Singer R. Kelly [ tickets ], who five years ago was charged with multiple counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, will finally head to trial next month, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Kelly, who in 2002 was charged in Chicago with more than a dozen counts of child pornography, appeared in a Chicago courtroom earlier today with his attorneys, where a Cook County judge set a Sept. 17 start date for the trial, the Tribune reported.

Australian rock legends AC/DC, one of the few big-name bands that, to date, hadn't released its back catalog in digital form, has signed a deal with Verizon Wireless that will bring the group's albums to users of the mobile company's V CAST Music service. The company will offer full-album downloads--as opposed to single-track sales--of all 18 of the group's albums via an exclusive agreement that runs through March of next year, according to a press release.

Herbie Hancock [ tickets ] has announced a Sept. 25 release date for "River: The Joni Letters," which is billed in a press release as "a collection of songs, vocal and instrumental, composed by or influential to Joni Mitchell." Hancock--who co-produced and arranged the set with Larry Klein--was backed in the studio by Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Vinnie Colaiuta and Lionel Loueke. Featured guest vocalists include Mitchell herself, along with Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and Luciana Souza.

"Soap and Water," the inaugural Yep Roc Records release from roots rocker Chuck Prophet [ tickets ], is due in stores this fall. The set will feature a dozen new, original songs that Prophet recorded in his hometown of San Francisco, as well as in Nahshville, according to a press release. Scheduled for release on Oct. 2, the album is Prophet's first in over three years.