• The judge overseeing R. Kelly’s child pornography trial has confirmed the public will be allowed to see the controversial videotape that allegedly shows the singer having sex with — and urinating on — a minor because the girl in question denies she is the girl who appears on the tape (as does Kelly). The judge said he’d consider overturning his decision if the prosecution calls the girl as a witness. Kelly’s trial begins September 17th, almost five years and twenty-two chapters of “Trapped in the Closet” after he was first slapped with child pornography charges.

• Ongoing DNA tests following James Brown’s death have revealed the late singer has another child; three weeks ago two more of his children were identified.

• My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects, Daughtry, Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson have been announced as opening acts for Bon Jovi’s ten-date residency in New Jersey this fall. Dates for the shows, which will inaugurate the new Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, after the jump.

• As various digital music services experiment with DRM-free releases to compete with iTunes, Black Eyed Peas‘ will.i.am has decided to jump into the fray. He’ll launch a digital music store on August 28th on his Web site to coincide with the release of single “I Got it From My Mama” to sell his own copyright-protection-free tracks.

• R.E.M. will release a live CD/DVD titled R.E.M. Live CD/DVD on October 16th, which will feature their performance at Dublin’s Point Theatre on February 27, 2005, two years before the band returned to the city to test-drive songs for a still-forthcoming album. Click here to see the DVD’s trailer, and get the tracklisting after the jump.

Bon Jovi New Jersey Dates:
October 25 (with My Chemical Romance)
October 26 (with My Chemical Romance)
October 28 (with Big & Rich)
October 30 (with Big & Rich)
November 1 (with Gretchen Wilson)
November 3 (with Gretchen Wilson)
November 4 (with Daughtry)
November 7 (with Daughtry)
November 9 (with All-American Rejects)
November 10 (with All-American Rejects)

R.E.M. Live CD/DVD Tracklisting:
“I Took Your Name”
“So Fast, So Numb”
“Boy in the Well”
“Cuyahoga”
“Everybody Hurts”
“Electron Blue”
“Bad Day”
“Ascent of Man”
“Great Beyond”
“Leaving New York”
“Orange Crush”
“I Wanted to Be Wrong”
“Final Straw”
“Imitation of Life”
“The One I Love”
“Walk Unafraid”
“Losing My Religion”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Drive”
“(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville”
“I’m Gonna DJ” (previously unreleased)
“Man on the Moon”

Photo: Agostini/Getty