'NSYNC's Lance Bass has finally completed his training and received his cosmonaut certification from Russia's Star City training facility. He's since left Russia for some much needed R&R, while his backers continue to try to get him a seat on an April flight. ...

Hank Williams Jr. announced to a Dallas concert audience last weekend that his pal Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson are set to get hitched next month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, according to the Associated Press. Rock, who proposed to Anderson in April, is scheduled to perform at the MGM on November 9. ...

Puddle of Mudd will perform two dates on Nissan's free concert series, the Z Tour, Wednesday (October 16) and Friday in Houston and Phoenix, respectively. Recent Z Tour performers include No Doubt, Eve, Enrique Iglesias and Stone Temple Pilots. ... Despite last weekend's suspected Al Qaeda-linked bombing in a Bali nightclub that killed more than 180 people, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced a slate of December concerts that include stops in Bali, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Prior to those shows, the Los Angeles funkers will hit Japan, New Zealand and Australia in November, then South America and Europe at the top of next year, with many dates featuring support from former At the Drive-In members Mars Volta. ...

Milwaukee emo foursome the Promise Ring announced at a Plea for Peace date last week that they would disband at the end of the tour. "I don't know the reasons yet and all I can say is, this is very sad news," Brett Gurewitz, owner of the group's Anti/Epitaph label, said in a statement. ...

Ashanti is embarking on a promotional tour for her book "Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love." The R&B songstress will hit Borders Books in Westbury, New York; Paramus, New Jersey; and White Plains, New York, on November 12, 14 and 15, respectively. She will also appear at Hue-Man Bookstore in New York on November 13, the date of the book's release. ... "I am getting so hot, I wanna take my clothes off." The woman who sings that hook for Nelly's "Hot in Herre," Dani Stevenson, made her solo debut Tuesday night at New York's Metronome. Among the songs she previewed off her February debut album, Is There Another?, was the first single, "Honk Your Horn," which was written and produced by Missy Elliott. ... 50 Cent will shoot the video for his smash "Wanksta" on October 21 and 22 in Los Angeles, according to Interscope Records. No director has been announced yet. ...

Silverchair, on touring hiatus due to singer Daniel Johns' battle with arthritis, gave their first performance since April at Tuesday's 16th annual Australian ARIA awards ceremony, playing the subdued "The Greatest View." The band was among the big winners at the event, taking home awards for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Group, bested only by Kylie Minogue, who snagged five awards, and Kasey Chambers, who took home three. The Vines got the trophy for Best New Artist – Single for "Get Free." ... The nominations for England's 13th annual Q Awards, which take place in London on October 21, are led by the Hives and Oasis, who nabbed a coveted Best Act in the World Today nomination, where they're pitted against Coldplay, Radiohead, Stereophonics and U2. The Vines, Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers are each up for two awards. ...

During a break from opening Korn's Pop Sux! Tour this past weekend, Trust Company met up in Los Angeles with director David Slade to shoot their latest video, "Running From Me." Singer Kevin Palmer said that the video will be "very abstract" and involved his bandmates getting "very wet" for dreamlike scenes. ... El-P's Fantastic Damage has been reissued as FanDam Plus, an enhanced double CD with El-P remixes of "Squeegee Man Shooting" and "Dead Disnee," RJD2's remix of "Lazerfaces' Warning," a video for "Deep Space 9mm," as well as an instrumental disc of the entire album. A FanDam Remix'd 12" adds three additional versions of "Lazerface" and "Squeegee." ...

10.15.02

Eminem is giving us one more reason to buy the "8 Mile" soundtrack. The LP, due out October 29, will include a limited-edition sampler that will feature an unreleased track from Eminem along with material from Obie Trice and 50 Cent. …

It's not exactly a battle of the divas, but British rockers Muse have threatened Canadian warbler Celine Dion with a lawsuit if the singer continues to refer to her upcoming three-year string of Vegas dates at Caesar's Palace as "Celine Dion Muse," according to Muse's official Web site. The band claims to own the music-related worldwide use of the phrase "muse" and said they rejected an offer of $50,000 from Dion's management to buy the rights with the following statement: "NO, absolutely not as we don't want to appear to be Celine Dion's support act!" ...

