Australian trip-rockers The Church have announced plans for their first tour of the U.S. in 8 years. The tour will support the release of the new album Hologram Of Baal which is due out Sept. 22nd.

Due out Sept. 8th, Patty Smyth's Greatest Hits (Featuring Scandal) is "the only comprehensive look at the gifted singer/songwriter's career both with the band which introduced her to the general public and as a solo artist," writes Rolling Stone's David Wild in the liner notes to the brand new 16-track collection.

Voters in Detroit gave the thumbs down to a referendum proposal to spend tax dollars to help build a $1 billion casino and theme park being promoted by Michael Jackson. Jackson had made several visits to the area to drum up support for the project, in which he was involved with Detroit millionaire Don Barden.

The Drew Carey Show will be seeing cameo appearances by a number of rock musicians in the upcoming episode to be taped later this month. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. television confirmed that various players had been approached including Slash and Lisa Loeb, but declined to say who had accepted or provide more information. Joey Ramone confirmed to MTV News that he had indeed been contacted by the producers, as did a spokesperson for slash.

The long, long delayed George Michael album Trojan Souls is still alive, according to a report in England's Dot Music. The record, which a source close to Michael says features collaborations with 10 vocalists including Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker; was halted over Michael's legal problems with his former label, Sony. Meanwhile, Michael's Greatest Hits album on Sony is tentatively scheduled to be released around Christmas with a new single likely to be issued in the fall. The record will include at least 3 new tracks including two new songs recorded in a North London studio last month as well as a Stevie Wonder cover.

A 38 year-old man hanged himself with jumper cables outside a Stevie Nicks concert in Concord, California, on Saturday night following an encounter with his estranged wife. Police say the man's wife ran into her husband, against whom she had a restraining order, in the parking lot of the Concord Pavillion after the show. She summoned the venue's security, by which time he had climbed atop a utility pole. Police and fire departments were summoned to the scene, but despite their efforts the man either jumped or slipped from the pole, hanging himself.

Chico DeBarge was recently phoned by former sister-in-law Janet Jackson and congratulated on his chart-rising new record and single "No Guarantee." Jackson (who's marriage to Chico's brother, James, was annulled less than a year after the couple was wed in 1984) took time out of her U.S. tour to reach out and touch base and even discussed the possibility of working with him on an upcoming project. No word on when or for what such a Janet/Chico team-up might be used, as Jackson's Velvet Rope tour will keep her busy on the road until November.