Hearing scheduled in Jackson dad's bid for stipend (AP)

AP - A judge has scheduled a hearing to decide if Michael Jackson's father should receive a monthly allowance of more than $15,000 from the pop star's estate.

Grammy nod adds leverage to Melanie Fiona's career (AP)

AP - Melanie Fiona still cries when she thinks about her ex-boyfriend. He is the main reference in her R&B smash, the haunting ballad "It Kills Me."

Underwood to sing national anthem at Super Bowl (AP)

AP - Carrie Underwood is going to the Super Bowl — and she'll be singing the national anthem.

`Il Postino' opera premiere set for Sept. 23 in LA (AP)
AP - The delayed premiere of Daniel Catan's "Il Postino" has been rescheduled by the Los Angeles Opera for Sept. 23, the opening night of the 2010-11 season.

Blige, Bocelli to sing for Haiti at Grammys (Reuters)
Reuters - Singer Mary J. Blige and Italian pop tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at the Grammy awards on Sunday to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Kanye West begins recording new album (Yahoo! Music)
Yahoo! Music - Courtesy of NME -- Rapper looks to Gill Scott-Heron and Nina Simone for inspiration

Cheryl Cole to support Black Eyed Peas on UK tour (Reuters)
Reuters - British singer Cheryl Cole, best known as a judge on the hit "X Factor" television series, will support U.S. group the Black Eyed Peas on the British leg of their forthcoming THE E.N.D. world tour.

Trent Reznor confirms Nine Inch Nails will record new material (Yahoo! Music)
Yahoo! Music - Courtesy of NME -- Band set to continue releasing new music despite quitting live circuit

UK musicians pay tribute to songs of Nick Drake (Reuters)
Reuters - Nick Drake is an unlikely romantic hero. In the 1970s he was a minor English singer and songwriter who peddled a lyrical brand of introspection that earned him a small but devoted following and few record sales.

Rocker Joe Walsh takes on namesake politician (Reuters)
Reuters - Another musician is claiming that a political candidate is tone deaf to the nation's intellectual property laws. And this one has an amusing twist.