plus: News on unreleased Nirvana [ tickets ] track. McConnell, Burbridge and Batiste plan two year-end shows. The Strokes [ tickets ], Guided by Voices [ tickets ] share bill in New York. Early San Francisco Noise Pop information. Mya plays Mona.

A finalist in eight categories, Alicia Keys [ tickets ] is the top nominee for the 2001 Billboard Music Awards. Shaggy received nods in seven categories, while Destiny's Child, Musiq Soulchild, Ja Rule and Lifehouse are nominated in five categories.

Comedian-actor Bernie Mac will host the awards show, which will be broadcast live from Las Vegas by Fox on Dec. 4.

British music magazine NME claims that Courtney Love has given it "world-exclusive access to the unreleased Nirvana track 'You Know You're Right.'" The magazine stated on its website that its Dec. 1 edition will feature "NME's assessment of 'You Know You're Right' and the full lyric to the song."

Love's manager James Barber reportedly told NME that he and Love "propose to release a ten- or 12-track 'Introduction To Nirvana,' featuring the song. Then, a year or so later, it would be followed with a box set featuring unheard and new material (some of which would be taken from a selection of tapes discovered after Cobain's death, containing 200 song 'fragments')."

Click here to read about the legal battle over Nirvana's music.

Page McConnell (Phish), Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers, Aquarium Rescue Unit) and Russell Batiste (Funky Meters) will end the year with a New Year's Eve performance at New York's Roseland Ballroom, according to the official Phish website. McConnell, Burbridge and Batiste will warm up with a Dec. 30 show at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt.

The trio will release a studio album in the spring of 2002.

The Strokes and Guided by Voices, both darlings of New York critics, will co-bill Dec. 30 and 31 shows at Harlem's Apollo Theatre.

The 10th anniversary edition of San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival will run from Feb. 26 through March 3. Among the confirmed acts are Death Cab for Cutie, New Pornographers, the Faint, Dismemberment Plan, Adult, the Makers and a collaboration between John Doe and Neko Case.

R&B vocalist Mya has landed the role of Mona in the movie version of "Chicago," according to the New York Post.