Link-O-Rama …

Paul McCartney / Heather Mills divorce to formally finalized on Monday – Reuters

Fans gather outside courthouse for R. Kelly trial – Daily Herald

Apple offers $3.54 million to settle iPod battery lawsuits in Canada – AHN

Filter vocalist Richard Patrick talks about life after rehab – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Having already lost one music festival, Saint John, New Brunswick comes up with another – CBC News

How did Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson become Ashford & Simpson? – San Francisco Chronicle

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

The Black Keys add New Zealand to their 2008 tour plans with shows in Wellington (June 27) and Auckland (June 28). The band already has an Australian tour on the books – June 17 – 23.

Galactic updates today with a Montreux, Switzerland, appearance (July 16), a Boulder, Colorado, show (September 25) and a Fort Collins, CO, gig (September 27).

Born in Scotland, raised in Ontario, John McDermott schedules more shows for his home province. New dates on the calendar include December 4 in Guelph, December 11 in Kingston and December 16 in Belleville.

During the past couple of hours we plotted our weekend mayhem activities while updating the schedules for Harry Manx, Girl Talk, Daughtry, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Alpha Rev, Bernard Allison, Barenaked Ladies, The Dogs Divine, Toadies, The Wailers and Walter Trout & The Radicals.

And that’s the way things are looking at the halfway point. More fresh 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 1959, 16-year-old Wayne Newton made his Las Vegas debut in a booking scheduled for two weeks but which lasted three years. Newton became king of the Vegas showrooms, earning close to $20 million dollars a year.

In 1962, producer George Martin of EMI subsidiary Parlophone signed the Beatles to their first recording contract.

In 1965, the Beatles and Donovan were in the audience as Bob Dylan played the first of two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

In 1986, Belinda Carlisle performed her first solo show since splitting with the Go-Go’s – in Sacramento, California.

In 1989, country singer Keith Whitley died of alcohol abuse in Nashville at 33. The coroner said his blood-alcohol level was five times the legal limit. Whitley had just had three straight number-one singles – “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” “When You Say Nothing At All” and “I’m No Stranger to the Rain.”

In 1992, Bruce Springsteen made his network TV debut, performing three songs on “Saturday Night Live.” He was promoting his two recently-released albums, Lucky Town and Human Touch

In 1997, Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls kissed Prince Charles on the cheek and told him he was “very sexy” as they met at a Prince’s Trust charity concert in Manchester, England. The prince declined an invitation to have his tongue pierced like group member Mel B.