According to Billboard, Tupac Shakur's album sales have topped 18 million units since his 1996 murder.

The hits compilation "Now! That's What I Call Music! Vol. 17" climbs three slots to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, while Eminem's "Encore" holds steady at No. 3.

Shania Twain's "Greatest Hits" jumps from No. 6 to No. 4, while U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" slips three places to No. 5, despite a 7% increase in units sold.

The dates and partial line-ups have been unveiled for the long-running Country Thunder USA festivals in Wisconsin and Arizona.

The Florence, AZ, edition of the event is set for April 16-17, and performers will include Big & Rich [ tickets ], Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, The Warren Brothers, Chris Cagle, George Canyon, Shelly Fairchild, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Harry Luge.

In Twin Lakes, WI, the July 20-24 lineup will feature Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Big & Rich, Sara Evans, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Montgomery Gentry, Terri Clark, Billy Currington and Julie Roberts.

Daily schedules and ticket information are available at Country Thunder's website.

A grassroots campaign is underway to convince Sony/Epic to release Fiona Apple [ tickets ]'s third album, "Extraordinary Machine," which the artist turned in to the label in 2003.

The website FreeFiona.com claims it is "an international organization" spawned by the Apple fan site FionaHasWings.com.

The site encourages Apple's supporters to, on Jan. 24, "send something with an apple theme--a fake apple, a real apple, a photo of an apple, a piece of paper with an apple sticker, a sketch of an apple, even an apple pie--be creative!--to [Chairman and CEO] Andy Lack at Sony with a note attached. You can write a real letter or just scribble 'Free Fiona!' on the envelope--whatever you want."

Rapper Snoop Dogg [ tickets ] reportedly has filed an extortion suit in Los Angeles. The complaint says that an unnamed woman threatened to sell to the National Enquirer a story claiming he assaulted her if he didn't give her $5 million.