Mandy Moore talked about ex-boyfriend Zach Braff in a new interview featured in the May issue of Elle. "Out of respect to Zach, who I still consider a friend and care about and support, I have nothing bad to say about him," she said of her ex, who is nine years her senior. "It just didn't work out." Moore also says she's "OK with representing a different type than the normal Hollywood beauty ideal. ... I've been told that I have to lose weight for stuff before. It's mortifying ... once is enough to make you feel awful." ([article id="1556641"]See Elle shots of Mandy Moore by the beach right here.[/article]) Moore will also guest host and perform at the Entertainment Industry Foundation Revlon Run/ Walk for Women, a benefit to help the fight against women's cancers that is set for May 5 in New York and May 12 in Los Angeles. Her next album Wild Hope is due June 19. ...

Lindsay Lohan was interviewed by GQ via BlackBerry over several weeks, following her stint in rehab. Between shooting the upcoming thriller "I Know Who Killed Me," working on staying sober and buying two puppies, Lohan replied to questions that ranged from "Is there anything you fear?" -- Lohan responded with a note on what she was wearing (Marc Jacobs, vintage Chanel and Kaviar & Kind) -- to "Do you play poker?" ("Weird! I just e-mailed my friend Sara Pantera saying I'm going to start playing poker again!") for the magazine's April issue. In other Lohan news, the actress has been selected as the new face of Jill Stuart's fashion line, and is scheduled to shoot photos for the campaign this week. ...

Miss Tom Morello's all-star jam at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, last month? The Nightwatchman is buddying up with more friends for three concerts at Los Angeles' Hotel Café taking place Tuesday, April 17 and April 24. A diverse cast of characters is expected to join Morello for the Tuesday performances -- be on the lookout for Alanis Morissette, Cypress Hill's B-Real and Sen Dog, Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell, Steve Vai, MC5's Wayne Kramer, Switchfoot's Jon Foreman, Disturbed's David Draiman and former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, who was spotted at the SXSW jam. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist will also perform as his alter ego at a workers rally in Chicago on Saturday; sign copies of his April 24 release, One Man Revolution, at Hollywood's Amoeba Music, April 25; hit up Coachella in Indio, California, April 28; play a benefit show with Ben Harper in Claremont, California, May 4; support Harper on six dates in June; and perform at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee, June 16. ...

By now, everyone's heard that tickets to this summer's Ozzfest will be free, but there's been no word on how they will be distributed -- until this week. In a press release issued Monday morning (April 9), the festival organizers revealed that, starting May 12, ticket codes will be distributed through several sponsor Web sites, including those for LiveNation, Monster Energy drink, Jägermeister and F.Y.E. The codes will be redeemable starting June 12 via the same Web sites, and there is a limit of two tickets per person. The fest -- featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God, Hatebreed and more -- kicks off July 12 in Seattle and hits 24 cities before wrapping in West Palm Beach, Florida, August 30. ... "Laguna Beach" star Jason Wahler was arrested in Seattle early Sunday after punching a hotel security guard and passing out drunk in a hallway, The Associated Press reports. It was the third time the actor had been arrested since September, and he had already been scheduled to begin serving a 60-day jail sentence in May. The actor repeatedly made racial and homophobic slurs when he was busted for investigation of assault and criminal trespass on Sunday, according to a Seattle Police Department report. Wahler -- who had been ordered by a judge last month to go to Alcoholics Anonymous classes and attend a program at the Museum of Tolerance for using racial slurs after a previous arrest -- was released from jail after posting bail. ...

Velvet Revolver have been added to the lineup for the U.S. Virgin Festival, scheduled for August 4-5 in Baltimore. Previously confirmed acts include the Police, Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys. ... Black Light Burns, the band fronted by former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, have been tapped as the support act for Chevelle's upcoming U.S. tour, which gets under way May 7; a full itinerary will be announced soon. Black Light Burns' debut LP, Cruel Melody, is slated for release June 5. ...

Christina Milian will co-star with Mario Lopez in "Eight Days a Week," a comedy pilot being produced for the CW, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series follows the life of four 20-somethings working for prestigious bosses in New York. Milian will play an assistant who left a law career to start over as a gofer at an art gallery. ... Bobby Valentino has decided to take his own advice and slow down. The DTP singer issued a statement about his delayed sophomore album Special Occasion -- now due May 8 -- announcing he's still in the recording process but will post bonus tracks on his MySpace page that don't make the final cut. The album is set to feature collaborations with Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, and Fabolous. A MySpace call went out on Sunday asking fans to send photos for display in a slideshow on Valentino's MySpace page ("remember, no nudity") to promote his track "Anonymous," featuring Timbaland. The song is currently streaming on the page as well as his Web site, JustBobby.com ...

Isaac Hanson, the eldest of the three brothers that make up Hanson, welcomed his first child Tuesday. Clarke Everett Hanson was delivered by Isaac's wife, Nicole, in the Hanson hometown Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a post on the band's Web site, the proud father said his son's birth "was an inspiration, and I know that his presence in my life will continue to inspire me."... Microsoft is set to follow Apple's lead in offering songs without copy protection for download. Less than a week after Apple announced it would sell unprotected songs from the EMI Group catalog at a premium, Katy Asher -- a Microsoft spokeswoman for the company's portable Zune player team -- told IDG News Service, "the EMI announcement on Monday was not exclusive to Apple. ... Consumers have made it clear that unprotected music is something they want. ... We plan on offering it to them as soon as our label partners are comfortable with it." The Microsoft spokesperson said the company has been speaking with EMI and other labels for "some time now" about offering unprotected music on the Zune.

