andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

You may not have heard “The E.N.D.” of Black Eyed Peas just yet, but their latest album is expected to take the top spot next week on the “Billboard 200” chart with first week sales of over 304,000, as per Nielson SoundScan figures.

That’s more than enough to take “Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King” (from Dave Matthews Band) off the top spot. Meanwhile, Eminem’s “Relapse” continues to do well, earning the rapper the third spot with the CD selling 87,000 units.

The all-star debut album from Chickenfoot, (featuring ex-Van Halen members Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani and Chad Smith from Red Hot Chilli Peppers) landed at No. 4, moving 79,000 units.

The only new albums that made “Billboard 200’s” Top 10 include “The Last” from Aventura (landing at No. 5 with sales of 47,000), rapper Mos Def’s “Ecstatic” at No. 9 and Pleasure P, who rounded up the Top 10 with “Introduction of Marcus Cooper ”.

The Dave Matthews Band have set a June 2 release date for their new album, the band’s first studio effort in four years.

The as-yet-untitled album will produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance). Little else is known about the project, which follows 2005’s “Stand Up.”

The band has also announced an extensive summer tour in support of the new release, on top of a previously announced spring run.

Two Canadian stops are on the schedule, June 9 at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre and June 10 at Montreal’s Parc Jean Drapeau.

DMB will be accompanied by a bevy of supporting acts for their summer shows, including Robert Randolph, Femi Kuti, the Hold Steady, Umphrey’s McGee, Old Crow Medicine Show and Switchfoot.

Saxophonist and founding DMB member LeRoi Moore passed away last year at the age of 46 due to injuries sustained in an ATV accident.

TMZ is reporting that Dave Matthews Band sax player Leroi Moore has died. Moore was severely injured in an ATV accident during early July outside his farm near Charlottesville. TMZ reports that Moore passed away in Los Angeles earlier this afternoon. Check andPOP for more information as it becomes available.

Dave Matthews Band will hit the road in late November for a small tour to end the year.

They’ll hit major cities including New York, Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia.

According to Billboard, they have already made $42 million this year playing live, including a huge summer tour.

Gavin DeGraw, Soulive and Mike Doughty will open on select dates.

Dates:
Nov. 26: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Nov. 27: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center)
Nov. 29: Madison, Wis. (Kohl Center)
Nov. 30: Champaign, Ill. (Assembly Hall)
Dec. 3: Detroit (Joe Louis Arena)
Dec. 4: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Dec. 6: State College, Pa. (Bryce Jordan Center)
Dec. 7: Rochester, N.Y. (Blue Cross Arena)
Dec. 9-10: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Dec. 12: Manchester, N.H. (Verizon Wireless Arena)
Dec. 13: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
Dec. 15: Boston (TD Banknorth Garden)

Much like the aftermath of Sept. 11 just four years ago, celebrities, musicians, and actors are banning together to raise money for victims of another U.S. disaster. This time, the cause is Katrina, the Category 5 hurricane that has left the Mississippi gulf and the city of New Orleans in ruins.

?A Concert for Hurricane Relief,? to be broadcast on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC this Friday at 8 p.m. EST, will include performances by Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Tim McGraw. Celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio are also scheduled to participate in the hour-long special, which will be hosted by Matt Lauer in New York. Viewers will be encouraged to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

But the special which will likely draw the biggest crowd is a three-city MTV extravaganza that will feature performances by Usher, Green Day, Ludacris, and Alicia Keys. It will air live on Sept. 10 on MTV, VH1, and CMT from New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville.

“In the face of a tragedy of this scope, we simply have to do everything in our power to offer support, comfort and hope to all the people directly impacted by the hurricane,” said Judy McGrath, chair and CEO of MTV Networks, who announced the concerts yesterday. “Our goal is to join forces on every medium to get involved, to volunteer, to contribute in any way we can.”

Other artists currently on board for the event are Gretchen Wilson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews Band, Rob Thomas, Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, and David Banner. Additional performers are expected to be added to the line-up as the show draws closer. All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.

President George W. Bush has called Katrina ?one of the worst national disasters? in U.S. history as hundreds are feared dead in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

In between preparing for his upcoming solo release and touring all summer, Dave Matthews found time to accept a role in a movie.

The singer-songwriter will appear in “Because of Winn-Dixie,” playing a drifter in his first major-studio film, reports MTV.

The movie begins shooting next month, and Matthews ends the current tour September 20. His debut solo album, “Some Devil,” is scheduled to hit shelves September 23.

Want tickets to his September 3 Toronto show? Head on over to the click2music.ca ticket giveaway for your chance to win.