Eminem has teamed with Nike to auction off a limited-edition series of Air Max sneakers to benefit the rapper's Marshall Mathers Foundation and NineMillion.org, an agency dedicated to protecting refugees worldwide. The partnership will see the Shady Records CEO design eight models of the popular shoe, and they will be available to bid on at Nike stores and via eBay. "We're always looking for new ways to try to raise money and awareness for the foundation, so when Nike approached us we jumped at the chance," Eminem said in a statement. "When we got the info on NineMillion.org, it made even more sense. Who wouldn't want to design their own line of Nikes? And to do it for charity makes it that much better." Only 64 pairs of sneakers will be made available, with each set autographed by the multiplatinum star. The four-week auction begins Thursday. ...
A candlelight vigil for Aaliyah will be held Friday night (August 25) in New York's Central Park at the weeping willow tree that was planted in the singer's memory. The memorial, being held five years after her tragic passing, will take place at 7 p.m. Services took place earlier in the day at Ferncliff Cemetery, where Aaliyah is buried. The Aaliyah Memorial Fund recently partnered with Zingy, which is devoting 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of Aaliyah ringtones and wallpaper to the nonprofit organization. Fans who want to make a direct donation to the fund or send letters can do so at MemorialFund.Kintera.org. ...
Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie got a rather rude welcome to the stage at the Reading Festival on Friday: a bottle to the face. The band had just launched into the opening chords of its first song on the main stage at Reading — one of the U.K.'s oldest summer festivals — when someone in the crowd launched a bottle that clocked him square in the kisser. Urie immediately collapsed and was surrounded by his bandmates and roadies before getting back on his feet. Urie was OK, and Panic finished their set without further bottle-related hijinks. ...
DMX has done it again. The unpredictable rap star, who was scheduled to perform for troops in Kuwait and Iraq on a United Service Organizations tour this week, failed to arrive for his flight on Wednesday, the organization announced Thursday. "We are extremely disappointed that DMX decided not to complete the tour he asked us to arrange for him," a USO spokesperson said in a statement. "[He] let a lot of people down." X was initially scheduled to depart on Tuesday, but the rapper's representatives asked to postpone the flight by a day. The next morning, however, X was a no-show. "DMX missed the flight," his management responded via e-mail. "[But] we did not anticipate that this would lead to the entire tour being canceled. He was extremely disappointed and saddened. This trip was planned with the greatest of intentions. He admires these soldiers and wants the troops and the USO to know that he will do anything to make it up to them." ...
If you like Beyoncé's "Ring the Alarm," you ain't heard nothing yet, says the track's producer, Swizz Beatz. "That's just one of the many presents I gave her for her B'Day," he said. "I have the most tracks on her album as a single producer, and just wait till you hear the other three. I've never heard a singer singing on tracks like this. It hasn't been done in R&B yet, and if she can pull this off, it's going down. We're taking stuff to the next level." ... Swizz promises something just as groundbreaking for the new Britney Spears album, which he's currently working on with songwriter Sean Garrett. "That's my partner in crime right there," Swizz said. "The Britney stuff, we're creating just for her. It's a lot of tempo, a lot of hard drums, a lot of sonic changes. It's just something that when you hear it, you get goose bumps. She's back for real." ... Also keeping Swizz busy with his beats is Jennifer Lopez, who's working with the producer on her upcoming ska-pop album. "It's coming out incredible," he said. "We're putting together some great things, and not what everyone's expecting. Think a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music." ...
Beck has decided on "Cell Phone's Dead" as the first single from his new album, The Information, due October 3. Michel Gondry directed the video ... Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton will be on the sidelines when the band begins its Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe on September 14 in Holmdel, New Jersey. Hamilton, who just finished a seven-week course of radiation treatment for throat cancer, will be with his family until he rejoins the band in mid-October. David Hull, who played with Aerosmith's lead guitarist in the Joe Perry Project, will be filling in. ... Plenty of "American Idol" top-10 finishers have released albums, but a 13th-placer? Make way for Ayla Brown, 18, the basketball-playing almost-finalist from the most recent "Idol" season who announced Thursday — just hours after her "Idol" obligation lapsed — that she is releasing her debut, Forward, on October 17 on the Double Deal Brand Records label. According to the singer's Web site, the first single, "Know You Better/ I Quit," will be released on September 12. The album is slated to feature songs written by Grammy winner Diane Warren, David Eriksen (Clay Aiken, Lindsay Lohan), Ruby Amanfu, singer Jonatha Brooke and Phil Thornalley (Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn"). ...
