Lil' Kim, Anastacia, Macy Gray and Queen Latifah will appear on the soundtrack to "Chicago," due early next year . . . Chumbawumba have placed a new track "Jacob's Ladder (Not My Name)" on Chumba.org for download; the anti-war song criticizes President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for their dealings with Iraq . . . Sir Mix Alot and Juvenile will join NAAM Brigade in Los Angeles today to shoot a video for "What You Doin' Wit Dat" . . . Paul Weller will kick off a ten-date tour behind Illumination on February 6th in San Diego; the album is due January 14th . . . Phil Vassar and Huey Lewis convened in a Las Vegas studio last week to record a new version of the latter's "Workin' for a Livin'" . . .

Shakira and Reebok have joined forces to distribute 10,000 pairs of shoes in her homedown of Barranquilla, Colombia . . . R. Kelly's new album, Chocolate Factory, has been pushed back two weeks to January 28th . . . The Ben Taylor Band, whose frontman is the son of Carly Simon and James Taylor, will release its debut album, Famous Among the Barns, on February 18th . . . Creeper Lagoon have lined up a six-date tour in support of their new EP, Remember the Future, starting January 9th in Portland, Oregon . . . The members of Soluna have inked a deal with UPN to develop a new sitcom based on their careers in entertainment . . .

Paul Simon's new song, "Father and Daughter," will be featured in a series of public service announcements for the NBA's Read to Achieve program starting Christmas Day . . . Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme will play at the Joshua Tree National Park in California early next year with former Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and Dean Ween for the ninth in his series of "Desert Sessions" recordings . . . Daniel Lanois has been picked to give the keynote address at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, which will run March 12-17; Grandaddy, Willie Nelson, Camper Van Beethoven, Lucinda Williams, Joe Jackson have been confirmed to perform . . .

King Crimson will release The Power to Believe, their first album of new material in three years, on March 4th . . . The Rev. Horton Heat will perform at the House of Blues in Hollywood on January 3rd and 4th to record the band's first-ever live album, due later in 2003 . . . The Blood Brothers will kick off the new year with a fifteen-date tour behind the upcoming Burn Piano Island Burn, starting January 3rd in Salt Lake City; the album is due in March . . . Joan Of Arc will release their fifth album, So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness, in February . . . Kansas will begin a fourteen-date tour on January 22nd in Pensacola, Florida, with STYX and John Waite in tow; the group is promoting their new live album and DVD, Device Voice Drum . . .

George Strait's "She'll Leave You With a Smile" reached Number One on the country charts giving the singer his fiftieth chart-topper, besting Conway Twitty . . . The D.O.C.'s oft-delayed Deuce, featuring guest spots by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and others, will be released on February 25th . . . The Buzzcocks will release their seventh studio album, Buzzcocks," on March 18th . . . Ben Kweller will begin a thirteen-date tour on February 2nd in Indianapolis . . . Concrete Blonde will release Live in Brazil, their first ever concert album, on March 18th . . .

Rare songs by Bjork and Sigur Ros will be included on a new compilation marking the fifteenth anniversary of Iceland's Smekkleysa label . . . Godspeed You Black Emperor have lined up a nineteen-date tour to launch March 2nd in Bennington, Vermont . . . Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan told Hot Press magazine that when promotional duty is complete for the band's recent hits compilation, she will leave the group . . . Earth Wind And Fire's Live From Rio has been pushed back to a January 14th release . . . Aphex Twin (a.k.a. Richard D. James) will release 26 Mixes for Cash, a collection of remixes of songs by David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails and others on March 25th. Jennifer Lopez's latest film, Maid in Manhattan, topped the box office in its first weekend with ticket sales of $19 million . . . Mos Def and the Jurassic 5 have contributed songs to N.V.A.: Straight From the Crates, due January 28th . . . Dr. Dre will not release his third album, Detox, until late-2003 in order to work with Ice Cube on his next record . . . Nickelback are working with Kid Rock on a cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" . . .

An Illinois man was sentenced to five years in prison for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing the car accident that killed Betty Blowtorch frontwoman Bianca Halstead (a.k.a. Bianca Butthole) last December . . . David Lee Roth filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against Van Halen stemming from a 1996 contract the group signed with Warner Bros. . . . Carlene Carter was arrested last week for allegedly attempting to purchase prescription drugs with someone else's identification card . . . Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot is recovering at home after being hospitalized for abdominal bleeding . . .

(December 19, 2002)