The Black Eyed Peas have re-recorded "Let's Get Retarded" as "Let's Get It Started" for use in promotional spots for the NBA playoffs. Four different commercials will air new verses of the song pertaining to basketball. ... Xzibit will play fictitious rapper 10-Large in an upcoming episode of "CSI: Miami." The episode, titled "Rap Sheet," was taped at the end of March and is scheduled for broadcast May 10. ...

Nickelback won Group of the Year and Fan Choice Award at Sunday's Juno Awards, Canada's version of the Grammys, but it was newcomer Sam Roberts who was the big winner, taking home trophies for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Rock Recording of the Year. 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' won International Album of the Year. ... Nelly Furtado, who won Single of the Year for "Powerless (Say What You Want)," has set dates for a U.S. tour beginning April 30 in Chicago and ending May 19 in Los Angeles. She's then heading to Europe for more touring. ...

The Roots are shooting the first video from their upcoming album, The Tipping Point, Monday (April 5) and Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York. Directed by the Saline Project, "Don't Say Nothin' " follows Black Thought through several characters to represent the various styles on the album. The Tipping Point, due June 29, includes a cover of Sly Stone's "Everybody Is a Star," a version of which will also appear on the upcoming tribute album Sly2K. ... Grey Album DJ Danger Mouse is among a crop of artists just added to the annual Bonnaroo Festival, set for June 11-13 in Manchester, Tennessee. Other new artists rounding out the lineup include Nellie McKay, the X-ecutioners, Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Rachael Yamagata. ...

Ozzy Osbourne filed a complaint last month with the Medical Board of California against his former physician, whom he alleges over-prescribed addictive drugs in 2002 that affected his behavior on "The Osbournes." Other patients of Dr. Kipper have filed similar complaints. ... “Let's Rock,” a one-hour documentary on the Clash's Joe Strummer, will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 7. The film, which trails the late singer/guitarist as he tours and promotes his 2001 album with the Mescaleros, Global a Go-Go, was directed by his longtime friend Dick Rude. ... Sonic Youth, My Morning Jacket, On the Speakers and Jesse Malin are among the artists slated to play the Great Bamboozle, a three-day festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey, June 4-6. ...

Alien Ant Farm have started work on their still-untitled follow-up to truANT and are scheduled to begin recording this summer with an eye on releasing the disc early next year. When finished, they hope to hit the road to preview some of the new material. ... Ashanti and Eve have joined Jessica Simpson, Joss Stone, Patti LaBelle, Deborah Harry and Cyndi Lauper on the lineup for the seventh annual VH1 Divas concert. The concert, broadcast live April 18 from Las Vegas' MGM Grand, will feature appearances by Usher, Mischa Barton, Tyra Banks and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. ...

Spike TV will follow eight contestants who will work for Sugar Ray on the band's spring tour for a reality series called "On the Road." The winner will get a record-company job for one year. The outing, which also features Lola Ray (whose Tuesday debut is the first release on Good Charlotte's D.C. Flag Records label), kicks off April 3 in Tempe, Arizona, and wraps up May 6 in Hollywood. ... "Thunderstruck," an Australian film that revolves around AC/DC's 1991 tour, has been selected for screening at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie is about five fans who decide that if any one of them dies before age 40, the survivors will have him buried next to the grave of late AC/DC singer Bonn Scott. ...

Artist Pushead, who designed artwork for numerous Metallica albums, including St. Anger, has created a line of miniature statues of his works. Currently, the online Metallica store and other retailers are selling the "Damage Inc." and "Damaged Pirate" statues, and in August models will be available for "Sad But True" and "Eye See Your Skull." ... Beatallica, a band that crosses the music of Metallica with that of the Beatles, have released a self-titled eight-song EP on their Web site, www.beatallica.com. Song titles include "Blackened in the USSR," "Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice" and "Leper Madonna." Before you cry "Danger Mouse copycat!," keep in mind that Beatallica write original riffs and lyrics in addition to ripping off their heroes, and they've been doing so since 2001, when they released the spoof A Garage Day's Night, also available for free download. ...