A man who claimed to be the illegitimate son of producer/singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds pleaded guilty on Thursday to a misdemeanor intimidation charge for his role in trying to extort millions from the singer. According to the Indianapolis Star, John Travis Clark will spend three months in a work-release program and be on probation for six months after threatening to go on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and announce he was Edmonds' son unless he was paid $20 million. Edmonds did not attend the hearing, but said in a statement, "I want to make it emphatically clear that John Clark is not my son. I do not know his mother. [He] sought to ruin my reputation by broadcasting his lies to the entire country, which would not only destroy my family but would resonate loudly in the music industry." ... Moby and John Digweed will headline Ultra.NY, a live DJ event scheduled for September 22 at Rumsey Playfield in New York's Central Park. Soulwax Nite Versions, Junkie XL, Benny Benassi, Boris and David Waxman are also on the bill. ... "I Trust You to Kill Me," a documentary following Kiefer Sutherland as a tour manger for Rocco DeLuca & the Burden in a jaunt through Europe, will hit select theaters beginning September 8 in New York and a week later in Los Angeles. Rocco DeLuca is the first act on Sutherland and Jude Cole's Ironworks label.
Aaliyah Crash Sparks Lawsuit
The families of two passengers who died in the plane crash that killed Aaliyah have filed wrongful death lawsuits against Virgin Records, its affiliated music and video production units, the plane's owner and the charter air company. The families of Eric Forman and Anthony Dodd, the hairstylists who had been in the Bahamas with Aaliyah for the filming of a video for "Rock the Boat," charge the label with placing profits over safety when choosing the charter company.
Nine people onboard the twin engine Cessna 402B were killed on August 25th when the plane went down at Marsh Harbour Airport in Great Abaco, Bahamas. Crash investigators cited excess weight as one of the main causes of the accident. On August 30th the Bahamanian Civil Aviation Department released a report stating that the aircraft had exceeded its maximum weight and that no problems were found with either the engine or the airframe.
The BCAD report indicated that after baggage and fuel the aircraft only had room left for 805 pounds, meaning that the nine people aboard the plane could have only weighed ninety pounds apiece to keep within the maximum takeoff weight.
Furthermore, the pilot, Luis Morales, had been charged with cocaine possession on July 7th. Morales had sixty days to report the incident to the Federal Aviation Authority, which could have suspended or revoked his flight certificate. Morales was still within that timeframe when he was killed.
As yet, no other legal action has been taken by the families of the other passengers. Dodd and Forman's families are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Nine people onboard the twin engine Cessna 402B were killed on August 25th when the plane went down at Marsh Harbour Airport in Great Abaco, Bahamas. Crash investigators cited excess weight as one of the main causes of the accident. On August 30th the Bahamanian Civil Aviation Department released a report stating that the aircraft had exceeded its maximum weight and that no problems were found with either the engine or the airframe.
The BCAD report indicated that after baggage and fuel the aircraft only had room left for 805 pounds, meaning that the nine people aboard the plane could have only weighed ninety pounds apiece to keep within the maximum takeoff weight.
Furthermore, the pilot, Luis Morales, had been charged with cocaine possession on July 7th. Morales had sixty days to report the incident to the Federal Aviation Authority, which could have suspended or revoked his flight certificate. Morales was still within that timeframe when he was killed.
As yet, no other legal action has been taken by the families of the other passengers. Dodd and Forman's families are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
"Now 8" Dedicated to Aaliyah
The upcoming Now That's What I Call Music! 8 compilation is being dedicated to the late R&B singer Aaliyah, who died on August 25th in a plane crash in the Bahamas. The twenty-track compilation, due in stores November 20th, will contain "Rock da Boat," a track from her latest album, Aaliyah, and a portion of the proceeds from Now 8 will be donated to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund.
The remainder of the eighth volume of the successful series will contain recent hits by the likes of Destiny's Child, U2, Blink-182, 'N Sync and others. Now 8 is the third volume of the series to be released this year. Now 7 hit record store shelves just three months ago, and has tallied 2.5 million sales to date.
Now That's What I Call Music! 8 track listing:
Destiny's Child, "Survivor"
'N Sync, "Pop"
Jennifer Lopez, "I'm Real"
Joe featuring Mystikal, "Stutter"
Janet Jackson, "Someone to Call My Lover"
Christina Milian, "A.M. to P.M."
