Ashlee Simpson has joined the one-night-only, 10th-anniversary performance of "Chicago" slated for November 14 at the Ambassador Theater in New York. The performance will benefit victim-assistance organization Safe Horizon and will also feature former Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson and original castmembers. ...

Kevin Federline has rolled out the track list to his debut CD, Playing With Fire. The October 31 release will feature 14 tracks, including a hidden one: "Intro," "The World Is Mine," "America's Most Hated," "Snap," "Lose Control," "Dance With a Pimp" (featuring Ya Boy), "Privilege" (featuring Bosco), "Crazy" (featuring Britney Spears), "A League of My Own," "Playing With Fire," "Caught Up Intro," "Caught Up," "Kept on Talkin' " and "Middle Finger" (hidden). ...

Lady Sovereign, 30 Seconds to Mars, Ghostface, the Subways, Murs, Slug of Atmosphere and Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello have been announced as presenters at the mtvU Woodie Awards, to be taped October 25 at New York's Roseland Ballroom. Brandon Reilly of Nightmare of You will DJ the preshow. ... Busta Rhymes has signed former Blackstreet singer Chauncey Black to his Flipmode Squad label. The singer's solo debut will feature production from Dr. Dre and Teddy Riley and guests such as the Game, Young Buck and Rah Digga. ...

Bono testified again in court on Tuesday (October 17) against ex-stylist Lola Cashman, who U2 claim stole and tried to hock band memorabilia, The Associated Press reports. "We want out stuff back. We want her to stop selling it," the singer said in an Irish High Court. Cashman has said the band gave her the items as gifts. ... Bobby Brown has paid $11,000 in delinquent child-support payments, according to AP. A Massachusetts judge said two weeks ago that the singer would be arrested if he were to enter the state without settling up. ...

The saga of Madonna's adoption of 1-year-old David Banda from Malawi continued on Monday, as the child was flown from the African nation to London in the company of one of the singer's bodyguards and a personal assistant. According to Reuters, Banda made the trip despite 50 rights groups that filed court documents asking for an injunction to block the adoption. On Monday, Malawian authorities waived local rules against non-residents adopting children to grant Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie an interim adoption. "My husband and I began the adoption process many months prior to our trip to Malawi," Madonna said in a letter posted on CNN.com. "I did not wish to disclose my intentions to the world prior to the adoption happening, as this is a private family matter. ... Nevertheless, we have gone about the adoption procedure according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child. Reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate. The procedure includes an l8-month evaluation period, after which time we hope to make this adoption permanent." "It is expected that the family will be reunited within the next few days," Madonna's longtime representative Liz Rosenberg said in a statement. ...

James Blunt will play a benefit show for Doctors Without Borders on November 16 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Tickets for the show are $40 and go on sale Wednesday at noon PT via HOB.com. Blunt is also raising money for the organization by auctioning one-on-one meetings with fans at each stop on his tour. Blunt's trek hits Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday. ... Jermaine Dupri, Stevie Wonder and Gavin DeGraw will be honored at the November 1 Songs of Hope IV benefit for City of Hope, an organization that aids the fight against life-threatening diseases such as cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson will MC the event, which will be held at Esquire House 360 in Beverly Hills, California. Songs of Hope IV will have sheet music and original lyrics signed by artists including Mariah Carey, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon up for silent auction and features performances by Wonder and DeGraw. ...

Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud, AP reports. Federal prosecutors accuse the actor of fraudulent claims of $12 million in refunds on taxes already paid. The indictment, filed in Tampa, Florida, also alleges that the actor failed to file tax returns between 1999 and 2004. Snipes has not been arrested because authorities don't know where he is. He faces a maximum of 16 years in prison if convicted. ...

Leonardo DiCaprio is pitching in to develop a reality-TV series focusing on the environment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show, "E-topia," which is being shopped to networks, will document the monthslong effort to transform an American town into a "green" utopia of tomorrow. DiCaprio is a co-creator and executive producer of the project, which will feature an environmental "call to action" at the end of each episode. ...

