Can Fabolous keep Michael Jackson from returning to No. 1?

Credit: Fabolous

Fabolous looks fabulous to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week with "Loso's Way."  The rapper's latest CD and most personal effort should sell right around 100,000 predicts Hits Daily Double.

On Hits chart, which, unlike Billboard, allows catalog titles, Michael Jackson still reigns supreme. Hits estimates "Michael Jackson Number Ones" will remain at No. 1 with sales of up to 110,000 copies. A Jackson title has ruled the top of the inclusive Hits chart for four of the last five weeks.

The only other debut likely to make it into Billboard top 10 is Ashley Tisdale's "Guilty Pleasure." However, don't look for her to match fellow Disney-ite Demi Lovato's chart topping move (on the Billboard 200) from last week.  Tisdale's moved on to Warner Bros. and it looks like her album will sell in the 25,000-30,000 range.

Daughtry's "Leave This Town" continues selling well and should hang out at No. 2 on Billboard, while Maxwell, Black Eyed Peas and Kings of Leon's latest all consider to sell well enough to be in the Top 10.

Madonna

Credit: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

It has been so long since we've truly loved a Madonna track that we were afraid our love affair was over, but she has won us back.

"Celebration" the first single and title track from her forthcoming greatest hits (and last CD for Warner Bros.) is a festive invitation to dance that recalls "Borderline" crossed with a little bit of "Into the Groove" and "Holiday."  She's not trying to be hip, cutting edge or 22 years old again. She's just being old school Madonna.  In all her greatness. This one is going straight to the top of the dance charts, obviously, but we're not ruling it out as a great pop summertime anthem.

The single, co-produced by Madge and Paul Oakenfeld, is officially out Aug. 3, but you can stream it below.

Out Sept. 29, "Celebration" will be a two-CD set heralding all things Her Madgesty. The collection will cover the full expanse of her career with all songs remastered for your listening pleasure. In addition to her raft of hits, "Celebration" includes the new title track plus another new song, both of which were recorded recently in New York. "Celebration" will also be available as a single CD and DVD.

Get dancing already... as Madonna sings on "Celebration," "What are you waiting for?"

The Killers

The Killers, KT Tunstall, Jack Johnson and Keane are all helping make the world a better-and more inhabitable-place by participating on "Classics," an album by Cuban musical group Rhythms del Mundo that benefits U.K. climate change charity, Artists Project Earth.

In stores Aug, 11, "Classics" features songs recorded expressly by RDM for the project include the Killers' cover of the Eagles' "Hotel California" and KT Tunstall's interpretation of Patti Smith/Bruce Springsteen's "Because the Night," as well as previously recorded tracks, Jack Johnson's version of "Imagine" and Fall Out Boy/John Mayer's take on "Beat It."

Tunstall is also part of another charity outfit called 7 Worlds Collide. The collective also includes members of Crowded House, Radiohead, Wilco, and the Smiths.

"The Sun Came Out" is a 2-CD set of original songs from these artists. It follows the first 7 Worlds Collide album released seven years ago that featured many of the above artists performing cover songs live.

The brainchild of Crowded House's Neil Finn, "Sun" features the musicians collaborating on each other's songs. For example, The Smiths' Johnny Marr and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy penned new song "True Blue," which is performed by Marr and Neil Finn.  Radiohead's Ed O'Brien co-wrote "Learn to Crawl" with Finn, his son Liam Finn, and Marr, while the Finns handle the vocals.

Proceeds from album sales go to international hunger organization Oxfam.

To hear selections from Classics, please click below.

The Killers - "Hotel California"
 
Jack Johnson - "Imagine"
 
Keane - "Under Pressure"

KT Tunstall - "Because The Night"

Shinedown

Shinedown, who is having quite the run at radio with "Second Chance," kicks off a tour on Sept. 10 at Baltimore's Powerplant Live. The tour ends Oct. 24 at Charlotte, N.C.'s Uptown Theater. The outing begins after the band concludes its run on the Stimulate This! tour with Staind, Halestorm and Chevelle.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based band is experiencing the biggest success of its career: "Second Change" has been No. 1 on Billboard's Hot AC chart for eight weeks.  It also hit the summit on both the Active Rock and Mainstream charts.

