One late Saturday afternoon, just two weeks before her death, twenty-two-year-old Aaliyah walked from a black Mercedes-Benz to a small helicopter for a short flight from New Jersey to East Hampton, New York. She was on her way to the summer house that Jay-Z shared with her boyfriend of a year, Damon Dash, Jay's partner in Roc-a-Fella Records. She wore a dark-green hoodie and matching shorts so small they showed off most of her long, curvy legs, down to the little treble-clef tattoo on her right ankle. She wore all-white Nike Air Force Ones with white socks. Around her neck hung a small Roc-a-Fella pendant. In her left arm she clutched a large, fluffy pillow in a black pillowcase. She got on the helicopter, nuzzled into Dash's shoulder and went to sleep. I was there reporting a story on Jay-Z, and I was struck by Aaliyah's presence, the way she was in person, as she was onstage - sexy without losing her girlish sweetness. Throughout the weekend, she was quiet but not quite shy, quick to

The Sunset Junction Street Fair, a music festival that has been running annually in Los Angeles since 1980, has been officially canceled after the city's Board of Public Works denied organizers permits to hold the event this weekend. The five-member panel unanimously rejected pleas from promoters who failed to produce $141,000 in fees to cover the event.

The festival, which was to include sets by stylistically disparate acts such as Hanson, the Butthole Surfers, k.d. lang, Peaches, Bobby Womack and the Melvins, is now entirely scrapped. It is unknown whether or not the artists, promoters or volunteers will be compensated.

The Sunset Junction organizers owed the city $400,000 in unpaid fees for the 2010 and 2011 events. The nonprofit Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance faxed a document showing that they had received a $100,000 loan from the concert promoter Live Nation to bail them out of the mess, but Board president Andrea Alarcon dismissed the gesture, saying that it was not an

Evanescence fans have been waiting five years for the band to release a new album - so it's no surprise that lead singer Amy Lee is obsessed with getting their third release right. Before heading to Toronto's Liberty Studios last night for a playback session of five fully mastered tracks, she spent the morning tweaking songs on Evanescence, which comes out October 11th and was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush).

"I literally was just refining one last mix while we were getting ready and that's why I'm 15 minutes late. Up until the very end, it's like, 'Wait! One more thing! One more tiny little thing!'" Lee told Rolling Stone.

At Liberty, though, she seemed excited about finally sharing the new music with the crowd of around 30. "We've just been working really hard for a long time on this record and we're totally proud of it and excited to be touring again," she said as the listening session began.

The singer/pianist then went into a small control room and began playing

Lady Gaga has recorded a guest appearance for an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. The singer will turn up in an episode titled "Lisa Goes Gaga," in which the superstar comes to Springfield after learning that the entire town is suffering from poor self-esteem.

Gaga told Entertainment Weekly that she felt a bit overwhelmed and intimidated when she stopped by the Simpsons studio to record her parts. "I make music, but I don't do voice-overs every day of the week, and their characters are so awesomely convincing and sincere and wild and funny, I had to remind myself constantly of the sincerity of the humor," says the pop queen. "That's what I was trying to focus on, not putting on a character too much and really being as sincere as I could with the lines."

Photos: Lady Gaga's Best Looks

Nevertheless, she is extremely excited about guest starring on the show, which has been on the air since she was two years old. "I would say this is one of the coolest things I've ever done," says Gaga.