Report: Madonna, Guy Ritchie set to adopt

Madonna is about to pull a Brangelina, according to British newspaper The People. The Material Mom, who has made poverty and the dearth of water in the Southeast African country of Malawi a major cause during her record-breaking Confessions tour, is reportedly set to adopt twins from an orphanage there with husband Guy Ritchie. Madonna and Ritchie are set to fly to Malawi to meet president Bingu Wa Mutharika and finalize legal details with adoption lawyers. The People reported that the couple originally intended to adopt one child but then realized they'd be breaking up the twins if they did that. Madonna and Ritchie have two children, a son together, 6-year-old Rocco, and Madonna's daughter, 10-year-old Lourdes, from a previous relationship. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, dubbed Brangelina by the press, previously adopted two children, one each from Cambodia and Ethiopia.

Jacko ditches Bahrain label

Michael Jackson has severed all ties with the Bahrain record label on which he'd planned to release new material, a Jackson spokesperson told BBC News today. Jackson, who left the US following his acquittal on child-molestation charges and spent considerable time in the Middle East, won't be releasing his next album on the Two Seas record label after all, Ramone Bain told the British network.

Two Seas, founded by Bahraini royal family member Abdulla Hamad Al-Khalifa, was set to put out Jackson's first album of new material since 2001's Invincible. Jackson will instead release future material on the Michael Jackson Company, the new outfit Jackson formed to handle his business affairs. The record is tentatively set for the first half of 2007, with New Jack Swing producer Teddy Riley, who previously worked with Jackson on hits such as "Remember the Time" and "Jam," rumored to be producing the album.

Danger Mouse says Gnarls eyeing second album

The makers of the runaway hit of 2006 are coming back for more. Gnarls Barkley, the "Crazy" duo of producer Danger Mouse and rapper-singer Cee-Lo, has begun work on the follow-up to the near-platinum St. Elsewhere, Danger Mouse told MTV News. "We've started to throw some ideas around, and we've started on some rough demo stuff," he said. "But it's still a little way away. But we want to make the record sooner rather than later--just go in there and continue what we're doing. We definitely don't want to make (the next album) based our reactions to what people are saying about this album."

That said, the duo isn't in any rush, he said, speaking backstage at Saturday's Virgin Festival in Baltimore. "There are a lot of people who want another Gnarls Barkley album, and so do we. But we're going to do it the same way we did before--we're going to do it at our pace and see what happens. When we get into the groove with things, we do the songs in bunches, and so we know that all we need to do it is go back and start working. If we love what's coming out, then we'll do another record; if we don't love it the way we loved this one...then we won't do it."

But each member's many side projects--Gnarls started as one of those side projects--will continue, he said. Danger Mouse has recently produced albums from The Rapture and Damon Albarn's side project, The Good The Bad and The Queen with former Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen, and is working with Sparklehorse front man Mark Linkous on a project that will likely be called Dangerhorse. Cee-Lo is set to release a greatest-hits CD, as well as an album with Atlanta producer Jazze Pha and with the rap group in which he started, Goodie Mob.

GNR change tour dates

Although they've started quite late in almost every case, the recent string of Guns N' Roses shows in the US have gone off without a hitch, largely drawing rave reviews. But now Axl Rose and company have postponed several dates this month and next, pushing some of them to 2007. According to Pollstar, GNR's show in Fresno tomorrow has been pushed to December 13, while the Bakersfield show Friday night is being rescheduled for January 11. The band's September 30 show in Reno is now set for January 13, while the Sacramento show on October 2 was moved to January 10, according to Pollstar. The October 5 San Diego show has been moved to January 16. All of the rescheduled shows will take place at their original venues, and no reason was given as to why the dates were rescheduled.

Doherty, Moss together and reportedly set to marry

Out of rehab and with a string of UK tour dates this weekend, Babyshambles front man Pete Doherty is back with on-again, off-again supermodel girlfriend Kate Moss and might be heading for a wedding ceremony. The UK's Daily Record reported that upon Doherty's departure from London's Priory rehabilitation clinic, the couple traveled to Heathrow on their way to Ireland, where Babyshambles has three gigs. Given the band's three days off this weekend, the paper reported that Doherty and Moss could seek to wed. The couple is said to have gotten engaged during one of Moss' visits to the Priory recently.

Moss split with Doherty after she was photographed snorting cocaine, an incident that led several of her modeling clients to drop her. Doherty, 27, has been battling drug addictions for quite some time. The latest four-week stint at the Priory was for addiction to heroin, cocaine, crack, and cannabis. A sentencing on his conviction for drug possession was recently delayed until December to allow Doherty to finish his time at the clinic.

Talent firm sues RZA

The RZA brought the beats for the 2004 film Blade: Trinity, but he didn't pay his reps. That's what United Talent Agency is alleging in a lawsuit filed last Friday against the Wu-Tang Clan mastermind. The firm claims that it procured the soundtrack and film composition work for RZA based on a commission rate of 10 percent, but that it was never paid. RZA was allegedly paid $430,000 by New Line Productions for producing five songs on the film's soundtrack and cocomposing the film's score. Therefore, UTA claims, the beat maker owes it $43,000, plus interest.