DMX performs on Monday
Photo: Walik Goshorn

NEW YORK — DMX was reunited with his musical family on Monday night when he took center stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Celebrating the Tuesday release of his new Grand Champ LP by giving his first Big Apple performance in years, he received assistance from almost his entire Ruff Ryders family, in addition to LL Cool J, Stephanie Mills, Redman, Method Man and Sisqó.

(Click for photos from the show.)

Before the Dog made his entrance to the stage, his Double R crew mate and DJ for the night, Swizz Beatz, made the crowd nervous when he announced that DMX couldn't make it to the show because the police had held him up. It was obvious, however, that Swizz's statement was all part of the act when X came out soon after and was welcomed with cheers.

X informed the audience that he was in the place to be, shouting, "Bring it!" for his first selection, "We Right Here."

Then, to the dismay of his fans, X got serious when he told them that, in fact, he actually wouldn't be there for much longer, reiterating that Grand Champ is his last album. He asked the fans if they'd still have the same love for him when he stops rapping. They responded by clapping loudly.

Legendary vocalist Stephanie Mills then came out to perform "When I'm Nothing" from X's The Great Depression LP. Mills, who came to prominence in the '80s with a string of timeless R&B cuts before delving into gospel music, showed no signs of rust as she danced along with X and belted out the chorus with her renowned pipes.

"What you gonna do when I'm nothing?" X shouted. "You're crazy about my styyyllle/ What you gonna do when I'm nothing?/ Tell me nowww ... Tell me, tell me!"

X briefly brought the show to a halt when he walked over to the left side of the stage after noticing something on the floor. He picked it up with the tips of his fingers and revealed to the onlookers that it was a thong somebody threw at him. With half a smile, he threw it back at the spectators.

The King of Thongs, Sisqó, fresh from his recent run-in with the law (see "Sisqo Accused Of Shooting At Car, Resisting Arrest") and sporting black and blond cornrows, almost ran into DMX when he did his slide onto the stage at the start of "What These Bitches Want." "What these bitches want from a n---a?" X asked as Sisqó did the monastery dance and crooned the hook.

The LOX's Jadakiss will never be mistaken for a crooner, but he too had the whole ballroom singing along with him. Later in the show, he and his group added to the list of surprise guests (they included Drag-On on "No Love 4 Me" and performed their posse cut "Mighty D-Block (2 Guns Up)" with their protégé J-Hood).

"Everywhere we go-oh," Kiss sang, kicking off the underground scorcher. "People wanna know-oh/ Whooo we arrre/ So we tell them/ This is D-Block/ Mighty, mighty D-Block." Before their new clique's anthem, the LOX joined X to perform the Double R classic collaboration, "Money, Power, Respect."

X's joint ventures proved to be the highlights of the night as he jumped on the "4,3,2,1" track with Redman, Method Man and LL Cool J. J momentarily stole the spotlight as he received the loudest roar of the whole night. The building actually seemed to shake a little as the "G.O.A.T." began rapping his famous Canibus dis verse.

Of course DMX had more than enough solo cuts — "Get at Me Dog," the "Ruff Ryders Anthem" and "It's All Good" — to keep his following pleased. And at the end of "Party Up (Up in Here)," the Hammerstein crowd gave him a hearty send-off, for what might very well be his last New York show. They shouted "DMX! DMX! DMX!" as if he were Roman gladiator who had just slain a ferocious lion.

X is headed overseas for a European tour that starts on September 26 and when he returns to the States, his representatives say he'll launch a U.S. tour. The lineup for his domestic tour is yet to be determined.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• DMX
• LL Cool J
• Stephanie Mills
• The Lox
• Sisqó

Sisqó
Photo: Todd Pitt

R&B singer Sisqó was arrested early Saturday morning along with his girlfriend after allegedly firing shots at a car parked outside a neighbor's house.

Police detained the renowned thong connoisseur and Dru Hill member, whose real name is Mark Andrews, at his home in the Baltimore suburb of Randallstown and charged him with five criminal acts, including first-degree assault, resisting arrest and reckless endangerment. His girlfriend, Tera Thomas, was also arrested and charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest.

According to the police report, Sisqó's neighbor's brother called in a complaint around 3:30 a.m., saying he was waiting in his car for family members to come out when he heard a gunshot. The man told police that after his wife and a friend rushed into the car, he drove off as Sisqó fired more shots at his fleeing vehicle. Police believe three shots were fired.

After arriving at the singer's house to question him, police said they found empty shell casings from a .9 mm pistol. Sisqó allowed officers into his house and denied firing any shots. He said he owned such a gun but that he carried it for protection because he had been receiving death threats. Officers said they found the gun and a magazine clip on his kitchen counter and it appeared to have been recently fired.

