ERYKAH BADU gave birth her second child, a daughter named Puma, on July 5th, at her home in Dallas, Texas. Puma joins the singer's son, Seven, whose father is ANDRE 3000 from OUTKAST . . . JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is suing the News of the World for libel for reporting that he cheated on his girlfriend, actress Cameron Diaz . . . XZIBIT will play an arms dealer in the upcoming ICE CUBE movie, XXX: The State of the Union . . . NINE INCH NAILS drummer CHRIS VRENNA wrote the theme song for the video game "Doom 3," which is scheduled for an August 3rd release . . . Legendary tenor saxophonist ILLINOIS JACQUET, died of a heart attack Thursday at his New York City home. He was eighty-one . . .
DIXIE CHICKS' singer NATALIE MAINES and her husband, actor ADRIAN PASDAR, welcomed a baby boy, BECKETT FINN PASDAR, on July 14th . . . EVERCLEAR frontman ART ALEXAKIS has been elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Committee. The singer will appear at the Democratic National Convention in Boston to nominate John Kerry and adopt the party platform . . . PHARRELL WILLIAMS' Ice Cream line sneakers, developed for RBK, will be available in retail stores in mid-September . . . HEART became the first rock band to release an album simultaneously through retail and file-sharing services with their latest, Jupiters Darling . . . Portuguese guitarist CARLOS PAREDES, known as "the man with a thousand fingers," died Friday from kidney failure. He was seventy-nine . . .
CAKE frontman JOHN McCREA will perform at the seventy-fifth birthday celebration for BUCK OWENS in the country legend's hometown of Bakersfield, California, on August 10th. DWIGHT YOAKAM and RAUL MALO will also appear at the event, to be held at Owens' Crystal Palace. "He is a formidable songwriter as well as a performer with a huge catalog of quality work," McCrea said, "including two of my favorite songs, 'Foolin' Around' and 'Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache.'" Cake have set an October 5th release for their new album, "Pressure Chief" . . .
The BACKSTREET BOYS and JESSICA SIMPSON will perform at a Los Angeles benefit on September 11th for local charity 9-1-1 for Kids . . . FATBOY SLIM will appear at De La Guarda's "DJ Connection" on July 28th at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City . . . DAVE NAVARRO will be featured on an episode of Fox's America's Most Wanted, on July 24th to talk about the investigation into his mother's 1983 murder . . . Bassist MARK TULIN and singer JAMES LOWE of the ELECTRIC PRUNES have filed separate lawsuits against their record label and music publisher claiming the companies failed to pay them royalties up to $1 million . . .
PJ HARVEY has lined up a few West Coast summer tour dates beginning August 13th in Solana Beach, California. The singer plans to embark on a full headlining tour in the fall . . . MATCHBOX TWENTY's ROB THOMAS and JEWEL will perform at a benefit at New York's China Club to aid Thomas' nonprofit organization, Sidewalk Angels Foundation . . . BILLY JOE SHAVER will celebrate his sixty-fifth birthday with a performance on August 16th in Austin with guests including GUY CLARK, JIMMIE DALE GILMORE and JOE ELY . . . TOMMY LEE is set to appear in the mafia film, 10th and Wolf, which is scheduled to begin shooting in September . . .
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND will play a free benefit concert on September 12th at Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The band is encouraging donations of $25, $50 or $100 with proceeds benefiting surrounding Bay Area community charities . . . PJ HARVEY is scheduled to perform at this year's Don't Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival, kicking off August 12th in Hollywood . . . ROBBIE WILLIAMS will release a best-of album, featuring two new tracks "Radio" and "Miss Understood," on October 19th . . . The NEVILLE BROTHERS will release Walking in the Shadow of Life on October 19th . . . WIRE will release On the Box: 1979 a live CD/DVD set on their Pink Flag label in October . . .
