Drummer Butch Vig was forced to pull out of Garbage's European tour after being diagnosed with hepatitis A . . . Jewel, Pink, Sugar Ray, Lifehouse and Five For Fighting have joined the lineup for the Z100 Jingle Ball, which is set for December 13th . . . Eminem's Web-based animated series, Eminem Presents: The Slim Shady Show, will be released on DVD in late-November . . . Henry Rollins and Tommy Lee will make appearances in The New Guy, a teen comedy set for release early next year . . . Paul McCartney's Concert for New York City, which featured performances by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, David Bowie and others, has grossed more than $30 million so far, making it the highest grossing event in the history of Madison Square Garden . . .

AOL users can stream Britney Spears' upcoming album, Britney, on November 5th using the AOL keywords "Britney" or "Listening Party" . . . Tony Bennett will preside over the Nasdaq Stock Market opening ceremony Monday in New York City to kick off the release of his new album, Playin' With My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues . . . Grateful Dead Productions have reached a settlement with guitar-maker Douglas Irwin allowing the group to purchase some of the guitars that Irwin custom-designed for the late Jerry Garcia . . . John Digweed won an award for being the Best DJ in the World at a bash held by DJ Magazine in London on October 30th . . . T Bone Burnett will take Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley and others from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack out for an eighteen-date tour starting January 25th in Lexington, Kentucky . . .

Hanson filed a lawsuit against MP3.com on October 30th in a Los Angeles court, charging the company with copyright infringement . . . Sting is offering two free downloads, "Fragile" and "All This Time," from his upcoming live album on www.sting.com . . . Lou Reed will perform at Hal Willner's tribute to Doc Pomus on November 7th to benefit the Poetry Project in New York City . . . B.B. King will kick off his twenty-eight-date Christmas Celebration of Hope tour on November 4th in Edmonton, Alberta . . . A woman filed a $1 million lawsuit against Jay-Z in New York City on October 31st alleging that she contributed backing vocals to his hit single, "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" . . . Jethro Tull's first three albums -- This Was, Stand Up and Benefit -- will be reissued on January 8th with digital remastering and bonus tracks . . .

Willie Nelson will appear in Merle Haggard's video for "If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time)," which appears on Haggard's upcoming album, Roots Vol. 1 . . . Spoon will hit the road on November 9th for a fifteen-date tour before heading into the studio to work on their next record, due next year . . . Lucy Pearl singer Joi will release her fourth solo album, Star Kitty's Revenge, in early 2002 . . . The Strokes will kick off a nine-date U.S. tour on November 14th in Philadelphia, before heading to Japan to promote their debut album, Is This It . . . Poe will kick off a twenty-date tour on November 4th in Salt Lake City . . . Rick Nelson's Greatest Hits will be released on February 12th . . .

A Superior Court judge in California threw out a lawsuit that accused Slayer and Columbia Records of marketing death metal to minors on October 29th; the suit was filed after a fifteen-year-old boy was murdered by three teenage Slayer fans who claimed that listening to the band caused them to commit the crime . . . Songs by Elvis Presley, Quincy Jones and Perry Como will be included on the soundtrack for Ocean's 11, which will be released on December 4th . . . The Cranberries have placed a previously unreleased track, "Many Days," on www.cranberries.ie for download . . . Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, the Black Eyed Peas and Thalia will join Garth Brooks in Dr. Pepper's 2002 television ad campaign; Brooks' spot will actually debut on November 3rd to help promote his new album, Scarecrow . . .

Ben Folds will launch a sixteen-date tour with Clem Snide on November 19th in Rochester, N.Y. . . . Stone Temple Pilots have recorded a cover of the Beatles' "Revolution," to be included on an enhanced CD single due November 27th; proceeds from the single will benefit the Twin Towers Fund . . . Steve Earle, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Patti Griffin will begin a six-city tour of benefits for a Landmine Free World, starting December 2nd in Detroit . . . Former Whiskeytown violinist Caitlin Cary will release her solo debut, While You Weren't Looking, on February 26th . . . Gravity Kills will release their new album, Superstarved, early next year on Sanctuary Records; the group will kick off a tour with Pigface and Godhead on November 14th in Royal Oak, Michigan . . .

Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella Records proteges Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek will star in State Property, a new feature film about the rise and fall of a drug kingpin . . . Radiohead were named the Band of the Year at the Q Awards in London on Monday, topping U2, R.E.M., Stereophonics and last year's winners, Travis, whose The Invisible Band took honors for Best Album . . . Bjork will release a trio of DVDs -- Live at Shepherd's Bush, Live in Cambridge and Unplugged/Live 'n' Loud on November 19th . . . System of a Down's Toxicity was certified platinum by the RIAA less than two months after its release . . . Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas appeared at a Save the Music Foundation event in Buffalo, New York, on October 29th, in which more than $1 million was presented to the music programs of the city's public schools . . . Soil have joined the lineup for Ozzy Ozbourne and Rob Zombie's Merry Mayhem Tour, which kicks off tonight in Tucson, Arizona . . .

The Pet Shop Boys have finished recording fourteen songs for their next album which will be released next spring . . . Mick Jagger will be the subject of an ABC special, Being Mick, to air on November 22nd . . . To celebrate the November 6th release of Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, Capitol Records will fly a replica of the 1976 inflatable pig -- which appeared in Floyd concerts and on the cover of "Animals" -- above their Hollywood offices . . . Wilco have placed an October 6th performance from St. Louis on their Web site for download; the show includes four previously unreleased tracks . . . Jennifer Lopez will earn $12 million for playing a gunslinger in Gigli, which will begin shooting next month . . . Singer Tim Booth will leave James when the band's current tour wraps in December . . .

Korn are placing a Demo Submission Box at stops on the Family Values Tour in an attempt to discover and sign new talent to the band's Elementree Records label . . . Lou Reed and Robert Wilson's latest theater collaboration, POEtry, will open in the U.S. on November 27th as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's "Next Wave Festival"; the production features thirteen new songs by Reed . . . Snoop Dogg will perform a November 11th benefit at the Ramona Bowl in Hemet, California, with a portion of the proceeds going to the American Red Cross . . . The Pet Shop Boys will release Montage, a DVD/VHS that captures their 1999-2000 Nightlife Tour, on November 20th . . . Destiny's Child won awards for Artist of the Year/Top 40-Pop Radio and Artist of the Year/Hip-Hop Rhythmic Radio at the 2001 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas over the weekend . . . Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Travis have been added to the lineup for the MTV Europe Music Awards, which will take place November 8th in Frankfurt, Germany . . .

Enya will release a new CD single featuring "Oiche Chiun (Silent Night)" and a remix of "Only Time" on November 20th, with proceeds going to the International Association of Firefighters . . . Linkin Park will kick off a ten-date headlining tour on November 18th in Vancouver with (Hed)pe and the X-ecutioners in tow . . . Garth Brooks will make a rare concert appearance to perform holiday music on December 8th at the Lime Creek Christmas production in Nashville . . . Former N.W.A. collaborator the D.O.C. has tapped Ice Cube, Xzibit, MC Ren, Kurupt and others for his new album, Deuce, due early next year . . . Dolly Parton has postponed her New Year's Eve bluegrass benefit concert until next spring due to scheduling conflicts among the guest musicians tapped for the event . . .

(November 2, 2001)