Don't look for any Daisy Dukes in Jessica Simpson's forthcoming clothing line, which hits stores this week. Princy by Jessica Simpson, which will be available at Macy's, Nordstrom and Dillard's, so far includes "everyday wear" like casual tees, plaid and embroidered button-down shirts, baby-doll tops, jeans, skirts, sweater vests and tailored tweed blazers (which Simpson models in the September issue of Seventeen magazine), but the singer thinks it's too soon to add the trademark short shorts. "It's for the fall, and I don't know if people will wear Daisy Dukes in the fall, but definitely next summer," she said. That will give folks plenty of time to shape up, and Simpson wants to help them do that via an exercise video and equipment line she's about to roll out, which she hopes will provide the same results for others that she got with her personal trainer. "I worked out really hard [to prepare for the movie], and I'm proud that I worked for it," she said. "I think that makes a person more confident." ...

(Click here for photos of Jessica Simpson in September's Seventeen.)

Hilary Duff is being singled out by PETA — for its seal of approval. While the animal-rights activist group usually targets those celebs who don't meet its strict standards (think Jennifer Lopez), this time, PETA has found one who does, because the manufacturer of Duff's cosmetics line, Stuff by Hilary Duff, has just signed a statement of assurance promising it does not test products on animals. ... Maroon 5 recorded a concert earlier this summer and plan to release it this fall as a live CD/DVD. Live at the Santa Barbara Bowl, due September 20, contains 14 tracks, including the never-before-released "Wasted Years" and a cover of Oasis' "Hello," as well as Maroon's hits "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved." Meanwhile, frontman Adam Levine has added his vocals to the Ying Yang Twins' "Live Again" for their chopped-and-screwed version of U.S.A. (United State of Atlanta), and Kanye West's "Heard 'Em Say," which will appear on his upcoming Late Registration. Levine also plays guitar on Alicia Keys' cover of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," to be featured on her "MTV Unplugged" set. After opening for a few Stones shows this summer, Maroon 5 plan to begin work on their next album. ...

  Photos of Jessica Simpson in September's Seventeen

Imagine you're in space, floating weightless thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere, sleeping soundly when all of a sudden, a Spanish-speaking Bono comes piping into your eardrums. That's just what happened to the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery last week, when "Vertigo" was used as a wake-up call — at the behest of astronaut Jim Kelly. It marks the first time U2 were ever played in outer space, the band's Web site claims. ... Stevie Wonder will be honored with a lifetime achievement award by the United Negro College Fund at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on September 9 and 10. The four-hour tribute will be broadcast as part of the organization's annual televised fund-raiser, "An Evening of Stars," January 5-7 on a network to be announced. Fantasia, India.Arie, Vivica Fox, Toni Braxton and others are scheduled to appear. ...

The first single from the upcoming album by Icelandic hush rockers Sigur Rós will be "Sæglópur," available as a download on August 16. The band's fourth album, Takk, will hit stores on September 13; the group will launch a month of U.S. dates on September 12 at the Beacon Theatre in New York. ... Fellow Chicago rockers OK Go and the Redwalls are hooking up for a late summer tour that will launch on August 23 in Houston and take them through a September 10 date in Tempe, Arizona. The bands, who played the recent Lollapalooza in their hometown, first shared a stage more than five years ago as unsigned acts. ...

Taproot need some help with their video for "Facepeeler," a track from the band's newest, Blue-Sky Research, which lands in stores August 16. The aggro-rockers have set up a contest, which ends on September 15, in which they ask their faithful to create "a unique video" for the song. More information on the specifics of the contest is available at taprootvideocontest.com, but the big winner will be given Taproot's entire catalogue, along with an autographed guitar and several video and audio production software programs. ... It's a safe bet you've already planned on preordering Stryper's first studio album in over a decade, Reborn. But in the off-chance you haven't, here's an added incentive: When the disc ships on August 10, it'll come complete with an autographed pocket Bible, emblazoned with the band's logo — the same Bibles the '80s Christian hair metal act throws out at concerts. ...