04.02.2004

In between shooting scenes for her movie debut, "Coach Carter," Ashanti has been writing for her third album. "We're looking for a release in late summer," she said. "And we're going to be putting together a tour hopefully late summer too." ...

The Hot Boys' Turk had attempted-murder charges against him lowered from first-degree to second-degree at a preliminary hearing Thursday, after a police officer testified that several cops wearing black masks broke into the rapper's apartment but neither identified themselves nor produced a warrant. ... Bow Wow and his "Johnson Family Vacation" co-star Solange Knowles have more career moves in common than the movie. "We both have development deals with UPN for a sitcom, but separately, so it's kind of cool that we're on the same network," Solange said ... Bow Wow, meanwhile, has another new venture in the works. "I'm trying to be an entrepreneur; I'm going to open up a clothing store called Fly in Atlanta," he said. "We're going to be selling all the hot stuff. What's hot, we're going to have it." ...

Don't be surprised if heavy-metal godfathers Black Sabbath take the stage at this summer's Ozzfest. Bassist Geezer Butler has already signed on to replace Rob "Blasko" Nicolson, who left Ozzy's solo band in December, and when asked on the syndicated radio show "Rockline" on Wednesday whether there have been discussions about a reunion, Osbourne none-too-coyly replied, "I think so." ... A bottle of red wine named after a 1974 Bob Dylan album is expected to hit store shelves this fall. Planet Waves, described by Italian vintner and Dylan fan Antonio Terni as "a mysteriously Dylanesque encounter between the severity of Montepulciano and the softness of Merlot," has the blessing of the bard himself, and follows Visions of J, named after the classic song "Visions of Johanna," which won Terni the top prize at an Italian food festival three years ago. ...

Government officials near Slipknot's hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, turned down the band's application to play a concert at the nearby 7 Flags Event Center on April 27. The Clive City Council members voted 3-2 against granting the band the noise permit it would have needed to stage the show. The council nixed the request because it doesn't grant noise permits for weekday events. ... Ex-Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson will release his second record with his group the New Earth Mud, titled This Magnificent Distance, on June 29. The first single is "40 Days." The band will play Bonnaroo on June 11 and will open for the Allman Brothers Band in July. ...

Esteemed Princeton University professor Cornel West plans to drop his second rap LP, Street Knowledge, in June. When West, 50, was a professor at Harvard University, he released his first rap album, Sketches of My Culture, which prompted criticism from university President Lawrence Summers and West's subsequent departure from the department. ...Sevendust will release the live acoustic DVD/CD package Southside Double-Wide Acoustic Live on May 4. The discs were filmed and recorded last year at the Georgia Theater in Athens, Georgia, and include versions of "Bitch," "Too Close to Hate," "Black," "Xmas Day," "Broken Down" and a cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." The DVD contains more than two hours of live footage and lots of extras. ...

Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago will hit the road together for a 33-date tour that launches June 12 in the Woodlands, Texas. Dates run through August 15 in Auburn, Washington. ... The annual Plea for Peace Tour is set to begin April 19 in Minneapolis. With a revolving lineup that includes Cursive, Mike Park and spoken-word poet Saul Williams, the seven-week trek features voter-registration kiosks, and a dollar from each ticket sold will be donated to a charity of the artists' choice. ...

Swedish garage rockers the Division of Laura Lee are hopping the pond for a two-week trek with fellow countrymen the Sounds, beginning April 19 in Washington, D.C., to support their second album, Das Not Compute (due May 11). ... Metalogy, Judas Priest's four-CD box set, will arrive one week later than expected. The retrospective 65-song collection's new release date is May 11. ... In Florida, the record industry must file individual lawsuits against suspected peer-to-peer pirates instead of lumping them together in a single complaint, a more costly and time-consuming process, according to a ruling made Thursday by a federal judge in Florida. The decision echoed one handed down by a Philadelphia judge early last month. ...