Clay Aiken's "The Way" single, due in stores Tuesday (March 16), will feature a cover of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire" as the B-side. "Since the end of 'American Idol,' the requests for a recording of my version of 'Solitaire' have continued to pour in," Aiken wrote on his Web site. "I hope you enjoy hearing the song as much as I enjoyed recording it for you!" ...

Courtney Love returned to court in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday. At the request of her attorney, a preliminary hearing regarding two felony counts of drug possession was postponed again. The new hearing date is set for April 15. Before the morning's proceedings ended, Love burst into tears. ... R. Kelly has set a release date of May 18 for his next LP, Happy People. Kelly filmed a video for the title track and first single over the weekend in Chicago. Little X directed the clip. ...

Prince brought out the stars in New York on Monday night following his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lenny Kravitz, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, ?uestlove, Alicia Keys, Outkast and the cast of "Saturday Night Live" were among those who came to see his special afterparty show at New York club Exit. Prince opened with a jazz instrumental, followed by the title track to his new album, Musicology, before launching into several hits from his extensive catalog, including "Controversy," "Housequake," "Sign 'O' the Times" and "Kiss." ... 50 Cent threw a surprise party for G-Unit member Young Buck Monday night at Chetty Red in New York. Lloyd Banks, radio personality Monie Love and B-Real of Cypress Hill were among those wishing Buck a happy b-day. ...

Wyclef Jean will appear as Curtis Mayfield in the season finale of NBC's "American Dreams," set for broadcast April 4. A week prior to Jean's portrayal of the soul legend best known for "Superfly," the show will feature Jason Mraz as Dion and Fefe Dobson as Tina Turner. ... Cedric the Entertainer has replaced Justin Timberlake as co-host of ABC's upcoming "Motown 45" special. Timberlake, who would have joined Lionel Richie as an emcee for the show, backed out to shoot his first feature film, "Edison." Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men and Kelly Rowland are among the acts set to perform. ...

U2's Bono will be addressing the class of 2004 at the University of Pennsylvania's 248th commencement ceremony on May 17, according to the university's Web site. The university will also be presenting the singer/songwriter/activist with an honorary doctor of Laws degree for his global activism. ... U2's proposed anthology book got a home this week. Planned as a full-color photo retrospective, "In the Name of Love: U2 by U2" will come out via Harper Collins in 2005. ... While working on the follow-up to 2002's Spend the Night, the Donnas have been chosen as "spokesgirls" for Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, a company that makes guitars and basses in pink and baby blue that are lighter and have thinner necks, to give 11 girls the chance to follow in their footsteps. Two-week scholarships to the DayJams Rock Music Day Camps around the country will be awarded this summer. ...

Turntablism's spin in the mainstream has arrived. The art of manipulating the ones and twos will be the focus of an upcoming CBS Morning News special, tentatively set for March 28. Meanwhile, Berklee College of Music's Turntable Technique, the first college course on the subject, is well under way, and turntable pioneer Grandmaster Flash intends to hit 30 colleges in the coming year on an educational tour. ... A two-year legal wrangle over royalty rates for songs broadcast online has culminated in a government ruling that requires Internet radio stations to record their playlists for two weeks in a three-month period and pay artists and labels accordingly. The new procedure goes into effect April 12. ...

03.15.2004

JC Chasez, who will promote his solo LP, Schizophrenic, with a spring tour, is pitching Jive Records an interesting idea for the outing. "If we could get a JC/ Justin [Timberlake] tour ... that'd be a pretty good show," he said recently. If that doesn't work out, Chasez would be into hitting the road with his pal BT. ...

