TLC stars plan farewell

TLC stars plan farewell

The two surviving members of R&B act TLC will stage their farewell live performance on 1 June at a New York radio station's annual Zootopia concert.

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas have made sporadic public appearances but have not performed together since Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes' April 2002 death in a car accident.

The trio were working on a new album, 3D, before Lopes died. The collection was released late last year.

The pair's set is also expected to include tributes to two other musicians who have died recently, Aaliyah, and Run DMC's Jam Master Jay.

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Skynyrd man given OK to tour

Lynyrd Skynyrd's founding lead guitarist Gary Rossington has been cleared to by doctors to tour with the southern rock band from June after heart bypass surgery.

Rossington, 51, underwent the quintuple bypass surgery in February in an Atlannta hospital.

A band spokesman said doctors had given him the green light to return to the stage on 13 June in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The first eight European shows, set to begin 29 May in Belgium, will be rescheduled.

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Ms Dynamite wins radio award

Ms Dynamite was named favourite female vocalist at London radio station Capital FM's charity awards ceremony in London on Wednesday.

The R&B star won two Brit awards in February, three Mobos in October and last year's Mercury Music Prize.

Coldplay were named best band, Atomic Kitten won best pop act and the Sugababes picked up the album award for Angels with Dirty Faces.

Will Young was named best newcomer and Simply Red won an award for outstanding contribution.

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Presley's album enters US chart

Lisa-Marie Presley's debut album has entered the US chart at number five.

To Whom It May Concern sold 142,000 copies in its first week of release.

The singer penned most of the lyrics herself but the songs were written with the help of Glen Ballard, who worked on Alanis Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill.

Presley pays tribute to her famous father on a track called Nobody Noticed It.

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Rap show protest

An Islamic activist group has criticised new US soap opera Platinum for glorifying the "violence and brutality" of the hip hop world.

The show is about two brothers who run a rap record label and has fared well in the ratings since its debut on Monday.

But Project Islamic Hope said the soap was undermining efforts to end a feud between Eminem and 50 Cent and their rival Ja Rule.

Programme-makers UPN defended the show as "a very honest behind-the-scenes look at aspects of the hip hop industry."

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Strikes close Portugal museums

Portugal's state museums will be closed over the Easter weekend because of a museum workers' strike.

Museum employees say government cuts have left them understaffed, forcing them to close some buildings during lunchtime.

State-owned palaces and castles will also be affected.

The Portuguese government say that spending cuts are needed to to reduce the country's budget deficit.

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Food art show to open

London's Victoria and Albert Museum is hosting an evening of food-inspired art performances on 25 April with artists interacting with all manner of delicacies.

The event is designed to explore the relationship between art and food, drawing inspiration from Dutch still-life pictures of the 17th Century to Warhol's paintings of soup cans.

British and international artists will be taking part including performance artist Bobby Baker who will invite his audience to be spoon fed a drink while sat on his lap.

There will also be a panel discussion entitled Cooking as Performance, featuring guests Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers of the River Café.