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For The Record: Quick News On Hilary Duff, Jay-Z And Just Blaze, Frank Black, Kid Rock, Raphael Saadiq & More

Hilary Duff to perform at inauguration, Jay-Z joins a birthday party for Just Blaze, 'Zissou' sneaker fans mobilize.

Hilary Duff will perform at President Bush's inauguration ceremony on January 20, according to a spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. JoJo is also on the bill. ...

On Friday, Jay-Z walked through the doors of his 40/40 club in New York like it was any other night with his friend Just Blaze when the beatmaker was greeted with a roar of "Surprise!" When invites to the "Star Wars"-themed birthday party went out early last week, guests were told to wear all black and that they were going to be given Darth Vader masks to put on at the club. ... An online petition has been created to get shoemaking giant Adidas to manufacture the "Zissou" sneaker worn by Bill Murray and crew in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." The kicks were custom-made just for the flick and, according to an Adidas spokesperson, there are no plans to manufacture the yellow-and-blue shoes at all. Another site, though, shows how you can make your own "Zissou" sneaker, based on the rare 1960 Adidas "ROM" shoe, from reissued "ROM Classics." ...

Pixies frontman Frank Black has become a father for the first time. On January 7, Black welcomed 7-pound, 9-ounce Jack Errol Thompson into the world. For a man who has switched his own name from Black Francis to Frank Black and was born with the handle Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, Black's choice of a name for little Jack was kind of a letdown. Perhaps "Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson V" seemed a bit too haughty. And "Black Jack Errol Thompson" does kind of sound like a pirate name. ... A former girlfriend of Kiss' Gene Simmons has sued the long-tongued rocker for slander, claiming he made her appear to be a "sex-addicted nymphomaniac" in a VH1 rockumentary, "When Kiss Ruled the World." According to The Associated Press, Georgeann Walsh Ward, 53, says that her picture appeared 11 times during the 2004 special in which Simmons claimed that he bedded more than 4,600 women. Walsh dated Simmons for three years pre-Kiss, when he was a college student and sixth-grade teacher, and she claims the show portrayed her as "wild" and "unchaste," with the implication that she was "a prostitute and/or solicited prostitutes." ...

Carmen Electra will host Spike TV's AutoRox, the first-ever nationally televised auto awards show. Kid Rock will perform at the 90-minute ceremony, which will be taped January 22 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and broadcast January 25 at 9 p.m. ET. ... Like his wife, Gwen Stefani, who made a brief appearance in "The Aviator," Gavin Rossdale is making his film debut. The singer plays a character named Balthazar in the upcoming Keanu Reeves film "Constantine." ...

Raphael Saadiq has announced plans to compile the best unused tracks from his recording sessions as a producer into an album for release this summer. Some of the artists he hopes to include on the compilation are TLC, Mos Def, Angie Stone, Ginuwine, Erykah Badu and Kelis. ... The title of the Geto Boys reunion album, due out January 25, has been changed from War & Peace to The Foundation. ... A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip has signed with Universal/ Motown. He is currently in the studio working on his new solo album. ...

In sad news for record-store clerks the world over, this weekend brought news of not one, but two indie-rock breakups. Management for Montreal's bizarro-pop trio the Unicorns confirmed that the group has called it quits after almost two years of constant touring in support of its album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? And Andy Falkous, frontman for ragged Welsh rockers Mclusky, has confirmed rumors that his band has split. In a statement, Falkous writes, "The three-piece rock band known as Mclusky have disbanded. The reason for this parting is private, though probably not as entertaining as you'd imagine." The band's final album, The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not on Fire, was released last year. ...

The first batch of dates on Papa Roach's February headlining tour has been announced. P-Roach have proclaimed that the goal of this trip is to play "smaller venues," hence the first date, February 17 at Seattle's Showbox Theatre. The other confirmed dates are February 21 in Portland, Oregon; February 22 in Eugene, Oregon; February 24 in Bakersfield, California; February 25 in San Luis Obispo, California; and February 26 in Reno, Nevada. The F-ups and Skindred will open the shows. ... The Music will kick off a monthlong club tour February 17 in New York, wrapping up March 17 in Dallas. The U.K. foursome are touring on the strength of their second album, Welcome to the North, released in mid-October. ...

