Does Britney Spears' new single -- which was just unveiled on Thursday -- already have you screaming, "Gimme More"? Well, then you're about to get even more good news: The singer's yet-untitled new album will drop November 13. Ne-Yo, who wrote many potential tracks for Spears, told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show Wednesday that "[Britney has] gotta remind people why they love her in the first place. She's gotta get their minds off her personal life and back on music." ...

Speaking of Spears' personal life, Kevin Federline shouldn't have to foot the whole bill for the legal expenses in his divorce with her because he has "no net income" after various expenses and his monthly spousal support of $20,000 will end in November, his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan said in a recent declaration. Spears, who makes $737,868 on average every month, is "clearly the 'monied party' " in the dispute and should pay $50,000 for Federline's litigation expenses, according to the declaration. ...

While Spears is planning a November surprise, Carrie Underwood will break hers out a few weeks earlier: Carnival Ride drops October 23. The "American Idol" champ told Billboard, "My favorite line on the whole album [from 'Wheel the World'] pretty much sums up everything that I've been through ... 'God put us here on this carnival ride/ We close our eyes never knowing where it will take us next.' It's beautiful and so true. We don't know what we're doing or where we're headed. We just kind of trust and hope that whatever ride we're on in life takes us where we need to go." Underwood's sophomore effort gets even heavier on "Just a Dream," which revolves around a woman coping with the death of her soldier fiance, and also features a cover of Randy Travis' "I Told You So." ...

Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke will highlight the MTV Video Music Awards Fandemonium Concert to Benefit Lifebeat, a nonprofit group that raises awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention. If you want to check out the September 8 event -- to be held at the House of Blues in Las Vegas -- and have some extra change handy, you can bid on a batch of auction packages on eBay. The packages include private box seating, cocktails and a meet and greet with the artists, and $5,000 from each will go to Las Vegas AIDS organizations. ...

Chamillionaire is already envisioning multiplatinum success for his sophomore album, Ultimate Victory -- and he wants fans to share in his wealth. The rapper plans to dole out autographed commemorative plaques, worth $300 each, in connection with the LP's sales: One hundred will be given out when Victory drops September 18; 200 will be given out if it goes gold; and 300 will be issued if it goes platinum. If you want to try to get your hands on one, head over to Chamillionaire's MySpace page for more info. ... Usher made a surprise appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" earlier this week, telling the host he hopes his child with Tameka Foster is a boy. "If it's a boy, I'm going to name him Usher," he said. "I've been playing with a few names. I'm the fourth. Usher Raymond IV. I just want to pass the name on. Maybe I'll change the middle name." ...

Panic! at the Disco's Ryan Ross spent his 21st birthday at -- surprise! -- Angels & Kings, the New York bar co-owned by Pete Wentz and members of Gym Class Heroes, the Academy Is ... and Cobra Starship, RollingStone.com reports. ... Perry Farrell and Cursive's Tim Kasher will help judge the Hot Pursuit, an online competition for up-and-coming rock bands. The winner of the Spin/ Music Nation contest will get a record deal with Epic/ Original Signal (Music Nation's label) and the chance to perform at the magazine's SXSW party in Austin, Texas, next year. Those interested can create their artist profile and upload multimedia content here when the contest launches September 24. The judges, together with the public, will vote through the coming months, leading up to the announcement of the winner in mid-December. ...

Hellyeah, Five Finger Death Punch and Droid will support Korn on their B---h We Have a Problem Tour, which launches September 22 in Reno, Nevada, and runs through October 28 in Portland, Oregon. ... Thursday have named their upcoming rarities set Kill the House Lights. The CD/DVD offering will feature hard-to-find material, along with footage documenting the band's history. No release date has been pinned down yet, but it'll likely be in stores by year's end. ... Coheed and Cambria, Clutch and the Fall of Troy will hit the road this fall for a string of 22 North American dates. The trek kicks off October 29 in Toronto and runs through November 28 in Philadelphia. ...

