Rock News Two: The week in pop music

WORLD MUSIC AWARDS

Enya, Destiny's Child and Dido were the big winners at the 14th Annual World Music Awards, presented Wednesday night in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Allstar News reports Enya took home three awards, including the World's Best-Selling Female Artist, beating out Britney Spears. She also was named World's Best-Selling New Age Artist and World's Best-Selling Irish Artist.

Destiny's Child and Dido also scored three awards each. Destiny's Child's honors included the World's Best-Selling Artist or Group, Pop Group, and R&B Group awards. Dido took home nods for World's Best-Selling British Artist, Pop Female Artist, and Adult Contemporary Artist.

This year's biggest Grammy winner, Alicia Keys, nabbed two awards -- World's Best-Selling R&B Female Artist and New Artist.

The winners:

World's Best-Selling Female Artist: Enya

World's Best-Selling Artist or Group: Destiny's Child

World's Best-Selling Pop Group: Destiny's Child

World's Best-Selling British Artist: Dido

World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist: Dido

World's Best-Selling Adult Contemporary Artist: Dido

World's Best-Selling Pop Male Artist: Enrique Iglesias

World's Best-Selling Latin Male Artist: Enrique Iglesias

World's Best-Selling Latin Female Artist: Jennifer Lopez

World's Best-Selling Pop Male Artist: Shaggy

World's Best-Selling Rock Group: Linkin Park

World's Best-Selling New Artist: Alicia Keys

World's Best-Selling R&B Female Artist: Alicia Keys

World's Best-Selling R&B Male Artist: Shaggy

World's Best-Selling R&B Group: Destiny's Child

World's Best-Selling Rap Artist: Ja Rule

World's Best-Selling Rap Group: Outkast

World's Best-Selling Australian Artist: Kylie Minogue

World's Best-Selling Classical Artist: Andre Bocelli

World's Best-Selling New Age Artist: Enya

World's Best-Selling Irish Artist: Enya

Legend Award: Gloria Gaynor

THE OSCARS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says Enya will perform for the first time at the 74th Academy Awards. The Irish singer/songwriter will sing her Oscar-nominated song, "May It Be," from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."

Also appearing will be Sting, performing his Oscar-nominated song, "Until ..." from "Kate & Leopold." Last year at the 73rd Academy Awards, Sting sang "My Funny Friend and Me" -- his nominated song from "The Emperor's New Groove."

The Academy Awards will be presented March 24.

(Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason)

SEAN 'P. DIDDY' COMBS

After being threatened with jail time for failing to appear at several court hearings in a paternity suit brought by the mother of his young son, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs paid a visit to Manhattan Family Court last Tuesday.

E! Online reports the rap mogul, 32, had actually reached a tentative settlement last December with model Kim Porter, who had sued Combs to have him declared the father of her three-year-old son, Christian Casey Combs. But he needed to appear in court to finalize the deal.

He finally decided to show late Tuesday afternoon.

"I have joint custody of Christian," Combs told reporters outside the courtroom. "(Kim and I) have always been friends. We just had to go through the proper process."

The rapper initially had been ordered to pay Porter $11,000 a month in child support. He also pays $5,000 a month for another son, six-year-old Justin, with hip-hop fashion stylist Misa Hylton-Brim.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Michael Jackson reportedly is gearing up for his first North American road trip since 1993's "Dangerous" tour.

The 43-year-old singer has not publicly announced any touring plans. But E! Online quotes both Billboard magazine and the New York Post hinting at an outing, with Billboard saying Jackson will do a "limited run" in May.

Jackson has toured overseas but not in North America since child molestation accusations were leveled against him in 1993. No criminal charges were ever filed, and the singer reached an out-of-court settlement with the family of alleged victim, a 13-year-old boy.

Sales of Jackson's latest CD, "Invincible" -- hyped as his "comeback" album -- have been less than spectacular.

LENNY KRAVITZ

Lenny Kravitz launches an international tour April 9 in Hiroshima, Japan. It's Kravitz's first extended road trip in support of last year's CD "Lenny," which debuted at No. 12 on The Billboard Top 200 album chart. The album's first single, "Dig In," won a Grammy for best male rock vocal performance last week, marking the fourth year in a row Kravitz has taken home that honor.

So far, the rocker's only U.S. dates are previously announced appearances April 26-27 as part of New Orleans' annual Jazz & Heritage Festival. A full North American tour is expected later this summer, according to Billboard.com.

THE CRANBERRIES

The Cranberries are scheduled to kick off the North American leg of their "Wake Up And Smell The Coffee" World Tour May 10 in Montreal. Another 19 shows will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Irish band began a 28-city European tour in February, and has already visited five countries -- Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The road trip is in support of "Wake Up And Smell The Coffee," the band's fifth studio album, which was released in October 2001 and has already gone "platinum."

