for the new take on the Alfred Hitchcock classic, while "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell is reportedly in talks to helm the flick, which will be produced by Michael Bay and is eyeing a 2009 theatrical release. Watts will play Melanie Daniels, a role originally taken on by Tippi Hedren, who recently sounded off to MTV about her distaste for the controversial project. ... What would Fashion Week in Southern California be like without Paris Hilton? The heiress helped close out Petro Zillia's closing show, dubbed "So L.A.," Thursday night in Culver City -- although she apparently missed her sister Nicky's spring Chick collection earlier in the week. ...

Bruce Springsteen, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Bob Dylan and others are featured on Serve2, a recently released Hard Rock International compilation disc that benefits the Artists Against Hunger & Poverty arm of the World Hunger Year project. Unreleased tracks by those artists -- plus Mat Kearney, O.A.R., the Hold Steady and more -- will be featured on the set, which is available at Hard Rock Cafes. ... In addition to reuniting for some upcoming shows in November, it appears the Verve have been busy cooking up some new tunes, with the possibility of a new album in 2008. Bassist Simon Jones wrote in his blog that among the band's first new tracks in a decade are the songs "Sit and Wonder," "Judas," "Appalachian Springs," "Mona Lisa" and "Rather Be." ... U.K. shoegazers Swervedriver are also re-forming, bringing their 10-year hiatus to a close. The group is planning a worldwide tour for early next year. ... American Music Club will deliver The Golden Age -- their second post-reunion effort, in fact -- February 5. The track list hasn't been revealed yet. ...

Hellyeah have set November 13 as the release date for "Below the Belt," their new live DVD. The set will feature footage from the day the hard-rockers got together for the first time, along with performance footage from the making of their album, their first studio sessions and live clips from their world tour. The DVD will also boast personal interviews, as well as a few surprises. ... Irate Aerosmith fans are filing a lawsuit against the band for nixing its September 26 concert on the Hawaiian island of Maui last month, according to The Honolulu Advertiser. The class-action suit claims the band bailed from the sold-out show so it could play a bigger one in Chicago instead; that the late cancellation was unnecessary; and that it caused many fans to lose money they spent -- somewhere between $500,000 and $3 million in total -- on plane tickets, car rentals and hotels. The suit was filed on behalf of all ticket holders, and, under state law, plaintiffs could be eligible for triple their losses in damages and up to $5,000 if age 62 or over. ...

Stone Roses mastermind Ian Brown is giving his music a classical makeover by enlisting an orchestra to rework his hits. The singer's fifth solo release, The World Is Yours, was released last month, and Brown plans to play a set of classical concerts to put an interesting twist on his famous works. More details will be revealed in the coming weeks. ... Eels are putting out a 10th anniversary best-of set and a collection of rarities, both of which will feature a DVD and land in stores January 15. The sets will be called Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. 1, 1996-2006 and Eels Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006. ...

South African reggae star Lucky Dube was shot and killed in an apparent carjacking attempt on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa. AP reports that Dube, 43, died when he tried to drive away during the incident and crashed into a tree after being shot twice by two unknown male assailants. Dube's son had reportedly gotten out of the car shortly before the singer was shot.

[This story was originally published at 11:26 am E.T. on 10.22.2007]