Here's one for the books: Supergrass bassist Mick Quinn recently broke his back after sleepwalking his way out of the first-floor window of a villa in France, BBC News reports. He was rushed to a specialist spinal unit, where surgeons repaired two broken vertebrae and a smashed heel. Quinn is expected to make a full recovery, but the band has postponed its plans -- including a homecoming gig in Oxford, England -- in the meantime. ...

Bobby Brown sought legal and physical custody of his 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in an Orange County, California, court on Friday (August 31). The judge requested Brown and his ex-wife Whitney Houston argue their respective cases in a deposition. "I just miss my daughter," Brown told People after the hearing. "I just want to be there to help her make the right decisions and be her father." ...

Looney Tunes, the legendary Long Island, New York, independent record store that regularly hosted in-store appearances for artists -- including Lamb of God, Chiodos and Head Automatica most recently -- was destroyed in a devastating blaze Wednesday evening. According to investigators, the cause of the fire was a faulty extension cord. The store's owners hope to rebuild the shop as soon as possible but claim hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise and memorabilia -- including 57 autographed guitars and countless gold and platinum records -- was consumed in the conflagration.

08.30.07

Say what you will about those supposed Britney Spears tracks floating around online, but the singer is planning to debut the first single from her new album as early as this weekend. The single is called "Gimmie More," was produced by Danjahandz and is an up-tempo dance track -- and is also the song for which the singer was seen shooting a video last month. "It's about feeling good, celebrating womanhood," Danja told MTV News earlier this year. "And if you don't dance to it, I really don't know what you're listening to. It's a new Britney." In related news, Spears will host the grand opening of Las Vegas nightclub LAX at the Luxor on Friday. DJ AM -- who, along with Christina Aguilera, is an investor in the club -- will man the decks. And the infamous Versace gown Spears was supposed to wear during her aborted OK! magazine shoot went up for auction on eBay on Wednesday (August 29). USA Today reported that bidding on the dress started at $5,700, with proceeds going to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. ...

Amy Winehouse can add the VMAs to the growing list of shows she won't be playing this year. The U.K. starlet -- who last week postponed her U.S. tour until 2008 -- has canceled her scheduled performance at the awards show on September 9. ... Lindsay Lohan plans to meet with her estranged father, Michael, while she is in rehab, a source told People.com, according to the site. People.com says multiple sources have revealed that Lohan's lawyer Blair Berk is helping negotiate Michael Lohan's visit to the Cirque Lodge in Sundance, Utah. ...

Christina Aguilera is on for the Emmy Awards. The singer will perform the Tony Bennett standard "Steppin' Out (With My Baby)" with the jazz legend at the ceremony, which will air September 16 on Fox. The two sang the song together on the TV special "Tony Bennett: An American Classic," which is nominated for eight Emmy Awards. ...

Gwen Stefani has gotten together with Hewlett-Packard for a creative twist on her Harajuku Lovers line. Starting Wednesday at HP.com/Gwen, fans can make and print CD labels, stationary and more by mashing HL content into their own customized designs. ... Jay-Z and Eve hosted a Rocawear party at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Tuesday night in celebration of the weeklong Magic Fashion Convention. The shindig -- which was sponsored by Giant magazine and Mercedes-Benz -- also featured cameos by Nick Cannon, Travis Barker and Young Jeezy, among others. ...

Lil Wayne is being sued by a concertgoer who alleges that she was knocked to the ground and trampled at the rapper's October show at Baltimore's Morgan State University, according to the Baltimore Sun. Tyrique Layne, who was a student at the university at the time, claims she needed to stay in the hospital overnight as a result of the injuries she sustained at the concert when a large amount of cash was thrown into the crowd. Layne's suit claims she is suffering headaches, neck and back pain, fatigue and other symptoms as a result of her injuries, and she is seeking $1 million plus interest and costs. ...

