Ever wonder how the U.S. military is getting Saddam Hussein supporters to cough up valuable information? No, they're not offering them cigarettes and lap dances, they're playing them heavy metal music and children's songs. According to a U.S. sergeant interviewed by Newsweek magazine, Iraqi prisoners have never before heard the crashing rhythms, churning guitars and growling vocals common in metal, and it affects them like Chinese water torture. Songs of choice include Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and Drowning Pool's "Bodies." Also effective is the chirpy, sing-song quality of kiddy tunes, specifically the theme to "Sesame Street" and the music of Barney. ...

Sheryl Crow was among the luminaries who paid homage to the late June Carter Cash at her funeral service this weekend. Crow sang gospel covers along with Emmylou Harris during the ceremony, which was attended by Hank Williams Jr., Trisha Yearwood, Kris Kristofferson and the prime minister of Jamaica. ... Lisa Marie Presley's first tour, a co-headlining trek with Chris Isaak, will begin July 11 at the Fleet Boston Pavilion. The 17-city treks ends August 12 at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. ...

"Platinum," the UPN drama about the hip-hop industry, has not been renewed for the fall season. Onyx rapper Sticky Fingaz starred in the show and MC Lyte was set to be a reoccurring character. ... Ricky Martin has launched People for the Children, a project that aims to fight child pornography and prostitution. The program is an offshoot of the Ricky Martin Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on child-related issues. People for the Children will be based in Miami, and for its first function, Martin will meet with Mexican president Vincente Fox and his wife. ...

Festival promoters in Michigan have canceled a scheduled performance by self-described "Motor City Madman" Ted Nugent in response to the guitarist, singer, shock jock and outspoken outdoorsman's use of racial slurs during a recent radio interview. Nugent reportedly used derogatory terms for Asians and blacks during an interview with two Denver DJs last week, prompting organizers of the Muskegon Summer Celebration to scramble to find a replacement. ... The upcoming "Led Zeppelin DVD" set will be screened at eight movie theaters across the country on May 27, the night it goes to retail. The double-disc set features five hours of footage assembled by guitarist Jimmy Page, who also put together the triple-disc album How the West Was Won, which will come out the same day. Page, vocalist Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones will attend the New York screening of the DVD. ...

To commemorate a decade of block rockin' beats, the Chemical Brothers will issue a double-album retrospective and DVD in September. The LP will feature two new songs, rare cuts and remixes, along with a greatest-hits selection that fans can help compile at www.thechemicalbrothers.com. ... Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry unveiled a new guitar on Saturday at the House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Gibson Joe Perry Signature model was conceived by Perry's wife Billie, who got together with designers at Gibson to create a surprise axe for her hubby. Last Christmas, she presented him with the instrument, and he liked it so much he decided to make it available to the public. ...

Ed Harcourt will launch a North American club tour June 2 in Los Angeles to promote From Every Sphere (May 20), the follow-up to his Mercury Music Prize-nominated 2002 debut, Here Be Monsters. Harcourt will also be joining R.E.M. on six dates in the fall. ... A hefty dose or rock action has been injected into the third annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival at New York's Coney Island on July 19. Performers added to the already indie-heavy lineup include Idlewild, the Datsuns, the Dirtbombs, Oneida and the Witnesses. Previously announced acts include Modest Mouse, Hot Hot Heat, Sahara Hotnights, dance rockers !!! and Radio 4, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the Kills, rappers Northern State and the Pattern. While the majority of the lineup is in place, a few stray acts are expected to be announced shortly. ...

INXS aren't as afraid of SARS as Moby, Mariah Carey or the Rolling Stones, and they don't think travelers should be, either. Though numerous acts have canceled gigs in Asia since the health scare began, three members of the long-running Australian outfit played an acoustic gig in Singapore on Sunday in hopes of showing the public that traveling there is still safe. The band has also scheduled an appearance in Bali next month -- despite heightened terrorism fears since a recent bombing killed more than 200 people -- and told the BBC that "[terrorism and SARS] are a tragedy for any country, but it has been a lot of media hype that has caused the panic." ...

5.16.03

Soul crooner Barry White suffered a stroke on May 1 that affected his speech and the right side of his body, Reuters reports. The 58-year-old White, whose deep, mood-setting voice is as dependable as roses and candy on Valentine's Day, suffered kidney failure last fall and is awaiting a transplant when his condition improves. ...

Jennifer Lopez is being sued for $5 million for breach of contract by film director Adam Shankman, with whom she worked on the film "The Wedding Planner." Shankman claims that he and Lopez talked about having her play the lead role in a new film version of the classic opera "Carmen," but that she then turned around and sold the idea to Universal Pictures without his knowledge. ...

Metallica have chosen some openers for their May shows at San Francisco's Fillmore. CKY, who opened the ill-fated Guns N' Roses tour, will play Sunday; Systematic, who were signed to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's record label, will play Monday; and Death Angel, a reunited San Francisco-area '80s thrash band, will play Thursday. No act has been announced for Wednesday's show. ...

The White Stripes have announced dates for the first leg of their upcoming summer tour. Jack and Meg White will kick off the trek June 16 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and wind things down July 23 at Central Park's Summer Stage in New York. ... Several, if not all, of the finished tracks from the new Radiohead album, Hail to the Thief, surfaced online Thursday. Earlier versions of the tunes, purported to be stolen, were downloadable weeks ago. The follow-up to 2001's Amnesiac is slated for a June 10 release. ...

