Beyoncé took a break over the weekend to attend a star-studded baby shower in Houston for her little sister Solange (who got married in February to football player Daniel Smith). More than 300 family members and friends attended Sunday's shower, including Jay-Z, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, former Houston Rockets basketball player Cuttino Mobley and University of Texas quarterback Vincent Young. ...

Usher, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Hoobastank, Avril Lavigne and Mary J. Blige are among the performers scheduled for the Fashion Rocks concert September 8 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Fans can win tickets to the celebration of music and fashion at chevyfashionrocks.com. ... Although it's not the official single, Korn's cover of "Word Up," originally made famous by Cameo in 1986, has been getting some radio airplay. Versions of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" and Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" were favored to be the covers featured on Korn's upcoming greatest-hits album, but now it looks as if "Word Up" has usurped the PE classic. "Fight the Power," as well as a rendition of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole," which features Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, are now being saved for future use. ...

Michelle Branch and Kimberley Locke, along with several popular South Asian artists, are set to perform at the One Night for India concert on August 21. The charitable event, to be held at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, will directly benefit the fight against HIV/AIDS in India. ... Paris Hilton is shooting a guest spot this week in the upcoming UPN show "Veronica Mars," a teen detective drama debuting this fall. The hotel heiress will play Caitlin Ford, one of the elite students at Neptune High -- who is also a suspect in an identify-theft case, as far as the title character is concerned. Hilton's episode -- the second one in the series -- will air September 28 at 9 p.m. ET on UPN. ...

Ozzfest second-stage buddies Atreyu and Bleeding Through plan to continue their road relationship when the multi-band metalfest comes to a close. The bands, joined by Scars of Tomorrow and Silverstein, are lining up a monthlong fall tour to begin in October. An complete itinerary is forthcoming. ... Bono sang at the private funeral for Susan Buffett, wife of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday. Susan was active in philanthropy, including AIDS awareness and prevention, a cause for which Bono has fought over the years. ... Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper Krayzie Bone will release his third solo album, Gemini: Good Vs. Evil, on September 28. Lil Jon produced the first single, "Getchu Twisted," which features Krayzie's Bone Thugs mates on the remix. ...

Henry Rollins is about to embark on a trip to Honduras for a USO-sponsored show to boost morale for troops stationed at Soto Cano Air Base. This will be Rollins' third tour with the USO, having previously entertained troops in the Middle East. ... Famously abrasive and influential San Francisco punkers Crime, who used to perform in full S.F. Police uniforms, only released three singles before breaking up in 1981, and the majority of their recordings were lost for over a decade. Now everything's been collected and remastered on the new compilation San Francisco's STILL Burning, which also includes two unreleased outtakes from their very first studio session. ...

Like Nelly, Matthew Sweet also plans to release two albums this fall -- Living Things and Kimi Ga Suki Raifu. The second LP was actually released last year in Japan only but will now hit the U.S. on October 19, while Living Things will be released worldwide on September 7. ... Four of Rush's albums recorded in the late '80s and '90s, Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts and Test for Echo, have been remastered and will be released on August 24. ...

08.03.2004

If it weren't for his band headlining the Vans Warped Tour, New Found Glory's Jordan Pundik would have been married by summer's end. The singer had planned to get married on Labor Day weekend, according to a band spokesperson, but the nuptials are now set for September 5, 2005. Pundik got engaged to his longtime girlfriend earlier this year. ...

Missy Elliott has finished mapping out "The Road to Stardom" for 13 contestants in her new reality show. Madonna, Busta Rhymes and Jermaine Dupri all make appearances on the show, while music producer Dallas Austin will join co-executive producer Elliott to judge the aspiring hip-hop stars. Combining elements of "American Idol" and "Survivor," contestants must endure mental and physical challenges to prove their talent. ...