A mysterious white powdery substance authorities discovered in a locked bedroom inside rapper DMX's Cave Creek, Arizona, home is not a drug after all, according to Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies. Police -- who initially believed the substance to be a drug -- have not disclosed what it actually is. But officers also seized a useable amount of marijuana during the Friday morning raid, as well as drug paraphernalia, the carcasses of three dogs and a dozen other dogs that seemed malnourished. Police are working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to determine whether DMX was legally permitted to own the weapons. It still hasn't been determined what the three dogs that were found buried in the rapper's backyard died from, but police do not believe they had been used for dogfighting. ...

Beyoncé and Shakira have more than just VMA nominations to get excited about -- their "Beautiful Liar" debut is also up for a Latin Grammy, for Record of the Year. Ricky Martin and Calle 13 have four noms apiece, while Juan Luis Guerra leads the pack with five. ... Wyclef Jean keeps inviting more and more guests to take part in his new album The Carnival Volume ll (Memoirs of an Immigrant), which is set to drop November 6. The ubiquitous Lil Wayne and, more surprisingly, System of a Down singer Serj Tankian, have stepped in to help out. ... Kelly Clarkson's live comeback is hitting an early stride. According to her label, tickets for the singer's October 15 and 16 shows at New York's Beacon Theatre sold out in under 20 minutes, prompting the addition of a third show on October 14, which also sold out over the weekend. ...

Ashlee Simpson, Madonna and Hilary Duff are among the loads of artists featured in a new book of photography that revolves around the weekly Saturday night party thrown in New York by trendsetters the Misshapes. Simply called "Misshapes," the book -- which also showcases My Chemical Romance, Mandy Moore, Bloc Party, the Killers and more -- will be released Tuesday by MTV Press. ([article id="1568523"]See "Misshapes" snaps of Ashlee Simpson, Joel Madden, Pete Wentz, Madonna and more.[/article]) ... Nikki Sixx will be the first-ever rock star to act as featured speaker at the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month luncheon in Washington, D.C., on September 6. Sixx's autobiography, "Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star," hits bookshelves September 18. ...

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's battle isn't over -- the divorced couple have been wrangling over their 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. In newly released legal papers filed last month and obtained by People.com, Brown claims he hasn't spoken with his daughter since June. "Since Whitney has been awarded sole legal and physical custody of Bobbi Kris, she has attempted to eliminate me from Bobbi Kris' life," the suit reads. "I did all I could to see my daughter ... I also paid approximately $10,000 for Whitney and Bobbi Kris to live in a nice hotel while Whitney was going through rehab ... I basically lived out of my car." In Houston's declaration to the court, she claims Brown has been "almost totally uninvolved in taking care of" Bobbi Kristina and warns, "Bobby is going to try to get child or spousal support from me ... Bobby is fully capable of working and earning substantial sums of money if he would control his personal behavior." Despite the feud, the couple have been spotted together in public recently, having dinner and posing for photos with fans, according to People.com. ...

Linkin Park have already proven themselves to be good Samaritans -- they've been donating $1 from every ticket on their Projekt Revolution tour toward planting trees in the hurricane-damaged areas of the Gulf Coast. Now Chester Bennington and the gang are taking their goodwill efforts one step further by actually building a home for a low-income Gulf Coast family themselves. The band has launched a contest named after its recent single "What I've Done" in which the winner and a guest will be able to join LP to construct the house at an undisclosed location in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina. To enter, fans must submit to Contest@MusicForRelief.org a video clip that is less than two minutes long and explains what the person has done to improve the world. Fans can also participate by recording their video at the Music for Relief booth at Projekt Revolution, but all entries must be in by September 29. "We will help build [the home] alongside the family that will move into the house," bassist Phoenix said in a statement. "We hope to remind people that there is still a lot of work to be done." ...

