MOBY, the BLACK EYED PEAS' WILL.I.AM, MAROON 5, the ROOTS, AEROSMITH's STEVEN TYLER, ROBERT RANDOLPH, JOHN LEGEND, JOSS STONE, BIG BOI of OUTKAST, BUDDY GUY, JOHN MAYER, PUBLIC ENEMY'S CHUCK D, JANET JACKSON and ISAAC HAYES have all reworked classics from SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE for the new album, Different Strokes by Different Folks, due September 27th . . . Songs from SHERYL CROW, RILO KILEY and RYAN ADAMS will be featured on the soundtrack for Must Love Dogs, a film starring John Cusack and Diane Lane, due July 26th . . . TWISTED SISTER frontman DEE SNIDER will act as Grand Marshal for the March of Dimes thirteenth annual "Ride," where over 2,500 motorcyclists travel through Connecticut to raise money to improve the health of babies and prevent birth defects. The ride will begin in Middletown, Connecticut, on August 28th . . . Motown producer/songwriter NORMAN WHITFIELD ("Papa Was a Rolling Stone," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine") has been sentenced to six months home detention and fined $25,000 after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion for failing to report more than $4 million in income . . . American Idol will release three DVD sets, The Best of American Idol, Seasons 1-4, The Worst of American Idol, Seasons 1-4 and a combination of both, on November 22nd . . .

ASHANTI has been ordered by a jury to pay $630,000 for breaching a contract with her first producer, GENARD PARKER. The singer's lawyers plan on appealing the verdict . . . EVERCLEAR frontman ART ALEXAKIS will produce the upcoming solo album by CHRIS TSEFALAS (FASTBACKS, DHARMA BUMS, the MAROONS). Tsefalas will return the favor by singing on a track on Everclear's next album . . . Columbia will release BRUCE HORNSBY's live DVD, Three Nights on the Town, on July 26th. The film features performances from three concerts in New York last October . . . PENNYWISE, Z-TRIP, DEATH BY STEREO, BIF NAKED and the DEAD KENNEDYS will perform at the X Games at Los Angeles Staples Center and Home Depot Center August 4th through 7th . . . The PROCLAIMERS will release their sixth studio album, Restless Soul, on September 6th, before launching their North American tour in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 9th . . . Punk rockers the SOUND OF URCHIN will perform a special show at New York's CBGB on August 3rd as part of Project Save CBGB, a campaign to prevent the closing of the famed club . . . Singer-songwriter DAVID GRAY will hit the road on August 1st in Toronto before releasing his new album, Life in Slow Motion, on September 13th . . . California indie rockers GRANDADDY will release the Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla EP on September 27th . . . Blues legend TAJ MAHAL will appear on the July 25th episode of the PBS series History Detectives, helping the show investigate the origins of a special banjo . . .

BRITNEY SPEARS has donated $50,000 to Gilda's Club Worldwide, an organization that supports cancer patients. Gilda's Club is named in honor of the Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989 . . . MICHAEL JACKSON failed to appear in court on Wednesday in Louisiana for the hearing in a civil suit filed against him last November. The accuser claims that the pop star kidnapped him during the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans and sexually assaulted him. The judge has scheduled another hearing for August 17th, at which Jackson must appear . . . Following her July dates, ANI DIFRANCO will take a yearlong hiatus from touring due to inflammation of the nerves and tendons in her wrists and hands. The singer is expected to return to the road next year in conjunction with the release of a new album in January . . . BLOC PARTY will release the remix CD, Silent Alarm Remixed, on September 13th. The album features FOUR TET, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, NICK ZINNER of the YEAH YEAH YEAHS, M83 and WHITEY reworking the tracks off the band's debut . . . American Idol champ CARRIE UNDERWOOD will sing classic commercial jingles like "Sometimes you feel like a nut/Sometimes you don't," "Give me a break" and "Hershey's is the great American Chocolate bar" for a new television campaign for Hershey . . . SHAGGY makes a guest appearance on newcomer NA'SHA's debut album, My Story, in stores September 20th . . .

