Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello is gearing up to protest at the Irvine, California, headquarters of Taco Bell by performing there on March 5 with his side project, the Nightwatchman. Morello and others will be protesting the restaurant chain's perceived exploitation of farm workers. At the event, Morello will take the stage with the Coup rapper Boots Riley, who will also perform solo ... Meanwhile, Morello's grassroots political organization, Axis of Justice, has scheduled a benefit concert that will take place March 31 in Los Angeles and feature acoustic performances by the Nightwatchman, Riley, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, ex-MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer and other special guests. ...

Beyoncé Knowles' little sister Solange has beat her to the altar. The 17-year-old singer/actress married college football player Daniel Smith in the Bahamas last weekend in a ceremony attended by her sister, parents and Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland. "I am excited about this new phase in my life," Solange said in a statement Monday (March 1). "I am very happy and feel truly blessed to have the unconditional love and support of my parents and my entire family." ... If you've got dreams of Diddy, a fancy for 50 or want to be like Wyclef, Diddymite might have your ticket. A hip-hop music and talent school founded by Ms. Dynamite, Diddymite is scheduled to open in England in June, with classes to be held on weekends and holidays for students age 7-19. Despite the name, P. Diddy and Bad Boy have no affiliation with the school. ... Big Tigger, host of BET's "Rap City," will serve as main-event MC in the upcoming boxing video game "Fight Night," due in the spring. Tigger is also a playable character that can be unlocked by virtual pugilists. ...

Former Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson and Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav will be among the artists to play this year's Jammy Awards on March 16 at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. Other artists scheduled to perform include Slick Rick, Dr. John, Dickey Betts, Gov't Mule, Soulive, the Disco Biscuits and the String Cheese Incident. Awards will be handed out between artist jams. Voting is open to the public at jammys.com, jambands.com and relix.com. ... Jet will join the Who, David Bowie and others at this year's Isle of Wight festival, which will take place June 11 to 13 at Seaclose Park in Newport, England. Other acts on the bill include British Sea Power, Snow Patrol, Groove Armada, the Electric Soft Parade, the Manic Street Preachers and the Charlatans UK. ...

Randy Rhoads, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, is being inducted posthumously into Hollywood's Rockwalk, the sidewalk gallery on Sunset Boulevard. His induction takes place March 18 at 1 p.m. and is open to the public. ... Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil, who lost his daughter Skylar in 1995 to stomach cancer, is holding his annual charity golf tournament in her name on May 6 in Malibu, California. Proceeds benefit the Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation, which donates funds to organizations that help children suffering with cancer, AIDS, Down Syndrome and leukemia. ...

Morrissey's first studio album in seven years, You Are the Quarry, is set to drop May 18. The former Smiths frontman worked with producer Jerry Finn (Blink-182, AFI) on the project. ... Gary Jules, who recently scored the #1 single in Britain with a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," has set a March 23 release date for his latest album, Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets. The Los Angeles singer/songwriter will promote the record with an eight-city tour including a March 19 show at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. …

02.27.2004

Michael Jackson has had another run-in with the law -- this time for wearing a ski mask and worrying store officials. The pop star entered a Wal-Mart in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Tuesday morning with his head covered, accompanied by another man with a hat pulled down over his eyes, and when he was asked to remove the mask by managers, he refused. Police were called, but the two men had left the store by the time officers arrived. Police later pulled over their black SUV, at which point Jackson removed the mask. Officers described it as a routine call. ...

Pharrell Williams has decided to give acting a try -- and no, we're not just talking about his direct-to-DVD flick, "Dude, We're Going to Rio," which hits stores Tuesday. He's signed on to work on a short indie film titled "The Ecology of Love," which should hit the film-festival circuit this summer. ...

Like he did with his last album, David Banner will release a "Chopped & Screwed" version of his most recent full-length, MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water. It'll be out in stores on March 23. Universal Records has had such a good response to these slowed-down remix albums that it plans to issue "Chopped & Screwed" versions of all its major Southern hip-hop releases, including LPs from the Big Tymers and Lil' Wayne. ... Thanks to a back catalog that sold like hotcakes last year, not to mention the 1.5 million copies of St. Anger picked up by fans, Metallica are hanging with the big boys (and girls) at #5 on Rolling Stone's list of the top moneymaking musicians of 2003. Metallica's $39.1 million puts them behind leaders the Rolling Stones ($84.1 million), Bruce Springsteen ($81.7 million), Eagles ($62.9 million) and the Dixie Chicks ($39.8 million). Further down the list are Robbie Williams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and Dave Matthews. ...

Continuing to support their third album, Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne have lined up a spring tour of the U.S. Following the conclusion of a two-week European jaunt on March 10 in Madrid, Spain, the power-pop quartet will launch a brief string of dates beginning April 22 at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. ... Wu-Tang Clan headmaster RZA will release a live performance DVD, "The RZA Live in Germany," on April 13. That's the same day the second installment of "Kill Bill," which RZA scored for director Quentin Tarantino, hits theaters. ...

Jadakiss was previously scheduled to appear as himself in a February 16 episode of "Eve," in which Eve's character, Shelly, enlists his help to get her friends into a club; the episode will now air March 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET on UPN. ... Dax Shepard from MTV's "Punk'd" is trying his hand at acting. Shepard appears on Friday's (February 27) episode of "Life With Bonnie" as a young commercial director who is looking for something other than the title character's wholesome image to sell soup, the product she's set to endorse. The episode airs 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC. ...

Classic rocker Eric Clapton will present the three-day celebration Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas' Fair Park from June 4-6. The charity event will begin with guitar seminars and showcases, and will end with an all-star jam at Cotton Bowl Stadium, which will feature Clapton, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, B.B. King, Brian May, Steve Vai and many others. Proceeds will to go the Crossroads Centre, an addiction treatment center founded by Clapton in 1997. ... The artists of indie-rap label Def Jux will embark on a six-week tour starting March 21 in the label's hometown of New York. Aesop Rock, RJD2, Mr. Lif and a half dozen others will tour the country in support of Definitive Jux Presents III, a compilation album of music from the label due out March 23. The road trip wraps up May 1 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ...

Jewel has extended her tour through June, when she will play a series of dates on the West Coast. The tour launches on March 11 in Bozeman, Montana, and now runs through June 21 in Bend, Oregon. Jewel continues to tour for her 2003 album, 0304, which hit shelves last June. On March 23, she will release the live DVD "Live at Humphrey's by the Bay," which was recorded during her 2001 tour. ...