Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time, is getting big love in time for Valentine's Day. In celebration of the release's 25th anniversary, Epic/Legacy is revisiting it with a deluxe edition containing unreleased bonus tracks mixed by or featuring Kanye West, Akon, Will.I.Am and Jackson himself. Thriller was originally released November 30, 1982, and the new 25th Anniversary Edition, dropping February 12, will have eight extra cuts: a fresh Kanye remix of "Billie Jean"; Akon and Will.I.Am's new take on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' "; "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T." remixes by Will.I.Am; the rare unissued song "For All Time," a track from the original recording sessions that has been newly mixed and mastered by MJ; "Someone in the Dark"; "Carousel"; and the original "Billie Jean" demo. The set will also house a DVD with Jackson's Thriller short films, which have been digitally remastered -- "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" -- as well as his Emmy-nominated performance of the latter song on 1983's "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" TV special. Lastly, it will also have an exclusive Jackson-penned greeting to his fans. While the Thriller deluxe edition doesn't drop until February, the Jackson action actually starts in December when he releases a new single and launches a new global-marketing campaign. ...

Kevin Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan has subpoenaed Britney Spears' friend Sam Lufti in the ex-spouses' [article id="1573838"]child-custody case,[/article] according to People.com. The subpoena was reportedly served on November 7, but Lufti didn't appear at a Friday deposition that was rescheduled for January. Kaplan will request a court order to make sure Lufti attends the January session, the site said. People.com reported in late August that a car-ramming incident occurred when Federline's legal team attempted to serve Lufti with papers, and according to UsMagazine.com, Lutfi is scheduled to appear before the Los Angeles city attorney over the matter, which is being considered a "vehicle vandalism incident." The closed-door hearing will be held December 18. ... "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" nonwriting staffers have been laid off due to the ongoing [article id="1573641"]writers' strike,[/article] according to TMZ.com. ...

Lindsay Lohan is finally finding time to return to her music career, according to People. The singer, whose last album was 2005's A Little More Personal (Raw), will reportedly start recording a new album for Motown within the next two weeks. She is also reportedly planning to shoot a cameo on "Ugly Betty" once the writers' strike ends. The mag also reports that LiLo has split with Riley Giles, the boyfriend she developed a relationship with[article id="1571340"]while in rehab[/article] at Utah's Cirque Lodge over the summer. according to People. ... The "High School Musical 2" soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2007 with 2.3 million copies sold -- the lowest figure yet by a year's top LP since SoundScan started keeping track of such sales in 1991. The sequel soundtrack beats its predecessor's previous mark -- the original "HSM" soundtrack, last year's best-selling disc, sold 3.7 million copies. Daughtry's self-titled album is the second-best-selling album of 2007. ...

Flo Rida -- a rapper hailing from, well, you know -- owes T-Pain a favor: The latter rapper's spot on Flo's new single, "Low," has helped boost the track into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the song has been at the top of the iTunes chart for three consecutive weeks. But Pain isn't the only person lending Flo Rida their skills -- fellow Floridian Rick Ross and Trey Songz are also featured on his major-label debut, Mail on Sunday, with J.R. Rotem, the Runners and others helping out behind the boards. ... Reese Witherspoon is the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, earning $15 million to $20 million per movie, The Hollywood Reporter announced Friday (November 30). Angelina Jolie -- who reportedly made $8 million for "Beowolf" and $20 million for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" -- comes in second, with Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts following behind. ...

Morrissey is suing NME after the English music mag failed to apologize for an article criticizing the former Smiths frontman's views on immigration. BBC News reports that a deadline to print a retraction on the piece expired on Thursday, and the singer's lawyers are starting legal proceedings against the magazine and its editor for what Morrissey's manager has deemed a "character assassination." A recent issue of the magazine quoted Morrissey as allegedly saying, "Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. ... If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are." The cover of the issue quoted Morrissey as saying, "The gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away." Morrissey, who has split his time between Rome and Los Angeles over the past decade, was reportedly responding to a question about whether he would ever return to live in the U.K. In a follow-up interview, NME reported that Morrissey clarified his earlier comment by saying, "It could be construed that the reason I wouldn't wish to live in England is the immigration explosion. And that's not true at all. ... There are other reasons why I would find England very difficult, such as the expense and the pressure." He also allegedly added that he didn't think his comments were inflammatory, but "a statement of fact." Morrissey's spokesperson said the singer had been misquoted and that critical parts of the interview were omitted. An NME spokesperson confirmed that legal action is pending but would not comment further. ...

Brand New, As Tall as Lions and the Receiving End of Sirens are converging for Triple Crown Records' 10th anniversary show, to be held December 17 at New York's Blender Theater at Gramercy. Proceeds from the show will go to the FealGood Foundation for 9/11 first responders and Shirts for a Cure. ... Band of Horses, who are cropping up on critics' albums-of-the-year lists left and right, will head out with a 20-date headlining trek starting January 20 in South Carolina, their home state. The jaunt will also end there, on February 12, with the group hitting Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Nashville, Dallas and other cities along the way. ... From First to Last have joined the bill for next year's Take Action! Tour, which kicks off in February. Every Time I Die are still set to co-headline, although the other previously announced co-headliner, Escape the Fate, have dropped off the lineup. Hopeless/Sub City, which stages the fest, also announced that it has picked Do Something, a nonprofit that distributes weekly grants to young people looking to make a difference in their community, as the tour's charity.

