Wesley Snipes
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Wesley Snipes (actor, Blade) is 45
Susan Flannery (actress, The Bold and the Beautiful) is 64
Roland Kent Lavoie (singer, "Holding On For Dear Love") is 64
Geraldine Chaplin (actress, Doctor Zhivago) is 63
Gary Lewis (singer, Gary Lewis and the Playboys) is 62
Bob Welch (singer, "Ebony Eyes") is 61
Barry Van Dyke (actor, Diagnosis Murder) is 56
Michael Biehn (actor, Aliens) is 51
Daniel Ash (singer-guitarist, Bauhaus) is 50
Bill Berry (former drummer, R.E.M.) is 49
Chad Brock (country singer, "Yes!") is 44
Fatboy Slim (musician) is 44
Jim Corr (guitarist, The Corrs) is 43
J.K. Rowling (author, Harry Potter books) is 42
Dean Cain (actor, Lois and Clark) is 41
Eric Lively (actor, The L Word) is 26
Shannon Curfman (singer, "Fast Lane Addiction") is 22

In 1964...When a riot broke out at a Rolling Stones concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland the show was stopped just 12 minutes into the set.
In 1964...Country singer Jim Reeves died when his private plane crashed in Tennessee.
In 1966...A Beatles record-burning session was held in Birmingham, Alabama, in protest of John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" remark.
In 1967...Country singer Jim Reeves was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1967...Describing the evidence as flimsy, a London Appeals Court threw out an earlier drug conviction for Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.  Meanwhile, the court reduced Mick Jagger's sentence on a related conviction to probation.  Jagger was reminded by the judge to remember his responsibilities as a pop idol.
In 1970...The Rolling Stones handed over an LP titled C***sucker Blues to Decca Records.  It fulfilled the Stones' contractual obligation to Decca and they were free to form Rolling Stones Records.  The record was never officially released, but it became available several years later as a bootleg.
In 1971...A 22-year-old security guard was stabbed at a Who show at New York's Forest Hills Stadium.
In 1971...Pink Floyd left England and began their first tour of the Far East.
In 1979...James Taylor played a free concert in New York's Central Parkas a part of a campaign to restore the park's Sheep Meadow area.
In 1980...John Philips (formerly of the Mamas & Papas) was arrested for allegedly dealing drugs out of his New York summer home.
In 1984...Eric Clapton left Roger Waters' Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking Tour in Canada after two weeks.
In 1995...Aerosmith fired Tim Collins, their manager of 12 years.
In 2003...The Dixie Chicks' tour bus was accidentally rear-ended by a pick-up truck near Babcock, Texas. Emily Robinson, the only Chick on board was uninjured.
In 2003...Death Row Records founder Suge Knight was sentenced to ten months in prison after being found guilty by his parole board of punching a parking valet.
In 2004...Simon & Garfunkel wrapped up the European leg of their reunion tour with a free concert that brought 600-thousand fans to the Roman Coliseum.

MOVIE MINUTE: UNDERDOG
Underdog is the new action flick that tells the story of an ordinary beagle who gets super powers, including the ability of flight and speech following a lab accident.  Jason Lee voices "Underdog" and he told us what people can expect from the flick.  "Well, aside from the action, aside from watching a flying, talking dog, which is very fun, it is an adventure comedy.  Underdog has a lot of funny lines and a lot of great rhymes and a lot of great moments of trying to discover what his rhymes are."  Jim Belushi also stars in the flick and he gave us his take.  "The audience for Underdog is everyone who's ever seen Underdog from the early sixties or seventies to children to rediscover it.  I mean, the dog is an underdog and we all feel like underdogs at some point in our life and probably most of the time in our life (laughs) and it's wonderful to see an underdog win."  Underdog also stars Peter Dinklage, Patrick Warburton and features the voices of Amy Adams and Brad Garrett.  It flies into theaters on Friday. 

Lawyers for Britney Spears and her estranged husband, Kevin Federline, walked into L-A superior court yesterday to have a judge sign off on the ex-couple'sdivorce settlement - making their split final.  TMZ.com reports that Britney is currently paying Federline 15-thousand dollars a month in child support, plus 20-thousand in alimony - although that'll reportedly end in November.  Is this really the end of one of the more entertaining pop marriages?  Not necessarily - there's still a child custody issue - and Spears did not help her case for that when she defied a rule that she not take the couple's children out of California -- by flying off to Las Vegas with them last week.

