Queen’s ransom: Tribute album, U.S. tour

Friday, July 1, 2005 | 8:31 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Queen and Paul Rodgers will play a handful of North American cities later this year before returning next spring to launch a full-scale tour. According to guitarist Brian May's official Web site, the band will play the New York area and Los Angeles later this year, as well as Aruba (Oct. 8) and Tokyo (Oct. 26), "and then get back to the States to do the main stuff in the spring."

The combo will release a live album taped in Sheffield, England, via EMI in early September, with a DVD to follow in October.

In related news, the track list us set for the Queen tribute album, "Killer Queen," due Aug. 2 via Hollywood. The 15-track set features Gavin DeGraw, Jason Mraz, Joss Stone, Sum 41, Los Lobos, Eleven featuring Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme and Breaking Benjamin, among others.

"Killer Queen" includes two versions of "Bohemian Rhapsody": one by the Flaming Lips and another by "American Idol" contestant Constantine Maroulis with the Las Vegas cast of the Queen musical "We Will Rock You."

Sevendust calls 'Next' with new label:

Atlanta metal act Sevendust has signed with new label WineDark Records for the Oct. 11 release of its fifth studio album, "Next."

The band will get its own imprint, 7Bros. Records, at the label, which is distributed by Fontana Distribution. "It was amazing to see the reaction to what we had created from such a large percentage of the record industry," the band says in a statement.

Sevendust was previously signed to TVT, which issued its first four albums. The sets have sold close to 2.2 million copies combined in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.