Singer/pianist MICHELLE BRANCH and her bassist/husband TEDDY LANDAU are expecting a baby in August. Branch and her band the WRECKERS kick off the One Tree Hill tour (after the WB teen drama of the same name) with co-headliners GAVIN DEGRAW and TYLER HILTON on February 28th in Vancouver, wrapping up March 31st in Minneapolis . . . Sony BMG will be releasing a twenty-track box set of ELVIS' U.S. Number One singles this fall . . . U2 frontman BONO was awarded the inaugural TED prize from the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference on Thursday, and will use the prize to create ONE, a U.S.-based group to fight poverty . . . The WONDER STUFF will hit the road April 5th in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in support of their March 22nd release Escape from Rubbish Island, closing their stint on May 8th in New York City . . .

MADONNA will lend two paintings to London's Tate Modern museum for a four-month exhibition on Mexican artist Frida Kahlo . . . The Music of BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS hits stores May 3rd, marking the fiftieth anniversary of Holly's first performance. The DVD features live footage, interviews with band members and twenty audio tracks . . . EDWARD PATTEN, of the Grammy-winning GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS, died early Friday after suffering from a stroke he had earlier in the week. Patten, 65, joined the group in 1959 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996 . . . The tsunami relief benefit track "Forever in Our Hearts" -- written by GODHEAD's JASON MILLER and featuring BRIAN McKNIGHT, MYA, NATE DOGG, BEN JELEN, and members of PAPA ROACH, A PERFECT CIRCLE, P.O.D., CHEVELLE and 311 -- will be available for download on iTunes and tsunamireliefsong.org on March 1st . . .

BEYONCE will perform three of the five nominated songs at the Academy Awards, February 27th in Los Angeles. The DESTINY'S CHILD frontwoman will sing "Learn to Be Lonely" (from The Phantom of the Opera) solo, "Look to Your Path" (from Les Choristes) accompanied by the American Boychoir and "Believe" (Polar Express) with JOSH GROBAN. PRINCE will make his first Oscar appearance in twenty years as a presenter. He took home the Best Original Score award for Purple Rain in 1984 . . . Singer-songwriter/pianist NELLIE McKAY will star in Threepenny Opera with Alan Cumming and Edie Falco. The musical is set to open on Broadway in April of 2006 . . .

Scottish rocker and former ORANGE JUICE frontman EDWYN COLLINS has been hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Sunday. According to his management, doctors are trying to stabilize his condition . . . 50 CENT will host G Unit Radio, a new all-day-Saturday show on Sirius' EMINEM-produced Shade 45 channel . . . OZZY OSBOURNE'S son JACK OSBOURNE had $382,000 worth of jewelry stolen from his suitcase during a flight from Los Angeles to London on February 24th . . . NATALIE IMBRUGLIA will release Counting Down the Days, her follow-up to 2001's White Lilies Island, internationally on April 4th. A North American release date has not yet been set . . . LOVE TRACTOR will release their new album Black Hole on March 22nd . . .

NORAH JONES makes a guest appearance on the FOO FIGHTERS as-yet-untitled double album, due this summer . . . CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's JOHN FOGERTY, ISAAC HAYES and writing partner DAVID PORTER, and BOOKER T AND THE MG'S' STEVE CROPPER are among those to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. This year's ceremony is set for June 9th at New York's Marriott Marquis Hotel . . . KANYE WEST, the PIXIES, WILCO, the ARCADE FIRE and MODEST MOUSE will perform on May 28th at the Sasquatch! Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington . . . 50 CENT's upcoming album, The Massacre, has been pushed up and will now hit stores March 3rd, five days ahead of schedule . . . JAY-Z announced plans to open an education center, the S. Carter Academy, in New York this spring, with a focus on music, sports and fashion . . . CARLOS SANTANA and ANTONIO BANDERAS will team up at this year's Academy Awards show on February 27th to perform the best original song nominee "Al Otro Lado del Rio," from the film The Motorcycle Diaries . . .

MELISSA ETHERIDGE, SHERYL CROW, ROD STEWART, MICK FLEETWOOD, AEROSMITH's JOE PERRY and BRIAN JOHNSON of AC/DC are have customized Gibson guitars to be auctioned to benefit breast cancer research on May 3rd during the Designer Gibson Guitar Auction at Los Angeles' Hard Rock Cafe. Bids are also being accepted online, at juliensauctions.com . . . The DOOBIE BROTHERS are donating five year's worth of Doobie Red Wine proceeds to the National Veterans Foundation in memory of drummer KEITH KNUDSEN, who died on February 8th of pneumonia at age fifty-six . . . Former GRATEFUL DEAD bassist PHIL LESH will host the fifth annual Jammy Awards on April 26th at New York's Theater at Madison Square Garden . . . AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE kick off a tour with MUDVAYNE on March 29th in St. Paul, Minnesota . . . Hasidic reggae singer MATISYAHU will release a live album -- culled from his show at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night -- April 19th on Or Music. . .

KELLY CLARKSON will launch a two-month North American theater tour on March 28th in Tulsa, Oklahoma, wrapping up on May 29th in Vancouver . . . Former BEACH BOY BRIAN WILSON joins BLACK SABBATH and JUNIOR SENIOR in the lineup of Denmark's annual Roskilde Festival, from June 30th to July 3rd . . . UMPHREY'S MCGEE and NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS lead nominations for the Jammy Awards with three each. The ceremony takes place on April 26th at New York's Madison Square Garden . . . Alt-country band the JAYHAWKS have announced their split after a two-decade long career . . . USHER will release the CD/DVD set of his short film, Rhythm City Volume 1: Caught Up, on March 8th, featuring a behind-the-scenes documentary and a bonus CD with three new tracks . . .

AEROSMITH frontman STEVEN TYLER and wife Teresa are separating after seventeen years of marriage . . . Producer PHIL SPECTOR's trial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson has been set for September 16th . . . The WHITE STRIPES have begun recording the follow-up to 2003's Elephant . . . Former LIBERTINES frontman CARL BARAT is at work on his solo debut, to be released by Vertigo late this year . . . The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND and GOV'T MULE will perform a concert at New York City's Beacon Theatre on March 22nd, with proceeds going to a museum dedicated to the Allmans at their early-Seventies residence in Macon, Georgia . . . VICTORIA BECKHAM (formerly "POSH SPICE") gave birth to her third son with DAVID BECKHAM, Cruz, on February 20th . . . Former MISFITS GLENN DANZIG and DOYLE WOLFGANG VON FRANKENSTEIN will play three dates together on the DANZIG tour: February 28th in Boston, March 1st in New York City and March 2nd in Philadelphia . . .