Aimee Mann will visit the hottest stop on the fall concert circuit, the Bronze, in beautiful Sunnydale, California, as the latest artist set to appear on UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," following Blink-182, Cibo Matto and most recently, the Breeders. Mann performs "Pavlov's Bells" in her episode, entitled "Sleeper," which was filmed Monday and will air November 19. ... Almost a decade after they rocked the Peach Pit After Dark on an episode of "Beverly Hills 90210," the Flaming Lips will make their triumphant return to a teen-targeted TV series when they appear on the WB's "Charmed." The band will perform its current single, "Do You Realize?" from their latest album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, in the episode, which is being filmed Wednesday and is set for broadcast November 17. ...

Courtney Love is currently mixing solo material at a Hollywood studio with producer Jim Barber. ... Orange County, California, rap-metal outfit Hed (Planet Earth) are working on material for a forthcoming Jive Records release. Machine (Pitchshifter, Vision of Disorder), who produced the band's 2000 sophomore album, Broke, is back at the controls. ... AFI are still hard at work on their major-label debut in a Los Angeles studio with producers Jerry Finn (Green Day, Blink-182) and Garbage-man Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins). The band has laid down most of the instrumental tracks for the still as-yet-untitled set, and singer Davey Havok is currently recording vocals. ...

Morbid Angel will have their first two albums reissued by Earache on November 11. Both Altars of Madness and Blessed Are the Sick will come with a bonus CD-ROM, plus sleeve notes from the band's Trey Azagthoth. ... Sepultura will release an EP called Revolusongs through SPV next month. The band has just finished recording the EP with producer Steve Evetts, and it includes covers of tracks by U2, Jane's Addiction, Massive Attack, Hellhammer and Exodus. ... Black metal veterans Marduk have set World Funeral as the title of their forthcoming studio album, which is tentatively due to surface in mid-February. ... New York hardcore heavyweights Madball have reunited and will perform their first comeback show at Krome in South Amboy, New Jersey, on December 6. Also appearing on the bill will be Most Precious Blood, Death Threat and No Warning. ...

It's all new with Sean Paul. He just signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and has a new release date of November 12 for his Dutty Rock LP. "Like Glue," his new single and follow-up to his monster hit "Gimme the Light," drops in the next few weeks. ...

The Wallflowers will come out of their shells for a 14-date North American tour a few weeks after the release of their upcoming fourth album, Red Letter Days (November 5). The outing kicks off on November 20 at the Gothic Theatre in Denver, meanders across the Midwest and concludes with dates in Boston, Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, and, on December 7, the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. ...

Need new wheels? Belle & Sebastian singer Stuart Murdoch is offering on eBay his classic Ford Granada that was featured on the artwork for the band's single "I'm Waking Up to Us." In addition to providing a new set of tires and insurance for one year, Murdoch is sweetening the deal by promising that the buyer will be able to gain free entry into the band's shows for the next five years. ...

Jets to Brazil have cancelled their current 33-date tour due to an unexplained "sudden illness," according to the group's spokesperson. The outing was due to begin Monday (October 14) in Brooklyn, New York; rescheduled dates remain to be announced. Jets' latest album, Perfecting Loneliness, is out Tuesday. ... Portishead singer Beth Gibbons will release her self-titled solo debut in the U.K. on October 28. The mostly acoustic 10-track album of ambient, jazzy compositions and fragile folk songs was recorded with former Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb and features the tracks "Mysteries," "Tom the Model," "Show," "Sand River" and "Spider Monkey"; no U.S. release date has been announced yet. ... John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting and Melissa Etheridge will perform at the Lili Claire Foundation's fifth annual benefit "Helping Kids Fly Higher" on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The proceeds from the event, which will be hosted by "Friends" star Matthew Perry, will benefit children living with neurogenetic birth defects. ...