Great White have created a trust fund to which fans can donate money in order to help the group with its legal fees. While the bandmembers were recently dropped from the suits filed by at least one attorney because their pockets aren't deep enough to warrant suing, two other lawyers are still naming the rockers as defendants. There is also the possibility Great White will face criminal charges from the February 20 fire in a West Warwick, Rhode Island, club that ignited after the band shot off pyrotechnics during its show. ... T.A.T.U.'s manager, Ivan Shapovalov, was arrested in Moscow's Red Square on Thursday for disturbing the peace while filming a video for one of the group's new, untitled songs. The crafty manager already had two requests to film the allegedly lesbian duo in front of the Kremlin rejected when he set up cameras and invited 200 girls to parade around and make out in front of Lenin's Tomb and the church of St. Basil, a mere 200 yards from the Kremlin. Filming was scrapped after police intervened. Shapovalov was reprimanded by a judge, but was not punished. ...

On the heels of their split with Island Def Jam earlier this month, Hanson are being courted by two record labels. The brothers are aiming to release their upcoming album, Unleashed, in September. ... Coldplay will broadcast a two-hour live concert from the Hollywood Bowl to over 150 radio stations nationwide on May 31 at 9 p.m. The band launches a North American tour on Tuesday in Edmonton, Alberta. Dates run through June 13 in New York. ... For the first time in more than four years, Blur will cross the pond for a North American trek beginning June 8 at the Field Day festival in Calverton, New York. The 10 confirmed dates, through June 21 in Vancouver, support the band's seventh album, Think Tank, which dropped last week. More dates are expected to be added to the itinerary. ...

Apparently feeling left out from sum of the summer fun, Sum 41 have decided to hop onboard the Vans Warped Tour for eight dates. The group will play on June 29 in Chicago, then July 8 in Pomona, California, through July 15 in Peoria, Arizona. ... Ivories abound when pianists Tori Amos and Ben Folds hit the road together beginning July 26 in Redmond, Washington. The 25-date run, supporting headliner Amos' latest LP, Scarlet's Walk, concludes September 3 in Orlando, Florida. ...

Raekwon is set to star in "The Coalition," a film that tells the story of a lucrative New York construction business and how it is exploited by minority nonunion labor. The movie begins filming in June. ... Wilco, R.E.M., Common, Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray and Rhett Miller are among the artists headlining the 33rd annual Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. Tickets to the event, taking place over Labor Day weekend at the Seattle Center, can be purchased at www.bumbershoot.com. ...

Ween will release their first studio album in three years, Quebec, on July 22. Fictitious brothers Dean and Gene Ween's follow-up to White Pepper is their first album for Sanctuary Records after residing for over a decade at Elektra. ... Ozzy Osbourne's son Louis Osbourne, a deep house/techno DJ, will embark on a U.S. club tour beginning June 12 at New York's Discotheque and wrapping up July 19 at Hollywood's Spundae. Kelly and Jack's half brother also recently signed on for a DJ mix compilation to be released by Blue Chip Records next year. ...

05.15.03

While Mark Romanek is handling Linkin Park's next video, the band's own Joseph Hahn will return to the director's chair for the group's third single from Meteora. That video and a clip for the next European single will be shot in Prague, Czech Republic next week, Hahn said Tuesday, although he wouldn't reveal what songs they will be for. "You need to focus on 'Faint,' " he joked. "I shouldn't be talking so far ahead." ...

Russian police barred T.A.T.U. from filming their new video in Moscow's Red Square on Thursday (May 15). Several hundred fans, many decked out in schoolgirl uniforms, showed up to be extras in what was supposed to be the duo's video for the Eurovision song contest. Russia chose the kissing crooners to represent the country at the contest, happening later this month in Riga, Latvia. ... Mandy Moore is giving fans a sneak preview of her upcoming covers album, Coverage. Four of the album's 12 tracks are available for listening on her official Web site, www.mandymoore.com. The songs are covers of John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me," XTC's "Senses Working Overtime," Todd Rundgren's "Can We Still Be Friends" and Joan Armatrading's "Drop the Pilot." Moore is also about to film Warner Bros.' "First Daughter," with co-stars Mark Harmon, Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra. ...

Chevelle have scheduled 14 shows during down days on this year's Ozzfest. Four of the shows will be with Korn, six will be with Disturbed and the rest will be headline gigs. The first date is June 30 in Lubbock, Texas, and the last announced show is August 31 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. ... "Revealing Jewel: An Intimate Portrait by Family and Friends," a book about the personal details of the star's life, is being released in June with her approval. The tome, by author Kenneth Calhoun, features interviews with Moby, Billy Bob Thornton, producer Arif Mardin, Jewel's father, Atz Kilcher, and her mother and manager, Lenedra J. Carroll, among others. ...

All proceeds from Santana's summer tour will be donated to Artists for a New South Africa, an organization dedicated to fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa. The trek starts June 11 in Atlanta and continues through July 14 in Los Angeles. Angelique Kidjo will open every show. ... Henry Rollins is planning to perform material included on the compilation LP he put together last year, Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, on a world tour kicking off June 1. Joining the Rollins Band on the U.S. dates of the outing will be Keith Morris, leader of the Circle Jerks and original singer for Black Flag. All proceeds from the shows will go to the West Memphis Three Defense Fund, created to help overturn the convictions of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, whom many feel were not given a fair trial in the 1993 murders of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. ...