USHER has teamed with MasterCard to offer the first-ever celebrity credit card. The plastic debit card, which bears a picture of the chart-topping R&B singer, costs $9.99 with a $10 activation fee. In other Usher news, later this year he will reissue his 5 million-selling "Confessions" with four bonus tracks including "Boo," his duet with ALICIA KEYS . . .
P.O.D. frontman SONNY SANDOVAL has become an investor in Gamecaster Inc., a gaming events company. He has also been named music director and will be responsible for developing the company's music program . . . GREEN DAY and NEW FOUND GLORY are joining forces on a North American tour set to begin on October 29th in Ft. Worth, Texas. SUGARCULT will serve as the opening act . . . PRIMAL SCREAM singer BOBBY GILLESPIE was awarded an undisclosed amount of libel damages from the newspaper the "News of the World" for reporting the rocker was cheating on his girlfriend . . . GIBBY HAYNES and HIS PROBLEM will launch a national tour starting September 4th in Austin, Texas. Their self-titled debut is due August 24th . . .
QUINCY JONES, ANGIE STONE, MICHAEL McDONALD, GERALD LEVERT and JAMES INGRAM will honor RAY CHARLES in a ceremony on September 29th in Los Angeles to celebrate the opening of the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Atlanta's Morehouse College . . . BRANDY got engaged to NBA basketball player QUENTIN RICHARDSON, on Tuesday at a reception in Los Angeles . . . KYLIE MINOGUE will release a live DVD, called "Kylie Minogue: Body Language Live," on September 7th . . . DR. FRANK of the MR. T EXPERIENCE is publishing a novel, titled "King Dork," through Delacorte in 2006 . . . TWINEMEN's new album "Sideshow," will hit streets on September 14th . . .
AVRIL LAVIGNE will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming film Going the Distance, landing in Canadian theaters on August 20th. The soundtrack, due August 3rd, will feature songs by Lavigne, JET, SUM 41 and the DARKNESS . . . The BANGLES will be given an honorary degree from the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts this year by PAUL McCARTNEY, who helped found the school in 1996 . . . HILARY DUFF's concert DVD, titled Hilary Duff: The Girl Can Rock, hits stores August 10th . . . YO LA TENGO will headline a fundraiser for Democratic presidential hopeful JOHN KERRY on August 12th in New York . . . U.K. rockers the MUSIC will release Welcome to the North on October 19th. The album was produced by BRENDAN O'BRIEN (PEARL JAM, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN) . . .
FRANZ FERDINAND begin a twelve-date tour on September 9th in New York . . . SIMON AND GARFUNKEL will end their Old Friends reunion tour on Saturday with a free show in front of Rome's historic Colosseum . . . LENNY KRAVITZ is among the stars appearing in Gap's fall campaign, titled "How Do You Wear It?" starting in September . . . GODSMACK's live DVD, Changes, hits streets on September 14th . . . The CRAMPS will release a two-disc collection of unreleased tracks, titled How to Make a Monster, on September 21st . . . MOLDY PEACHES singer KIMYA DAWSON will release Hidden Vagenda on October 5th. The set features guest spots by DANIEL JOHNSTON, STEPHAN JENKINS and GUNS N' ROSES drummer BRIAN MANTIA . . .
PAUL McCARTNEY is releasing a memoir recounting his experiences on recent tours. The book, titled Each One Believing: On Stage, Off Stage and Backstage, features previously unpublished photographs and will be available in September . . . The WHITE STRIPES' JACK WHITE will make an appearance on BECK's new album, scheduled for release in October . . . JOHN MAYER, SARAH McLACHLAN and WYCLEF JEAN have signed tank tops to be auctioned on eBay to support music education. Bidding starts August 5th . . . REEL BIG FISH frontman AARON BARRETT married his girlfriend, Molly Terrence, in Las Vegas on July 21st . . .
CARLOS SANTANA will be honored by the Latin Recording Academy as the 2004 Person of the Year at an event on August 30th in Los Angeles. Santana will play at the event, which will also feature performances by artists including DAVE MATTHEWS, ROB THOMAS, BLACK EYED PEAS, OZOMATLI, ROBI ROSA and LA LEY. The event is scheduled the week of the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards, which will be held at the Shrine Auditorium . . . BRITNEY SPEARS will make an appearance at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards, being taped August 8th in Universal City, California. The show will air August 11th on Fox . . .
