Mar 27, 2006 5:51 PM

From Beyonce to Barry

Sorta broken-up diva trio DESTINY'S CHILD are scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this Tuesday . . . In other DC news, KELLY ROWLAND will perform at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, for the Eighth Wonder of the World Concert -- one in a series of concerts planned over the next five years at historic sites, including the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, and the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt. The concerts will benefit children worldwide affected by HIV and AIDS.

Songstress Sia Launches First Tour

Ethereal songstress SIA will embark on her first U.S. tour on April 1st in San Diego. The trek, in support of her recent debut Colour the Small One, will hit eleven cities across the U.S., wrapping April 21st in Baltimore . . . Twenty-year-old singer-songwriter WILLY MASON will open for the MAGIC NUMBERS this spring, beginning April 23rd in Seattle. Mason -- who released his debut, Where the Humans Eat, earlier this month -- is currently on tour with BETH ORTON . . . The MURS kick off a five-week trek March 30th in Orlando, Florida. The tour is in support of last week's release, Murray's Revenge . . . Montreal indie rockers ISLANDS will embark on their first headlining tour April 19th in Boston. The band, consisting of former UNICORNS members NICK DIAMONDS and J'AIME TAMBEUR, release their debut, Return to the Sea, on April 4th.

Sonic Youth Get Behind Pearl Jam

SONIC YOUTH will open for PEARL JAM this summer when they head West. The only confirmed date thus far is July 9th at Los Angeles' Forum. Sonic Youth's latest album, Rather Ripped, is due June 13th.

Swell Maps Singer Dead at 49

SWELL MAPS frontman NIKKI SUDDEN died unexpectedly Sunday in New York of unknown causes at the age of forty-nine. The British singer and guitarist had been in town for three performances, the last a free show at the Knitting Factory. Sudden (born Nicholas Godfrey) and his brother, the late EPIC SOUNDTRACK, formed the experimental post-punk act Swell Maps in 1972, releasing 1979's A Trip to Marineville and 1980's Jane From Occupied Europe before calling it quits. Sudden went on to form the JACOBITES -- with Soundtrack on drums -- and release six solo albums. The singer had recently finished recording the new solo effort, The Truth Doesn't Matter, and was at work on an autobiography.

Country Songwriter Cindy Walker Dead

Country Music Hall of Famer CINDY WALKER -- whose songs were recorded by ELVIS PRESLEY, MERLE HAGGARD, ROY ORBISON and BING CROSBY -- passed away Thursday at a hospital in her hometown of Mexia, Texas, at the age of eighty-seven. Walker had penned over 100 songs in her lifetime, including the well-known tunes "You Don't Know Me," "Miss Molly," "Silver Spurs" and "Dream Baby." She was inducted into Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998. WILLIE NELSON released a collection of Walker covers, You Don't Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker, earlier this month.

Reissues Bring the Sunshine

Four early KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND recordings for TK -- the Miami-based label frontman HARRY WAYNE "KC" CASEY and RICHARD FINCH worked at before forming the disco outfit in 1973 -- will be reissued via Collectors Choice Music on April 25th. The set includes 1975's Top Five album KC and the Sunshine Band, 1975's The Sound of Sunshine, 1976's Part 3 and 1978's Who Do Ya Love. The group will bring disco fever to various U.S. locales this spring and summer, beginning April 7th in Cleveland.

Van Hunt Tours "Jungle"

Grammy-nominated singer VAN HUNT will support the release of his sophomore effort, On the Jungle Floor (due April 4th), with three solo shows, beginning in Santa Ana, California, on April 2nd. On April 9th, Van Hunt will kick off a month of dates opening for ANTHONY HAMILTON in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Eels Have No Strings

Los Angeles indie rockers the EELS will launch their 2006 Live and In Person! No Strings Attached tour with two warm-up gigs at Los Angeles' Roxy Theater on May 25th and 26th. The tour will then hit sixteen North American cities, including a free gig at New York's World Financial Plaza, on June 13th. The Eels will also play the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, on August 5th.

Manilow Keeps the "Passion" Going

BARRY MANILOW will continue his residency at Las Vegas' Hilton, dubbed the Music and Passion revue, through 2008. The residency, running since February 2005, has the adult contemporary crooner taking the stage four times a week. Manilow's latest effort, the standards collection The Greatest Songs of the Fifties, debuted at Number One in January, and has sold more than one million copies.

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