The Youngbloodz are teaming with the YMCA to launch a youth basketball league in Atlanta. "The main focus of this league is not just about winning games," Sean Paul and J-Bo said in a statement. "We are hoping to mentor these guys along the way, encouraging them to be productive members of the community by enforcing the principles of teamwork and cooperation." ... The man who tried to con Lil' Kim last June by telling her he knew where her lost jewelry was and would return it for $5,000 in advance and another $20,000 later has been ordered to pay a $500 fine and sentenced to five days in jail. John Acheson, who never knew where Kim's jewelry really was, pleaded guilty in Queens Criminal Court in New York to attempted grand larceny last week in order to avoid a more serious felony grand-larceny charge, which could have carried a four-year jail sentence. Acheson is currently on parole for selling his ex-landlord $47,000 of phony stock. Kim's jewels were stolen June 20 at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and were later recovered near an airport employee's locker. ...

Damon Dash is set to direct "State Property 2," the sequel to the 2002 movie in which he starred. Production begins this week in New York. The movie, which will again center on characters played by Beanie Sigel and Dash himself, will be released through Lions Gate in 2005. ... Alanis Morissette has complied with radio programmers' request to change the opening line of her new single, "Everything." "I can be an a--hole of the grandest kind" is now "I can be a nightmare of the grandest kind." ... Though Scott Weiland's DUI trial was to start Monday in Los Angeles, it was continued until March 22. The Velvet Revolver singer is charged with driving under the influence of drugs. ...

Slipknot are inviting fans to appear in their video for "Duality," which will be shot in the group's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, on March 27. "Should be a crazy time, and from the sounds of the video, if you show it will be like watching the band perform live in your house," a post on the band's label's Web site read. The video will be directed by Mark Klasfeld and Tony Petrossian. ... Slipknot/ Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor tied the knot with his fiancée, Scarlett, Thursday at a small ceremony at the Des Moines Botanical Center. At the reception held back at their house, bandmates from both groups, friends and family celebrated with a karaoke machine until 4 a.m. ...

Kid Rock didn't let the crowd that was starting to leave stop him from sitting down and joining a spontaneous jam session at New York restaurant Elaine's on Sunday night. His show wasn't attended by many, but among the few in attendance, celebrating the induction of Rolling Stone editor and publisher Jann Wenner into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, were Mick Jagger, Cameron Crowe, Heart's Nancy Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven, Mick Jones, Don Henley, Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and actress Leelee Sobieski. ... U2's Bono has contributed the song "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad" to Nancy Sinatra for inclusion on her upcoming album, To Nancy With Love. Bono originally wrote the tune for her legendary father, Frank, to sing, but he never did. The U2 frontman, however, performed the tune for Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday television celebration in 1995 and released it in 1997 as a B-side of the single "If God Will Send His Angels." To Nancy With Love will also include collaborations with Morrissey, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, Jon Spencer and others. ...

In the wake of Urban Outfitters pulling its controversial "Voting Is for Old People" T-shirt from store shelves, Chris Heister from Philadelphia has created a Web site where visitors can make their own "Voting Is for ..." tees (www.votingisforpeople.com). Customized designs can be made in less than 24 hours for about $17 dollars. Some popular slogans so far are "Voting Is for Sexy People," "Voting Is for Rich People" and "Voting Is for Amish People." ... Starbucks will now let coffee drinkers mix their mochas with a little music. On Tuesday, the java franchise will launch a service that will allow customers to create their own mix CDs out of a collection of 250,000 songs. CDs start at $6.95 for the first five songs and $1 for every additional song. The service initially launches in Santa Monica, California, and will ultimately be found in 2,500 franchises nationwide by 2006. ...

The three-CD album and double-DVDs recorded last year at the "46664" AIDS benefit concert in Cape Town, South Africa, will both come out on May 4. The releases feature performances by Beyoncé, Bono, Bob Geldof, Peter Gabriel, Queen, Ms. Dynamite, Eurythmics and many others. ... Sugar Ray are developing a reality show with VH1. "Three roadies go to work with us and we abuse them to death," singer Mark McGrath explained. "They're called 'techs' now, they're not 'roadies' anymore ... and they work 20-hour days. I think that the kids are gonna think they are coming to party with the band, but they're gonna be working. People are gonna go home crying, people are gonna go home with a drinking problem, and people are gonna go home injured. That's my kind of reality show." ...