Celine Dion inked a three-year, multi-million advertising deal with Chrysler for a print, broadcast and Internet ad series that will launch early next year; Dion will record a new song just for the campaign . . . British composer Tolga Kashif has incorporated thirteen Queen songs, including "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," into a new composition he calls the "Queen Symphony" . . . Femi Kuti and Chris Botti have joined the lineup for the November 11th You Rock My Soul benefit at New York's Carnegie Hall; Meshell Ndegeocello and Cassandra Wilson will also perform . . .

Avril Lavigne will headline the Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning organization's annual awards dinner on November 18th in New York City . . . Britney Spears received the Children's Choice Award at the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund's annual Tour for a Cure concert in Los Angeles on November 4th . . . Moby has recorded a message for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, urging Thanksgiving revelers to protest the raising, killing and consumption of turkeys . . . Beastie Boys' collaborator Mixmaster Mike will join GUNS N' ROSES for their fall tour, starting November 7th in Vancouver . . .

Ozzy Osbourne and his family will host the thirtieth annual American Music Awards, scheduled for January 16th in Los Angeles; the second season of the family's The Osbournes television show will begin November 26th . . . The Janet Jackson puppet from Celebrity Death Match can be bid on at the LIFEbeat Sound of Art Auction on November 12th in New York City; also available is artwork by Joni Mitchell and Marilyn Manson . . . Pearl Jam have lined up a ten-date tour of Australia and Japan, to kick off February 8th . . . Don Henley joined Bruce Springsteen onstage in Dallas on November 3rd for a cover of Bobby Fuller's "I Fought the Law" . . .

Jay-Z, Kid Rock, Ashanti, Ja Rule, surviving members of Run-D.M.C. and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have pledged funds to a new coalition that will raise money for the family of slain DJ Jam Master Jay, as well as to assist the investigation of his murder . . . Coldplay received three nominations for the BBC's Top of the Pops Awards, set for November 29th in Manchester, England . . . K-Ci AND Jo Jo will release their new album, Emotional, on November 26th . . . Symphony X will begin a twenty-one-date tour behind The Odyssey with Blind Guardian, starting November 16th in Montreal . . .

Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake, Tony Bennett and K.D. Lang, Toni Braxton and Phil Collins will take part in the Today show's fall morning concert series starting this week . . . Elton John performed his first-ever concert in India on November 2nd before an audience of 15,000 . . . D.A. Pennebaker's 1968 documentary, Monterey Pop, which captured famous performances by the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding and Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janice Joplin, will be released in a three-DVD format on November 12th . . . A Phantom Vox organ-guitar once owned by John Lennon is among the memorabilia going under the hammer in London later this month . . .

Ray Charles received the Disability Awareness Award at the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists at its twentieth annual Media Access Awards in Universal City, California, on November 2nd . . . Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle, died November 3rd while in the middle of a U.K. tour at age seventy-one; Donegal's jug-band style inspired John Lennon, Pete Townshend and others . . . Barbara Streisand duets with Barry Gibb, Celine Dion, Neil Diamond and others will be included on Duets, due November 26th . . . Jimmy Buffett gave a surprise performance in Key West, Florida, on November 1st at the Parrot Heads in Paradise Fan Club's Meeting of the Minds convention . . .

(November 6, 2002)