COUNTING CROWS will perform at the Atlantic City House of Blues on July 8th to mark the New Jersey venue's grand opening . . . CHINGY, JOSS STONE, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, RYAN CABRERA and LLOYD BANKS have joined SUM 41, SIMPLE PLAN and VELVET REVOLVER on the Fantastic Four soundtrack, due in stores July 5th . . . Christian rockers SWITCHFOOT, AS I LAY DYING, JARS OF CLAY and BLOODY SUNDAY will play the four-day Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois, June 30th through July 3rd . . . YELLOWCARD are set to perform The Breakfast Club theme song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" -- originally recorded by SIMPLE MINDS -- at the MTV Movie Awards as part of a twentieth anniversary tribute to the Eighties classic. The awards show airs June 9th . . . The GORILLAZ kick off a virtual U.S. radio tour -- performances can be streamed from the Web sites of thirty-nine radio stations throughout the country -- on June 6th at Seattle's KNDD 107.7 The End on 1077theend.com . . .

G-UNIT singer OLIVIA will release her new album, Behind Closed Doors, on July 19th . . . Fuse launches its daily video show, Hip-Hop Confidential, on June 6th, with videos from 50 CENT, T.I. and the WU-TANG CLAN . . . Newly reunited psychedelic pop band OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL will play Chicago's Subterranean on July 29th and New York's Bowery Ballroom on August 2nd and 3rd . . . LUDACRIS and the KAISER CHIEFS are taking on gamers at the Xbox Live Game With Fame sessions. The Atlanta rapper will play Microsoft Game Studios' Forza Motorsports on June 10th, while the Brit rockers will try their luck at EA's Burnout3: Takedown on June 13th . . . Apple is issuing fifty-dollar credits and extended service warranties to iPod customers who have poor battery life as part of the settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by eight consumers. More information is available at appleipodsettlement.com . . .

BILLY CORGAN has recorded nearly thirty acoustic tracks about his hometown for the tentatively titled The Chicago Songs. The former SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman plans to release the material as part of a documentary DVD . . . DESTINY'S CHILD will kick off their Destiny Fulfilled...and Lovin' It tour July 9th in St. Louis. The pop group will first make a stop at the Essence Music Festival on July 2nd in New Orleans . . . LYNYRD SKYNYRD, JEFF BATES and TRICK PONY have joined the lineup for the CMA Music Festival, taking place June 9th to 12th in Nashville. They will join DOLLY PARTON, KEITH URBAN, RASCAL FLATTS, KENNY ROGERS and BIG AND RICH on the four-day event . . . NAS, JADAKISS, AMERIE, MARIO WINANS and M.O.P. have recorded exclusive tracks for Wendy Williams Brings the Heat: Vol. 1, named for the New York radio personality, due June 28th . . . The FOO FIGHTERS will perform a concert to launch the digital download service Rhapsody 25 at the former Walker Air Base -- the cite of an alleged UFO crash -- on June 18th in Roswell, New Mexico . . .

The YING YANG TWINS new CD, U.S.A., will feature a $50 Exxon gift card in 500 CDs and will offer fans a chance to enter an online contest to win free gas for a year. U.S.A., which stands for United State of Atlanta, will hit stores June 28th . . . SPOON, BRENDAN BENSON, Q AND NOT U and the DEARS will perform at the Village Voice Siren Music Festival, taking place at New York's Coney Island on July 16th . . . JASON MRAZ will sing the national anthem at the MNBA RacePoints 400 on June 5th at Dover International Raceway in Delaware . . . R&B vets the GAP BAND will receive the Icon award at the fifth-annual BMI Urban awards on August 26th in Miami . . . New York rockers NADA SURF will release The Weight Is a Gift on September 20th . . . Hip-hoppers BLACKALICIOUS will release their fifth full-length album, The Craft, on September 27th . . .

