Ozzy Osbourne and his reality-TV-star family have signed a $3 million publishing deal with Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the world rights to two tomes. The first, a paperback tie-in to "The Osbournes," will be published in November, followed by a hardcover family memoir due in the spring (MTV's parent company, Viacom, also owns Simon & Schuster). ... Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich hopped onstage with Sammy Hagar and Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony on Tuesday at San Francisco club the Fillmore. They bashed out four songs from Hagar's first band, Montrose: "Rock the Nation," "Space Station #5," "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter." ... R&B singer Keke Wyatt went before a judge Thursday (May 9) for an arraignment hearing in Shelbyville, Kentucky, where she's facing a second-degree assault charge for allegedly stabbing her husband on Christmas Day. A not guilty plea was entered, and if a settlement with the prosecution isn't reached by July 11, motions from both sides will be heard and a trial scheduled. ...

Biohazard and Xzibit will stand in for Linkin Park's DJ Joseph Hahn and Mike Shinoda when the X-ecutioners perform "It's Goin' Down" on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on May 16. Static-X and Xzibit performed the song with the turntablists at last month's ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards. ... Naughty By Nature brought close to 80 of their friends to their album release party at Jimmy's Uptown Café Wednesday night in Harlem. Fittingly, they performed "Uptown Anthem," as well as some of their other hits for the crowd, which included members of St. Lunatics and 3LW, who joined them onstage for "Feels Good (Don't Worry About a Thing)." ... Donell Jones also showcased tunes from his new album, Life Goes On, Wednesday night in New York City at Club Coda. On the guest list to check out D.J. sing his current single, "You Know That I Love You," and more were controversy-stirring radio personality Wendy Williams, newcomer rapper Lady May and fellow lover-man vocalist Keith Sweat. ...

O-Town's second album, O2, has been pushed back to a July 23 release, with a single to surface early next month. The guys are currently showing off their wares on their Sneak Preview Tour, which promises to give fans a taste of new tracks such as the Nelly-produced "Favorite Girl." ... While Jill Scott is taking the summer off from recording and touring, her spokesperson said she will stay close to music as a journalist. Scott just completed a cover story for Russell Simmons' Oneworld magazine on Common. ... Alien Ant Farm recently performed acoustic versions of "Movies" and "Attitude" for an episode of "Last Call With Carson Daly" that will air May 14. ... Built to Spill bassist Brett Nelson's side project, the Suffocation Keep, will release their debut album, John Hughes Was Never So Wrong, on May 28. A spokesperson for the group described the music as " '80s-influenced pop." ...

New songs from Lauryn Hill ("Selah"), Bob Dylan ("Waitin' For You") and Macy Gray (a cover of Billie Holiday's "I Want to Be Your Mother's Son-In-Law") will be featured on the soundtrack to "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," due May 28. The soundtrack is executive producer T-Bone Burnett's first since the Grammy-winning "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. ... In other Dylan news, the legendary rocker will return to North America in August after a summer tour of Europe to continue promoting last year's Love and Theft. Dylan's latest dates begin August 2 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and end September 1 in Aspen, Colorado. ... Out to prove they're no flavor of the week, American Hi-Fi are working on the tentatively titled Beautiful Disaster, the follow-up to their debut, with producer Nick Launay (Midnight Oil, Silverchair), which is expected to drop this fall. In the meantime, the group has the honor of opening the first six dates of Elvis Costello's tour, which kicks off May 18 in Portland. ...

05.08.02

Linkin Park will give new life to their Hybrid Theory, which has sold nearly 7 million copies to date, when their remix LP, Reanimation, drops July 30. Although it's not known which interpretations of the debut's 12 tracks will make the final cut, Staind's Aaron Lewis sings on a remixed "Crawling," while Orgy's Jay Gordon, Tricky and Marilyn Manson have tinkered with other songs. ... Ja Rule, Ashanti and Bow Wow will announce the nominees for the second annual BET Awards at a press conference Tuesday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Also present will be comedians Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, who will host the show for the second year in a row on May 25. ...

Rumors of a collaboration between Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown are false, the Notorious K.I.M. told New York radio station Power 105.1 (WWPR-FM) on Wednesday (May 8). ... Although his spokesperson offered few details, Trent Reznor is busy recording the next Nine Inch Nails album. ... There's a new member of Bon Jovi — the family, not the band. Jacob Hurley Bon Jovi, born May 7 in New Jersey, joins papa Jon and mama Dorothea's other children, Stephanie Rose, 9, and Jesse James, 7. ... Custom will drop a Bentley, a Camaro and other cars from a crane in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday on the set of the video for his second single, "Beat Me." Kevin Kerslake (Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M.) is directing the video, which will follow Custom's "Hey Mister" clip. ...

Madonna will put the recording of her next album on hold while she makes her London theater debut in "Up for Grabs" this summer, her spokesperson said. She will return to the studio in August. ... Celebrity makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin, whose long list of A-list clients includes Britney Spears, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Lil' Kim, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow, died Tuesday from complications of a metabolic disorder, according to the Associated Press. Aucoin, who was 40, had been treated for a pituitary brain tumor in the past year, and before his death also worked as a columnist for Allure, authored several best-selling style books and was a frequent guest on MTV's "House of Style" and other programming. ...

Singer/songwriter Stew, formerly of the Negro Problem, will warm up for a summer tour with a show May 16 at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, the same place he recorded his April release Naked Dutch Painter during a residency last summer. Stew was also plucked by David Bowie to perform at his Meltdown festival in June in the U.K. ... MC5 co-founder and punk icon Wayne Kramer will release Adult World, his first studio album since 1997's Citizen Wayne, July 16 on his own MuscleTone Records. Kramer will promote the album with a club tour that kicks off June 25 in Los Angeles and wraps up July 24 in San Diego.