Simple Minds (to whom Yellowcard paid homage by performing "Don't You (Forget About Me)" at the MTV Movie Awards) have a new album on the way, called Black & White 050505 (for when recording ended on May 5, 2005). Tracks include first single "Home," "Dolphins," "Different World" and the title track "Black & White," a somber electro ballad about Holocaust deniers. "We wanted to make an album once again that was full of dramatic and atmospheric pop music," singer Jim Kerr said. "We felt we needed an album that proved as much to ourselves as anyone else that the big beating heart of Simple Minds was very much alive and driving us on once again." The album's due September 13. ...

08.01.2005

50 Cent's re-release of The Massacre, due September 6, will not only include a video for every song on the album (21 total), but will also come with a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep, the newest signees to G-Unit Records. "I'm the king of originality," 50 said. "No artist has ever done this before. The videos allow consumers to see exactly what I was thinking about when I made the music." 50's also wrapped production on his film debut, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," which will hit theaters in November. Meanwhile, 50's video game "Bulletproof" will be in stores November 15. ...

Bow Wow might be Ciara's main man, but she's got a new love in her next video, "And I," which she shot with the Fat Cats on Saturday. Actually, make that two new loves. In the clip, Ciara has one boyfriend (played by the Denver Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony), but he's cheating on the singer, so she ditches him for her bodyguard. ... Ashlee Simpson is "so excited" about her new album, which she's calling In Another Life. "It's all so near, and I have a bunch of songs I really love," she said of the LP, due in October. One of those songs, first single "L.O.V.E.," she said is "just about me and my girlfriends going out, not needing a man in our lives." While she hasn't planned a video for that song just yet, she is about to shoot her album cover. ...

For the second time in a week, Black Sabbath were forced to drop off of the Ozzfest lineup, leaving the headlining duties to Iron Maiden. When fans arrived for the Noblesville, Indiana, Ozzfest stop on Sunday, they were told that Sabbath would not be performing that evening, but that Maiden would be playing an extended set. The venue's Web site blames an illness within the band for the Sabbath no-show. ... The Dave Matthews Band ran a two-day book drive this past weekend on New York's Randalls Island, and ended up gathering more than 50,000 books during the event to benefit Big Apple public schools. More than a dozen schools will get 40,000 books, while another 10,000 books will be sent to the band's home state, where they will be distributed by the Virginia Literacy Foundation. ...

Touring is a tough gig for the Gorillaz, given they only exist in two dimensions. While they do hope to launch a massive animated world tour, this time around, they want to do something special, and get everyone who's on the album (as well as the last album) together for a few shows. That includes actor Dennis Hopper, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder, former Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, De La Soul and Pharcyde. "We've settled for a week somewhere," Damon Albarn told MTV Europe, "but we probably won't get Doom, as MF Doom can't leave the country, and Del the Funky Homosapien won't leave the country. I'm not going to say where, or when, but definitely later this year. Only one town, but not London, and that's the time we're gonna have everyone together on the one stage, for a week." "Logistically, it's quite a big one to arrange," animator Jamie Hewlett added. "But it's happening, it's definitely happening. Like a monster truck show, but with people." ...

The Pixies, Oasis, the Killers, Beck, Jet, Belle & Sebastian, Gang of Four and the New York Dolls are the first slew of artists confirmed for the inaugural Across the Pond concerts, which will be held simultaneously at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, New York, and Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, New York, on October 1 and 2. More musical heavyweights have been tapped to attend, according to the show's promoter, and additional artists will be announced later this week. ... Mission of Burma's recent reunion wasn't a one-off — the post-punk Bostonians (championed by such artists as R.E.M., Blur and Moby) plan to do a follow-up to 2004's OnOFFon, and will enter the studio in September. ...

Cold have lined up several live gigs, which will serve as a primer for the band's forthcoming disc, A Different Kind of Pain, which drops August 30. The first date is set for August 18 in Portland, Oregon, and the group will wrap things up on September 16 in Louisville, Kentucky. ... Drummer Ben Verellen has quit These Arms Are Snakes, according to the band's Web site; no explanation has been offered. The Seattle quintet wasted no time finding a replacement, as they've filled the vacancy with Chris Common, a former Hey Mercedes roadie. ...