plus: Tupac documentary in the works. Red Hot Chili Peppers to headline German festivals. Dick Clark's new year. Billy Bob Thornton and Travis Tritt. AOL's digital music service.

Count Basie [ tickets ], Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Al Green [ tickets ] and Joni Mitchell [ tickets ] have been named recipients of the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Awards; Tom Dowd and Alan Freed will receive Trustees Awards. The honorees will be formally acknowledged at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, which will be held on Feb. 27 in Los Angeles.

A documentary on the life of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was murdered in 1996, is under development by MTV Films. According to MTV, the film--scheduled for release in theaters in 2003--will include rare video footage, concert footage and new songs.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline Germany's Hurricane Festival (in Scheessel) and Southside Festival (in Tuttlingen), on June 22 and 23, respectively. This year's festivals featured Weezer, Tool and Incubus.

Among the acts scheduled to appear on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which will air on ABC, are Blink 182, Blu Cantrell, Bush, LFO, the O'Jays, Pink, Busta Rhymes, Jessica Simpson and Barry Manilow.

Billy Bob Thornton will star in the new Travis Tritt video for "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde," which is being filmed this week on the edge of the Mojave Desert in California, according to Tritt's publicist.

America Online unveiled a test version of its digital music subscription service, AOL Presents MusicNet 1.0, at the Internet World trade show in New York on Tuesday (12/11). The service is scheduled to officially launch in January.