The Backstreet Boys' Kevin Richardson testified before a Senate subcommittee yesterday, in hopes of stopping the practice of mountaintop-removal coal mining, which is destroying Appalachian waterways . . . Brian McKnight, Ashanti and Musiq will headline the T.J. Martell Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Gala, in honor of BET founder Robert Johnson on June 11th in New York . . . The twenty-plus members of Texas symphonic rockers Polyphonic Spree will hit the road for a rare tour starting June 15th in London; the tour will also make five stops in the New York City area in late June . . . Drug charges against Dionne Warwick were dropped as part of a plea bargain that included a drug treatment program and shooting an anti-drug public service announcement. Warwick was arrested for marijuana possession on May 12th in Miami . . .

The Vines will headline a twenty-one-date U.S. tour starting July 9th in Cleveland; the band will be promoting their upcoming album, Highly Evolved, due on July 16th . . . Former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft is working on his second solo album, which will feature a guest appearance by Beach Boy Brian Wilson, due this fall . . . Limp Bizkit's tour manager appeared at an inquest in Sydney, Australia, on June 5th and testified that promoters of the Big Day Out festival were responsible for the melee that left one fan dead at a January 2001 event . . . Alicia Keys, David Lee Roth, Poison and Cinderella will perform at the New York State Fair's summer concert series, which runs from August 22nd through September 1st . . . Ted Nugent, Aaron Carter and Lonestar have signed on to play the Missouri State Fair, August 8-18 in Sedalia, Missouri . . .

Kid Rock and Run-D.M.C. will join Aerosmith on select dates of the Boston band's upcoming summer tour . . . Wyclef Jean was arrested for disorderly conduct at a rally in New York City on June 4th to protest cuts in funding to city schools, after he attempted to perform at the event. Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs were among other musicians at the event . . . Songs by Joey Ramone, Joan Jett and the Stone Roses will be included on the soundtrack to Getting There, due June 11th . . . Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will headline the I-Fi Fest, which is scheduled for July 4th in Atlanta; J Mascis and Ugly Casanova will also perform . . . Underworld's next albumm, 100 Years, will be released on September 20th . . . Static-X frontman Wayne Static will host MTV's Extreme Rock on June 10th . . .

Moby has now lined up fourteen performances starting July 10th in St. Paul, Minnesota, prior to the launch of this summer's Area2 festival tour . . . The Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy will present Janet Jackson with its Governors Award on June 20th in Beverly Hills . . . The concert in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, which featured Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ricky Martin, Paul McCartney and others, will be released as Party at the Palace on DVD on July 2nd . . . Six European Ozzfest dates have been cancelled after Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Zakk Wylde was forced to return to the U.S. due to illness . . . Taking Back Sunday, the Alps and others will take the stage at New York City's Irving Plaza on June 15th to raise money for the medical expenses of Saves The Day's Sean McGrath, who is suffering from cancer . . .

Sting and Elton John will perform at the fifteenth annual Carousel of Hope benefit, which will take place on October 15th in Beverly Hills, California . . . The Strokes will play a five-night stretch on Weezer's upcoming tour, starting July 15th in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio . . . Wyclef Jean will perform at the Freedom Concert series on June 14th at the Astroland amusement park in Coney Island, New York . . . The Eels will release Electro-Shock Blues Show, a live album recorded in 1998, on July 8th . . . Pulp's next album will be released in the U.S. in September . . . DJ Shadow has dropped out of this summer's Smokin' Grooves tour due to scheduling conflicts . . . Moe and Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade will perform two nights at the Moe or Less Festival on July 12th and 13th in Brandywine, Maryland . . .

Drummer Matt Chamberlain will fill in for Garbage's Butch Vig on the band's tour while the latter recovers from an ear infection . . . Little Feat have started their own label, Hot Tomato Records; the band's first releases will be a pair of two-CD live retrospectives, Raw Tomatoes (Vol. 1) and Ripe Tomatoes (Vol. 1), due June 18th . . . Rodney Crowell will serve as MC for the next Down From the Mountain tour, which begins June 25th in Louisville, Kentucky; Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley and others are on board for the tour . . . Shivaree will release their second album, Rough Dreams, on September 17th . . .

Will Smith won Best Actor (for Ali) and Mandy Moore won Breakthrough Actress honors (for A Walk to Remember) at the MTV Movie Awards on June 1st in Los Angeles . . . Jay-Z and Russell Simmons are among those who will demonstrate in New York City this week, protesting the city's plans to cut funding to public schools . . . Underground rap star South Park Mexican (a.k.a. Carlos Coy) was sentenced to forty-five years in prison on June 1st in Houston after his May 18th conviction of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl . . . Sam Moore's lost 1970 album, Plenty Good Lovin', which features guest appearances by Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway, will be released in late-summer . . . Bo Diddley, Living Colour, the North Mississippi Allstars and others will take the stage at the WNED Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival, which runs June 13th through the 23rd . . .

Jay Bennett and Edward Burch will hit the road with a full band for nine dates starting June 25th in Columbus, Ohio . . . Nick Lowe has lined up fourteen dates behind his latest album, The Convincer, starting July 12th in Santa Barbara, California . . . Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Evan Dando, St. Etienne, Lambchop and others have recorded Lee Hazlewood songs for Total Lee, a new tribute due August 6th . . . Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds has written new songs for Love Makes Things Happen, a musical that will make its debut on June 18th in Washington, D.C.; the show will travel to twenty-two cities on a U.S. tour . . . Motown singer Sharissa will sing the national anthem at the Mike Tyson/Lennox Lewis heavyweight title bout on June 8th in Memphis . . .

(June 6, 2002)