The Backstreet Boys summer tour will continue this weekend without previous opener Shaggy, who had prior commitments, including his own tour . . . O-Town has landed the opening slot on Britney Spears' fall tour, which begins October 26th in Miami . . . Jay-Z and Linkin Park have joined the lineup for the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, which will take place September 6th in New York City . . . Texas rockers the Toadies have broken up just five months after the release of their second album, Hell Below/Stars Above . . . Tenacious D will launch a twenty-date tour behind their self-titled debut album on September 8th in New York City . . . The Gourds' EP Gogityourshinebox, featuring covers of songs by David Bowie and Snoop Dogg , has been expanded to a full-length album, "Shinebox," due on September 11th . . . George Strait has agreed to headline the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 3, 2002, the final concert to be held at the Astrodome.

Jamiroquai will make their only U.S. appearance behind their new album, A Funk Odyssey, on September 11th at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom . . . BEACHWOOD SPARKS will hit the road with the Black Crowes on a twenty-seven-date tour starting August 28th in Nampa, Idaho . . . Madonna's childhood home in Rochester Hills, Michigan is being auctioned on eBay; bidding ends on September 20th . . . Merle Haggard has added three original tracks to covers of songs by Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams and Hank Thompson on his new album, Roots Vol. 1, due November 6th . . . Mariah Carey will give her first interview following her late-July breakdown, with Barbara Walters, which will air on ABC on September 12th.

Nelly has teamed up with clothing firm ALM International to develop Vokal, his own line of men's wear . . . The Who will release "The Who and Special Guests, Live at the Royal Albert Hall," on September 25th on DVD; Eddie Vedder and Oasis' Noel Gallagher are among the special guests . . . The first single from Macy Gray's new album, "The Id," will be "Sweet Baby," featuring guest vocals by Erykah Badu . . . Nate Dogg was sentenced to three years probation on August 21st after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession an unmarked firearm . . . Pre-teen rapper Lil' Romeo will make his big-screen debut in the Disney comedy "Max Keeble's Big Move," which will be released on October 5th . . . . Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise's third album, "New Ground," has been pushed back to a February 2002 release.

Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar has enlisted Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, the Flaming Lips' Steven Drodze and Superchunk's Jon Wurster to guest on his solo album, "Sebastapol," due on September 25th . . . A group of fifty music publishers and songwriters, including Vince Gill's publishing company, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against MP3.com Inc. on August 22nd . . . Legendary funk bassist Larry Graham will be the subject of a two-disc Rhino Records anthology, "The Jam," due on October 2nd . . . Billy Bob Thornton will launch an eleven-date tour behind his recording debut, "Private Radio," on October 9th in Washington, D.C. . . . Tesla will release a double-live album, "Replugged Live," on September 11th . . . Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers Band and George Thorogood are featured on the "Southern Road Songs," compilation, due October 9th.

New songs by Macy Gray, Erykah Badu, India.Arie and others will be included on Red Star Sounds Volume One, a compilation to benefit music education, which will be released on October 9th . . . Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough will perform with "friends" at the second annual Lupus Cruise, which will trek through the Caribbean starting December 15th, with proceeds going to the Dorough Lupus Foundation . . . Another BSB, Brian Littrell, has formed a label with his wife, BriLeigh Productions, which will release the soundtrack to the film, Olive Juice, in October . . . Ray Davies will begin a twenty-three-date tour on September 18th, after which he will re-enter the studio to work on tracks for an upcoming album with Yo La Tengo . . . New videos for songs by Gorillaz, Fatboy Slim and Orbital will make their debut at Cinema Electronica, which begins on September 6th in San Francisco.

Russell Crowe's band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, will release a new album, Bastard Life of Clarity, on September 11th on Artemis Records . . . Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted debuted his new band, Echobrain, on August 19th in San Francisco . . . Betty Everett, who was best known for recording "The Shoop Shoop Song," died on August 21st at age sixty-one . . . Charlie Hunter will launch a forty-five-date tour behind his upcoming album, Songs From the Analog Playground, starting September 1st in Rimouski, Quebec . . . Dave Matthews' wife Ashley Harper gave birth to twins on August 15th . . . Seal, Aaliyah and the Jurrasic 5 have joined the lineup for the Breathe Concert for Breast Cancer Treatment and Research, set for October 27th in Los Angeles . . . The Stereophonics will kick off a six-date U.S. tour on September 14th with Mercury Prize nominees Turin Brake opening.