One of Britney Spears' bodyguards is facing a battery charge after wrestling with a pair of men who were trying to photograph the singer with her children in Las Vegas last Thursday.  The Associated Press reports that the bodyguard, Cesar Julio Camera, was issued a misdemeanor battery summons after allegedly grabbing and punching one photographer and pushing another into a wall. 

Chicago band Plain White T's have been busy touring for most of the year and it won't stop anytime soon, so what are the guys looking forward to?  Some time at home, naturally.  Singer Tom Higgenson and guitarist Tim Lopez explain.  "(Tim Lopez) You look forward to home like it's a vacation.  (Tom Higgenson) When you get home you don't even want to do anything, you just sit home all day, like it is a vacation."Plain White T's are out in support of their latest album Every Second Counts. They play Horseheads, New York on Thursday. 

Timbaland does not slow down.  He's recently been out on the road with Justin Timberlake and but that doesn't mean he wasn't finding time to work with some big names during his down time.  "They reach out to me, we put it all together and make it happen. 50, I'm about to work with. I don't think he ever left. I don't think it's a comeback. I think he's there.... that's my personal opinion. I'm a work with Chris Brown and then Coldplay."Timbaland's next show with Justin Timberlake is August 6th in Memphis, Tennessee.  His album, Shock Value, is in stores now.

Eve's latest album, Here I Am will be in stores soon.  It features production from Dr. Dre, Kanye West and Swizz Beatz, as well as guest spots from Sean Paul, T.I. and Robin Thicke.  In fact, getting Robin on the album made for an interesting story.  Eve spoke about how the collaboration came about and the track Robin is on.  "The Robin Thicke song is actually produced by Rich Skillz, who's a friend of both of ours, and when he played the track for me I was like, 'I need a man on this track' and he was like, 'Yo, what about Robin,' and I was like 'Why not!' I've always thought Robin was hot. The track is sexy. It's called 'Fantasy' and my lyrics are basically talking about ladies, how when a guy sees you in the club, and they try to talk to you and he's basically like, you're his fantasy. It's a sexy song."Eve's latest album, Here I Am,will hit stores on September 18th. 

As Kelly Clarkson fans know, the singer wrote or co-wrote every track on her new album My December - but they probably don't know just how quickly.  In Self magazine's August issue cover story, she said, "I've written every song in 15 to 20 minutes.  It has to come out of me like that, or it won't at all.  It's not even that hard a thought process for me."  She revealed to the magazine that she has a microphone hooked up to her computer, which she keeps by her bed so she can record music when a song pops into her head.  She has drafts of 150 new songs saved.  You can check out behind-the-scenes video from her magazine cover shoot at Self.com. 

Fall Out Boy released their latest album, Infinity on High,in February, but the guys are already hard at work on some new tunes. Singer Patrick Stump tells Billboard.com that Green Day has influenced their new songs saying, "If anybody knows anything about punk rock more than Billie Joe, I don't know who it is. I looked at that and their growth and I think about how honest that is...I think we'll change stylistically but a the end of the say that's just something you wear. You're still yourself." Fall Out Boy just shot a video in South Africa for the track "I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me and You)."

London is going to be smelling a lot more like Diddy this year. The mogul is launching a new fragrance overseas called Unforgivable Woman.  The scent is the follow-up to its male counterpart, Unforgivable, which came out early last year.  In a video shown at the launch for the scent, Diddy frolics with models and describes why he chose a pina colada essence for the fragrance explaining, "I think we all have an emotional connection to pina colada...I had this vision of a woman being on the beach and the Unforgivable man sees her - and the scent is just the way that feels, the heat of it."The scent comes out in September.  No word on if it will be in America. For more info on the fragrance, head to SeanJohnFragrances.co.uk.

