DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith
Hancock star Will Smith made a surprise appearance with his old collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff at a premier party for the movie.

The duo started their performance with their old hit “Summertime.” In addition, Smith, aka the Fresh Prince, demonstrated some old school call and response with the crowd as he rhymed over 50 Cent's “In the Club.”

As Smith exited the stage some fans called out for him and Jeff to perform “Brand New Funk,” a single from the pair's Grammy-winning and multi-platinum album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988). The two obliged the fans.

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince released five albums together; three went gold, one platinum and one multi-platinum. The two are planning a summer tour together to promote Hancock, which opened in theaters on July 2.

The summer blockbuster is predicted to gross $70 to $80 million over the July 4 holiday weekend. Smith's previous opening weekend record was for I Am Legend, n December 2007, which grossed $77.2 million.

Since the two split amicably Jazzy Jeff has pursued a successful career as a party DJ and producer. Smith has gone on to release a number of solo albums and has become one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. In fact, Smith is repeatedly listed in Fortune Magazine's “Richest 40” list of the forty wealthiest Americans under the age of 40.

Smith was nearly bankrupt when he was cast to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air by NBC in 1990.

Incubus
California-based rock band Incubus has completed a year-and-a-half-long tour for 2006 album Light Grenades. The band now plans to take a break in order to resume normal, day-to-day life with family and friends and to pursue endeavors outside of the band.

For example, Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger will unveil an orchestral piece in August at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles. Einziger will study composition at Harvard’s music school starting next year. Frontman Brandon Boyd will also pursue academics with plans to attend art school.

“And, our drummer (Jose Pasillas) is having a baby, so there’s a lot of normal life stuff going on right now—school, babies, mortgages,” Boyd told Billboard.com.

Before the break Incubus will play VH1 Rock Honors salute to the Who on July 12 in Los Angeles along with other rock legends Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, and Tenacious D.

“I’m of the mind to say it wouldn’t be a bad thing to disappear for a year or two years,” says Boyd. “A lot of people would say culture moves too fast and you need to remind people, but I would argue there’s not any rush. Maybe there’ll be a sex scandal or an arrest or something to keep us in the news.”

Incubus toured pretty much non-stop beginning in November 2006. While on tour Einziger suffered from Carpal tunnel syndrome and the band had to cancel some tour dates as he recovered from a corrective operation.

Light Grenades was the sixth studio album released by the band. The album sold 229,000 copies in its first week worldwide and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Unfortunately, the album also holds the record for biggest drop from No. 1 in the chart’s history, falling from No. 1 to No. 37 in its second week.

Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes’ frontman Travis McCoy was arrested in St. Louis, Missouri while touring with the Vans Warped Tour. He was charged with third-degree assault.

The singer was performing on stage at the Warped Tour when an audience member yelled out a racial slur directed a McCoy.

Security mobilized to remove the man from the audience, but not before McCoy slammed his microphone down on the man’s head.

McCoy immediately said to the crowd, “I’m sorry. But when someone calls you something that ignorant and offensive, you have to bash their head in with a microphone,” according to RollingStone.com.

McCoy was arrested by police after the band’s set ended; he was held in a local police station overnight and released in the morning on $500 bail.

Gym Class Heroes will release new album The Quilt on September 9. The album features collaborations with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, Busta Rhymes, and others. Stump previously lent his backing vocals for popular single “Cupid’s Chokehold.”

The band has found recent success with gold-selling album As Cruel As School Children. Single “Cupid’s Chokehold” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Clothes Off!” climbed to No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

Albert Hammond, Jr.
Albert Hammond, Jr., guitarist for The Strokes, recently played new songs from his upcoming solo album ¿Cómo Te Llama? at a private show at Mercury Lounge in New York City.

Hammond jumped up on a banquette in the room to perform song “Blue Skies” acoustically before joining his band on stage. His band consisted of album co-producer and drummer Matt Romano, guitarist Marc Philippe Eskenazi, bassist Reno Bo (of The Mooney Suzuki band) and new guitarist Hammarsing Karhmar.