P. DIDDY is launching his own voting initiative called Citizen Change, to encourage young people and minorities to vote. The nonpartisan endeavor will team with MTV, BET, Clear Channel and other media outlets to increase voter awareness . . . MARIAH CAREY has signed a long-term publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group after being previously signed to Sony/ATV . . . COUNTING CROWS have partnered with auto maker Jeep for the 2004 Jeep Music Trax concert series for five selected venues of the band's current tour, where attendees will have a chance to see the newest Jeep vehicles . . . The WHO will release Live in Boston on DVD on September 14th . . .
Though he used to play baseball, NELLY's new venture is in the National Basketball Association. The St. Louis rapper has joined ownership of the Bobcats Basketball Holdings LLC, the company that will bring the NBA back to Charlotte, North Carolina, with the Charlotte Bobcats expansion team. "Of the many dreams that I have fulfilled in my life," Nelly said in a statement, "being an NBA owner is certainly one of the biggest achievements" . . .
MICHAEL JACKSON is to become a father of quadruplets via a surrogate mother, according to the new issue of Us Weekly. According to the magazine's "Hot Stuff" column, the singer recently visited with the mother-to-be in Miami Beach. "We do not respond to these kind of stories," was all a Jackson spokesperson had to say. Jackson, 45, has three children. The troubled pop star faces a ten-count child molestation indictment, with a trial to begin in September . . .
ALICIA KEYS has been tapped by New York's Daily News to write a regular travel column as she tours behind her new album, The Diary of Alicia Keys . . . SUPERGRASS is celebrating their decade-long career with a best of album titled, Supergrass is 10: The Best of 94-04, due September 28th . . . DEVO's new DVD, Devo: Live in the Land of the Rising Sun: Japan 2003, will be available October 5th . . . Cajun band BEAUSOLEIL will release a new CD titled, Gitane Cajun, on September 14th . . . The owners of the St. Mary's Episcopal Church Steeple in Athens, Georgia -- where R.E.M. played their first concert -- are seeking financial help to renovate the landmark, which needs thousands of dollars of repair . . .
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, the SHINS, the STILLS, SNOW PATROL and MOGWAI are a few of the artists appearing on the upcoming soundtrack to the film Wicker Park, due August 24th. The compilation will also feature previously unreleased songs by the POSTAL SERVICE and JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO (CONCRETE BLONDE) and DANNY LOHNER (NINE INCH NAILS) . . . DAVE NAVARRO, TOMMY LEE and JOHNNY RZEZNIK will kick off the Vegas Rock Star Poker Tournament on August 26th at the Palms Casino Resort. Fans have a chance to face the three rockers by entering a contest at vegasrockstarpoker.com . . . OUTKAST's ANDRE 3000 has been voted World's Sexiest Vegetarian in PETA's annual online poll . . .
JOHN MAYER will participate in Habitat for Humanity's Raise the Roof program on Sunday, July 25th in San Antonio, Texas. Four fans will win the chance to join Mayer at the event and attend his concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater later that evening . . . COURTNEY LOVE's Los Angeles sentencing for a misdemeanor drug charge stemming from an October 8th incident has been pushed back to August 6th . . . A SID VICIOUS and NANCY SPUNGEN art exhibition, featuring original t-shirts, posters and hand-written lyrics, is to be displayed for the first time in London . . . A PERFECT CIRCLE bassist JEORDIE WHITE will guest with BURNING BRIDES on several dates of their North American tour, ending August 31st in Atlanta, Georgia . . .
'N SYNC will sing the National Anthem July 25th, prior to competing in a celebrity basketball game, as part of the groups' Challenge for the Children charity event. The performance will be their first as a group in more than a year-and-a-half . . . METALLICA will make every show from their recent European tour, excluding Paris, available for download at www.livemetallica.com beginning the first week of August . . . The FOUR TOPS will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary with the From the Heart concert special in Detroit later this month. The performance, with guest spots by ARETHA FRANKLIN and NEW ADDITION, will air on Omni Broadcasting Network this fall . . . The JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION have shortened their name to Blues Explosion. The band's new album, Damage!, hits stores September 28th and features a guest by PUBLIC ENEMY's CHUCK D.