Hulk Hogan's son Nick Bollea was racing another car before he crashed into a tree on Sunday night, according to a Florida woman who told The Associated Press she witnessed the accident. "We knew something was going to happen. You know that this is a bad situation and these guys are hot-dogging," said Frances Vitalis, who claimed to be riding on a motorcycle with a friend behind the cars. A police spokesperson declined to comment to the wire service, citing an ongoing investigation. ... Lawyers in the Phil Spector trial, along with the judge, have agreed that the jury should only consider a second-degree murder charge, as opposed to a lesser charge like manslaughter, the Los Angeles Times reports. Attorneys have now finished the last procedural steps before closing arguments begin September 5. On Tuesday it was announced that Spector had retained San Francisco attorney Dennis Riordan to replace Bruce Cutler, although Riordan will not act as lead counsel. ...

Hard-to-find tracks by Beastie Boys, Interpol and the Decemberists populate the fourth installment in the Give.Listen.Help series, a charity comp available at Urban Outfitters outlets. Most proceeds are going to Art of Elysium, a group that promotes art therapy for hospitalized children. ... Bloc Party will head up the second LA Weekly Detour festival, set for October 6 in downtown Los Angeles. Justice, Satellite Party, Shout Out Louds, Raveonettes, Turbonegro, Kinky and others flesh out the roster for the outdoor throwdown. ... Two of a kind? Mary-Kate Olsen and Ben Kingsley engage in a passionate kiss in their new flick "The Wackness," which finished shooting last week. The 21-year-old Olsen plays a pot dealer's customer in the movie, and the 63-year-old Kingsley acts as the dealer's therapist. ...

Hellogoodbye and Say Anything have been tapped to headline the MySpace Music Tour. The bands will christen the social-networking site's new concert series with a Seattle show on October 16 and plow through a gig in Las Vegas on November 23. MySpace Records artists Polysics will open many dates, from the Seattle show through the Halloween concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Presale tickets will be made available exclusively to MySpace members beginning Friday. ... Slayer are pulling together footage from last year's Unholy Alliance Tour with Lamb of God and Mastodon for a DVD due October 30. The simply titled "Unholy Alliance Tour" DVD captures the July 13, 2006, stop in Vancouver, British Columbia, and also includes footage of the other two acts on the bill, Children of Bodom and Thine Eyes Bleed. Behind-the-scenes clips and interviews, many of which were conducted by the bandmembers, flesh out the set. ...

The fire sale of houses and gear from disgraced former boy-band mogul Lou Pearlman -- who is currently in jail in Florida and is being accused of defrauding investors of more than $500 million -- continues. According to Florida's St. Petersburg Times, in addition to a deal to sell Pearlman's Atlantic City, New Jersey, condo for $335,000 as part of his ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, a deal is under way to sell his Orlando estate for $7.1 million. A Saturday auction of "boy toys" owned by Pearlman -- including life-size R2D2, Anakin Skywalker and Han Solo figures, a pimped-out Escalade-style golf cart and a host of weapons -- brought in another $280,000. ... Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards doesn't like what the Swedish papers have been saying about the band, so he's taking the fight straight to them. Reuters reports that Richards is demanding that newspapers Expressen and Aftonbladet apologize for their stinging reviews of the Stones' performance in Stockholm earlier this month. "Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review," Richards said in a statement. "But this time ... I have to stand up for our incredible Gothenburg audience and for our fans all over Sweden ... to say that you owe them, and us, an apology." ...

The free ride for Grateful Dead fans is over. Rhino Records, which controls most of the Dead's music, announced recently that the formerly downloadable live tracks that were posted on the Taper's Section on the band's Web site will now only be available as audio streams. The Section's webmaster, David Lemieux, explained in a note to fans on Monday that the site was always intended "for streaming only." ... A judge ruled Friday in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America, agreeing with RIAA lawyers that "making available" copyrighted works on peer-to-peer networks constitutes copyright infringement, according to a story on Wired.com. The ruling makes clear that it is illegal to share a song in a P2P folder, even if there's no proof that someone else downloaded it.