SNOOP DOGG and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS will headline the mash-up-themed Amsterjam concert at New York's Randall Island on August 20th. The festival will also feature MOS DEF, GARBAGE, FAT JOE and 311 performing individual sets as well as live rock/hip-hop collaborations . . . PAUL McCARTNEY has signed a deal with Penguin Publishing to release his first children's picture book, High in the Clouds: An Urban Furry Tale, on October 4th . . . NINE INCH NAILS' TRENT REZNOR has been awarded $2.95 million after winning the case against his former manager, John Malm, for breach of contract and fraud . . . KELLY CLARKSON will kick off her U.S. summer tour in Del Mar, California, on June 29th. It wraps in Las Vegas on September 10th . . . RAY MANZAREK, IAN ASTBURY and ROGER KRIEGER of the DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY will be featured in the premiere episode of the VH1 Classic network's concert series Decades Rock Live in September. JANE'S ADDICTION's PERRY FARRELL, MACY GRAY, PAT TRAVERS and ANTIGONE RISING will make guest appearances on the show . . .

Former MOTLEY CRUE drummer TOMMY LEE's third solo album, Tommyland: The Ride, has been pushed back to August 9th with the rocker's reality show, Tommy Lee Goes to College, premiering a week later on August 16th . . . Capitol/EMI will release MEGADETH's seventeen-track CD/DVD Greatest Hits: Back to the Start on June 28th . . . JOURNEY will launch their thirtieth anniversary U.S. tour on June 26th in Irvine, California . . . British rocker AQUALUNG will perform a benefit concert for Housing Works Inc. -- a not-for-profit organization that provides healthcare, housing and other services to homeless or formerly homeless people with HIV/AIDS -- on July 8th in New York . . . The DECEMBERISTS, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, GO! TEAM, FOUR TET, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE and JEAN GRAE will perform at the inaugural Intonation festival in Chicago on July 16th and 17th . . . The Scottish baroque-pop artist MOMUS will perform alongside Japanese performance artist Mai Ueda at New York's Zach Feuer Gallery, June 25th to July 15th . . .

COMMON will play a mini-tour of House of Blues in select cities: Chicago (June 1st and 2nd), West Hollywood (June 6th), Anaheim (June 7th) and San Diego (June 8th) . . . The WHO's surviving members ROGER DALTREY and PETE TOWNSHEND will appear in the documentary My Generation: Who's Still Who, due in theaters next year. The film will be directed by Murray Lerner, who did The Who -- Live at the Isle of Wight, and will include exclusive footage of the band at 1967's Monterey Pop and 1969's Woodstock festivals . . . MATTHEW SWEET will cover TOM PETTY's "American Girl" on the tribute CD, High School Reunion, due October 15th. The album features VIC CHESNUTT, LEMONHEADS' JOHN STROHM and others covering songs from the popular teen movies of the Eighties . . . MCA/Nashville will release LORETTA LYNN -- The Definitive Collection on June 7th. The compilation album features twenty-five of the country legend's originals songs remastered with liner notes and photos . . . TALIB KWELI will join the BLACK EYED PEAS on their summer tour, which kicks off June 11th at Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival . . .

JAMIROQUAI will release his new album, Dynamite, on June 21st, followed by a Live 8 performance in Paris on July 2nd . . . SPARTA guitarist PAUL HINOJOS has left the band to rejoin the MARS VOLTA. Hinojos will be aboard for Mars' final four U.S. dates on their current tour . . . CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVISITED, the DOOBIE BROTHERS, the SUPREMES, FIFTH DIMENSION and the MIKE LOVE-fronted BEACH BOYS will perform at the veterans tribute concert series Operation Homecoming USA, June 13th to 19th in Branson, Missouri . . . COREY CLARK -- former American Idol contestant who claimed to have an affair with judge PAULA ABDUL -- will release his self-titled debut album on June 21st . . . Jazz singer OSCAR BROWN died in a Chicago hospital on May 29th. Brown contributed lyrics to jazz instrumentals by MILES DAVIS and performed alongside DIZZY GILLESPIE and JOHN COLTRANE. He was seventy-eight years old . . .