R. Kelly's reconfigured upcoming album Chocolate Factory -- once called Loveland -- now has a release date as well as new tracks not previously bootlegged. It's due out January 14. ...

Unset your TiVos, Vines fans. Despite having been confirmed to perform on Monday night's (December 9) episode of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," the band was yanked from the program's lineup after trashing the set during an afternoon soundcheck. While rehearsing "Outtathaway!," singer Craig Nicholls led the charge in smashing the plexiglass guard surrounding the drums and causing general destruction. The talk show will go ahead as planned without a music guest. ...

Upon her return from a European tour in late March, Avril Lavigne will embark on a headlining tour of North America. The trek is only supposed to last a month, from April 15 to May 17, and an itinerary has yet to be hammered out. ...

Enrique Iglesias debuted the video for "Quizás," the second single from his album of the same name, on Telemundo last week. The song, which means "Maybe" in English, addresses the singer's turbulent relationship with his father, singer Julio Iglesias, and begins with a line, which translated, means "Hello old man, tell me how've you been/ There are so many things I want to explain." ...

In a stroke of irony, Radiohead will -- for once -- help combat, rather than induce, depression with their music. The band is donating a live video performance of "Idioteque" to the Samaritans Foundation, a counseling service and charity with which drummer Phil Selway has volunteered for years. The video and other tracks can be seen on the Samaritans Web site, changeourminds.com. ...

Hardcore veteran Henry Rollins will set out on a 50-date spoken-word tour, beginning January 7 in San Juan Capistrano, California. Rollins, whose latest projects include the West Memphis 3 benefit album Rise Above and the upcoming flick "Bad Boys 2," is hitting the road to support "I Am Sparticus," a DVD/CD package chronicling highlights from the former Black Flag frontman's 20 years of stand-up/spoken word. ...

Sweden's Division of Laura Lee are embarking on a U.S. tour this winter, with Burning Brides in tow. The 23-date outing starts January 15 in Brooklyn, New York, and wraps February 6 in San Diego, California. ... Glassjaw vocalist Daryl Palumbo has been released from a London hospital where he was treated for recurring symptoms of Crohn's Disease on the eve of a now-jettisoned European tour, itself a make-up jaunt scheduled after a similar flare-up caused prior cancellations. Palumbo is expected to fly back to the States Monday evening. ...

12.06.2002

Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network have teamed with congressman and House Judiciary Committee member John Conyers to call for a fair court hearing on the Slick Rick deportation case. "We want the federal government to bring justice to this case by releasing Slick Rick," Simmons said in a statement. ...

On Thursday, Ludacris made a surprise appearance at Motorola's annual holiday party to benefit Toys for Tots in West Hollywood to join Missy Elliott on her next single, "Gossip Folks." Christina Aguilera, Pharrell Williams, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Christina Ricci, Johnny Knoxville and Anna Nicole Smith were among the celebrities who watched Elliott's short set, which included a breakdancing showcase during "Work It." ... Nelly has the distinct honor of being the first rapper to appear in the Got Milk? campaign. In his ad, Nelly has the slogan tattooed on his chest and, of course, a milk moustache. ...

Nick Carter performed Wednesday for a Wisconsin High School that won a contest sponsored by Milwaukee radio station WXSS by donating more than 10 tons of food for the needy. The Backstreet Boy performed a 40-minute, eight-song set before more than 1,000 students and staff of Wilmont High School. ... Rock memorabilia ranging from a signed harmonica played by Alanis Morissette to lyrics to "Souljacker Pt. II" handwritten by Eels singer E on toilet paper are included in an eBay.com auction benefiting People for the American Way. The auction, which also features items from Pearl Jam, Madonna and Paul Oakenfold, begins Sunday and ends a week later. ... After scoring the winning bid in an eBay auction, Chicago area entrepreneur Kevin Krak will bring Local H to his favorite neighborhood pub, Duke O'Brien's, in Crystal Lake, Illinois, on December 14. Krak paid $9,701 in the first auction of a live performance on eBay. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers won't tour the U.S. until spring, but the band will tease American audiences with a special half-hour-long outdoor concert in Park City, Utah, on December 20. The show, which caps off a celebration for the Chevy Truck U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, will be aired on December 21 at 9 p.m. on NBC. ... The movie "Brown Sugar" and its soundtrack spawned 10 nominations for this year's NAACP Image Awards, leading the pack of nominees. Other nominees up for multiple awards at the show, taking place March 7 in Los Angeles, include Nelly, India.Arie, Ashanti and Erykah Badu. ...

After receiving some flak from singer/songwriter Robbie Fulks for not having a sense of humor when a heckler called him "Bryan Adams," Ryan Adams has redirected his rage toward fellow troubadour Jack White of the White Stripes. White had previously criticized Adams on a White Stripes fan site for changing some lyrics to a Stripes song Adams performed live, and Adams responded none too kindly to the U.K.'s New Music Express about it. In a subsequent interview, Adams inquired as to whether White had responded and fired off a barrage of insults, calling him a "little girl" and "f---ing ponce." Adams also claimed in the NMEthat he was first offered White's bit part in the Civil War flick "Cold Mountain" but turned it down because the last time he looked he "didn't see acting anywhere on my job application to be a rock f---ing star" and he would "rather get a gun and blow my eyeball out" than say "three lines in a two-and-a-half hour film." ...

Pianomen Elton John and Billy Joel will reunite for another Face to Face Tour in February. The pair, which previously played together on the original Face to Face Tour in 1994, and again in 1995, 1996 and 1998, has lined up five dates thus far, beginning February 21 in Birmingham, Alabama, and continuing through March 9 in Buffalo, New York. ... Irish alt-metal band Therapy? are currently in the studio writing their seventh record, which they plan to release early next year. The disc will be the first to feature new drummer Neil Cooper, who replaced Graham Hopkins late last year. ...

On Tuesday, GZA and members of the Wu-Tang Clan will celebrate the release of GZA's new album, The Legend of the Liquid Sword, with a performance at New York's B.B. King's Blues Club. DJ Tony Touch will be commanding the one and twos. ... Grammy-winning DJ duo Deep Dish will record the 25th edition of seminal mix-album series Global Underground at the Guvernment in Toronto on Saturday. Deep Dish were also behind Global Underground 021: Moscow. ... Turntablist Kid Koala will publish his first novel, called "Nufonia Must Fall," in February. "It's about this robot who's trying to write love songs to get the attention of this girl, but he's a robot so he can't sing," Koala said of the book, which will come with a 10-song soundtrack of original music from the DJ. ...