Jessica Simpson, "A Little Bit"
Mandy Moore, "Crush"
Aaliyah, "Rock da Boat"
Usher, "U Got It Bad"
Backstreet Boys, "More Than That"
Gorillaz, "Clint Eastwood"
Wiseguys, "Start the Commotion"
JiveJones, "Me, Myself and I"
Smash Mouth, "I'm a Believer"
Sum 41, "Fat Lip"
Blink-182, "The Rock Show"
Fuel, "Bad Day"
3 Doors Down, "Be Like That"
U2, "Walk On"
Angelina, Aaliyah, Furlong in Hot Stuff
Three weeks after the death of 22-year-old R&B singer Aaliyah, there was another tragedy linked to the Bahamas plane crash, which also killed eight others. Carl Havetter, the FAA inspector who sources say gave the final test flight to Luis Morales - the pilot of the doomed twin-engine Cessna - has committed suicide. According to a source, Havetter killed himself on September 17 - "not long after it was revealed that he, like the owner of the plane, was tricked into believing that Morales had more flight experience than he probably had." An FAA spokeswoman said she wouldn't comment on whether Havetter was an employee, or on the cause of death. The plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Marsh Harbour airport - the National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft was overloaded and out of balance.
A Tale Of Two Princes
Prince William was stalked by a camera crew during his first week at St. Andrews University in Scotland. No big surprise there, except that the crew works for his uncle Prince Edward. While other media left after the weekend of William's arrival at the school, Edward's Ardent production company, which was getting footage for an E! Entertainment series called The A to Z of Royalty, stuck around for two extra days. The 19-year-old heir to the British throne was so annoyed that he complained to his father, Prince Charles, who insiders say was "incandescent" with anger over what his younger brother's company had done. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman tells Hot Stuff, "We were disappointed."
Angelina Aid
While most other Americans are donating to relief funds for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Angelina Jolie has just given $1 million to Afghan refugees. Jolie, who's a goodwill ambassador for the U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees, gave the cash after the agency made an appeal for $268 million to help Afghans fleeing the Taliban government. In August, the 26-year-old Tomb Raider star went to nearby Pakistan to visit the more than 3.5 million Afghans who live in camps there and in Iran.
Michael Lives!
Michael Skupin, who suffered second-degree burns after he fainted into a campfire during Survivor 2, must be counting his lives. On September 23, Skupin was in a small plane that crashed into the rocky shore of Lake Michigan. "I'm happy to be alive," said Skupin, who had been flying back from speaking at a memorial service on Mackinac Island in Michigan for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Skupin, 39, who was with his pregnant wife, Penny, and daughter, Emily, 3, escaped with whiplash, the worst of the passengers' injuries, after the 1977 Piper his friend was piloting was forced to make an emergency landing.
Clint's Bad Cut
Why did Clint Eastwood's jacket fit so poorly when he appeared on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon on September 21? One rumor suggested that the Dirty Harry star was packing heat in a shoulder holster in case anyone tried to make his day. Another tale making the rounds is that the 71-year-old Oscar winner has a bad back and the jacket was covering a brace he has to wear. "None of those stories are true," Eastwood's manager says. "It's not a normal suit or sports jacket he was wearing. It's a 'bulging jacket' - the kind you'd wear to a football game." Or maybe take to a tailor.
Edward Busted Again
Edward Furlong's road continues to be a troubled one. The 24-year-old actor, who last fall did a month's stint at the Promises rehab center in Malibu, California, for alcohol abuse, was booked in West Hollywood on September 25 for driving without a license and had his car impounded. But that wasn't enough to deter Furlong. At 3:15 a.m., just four hours later, Furlong was nabbed again. The Terminator 2 and American History X star and his actor girlfriend, Jolene Blalock, 26, were involved in a traffic accident on the Sunset Strip, and he was busted for driving under the influence, the same offense his ex-girlfriend Natasha Lyonne had been arrested for just a month earlier. Furlong told Us weekly last December, "My friends were like, 'Eddie, you're drinking too much' . . . and that was true." A spokeswoman for Furlong wouldn't comment.
Stripper Sheila
Sheila Kelley, who's married to The West Wing's Emmy-winning Richard Schiff, got hooked on a new hobby while making the movie Dancing at the Blue Iguana - stripping. "I have two kids, a husband and a dog. I bake cookies for the PTA and attend school concerts," says Kelley. Yet the 37-year-old actor, who has appeared on L.A. Law and Sisters, as well as in such films as Singles and One Fine Day, says she has become so keen on stripping that she had a stripper's pole installed in her husband's home office. Kelley teaches stripping classes twice a week to groups of 11 at a time and dances every day. "I've mastered around eight moves, from the corkscrew to the twirling helicopter to the drop-and-split," says Kelley, who claims she dances for herself but "if he's good, I dance for my husband."