Elton John's video for "I Want Love," featuring Robert Downey Jr., will debut on VH1 at 7 a.m. on August 23rd . . . The Foo Fighters have cancelled the remaining dates of their European tour after drummer Taylor Hawkins "overindulged," according to the band's U.K. sources, and was hospitalized on August 20th . . . The Latin Grammys, set for September 11th, have been moved from Miami to Los Angeles due to security concerns regarding Cuban-American protestors . . . Alien Ant Farm and City High will be joined by Wyclef Jean and Eve for a performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, on September 6th in New York City . . . A Stirling Performance, a film that captures an R.E.M. show in the U.K., will premiere in Scotland on August 25th . . . The Donnas will launch another tour behind The Donnas Turn 21 on September 9th in San Francisco.

A collection of photographs taken by bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins ) while touring over the past seven years will debut as "Channels" at the Secret Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, on September 5th . . . Laurie Anderson will tour behind her new album, Life on a String, starting September 6th in San Francisco . . . Bob Hewson, father of U2 frontman Bono (born Paul Hewson), died of cancer on August 20th . . . Ludacris fans can create their own video out of branded content from his "Area Code" video as part of the VideoCut Creator Contest, which runs through September 14th on www.bet.com and www.360hiphop.com; the winning video will be announced by Ludacris and air on the BET network . . . G. Love and Special Sauce will launch a fifteen-date tour behind their most recent album, Electric Mile, starting tonight in Washington, D.C. . . . Femi Kuti And Positive Force will release their new album, Fight to Win, in October.

Bob Dylan has made "Po' Boy," a track from his upcoming album, Love and Theft, available as a free download at WindowsMedia.com . . . Elvis Costello will serve as the Artist in Residence at UCLA's Live program, which will also feature the Charles Mingus Orchestra, starting September 28th . . . Squirrel Nut Zippers frontman James Mathus and His Knockdown Society will release their second album, National Antiseptic, on October 16th. It will feature North Mississippi Allstars Luther and Cody Dickinson . . . Former Fine Young Cannibals vocalist Roland Gift will release his self-titled solo debut next spring.

Fatboy Slim, Craig David and India.Arie are among the nominees for the 2001 Billboard Music Video Awards, set for November 2nd in Beverly Hills, California . . . A performance by Steve Eearle, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark at Nashville's Bluebird Café will be released on October 9th . . . Farm Aid 2001, which includes Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and a solo performance by Dave Matthews, has sold out; the event is set for September 29th in Noblesville, Indiana . . . A cornet on which Louis Armstrong learned to play is expected to fetch $100,000 in a Sotheby's internet auction, which runs from October 1st through the 15th . . . Johnny Cash's son John Carter Cash has produced a pair of tracks for the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash. The new songs will be included on a re-release of the band's Walk Alone, due September 25th.

Marilyn Manson was hit with a charge of criminal sexual conduct in Oakland County, Michigan, a felony charge, after wrapping his legs around the head of a security guard and gyrating against him at the DTE Energy Center . . . Lil' Romeo will kick off his Back to School Tour on August 31st in Philadelphia, a week after his twelfth birthday . . . Dave Navarro is engaged to model/actress Carmen Electra; the couple plan to wed next year . . . Kool And The Gang and Public Enemy will be the first two acts showcased in a DVD/VHS series called Live at the House of Blues, with the first two releases due on September 11th . . . Smash Mouth, Lit and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones will perform at the Gravity Games, which run from September 7th through the 9th in Providence, Rhode Island.

Whitney Houston has joined the lineup for Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Solo Years at New York's Madison Square Garden, on September 10th . . . Sacred Steel guitar phenomenon Robert Randolph will record his August 23rd performance at the Wetlands in New York City for a live album to be released in the fall . . . The Syd Barrett collection Wouldn't You Miss Me? will be released on September 11th . . . On August 15th, a California judge refused to throw out a $2 million sexual harassment case filed against James Brown filed by a former employee; the trial will begin in January . . . Tantric, Xzibit and the Wu-Tang Clan are among the artists featured on No Shirt, No Shoes, No X Games a compilation tied to the X Games, which will be broadcast from Philadelphia through August 23rd . . . The Wailing Souls will begin their Summer Equality tour on August 25th in Denver.

(August 23, 2001)