Jon Bon Jovi has signed on to appear in nine episodes of Ally McBeal starting in early-January . . . 'N Sync have joined the lineup for Michael Jackson's charity single, "What More Can I Give," which will benefit September 11th relief efforts . . . The Pledge of Allegiance Tour, featuring Slipknot and System of a Down, has been extended until November 4th . . . The Deftones will enter the studio next month to record the follow-up to last year's White Pony, with hopes for a spring 2002 release . . . Rhino Records will release the twenty-song The Very Best of Deee-Lite on November 6th . . . The Dave Matthews Band has cancelled an eight-date international tour that was to have begun on November 6th in Mexico . . . Destiny's Child have donated suits to be auctioned at uBid.com starting November 12th to raise money for the Women's Allience . . .

The Smashing Pumpkins will release The Greatest Hits Video Collection 1991-2000 on DVD on November 20th . . . Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley and Nickel Creek have joined the lineup for the thirty-fifth annual Country Music Awards, which are set for November 7th in Nashville . . . The Rat Pack Live at the Sands, featuring a previously unreleased 1963 performance by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin And Sammy Davis Jr. will be released on November 20th . . . Chuck E. Weiss will release his next album, Old Souls and Wolf Tickets, in January. The album features a duet with blues legend Willie Dixon . . . The twenty-one-track The Best of Morrissey will be released on November 6th . . . Neil Finn will release 7 Worlds Collide, a new live album featuring Johnny Marr and Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, on November 12th . . . Sasha and Digweed will kick off a U.S. tour starting November 14th in San Diego . . .

Twenty-six years after its release, Queen's A Night at the Opera, will be reissued in 5.1 Surround Sound, along with the original video for "Bohemian Rhapsody," on November 20th . . . Jay-Z has signed twenty-three-year-old singer RELL as the first R&B recording artist on his Roc-A-Fella label . . . O-Town and Making the Band will kick off their third season on January 4th on MTV . . . DJ Clue will make a guest appearance on Bathgate's debut album, Dear Rich America: My Story to Yo, due early next year . . . The Groundwork 2001 benefit, which featured performances from R.E.M., Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette and Pearl Jam performing over the past week, raised more than $1 million for a United Nations food program . . .

Wilco will kick off the second leg of a tour to showcase their upcoming album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, on November 23rd in Chicago . . . Richard Glenn, a former employee of James Brown, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on October 19th after pleading guilty to forgery, property damage and theft of $75,000 from the singer. Glenn was arrested last year for setting fire to the business offices of James Brown Enterprises . . . 2Pac's backing group, the Outlawz, will release their second album, Novakane, on November 6th . . . Ryan Adams and Beth Orton have cut a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" for inclusion on a compilation in the January issue of the U.K. magazine, Uncut . . .

Sting will perform a free concert in New York City's Bryant Park on October 25th to help Microsoft celebrate the launch of Windows XP . . . System of a Down will donate all band proceeds from their October 31st performance in East Rutherford, New Jersey to the American Red Cross Liberty Fund to aid victims of September 11th . . . The reissue of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Milk and Honey, which was released this week, includes three bonus tracks and an audio excerpt of Lennon's final interview, conducted hours before his murder . . . Barenaked Ladies will kick off a winter tour behind their upcoming hits compilation on November 17th in Portland, Maine . . . Bonnie Raitt will receive the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will receive the Buddy Award at the second annual MAP Awards on November 7th in Los Angeles. MAP is an organization that aids musicians suffering from drug or alcohol dependency . . .

DJ Paul Oakenfold, who had done remix work for the Smashing Pumpkins and the Rolling Stones, has signed with Maverick Records to release his first-ever solo album, due next year . . . King Crimson will hit the road on a twenty-four-date tour to begin November 9th in Nashville. Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones will open . . . Rival Schools have joined the lineup for the Beastie Boys October 28th benefit concert in New York City . . . Roger Waters will take his In the Flesh tour back out on the road for forty-five international dates, starting February 28th in Cape Town, South Africa . . . Sean Lennon has signed with Capitol Records and is working on his second album, the follow-up to 1998's Into the Sun . . . Mack 10 will release Bang or Ball, his first album for Cash Money Records, on December 4th . . .

(October 24, 2001)