A Tale Of Two Princes
Prince William was stalked by a camera crew during his first week at St. Andrews University in Scotland. No big surprise there, except that the crew works for his uncle Prince Edward. While other media left after the weekend of William's arrival at the school, Edward's Ardent production company, which was getting footage for an E! Entertainment series called The A to Z of Royalty, stuck around for two extra days. The 19-year-old heir to the British throne was so annoyed that he complained to his father, Prince Charles, who insiders say was "incandescent" with anger over what his younger brother's company had done. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman tells Hot Stuff, "We were disappointed."
Angelina Aid
While most other Americans are donating to relief funds for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Angelina Jolie has just given $1 million to Afghan refugees. Jolie, who's a goodwill ambassador for the U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees, gave the cash after the agency made an appeal for $268 million to help Afghans fleeing the Taliban government. In August, the 26-year-old Tomb Raider star went to nearby Pakistan to visit the more than 3.5 million Afghans who live in camps there and in Iran.
Michael Lives!
Michael Skupin, who suffered second-degree burns after he fainted into a campfire during Survivor 2, must be counting his lives. On September 23, Skupin was in a small plane that crashed into the rocky shore of Lake Michigan. "I'm happy to be alive," said Skupin, who had been flying back from speaking at a memorial service on Mackinac Island in Michigan for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Skupin, 39, who was with his pregnant wife, Penny, and daughter, Emily, 3, escaped with whiplash, the worst of the passengers' injuries, after the 1977 Piper his friend was piloting was forced to make an emergency landing.
Clint's Bad Cut
Why did Clint Eastwood's jacket fit so poorly when he appeared on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon on September 21? One rumor suggested that the Dirty Harry star was packing heat in a shoulder holster in case anyone tried to make his day. Another tale making the rounds is that the 71-year-old Oscar winner has a bad back and the jacket was covering a brace he has to wear. "None of those stories are true," Eastwood's manager says. "It's not a normal suit or sports jacket he was wearing. It's a 'bulging jacket' - the kind you'd wear to a football game." Or maybe take to a tailor.
Edward Busted Again
Edward Furlong's road continues to be a troubled one. The 24-year-old actor, who last fall did a month's stint at the Promises rehab center in Malibu, California, for alcohol abuse, was booked in West Hollywood on September 25 for driving without a license and had his car impounded. But that wasn't enough to deter Furlong. At 3:15 a.m., just four hours later, Furlong was nabbed again. The Terminator 2 and American History X star and his actor girlfriend, Jolene Blalock, 26, were involved in a traffic accident on the Sunset Strip, and he was busted for driving under the influence, the same offense his ex-girlfriend Natasha Lyonne had been arrested for just a month earlier. Furlong told Us weekly last December, "My friends were like, 'Eddie, you're drinking too much' . . . and that was true." A spokeswoman for Furlong wouldn't comment.
Stripper Sheila
Sheila Kelley, who's married to The West Wing's Emmy-winning Richard Schiff, got hooked on a new hobby while making the movie Dancing at the Blue Iguana - stripping. "I have two kids, a husband and a dog. I bake cookies for the PTA and attend school concerts," says Kelley. Yet the 37-year-old actor, who has appeared on L.A. Law and Sisters, as well as in such films as Singles and One Fine Day, says she has become so keen on stripping that she had a stripper's pole installed in her husband's home office. Kelley teaches stripping classes twice a week to groups of 11 at a time and dances every day. "I've mastered around eight moves, from the corkscrew to the twirling helicopter to the drop-and-split," says Kelley, who claims she dances for herself but "if he's good, I dance for my husband."
Aaliyah Reaches No. 1
As expected, the tragic death of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah sent droves of fans to pick up her swan song, Aaliyah. The album shot from Number Nineteen to Number One with an increase from 62,081 copies to 305,911, according to SoundScan. The ripples were visible elsewhere in her catalog, as 1996's One in a Million shot from 716 copies sold the previous week to 16,218. And Aaliyah's sales were its highest tally in its seven weeks of release, handily topping its first-week sales figure of 186,893.
Elsewhere on the charts there was plenty of buzzing. If you've grown weary of the same eight to ten acts lodged in the Top Ten album sales chart, this chart's for you. From last week, only Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor, Maxwell's Now, Now That's What I Call Music! 7 and Juvenile's Project English, held up to an onslaught of new debuts; the most drastic facelift the Top Ten has received all year.
