
plus: Ginuwine to open for Janet Jackson. Verve scales back. Foo Fighters benefit. Dexy's Midnight Runners reissue.
'NSync has signed a marketing agreement with Chili's Bar & Grill to star in a series of commercials promoting the restaurant's baby back ribs and take-out service. Chili's will also be the lead sponsor of the band's next concert tour, according to a press release issued by the restaurant chain.
The commercials will begin airing the week of Jan. 20.
Capitol Records releases "Silver Lining," the 16th album from blues-rocker Bonnie Raitt , on April 9. The title track was penned by David Gray.
Raitt, Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake--a team that first collaborated on Raitt's last record, 1998's "Fundamental"--produced the new album.
A new version of the hit Mary J. Blige album "No More Drama" will be released by MCA Records on Jan. 29. It features a new album cover, new remixes of two songs and two bonus tracks that didn't appear on the original version of the CD, which was released last fall.
Blige launches a tour on Feb. 5.
Ginuwine will be the opening act for Janet Jackson's Jan. 25-Feb. 9 tour dates.
Variety reported that "newly promoted Verve Music Group CEO Ron Goldstein plans to scale down the company's roster and emphasize acts with mainstream appeal--especially rising star Diana Krall."
As part of the new Verve, according to the article, "[trumpeter] Roy Hargrove , for example, is slated to go into the studio with several stars of the hip-hop and R&B worlds making appearances, including singer D'Angelo and rapper Common."
Foo Fighters will play a benefit show for MAP (Musicians' Assistance Program) on Feb. 7 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif.
On Feb. 5, 20 years after its original release, Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Too-Rye-Ay" album--which sprung the hit "Come On Eileen"--will get the reissue treatment from Mercury/UME.