WYCLEF JEAN, GRANDMASTER FLASH, EL BAMBINO, and ANTIBALAS will join the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, SNOOP DOGG, GARBAGE, 311 and FAT JOE at the inaugural Amsterjam on August 20th at New York's Randall Island . . . ELTON JOHN will perform a special free concert outside Rome's Coliseum on September 3rd . . . JOHN LENNON'S handwritten lyrics for "All You Need Is Love" were auctioned off for $1 million on July 28th at London's Hippodrome nightclub . . . TREY ANASTASIO and the guitar makers Martin & Co. have teamed up to create a special acoustic guitar called the DC Trey Anastasio Signature Edition . . . Houston rapper MIKE JONES will release his third full-length album, American Dreams, at the end of the year . . . KELLER WILLIAMS will kick off a thirty-one date tour on August 13th in Duanesburg, New York, and wrap up on November 4th in Washington, D.C. . . . PUBLIC ENEMY will release the greatest hits compilation CD, Power to the People and the Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits, and the DVD Power to the People and the Videos on August 2nd . . . TOBY KEITH, MERLE HAGGARD, BILLY JOE SHAVER, SHELBY LYNNE and DAVID ALLAN COE will be featured on the CMT Outlaws two-hour premiere, airing November 5th on CMT . . .

The GO! TEAM will embark on a North American tour -- in support of the September 27th release of Thunder, Lightning, Strike -- on October 12th in Houston. The trek will wrap up on November 2nd in New York . . . DEBORAH GIBSON will perform two shows on the Costas Cruise, Costas Magica. The ship departs from Fort Lauderdale on March 26, 2006 and returns on April 2nd . . . DOLLY PARTON will hit the road in support of her upcoming release, Those Were the Days, on August 16th in Atlantic City. The country star will finish up on December 10th in Charenton, Louisiana . . . August 1st to 6th has become WARREN G week in Long Beach, California. The West coast G-Funk rapper was given the honor by the city's mayor Beverly O'Neall. The rapper will release his new album, In the Mid-Nite Hour on September 27th . . . FOUR TET will embark on a North American trek on September 16th in Atlanta and will finish up on October 10th in New York . . . The STEVE KIMOCK band will release their debut album, Eudemic, on August 23rd . . . Punk veterans the MISFITS, the GORILLA BISCUITS and the DEAD BOYS have joined the Project Save CBGB campaign and will play special shows on August 12th, August 14th, and August 26th and 27th respectively . . .

ALANIS MORISSETTE, JOHN LEGEND, LIZ PHAIR, JASON MRAZ, JOSS STONE, KEITH URBAN, DESTINY CHILD's MICHELLE WILLIAMS and BRANDON BOYD of INCUBUS will appear in television commercials and print ads for the Gap beginning next month . . . ASHANTI, LIONEL RICHIE, JILL SCOTT, NEW EDITION, gospel legend SHIRLEY CAESAR and Scream Tour IV's teen-appeal artists BOW WOW, OMARION and MARQUES HOUSTON will perform at the TOM JOYNER Family Reunion at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Folorida, September 1st to 4th . . . RAY CHARLES, who would have been seventy-five years old on September 23rd, will have artifacts inducted into Washington's Smithsonian Institute the day before his birthday. The late Charles will also have a post office named after him near the site of his historic Los Angeles studio. The naming ceremony will take place on August 24th . . . A collection of JOHN LENNON memorabilia valued at more than $2 million was auctioned off at London's Hippodrome on July 28th. The auction included paintings created by Lennon as a child, handwritten lyrics to "All I Need Is You" and a bedspread from his and YOKO ONO's 1969 Montreal "bed-in" . . . CHARLIE SEXTON will release his first album in ten years, Cruel and Gentle Things, on September 13th. The singer-songwriter will preview the album with a major-city club tour beginning August 12th in Los Angeles before hitting the road with JOHN MAYER on September 23rd in Minneapolis . . .

OZOMATLI have recorded the track "Casas de Carton," (which means Cardboard Houses) for the film Innocent Voices, due in theaters in select cities on October 14th . . . GERALD LEVERT pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts -- attempted obstruction of official business and assault -- on July 27th, stemming from a confrontation with Cleveland police officers in February. Levert was fined $2,000 and given one year probation . . . Ohio quartet O.A.R. will release its seventh album, Stories of a Stranger, on October 4th . . . TED LEO will return to the road in support of Shake the Sheets on August 26th in New York . . . B.B. KING will celebrate his eightieth birthday at the Isle of Capri Casinos with a party and benefit concert on July 30th in Biloxi, Mississippi. The event will include a silent auction, with proceeds benefiting the B.B. King museum and special performances by Blues greats DEBORAH COLEMAN, BOBBY BLUE BLAND, SMOKIN' JOE KUBEK and DICKEY BETTS . . . Bar/None will release The Sights and Sounds of Esquivel, a collection of previously unreleased tracks by the space-pop artist, this fall . . . St. Louis rapper EBONY EYEZ will release her debut, 7 Day Cycle, on September 13th. The album will feature the track "In Ya Face" with Miami rapper TRINA . . .