Falling just short of Aaliyah's chart topping figure was the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige, whose No More Drama fell just short of the 300,000 mark, and R&B crooner Brian McKnight and his star-studded Superhero took a bow at Number Seven. Hard rock made its mark with Slipknot's third album, Iowa, which sold a quarter million copies for a Number Three entrance and Fred Durst proteges Puddle of Mudd, who put their debut at Number Ten. Toby Keith proved that country music still has some chart muscle, as his Pull My Chain sold 119,504 copies to score a Number Nine debut.
And the debut hit parade continues: Afroman showed the power of the summer single, as his Good Times, featuring "I Got High," sold nearly 100,000 copies to land at Number Fourteen. Bjork's Vespertine (Number Nineteen), Wu-Tang Clan mastermind RZA (as Bobby Digital)'s Digital Bullet (Number Twenty-four), and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper Krayzie Bone's Thug on Da Line (Number Twenty-seven) also registered solid first-week sales.
Other notable marks were reached by a disparate pair of country music-related releases. The O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack moved past the 2 million copies sold mark, while the Dixie Chicks' Fly crossed over the 7 million point.
Next week, doesn't promise as much new blood in the Top Ten, as System of a Down's Toxicity leads a more humble crop of rookies.
Aaliyah's Plane Too Heavy
Investigators looking into the crash that killed R&B singer Aaliyah have cited excess weight as one of the main causes of the accident. Aayliyah and the eight other people on board the twin engine Cessna 402B plane were killed on August 25th when their plane went down at Marsh Harbour Airport in Great Abaco, Bahamas.
On August 30th the Bahamanian Civil Aviation Department released a report stating that the aircraft had exceeded its maximum weight and that no problems were found with either the engine or the airframe.
The BCAD report indicates that after baggage and fuel the aircraft only had room left for 805 pounds, meaning that the nine people aboard the plane could have only weighed ninety pounds apiece to keep within the maximum takeoff weight.
Investigations into the crash have also revealed that the pilot, Luis Morales, had been charged with cocaine possession on July 7th. Morales had sixty days to report the incident to the Federal Aviation Authority, which could have suspended or revoked his flight certificate. Morales was still within that time frame when he was killed.
Artists Mourn Aaliyah
Near the end of Ludacris' set at Saturday night's Powerhouse concert in Anaheim, California, someone came onstage and whispered in his ear. The rapper then addressed the crowd: "Hold up. This is serious. We just found out R&B singer Aalyiah was killed in a plane crash." He then asked for a moment of silence from the stunned crowd. People turned and looked at each other in disbelief, thinking maybe they'd heard wrong. A trip backstage after his set confirmed the sad news: The twenty-two-year-old singer/actress and eight others had been killed as a plane carrying them crashed and burst into flames shortly after leaving the Bahamas for Miami. At a show that should've been a party -- with Ja Rule, Shaggy, Afroman, Nelly, Xzibit, OutKast and many more performing -- the mood backstage at the R&B/hip-hop fest was anything but celebratory. "For someone so talented, it's sad to think they're not going to contribute anymore to music or film," said Nelly, who was performing as part of the hip-hop crew the St. Lunatics. "We've only been in the entertainment industry for a year and a half, but we've had definitely had the pleasure of meeting her. Our hearts go out to her family." "We've been friends since '96," said fellow R&B singer Monica. "She was an easy person to like. I want her family to know we're here for her as artists, but this is bigger than the music industry. She was very talented, but more than that, she was a good person." Anthony Anderson, who appeared with Aaliyah in last year's film, Romeo Must Die, was also backstage. "She was a great friend and a great person," he said. "I think we're all at a loss that she's no longer with us." Ja Rule, who faced the difficult task of taking the stage after Ludacris' announcement, said it was something that was with him as he performed. "It's numbing. I got the news before I went on and I didn't want to believe it, but I guess if you're saying it, it must be true. It was definitely in the back of my mind as I was out there though. I loved baby girl. She was a sweet person." Rapper Ras Kass, who had appeared with Xzibit, said, "To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if it was true or not, so I prayed that it wasn't. I send love out to her family." The normally affable, accommodating Shaggy appeared especially distraught as he walked by the backstage area. "To be honest, I've never seen him this bummed," say his label representative. "I don't know if he'll be able to talk about it." STEVE BALTIN (August 27, 2001)
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