YELLOWCARD, CYPRESS HILL, INDIGO GIRLS, SLEATER-KINNEY and VIOLENT FEMMES are among the artists featured on the DVD Rock Your Rights, available August 2nd at jtmp.org . . . MELISSA ETHERIDGE will release a DVD of her pay-per-view concert, titled Lucky Live, on September 28th . . . OK GO frontman DAMIAN KULASH has posted "How Your Band Can Fire Bush," a guide for bands looking to become politically active, on okgo.net . . . Former WET WET WET singer MARTI PELLOW will star in the Broadway production of "Chicago" beginning August 3rd.
JAY-Z's video for "99 Problems" earned the rapper six MTV Video Music Awards nominations to lead all acts. NO DOUBT and OUTKAST earned five nominations each for "It's My Life" and "Hey Ya," respectively, while BEYONCE garnered four for "Naughty Girl." The 2004 VMAs will be broadcast live from Miami on August 29th, marking the first time they haven't been held in New York or Los Angeles . . .
LL COOL J will design and release his own hat line for New Era's 59Fiftyat50 celebrity campaign. Other artists such as SPIKE LEE, CAM'RON and FABOLOUS will get to construct their own fitted baseball caps as well . . . LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III has written and recorded a new politically-charged song titled, "Presidents' Day," which he has made available for free download at www.lwiii.com . . . MINISTRY will kick off their Evil Doer North America Tour in Las Vegas on September 7th, with guests MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT . . . INCUBUS postponed its Sunday night show in Wichita, Kansas, due to frontman BRANDON BOYD's throat problems. The concert has been rescheduled for November 18th . . .
The POLYPHONIC SPREE begin a nine-date U.S. tour on August 13th in Chicago . . . P. DIDDY will re-team with DJs ERICK MORILLO and STEVE LAWLER for one show in Pacha, Ibiza, off the coast of Spain on August 9th . . . A celebration of New Orleans music, featuring FATS DOMINO, LITTLE RICHARD and LOUIS ARMSTRONG, among many others, is being compiled and released in a four-CD box set titled, Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: Big Ol' Box of New Orleans. The collection will be available on October 5th and will also include a book of essays by writer MARY HERCZOG . . . DAME DASH is launching a collection of luxury watches called Tiret New York, with prices ranging from $18,000 to $175,000 . . . WEBB WILDER will reissue his out-of-print classic It Came From Nashville on September 21st . . .
BEASTIE BOYS, GREEN DAY, KID ROCK, VELVET REVOLVER, PIXIES and SONIC YOUTH are among the bands appearing at this year's Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans. The two-day event will take place at City Park on October 16th and 17th . . . LIL' ROMEO is being sued by a writer claiming to have written six songs on the rapper's second album without getting paid or receiving credit . . . COLDPLAY, IRON AND WINE and SIMON AND GARFUNKEL will be featured on the upcoming soundtrack to the film Garden State, which will hit stores August 10th . . .
JA RULE turned himself over to authorities in Toronto yesterday after the rapper was charged with assault causing bodily harm. Investigators offered no details about the June 5th fracas at Toronto's Club Rouge that prompted the charges against Rule (a.k.a. Jeffrey Atkins). The rapper appeared in court yesterday but entered no plea. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 30th . . .
CHRISTINA AGUILERA, WILL SMITH, ZIGGY MARLEY, SEAN PAUL and MARY J. BLIGE are a few of the artists contributing to the soundtrack for the animated film Shark Tale, due September 28th . . . Rapper C-MURDER was indicted by a Baton Rouge grand jury on attempted second-degree murder charges stemming from an accused shooting of a club owner in August of 2001 . . . The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND and LYNYRD SKYNYRD will launch a seven-date co-headlining tour this fall, beginning October 1st in Raleigh, North Carolina . . . The DONNAS, X, BEN KELLER and CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN are a few of the performers at this year's Sunset Junction Street Fair in Los Angeles, scheduled to take place on August 21st and 22nd.
