Despite rampant rumors that Paul McCartney [ tickets ] might appear at events ranging from Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit to the NetAid crusade against world hunger, PETA appears to have secured the sole upcoming performance by the ex-Beatle for now. According to a press release issued by the animal rights organization, McCartney will be the headliner at PETA's Party of the Century and Humanitarian Awards on Sept. 18, and it will be his only performance in conjunction with his forthcoming album.

McCartney's band will include Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who also plays on McCartney's soon-to-be-released ''Run Devil Run.'' On the album, McCartney reportedly performs songs that inspired the Beatles, including classics by Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.

The B-52's, Sarah McLachlan, Chrissie Hynde and others to be announced will also perform during the show. Co-hosting the program with McCartney will be Alec Baldwin, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen DeGeneres and Woody Harrelson.

As a tribute to his late wife, who was an active supporter of animal rights, McCartney will present the first Linda McCartney Memorial Award. The award will go to Pamela Anderson Lee, who posed for PETA's first-ever Times Square billboard, asked fashion designers to abandon fur, urged South African President Thabo Mbeki to end his country's exports of elephants, and met with Monaco's Prince Albert to promote a ban on exotic animals at the Monte Carlo Circus Festival.

The event will air in the fall on VH-1. A live webcast of the event will be available at www.peta-online.org beginning at 6 p.m. on Sept. 18.V