Dan Wilson, the lead singer of Semisonic, will release his debut solo album Free Life on October 16th.  The effort is being produced by the legendary Rick Rubin and the album is said to feature recording artists like Sheryl Crow.  Wilson hasn't released any of his own music since 2001, but he has been busy co-writing and producing. Wilson took home a 2007 GRAMMY for co-writing the Dixie Chicks hit "Not Ready To Make Nice" which won Song of The Year.

Ozzy Osbourne needed some medical attention this past weekend.  According to his management company, the Prince of Darkness was treated at a Denver hospital for a "minor outpatient procedure."  While the reason for the hospital visit was not disclosed, a local TV station reported that after his concert on Saturday, Osbourne underwent surgery for a blood clot after experiencing prolonged leg pain.  Osbourne reportedly was released on Sunday and is doing well. 

According to RollingStone.com, DJ/producer Mark Ronson has received praise and approval from Bob Dylan for his remix of the Dylan song "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)." This is the first time Dylan has handpicked an artist to remix one of his songs, and it will be a feature on Dylan's new greatest hits package to be released later this year.

An old-school photo of the original Guns N' Roses line-up graces the cover of this month's Rolling Stone. The cover is honoring 20 years since the release of the band's classic album Appetite for Destruction, which was released on July 21st, 1987. Axl Rose is still going under the name Guns N' Roses, but has yet to release the highly anticipated Chinese Democracy album.

Guns N' Roses classic album Appetite for Destruction was released 20 years ago this month and in honor of the anniversary, three original members turned up at L-A's Key Club on Saturday night. RollingStone.com reports that former guitarist Izzy Stradlin and bassist Duff McKagan joined drummer Steven Adler's new band, Adler's Appetite, for two songs on stage, "Mr. Brownstone" and "Paradise City." Slash was in attendance, but did not perform at the show.

Last summer, The Game made some homophobic comments on BBC's Radio 1 station and for doing so, it was rumored that the rapper was banned from speaking on their airwaves.  However, according to AllHipHop.com, that's not true.  It took until now for a representative from Radio 1 to explain, "The BBC does not ban artists, but we do have editorial guidelines making clear that we do not condone homophobic comments or bad language which all artists are expected to follow when they are on air during a live interview."  The stern warning comes a few weeks before The Game will be interviewed on air again to promote his European tour.

Big name producers Cool & Dre have signed a deal between their label, Epidemic Records, and EMI's Imperial Records.  Eurweb.com reports that Imperial will provide promotions, marketing, online marketing and publicity for the upcoming release from rapper Epidemic artist Joe Hound.

Rich Boy recently released the video for "Good Things" featuring Polow Da Don and Keri Hilson. Well, it seems like the Alabama rapper is already thinking ahead to his next single."I want to do the one wit me and John Legend, the 'Ghetto Rich' track. I feel like it's songs like that, that labels are not really putting out. You know, they always want to put out the club songs or the hit. I feel like you ought to just put songs out there that people can relate to and people can feel. Songs that express yourself."  Rich Boy's self-titled debut album is in stores now.

Metallica are hard at work on a new album with producer Rick Rubin. Not many people have heard it, but one fan and fellow musician loves their new sound. According to Rolling Stone,Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum says "The demos were sick. Eight-minute songs, all these tempo changes, crazy fast...Bitchin. I really dig it."Sorum also said that Metallica are doing things old-school saying, "They're cutting everything to tape...No Protools- live, no clicks."  No release date has been set for the album.

Korn released their new self-titled album today. Their latest single is called "Evolution," but the guys are exploring "De-volution" on the Web Site, EvolutionDevolution.com. There you can find a fake movie trailer called Devolution: Nature's U-Turn, which discusses the idea that chaos on the planet is causing man to devolve back into apes. The strange clip features frontman Jonathan Davis wearing a grey wig and white doctor's coat. One other band that has been speaking about the idea of devolution for many years is Devo, who recently commented on the issue saying, "We live in a subhuman mean-ass society where everyone has learned to be totally disgusting and spiritless. It starts at the top and trickles down. When you have an administration like we have, everybody learns that 'f**k you' is the rule of the day. Every time the president speaks it's a painful example that de-evolution is real."