Sisqó and Thomas then resisted arrest, cursing at the officers and repeating claims that they had been receiving death threats. Both were taken to Baltimore County jail and booked. Sisqó was released Sunday after posting bail of $175,000. No court date has been set.

• Sisqó
• Dru Hill

Dru Hill
Photo: Def Soul

NEW YORK — While B2K were driving adolescent girls into a tizzy across town at Madison Square Garden, Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin was sitting in Soundtrack Studios, remembering the days when his name used to roll off girls' lips with the frequency that the names Omarion, J-Boog, Lil' Fizz and Raz-B do today.

"It was crazy," Nokio said with a laugh after devouring a takeout seafood dinner. "This girl came running up to me yesterday for a hug and said, 'I was loving you way before I was loving B2K.' "

But there are no screaming girls at Soundtrack. The main room is temporarily submerged in silence.

"I can't believe we actually have an album coming out," Nokio said of the Dru Hill reunion disc, Dru World Order, due November 12. And not only are Nokio, Sisqó, Jazz and the gospel-singing Woody all back in the fold for their first LP since 1998's Enter the Dru, the guys have a new addition.

"His name is Scola, and he's been with us since day one," Nokio said. "He's the guy whose songs we were listening to in Baltimore, like, 'Yo, we need to make songs like that.' We was like, 'Yo, you our boy and you been here.'... We seen him coming up for so long, going from not being in the right situations, you just want to see everybody come up. Especially being from Baltimore. There aren't a lot of opportunities down there. You gonna see his face on the album cover, the girls are going to be screaming for [him]. He just brings a different element that we didn't have before."

Nokio said the original members first got back together during a Dru family tragedy, when Woody's mom died and the four of them performed at her funeral.

"We went up to the pulpit to sing a song together, and that was the first time everybody had the chance to look at each other like, 'Yo, I miss you, dog. What's up, man? What you been doing?' The communication was there, and it kept getting stronger and stronger. One day me and Sisqó were on the phone talking about doing a remix to one of the songs on his last album and that conversation turned into, 'Yo, we just need to go make an album — let's stop playing. I went down to his crib for eight months.' "

The duo called the rest of their squad in October and started writing. By the end of December, they had recorded a large chunk of their songs.

"My man is itching to get onstage bad," Nokio said of Sisqó, who has cut his cornrows down to a Caesar and is wearing his natural black hair color. "His voice is like it never was before, he's just ready to go. Ready to be at where we were in the beginning."

Dru Hill have indeed taken it back to their roots for their still-untitled first single, due in September.

"I should be your boyfriend/ 'Cause you know he's lying/ It might seem like I'm hating/ But I'm just relating," they harmonize over a mid-tempo track that's pampered with funk and strings.

"After we listened to it, the harmony, what we was saying, it was that Dru Hill record that reminded you of why you like Dru Hill," Nokio said. "It was good to be able to sit back and debate about it like, 'I don't know what record we gonna put out because we got so many records' rather than 'That is the only record we have. Let's put it out right now.' "

N.O.R.E. makes a guest appearance on the club banger "On Me," while Nokio himself is the star of a ballad he refers to as "the baby father anthem."

"I wrote that song on Christmas Eve that just passed," recalled Nokio, who sings, "While you're in bed with another man, I just want to talk to my child" on the track. "That was the first Christmas I [didn't] have no girl. Wasn't nobody there, wasn't nothing happening. I was like, 'Why I ain't got no girl? This ain't like me.' It made me think about all of the stuff I had done over the years to different girls."

"I called Scola up and started singing the first two lines," Nokio said, "and he was like, 'I don't know what you're going through, man, but keep going through it.' You'll listen to the album and a lot of it is girls, relationships and everything, ... but the undertone is you could see everything we went though. All the pain. All the nights we were sitting around not knowing what was going to happen. ... Dealing with the fans, 'Y'all ain't never coming back.' We put that all into the record."

Besides the Dru Hill album, which he produced most of, Nokio is staying busy with his A&R consultant gig at Def Jam, where he is overseeing projects by 3rd Storee and Lovher. He also has his own N-tity management and production companies, where he'll soon be laying tracks for DMX and Scarface.

• Dru Hill
• Sisqó

Sisqó
Photo: Universal

When you have a rattlesnake cornered, he's going to come out striking with the quickness. When you do the same to his reptilian brethren, or in this case a singer who calls himself a dragon, you should also expect some consequences.

After being dissed and mocked by Nas and R. Kelly, Sisqó has released a retort record directed toward both performers called "This Is Heart."