On January 23, the Shins will return to record stores with their third full-length album, Wincing the Night Away. Produced by frontman James Mercer and former Beck collaborator Joe Chiccarelli, Wincing features 11 tracks, including "Sleeping Lessons," "Pam Berry," "A Comet Appears" and the first single, "Phantom Limb." ... Jet have been forced to postpone part of their current European tour so frontman Nic Cester can rest his pipes after developing acute laryngitis. The postponed dates were originally scheduled through October 25. The singer lost his voice two weeks ago during a performance in New York and has since developed nodules on his vocal cords as a result of returning to the stage earlier than his doctors had advised. ...

Brooklyn queen MC Lyte returned to her NYC stomping grounds Monday night to perform at the launch party for Black Girls Rule! Inc., a nonprofit mentoring service founded by DJ Beverly Bond. Lyte, who was honored at VH1's Hip-Hop Honors -- which airs Tuesday on VH1 -- and DJ Jazzy Joyce were recognized by the organization for their achievements as women in the music industry. DJ Premier presented the awards, and Dres of Black Sheep and writer/activist Kevin Powell were also in attendance. ... Several Ramones tracks have been retooled in kid-friendly form by some of punk's current leaders. Brats on the Beat: Ramones for Kids, which hits stores November 21, will boast a cover of "Blitzkrieg Bop" by Pennywise's Jim Lindberg, "Rock 'N' Roll High School" performed by Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba, the Donnas' Brett Anderson tackling "California Sun" and the Dwarves' Blag Dahlia doing "Rockaway Beach." ...

Runner James Murphy, the magnate of New York dance-rockers LCD Soundsystem, has teamed up with Nike for 45:33: Nike+ Original Run, an original composition only available through iTunes. The "album" contains a single eponymous track that runs 45 minutes and 33 seconds. The second project in the Nike+ Original Run series follows Drive, a soundtrack by Crystal Method. "In testing, I found that 'hard, fast, propulsive' music was NOT the best running music for me," Murphy said. "Sometimes the best way to keep running is to find the parts of the run that are actually rests -- that while you're still running, you're viewing some of the run as soothing and recuperative, rather than constantly feeling like you're running for your life." 45:33 is currently available on iTunes.

10.16.2006

Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gnarls Barkley are plotting an arena tour across the U.S. While dates have not been firmed up, the jaunt will take place from January through March. In other Gnarls news, the group is bulking up its St. Elsewhere debut as a CD-plus-DVD double-disc. The deluxe edition will have four videos, live tunes and a chunky 92-page booklet. ...

St. Lunatics rapper Ali was charged with third-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, property damage and driving on an expired license Saturday after he was pulled over in the Hazelwood area of St. Louis. Ali denied the charges to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, noting, "There is no way that I could kick him from the back seat." Ali said the officer used a taser on him 46 times and made several racial remarks. ...

How far would you go to promote an album? Would you fight the WWE champion? Kevin Federline would -- and did, taking on John Cena in an argument that got physical in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Conveniently, the fight -- which ended with Cena hitting Britney Spears' husband with a resounding slam -- was captured as part of WWE's "Monday Night Raw." Three 6 Mafia, "Jackass" stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius, and Nick and Aaron Carter saw the action in person, but K-Fed's fall will be broadcast for all to see Monday (October 16) at 9 p.m. on USA Network. Federline's Playing With Fire is due October 31. ...

The first two dates of Guns N' Roses' fall U.S. trek have been postponed. The Jacksonville, Florida, stop -- originally set for Friday -- has been bumped to October 31. And the October 22 gig in Nashville has been pushed back to January. A new date hasn't been announced for the latter show. ...

