The GAME will join RUSSELL SIMMONS, New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and the New Jersey sector of the Hip-hop Summit at the "Be Powerful, Be Heard -- Vote New Jersey Hip-Hop Summit II" on September 30th at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. Other artists scheduled to attend are DOUG E. FRESH, JIM JONES of the DIPLOMATS and FREEWAY . . . Per her doctor's instructions, GRETCHEN WILSON will give her voice a rest before hitting the road with BIG AND RICH and the MUSIK MAFIA on the Revolution tour, which kicks off November 4th in Houston. The country singer has changed her October 7th Huntsville, Alabama, show to December 17th and cancelled her October 8th Perry, Georgia, show . . . SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS will be honored by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. for his commitment to democracy and voting rights on November 3rd at its 2005 National Equal Justice Award Dinner in New York . . . Elvis: The Personal Archives will hit shelves on October 1st. The book explores the life of Presley through his displayed belongings at Graceland . . . ROD STEWART will release Thanks for the Memory...The Great American Songbook: Volume IV, featuring duets with ELTON JOHN, DIANA ROSS and CHAKA KHAN, on October 18th. The rocker-turned-crooner will also release a box set containing all four Great American Songbook albums on November 15th . . . Previously unreleased performances by the ROOTS, BECK, COMMON, BJORK, JAMIE CULLUM and N.E.R.D. are featured on Gilles Peterson Presents The BBC Sessions, due October 25th . . . M.O.P. will drop their new album, Salutes the St. Marxmen, featuring JAY-Z, WYCLEF JEAN and the late OL' DIRTY BASTARD, on October 18th . . . The New York Dolls documentary, All Dolled Up, will be available on DVD December 6th . . .

Rounder Records will release A Celebration of New Orleans Music to Benefit MusiCares Hurricane Relief 2005, with songs by HARRY CONNICK JR., BRANFORD MARSALIS, the DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, JELLY ROLL MORTON and AARON NEVILLE, on October 18th . . . LIL JON filed a federal lawsuit on September 26th in Atlanta for almost $30 million from Larry Flynt Productions for allegedly using his name and likeness in the adult film, Phat Tuesday, without his permission . . . ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT lyricist SPEECH will release his new album, Vagabond, on November 1st . . . PETE SEEGER, NICKEL CREEK, GILLIAN WELCH, BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES, BOB WEIR, GUY CLARK and EMMYLOU HARRIS will perform at the nineteenth annual Merlefest, taking place April 27th to 30th in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The 2006 edition of the Americana festival will include a WOODY GUTHRIE tribute featuring the late folk legend's daughter SARAH LEE GUTHRIE . . . DMX missed a hearing Wednesday, September 29th, in the Bronx, New York, stemming from an April arrest for allegedly driving with a suspended license. Judge George Villegas is giving the trouble-prone rapper until October 3rd to appear in court. An arrest warrant will be issued if he misses that date . . . Eagle Rock Entertainment will release live DVDs from KOOL AND THE GANG, AMERICA, HALL AND OATES, and DR. HOOK AND THE MEDICINE SHOW on October 4th . . . MERLE HAGGARD will hit the road beginning October 14th in Minot, North Dakota, wrapping November 27th in Kansas City. The country legend will join the ROLLING STONES on tour for one night, November 29th in Dallas, Texas . . . Electronic artist CARIBOU will release Marino, a DVD collection of his videos, on November 1st . . .

MARIAH CAREY, who received the most nominations for the American Music Awards, leads the list of performers for the November 22nd show, set to air live from Los Angeles on ABC. ROB THOMAS and KENNY CHESNEY, each nominated for one award apiece, will also perform . . . The HIGHWAYMEN -- the Eighties supergroup consisting of WILLIE NELSON, JOHNNY CASH, WAYLON JENNINGS and KRIS KRISTOFFERSON -- will be the subject of the Country Music Television original documentary American Revolutions: The Highwaymen, premiering October 14th. The DON WAS-produced film features archival footage of recording sessions, as well as interviews with all of the members . . . LUDACRIS will host Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Ludacris' Open Mic, a weekly music show on XM satellite radio. The show will debut on the hip-hop channel Raw (channel 66) in January . . . RICKY MARTIN will release his new album, Life, in both traditional CD format and as a DualDisc, on October 11th. The disc features collaborations with FAT JOE, AMERIE, DADDY YANKEE and TABOO of BLACK EYED PEAS . . . Live to Tell, a script written in 1995 by the late rapper TUPAC SHAKUR, is being produced as a feature film, helmed by his mother Afeni. The film, about an inner-city youth who becomes a drug kingpin and then eventually cleans up his act, will begin production next March . . .