JAGERMEISTER MUSIC TOUR

Drowning Pool is headlining the first-ever Jagermeister Music Tour, which kicked off Friday in Orlando, Fla. Also on the bill -- Coal Chamber, Ill Nino and 40 Below Summer. The road trip runs through April 23 in New Orleans.

BEYOND 2002

Stone Temple Pilots, Fatboy Slim and Third Eye Blind have joined the lineup of the inaugural Beyond 2002 Super Festival, Billboard.com reports. The April 12-14 event will feature artists on five stages at Miami's Bicentennial Park.

Also on the bill: Less Than Jake, Dubcat (featuring members of the Long Beach Dub All-Stars/Sublime), Outkast, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, and Ice-T, among others. Comedian Carl Payne ("The Martin Lawrence Show") will host the April 12 festivities.

The three-day fest will also feature DJ, MC, and B-Boy battles, graffiti muralists and extreme sports demonstrations.

VANS WARPED TOUR

Bad Religion, NOFX and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are among the bands slated to take part in this summer's Vans Warped Tour. The road trip, now in its eighth year, will kick off June 21 in Nampa, Idaho, and wrap Aug. 18 in Detroit, MTV News reports. Other artists slated to appear include New Found Glory, Reel Big Fish, Guttermouth and the Damned.

THE YOUNG POP POWER TOUR

Solange, the younger sister of Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child; the Swedish pop quartet Play; and singer Devin headline The Young Pop Power (YPP) Tour, which begins Sunday at the North Riverside Mall in North Riverside, Ill.

At each YPP show, all of which are free, a contest will be held to fly a lucky winner to see the YPP Tour open for Destiny's Child in London on June 8.

In addition to appearances at the country's shopping malls, the YPP Tour will include stops at junior high schools along the tour itinerary, working with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to spread a "Music -- My Anti-Drug" message.

DANIEL ASH

Former Bauhaus and Love & Rockets frontman Daniel Ash's solo North American tour will resume Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Virginmega.com reports. The road trip had been scheduled to begin March 1 but was put on hold following a car accident in which bassist Patina Crème was seriously injured.

Ash, Crème and the band's drummer were en route to their gig in Santa Barbara, Calif., when they were involved in a hit-and-run accident. Crème was thrown from the car and seriously injured. She's expected to fully recover.

While she's on the mend, Ash will tour with a guest bassist. Canceled dates will be rescheduled.

SUGARCULT

New meaning to the phrase "bring down the house": in Detroit last Wednesday, Sugarcult's performance at St. Andrew's Hall was cut short when the floor started to collapse.

MTV News reports that three songs into their set, the band was ordered to stop playing when a manager in the room below the club noticed the ceiling was caving in. The building was evacuated and the concert canceled.

To appease concertgoers outside the club, Sugarcult singer Tim Pagnotta and two musicians from the other artists on that night's bill -- Mest singer Tony Lovato and Unwritten Law's Scott Russo -- climbed atop a U-Hail trailer and performed an impromptu acoustic show. The bands also handed out stickers and CD samplers.

Sugarcult guitarist Marko 72 said the bands were talking about returning to Detroit to play a free show next month.

BUBBA SPARXX

A 25th birthday party for rapper Bubba Sparxx turned violent last Wednesday when three men were stabbed in separate incidents. BBC Radio 1 reports one man remained in critical condition.

Fellow rappers Petey Pablo and members of Outkast's Dungeon family also attended the bash, which took place in Athens, Ga.

C-MURDER

Rapper C-Murder -- already indicted on second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a teenager -- is being sued by the boy's family, MTV News reports.

In their wrongful death lawsuit, filed last Monday in Gretna, La., George and Dolores Thomas claim that C-Murder, whose real name is Corey Miller, shot their son, 16-year-old Steve Thomas, at the Platinum Club in Harvey, La., because Miller was "upset and angry" that he was getting less favorable attention than Thomas was during a rap contest in which they both were participating.

Miller's lawyer, Roy Maughan, said his client is a victim of mistaken identify.

THE CHARTS

"Under Rug Swept," Alanis Morissette's first album in three years, debuted atop the Billboard Top-200 album chart.

But the No.1 position was hard earned, according to RollingStone.com. Last week's Grammy Awards sent several albums racing up the charts -- most notably, the soundtrack album "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?", which broke into the top-10 to rest in second place for the week. Five-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys also returned to the upper regions of the charts, as "Songs in A Minor" climbed from No.20 to No.4. Sales of U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" pushed it into 10th place.

The week's top-10: "Under Rug Swept," Alanis Morissette; "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?"; "Fever," Kylie Minogue; "Songs in A Minor," Alicia Keys; "Hybrid Theory," Linkin Park; "Drive," Alan Jackson; "J to tha Lo!," Jennifer Lopez; "Word of Mouf," Ludacris; "Living Proof," Cher; "All That You Can't Leave Behind," U2.