11.29.07

Radiohead have announced their tour plans for 2008, but if you're expecting a traditional itinerary ... well, then you really don't know Radiohead. The band has started sketching out cities and dates for next year on its Web site, but the info is only complete for three shows -- and tickets are on sale for all of them: June 18 in Milan, Italy; June 20 at Germany's Hurricane Festival; and June 22 at the same country's Southside Festival. The band is also booked for Denmark's Roskilde festival and Belgium's Rock Werchter Festival, both of which will be held July 3-6. Paris; Barcelona, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; London; Berlin and other major European cities are also on the menu. ...

Seems all that "Tattoo" talk has gone to Jordin Sparks' head. The [article id="1560364"]"American Idol" victor[/article] -- whose new [article id="1571021"]self-titled debut[/article] isn't [article id="1575387"]doing so hot[/article] in record stores these days -- told the San Francisco Chronicle that she decided to get a tattoo of her own after shooting the video for her latest single, "Tattoo." Sparks first asked her mother -- "I would feel really bad if I did it without telling her," she said -- who replied that she would get a tattoo with her daughter after she turns 18 on December 22. The singer said the tattoo will feature her brother P.J.'s name "in a nice script." ... Ashley Tisdale's performance at the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting in New York on Wednesday apparently went off with a hitch -- video circulating online seems to show the "High School Musical" star lip-syncing "Last Christmas" out of step with the pre-recorded tape. Could Ashley have something in common with another [article id="1493274"]Ashlee?[/article] ...

Amy Winehouse's father is speaking out regarding the singer's [article id="1575117"]recent cancellation[/article] of the remainder of her 2007 concert dates and public appearances, according to BBC News. Mitch Winehouse reportedly said his daughter is "sorry for fans," that her decision to rest is "is in her best interests" -- and that "all options" were being taken into consideration over whether she would go to rehab, where she had reportedly been treated earlier this year. Amy Winehouse nixed the rest of her '07 tour plans on Tuesday, saying in a statement, "I can't give it my all onstage without my [husband] Blake [Fielder-Civil]." Her husband was [article id="1573876"]arrested in the U.K.[/article] earlier this month and formally charged with one count of "attempting to pervert the court of justice," or the U.S. equivalent of obstruction of justice, in connection with an alleged $400,000 plot to fix a trial. ...

Deerhunter, the Black Lips, Mastodon and more are featured in "We Fun: Atlanta, Ga.: Inside/Out," a new documentary that is acting as the companion piece to "Athens, Ga.: Inside/Out," which came out in 1987. The flick's MySpace page has much more info, including ways to help donate to the production. ... Rare silk-screened, autographed gig posters relating to the Arcade Fire, Spoon and Superchunk are being featured in Merge Records' new eBay auction benefiting Oxfam America and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The revered indie label, which calls Chapel Hill home, is also putting up M. Ward, Destroyer and Robert Pollard posters -- the Arcade Fire one is already going for $531. ...

Expect to find Lil Wayne, Cee-Lo, Bilal, Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius and Q-Tip on the upcoming album by Solange Knowles. Just What I Want, due in 2008, will also feature, more bizarrely, a sample from long-running down-tempo duo Boards of Canada. ... The Warner Music Group posted a big loss on Wednesday (November 29) -- a 58 percent drop in its quarterly profit, according to Reuters. Sales from digital music were up 25 percent during the quarter, but the decline in CD sales dwarfed that gain. U.S. album sales are down 14 percent this year. ...

Moby tracks might not be as prized these days as they were back in 1999, but the musician is giving some of them away for free all the same on a new portion of his Web site. He's giving away music to be used by indie and nonprofit filmmakers, film students and people -- so long as it's used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video or short. ...

Critics' albums-of-the-year lists are popping up left and right, but what about the King of Horror's two cents? Stephen King -- who is a member of Rock Bottom Remainders, the literary all-star squad that also features Matt Groening and others -- rolls out his own list in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, which streets December 7. Steve Earle's Washington Square Serenade is his favorite album of the year, with Wilco's Sky Blue Sky and Lyle Lovett and His Large Band's It's Not Big It's Large following behind. Rounding out his list are Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain, John Fogerty's Revival and Southern Culture on the Skids' Countrypolitan Favorites. ...

Nick Bollea, Hulk Hogan's son, was driving around 100 mph when he crashed his car in late August, according to reported police records released Tuesday, but his attorney is denying the claim. "The scientific evidence doesn't support anything like that," Morris "Sandy" Weinberg told the St. Petersburg Times. The report also says Bollea -- who was cited for operating a vehicle with a breath-alcohol level of .02 percent or higher, among other infractions -- told police he didn't know what road he was traveling on or in which direction, and that he had been driving 30 or 40 mph. Earlier this month, Bollea [article id="1573702"]was charged with reckless driving[/article] in the crash that critically injured his friend and passenger John Graziano, who suffered a broken skull and has been comatose since the accident. ...

Ex-Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle was arrested Tuesday for not properly registering as a sex offender -- the second time he's been busted for not doing so -- according to The Associated Press. The musician (real name: Thomas Delmer Pyle) -- who in 1993 pleaded guilty to charges of attempted capital sexual battery by an adult on a victim younger than 12, among other charges -- is being held on $50,000 bond at a jail in Florida after being arrested at one of three addresses he gave to police. On November 19, Pyle was arrested on the same charge after he didn't register a new permanent address. The address on Pyle's driver's license reportedly doesn't belong to him -- the musician has a house in North Carolina but has told police he wants to register at an address in Florida. Pyle left Skynyrd in 1992 after playing with the band for 17 years. ...

Jennifer Love Hewitt got engaged to boyfriend Ross McCall, a Scottish actor, last week during a trip to Maui, according to UsMagazine.com. A date reportedly hasn't been announced yet for the "Ghost Whisperer" star's wedding.