The Backstreet Boys will be joined by none other than Elton John for a handful of songs at the July 9 "Party in the Park" at London's Hyde Park. John plans to team up with the boy band for his own "Philadelphia Freedom," their hit "I Want It That Way" and The Road To El Dorado's "Friends Never Say Goodbye," the latter of which may find itself released as a single to benefit a charity to be named later. An audience of 100,000 is expected to turn out for the sold-out event, which will also feature performances by Christina Aguilera, Sisqo, Destiny's Child, Travis , Bon Jovi, the Corrs and the remaining members of Queen and boy band Five . For more information on the concert, go to www.pitp2000.com. Meanwhile, B-Boy Howie Dorough raised over $100,000 Sunday at a benefit concert and auction at Universal Studios in Florida. Dorough held Lupus 2000 to both honor his late sister Caroline Dorough-Cochran, who succumbed to lupus in 1998, and to raise funds for research of the chronic autoimmune disorder. Joining Dorough onstage at the benefit was fellow B-Boy A.J. McLean for a duet on the Commodores' "Brick House," a tune the two had sung together on McLean's solo dates earlier this year when McLean performed under the moniker Johnny No Name. Donations to the Caroline Dorough-Cochran Lupus Memorial Foundation can be made by calling either (321) 725-8599 or (407) 303-2784, or by writing to the Florida Hospital Foundation Fund at 2809 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL, 32804 . . .

Metallica will chat live with fans on July 7 at 6:45 p.m. EST, thanks to Marsmusic.com, sponsors of the rockers' Summer Sanitarium Tour. The members of Metallica will speak live with fans for thirty minutes right before their performance at Atlanta's Georgia Dome that same night. Marsmusic.com will also sponsor a live webcast from Metallica's San Francisco concert on July 14 at 9 p.m. Go to www.marsmusic.com for more information . . .

If you missed the now-defunct Smashing Pumpkins on their recent U.S. tour, you can catch a Web cast of the band's performance from the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles on May 23 -- the concert following Billy Corgan's bombshell announcement on KROQ that the band was calling it quits. The July 13 Web cast that takes place at 2 and 10 p.m. EST on www.virginjamcast.com, as well as on the band's official site www.smashingpumpkins.com, is a preview to "Smashing Pumpkins On Demand Weekend" during which fans can view the concert in its entirety from July 21 to July 23. The performance features old school tracks such as Gish's "I Am One" as well as the Machina tracks "Stand Inside Your Love" and current single "I Of The Mourning." "1994 was the last time we released a video with any live footage," Corgan says. "This is a great opportunity for everyone who missed the tour to see a high-quality Webcast of the band live in concert." A live download of "The Everlasting Gaze" recorded from the aforementioned Los Angeles show and Machina B-side "Speed Kills" can be downloaded for free via www.virginjamcast.com. For a band that's broken up, the Pumpkins are keeping pretty busy. Aside from wrapping up some dates in Japan, the band plans to return to the studio in July "to complete some of the extra special Machina tracks" and promise "more surprises to come," according to the band's official site . . .

R&B divas-in-the-making Destiny's Child have been tapped to record the first single for the highly anticipated Charlie's Angels film starring Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz. The song "Independent Woman" will be the first single off the soundtrack, which is due this coming fall. Destiny's Child have just finished work on the video for their next single, the Missy Elliot -penned "Jumpin Jumpin" off The Writing's On the Wall and are currently on tour with Christina Aguilera . . .

Alanis Morissette will perform at the third annual Yahoo! Internet Life Online Music Awards, which honors the Internet's most innovative Web sites, on July 24 in New York City. Aimee Mann, Isaac Hayes and DJ Rapp are also slated to perform. John Leguizamo will host the event and David Bowie will receive the Online Pioneer of the Year award. A full list of nominees, including Rollingstone.com, nominated for best music reference site, is available at www.zdnet.com. Morissette will further seal her Internet presence by appearing on the cover of Yahoo! Internet Life's August issue . . .

Will Smith is being sued by the members of the Furious Five for allegedly sampling a portion of their 1979 hit "Superappin'" on his recent single, "Will2K." The plaintiffs, group members Guy Williams, Nathaniel Glover, Melvin Glover and Eddie Morris, filed a suit on Friday in San Francisco's U.S. District Court charging Smith, Sony Music Entertainment, Treyball Music and Bobby Robinson for copyright infringement and unfair competition, seeking general damages. "Will 2K," a single off of Smith's Willenium album, names Smith and Bobby Robinson as writers of the song. According to the suit, "defendants knew or should have known that their packaging credits were false and misleading before copies [of the album] were made available to the public..." There was no response from Smith's camp at press time . . .

Former Tribe Called Quest member Q-Tip pled guilty Monday to charges of assault in the third degree and was granted unconditional discharge by a Manhattan judge. The charges stemmed from an incident this past March when Q-Tip struck Kenrick Miranda, breaking his jaw. According to the Manhattan DA's office, Q-Tip's release is without terms or conditions such as probation or counseling. The only punishment the rapper suffered was to pay $120 in court fees. Miranda, however, has threatened to file a civil suit against Q-Tip, seeking compensation for over $10,000 in medical fees resulting from his jaw surgery . . .

Just in time for election, the Presidents of the United States decided to reconstitute themselves under the shorter moniker, the Presidents, and join the cyber revolution. The band released their latest, Freaked Out and Small, over the Internet earlier this week at www.musicblitz.com -- a whole two months before its brick and mortar release on Sept. 12 via Musicblitz partners Koch International. The music and technology company offers "Fan Edition" releases which, according to Musicblitz CEO Brett Moore, allows fans who buy the album online to get their name in the liner notes and access streaming video episodes that show the band recording the album in Olympic Studios with Martin "Tuatara, Super Deluxe" Feveyear. Also there are no-holds-barred band diaries revealing in-studio photos and MP3 downloads. So how many fans will Musicblitz be able to accommodate in the liner notes? "We don't know, I guess we'll find out," says Moore . . .

