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In a trend that seems to be all too common, Big Pun will follow in the steps of the Notorious B.I.G. and 2pac and release yet another posthumous album. The album, Endangered Species, is slated to arrive in stores Feb. 6, one day before the year anniversary of his death from heart failure at the age of twenty-eight. "Endangered Species" will feature unreleased tracks, classic tracks, and four new songs. Fellow New York rappers Nas and Raekwon are on the album's guest list . . .
Cher's getting busy discovering her inner child during her promotion of her latest Internet-only releases, Not.com.merical. Three copies of the album are offering, Willy Wonka-style, "golden tickets," which grant the recipient a trip to meet Cher in London. Five "silver ticket" winners get a Cher doll, resurrected by Mattel from the Seventies "Sonny & Cher" era. The prototype for the Cher doll was auctioned last year at an AIDS charity benefit, but you don't have to get a silver ticket to get the doll, as Mattel plans to release the thirteen-and-a-half inch clone in stores next May. Meanwhile, Cher has also recorded greetings at AmericanGreetings.com for fans to send to one another, will chat Thursday (Nov. 16) on AOL at 7 p.m. (EST) and will play herself on Will & Grace that night, all before heading off to London before recording her next album, due out next spring . . .
Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones gave the Stone Temple Pilots a punk boost when he joined their show in Los Angeles Nov. 9. Not only did Jones give the band a more rockin' version of "Sex Type Thing," but he also showed them how to play the Pistol's "Bodies." Singer Scott Weiland mentioned that there might be a STP live album in the works . . .
Maxwell, the soulful R&B crooner who has been out of the spotlight for the past two years, will be releasing his third album, Now, sometime in the spring . . .
Billy Gilman and Eminem were the big winners at the Billboard Music Video Awards held in Los Angeles Nov. 10. Teenage Christian/country artist Gilman scored four wins, for each category he was nominated in, while Eminem took home two awards for "The Real Slim Shady." Other winners included No Doubt's "Simple Kind of Life" for the voted-by-fans FAN.tastic Video, Limp Bizkit 's "Break Stuff" for Best Hard Rock Clip, Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" for Best Modern Rock Clip, Madonna's "Music" for Best Pop Clip, Moby's "Bodyrock" for Best Dance Clip, Faith Hill's "Breathe" for Best Country Clip and Enrique Iglesias' "Ritmo Total" for Best Latin Clip . . .
STEVE FLORIO, JAAN UHELSZKI, JENNIFER VINEYARD
(November 14, 2000)