According to RollingStone.com, Jerry Casale of the eighties act Devo is getting into some new bands lately. He said that he is enjoying some current acts explaining, "I'm glad that bands are picking up stylistic things from our music. I really like LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio and Interpol. I'm glad all this stuff is happening. I hated all that grunge s**t. That was such an energy drain."Devo just finished up a European tour and may even release a follow-up to their 1990 album Smooth Noodle Maps. According to Casale, they have been working on a few songs.

The White Stripes announced on their Web site, WhiteStripes.com, that they have finished up a new video for "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)." Their site reports that the clip was shot in Nunavut Territory in the Arctic, while the band was on tour in Canada. Fans can see stills from the shoot at the photo section of their site.

If you've seen Interpol play lately, you've probably noticed that they opened with the first track off their latest album Our Love to Admire. The song is called "Pioneer to the Falls" and guitarist Daniel Kessler explains why they make that choice. "We make records and we make albums with a very strong beginning and an ending and everything is in an order with a very specific purpose.  It's not really one song that represents the record, it's the whole thing.  The song that we always lead off with live is the song that we will lead off with on the record.  It's part of our thing. So in a way, it's kind of like, if you do like us it's good to get to hear the whole thing at once.  I'd rather someone listen to the whole record the first time in one sitting and just kind of have the experience."Our Love to Admire is out now.

Papa Roach are on the road touring their latest album The Paramour Sessions. We caught up with singer Jacoby Shaddix to find out how the record got its name. "We told our management, 'We want to live, write and record in a house somewhere down south, somewhere in L-A.'  They went out and searched a few places and came back to us with this place The Paramour and they were like, 'You guys are going to love it.' So when we checked out the place, we set foot on the property and we were like, 'Yep, this is the spot, this is going to be killer.'" Papa Roach are out on the Bad Boys of Rock Tour with Hinder and Buckcherry.

Back in 2004 in New Orleans, The Kinks frontman Ray Davies chased a man who allegedly stole his friend's purse. For his effort, Davies got shot in the leg.  Now, prosecutors have dropped the charges against the alleged gunman because Davies wasn't in court.  It is the second time charges have been dropped because the singer was not around to testify.  Davies claims prosecutors notified him only a few days before the trial and that he was unable to get to New Orleans from London.  He told the Times-Picayune newspaper, "I am very disappointed with the way this case has been handled.  I intend to pursue it further."

Heart singer Ann Wilson has chosen to release her cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" as her first solo single. In a press release announcing the single, Ann is quoted as saying, "My love of Led Zeppelin is very much a matter of public record." Indeed, when discussing the last Heart album, both Wilson sisters cited Zeppelin as an influence. Ann Wilson's solo album, Hope & Glory, will be in stores September 11th.

Chris Tucker will grace the silver screen opposite Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3 next month - making it his first movie appearance since 2001's Rush Hour 2.  We asked why it took six years to make this film.  "I had to make sure that it was gonna be just as good as Rush Hour 1 and 2.  Also, we had to work on the script and make sure the script was good enough to start filming, so that took a while.  Also, we never planned on making a Rush Hour 2 or 3, the studios put the word out there saying, 'They're gonna do another (one Rush Hour) 3'.  Then they come to us and ask if we want to do another one.  So, that's what really happens and it takes a little while."So, the million dollar question is will there be a Rush Hour 4?  Tucker said if they do, they definitely won't wait another six years for it.  "I want to do some other movies, of course, to mix it up, but if the fans want another one I will think about it and of course if Jackie (Chan) and everyone else agrees to do another one, there is always the possibility that we will do another one."Rush Hour 3 also stars Roselyn Sanchez, Max von Sydow and look for a brief cameo or two from Roman Polanski.  It was directed by Brett Ratner and hits theaters on August 10th.  

From executive producers Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, the minds behind such shows as Punk'd and Beauty and the Geek, comes the new MTV show, Room 401.  The show features up-and-coming illusionists as they scare and deceive innocent bystanders.  Kutcher talked about how they came up with the idea for the show.  "These two magicians, Chris and Rico, came to us with the basic idea of hidden camera magic and we thought, 'We're pretty good at this hidden camera thing.  I wonder how good we can be at the magic thing?'  And also we realized there was sort of a gap in the market space for horror.  I haven't really seen since like Twilight Zone or maybe Tales from the Crypt... I haven't really seen like real horror television and we thought that we could sort of combine the magic with the hidden camera and make some horror television."

