Up in It

A little leg injury didn't stop Missy Elliott from getting her freak on at L.A.'s Roosevelt Hotel. After tearing her Achilles tendon earlier in the week, she showed up at TV Guide's Sunday night post-Emmy bash on crutches. Among those who rooted the rapper on during her dynamic performance were Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore and Macy Gray. "How much do I love L.A?" Elliott asked from the stage. "They wanted to me to cancel this show, and I said, 'No way.'" Even on one foot, sista can rhyme . . .

Elliott wasn't the only musician hanging with the television brass this past weekend. Good Charlotte frontman Benji Madden played DJ at Entertainment Weekly's Cabana Club Emmy party. When he wasn't spinning tunes for the likes of nominees Mariska Hargitay and Halle Berry, Madden was hanging at a booth with another woman who knows a little something about TV and music: girlfriend Hilary Duff . . .

Besides being a talented guitarist, John Mayer is apparently a bit of a prophet. Before hitting the road with his new trio -- which includes drummer Steve Jordan (Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones) and bassist Pino Paladino (the Who, Jeff Beck) -- Mayer told us, "With our collective phone books it won't be a trio for long: you never know who's going to show up." And straightaway, at the Wednesday opener of their sold-out two-night stand at L.A.'s House of Blues, Mayer and Co. were joined in the encore by Ivan Neville and Blues Traveler's John Popper for an old-fashioned jam . . .

Carla Bozulich, known to indie-rock fans for her work with Ethyl Meatplow and the Geraldine Fibbers, debuted her new band Night Porter alongside Yoko Ono, Cat Power and Sonic Youth at the two-day Arthurfest. After eight years away, indulging in other musical fantasies (including recording with the legendary Willie Nelson), why did she return to rock? "Because I'm a rocker," the no-nonsense frontwoman told us backstage. "That's what I do" . . .

Lil' Kim began serving her year-long jail sentence this week -- but she didn't go quietly. Before heading off to the clink for perjury, the rapper closed out the summer at L.A. radio station the Beat's Summer Jam. Onstage, the rapper addressed her plight. "A lot of people are trying to keep a good chick down," she said. After performing her new single, "Shut Up, Bitch," she added, "That's for all the people who been talking too much."