SHERYL CROW's hometown of Kennett, Missouri, received a $250,000 grant to build the Sheryl Crow Community Aquatic Center, which is scheduled to open around Memorial Day 2005 . . . R&B legend RONALD ISLEY suffered a minor stroke last week while in London but is quickly recovering at his home in Missouri . . . DIO's new album Master of the Moon, hits streets on August 31st . . . BOZ SCAGGS will release the CD Greatest Hits Live, on August 10th. A DVD version was recently released . . . The 47th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 13th at Los Angeles' Staples Center . . .
The WU-TANG CLAN will release their live performance at July's Rock the Bells festival in California, Disciples of the 36 Chambers, September 28th on CD and October 5th on DVD. The show marked the first time in years the entire group appeared on stage together . . . BRIAN WILSON is releasing the complete studio recording of his masterpiece Smile, and will launch a North American tour in support of the album beginning September 30th in Minneapolis, Minnesota . . . Country singer MINDY McCREADY was arrested Thursday and charged with prescription drug fraud before being released on $10,000 bail . . .
NORAH JONES' multi-platinum second album, Feels Like Home, will be reissued on September 21st with three new songs and a bonus DVD that includes her live version of GRAM PARSONS' "She" . . . USHER, ALICIA KEYS, AVRIL LAVIGNE and MARY J. BLIGE will perform at the Fashion Rocks concert on September 8th at New York's Radio City Music Hall . . . DESTINY'S CHILD are holding auditions in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston this month to find twenty-five "hot male dancers" to help the trio promote its upcoming album on tour, television appearances and videos . . . SOCIAL DISTORTION have set a September 28th release for their new album, Sex, Love and Rock & Roll . . .
PATTI SMITH will perform at a benefit for the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Carmel, California, on August 22nd. The show will be held at Carmel's Sunset Center . . . LACY VAN ZANT, the "Father of Southern Rock," died on August 3rd of complications from chronic pulmonary illness at age eighty-nine. Van Zant's sons RONNIE and JOHNNY were members of LYNYRD SKYNYRD and DONNIE served in 38 SPECIAL . . . SHAWN COLVIN will use her summer tour to launch the national education campaign Beyond the Music, to raise awareness about major depressive disorder . . . HENRY ROLLINS is planning a USO tour to visit troops at the Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras . . .
The STROKES are planning to release their first live album before the end of the year. The CD will feature a London concert the band taped last December . . . 50 CENT will guest on the next season of the Fox animated show The Simpsons. The episode, titled "Pranksta Rap," will air in early 2005 . . . Rap group D12 will make two movies called Devil's Night and Runyon Cash, both scheduled for a 2005 release . . . 2PAC's new CD, titled Live, has been moved up to an August 6th release to combat bootlegging . . . Rapper N.O.R.E. has signed a deal with Roc-a-Fella and will release a new album in November . . .
MADONNA, BUSTA RHYMES and JERMAINE DUPRI will make appearances on MISSY ELLIOTT's reality show, called The Road to Stardom . . . SLASH, CARL PERKINS, SANTANA, PETER FRAMPTON and STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN are among the musicians featured on the compilation Sing a Song With Six Strings, slated for release on October 5th . . . NEKO CASE has finished a pair of new records. The Tigers Have Spoken will be released on November 9th, with the second album to follow in the spring . . .
MOBY is scheduled to perform at this year's 2nd Annual Howl! Festival of the East Village Arts in New York City, taking place August 17th through August 24th. Other performers at the Allen Ginsberg tribute include STEVE EARLE, SUZANNE VEGA and BOY GEORGE . . . STAIND's AARON LEWIS and CANDLEBOX's KEVIN MARTIN are among the guests at the third annual Layne Staley Fund Benefit Show, being held on August 27th in Seattle, Washington. The proceeds will be used to help recovering heroin addicts . . . Former DREAM member MELISSA SCHUMAN is recording a duet with the BACKSTREET BOYS' NICK CARTER called "Still There for Me," for an upcoming film . . . A new DVD, ABBA: The Last Video, is scheduled for release on August 31st . . .
ABKCO Records will release a DVD version of the ROLLING STONES' film Rock and Roll Circus, this fall . . . COMMON, CARL THOMAS and GHOSTFACE are among the artists appearing on the new DE LA SOUL album due September 28th . . . SHELBY LYNNE will make her film debut with a role in "Walk the Line," a JOHNNY CASH biopic that is currently shooting in Memphis . . . BEN FOLDS' the third EP of the Ben Folds EP series, titled Super D, will be available on August 17th at attackedbyplastic.com and through Internet download . . . Latin jazz musician DON TOSTI died from prostate cancer on Monday at his home. He was eighty-one . . . The Best of the BOOMTOWN RATS will be released on August 31st . . .
LENNY KRAVITZ's Baptism World Tour will hit the U.S. starting September 11th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The nineteen-date trek is scheduled to wrap on October 16th in Las Vegas, as Kravitz plugs his seventh album, Baptism and his new single (featuring JAY-Z) "Storm." ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND will open all dates . . .
50 CENT has partnered with mobile media company Zingy, to exclusively distribute ringtones, voicemail greetings and images of the rapper for mobile devices . . . ERIC CLAPTON is helping to update London's historic gentleman's clothing store Cordings, in which the rocker bought a half share and saved from bankruptcy last December . . . The ROOTS, AUDIOSLAVE, PAUL OAKENFOLD and MILES DAVIS are some of the musicians appearing on the Collateral motion picture soundtrack, due in stores on August 3rd . . . SUPER FURRY ANIMALS will release a greatest-hits collection, titled Songbook: The Singles Volume One, on October 5th . . .
JOHN MAYER, NORAH JONES, the CURE's ROBERT SMITH, PERRY FARRELL and DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL's CHRIS CARRABBA are among the artists announced as judges for this year's Shortlist Music Prize . . . SLIPKNOT, KORN, A PERFECT CIRCLE and DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN are a few of the bands appearing on the two-disc compilation MTV2 HEADBANGERS BALL VOLUME 2, due in stores on September 28th . . . POCO drummer GEORGE GRANTHAM suffered a stroke on stage and collapsed during the band's performance at an outdoor concert last Thursday . . . LIL' ROMEO's new album, titled Romeo-Land, will hit streets on September 21st.