New single, title track "The Sound of Madness" also hit No. 1 on the active rock chart. In other words, go see them in concert and expect to hear some very familiar songs.

Tour dates for Shinedown's headlining tour, with support from Adelitas Way, are below:

SEPTEMBER

10    Baltimore, MD          Powerplant Live

11     Richmond, VA           The National

12    Huntington, WV                Xfest 2009 @ Harris Riverfront Park

14    Madison, WI                    The Orpheum

15    Walker, MN                     Northern Lights Casino

18    Boise, ID                  Knitting Factory

19    Reno, NV                  Grand Sierra Ballroom

21    Medford, OR                    Medford Armory

22    Seattle, WA                     The Showbox SoDo

24    Blackfoot, ID                   El Rey Events Center

25    Magna, UT                       The Great Salt Air

26    St. George, UT         Dixie Center

28    Las Vegas, NV           House of Blues

29    Modesto, CA                     Center Plaza

30    San Diego, CA           House of Blues

OCTOBER

3      San Francisco, CA             Grand Ballroom

4      Pomona, CA                      Fairplex

5      Tempe, AZ                       Marquee

7      San Antonio, TX               Sunset Station

9      Houston, TX                     Verizon Wireless Theater

10    Tulsa, OK                 Tulsa State Fair

11     Dallas, TX                Palladium Ballroom

13    Corpus Christi, TX            Concrete St. Apm

14    Little Rock, AR         The Metroplex

16    Pensacola, FL            Pensacola Civic Center

17    New Orleans, LA               UNO Lakefront Arena

19    Augusta, GA                     James Brown Arena

20    Myrtle Beach, FL              House of Blues

21    Orlando, FL                      House of Blues

23    Nashville, TN            Municipal Auditorium

24    Charlotte, NC           Uptown Amphitheater

Green Day

It will be a colorful MTV Video Music Awards: both Pink and Green Day are slated to take the stage for the Sept. 13 awards.

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards return to New York (after last year's Los Angeles stint) and Radio City Music Hall. Also performing are Taylor Swift and Muse. Slated to present are Katy Perry, Ne-Yo and Chace Crawford. British comedian/actor Russell Brand will return to host.

Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale is on a mission. While she's proud of her work in the three editions of  "High School Musical," she's 24 and more than ready to show that she's a woman, not a girl perpetually trapped  in a Disney dance number.  

On "Guilty Pleasure," which came out July 28, Tisdale wants to show fans "where I am in my life right now. It's a little bit edgier, a little bit more mature" than 2007's "Headstrong."  "Everybody really knows me as Sharpay from 'High School Musical,' but it's a different side of Ashley that you haven't really seen before."

I recently talked to Tisdale for AOL's Sessions about the new album, her new movie "Aliens in the Attic" and life post-"HSM."  First single "It's Alright, It's OK," is about getting cheated on, but she hopes her fans get the message of strength in the song. "I really like breakup songs...I think that you'll always feel like it's the end of the world when something like that is happening...I just feel that there's a very strong message in the song and that I'm a strong person and that's something that I really want to share with my fans: stick up for yourself and don't let somebody walk all over you.  It's not the end of the world."

After being famous for much of her life, she's gotten used to the paparazzi following her around, but admits, "It's weird because you have people outside your door at your house that just want to follow you around and take pictures of you going to get coffee and doing random things that I don't find interesting, but they do.  So it's weird, but I think that being in this business you're going to know eventually that that might happen.  Nobody prepares you for it...I try to just ignore it."

Even though she and her "HSM" co-stars declined to take part in "HSM4," they remain close. "Zac [Efron] was just over at my house last night.  Vanessa [Hudgens] doing a movie right now in Montreal, but we talk all the time.  I just saw Monique [Coleman] recently, we twitter each other. They're my family.  I love them."

And by the way. As far as Tisdale's guilty pleasure? The only ones she'd cop to during the interview were designer bags and coffee.

Bono of U2

Credit: AP Photo

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is throwing itself a 25^th birthday party and the guest list includes U2, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.