Just days after leaving Malawi without the 1-year-old boy she planned to adopt -- but with a promise that they would soon be united -- Madonna has hit another snag in her quest to make David Banda a part of her family. According to Reuters, human-rights groups in Malawi are expected to seek a court injunction Monday to stop the adoption proceedings. The groups claim that the Malawi government hasn't followed its own laws, which prohibit adoptions by non-residents and require anyone wanting to adopt in the country to live there for at least 18 months. Madonna had been granted a temporary waiver that allowed her and husband Guy Ritchie to take custody of the boy. ...

After more than a year of touring, loose songwriting and demoing, it looks like Radiohead are finally getting down to the business of recording their seventh studio album. Frontman Thom Yorke made the announcement -- along with some thoroughly harrowing notes about global warming and ExxonMobil -- on the band's blog, Dead Air Space. "We've started the record properly now," Yorke wrote. "Starting to get somewhere, I think. Finally." Initial sessions for the still-untitled album began in August with producer Mark "Spike" Stent (Madonna, No Doubt) behind the boards, but last month, Radiohead let it slip that longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich was instead helming the recording process. A spokesperson for the group confirmed that Godrich was in, but "[couldn't] confirm the fate of the Spike sessions as yet." There is no completion date for the new record, the band's first since 2003's Hail to the Thief. ...

According to Metallica's Web site, the band will re-release its "2 of One" VHS in DVD form on December 5. The site claims the reissue will include all Metallica's videos -- including a clip for "Mama Said" that never aired on North American television -- as well as the theatrical version of their "The Unforgiven" video and the "Some Kind of Monster" trailer. All the contents will be remixed in 5.1 surround sound. ... According to Rob Zombie's Web site, an upcoming live effort is nearly completed. "Rob is in the studio finishing up with producer Scott Humphrey, mixing the tracks right now," the post reads "The CD will include live versions of everything from 'The Lords of Salem' [off Zombie's 2006 LP Educated Horses] to 'Black Sunshine' [from White Zombie's 1992 release La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1]." A release date has not been set. 20th Century Masters: The Best of Rob Zombie - The Millennium Collection hit stores last week. ...

Enrique Iglesias has lined up five club dates on his For the Fans - Exclusive Club Tour. The run kicks off at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 30 and will hit venues in Atlantic City, New Jersey (December 1); Chicago (December 3); Houston (December 5); and Los Angeles' Wiltern LG (December 7). Select fans will get to meet Iglesias on the tour, which will also feature fan-only presales. For more information on special tour offers, check out EnriqueIglesias.com ... Following on the heels of the LA Weekly Detour -- a music gala held earlier this month to drive more Los Angelenos downtown -- the Secret Machines will play a similar concert to promote mass transit in the city. After playing Hollywood's Avalon on October 24, the band will pack up its gear and head downtown to Union Station for a Global Inheritance-sponsored show dubbed Public Displays of Affection. Only people who took the Metro to get to the show will be admitted. ...

As part of the rollout of Sirius Internet Radio -- which allows listeners to sign up for monthly subscriptions without buying a companion unit -- the company is making access to its programming, including Howard Stern, free for just two days: October 25 and October 26. ... Remember that song "Your Woman?" Well, the creators of the infectious 1997 track, White Town, are mapping a return following a long break with Don't Mention the War, a 12-track LP that should be in stores before year's end. Look for the effort to include "Somewhere Blue," "I Was Trotsky's Nun" and "Theme for a BBC Natural History Series Presented by Richard Dawkins." ... Country singer Freddy Fender died of lung cancer on Saturday in his Corpus Christi, Texas, home. He was 69. The Grammy-winning singer, who was one of the first Mexican-American artists to cross over to the mainstream pop charts, began his career in the 1950s performing rock covers in Spanish as El Be-Bop Kid, and gained notoriety in the mid-1970s with the country hits "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights." In 1990, he won a Grammy as a member of the Tex-Mex all-star group the Texas Tornados and in 2001 he took another Grammy for best Latin pop album for his solo effort, La Musica de Baldemar Huerta.