American Idol runner-up BO BICE and his wife Caroline had their first child, Aiden Bice, on September 24th. The couple was married in Bice's native Alabama in June . . . The BLACK CROWES will host their first Freak N Roll costume contest on Halloween at Chicago's Riviera Theatre. Ten costumed fans will be able to meet the band and join them onstage, and the rockers will select one winner to be awarded a Best Costume of 2005 trophy . . . Songs by KAISER CHIEFS, KASABIAN, the SHOUT OUT LOUDS, GORILLAZ, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM and STARS will appear on The OC Mix 5, due November 8th . . . The DIXIE CHICKS' new recording "I Hope," performed at Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon on September 9th, is now available as an exclusive download at all major online music retailers, benefiting Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The track, produced by the group and RICK RUBIN, was recorded the night before the telethon with pedal-steel guitar virtuoso ROBERT RANDOLPH . . . COLDPLAY and GORILLAZ both nabbed five nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards. GWEN STEFANI received four nods, while 50 CENT, GREEN DAY, SNOOP DOGG, U2 and JAMES BLUNT each got three. The show will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 3rd, with Coldplay, Green Day, FOO FIGHTERS, BLACK EYED PEAS and ROBBIE WILLIAMS set to perform . . . MOTLEY CRUE recently recorded their classic "Home Sweet Home" with LINKIN PARK's CHESTER BENNINGTON, a twenty-five member gospel choir and twenty-six-piece orchestra to help Katrina victims. The track is available exclusively through iTunes, with all proceeds going to Katrina relief efforts . . .

FOO FIGHTERS and WEEZER have teamed up with Conscious Alliance to host a food drive for Katrina victims at their September 30th show in Denver. All those that donate either five non-perishable food items or $5 will be entered to win one of five Foos posters signed by the band . . . LINDA PERRY will play a string of dates, beginning October 14th in San Francisco, in support of the re-release of her solo album, In Flight. The rocker will wrap up her mini-tour on November 5th in New York . . . LIMP BIZKIT's Greatest Hits album hits stores November 8th. The compilation includes the tracks "Nookie," "Rollin'" and "Break Stuff," along with three previously unreleased tracks: "Lean On Me," "Why" and the as-yet-untitled mash-up of VERVE's "Bittersweet Symphony" and MOTLEY CRUE's "Home Sweet Home" . . . MISSY ELLIOTT is home recuperating from surgery on September 21st to repair a torn Achilles tendon, which she injured during a rehearsal for the TV Guide Emmy party. The rapper was forced to cancel an appearance at last week's VH1's Hip Hip Honors, as well as an October 10th show in London, though she still plans on performing in New York on October 8th. Rehabilitation could take six to twelve months . . . STEVE HARWELL of SMASH MOUTH and POISON's C.C. DeVILLE will join the cast of the VH1 reality series The Surreal Life. The new season is scheduled to premiere in January . . . REDMAN will be featured as a character in the True Crime: New York City video game, due from Activision this fall. The rapper's "Rush the Security," from his upcoming Red Gone Wild CD, will appear on the soundtrack, along with two other original tracks. Songs by JAY-Z, the RAMONES, BOB DYLAN, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, TRIBE CALLED QUEST and VELVET UNDERGROUND will also appear on the soundtrack . . . Stax Records will release the two-CD greatest hits collection Ultimate ISAAC HAYES -- Can You Dig It? on November 1st. The set will include a bonus DVD with Chef (the South Park character Hayes lends his voice to) performing "Chocolate Salty Balls" . . .

TOM WAITS' previously unreleased "Little Drop of Poison," on which he's backed by the KRONOS QUARTET, will lead the Filter Magazine/Urban Outfitters Hurricane Benefit Compilation double CD, due next month in eighty Urban Outfitters stores and at urbanoutfitters.com. The CD will also feature unreleased tracks from DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, TV ON THE RADIO and BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, along with remixed versions of BECK's "Broken Drum" and GANG OF FOUR's "Natural's Not In It." The project hopes to raise $150,000 to donate to the American Red Cross . . . The late rapper NOTORIOUS B.I.G. continues to live on with the release of The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter on November 29th. The first single off the album -- which will also include a DVD of never-before-seen performance footage, interviews and videos -- is "Hold Ya Head," featuring another late superstar: BOB MARLEY . . . SYSTEM OF A DOWN along with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Axis of Justice and the Armenian Youth Federation are going to rally outside the office of Rep. Dennis Hastert in Batavia, Illinois on September 27th to make sure the politician keeps his commitment to hold a vote on the pending Armenian Genocide legislation. The rockers, all of Armenian descent, have made awareness of global genocide a central message of the band . . . MELISSA ETHERIDGE has partnered with Hard Rock International in an effort to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. The Hard Rock will donate proceeds from the sales of a special collector's edition Hard Rock Breast Cancer Awareness Pin to the singer's charity of choice, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation . . . SIMPLE PLAN will kick off their fall tour on October 22nd in San Diego with supporting acts STRAYLIGHT RUN, PARAMORE and PLAIN WHITE T's. The trek will wrap November 19th in Los Angeles . . .

STEVIE WONDER's A Time to Love will be available as a digital download on September 27th and will hit stores October 18th. PRINCE, PAUL McCARTNEY, INDIA.ARIE, EN VOGUE and Wonder's daughter AISHA MORRIS appear on the album. Wonder recently added the track "Shelter in the Rain," inspired by the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, with gospel producer KIRK FRANKLIN. Proceeds from the single will go to the Wonder Foundation and will be appropriated for hurricane relief efforts . . . BRIAN WILSON is challenging fans to donate money to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts by promising that he will personally call everyone who donates $100 or more. The former BEACH BOY will also match those donations posted through his Web site by October 1st . . . The recently reunited FUGEES' new single "Be Easy" has been leaked onto the Internet. The hip-hop threesome's much-anticipated reunion record has a tentative release date of December 27th . . . Troubled country singer MINDY McCREADY was hospitalized -- for the second time in two months -- for a drug overdose this weekend after ingesting almost thirty pills in what was said to be a suicide attempt. The singer, who is also pregnant, was taken to a Nashville hospital and is expected to recover . . . The PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA made the first music video shot entirely on mobile phone camera technology for the track "Some Postman," off their latest CD Love Everybody . . . The YING YANG TWINS have inked a deal to star in their first film, a comedy called Viagra Falls.