BRITNEY SPEARS' new song "And Then We Kiss," which also serves as the music for the commercial for her new Elizabeth Arden fragrance "Fantasy," will lead the compilation Remixed, due November 8th. The album will feature mixes of "Toxic," "...Baby One More Time" and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" . . . On October 22nd JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ISAAC HAYES and Hustle and Flow filmmaker Craig Brewer will be honored by the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy at the Recording Academy Honors 2005 gala. Set at the Memphis Cook Convention Center, the event will benefit the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund . . . Philadelphia hip-hop outfit the ROOTS will headline the 2K Sports' Bounce tour, beginning October 6th in Chicago and wrapping November 12th in Granville, Ohio . . . The annual two-day New Orleans roots music festival, Ponderosa Stomp, has changed location to Memphis for next year. The event, set for May 2nd and 3rd, will benefit New Orleans musicians victimized by Hurricane Katrina . . . SUPER FURRY ANIMALS will hit the road with CARIBOU on November 6th in New York, finishing up December 1st in San Diego . . . The GRABS (featuring bassist NIGEL HARRISON of BLONDIE) will release their debut album, Sex, Fashion and Money, on November 8th . . .

American Idol runner-up BO BICE and his wife Caroline had their first child, Aiden Bice, on September 24th. The couple was married in Bice's native Alabama in June . . . The BLACK CROWES will host their first Freak N Roll costume contest on Halloween at Chicago's Riviera Theatre. Ten costumed fans will be able to meet the band and join them onstage, and the rockers will select one winner to be awarded a Best Costume of 2005 trophy . . . Songs by KAISER CHIEFS, KASABIAN, the SHOUT OUT LOUDS, GORILLAZ, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM and STARS will appear on The OC Mix 5, due November 8th . . . The DIXIE CHICKS' new recording "I Hope," performed at Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon on September 9th, is now available as an exclusive download at all major online music retailers, benefiting Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The track, produced by the group and RICK RUBIN, was recorded the night before the telethon with pedal-steel guitar virtuoso ROBERT RANDOLPH . . . COLDPLAY and GORILLAZ both nabbed five nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards. GWEN STEFANI received four nods, while 50 CENT, GREEN DAY, SNOOP DOGG, U2 and JAMES BLUNT each got three. The show will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 3rd, with Coldplay, Green Day, FOO FIGHTERS, BLACK EYED PEAS and ROBBIE WILLIAMS set to perform . . . MOTLEY CRUE recently recorded their classic "Home Sweet Home" with LINKIN PARK's CHESTER BENNINGTON, a twenty-five member gospel choir and twenty-six-piece orchestra to help Katrina victims. The track is available exclusively through iTunes, with all proceeds going to Katrina relief efforts . . .