"N---a said he was the best shorty/ Now you testing my vest, shorty," he sings on the track. "Nas and R. Kelly tried to hold me/ Getting no airplay/ Now they bore me/ ... Ain't nobody gonna take what's mine."

Sisqó isn't alone on the song — he leaves most of the mic time up to his protégés the Associates, with one of them calling Nas the queen of Queensbridge and another saying of Kelly's recent sex scandal: "Let me remind you of that ish you did/ The 'world's greatest'? whatever/ Ain't nothing but a child molester."

A spokesperson for Kelly had no comment on the song, and representatives for Nas could not be reached.

What has caused Sisqó to take time from recording the new Dru Hill album and spew all this angry verbiage? Well, Kelly took a couple of potshots at Sisqó on "Shorty," from The Best of Both Worlds, his new joint release with Jay-Z: "Said I wouldn't mention Sisqó/ F--- it, he's a bum." In January, Kelly told MTV that was in retaliation for Sisqó's false prophecies of shutting down the R&B game with his solo album Return of Dragon last summer.

Later that summer, Sisqó became caught in the verbal crossfire of the Nas and Jay-Z battle. "Is he H to izz-O, M to the izz-O?/ Fo' shizzle you phony, the rapping version of Sisqó," Nas rhymed in the underground freestyle "Stillmatic."

Coincidentally, Nas is also the center of attention in a dis freestyle by Nature, one of his former partners in the Firm. On "Nas Is Not," Nature accuses Nas of being a fake thug and not taking care of his deceased friend Ill Will's mother, among other things.

Both tracks can be heard on DJ Kay Slay's (aptly nicknamed the Drama King) latest mixtape, Renegades Part 8.

• Sisqó
• Nas
• R. Kelly

Jay-Z and R. Kelly
Photo: Roc-A-Fella/Jive

Although Jay-Z has insinuated that he's going to verbally assail his nemesis Nas again in the future, on tracks leaked from the Best of Both Worlds album, it's Jay's partner on the project, R. Kelly, who lays into a musical adversary.

On a track labeled "Hold Up" that infuses handclaps and guitars on the beat, Kelly throws a small jab, singing, "20's on the drop/ Blue and yellow rocks/ Keke yelling stop/ Sisqó's album flopped."

Another song called "Shake Your Body" features Kelly addressing singers who have gotten rich by biting his style, and once again, he calls out Sisqó.

"It ain't really no beef," Kelly explained in January while visiting New York. "I just didn't appreciate how my man got on TV and said he was shutting it down when it came to R&B. I ain't gonna lie, it triggered me a little bit where I had to speak up on that."

Kelly also disclosed that he has yet another verse aimed at the Dru Hill frontman, where he calls him a "bum."

Although Jay-Z does not mention Nas' name on any of the six songs that have made their way to the streets several weeks before the release of Best of Both Worlds (see "Jay-Z, R. Kelly Hype Joint LP With Hash Browns, Johnnie Cochran And A Pimp"), he does reference Nas' dis record "Ether."

"Don't you know I eat ether and breathe acid, weak bastards?" Jay rhymes on the album's title cut, which is produced by Megahertz.

A spokesperson for Roc-A-Fella said there is no definitive word yet as to whether the leaked songs will make the final version of the album. The spokesperson could confirm that the LP's first two official singles, "Take You Home (Body)" and "Get This Money," will be released to radio on Tuesday.

For a full-length feature about the lyrical battle between Jay-Z and Nas, check out "Nas Vs. Jay-Z: Grade-A Beef."

• R. Kelly
• Sisqó
• Jay-Z

Mary J. Blige
Photo: Josephine Close

The City of Hope Spirit of Life Award dinner and concert held October 11 raised a record $5.1 million, organizers said Wednesday (October 17).

Mary J. Blige, Sisqo, India.Arie, No Doubt's Gwen Stefani and the Who's Roger Daltrey were among the artists who performed Motown classics October 11 at the annual benefit (see "Mary J. Blige, Roger Daltrey, Sisqo To Play City Of Hope Dinner").

Sheryl Crow sat in for Jon Bon Jovi — who chose not to fly to the benefit from his home in New Jersey — and performed with Richie Sambora.

The money raised from the event will be used to establish an honorary research fellowship in the name of the night's awardee, Vivendi Universal executive vice chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr.

City of Hope has sponsored AIDS research and cancer care in recent years. The music and entertainment industries have raised more than $35 million for the center during its 27-year history.

• Sheryl Crow
• Mary J. Blige
• Sisqó
• India.Arie
• No Doubt

Mary J. Blige
Photo: MTV News

Mary J. Blige, Sisqó and Who frontman Roger Daltrey are among the artists lined up to perform classic Motown songs at a Los Angeles benefit dinner next week.

