Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LAWSUIT FILED IN DEATH OF AALIYAH The parents of singer-actress Aaliyah have sued Virgin Records, alleging negligence and recklessness in the plane crash last August in which the 22-year-old entertainer was killed. Advertisement The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles by Diane and Michael Haughton, also named several video production companies and Blackhawk International Airways as defendants. Blackhawk operated the Cessna 402-B that crashed on takeoff in the Bahamas while carrying Aaliyah and eight others following a video shoot for the song "Rock The Boat." Bahamian government investigators have listed three primary causes for the crash, according to published reports -- pilot error, pilot inexperience and excessive weight. Investigators concluded that the twin-engine craft was at least 700 pounds overweight. NEW P. DIDDY IN STORES TUESDAY P. Diddy's new CD -- "P. Diddy & Bad Boy Records Present ... We Invented the Remix" -- is due in stores Tuesday. Advertisement P. Diddy will get around as he promotes the project with TV appearances on "Live with Regis & Kelly," MTV's "TRL," BET's "106th & Park" and Conan O'Brien on NBC. HONORS FOR PIONEER ROCKERS Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard will be honored in Beverly Hills Tuesday night when they receive icon awards from BMI -- the performance rights organization that represents 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers. Diddley said the award was special, coming from an organization that he said treated him well at a time when musicians were routinely ripped off in business deals. "The only people that ever did me right, in the 1950's and all the way up through now, is BMI," declared Diddley. "I have no regrets in my 47 years with them; everything in the book was right." Diddley said he was brought up to trust people, but he learned the hard way that he could not. "We found out that there are few people out there that can be trusted," he lamented. "Everybody gets funny with the money. It's the great American rip-off, and it's still going on." ON THE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE Advertisement Rolling Stone honcho Jann Wenner is denying a report that he was rude to a publicist for "Spider-Man" star Kirsten Dunst over the magazine's decision to feature her in its pages without the cooperation of Dunst or her public relations people. The New York Daily News reported that Dunst spokesman Steven Huvane contacted Wenner to complain about Rolling Stone dragging up an old, previously unpublished interview with the actress. Citing sources, the News reported that Huvane told Wenner he had already promised Esquire magazine that Dunst wasn't doing anything with any other magazines besides Vanity Fair and Seventeen. "That's not my problem," Wenner retorted, according to a Daily News source. The source said the conversation became heated, and ended with Wenner telling Huvane to "(bleep) off" before hanging up on the befuddled publicist. A spokesman for Wenner told the paper the publisher had not been rude at all. "Steven Huvane was trying to control us," said Stu Zakim. "We don't cave to personal publicists. We do what's best for the magazine." BIG DEAL EMI Group is buying the U.K. independent label Mute Records for just under $34 million, according to a report in Daily Variety. Advertisement Mute's roster includes U.K. distribution of electronica artist Moby, whose last record sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and whose new release "18" is out this month. The roster also includes rockers Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Mercury prize winner Goldfrapp and club DJs Luke Slater and Paul Van Dyk. "This deal is a natural progression of our relationship with Mute," EMI European chief Emmanuel de Buretel said in a statement. "I believe in the independent sector. It's a source of new musical trends and an integral part of the industry's future."
