TOBY KEITH will launch his third USO tour later this month. The country music star will travel to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Germany; Belgium; and the Persian Gulf to perform for troops. Keith's new album, Honkytonk University, is due May 17th . . . KANYE WEST, MARY J. BLIGE, JOHN LEGEND, OUTKAST'S BIG BOI, AMERIE, LUDACRIS and FAITH EVANS will perform at the first annual Vibe MusicFest, taking place June 10th to 12th at Atlanta's Georgia Dome . . . LIL' KIM is being sued for $100,000 in damages by two men who claim to have helped the rapper write material on 2003's La Bella Mafia . . . Columbia/Legacy Records will rerelease ROSEANNE CASH's Seven Year Ache, King's Record Shop and Interiors on June 14th . . .
Trumpet player BENNY BAILEY died April 14th of unknown causes in his Amsterdam home. Bailey played with jazz legends DIZZY GILLESPIE and LIONEL HAMPTON and recorded with QUINCY JONES and STAN GETZ. He was seventy-nine years old . . . London rapper DIZZEE RASCAL has formed his own label, Dirtee Stank Records . . . The BRAZILIAN GIRLS, PATRICK MORAZ, MONEY MARK and DJ LOGIC are among the artists scheduled to attend this year's Moogfest on May 31st in New York . . . RICHARD THOMPSON will release Front Parlour Ballads, his first album acoustic solo album in twenty-four years, on August 9th . . . The DAVE MATTHEWS BAND agreed to pay $200,000 on Friday to settle the lawsuit in conjunction with the band's driver dumping human waste into the Chicago River . . . RACHEL YAMAGATA, NATASHA BEDINGFIELD and the VALLI GIRLS will be featured on the soundtrack to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, due May 24th . . .
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE will lend his voice to Artie, a teenage King Arthur character, in the upcoming animated feature Shrek 3 . . . The DIXIE CHICKS are in the studio working on the follow-up to 2002's Home with producer RICK RUBIN . . . DMX, JADAKISS, N.O.R.E. and SWIZZ BEATZ are featured on the RUFF RYDERS compilation album, Ryde or Die Vol. 4: The Redemption, due July 26th . . . The TRANSPLANTS -- BLINK-182 drummer TRAVIS BARKER, RANCID vocalist/guitarist TIM ARMSTRONG and vocalist ROB ASTON -- will release their second album, Haunted Cities, on June 21st . . . DEPECHE MODE are in the studio working on the follow-up to 2001's Exciter. The as-yet-untitled album is due this fall . . . Folk legend WOODY GUTHRIE will be honored at a folk music festival in August at New Jersey's Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, where Guthrie was once a patient . . .
DANZIG will release the DVD video collection Il Demonio Nera (The Black Demon) on June 14th. The set features video outtakes and previously unreleased material from the metal band . . . Hip-hop and R&B producer JERMAINE DUPRI will release the compilation Jermaine Dupri Presents... Young, Fly & Flashy Vol. 1 on July 19th. The CD will introduce Dupri's new artists YOUNG CAPONE, T. WATERS and The KID SLIM . . . California Christian metal band STRYPER will release their comeback effort, Reborn, on June 7th . . . Detroit indie rockers KOUFAX will release their third album, Hard Times Are in Fashion, on August 2nd . . . KENNY ROGERS, MIRANDA LAMBERT, TRISHA YEARWOOD, VAN ZANT and SUGARLAND have joined the performance lineup for the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, June 9th to 12th. BIG AND RICH, LEANN RIMES, TRAVIS TRITT, GRETCHEN WILSON, KEITH URBAN and LEE ANN WOMACK will also perform.