The SUPREMES, the RONETTES, the SHANGRI-LAS and the CHIFFONS will be featured on the four-CD box set, One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost and Found, due September 27th on Rhino Records . . . Z-TRIP will take his turntables on the road beginning August 18th in Tucson, Arizona, and finishing up on September 25th in Anaheim, California . . . TONI BRAXTON will headline the third annual Crest Whitestrips Presents: Music of Love -- A White Hot Benefit for VH1's Save the Music Foundation on July 29th in East Hampton, New York . . . The BACKSTREET BOYS' HOWIE DOROUGH is hosting a silent auction on July 28th at Brulee: The Dessert Experience at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The auction will benefit the Dorough Lupus Foundation, which the singer founded in honor of his sister, Caroline Dorough-Cochran, who died of the disease . . . New York rockers NADA SURF will kick off their North American tour on October 4th in Washington, D.C., and wrap it on October 23rd in San Diego . . . Koch Records will release IAN BROWN's early solo records, Unfinished Monkey Business, Golden Greats and Music of the Spheres (Deluxe Edition), for the first time in the U.S. on July 26th . . . KOUFAX will hit the road August 4th in Denver in support of the their new album, Hard Times Are in Fashion, due August 9th. The tour wraps up on September 3rd in Columbia, South Carolina . . .

ALICIA KEYS' guest-filled Unplugged performance will air on MTV on September 9th. MAROON 5's ADAM LEVINE joins the R&B star on a cover of the ROLLING STONES' "Wild Horses," DAMIAN MARLEY duets with Keys on his song "Welcome to Jam Rock," and MOS DEF and COMMON show up for "Love It or Leave It Alone" . . . NINE INCH NAILS have teamed with director/producer DAVID FINCHER (Fight Club, Lords of Dogtown) and Digital Domain Inc. to create the special effects tinged video for the rockers' new single "Only" . . . U2 and director HAMISH HAMILTON will film the July 20th and 21st Milan shows of the Vertigo tour for the band's live DVD . . . YOKO ONO, SONIC YOUTH, SLEATER-KINNEY, the BLACK KEYS, OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL, SPOON and CAT POWER will perform at Arthurfest, taking place September 4th and 5th at Los Angeles' Barnsdall Art Park . . . BONNIE RAITT is being honored by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers for her commitment to environmental and social issues. The singer will receive the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award on August 12th in San Diego at the association's forty-seventh annual convention . . .

Among the artists remaking Eighties hits for the soundtrack the new Disney movie Sky High are THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (DEVO's "Through Being Cool"), BOWLING FOR SOUP (MODERN ENGLISH's "Melt With You"), VITAMIN C ('TIL TUESDAY's "Voices Carry") and ELEFANT (the SMITHS' "Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want). The album hits stores July 26th . . . OUTKAST's BIG BOI will appear on KILLER MIKE's new album, Ghetto Extraordinary, in stores September 20th . . . WYNONNA JUDD's memoir, Coming Home to Myself, will be released on September 27th, the day after the country star makes an appearance on Oprah . . . KANYE WEST, COMMON, R. KELLY, JERMAINE DUPRI, and TWISTA will appear on SYLEENA JOHNSON'S third album, Chapter Three: The Flesh, due September 13th . . . BLOC PARTY will kick off a new North American tour September 8th in Boston and wrap it September 26th in Atlanta . . . Ska music pioneer LAUREL AITKEN died of a heart attack on July 17th in Leicaster, England. He was seventy-eight years old . . . HEAD AUTOMATICA canceled seven of their upcoming shows off their tour due to lead singer DARYL PALUMBO's recent Crohn's disease relapse . . .

