In Washington, D.C., recently to perform at the An American Celebration at Ford's Theatre event with Patti LaBelle and Michelle Williams, Jessica Simpson was given a tour of the White House and was introduced to Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "You've done a nice job decorating the White House," Simpson told her, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. ...

Jack White joined Bob Dylan onstage Wednesday at Detroit's State Theatre. The White Stripes frontman played guitar and sang backup vocals to Dylan's cover of "Ball and Biscuit," a track off the Stripes' latest album, Elephant. ... Staind, N.E.R.D., Disturbed and Hoobastank are on board for the fifth incarnation of the Rolling Rock Town Fair, taking place July 31 near the beer's birthplace of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Three smaller, "travel-size" versions of the show will precede the main event in Boston (June 12), Philadelphia (June 19) and Seattle (June 26). Sevendust, the Crystal Method, Finger Eleven, Three Days Grace and local bands round out the lineup. ...

Jennifer Lopez must have kept some contacts at FOX from her days as a Fly Girl on "In Living Color." Her Nuyorican Productions company has signed a deal with the network to develop comedies, dramas and specials for the small screen. ... Janet Jackson is scheduled to visit the "Late Show With David Letterman" on March 29, the eve of the release of her new album, Damita Jo, for her first network television interview since the Super Bowl incident on February 1. ...

Lisa Marie Presley has clarified remarks she made on an Australian television program, issuing a statement Wednesday saying her comments about her ex-husband Michael Jackson were taken out of context. Though she said on the program she saw things she "couldn't do anything about," she said in her statement that she was "in no way referring to seeing something inappropriate with children, as I have stated publicly before. I never have. In saying I saw things, I was specifically referring to things in that relationship with us that went on between us at the time as husband and wife." ... Meanwhile, attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference on Wednesday saying that Los Angeles County officials have turned down her request that Jackson's three children be removed from his custody, but that she's still bringing the matter to a juvenile court judge, according to an application she filed Wednesday. Allred said Jackson should lose custody of the children because of the child-molestation charges against him, and said she was acting because she believes his children are in danger of physical or sexual abuse. ...

'NSYNC's Lance Bass and actor Omar Epps are about to strut their stuff on the catwalk. The two will model for a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show at Macy's in New York on Thursday (March 18) at 6:30 p.m. ... It's been called the new-millennium "Breakin'," and on May 18 you can watch it at home. The DVD version of "You Got Served," which stars B2K and Marques Houston, boasts such special features as commentary on some of the dance sequences by Omarion and Houston's manager, Christopher Stokes, who also wrote and directed the film. ...

Billy Corgan will perform his first hometown solo acoustic show April 19 at the Metro, the Chicago venue where his band Smashing Pumpkins played their final gig. The show will be filmed and possibly included on an upcoming DVD centered on Corgan's recording sessions for his solo debut. ... Switchfoot's concert DVD "Live in San Diego" will be released on Tuesday. The show was filmed on November 7, 2003, at the club Soma. ...

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will launch a tour of North America on March 30 in Towson, Maryland. The trek wraps May 2 at the Coachella fest. The band has been off the road since early February, when it had to cancel the rest of its U.K. tour because guitarist Peter Hayes fell off the stage during a show in Brighton and broke his left thumb. He underwent surgery and has fully recovered. ... Last week a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against "Bachelor" Bob Guiney and Wind-Up Records. "The Bachelor" 's production company, And Syndicated, accused Guiney and the label of breaching his contract by promoting his album, 3 Sides, without their permission. Guiney is currently on the road supporting the LP through May 6 in Memphis, Tennessee. ...

Sammy Hagar is expanding his Cabo Wabo Cantina franchise to the U.S. He'll open one of the restaurants at Harveys Resort Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. To celebrate the joint, dubbed Taho Wabo, Hagar will perform at Harrah's across the street April 30 through May 2. ...

03.17.2004

Lisa Marie Presley has piqued the interest of prosecutors in the Michael Jackson molestation case with comments she made recently. In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s "Enough Rope" talk show, Jackson's ex-wife said that during their marriage, she saw "things going on that I couldn't do anything about. And don't ask me what sort of things, because I'm not going to answer." Though the media might not be able to get Presley to elaborate, authorities in Santa Barbara, California, are betting that they'll have a better chance, and are asking her to appear before a grand jury. ...

In the wake of drummer Travis Barker breaking his foot after slipping and falling in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday, Blink-182 will still play their North American tour, but they've postponed the Hawaiian dates. Instead of starting April 3 in Honolulu, the tour will launch April 22 in Monterrey, Mexico. Dates are scheduled through June 28 in Milwaukee. ... Linkin Park will release a coffee-table book of their Meteora tour before the end of the year. ...

Gov't Mule were the only multiple winners at Tuesday's fourth annual Jammy Awards in New York. The group took home trophies for Live Album of the Year for The Deepest End and Live Performance of the Year for the New Orleans show that yielded the album. Dave Matthews Band's "Central Park Concert" won DVD of the Year, Phish won Tour of the Year for their summer 2003 trek, and Steve Winwood, a day after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Performance highlights included a star-studded Gov't Mule jam featuring Black Crowes members Chris Robinson, Rich Robinson and Eddie Harsch, and the String Cheese Incident with Perry Farrell. ...

Though it was originally set to be called "Holly," the ABC Family movie adaptation of Britney and Lynne Spears' book "A Mother's Gift" is now going to be named after one of the singer's In the Zone songs, "Brave New Girl." Shot in Toronto in January and February, the telepic version of the book stars Lindsey Haun, the daughter of Air Supply guitarist Jimmy Haun, as the Britney-like character, Holly. The movie, which was executive produced by the pop princess, airs on ABC Family on April 25 at 8 p.m. ... Jessica Simpson has finally scheduled a date and a director for her upcoming video shoot for "Take My Breath Away." Chris Applebaum is slated to helm the clip, which will be shot on Monday. "Making the Video: Jessica Simpson" premieres on April 6. ...

Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson will appear in a series of PSAs urging kids to talk with their parents about getting tested for colon cancer, the second leading cause of death from cancer in the U.S. A longtime advocate for colorectal cancer awareness, Richardson lost his father to the disease in 1991. The spots will begin surfacing this month, which has been dubbed Colon Cancer Awareness Month. ... Ex-Queens of the Stone Age bassist Nick Oliveri began a solo acoustic tour on Tuesday in Boston. Dates run through April 3. Meanwhile, Queens' Josh Homme will play four shows with his side project the Eagles of Death Metal starting April 2 in Boston and ending in Philadelphia on April 6. ...

Ben Folds is about to embark on a nationwide college tour. The trek begins April 2 at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio; tickets are now on sale. Folds is currently putting the finishing touches on his next studio album, which is slated to hit stores this summer. ...