01.07.2005

After seven years together, including four and a half years of marriage, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are separating. "For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media," Pitt and Aniston said in a joint statement published on People magazine's Web site Friday (January 7). "This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months." ... Smells like twin spirit -- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are launching two fragrances, Coast to Coast NY (which will have a citrus scent) and Coast to Coast LA (which will have a more floral, tropical scent). The perfumes will be sold in mass-market drug chains, department stores and Wal-Mart starting in March. ...

Nelly recently donated $50,000 to the Martin Luther King Memorial Project Foundation. According to The St. Louis American, the donation will help build a memorial on the mall in Washington, D.C., in honor of Dr. King. "I think anytime you can be in conjunction with a great man such as Dr. King, it's only right," Nelly told the paper. The memorial will cost almost $100 million to build and maintain, and organizers say they have already raised $65 million. The foundation has until 2006 to collect the additional money. ...

On March 5, Usher will stage a 90-minute live show filmed in HDTV called "One Night One Star Usher Live" from San Juan's Coliseo de Puerto Rico. The concert will air on Showtime, smack in the middle of the channel's free-preview weekend, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. ... This year's Grammy nominees will not only find themselves sweating it out together at the actual ceremony, but they'll also be grouped on a CD compilation. The 21-track Grammy Nominees 2005, due in stores February 1, includes songs by Usher, U2, Alicia Keys, Beastie Boys, Prince, Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and Evanescence, and will benefit music-related charities such as the recording academy's MusiCares Foundation and the Grammy Foundation. ...

Cuban Link's upcoming Chain Reaction, due March 8, will feature appearances from Jadakiss, the Game and Peedi Crakk. Mya sings on the former Terror Squad rapper's first single, "Sugardaddy." ... Dirtbag Clothing has announced it will move forward with plans to launch Dimebag Hardware, the clothing line inspired by the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. The Dimebag Hardware line will consist of T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, shorts and work shirts with "a metal edge," according to a statement released Friday by the company. The line will debut at the NAMM music convention in Anaheim, California, on January 20, and will be available online at dimebaghardware.com and dirtbagclothing.com, as well as at guitar shops and boutiques across the U.S. and Europe. ...

Norah Jones will headline the Air J Jazz and Blues Festival, scheduled for January 27-29 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Other artists on the bill include Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack and Jimmy Cliff. ... Danny Sugerman, former manager of the Doors and co-author of "No One Here Gets Out Alive," the definitive bio of the Jim Morrison-led band, died in Los Angeles on Thursday from lung cancer. Sugarman, 50, started as an assistant to the band when he was 14 and went on to become their manager following Morrison's 1971 death. He also acted as a consultant on Oliver Stone's 1991 movie "The Doors." ...

Five months after "Peace Train" singer Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) was detained and deported by U.S. authorities, who said he was on a no-fly list, the singer is still barred from entering the country. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge said Thursday that the singer remains on the list because "the reasons we rejected him several months ago still exist in my mind." Peace activist Islam was barred from the U.S. at the time because of what the government said were his alleged ties to terrorist organizations, a claim the singer has denied. ... Paul McCartney, Sting and the surviving members of Queen are among the artists collaborating on 46664: 1 Year On, an EP to raise money for Nelson Mandela's 46664 organization, which combats the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa (46664 was Mandela's prisoner number when he was incarcerated on South Africa's Robben Island). The EP, which is available for download from the iTunes music store, features collaborations from McCartney and Eurythmics' David A. Stewart, Sting and Jimmy Cliff, and Queen and Mandela himself. ...

Swedish psychedelic garage rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives will follow up their 2002 album, Behind the Music, with Origin Vol. 1, due March 15. The group will kick off a brief club tour January 15 in Boston that ends January 26 in Los Angeles, and will appear at Austin, Texas' South by Southwest Music Conference in March. ... The Slamdance Film Festival, the annual, unofficial fest that coincides with the Sundance Film Festival, will feature performances from former Soul Coughing singer Mike Doughty, producer/rapper Prince Paul and Parliament/ Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell. Also playing at the fest in Park City, Utah -- taking place January 21-28 -- will be Apex Theory, guitarist Elliott Sharp and Spearhead frontman Michael Franti, whose documentary about his search for humanity in war zones in Iraq and Israel, "I Know I Am Not Alone," will close the event. ...

Thomas Slattery digs iTunes, he just doesn't like the fact that the only device the site works with is Apple's own iPod. So he sued the company in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, on Monday, alleging that the company broke antitrust laws by shutting out its competitors. An Apple spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment. ...

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