NELLY has partnered with Reebok to launch his own line of sneakers, apparel and accessories, to hit stores in time for the holiday season. The rapper will also be featured in Reebok's "I Am What I Am" advertising campaign, joining the ranks of JAY-Z and 50 CENT . . . WILCO have confirmed their performance at this year's Farm Aid benefit concert, September 18th in Chicago's Tinley Park. The rockers will join JOHN MELLENCAMP, WILLIE NELSON, NEIL YOUNG and DAVE MATTHEWS for the concert's twentieth anniversary . . . Just two months before she is set to serve her prison sentence for perjury, LIL' KIM filed a $6 million lawsuit against LIL' CEASE on July 18th. She contends that the former JUNIOR MAFIA rapper is using her name and image improperly on his The Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A. Part II: Reloaded DVD . . . The ROLLING STONES have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl. The veteran rockers, who last played the outdoor amphitheater in 1966, will play there November 8th, in addition to their previously scheduled November 6th show. The band's tour begins August 21st in Boston . . .

CHEVELLE will perform at New York's CBGB on August 4th. All proceeds from the show go to Project Save CBGB, a campaign to prevent the closing of the famed club, where bands like the RAMONES, TALKING HEADS and LIVING COLOUR launched their careers . . . ASHANTI was in court on July 18th to defend a claim that the she owes Georgia-based producer GENARD PARKER millions in unpaid royalties for the breach of a 1996 contract . . . LORENE DRIVE will release their second album, Romantic Wealth, on August 2nd. The Iowa punk rockers will join the Warped Tour on August 3rd in Atlanta before heading out with CHANGE OF PACE on August 10th in Springfield, Missouri . . . Atlanta rap trio TRILLVILLE will release their new album, Reloaded, on August 16th . . . Teen pop singer AARON CARTER and American Idol contestant KIMBERLY LOCKE will perform at the Miss Teen USA competition on August 8th in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The show will air live on NBC . . . The FOO FIGHTERS and WEEZER have begun rolling out the dates for their North American co-headlining arena tour. The trek will begin on September 8th in Atlanta with dates running through October. The confirmed dates are: September 10th in Sunrise, Florida; the 11th in Tampa; the 13th in Houston; the 14th in Austin, Texas; and the 15th in Dallas . . .

Five tracks from PINK's fourth album have been leaked onto the Internet. The recently engaged singer is still recording the follow-up to 2003's Try This, for release later this year . . . PIXIES guitarist JOEY SANTIAGO wrote the score for the new Showtime comedy series, Weeds, starring MARY-LOUISE PARKER and Kevin Nealon, premiering August 10th . . . SIMPLE PLAN will perform their latest single, "Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me?)," at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards on August 16th in Los Angeles. The show will feature a performance by GWEN STEFANI, with appearances by PARIS HILTON, JESSICA ALBA, JESSE McCARTNEY, JESSICA SIMPSON, RYAN SEACREST and ASHLEE SIMPSON . . . In her first public appearance since being diagnosed with breast cancer in May, KYLIE MINOGUE visited patients at the cancer ward at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital on July 8th. The Australian pop star is expected to make a full recovery . . . SIGUR ROS will release their new album, Takk -- which means "Thanks" in Icelandic -- on September 13th . . .

VICTOR EDWARD WILLIS, the original policeman character from the VILLAGE PEOPLE, was arrested for possession of cocaine and a .45-caliber handgun in Daly City, California, on July 11th . . . Epic Records will release The Last Great Traffic Jam, the first live DVD from British rock band TRAFFIC, on September 20th. The film features performances of the band's greatest hits and rare material from its 1994 reunion tour . . . Chicago rockers TORTOISE are teaming up with Canadian singer/producer DANIEL LANOIS for a thirteen-city tour, beginning October 6th in Boston. Lanois and Tortoise collaborated on his new instrumental album, Belladonna . . . Former LENNY KRAVITZ saxophonist and GREYBOY ALLSTARS co-founder KARL DENSON and his jazz-funk collective TINY UNIVERSE will hit the road on July 27th in Charlottesville, Virginia . . . SILKWORM drummer MICHAEL DAHLQUIST was killed in an auto accident in Niles, Illinois on July 14th. Jeannette Sliwinski is being charged with murder after admitting she was attempting to commit suicide that day. Sliwinski was driving seventy miles per hour and had run three stoplights before crashing into Dahlquist's car.