04.06.2007

Ciara, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, Jermaine Dupri, Ludacris, Young Buck and others have provided audio testimonials for ImNotSigned.com, a new site created by Jazze Pha. The site is intended to connect unsigned artists with producers and A&R executives. It features a virtual "conference room," "studios" and more, and members can log in to chat with some of "Jazze Pha's superstar friends," according to a press release. "If you don't already have a deal, it's really possible now," Ciara said, hyping the site's launch. "You got to get in where you fit in." ...

Fall Out Boy have postponed the start of their Honda Civic Tour, the band announced Friday (April 6). "Unfortunately, because of some personal issues, we had to delay the tour a few weeks," bassist Pete Wentz said in a statement. "We want to put on the best possible show we can and know that this extra couple of weeks will give us the time to put ourselves in the right place." The band's manager, Bob McLynn, declined to specify the nature of the personal issues to MTV News but confirmed that no members have left the band. "Everything couldn't be better with the [band's new album, Infinity on High]," he said. "This small rescheduling will give everyone a better state of sanity and make the tour even greater." The 42-date tour -- which also features Paul Wall, (+44), the Academy Is ... and Cobra Starship -- was initially set to kick off April 18, but now begins with a May 11 show in Denver. Shows scheduled to take place before May 11 have been moved to the end of the tour, except the May 1 stop in Sacramento, California, which has been canceled. ...

The Killers, Oasis, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Travis and the Fratellis are among the bands that will re-record songs from the Beatles' 1967 release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the seminal album, BBC News reports. Geoff Emerick, the engineer in charge of the original sessions, will record the new versions on the same four-track equipment he used with the Beatles. The results will be broadcast June 2 on BBC's Radio 2. ...

Fergie, Hilary Duff, Rihanna, Omarion, Daughtry, Katharine McPhee, Robin Thicke, Dashboard Confessional and Hinder are on the lineup for New York radio station Z100's Zootopia concert. The show is scheduled for May 18 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale. ... Also in New York, the annual River to River summer concert series has revealed its lineup. Spoon, New Pornographers, Booker T. and the MG's with Sharon Jones, Menomena, Animal Collective, Drive-By Truckers and Martha Wainwright are among the artists scheduled to perform free shows in lower Manhattan. ...

Joss Stone will kick off her first major North American tour in three years on April 27 in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The trek will hit 18 cities, including stops at New Orleans' Jazz & Heritage Festival (May 6) and New York's Central Park Summerstage (June 8), culminating with a June 16 performance in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Stone will also be featured at the Concert for Diana, a July 1 charity show in London to celebrate the life of the late princess. Pharrell, Elton John, Duran Duran and Bryan Ferry are among the other artists confirmed for the event. ... Japanese atmospheric-experimental band Mono will hit North America on a tour that starts Thursday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and runs through a May 17 show in New York. The group's latest album, Palmless Prayer/ Mass Murder Refrain, was released in 2006. ...

Sonic Youth will perform what many consider to be their masterpiece, 1988's Daydream Nation, in its entirety on a handful of occasions this summer. The shows are part of All Tomorrows Parties' Don't Look Back concert series and will take place at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago on July 13; the Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, California, on July 19; Los Angeles' Greek Theatre the following day; and London's Roundhouse August 30-September 1. Likewise, Slint will perform their seminal indie-rock effort Spiderland in full as part of the series. The band, which got back together in 2005, will resurrect the album at 12 shows, only two of which are taking place Stateside: July 17-18 at New York's Webster Hall. ... Tegan and Sara will release their fifth studio album, The Con, July 24. Christopher Walla of Death Cab for Cutie produced the album and AFI's Hunter Burgan and the Rentals' Matt Sharp both play bass. ...

KRS-One is partnering with veteran hip-hop producer Marley Marl for the legendary rapper's next studio project, Hip-Hop Lives. Due May 22 on Koch, the album's title track and "Kill a Rapper" are set to be the first two singles from the release. ... The Afghan Whigs' Unbreakable (A Retrospective), set for release May 1, will be more than just a career-overview disc. The CD features "I'm a Soldier," a newly recorded track, as well as "Magazine," an unreleased cut the band wrote before breaking up. ... Cake fans can pre-order the band's self-released B-Sides and Rarities disc at CakeMusic.com. The collection includes covers of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" and promises "scratch-and-sniff album art." ...

This year's first-quarter album-sales numbers are in, and they don't bode well for the music industry. In the first three months of the year, album sales dropped 17 percent in the U.S., according to Bloomberg News. Online purchases rose but didn't make up for the deficiency. Album sales fell 7.3 percent in 2005 and 4.9 last year. ... Mark St. John, who briefly played lead guitar for Kiss, has died from an apparent brain hemorrhage, Billboard reports. He was 51. St. John, the band's third official guitarist, was featured on 1984's Animalize and in the video for that album's "Heaven's on Fire."