In 2009, when Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show, who will then host Late Night?  Well, if NBC gets their way, Jimmy Fallon.  Broadcasting and Cable reports that the SNL alum is the favorite to fill in O'Brien's chair, but don't expect official word until 2008.  If they do go with Fallon, his former co-worker, Tina Fey, is confident that it will be a good move.  She said, "I think it's a great idea.  He's funny and love to talk to people; it must be that Irish charm."  In addition to a host, the network has been trying to decide where each show will tape.  While NBC would like to keep The Tonight Show in L-A, there is a chance it might move to New York.  Then again, there is also the chance that NBC might just keep Jay Leno as the host of the Tonight Show and scrap any changes.  If they go that route, they'll have to pay Conan a penalty of 45-million dollars for the contract breach. No matter what happens, the public won't hear all the details until next year's TV "upfront" presentation which takes place in May. 

According to the Associated Press, Don Imus and CBS Radio are close to a settlement that would void his 120-million dollar breach-of-contract suit.  It's not clear whether the deal would bring Imus back to the airwaves.  His career ended with his dismissal in April after he used racist and sexist language to describe the Rutgers University women's basketball team. 

Reuters reports that Michael Moore might be subpoenaed by federal officials over his trip to Cuba for his Sicko documentary.  On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last Thursday, he said he had been notified at the studio that a subpoena had already been sent out, but according to the news outlet, he hasn't been served with one yet.

Russell Simmons raised 1.4-million dollars over the weekend for his Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation (also known as RPAF), which supports arts education for under-served New York City youth.  Simmons sold out his eighth-annual Art for Life fundraising gala which he held at his home in the Hamptons.  Among those present who donated to the cause were L.A. Reid, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Chamillionaire, Deborah Cox, Rev Run and Forest Whitaker.  Forest spoke about the importance of the RPAF explaining, "We didn't have arts education or drama at my school and it was a teacher who introduced me to that world.  The work Rush Philanthropic is doing is so important because they are exposing kids just like I was to these great opportunities which can change a child's life."

Johnny Depp played the crazy alter ego of journalist Hunter S. Thompson in the 1996 movie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Now, he's looking to revisit that character again.  According to Reuters, Depp will star in and co-produce the upcoming flick The Rum Diary, a book written by Thompson in 1955, but not published until 1998.  Production on the film is planned to start shortly after Depp finishes his upcoming project, a crime-drama titled Shantaram.

Critically-acclaimed director Ingmar Bergman, died on Monday on the small island of Faro, off the coast of Sweden.  He was 89. Looking back on the reclusive, Swedish director's storied career, The New York Times and the BBC report that many film critics consider Bergman, along with Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest cinematic directors of the second half of the twentieth century. Bergman's 60-year span in the movies included such classic films as Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, Cries and Whispers and Fanny and Alexander. Among the directors who were extremely influenced by Bergman's stark, melancholy yet vivid artistry was Woody Allen, who cited Bergman's haunting The Seventh Seal as his favorite film of all time and said in a 1988 tribute that the Swedish director was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera."  Bergman, who was also director of Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater, won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Film in 1984 for his last major theatrical film, Fanny and Alexander. He also made television films, including 1997's In The Presence of Clowns and 2005's Saraband, wrote novels and directed operas and plays. He was married five times. Bergman often spoke of the autobiographical nature of his work, but only "in the way a dream transforms experience and emotions all the time." According to The Associated Press, the date of Bergman's funeral has not been set, but will be private and attended by his family and friends.

Veteran talk show host, Tom Snyder, died Sunday in San Francisco from complications associated with leukemia.  According to the Associated Press, Snyder pioneered the late-late night TV talk show with his robust, trademark laugh, a personal yet abrasive style, and smoke-filled interviews.  From 1973 to 1982 he hosted Tomorrow, which followed NBC's Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  In 1975, he interviewed John Lennon, which turned out to be the singer's final televised interview, and in 1981 he conducted U2's first U-S television appearance.  He was 71 and is survived by his daughter and longtime girlfriend.