U2, the Pretenders, the O'Jays, Percy Sledge, Buddy Guy, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein and agent Frank Barsalona are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More...

U2 opens its worldwide Vertigo tour in San Diego. The band plays several European summer dates, followed by a 30-date North American leg in the fall and has plans to continue touring in early 2006. The outing goes on to dominate Billboard's Roadwork ?05 Touring Awards, winning honors for top tour, top draw and top Boxscore for its June 24-27 dates at Croke Park in Dublin. More...

Top-selling gospel singer Donnie McClurkin announces he is retiring from the music business after his last album. The singer/pastor says he will continue to sing at his church. "God's allowed me to use my notoriety so far as a platform," says McClurkin, "but now I have to learn how to expand it from here." More...

Gunfire erupts outside a New York radio station after rapper 50 Cent kicks Interscope labelmate The Game out of his G-Unit rap crew, citing disloyalty. After months of verbal sparring, the two rappers later call a truce at a press conference in New York. Amidst the controversy, their collaboration "Hate It or Love It" advances to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making 50 Cent the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to notch four top 10 singles at once. The others are 50's "Candy Shop" featuring Olivia and "Disco Inferno" and the Game's "How We Do" featuring 50 Cent. More...

Rapper Nelly cancels several dates on his U.S. tour after his sister Jacqueline "Jackie" Donahue dies from complications with leukemia. More...

Slipknot drummer M. Shawn Crahan launches his own label, Big Orange Clown Records, under Sanctuary Records. The label's first signing is the metal quintet Gizmachi. More...

The Backstreet Boys, the Black Eyed Peas, Boyz II Men and Fugees members Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean perform at the Force of Nature for Tsunami Aid benefit concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The show is to raise funds for rebuilding efforts in regions devastated by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami in the Indian Ocean. More...

Seminal underground rock act Slint marks its reunion with an international tour. More...

LEGALITIES:

Incarcerated rapper Shyne's assets from his $3 million record deal with Island Def Jam are frozen due to New York's "Son of Sam" law, which bars convicts from profiting from their crimes.

A gunman allegedly opens fire in the London venue where rapper Nas is performing during his short European tour. No one is injured in the shooting.

Jailed rapper C-Murder loses an appeal to throw out his second-degree murder conviction. He is also barred from using pens after he angers authorities by recording parts of his music video and album behind bars.

Janet Jackson obtains a restraining order against a man she says has been harassing her for nine years.

The FBI closes its investigation into the 1997 murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G.

Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst sues 10 Web site operators for posting a homemade sex tape allegedly stolen from his computer.

Ja Rule pleads guilty to an assault charge stemming from a nightclub melee in Toronto. The rapper apologizes to the city and receives a $1,200 fine.

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter is arrested for drunk driving in Huntington Beach, Calif.