Nikka Costa has landed the opening slot on Britney Spears' upcoming Dream Within a Dream North American tour, which kicks off on May 24th in Las Vegas . . . Lou Reed joined German ensemble Zeitkratzer for the first-ever live performance of his Metal Machine Music in Berlin last week . . . Blink-182 side project Boxcar Racer has lined up three California tour dates in early-April; the band's self-titled debut is due on May 14th . . . Adam Ant has pulled out of the Eighties Here and Now Tour due to his recent legal tangles. The U.K. tour, featuring Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Spandau Ballet and others, will kick off on April 18th . . . Mindy McCready will release Mindy McCready, her first new album in three years, on March 26th . . .

Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Jermaine Dupri and Young MC have taped an episode of The Weakest Link that will air in late-April . . . Raphael Saadiq will release Instant Vintage, on May 21st. The first single, "Be Here," has already been released to radio . . . Filter's new album, Amagamut, will be released on July 4th . . . American Head Charge will kick off a nine-date tour with Gravity Kills April 10th in Minneapolis . . . Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Sara Evans sang the songs of Harlan Howard at a last week at a memorial for the late Nashville songwriter, who died on March 3rd . . . Sananda, the artist formerly known as Terence Trent D'Arby, has placed four new songs on his Web site, www.sanandapromotion.com, to celebrate his fortieth birthday . . .

Britney Spears is planning to open a restaurant in the Dylan Hotel in New York City this summer . . . DJ Quick will release his sixth album, Under tha Influence, on May 14th; the album will feature guest appearances by Dr. Dre, Talib Kweli, Pharaoh Monch and others . . . Ani Difranco will donate proceeds from an April 8th performance in Buffalo to her alma mater, the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts . . . The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim that Stevie Wonder violated a copyright with his recording of "For Your Love"; Derrick Coles claimed that he helped write the song in the Seventies and recorded it in the early Eighties . . . Pamela Anderson announced on Wednesday that she contracted hepatitis C from sharing a tattoo needle with ex-husband Tommy Lee . . .

Rufus Wainwright has added eleven dates to his tour, starting April 20th in Providence, Rhode Island . . . Former Spine bassist Jennifer J. Arroyo has replaced Talena Atfield in Kittie; the reconfigured band will kick off their Run Like Hell Tour on March 29th in Manchester, New Hampshire . . . A booking agent in Houston filed a lawsuit against David Lee Roth claiming that the former Van Halen singer owes him more than $50,000 for previous performance bookings . . . The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will reissue its landmark 1972 album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, with bonus tracks next week; the album featured an all-star collection of country and bluegrass legends including the Carter Family and Norman Blake . . .

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills have each recorded a PSA for the Paper Campaign, urging consumers to help conserve America's forests by purchasing recycled paper . . . Radiohead will showcase new material during a six-date European tour that will kick off on July 21st in Portugal . . . A memorial service for Waylon Jennings will be held on March 23rd at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville . . . The site in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Elvis Presley gave his last performance (June 26, 1977) has been set up with a historical marker where the former Market Square Arena once was . . . Wilco's Jeff Tweedy will release some solo recordings on the soundtrack to Chelsea Walls, due April 23rd on Rykodisc . . .

Disturbed will release their second album, Believe, in September . . . A twenty-minute Alanis Morissette concert has been placed on Warner Bros.'s www.liveconcertseries.com site for sixty days . . . Faith Evans will co-host and perform at the sixteenth annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 26th . . . Songs by Steve Earle, Ryan Adams, John Hiatt and a duet featuring Willie Nelson and Allison Moorer will be included on the soundtrack to The Rookie, due next week . . . Supertramp will release The Story So Far . . ., a new DVD featuring videos and concert footage, on March 26th . . . Lampchop, Evan Dando and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker have contributed tracks to Total Lee, a tribute to Lee Hazlewood, due in June in the U.K.; a U.S. release has not yet been set . . .

Jennifer Lopez is expanding her Sweetface Fashion Company to include a new perfume this fall . . . George Michael has released a new single, "Freeek," in the U.K. last week, his first self-written new song in almost four years . . . Wilco will kick off a fourteen date European tour on May 9th in Dublin . . . Static-X will be the subject of a science-fiction comic book illustrated by David Brewer, due in late July . . . Wyclef Jean has tapped Tom Jones to make a guest appearance on Masquerade, his next album, due this spring . . . Beyonce Knowles' teenage sister Solange Knowles will release her debut album, Solo Star, on June 25th; Knowles has also lined up a seven date tour to begin tonight in Newark, California . . .

Widespread Panic, Phish's Trey Anastasio, Gov't Mule, Ben Harper and the North Mississippi Allstars have signed on to perform at the first annual Bonnaroo Music Festival, which is set for June 21-23 in Manchester, Tennessee . . . Ozzy Osbourne, System of a Down and Tool will appear on Ozzfest's first ever European tour, which will visit seventeen cities this summer . . . Pete Yorn's debut, Musicforthemorningafter, will be reissued on April 23rd with a bonus CD including covers of songs by Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie . . . Former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett and Edward Burch will hit the road for an eleven date tour behind their new album, The Palace at 4 A.M., starting April 24th in Boston . . .

DMX will provide his voice and the production costs for a series of radio PSAs against animal abuse as part of his sentence on animal cruelty charges . . . Korn enlisted Alien artist H.R. Giger to design the microphone stands for the band's tour of South America this month; photos of the stand can be viewed at www.hrgigermuseum.com . . . Alicia Keys performed before an audience of journalists and schoolchildren at the Portcullis House in Britain's Parliament on March 15th . . . The Goo Goo Dolls will headline the Rock and Roar Concert on April 13th at the Convention Center near Long Beach, California . . .

Atom And His Package and Weakerthans are among the Sub City Records artists who have donated proceeds from their records to more than twenty charities, totaling more than $100,000 . . . Beechwood Sparks, B.R.M.C., the Peaches and Charlatans U.K. frontman Tim Burgess performed at a March 16th benefit to raise bail money for Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Alfred Newcombe, who was arrested last week in a barroom fight . . . B.B. King, Los Lobos, Bo Diddley, Little Richard and Jonny Lang will perform at the Doheny Blues Festival, on May 18th and 19th, in Dana Point, California . . .

(March 22, 2002)