Chris M. Junior

Queen is looking to fill the void left by the late Freddie Mercury, and Lady Gaga is being considered for it. Guitarist Brian May previously reached out to Bad Company leader Paul Rodgers, but now it looks as though the pop diva is at the top of the list.

Before leaving the Los Angeles Police Department, Greg Kading made copies of reports and recorded confessions pertaining to the separate murder cases of rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Notorious B.I.G. and Biggie Smalls). Those materials are a big part of Kading’s new self-published book ‘Murder Rap.’ Due October 4, the book includes a claim by a police informant who says he was

Having fun both offstage and with his music still matters to Kid Rock. But as he gets older, Rock gives much more thought to when it’s best to act like his younger self. Thanks in part to his scaled-back partying, Rock says he’s been more consistent singing and playing on tour — and that should be a plus for fans who will be attending his fall club dates.

Singing the Ben E. King hit ‘Stand by Me’ together is nothing new for Lady Gaga and Sting. But at last weekend’s iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, they took their onstage collaboration to the next level by also performing a version of The Police‘s ‘King of Pain.’

Singer Cee Lo Green has racked up a nice range of TV credits, from voice work in the short-lived animated series ‘The Boondocks,’ playing himself in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch and, of course, serving as a coach on ‘The Voice.’ His list of big-screen achievements isn’t quite as long, but Green has just added a noteworthy one: a role in a remake of the 1976 film ‘Sparkle.’

“She’s different, in every way” — those are the words used in the second trailer for ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ (which is arguably less frenetic than the first) to describe Rooney Mara’s mohawk-sporting titular character.

By leader Chris Martin’s estimation, there are about four different track listings being considered for Coldplay’s fifth studio album. But this much is certain: The album’s title is ‘Mylo Xyloto’ — pronounced MY-lo ZY-letoe — and the release date is Oct. 25.

New York City has seen its share of quick concert sellouts, with Prince among the artists whose shows had lightning-fast ticket sales. You can add Beyonce to that esteemed list. All of the tickets for her Aug. 14 show at Manhattan’s Roseland Ballroom were scooped up just 22 seconds after they went on sale to the general public on Aug. 10.

Tom Hamilton will be back in the proverbial saddle this fall when Aerosmith tours South America, Mexico and Japan. But life in recent years has been anything but the same old song and dance for the tall, blond bassist, who is currently cancer-free thanks to a radical — and somewhat risky — treatment method.

Some fans of the pop/punk band blink-182 became the unexpected stars of its new video, ‘Up All Night’ — and only those who’d violated copyright law were included. Wait. What?

As per the terms of his three-year probation, Lil Wayne can’t drink any substance with alcohol, and the rapper is doing his part to prevent any possible temptation. Booze has been banned from Wayne’s personal tour bus, and the backstage areas at each of his concerts are dry, as well.

The Beastie Boys’ new music video for ‘Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,’ the group’s single with Santigold, reunites the group director Spike Jonze (the man behind the lens of their acclaimed ‘Sabotage’ video) and features the Boys as action figures in stop-motion animation.