MADONNA's will release her new album, Confessions on a Dancefloor, in November. The first single, "Hung Up," was produced by STUART PRICE, who co-wrote "X-Static Process" off her last album, American Life . . . The FOO FIGHTERS will join NINE INCH NAILS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, the FLAMING LIPS, NEW YORK DOLLS, SECRET MACHINES and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE at this year's Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans, October 29th and 30th . . . INTERPOL will kick off another North American leg of their tour behind their second album, Antics, on November 9th in Dallas . . . LIL JON AND THE EASTSIDE BOYZ will release the remix album, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz Crunk Juice: Chopped and Screwed, on August 9th . . . EMBRACE have cancelled their upcoming tour, which was set to begin July 26th in Toronto. The British rockers expect to make up dates later this year . . . WU-TANG's RAEKWON, HAVOC of MOBB DEEP and CORMEGA will make guest appearances on the new album, Thug Matrix, from TRAGEDY KHADAFI, formerly known as the INTELLIGENT HOODLUM. The CD hits stores on October 4th . . . FALL OUT BOY will headline the third annual Nintendo Fusion Tour with the STARTING LINE, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, PANIC! AT THE DISCO and BOYS NIGHT OUT. The trek kicks off on September 28th in Detroit and wraps on November 22nd in Providence, Rhode Island . . .

KELIS and PLACEBO's BRIAN MOLKO have contributed their vocals to German techno producer TIMO MAAS' second album, Pictures, due August 23rd . . . The NEPTUNES' PHARRELL WILLIAMS will produce the soundtrack for the film version of the Eighties animated television series, Voltron. Williams is also executive producer of the film . . . Reworked songs from ELLA FITZGERALD, BING CROSBY, CHARLIE PARKER and MAHALIA JACKSON will be featured on Christmas Remixed 2: A Six Degrees Collection, due this holiday season . . . FEFE DOBSON will release Sunday Love on September 20th. The rocker's second album will feature production and tracks written by VERUCA SALT singer NINA GORDON and former MARILYN MANSON guitarist JOHN5 . . . TONY BENNETT, BRANFORD MARSALIS, SONNY ROLLINS, the PAT METHENY TRIO and JOHN SCOFIELD will perform at California's forty-eighth annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 16th to 18th . . . Jackson Browne -- Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1, an album of acoustic performances from the singer-songwriter, will be released on his label, Inside Recordings, October 11th . . . FOO FIGHTERS bassist NATE MENDEL acts in and wrote the score for the indie film Our Burden Is Light, which was recently released straight to DVD . . .

The KILLERS will headline the premiere of the U.S. edition of the U.K.'s Download Festival, on October 8th in Mountain View, California. MODEST MOUSE, the ARCADE FIRE and DOVES will also perform . . . CHRISTINA AGUILERA has teamed up with HERBIE HANCOCK on the duet "A Song for You" (a LEON RUSSELL cover) on his new album, Possibilities, due August 30th. The CD includes collaborations with CARLOS SANTANA, TREY ANASTASIO, ANNIE LENNOX, JOHN MAYER, PAUL SIMON and STING . . . Starbucks will release Hear Music XM Radio Sessions, Vol. 1, featuring original songs by JEWEL, TRACY CHAPMAN and JASON MRAZ, on August 3rd . . . MEGADETH frontman DAVE MUSTAINE filed a lawsuit on July 25th claiming former bassist DAVID ELLEFSON used the name of the band without permission. Ellefson listed Megadeth as one of the bands he's involved with in an ad in the latest issue of Bass Player magazine . . . NEIL YOUNG's film, Greendale: A Musical Novel, currently available on DVD, is set to air on the Sundance Channel on September 3rd as part of a tribute to American music, "Rock Music Roll Picture" . . . Eagle Rock Entertainment is releasing Rick James: Superfreak Live 1982 on DVD on July 26th . . . R. KELLY, WYCLEF JEAN and the GAME will make guest appearances on R&B singer SHARISSA's Every Beat of My Heart, due September 27th . . . BRIAN WILSON: An Art Book, a book celebrating the former BEACH BOYS composer and singer with contributions from artists JOHN CAGE, Thomas Demand and Ed Ruscha, is now available at fourcornersbooks.co.uk . . .