While the rest of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band rests during their day-off Wednesday (the band wraps up its multi-night engagement at Madison Square Garden on Thursday and Saturday), guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt will make an in-store appearance at the New York Tower Records at 66th and Broadway to sign copies of his recent solo album, Born Again Savage. He'll be arriving at the store at 5 p.m., but given the throngs of fans at the Garden every night for the last week, arriving early might be wise . . .

David Bowie provided this year's Glastonbury Festival with one of its biggest finales, playing a two-hour set on Sunday night that a generous helping of hits including "Fame," "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Under Pressure." Playing Glastonbury for the first time since 1971, Bowie told the crowd, "I'm having a fucking brilliant time." Glastonbury 2000 may be the last time Bowie brings out the old tunes for a while. With wife Iman expecting a baby in August, Bowie told London's Daily Mirror that "After Glastonbury, that's it for about eighteen months. I'm becoming a recluse now!" Other Glastonbury highlights included performances from main stage acts like Travis, Cypress Hill , Moby, the Chemical Brothers and a surprise Friday night appearance by Fatboy Slim. But the festival was not without its problems. The police estimate that some twenty thousand concert goers got into the event illegally by digging under or going over the top of the fourteen foot fence that surrounds the grounds. The event, now in its thirtieth year, also saw 187 arrests and over one thousand reported incidents, mostly involving drug possession and theft . . .

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, who ran like hell from the altar in the video to the group's Fly single "Ready to Run" (and divorced her first husband last year), seems to have gotten over her nuptials hang-ups. The twenty-five-year-old singer married her boyfriend, actor Adrian Pasdar (who appears in the Chicks' "Goodbye Earle" video) Saturday night in Las Vegas, forking over $55 to exchange vows at the quick-and-easy A Little White Wedding Chapel. They chased the ceremony with a couple hours of gambling -- winning $740 -- before the Chicks bus rolled out of town just after 2 a.m. to get to the next town . . .

Ol' Dirty Bastard will have to sit out the Wu-Tang Clan's upcoming Underground summer tour (set to kick off July 24 in State College, Penn.,), as he's been ordered by a Los Angeles judge to spend the next six months at the Impact House Drug Rehabilitation Center in Pasadena, Calif., as punishment for violating his probation. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office reported that ODB, who was sentenced last November to three years' probation after pleading no contest to charges of making terrorist threats, violated probation when he was found in possession of alcohol after a New York court appearance in January. The rapper will enter Impact immediately . . .

Although reports surfacing about a new Family Values tour this fall have listed Marilyn Manson as a potential headliner, manager Tony Ciulla insists that the band is too busy recording their next album to tour in the immediate future. "Manson has been offered slots on almost every festival and tour this summer, but I can tell you Manson has no touring plans for this summer or fall," Ciulla told Rolling Stone. Interscope Records does not have the record on its current schedule, but Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) is rumored to be released in time for Halloween . . .

Limp Bizkit have pushed the start of their free tour back a week. The initial dates in Chicago and Minneapolis (set to begin July 4) have been scrapped in favor of a July 11 start-date in Detroit, Mich. The cancelled dates will be rescheduled later . . .

Bad news for Chuck D fans -- the incendiary rapper has pulled his new band, Confrontation Camp (which featured his old Public Enemy pal, Professor Griff) off this year's Warped Tour at the eleventh hour. According to the band's rep, there was nothing sinister about their exit. "Their record was pushed back from July 25 to August 8 -- so they didn't want to go out on the road with it being unfinished." What held it up? Cover art, according to label Artemis Records. Look for the band to head out onto the road in early August, after their debut record, Objects In the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, is finally in stores . . .

DMX (born Earl Simmons) pled not guilty on Wednesday to charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, stemming from an incident last January in which the rapper's vehicle spun off the highway, leaving Simmons with minor injuries. An inspection of the vehicle after the accident produced a 9mm handgun and a small amount of marijuana. Simmons claims that the vehicle was borrowed from an acquaintance, and he had no idea the gun was in the car. After pleading not guilty to the charges in front of a Westchester County, N.Y. grand jury, Simmons was released on $10,000 bond. If convicted, Simmons could face up to seven years in prison. Simmons already has charges of marijuana possession and driving without a license on his record . . .

Let no one say that Carlos Santana doesn't repay a favor. As payback of sorts for Everlast 's contribution to Santana's multi-million-selling Supernatural, the guitarist will now join Everlast in a San Francisco studio to play guitar on the track "Babylon Feeling" for the rapper's upcoming album Eat at Whitey's. The follow-up to Whitey Ford Sings the Blues is due on October 18, and the first single is tentatively scheduled as "Black Jesus." You can catch Everlast, who has also tapped B-Real of Cypress Hill and Rahzel of the Roots for the new record, to open a handful of dates with Santana in Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Milwaukee through August . . .

Thirteen major record labels -- including Warner Bros., BMG, and Sony -- filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Bakersfield, Calif., MP3 site MP3Board.com on Friday, claiming that the site's search engine provides links to illegally copied songs on the Web. The suit comes three weeks after MP3Board filed its own suit against the Recording Industry of America in an effort to keep the RIAA from shutting the site down.

CHRISTINA SARACENO, GABRIELLE SCHAFER, RICHARD SKANSE, JAAN UHELSZKI, JENNIFER VINEYARD
(June 29, 2000)