Link-O-Rama …

Snoop Dogg settles dispute with former label – Associated Press

Tonight is opening night for the great hip-hop / ballet experiment in Atlanta featuring Outkast’s Big Boi and the Altanta Ballet – CNN

Who listens to music on cell phones? Evidently not many adults – InformationWeek

Michael Jackson dropped from lawsuit filed by family of woman who died after being moved to a different hospital room in order to make room for Jacko – Associated Press

Rick Astley a baseball fan? New York Mets latest to be “rickrolled” – The Times Online U.K.

Top ten rock documentaries? This list might surprise you (hint: “Woodstock” is not #1) – IGN

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Melissa Etheridge keeps fortifying her summer calendar with new gigs. Latest update shows the artist playing two nights in New York City (July 9 & 10) and one night performances in Atlantic City (July 4), Quebec City (July 23) and Shelburne, VT (July 26).

Earth, Wind & Fire plays indoors, outdoors and all over North America this summer. New listings include June 26 at the world-famous Britt Festivals in Jacksonville, Oregon, July 14 in Atlanta, GA; July 27 in Clarkston (north of Detroit), MI; August 2 in Atlantic City, NJ; and August 8 & 9 in Rama, Ontario.

The Roots add to their June calendar with shows in Connecticut, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and New York. New stops include June 4 in Eugene, OR; June 17 in Houston, TX; and June 22 in Rochester, NY.

And Musiq Soulchild updates today with a few East Coast gigs – August 9 (Atlantic City), August 12 (New York) and August 14 & 15 (Washington, DC).

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Ministry, Lyle Lovett, Otherwise, JGB Feat. Melvin Seals, Eddie Money, Celtic Woman, Chaka Khan, Gary Puckett, KEM, Jude, John Waite, Lou Gramm, Spin Doctors, The Felice Brothers and The Ting Tings.

And that’s the haps at today’s midway point. More concert data coming up in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PDT), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1998, an appeals court in San Francisco ruled The Kingsmen were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from their 1963 recording of “Louie Louie.” The band’s contract gave them nine per cent of the profits or licensing fees, but never received a cent from two companies who held the recording rights.

In 1956, singer Nat “King” Cole was beaten up on stage by six anti-black vigilantes in Birmingham, Alabama. The white audience did not interfere.

In 1962, Stuart Sutcliffe, the Beatles’ original bass guitarist, died at 21 following a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg, West Germany. Sutcliffe was invited in 1959 by fellow art student John Lennon to join his group, The Quarrymen, even though Sutcliffe couldn’t play. He left the group in 1961.

In 1970, Doors lead singer Jim Morrison offered to display his genitals to a Boston audience. The group’s keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, physically removed Morrison from the stage. Morrison had been arrested in Miami a year earlier for “lewd and lascivious behaviour” during a performance.

In 1989, Alabama was named artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music. The country-rock band had 21 consecutive number-one hits, including “Feels So Good,” “The Closer You Get” and “Roll On.” The last two winners of the honor had been Marty Robbins and Loretta Lynn.

In 1999, Paul McCartney joined such stars as Elvis Costello, George Michael and Chrissie Hynde to perform “Let It Be” at a London charity concert. The show honoured McCartney’s wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer a year earlier.