Revived Seventies pop rockers BIG STAR -- with original members ALEX CHILTON and JODY STEPHENS, and Posies mainstays JON AUER and KEN STRINGFELLOW -- will release In Space, their first album since they disbanded in 1975, on September 27th . . . SISTER HAZEL, O.A.R. and MARC BROUSSARD will perform on the Rock Boat 2005, which leaves New Orleans on September 29th and stops in Mexico before returning on October 3rd. BETTER THAN EZRA, GLEN PHILLIPS, BLUE MERLE and the PAT McGEE BAND will join SISTER HAZEL on the winter version, Rock Boat 2006, when it sets sail on January 14th . . . Tracks from ELVIS PRESLEY, MY MORNING JACKET, NANCY WILSON and SUN KIL MOON (covering NEIL DIAMOND's "Kentucky Woman") will be featured on the Songs from the Brown Hotel EP, due August 16th. Proceeds from the CD sales will benefit the Louisville-based Center for Women and Families, which helps victims of sexual and domestic abuse . . . Country singer MINDY McCREADY was hospitalized in Florida on Friday when she overdosed on drugs. McCready was arrested and charged with identity theft last week in Arizona and has also faced allegations of drug violation and driving under the influence within the past two years . . . The Police: Synchronicity Concert DVD, which features footage from the band's Atlanta show off its 1983 world tour, hits stores September 5th . . . Backbeat Books will publish Eddie Van Halen: Know the Man, Play the Music on August 29th . . .

The San Francisco Park and Recreation Commission has voted to name the McLaren Park Performance Amphitheatre after late GRATEFUL DEAD frontman JERRY GARCIA . . . M.I.A. will kick off her North American headlining tour on September 19th in Athens, Georgia, and will finish up on October 5th in San Francisco . . . PAUL McCARTNEY will debut "Fine Line," the first single from his upcoming Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard album, on AOL Music's First Listen on July 26th . . . DANZIG will hit the road on the Blackest of the Black tour with metal rockers CHIMAIRA, DOYLE, BEHEMOTH, HISMA, MORTIIS and the AGONY SCENE on September 30th in San Diego . . . RUN DMC's REVEREND RUN will deliver the keynote address at the CMJ Music Marathon on September 15th. This year's festival will run from September 14th to 17th, with performances by the ARCADE FIRE, the BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, the HOLD STEADY, BLACKALICIOUS, the DANDY WARHOLS and PARTICLE . . . BILLY JOE SHAVER will release the self-produced The Real Deal on September 20th. The album will feature duets with BIG AND RICH, NANCI GRIFFITH and FLACO JIMENEZ . . . QUEEN PLUS PAUL RODGERS will play two shows on October 16th and 22nd at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and California's Hollywood Bowl. The U.S. dates will coincide with the release of the live double-disc set, Return of the Champs (due September 13th) and a live DVD (due October 24th) . . .

SARAH McLACHLAN will release Bloom on September 6th. The remix album will feature ten previously unreleased tracks, including "Just Like Me," remixed by WILL.I.AM of the BLACK EYED PEAS . . . HUEY LEWIS will make his Broadway debut in the musical revival of Chicago. Lewis will play the part of lawyer Billy Flynn in the Tony-winning show beginning November 1st . . . Capitol Records will release the EAZY-E CD/DVD, Eternal E: Gangsta Memorial Edition, on September 6th. The set features sixteen tracks from the late N.W.A rapper, as well as the previously unreleased "A Lil' Eazier Said," from his son, LIL' E . . . The RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and ICE CUBE will join SNOOP DOGG at a benefit concert for his Snoop Youth Football League on August 25th at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre . . . After battling a severe case of pneumonia and a related infection, SPIRITUALIZED singer JASON PIERCE has been released from the hospital and is recovering . . . JESSICA SIMPSON and WILLIE NELSON will host a special screening of their new movie, Dukes of Hazzard, on July 29th at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California . . . British rockers SUPERGRASS will release their fifth album, Road to Rouen, on September 27th . . . Blues legend LONG JOHN BALDRY died in Vancouver on July 21st after suffering from a chest infection. Baldry was a profound influence on British rockers including ERIC CLAPTON, ROD STEWART and PAUL McCARTNEY.