Ashanti, Justin Timberlake, Ja Rule, Avril Lavigne, Destiny's Child, John Mayer and others will perform at the annual Z100 Jingle Ball concert on December 12th at New York City's Madison Square Garden . . . The Liars will release a new EP, Fins Make Us More Fish-like, on November 12th; on November 22nd the group will begin a three-date run opening for Sonic Youth . . . Joan Jett filed a lawsuit against the producers of the film "Prey for Rock & Roll," claiming she was only paid $20,000 of the $100,000 she was owed for appearing in the film and contributing songs to the soundtrack . . . DIO will begin a twenty-six-date tour on November 8th in Portland, Oregon; a DVD release is planned for April 2003 . . . Swizz Beatz's G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories, featuring appearances by Ron Isley, Shyne, Lil' Kim, Eve, Fat Joe, Metallica and Ja Rule, will finally be released after several delays; the album is due December 10th . . .

Lifehouse will open three shows for the Rolling Stones this month . . . The Complete Jam will be released on DVD on November 26th . . . A Rush anthology, The Spirit of Radio (1974-1987), will be released on January 28th . . . Hed(P.E.) will release their third album Blackout, on March 4th; two new songs are currently featured on the video games "EA Sports' NASCAR Thunder 2003," and "Madden NFL 2003" . . . OK Go kick off an eighteen-date tour tonight in Philadelphia . . . The Moody Blues will release a two-CD edition of Live at Red Rocks on January 28th . . . Boston will release Corporate America on November 5th, their first new recording in seven years. The second season of The Osbournes will begin on November 26th . . . Prince, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and members of P.O.D. and the Roots make guest appearances on Common's Electric Circus, due December 10th; the album was produced by the Neptunes and the Soulquarians . . . Jimmy Fallon will open for the Strokes for six dates starting November 22nd in Boca Raton, Florida . . . Blondie have lined up a five-date tour behind Greatest Hits, to begin November 16th in San Francisco . . . 3 Doors Down will begin a fourteen-date tour in support of Away From the Sun, starting November 2nd in Jacksonville, North Carolina; the album is due November 12th . . . A two-CD reissue of Howlin' Wolf's classic London Sessions will be released on January 28th . . .

A three-CD Rod Stewart box set, Reason to Believe, will be released on November 19th . . . Frank Black and the Catholics will begin an eighteen-date U.S. tour on November 6th in Winooski, Vermont . . . Nicolai Dunger will release Tranquil Isolation, which he recorded with Will and Paul Oldham, in February; he's currently at work on a collaborative album with MERCURY REV . . . Linkin Park are working on a dozen songs for the follow-up to 2000's Hybrid Theory; the untitled record is due in early 2003 . . . Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have lined up the first five dates of a European tour, to launch May 6th in the Netherlands . . . Joe Satriani will begin an eighteen-date tour on November 2nd in Concord, California . . .

Beyonce Knowles will perform at November 12th benefit in New York City for the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health . . . The Rolling Stones have joined the NBA's new promotional campaign by contributing performance footage to a thirty-second "Love It Live" television ad that debuts this week . . . Michael Stipe, DJ Premier and Capone-N-Noreaga will appear on Kool G Rap's Giancana Story, due November 12th . . . Ludacris, Tyrese and Jin will appear in The Fast and the Furious 2, which is currently shooting in Miami . . . 'N Sync's Joey Fatone lit up the sign outside the new Hershey store in New York City on October 28th at the store's grand opening . . .

Usher will appear in an episode of The Twilight Zone on November 6th on UPN . . . Charlotte Church will perform at A Royal Christmas, a seven-date holiday tour to launch December 3rd in Cincinnati . . . Tony Joe White will release his new album, Snakey, on November 5th; on November 1st in Tampa, Florida, White begins a thirty-city tour with Joe Cocker . . . The two-hour David Gilmour in Concert will air on VH1 on November 5th . . . Clint Black and George Jones will be presenters at the thirty-sixth annual Country Music Awards, on November 6th in Nashville . . . Tommy Lee has parted ways with his label, MCA Records . . .

Snoop Dogg, Redman, Everlast, Taproot, Kool Keith, Adema and others will hit the road on Cypress Hill's Smoke Out Festival tour, starting November 2nd in Los Angeles . . . Legendary engineer and producer Tom Dowd, who worked with Derek and the Dominoes, Aretha Franklin and numerous others, died on October 27th in Florida after suffering from respiratory illness for two years; he was seventy-seven . . . Bidding started yesterday at $10,000 in an mastronet.com auction for clippings of Elvis Presley's hair collected by his personal hair stylist . . . Paul McCartney cancelled a November 23rd concert in Melbourne, Australia, out of respect for the victims of the terrorist bombing in Bali, which killed ninety Australians . . .

Bubble, Texas Terri, the Stiff Ones and the B-Movie Rats will perform at a November 8th tribute to Joey Ramone in Los Angeles; proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society . . . Tori Amos' new Scarlet's Walk will allow fans to access photos, behind the scenes videos and unreleased songs when they visit toriamos.com . . . The reunited BLASTERS have added shows to their fall/winter tour, which will now run through December 14th in Los Angeles . . . Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Vince Gill were the first three guests in a pilot for a new variety show to be hosted by Asleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson; CMT is considering picking up the show full-time . . .

(October 31, 2002)