Move over, Dennis Miller. The veteran comedian will now split entertainment duties at Monday night's Project A.L.S. benefit gala with rocker Sheryl Crow. Crow has just been confirmed as the musical portion of the evening at the Hollywood Palladium, which will feature hosts Ben Stiller and Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From the Sun) fronting a celebrity-heavy crowd gathered to raise money for research for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neuromuscular condition better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Unlike Crow's last high-profile gig in Central Park, this show won't be free -- tickets cost $500 and $1,000. But as the saying goes, it's for a good cause. For more information, call 1-800-603-0270 . . .

The FOO FIGHTERS and SMASHING PUMPKINS have been tapped to traverse the Great White North on OUR LADY PEACE's Summersault 2000 tour, which will make stops throughout Canada this summer. Other bands are expected to be announced in the next few weeks. "With the Pumpkins and Foo Fighters signed up, it's going to be a great day of music," said OLP singer Raine Maida. For updates on details for Summersault 2000 check out www.ourladypeace.com . . .

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE frontman ZACH DE LA ROCHA will begin recording his solo debut in New York City next month. According to EL-P of Brooklyn-based hip-hop outfit COMPANY FLOW, De La Rocha recruited him to produce at least four tracks on the album. "Zach and I are mutual fans of each other's music," says El-P. "He wants a gritty, raw, angry, slightly dirty production that I can bring to the table." No word yet from Rage's label, Epic Records, on any release plans for the album . . .

R.E.M. are expected to enter the studio in May to begin recording their next album. The band's management confirms that they will be recording in a number of locations, as has become their practice, but no specific sites were given. The band holed up in an Athens studio in early February to write new material for the album with drummer Joey Waronker and musical sidekicks Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) and Ken Stringfellow (the Posies) lending a hand. Patrick McCarthy, who produced Up is slated to tweak the knobs again . . .

Twenty-seven inaugural inductees including ELVIS PRESLEY, ROBERT JOHNSON, JIMMIE RODGERS and B.B. KING were inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place on April 3 at the Hilton Hotel in Jackson, Miss. The MMHoF has chosen to represent the full spectrum of Mississippi music, thus TAMMY WYNETTE was inducted while Conway Twitty will have to wait another year and Johnson was granted entrance ahead of such later blues-greats as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. Though there is no actual hall just yet, the MMHoF is working to rectify the situation. "We are raising money to build the Mississippi Music Heritage Museum that will honor our great Mississippi musicians and heritage," said Dr. Jim Brewer, Chair of the MMHoF . . .

A suit filed against MOTLEY CRUE by a North Carolina security guard has been settled. Security guard, John Allen brought the suit against the band after a 1997 concert during which he claimed that bass player NIKKI SIXX directed racial slurs at him and incited the audience to riot. Sixx was arrested last year and pleaded no contest to charges of inciting a riot and drummer TOMMY LEE pled no contest to assault charges. The suit was scheduled for April 3, but was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount . . .

The OFFSPRING will headline a show to benefit the family of a fallen punk rock friend. "When the Angels Sing -- A Benefit for the Family of Dennis Danell" will honor late Social Distortion guitarist Dennis Danell, as well as aid his family. The remaining members of SOCIAL DISTORTION, PENNYWISE, T.S.O.L., PUNK ROCK KARAOKE, STRUNG GURUS and ROCK STAR BARBEQUE will also be on-hand for the event, which will take place May 6 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Irvine, Calif. (More bands are expected to join the bill.) "Doing this benefit show is a way for me to say goodbye to Dennis in my own way," said Social D frontman MIKE NESS. "We were as close as family and it means so much to me to play this benefit for his wife and children." Danell died Feb. 29 of a brain aneurysm; he was thirty-eight . . .

ALICE COOPER will release Brutal Planet, his first album of new material in six years, on June 6. "It's his heaviest album ever," according to a spokesperson for Cooper. "It's a very harsh, aggressive record." Cooper will be tour Europe from June 10 through July 24 before returning to the states. He launches his "Live from the Brutal Planet" tour in August and will stay on the road through October. The tour will reportedly feature the return of the guillotine on stage. According to the spokesperson, the prop hasn't seen use in nearly a decade . . .

MICHAEL HUTCHENCE may be gone, but that doesn't mean INXS is forgotten. According to an Australian news service, the seminal band is marking their twentieth anniversary by making two rare tracks from one of their first Sydney shows available for download. A live version of "Doctor," which was featured on the band's first album, as well as "The Pickled Parrot, a track that was never heard outside of an INXS rehearsal, have both been digitally enhanced, and are currently available at ChaosMusic.com, and INXS.com.

Maybe folks finally realized that Guinness and ninety-degree-plus summer heat mix like oil and water. Or maybe the lads at GUINNESS were peeved that last year's FLEADH headliners included the defiantly un-Gaelic Shawn Mullins and Hootie and the Blowfish. The spokesperson for the frothy institution has has cited "internal reasons" pulled sponsorship from the festival, leaving this year's festival in limbo. The Fleadh, which has played host to such genuine Irish acts as VAN MORRISON, SHANE MacGOWAN, the CHIEFTANS and SINEAD O'CONNOR as well as an assortment of Yanks (WILCO), Brits (RICHARD THOMPSON) and Canucks (BARENAKED LADIES), is being postponed until a new sudsy sponsor steps up to the plate.

ANDREW DANSBY, CHRISTINA SARACENO, JAAN UHELSZKI
(April 5, 2000)