YES IN CONCERT

WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., has blocked the Pentagon's nominee to head the Defense Information Systems Agency, because her husband is a senior executive at the nation's No. 3 defense contractor and the perceived conflicts of interest made the nomination "untenable."

LONDON, June 5 (UPI) -- The British rock band Yes said it has canceled the North American leg of its 40th anniversary tour because lead singer Jon Anderson is ill.

NEW YORK, March 20 (UPI) -- The progressive rock group Yes is planning to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a North American concert tour, Live Nation announced Thursday.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Singer Jon Anderson at the start of his U.S. tour says playing solo presents a different kind of challenge from his concerts with the band.

Today's birthdays include jazz man Ramsey Lewis in 1935 (age 68); country's Don Williams in 1939 (age 64); British pop singer Cilla Black, whose real name is Priscilla White, in 1943 (age 60); Pete Sears, bassist for Jefferson Starship, in 1948 (age 55);

UPI's weekly Today in Music package for May 24-30.

Today's birthdays include clarinetist/bandleader Woody Herman in 1913; entertainer Liberace in 1919; Lainie Kazan, who was born in 1940 (age 63); Billy Cobham in 1944 (age 59); Robert Fripp of King Crimson and Foghat's Roger Earl, both in 1946 (age 57); B

The weekly UPI Today in Music package for May 10-16.

The New York Times has sounded a death knell for pop music, calling 2002 "The Year That Pop Lost Popularity."