MORE ALBUM NEWS

-- Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas is getting a little help from his friends on the band's upcoming album. MTV News reports that Mick Jagger -- who enlisted Thomas to co-write "Visions of Paradise" for his recent solo album, "Goddess in the Doorway" -- has written a track with Thomas for the next Matchbox Twenty record. The song is titled "I Got a Disease" and will be recorded by Thomas and his bandmates when they return to the studio in July to record their third album. Jagger may join them, if he can fit it into his schedule. Willie Nelson -- whose January release featured three songs written by Thomas -- may also appear on the Matchbox Twenty album. "If he's around [the studio], I'll make him play guitar for sure," Thomas said.

-- Coming March 26 to a music store near you: "The Pledge of Allegiance Tour Live Concert Recording." For seven weeks in September-October 2001, System Of A Down and Slipknot joined forces for the inaugural "Pledge Of Allegiance" metal touring festival. Other artists on the road trip included Mudvayne, American Head Charge, and No One. The album captures the highlights of the Oct. 9, 2001, show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. With the exception of the two Mudvayne tracks, which were taken from the DVD/VHS "L(ive) D(osage) 50 -- Live In Peoria", all of the tracks on the album were recorded live as they happened that autumn night in Illinois.

-- The first U.S release of a rare Creed track, Kid Rock's update of ZZ Top's classic "Legs," and exclusive remixes of Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People," Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" and Cypress Hill's "Rock Superstar" are on a compilation album of the World Wrestling Federation's most popular theme songs. "WWF Forceable Entry" hits stores March 26. Other artists on the CD include Rob Zombie, Drowning Pool, Sevendust and Our Lady Peace.

-- Pink, Britney Spears, J.Lo, Shakira, 'N Sync, Destiny's Child, Backstreet Boys, Mary J. Blige, Nelly Furtado, Ja Rule, U2 and Aerosmith are among the artists featured on the latest edition of the "Now That's What I Call Music!" CDs. No.9 in the best-selling multi-artist series is due out March 19. The album also includes hits by Lenny Kravitz, Ludacris, Ginuwine and Mr. Cheeks.

MARIAH CAREY

Mariah Carey -- still trying to get her record and acting careers back on track after her "Glitter" project self-destructed -- may be about to start her own record label.

Insiders tell MSNBC that after Carey got out from under her deal with EMI -- being paid $28 million to quietly go away -- she says her next album may be self-published. She's quoted as saying that some of the problems she had at EMI stemmed from the fact that she did not have enough "autonomy" in dealing with content and concepts.

Carey also apparently thinks it would be fun to record others and is rumored to be toying with the idea of taking others into any new label.

Meanwhile, she is reportedly talking with other major labels in case she abandons the "go it alone" route. The last thing she needs is to have another project end in disaster.

(Thanks to UPI's Dennis Daily)

PRINCE

Prince reportedly has secretly wed a former employee 18 years his junior.

E! Online quotes several reports saying that despite ending his three-year marriage to dancer Mayte Garcia because he said he did not believe in the "social conventions" of a marriage contract, Prince tied the knot on New Year's Eve with Manuela Testolini, a 25-year-old Canadian woman who used to work at Prince's Paisley Park Studios outside Minneapolis. The small Jehovah's Witness ceremony was said to have taken place in Hawaii.

In addition, the couple -- according to Toronto's National Post newspaper -- has purchased a $3.5 million mansion in the city's exclusive Bridle Path neighborhood.

If true, this would be the second marriage for the reclusive 43-year-old rocker.

No comment from Prince's spokeswoman, Jessica Brenner of Susan Blond Inc., who added that "he doesn't tell me anything personally related."

CONCERT SAFETY

At least 52 people died at concerts and festivals worldwide last year, according to an international crowd safety consulting firm.

Crowd Management Strategies annual Rock Concert Safety Survey says more than 11,000 people were injured and more than 400 people were arrested or cited at concerts and festivals in 2001.

The Chicago-based company also urges concert organizers to plan for terrorism, noting that four bombs were discovered when police searched motorists outside an Ozzfest concert in Oregon last year. An outdoor concert in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was bombed -- allegedly by Taliban and Osama bin Laden agents, the company says.

(Thanks to UPI's Mike Cooper in Atlanta)

FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN '02

Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi's Tico Torres, Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean And Brian Littrell, and former Motley Crue bandmates Vince Neil and Tommy Lee headline the eighth annual "Fairway to Heaven '02," the world's only rock 'n' roll golf tournament.

VH1's celebrity pro-am tournament benefiting the VH1 Save The Music Foundation will tee off Saturday through Monday at the Blue Monster course at The Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami. "Fairway to Heaven '02" will air during a special three-hour edition of VH1's "Top 18 Countdown" on April 27 (at 12 noon ET/PT).

Other celebrity duffers include Meat Loaf, Hootie & The Blowfish, sax great Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band, Queensryche's Geoff Tate and Michael Wilton, Branford Marsalis and Dweezil Zappa.