With two studio albums under their fashionably hip belts, the Strokes are now planning their first live album, to be released before the end of the year. Taped in December, the London concert featured on the live album included hits from their latest LP, Room on Fire, and their debut, Is This It. A new studio album isn't expected until next year. ... Courtney Love's Japanese manga comic, "Princess Ai," is the #1 graphic novel in the country, according to Nielsen BookScan sales reports. The first volume of "Princess Ai," called "Destitution," in which a Love-like character finds herself lost in Tokyo and must piece together clues about who she is and why she's on Earth, topped the Adult Fiction Overall Trade Paper Graphic Novels list for the week ending July 25. Volume two, "Lumination," will be released in February 2005. ...

Lenny Kravitz is hitting the road for a 19-city fall tour to promote his latest album, Baptism. The outing will begin and end at casinos in two gambling capitals; the first show takes place September 11 at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the last on October 16 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. ... Michael Jackson's lawyers are suggesting in court documents that prosecutor Tom Sneddon violated a gag order when he made remarks about the case to a conference of district attorneys in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 20. At the event, Sneddon told his fellow prosecutors, "We sent letters to some people saying we intended to call them as witnesses in order to keep them off TV." Jackson's lawyers are asking the court to decide if Sneddon's speech violated or misused the gag order. ...

After seven years and three studio albums (including this year's Heroes to Zeros), U.K.'s Beta Band has called it quits. A DVD collection of videos and films made by the band will surface in 2005. A farewell tour is planned for the fall, after which each member will pursue individual projects. ... Almost 10 years after her debut album, 1000 Fires, was released, Traci Lords is prepping a follow-up. There's no word yet on when the new album will be released, but the ex-porn star and actress plans to post songs on her Web site, TraciLords.com, in advance of the release. ...

With the release of Super D on August 17, piano rocker Ben Folds completes his online EP trilogy series. The final installment features three original songs as well as a pair of inspired covers: the Darkness' "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" and an early Ray Charles track, "Them That Got." The EPs are available online as downloadable tracks at attackedbyplastic.com, and a new full-length album is expected in early 2005. ... Singer/stripper Har Mar Superstar (alter-ego of Sean Tillman/ Sean Na Na) has called on some fellow indie heroes for his third album, The Handler, due September 14. Adding spiky sass are Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, rap group Northern State and longtime Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas. ...

Concertgoers hitting the Road Rage Tour stop Tuesday (August 3) in Cleveland are in for a surprise when Chimaira take the stage. Citing visa issues, drummer Richard Evensand has left the band and has been replaced by ex-Misery Index beatkeeper Kevin Talley. The band will continue to tour as scheduled, with trips to Japan and Australia planned for September. ... Staind's Aaron Lewis and ex-Candlebox singer Kevin Martin and his band the HiWatts are performing to combat drug abuse. The musicians are this year's special guests at the third annual Layne Staley Benefit Show, taking place August 27, a concert to raise money for heroin recovery. ...

Twenty-six years after the fact, the never-broadcast "Rock & Roll Circus," the legendary 1968 Rolling Stones concert extravaganza, is being readied for a DVD release. The taped-for-television show, which had previously been available on VHS, included performances by Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, the Who and the supergroup collaboration of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell. The DVD will also include previously unreleased performances and participant commentary. ... Jimmy Eat World's four-song Firestarter EP is now available for download through iTunes, and more songs are on the way, as the band has just finalized the details for its upcoming album, Futures, due October 19. The 12-song album will feature tracks called "Just Tonight," "Work," "Kill," "Pain," "Drugs or Me," "Polaris," "Night Drive" and "Jen." ...

Shelby Lynne is set to make her film debut in the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black. Lynne has been tapped to play Cash's mother and will shoot her scenes in Memphis. ... The largest and most complete greatest-hits album from the Boomtown Rats will hit stores on August 31. The 19 tracks on Best of the Boomtown Rats -- including their best-known track, "I Don't Like Mondays" -- were chosen via an Internet fan poll, digitally remastered from the original tapes and then personally approved by frontman Bob Geldof. ...