Live's Ed Kowalczyk is hitting the road this fall with Everclear's Art Alexakis and Sixpence None the Richer's Leigh Nash on the Open Wings -- Broken Strings tour. According to Kowalczyk, the outing will feature all-acoustic sets that will abandon the "decibel and drama" and showcase "the essence, the story and the song." He adds, "Quiet, just might be the new loud." The trek currently is scheduled to wrap up with a gig at the Community Theatre in Morristown, N.J

This isn't official news from NBC, but the buzz is that Megan Fox is going to host the premiere of Saturday Night Live on Sept. 26. Her new movie Jennifer's Body is out on Sept. 18, so it makes sense. She's also said to be joining Andy Samberg for a digital short. Could be hilarious, if true.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77. In nearly 50 years in the Senate, Kennedy served alongside 10 presidents - his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy among them - compiling an impressive list of legislative achievements on health care, civil rights, education, immigration and more.

Author Dominick Dunne, who told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous through his magazine articles and best-selling novels such as "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," died Wednesday in his home at age 83. Dunne's son, actor-director Griffin Dunne, said in a statement released by Vanity Fair magazine that his father had been battling bladder cancer. But the cancer had not prevented Dunne from working and socializing, his twin passions.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis and Flea confirm that the band is preparing to hit the studio this fall to work on new material. "We've decided to write some songs," says Kiedis. "We imposed a two-year hiatus, which we felt we needed, then we went back to the roundtable and the decision was, 'Let's do this.'" Adds Flea about the Peppers' plans, "I feel major enthusiasm and vigor. Not like a restlessness, but a really healthy excitement."

Aerosmith's Joe Perry assures fans that the band "is not breaking up," but is on hiatus while frontman Steven Tyler heals from injuries suffered in his recent stage fall. The axeman promises that once the singer is well, the band will finish a new album and embark on an upgraded tour. "Everyone that was waiting for us this summer, we owe them the great show we can deliver," Perry explains.

The Jets have seen enough of rookie Mark Sanchez and Kellen Clemens to determine a starter - and their choice is Sanchez.

Are Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly (above) ready to take the next step? "Derek and Minka are secretly engaged," an insider told Page Six. The Yankee captain and the actress are telling close pals to "save the date" for nuptials in the fall. "The wedding is being planned and will take place after baseball season is over," said our source.

Beer drinkers, get ready to shell out more for a Bud: Anheuser-Busch InBev (AHBIY) is boosting the price of its brews. The increases will occur later this year and will cover "different price tiers," the company told The Wall Street Journal late Tuesday.

(HealthDay News) - Would a gruesome picture of a cancer-ravaged mouth with rotting teeth make you think twice about buying a pack of cigarettes? That's the goal of new federal regulations expected to go into effect within three years. The rules will require tobacco companies to cover at least half of the front and back of packages with graphic-and possibly gruesome-images illustrating the dangers of smoking. If U.S. regulations are modeled after those already in place in Canada and other countries, the warnings will be shocking: blackened lungs, gangrenous feet, bleeding brains and people breathing through tracheotomies.

The A&E network said Tuesday its previously announced documentary about members of the Jackson family will be expanded into a reality series.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Thousands of fans booed pop star Madonna on Wednesday during a concert in Bucharest after she spoke out against the discrimination of Gypsies in Eastern Europe. Madonna paused in the two-hour concert to say that Gypsies, also known as Roma, were discriminated against in Eastern Europe. She said that made her sad and nobody should be discriminated against. Thousands in the crowd of 60,000 booed her. She did not react.

Peter Frampton is at the Stone Pony Summer Stage tomorrow 08.30.09

ON SALE NOW

KISS: Alive 35
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Sat, 10/10/09

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Beacon Theatre
New York, NY
Thu, 10/01/09

Medeski, Martin & Wood
Nokia Theatre Times Square
New York, NY
Sat, 11/14/09

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