Sting and Elton John will perform at the fifteenth annual Carousel of Hope benefit, which will take place on October 15th in Beverly Hills, California . . . The Strokes will play a five-night stretch on Weezer's upcoming tour, starting July 15th in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio . . . Wyclef Jean will perform at the Freedom Concert series on June 14th at the Astroland amusement park in Coney Island, New York . . . The Eels will release Electro-Shock Blues Show, a live album recorded in 1998, on July 8th . . . Pulp's next album will be released in the U.S. in September . . . DJ Shadow has dropped out of this summer's Smokin' Grooves tour due to scheduling conflicts . . . Moe and Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade will perform two nights at the Moe or Less Festival on July 12th and 13th in Brandywine, Maryland . . .

Drummer Matt Chamberlain will fill in for Garbage's Butch Vig on the band's tour while the latter recovers from an ear infection . . . Little Feat have started their own label, Hot Tomato Records; the band's first releases will be a pair of two-CD live retrospectives, Raw Tomatos (Vol. 1) and Ripe Tomatos (Vol. 1), due June 18th . . . Rodney Crowell will serve as MC for the next Down From the Mountain tour, which begins June 25th in Louisville, Kentucky; Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley and others are on board for the tour . . . Shivaree will release their second album, Rough Dreams, on September 17th . . .

Will Smith won Best Actor (for Ali) and Mandy Moore won Breakthrough Actress honors (for A Walk to Remember) at the MTV Movie Awards on June 1st in Los Angeles . . . Jay-Z and Russell Simmons are among those who will demonstrate in New York City this week, protesting the city's plans to cut funding to public schools . . . Underground rap star South Park Mexican (a.k.a. Carlos Coy) was sentenced to forty-five years in prison on June 1st in Houston after his May 18th conviction of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl . . . Sam Moore's lost 1970 album, Plenty Good Lovin', which features guest appearances by Aretha Franklin and Donny Hathaway, will be released in late-summer . . . Bo Diddley, Living Colour, the North Mississippi Allstars and others will take the stage at the WNED Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival, which runs June 13th through the 23rd . . .

Jay Bennett and Edward Burch will hit the road with a full band for nine dates starting June 25th in Columbus, Ohio . . . Nick Lowe has lined up fourteen dates behind his latest album, The Convincer, starting July 12th in Santa Barbara, California . . . Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Evan Dando, St. Etienne, Lambchop and others have recorded Lee Hazlewood songs for Total Lee, a new tribute due August 6th . . . Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds has written new songs for Love Makes Things Happen, a musical that will make its debut on June 18th in Washington, D.C.; the show will travel to twenty-two cities on a U.S. tour . . . Motown singer Sharissa will sing the national anthem at the Mike Tyson/Lennox Lewis heavyweight title bout on June 8th in Memphis . . .

(June 4, 2002)