The audience was made up of music industry insiders, family and friends, including Hammond’s girlfriend, model Agyness Deyn, Kirsten Dunst, Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Adam Green and Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha.
According to NME, Hammond’s months of touring have given him newfound confidence on stage. Despite a few minor infractions Hammond performed nine songs from his new album smoothly.

Hammond performed a free show at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, New York on July 8, the release date of the new album.

¿Cómo Te Llama? (What is your name? in English) is Hammond’s second solo album, a follow up to 2007’s Yours to Keep. Although Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas is the primary songwriter for the band Hammond has written and co-written their songs as well.

On the new album Hammond collaborated with industry friends Ben Kweller, Sean Lennon and more. Rolling Stone gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, saying of his “guitar pop”, “May Hammond bring this interesting stuff to the next Strokes planning session.”

The album has 13 tracks for a total length of 46 minutes and 30 seconds. Hammond plans on touring for the new album through the end of 2008. “GfC,” the album’s first single, is currently available on iTunes.

Sigur Ros
Popular Icelandid post-rock band Sigur Ros has announced a full lineup of tour dates in North America beginning this September in New York.

The tour will support the band’s upcoming album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, which translates from Icelandic to “with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly.” The entire album is currently streaming online for free on the band’s website and last.fm. The record goes on sale in the U.S. on July 24.

The first track from the new album is called “Gobbledigook,” it was released for free on the band’s website along with a music video in May.

Sigur Ros recorded part of their new album at Abbey Road Studio in London along with a boys' choir, the London Oratory School Schola, and a 67-piece orchestra.

Sigur Ros has long been known for their beautiful, epic recordings and unintelligible lyrics, but drummer and keyboardist Orri Páll Dýrason reports that this album’s lyrics will be “more understandable to the public than on previous albums.” It has been confirmed that one track, “All Alright” will have English lyrics. The rest of the album is in Icelandic.

R. Kelly
Robert Kelly, better known by his stage name R. Kelly, was found not-guilty after the jury deliberated over the case of child pornography brought against the singer.

Closing arguments ended June 12 and the jury deliberated for less than a day before reaching the non-guilty sentence read by Judge Vincent Gaughan.

Two jurors asked to be removed from the trial before the verdict due to personal and family issues. Judge Gaughan refused to excuse the jury members, however.

Kelly was charged with 14 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting child pornography and he faced up to 15 years in prison. Kelly reportedly broke down in tears upon hearing that he was cleared of all counts of child pornography.

“Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus,” Kelly said to himself as each not guilty verdict was read to the courtroom.

Although 15 witnesses identified the alleged victim and Kelly on the now infamous sex tape, the jury agreed that they could not be sure of the identities. The alleged victim refused to testify, playing a large role in the jury’s ability to serve Kelly a not-guilty verdict.

The case, which has gone on for six years, was first brought to trial in 2002 when a Chicago Sun-Times reporter passed on the sex tape he received from an anonymous source to the police.

Those following the case have mixed emotions over the verdict. Many fans who stayed loyal to Kelly throughout the trial are elated that the artist can continue pursuing his music. And many critics believe Kelly is guilty, including the 15 witnesses.

Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez performed at State Island elementary school P.S. 37 for the school’s graduation ceremony on June 17.

Students of P.S. 37, a New York school for autistic children, had written the pop star a letter asking for her autograph. When Lopez learned that the students watched her video for single “Let’s Get Loud” every day she asked to perform at graduation. Students had also learned the lyrics and dance moves to Lopez’s popular video.

Lopez performed “Let’s Get Loud” for the children at their graduation ceremony. The track was originally released as the last single for Lopez’s debut album On the 6 (1999). “Let’s Get Loud” earned the singer a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Dance Recording” in 2001.

Lopez gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy, Emme and Maximilian, in February of this year with father Marc Antony.

Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back in Time
Lauren Harris, the 23-year-old daughter of Iron Maiden bassist and founder Steve Harris is currently opening for the British heavy metal band on their 2008 Somewhere Back in Time World Tour. Maiden plays seven dates in the U.S. throughout June.

Lauren was originally discovered in a pub by a British musician who had no idea her father was already in the business. She and her band began supporting Iron Maiden on their 2007 European tour. In addition to Iron Maiden, Lauren has opened for Within Temptation and The Answer.

Lauren’s debut album Calm Before the Storm, will be released on June 23. In the tradition of her father, it is categorized as a heavy metal, or powerpop, album.

The Somewhere Back in Time World Tour supports the DVD release of Iron Maiden’s 1985 concert video Live After Death along with their 2008 greatest hits compilation Somewhere Back in Time—The Best Of: 1980-1989. The tour is essentially a recreation of the band’s 1985 World Slavery Tour and the stage is again designed along an Ancient Egyptian theme with the set list primarily taken from 1984 album Powerslave. The tour kicked off in Mumbai, India on February 1, 2008.

Steve Harris formed Iron Maiden in 1975. The band is one of the most successful heavy metal acts of all time; they have sold over 80 million albums worldwide.

Kanye West
Kanye West, N.E.R.D. and Wyclef Jean have confirmed that they will play at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in support of the Democratic ticket’s presumptive nominee Barack Obama.

The four-day event will take place in Denver, Colorado beginning Monday, August 25. The three hip-hop acts will be joined by Hollywood stars such as Scarlett Johannson, Ben Affleck, Forrest Whitaker, Maggie Gyllenhall, Cheryl Hines and Ed Norton, who are all confirmed to show their support for Obama at the convention.

AT&T, the “official wireless provider” of the Democratic National Convention, will sponsor (Hollywood and Washington) star-studded parties, including a party for U2 frontman Bono’s One Campaign to end poverty. The One Campaign, along with the Recording Industry Association of America, will present Kanye West’s performance at the convention. MTV and Rock the Vote will host the party with headliners N.E.R.D. and Wyclef Jean.

Democratic convention host committee spokesman Chris Lopez told the Washington Post:
“We are expecting both the A-List of Hollywood as well as citizens from across the country to show up in Denver and enjoy the convention…There will be something for everyone to enjoy and participate in. It will be an amazing week that will culminate with the historical nomination of Barack Obama at Invesco Field on Thursday evening, August 28.”

Vocal support for Obama has been shown by a wide range of musical artists, from indie rockers Bright Eyes and the Arcade Fire to Dave Matthews and rappers Talib Kweli and will.i.am.

Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno
A news conference with co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment, Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, along with surprise guest Jay Leno himself disguised as a reporter set the date for the end of an era: Friday, May 29, 2009 will be Leno’s last night hosting The Tonight Show.

At the conference Leno jokingly asked questions while in the disguise of a bald cap, fake goatee and glasses.
“When is Leno’s last show?” asked the talk-show host/reporter. “Will Leno be paid for the rest of the year?”

Graboff then revealed the date set for Leno’s departure. Leno will be replaced on Monday, June 1 by Conan O’Brien, the current host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
The end of Leno’s contract with NBC has sparked rumors that he will jump at an offer from another network. NBC’s Graboff addressed this issue saying that NBC was working on new ideas with Leno across “all divisions of the company,” according to The New York Times.

“We believe in this day and age there’s room for him to be on our air,” said Graboff.

As O’Brien takes the Tonight Show stage he in turn will be replaced by former Saturday Night Live star Jimmy Fallon. NBC does not have an exact date for Fallon’s first show, but said it was likely to air in March or April of next year.
Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels will also produce Fallon’s new show, and hopes to have the show start unofficially before its air date online.

Michaels announced that Web episodes (or “webisodes”) of the show could start as early as fall of this year and will be roughly 5 to 10 minutes in length.

The webisodes will build momentum for Fallon’s new show and allow “more opportunity for experimentation,” said Michaels.