Timberlake, Fatone show support for Bass

Former 'NSYNC stars Justin Timberlake and Joey Fatone have announced their support for Lance Bass, who recently revealed he is gay.

"Lance is one of my great friends," Timberlake said through his representative, Ken Sunshine. "I support him and wish him all the happiness in the world."

"He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone. I back him up 100 percent," said Fatone, who is producing a TV show in which Bass stars as a gay character, inspired by The Odd Couple.

In coming out publicly to People magazine, Bass said he weighed the decision of telling people he was gay during the boy band's late-'90s peak of popularity but decided against it.

"I knew that I was in this popular band, and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said [that I was gay], it would overpower everything," Bass said.

"So I had that weight on me of like, 'Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."

Bass figured his fellow bandmates knew, but the issue wasn't discussed.

"Very few people have the guts to come up to you and say, 'Hey, are you gay?'" Bass told MTV News. "I'm pretty sure they all knew and they probably all talked to each other, but they had the respect to let me tell them."

LL Cool J signs TV drama deal

CBS is building a new drama series around LL Cool J after signing the hip-hop star to a deal reportedly worth at least $700,000. The deal is in conjunction with Alchemy Entertainment.

The 38-year-old rapper has developed into a movie and TV actor the last several years. He's had bit parts in everything from Halloween H20 and Deep Blue Sea to Any Given Sunday and S.W.A.T.

The rapper recently appeared in an episode of Fox's hit medical drama, House, M.D.

LL Cool J is already making a movie called Overnight with Alchemy Entertainment.

Tool adds more concert dates

American rock band Tool has added a few UK arena dates to its world tour, which the band kicked off in early May in support of its latest album, 10,000 Days.

The newly announced dates, including the US dates the band added on July 26, bring the total number of Tool shows this year to 109.

According to the BBC, the dates include the Manchester Evening News Arena on November 24, Glasgow SECC on November 25, London Wembley Arena on November 27, Cardiff International Arena on November 30, and Nottingham Arena on December 1.

After already completing a stint in the United States and Europe, the band is currently on a short, monthlong break before it gears up again for a repeat--a flurry of intermixed US, Japan, and Canada shows before a second European run late this year.

Damon Albarn starts new band--again

Damon Albarn, the frontman of Blur and the man behind the cartoon hip-hop group Gorillaz, is venturing out with a new solo project, according to NME.com.

The new band's name and its first album will be The Good, the Bad and the Queen and will feature production help from one-half of Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse.

Albarn notwithstanding, the band itself will be made up of its own supergroup cast of musicians, including former Verve and Blur guitarist Simon Tong, who also contributed to Albarn's Gorillaz project.

Paul Simonon, bassist for The Clash, and drummer Tony Allen will hold down the The Good, the Bad and the Queen's rhythm section.

The Good, the Bad and the Queen has already lined up a series of dates to debut itself to the world. The first single will come out in October, with the full album releasing in January 2006. Albarn formed the 2D cartoon-faced Gorillaz in 1999, and the hip-hoppers have released two albums.