The Hall may be in Cleveland, but the party, Oct. 29-30, will take place at New York's hallowed Madison Square Garden. The shows will tell the story of rock and roll with participating artists playing their own songs as well as tunes that have influenced them. We wonder if the artists will be allowed to play songs by non-inducted performers/songwriters? So far, all of the announced acts are members of the Rock Hall.

The creative team curating the show includes Tom Hanks, who is a very knowledgeable music fan, Rock Hall chairman and Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, and former Rolling Stone writer/director Cameron Crowe.

Additionally, a deluxe nine (!!!) DVD boxed-set highlighting 25 years of induction ceremonies will come out, as will a coffee table book.

Here's the line up:

Oct. 29
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Simon & Garfunkel
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Friends
Paul Simon
Stevie Wonder

Oct. 30

Eric Clapton
Aretha Franklin
Metallica
U2

Michelle Branch

Following her successful foray into country music as one-half of the distaff duo The Wreckers, Michelle Branch is set to return with her first solo album in six years.

She may no longer be recording with Wreckers crewmate Jessica Harp, but Nashville is where she gets her mail these days. Appropriatelty, the album will come out on Reprise/Warner Bros. Nashville this fall. First single, "Sooner or Later" is available  via iTunes today.

"Everything Comes and Goes" was produced by John Leventhal and longtime Branch collaborator John Shanks. The title track is about the dissolution of The Wreckers.

"I was on the bus that night and I couldn't sleep," Branch said in a statement. "That's when I wrote 'Everything Comes And Goes' which was the first song I had written by myself in two years. Sitting in the tour bus at five in the morning with the sun coming up and having written that song - that was the start of me saying, 'That's it. I'm making my own record next, and that doesn't have to be a sad thing.' I've always been kind of a control freak, so it was actually nice remembering I could write on my own."

The album includes a duet with Dwight Yoakam called "Long Goodbye."

The least sexiest picture we're posting all day

Credit: Ticketmaster / Live Nation

The U.S. Senate antitrust subcommittee is recommending that the Justice Department closely review the proposed Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger, according to a Reuters story.

"It is clear that this merger raises serious competitive concerns warranting thorough scrutiny," wrote Sen. Herb Kohl to Christine Varney, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, according to Reuters.

Kohl wrote that the deal would create "an enormous, vertically integrated entertainment giant, which will control everything from artist management, concert promotion, concert venues, and merchandise sales to primary and secondary market ticket sales."

The U.S. House of Representatives went even further in terms of casting doubt on the merger.

"We see little to commend this transaction," wrote Rep. Bill Pascrell in a letter signed by 50 members of the House of Representatives. The letter further cited "competitive harm in the ticketing and other industry markets" because of the deal.

In mid-July, Live Nation head Michael Rapino said he still believed the merger would close by end of the year.

Whitney Houston's "I Look To You"

Credit: RCA/Arista

Fans will get their Whitney a little earlier than planned for one reason and one reason only: The Grammy Awards.

"I Look to You" will now come out on Aug. 31, instead of the originally slated Sept.

This means the CD will be in stores on a Monday instead of the standard release date of Tuesday. That's because the cut-off for Grammy eligibility is Aug. 31 and the all-out assault that is the marketing plan for Houston's first album of new material in seven years includes a batch of Grammy nominations. (The cycle is shorter by one month this year because the Grammys will air on Jan. 31, 2010, four weeks earlier than usual).

In the meantime, the title track is available for streaming and as a free download until July 31, via www.whitneyhouston.com. Stream the track below.

The tune is a stripped-down ballad that we'd call a power ballad if there were any "power" behind it. Written by R. Kelly, the turgid song is a testament to looking upward when troubles surround us.  Houston has always testified about her strong religious faith so the subject matter rings true, especially given her turbulent past.

It's clear that the objective was to showcase Houston's beautiful voice in isolation instead of surrounding it with lush orchestration, but the song demands a grander production. And quite frankly, her voice sounds like she's pushing as hard as she can. In the past, such effort would have practically blown out our speakers given the strength of her voice.

Not this time.  The simple fact is people want to know that Houston can still belt out a song and there's no evidence of that on this track. Yes, she sounds better than 99% of the singers out there, but the mystery remains is she intentionally holding back or is this today's Houston?   We won't know for sure until Aug. 31.