FOO FIGHTERS and WEEZER have teamed up with Conscious Alliance to host a food drive for Katrina victims at their September 30th show in Denver. All those that donate either five non-perishable food items or $5 will be entered to win one of five Foos posters signed by the band . . . LINDA PERRY will play a string of dates, beginning October 14th in San Francisco, in support of the re-release of her solo album, In Flight. The rocker will wrap up her mini-tour on November 5th in New York . . . LIMP BIZKIT's Greatest Hits album hits stores November 8th. The compilation includes the tracks "Nookie," "Rollin'" and "Break Stuff," along with three previously unreleased tracks: "Lean On Me," "Why" and the as-yet-untitled mash-up of VERVE's "Bittersweet Symphony" and MOTLEY CRUE's "Home Sweet Home" . . . MISSY ELLIOTT is home recuperating from surgery on September 21st to repair a torn Achilles tendon, which she injured during a rehearsal for the TV Guide Emmy party. The rapper was forced to cancel an appearance at last week's VH1's Hip Hip Honors, as well as an October 10th show in London, though she still plans on performing in New York on October 8th. Rehabilitation could take six to twelve months . . . STEVE HARWELL of SMASH MOUTH and POISON's C.C. DeVILLE will join the cast of the VH1 reality series The Surreal Life. The new season is scheduled to premiere in January . . . REDMAN will be featured as a character in the True Crime: New York City video game, due from Activision this fall. The rapper's "Rush the Security," from his upcoming Red Gone Wild CD, will appear on the soundtrack, along with two other original tracks. Songs by JAY-Z, the RAMONES, BOB DYLAN, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, TRIBE CALLED QUEST and VELVET UNDERGROUND will also appear on the soundtrack . . . Stax Records will release the two-CD greatest hits collection Ultimate ISAAC HAYES -- Can You Dig It? on November 1st. The set will include a bonus DVD with Chef (the South Park character Hayes lends his voice to) performing "Chocolate Salty Balls" . . .

TOM WAITS' previously unreleased "Little Drop of Poison," on which he's backed by the KRONOS QUARTET, will lead the Filter Magazine/Urban Outfitters Hurricane Benefit Compilation double CD, due next month in eighty Urban Outfitters stores and at urbanoutfitters.com. The CD will also feature unreleased tracks from DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, TV ON THE RADIO and BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, along with remixed versions of BECK's "Broken Drum" and GANG OF FOUR's "Natural's Not In It." The project hopes to raise $150,000 to donate to the American Red Cross . . . The late rapper NOTORIOUS B.I.G. continues to live on with the release of The Notorious B.I.G. Duets: The Final Chapter on November 29th. The first single off the album -- which will also include a DVD of never-before-seen performance footage, interviews and videos -- is "Hold Ya Head," featuring another late superstar: BOB MARLEY . . . SYSTEM OF A DOWN along with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Axis of Justice and the Armenian Youth Federation are going to rally outside the office of Rep. Dennis Hastert in Batavia, Illinois on September 27th to make sure the politician keeps his commitment to hold a vote on the pending Armenian Genocide legislation. The rockers, all of Armenian descent, have made awareness of global genocide a central message of the band . . . MELISSA ETHERIDGE has partnered with Hard Rock International in an effort to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. The Hard Rock will donate proceeds from the sales of a special collector's edition Hard Rock Breast Cancer Awareness Pin to the singer's charity of choice, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation . . . SIMPLE PLAN will kick off their fall tour on October 22nd in San Diego with supporting acts STRAYLIGHT RUN, PARAMORE and PLAIN WHITE T's. The trek will wrap November 19th in Los Angeles . . .

STEVIE WONDER's A Time to Love will be available as a digital download on September 27th and will hit stores October 18th. PRINCE, PAUL McCARTNEY, INDIA.ARIE, EN VOGUE and Wonder's daughter AISHA MORRIS appear on the album. Wonder recently added the track "Shelter in the Rain," inspired by the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, with gospel producer KIRK FRANKLIN. Proceeds from the single will go to the Wonder Foundation and will be appropriated for hurricane relief efforts . . . BRIAN WILSON is challenging fans to donate money to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts by promising that he will personally call everyone who donates $100 or more. The former BEACH BOY will also match those donations posted through his Web site by October 1st . . . The recently reunited FUGEES' new single "Take It Easy" has been leaked onto the Internet. The hip-hop threesome's much-anticipated reunion record has a tentative release date of December 27th . . . Troubled country singer MINDY McCREADY was hospitalized -- for the second time in two months -- for a drug overdose this weekend after ingesting almost thirty pills in what was said to be a suicide attempt. The singer, who is also pregnant, was taken to a Nashville hospital and is expected to recover . . . The PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA made the first music video shot entirely on mobile phone camera technology for the track "Some Postman," off their latest CD Love Everybody . . . The YING YANG TWINS have inked a deal to star in their first film, a comedy called Viagra Falls.