The dinner, dubbed a Motor City Revue and also set to feature Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, India.Arie, Melissa Etheridge, Bilal, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Ronan Keating, Jonny Lang, Shelby Lynne, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, will be held October 11 at Universal Studios.

More artists will be announced, according to a spokesperson for the event.

The City of Hope Spirit of Life Award dinner will raise funds for the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute. A research fellowship will be established for the organizations in honor of Edgar Bronfman Jr., executive vice-chairman for entertainment giant Vivendi Universal.

The dinner, now in its 28th year, has honored past music industry moguls such as Clive Davis and Quincy Jones.

City of Hope's research lead to the discovery of Herceptin and Rituxan, two drugs that have revolutionized cancer care, according to a City of Hope spokesperson. The music and entertainment industries have raised more than $30 million for the center in its 27-year history.

For ticket information, contact City of Hope at 800-260-HOPE or visit the Web site at www.cityofhope.org.

• Mary J. Blige
• The Who
• Sisqó
• Bon Jovi
• India.Arie

Lots of people still think of Sisqó as the guy who brought the world "The Thong Song," which is a little like thinking of Shaquille O'Neal as simply a cat who likes to dunk. Singer, dancer, actor — Sisqó is multi-faceted, and with a new album about to drop, and more movies in the works, he isn't just on the verge; he's already blown up.

Curtis Waller spoke to the Dragon about everything from the new album, Return of Dragon, to the Chauncey controversy to what it's like to "traumatize America" with 'NSYNC. One thing is clear: this is an older, wiser and bolder Sisqó. When he says, "I'm just coming to take what's mine," there's no reason in the world to doubt him. MTV: Get it off your chest — let everybody know that's your real hair.

Sisqó: This is all mine. On the first album I had the blond crop thing Eminem was rocking on his last album. The next album was the curly blond thing that Justin Timberlake was rocking on their last album. Then I went to the silver thing. Yes, I'm a pimp, thank you.

MTV: Clear up some confusion, is the title of the new album Return of the Dragon, or just Return of Dragon? Sisqó: Just Return of Dragon. Mainly because dragon is more than just a logo, it's more than just a symbol. On the last album I described the dragon as the energy. But I realized the dragon is not just the logo, it's the music. Don't get me wrong, I'm not crazy or anything. But I'm so into my music, when the music rolls, I assume the role of dragon. It's the whole persona, it's the music and the energy all conglomerated together.

MTV: I know with the last album some people said you were trying to make a balance with the sound of Dru Hill and Sisqó as an individual.

Sisqó: With the last album, I have to apologize to the fans. I called it Unleash the Dragon, however, I didn't exactly unleash the dragon. I held back, mainly because I felt an obligation to the Dru Hill fans to keep a sound alive that myself, Nokio, Jazz and Woody created. That's why the album was so ballad-heavy. Originally, I was upset with some of the critics that were trying to dismiss my album as only being "The Thong Song." But I realized the only reason they did that was because "The Thong Song" was truly the only song on my album that was Sisqó. Everything else on the album could easily fit on any Dru Hill album.

MTV: Explain the first single.

Sisqó: "Can I Live." I chose that song because it's totally different than anything I've ever recorded in my entire career. I felt the obligation to come up with something totally new, plus I felt that it was the counterbalance to that double-edged sword, "The Thong Song" — it cut with me as well as against me. You had some people in the 'hood saying that I sold out, saying, "Oh, he's a one-hit wonder." "The Thong Song" was not the extent of my talent, but only a weapon in my arsenal.

MTV: There's a rumor that you're putting together a male supergroup with Ginuwine and Usher.

Sisqó: I was talking about an idea that was kicking around a couple years ago about a supergroup with myself, Ginuwine, Tyrese and Usher. Ginuwine was into it, Tyrese was into it, but we never really came together with Usher. So, for whatever reason, I'm just going to have to shut them down. I'm sorry, I would have made the money with y'all, but now I'm going to have to take it all.

I have a lot of respect for Usher and his talent. I think he can sing. I think he can dance. But as of right now no one is messing with me musically. I'm not winning any awards when it comes to [sales] stats because I don't have no drama. Maybe I need some drama. I need to pick a fight with someone. Who wants to fight onstage? MTV: Is there a beef with Chauncey from Blackstreet [who dissed Sisqó on the song "Shame On You"]? Sisqó: I'm just going to leave that alone because I'm not trying to have something ill happen. I'm a positive role model, and I'll fight you on the record, because I got little kids looking at me. I don't want my little cousins [to] have to see me punch somebody in the mouth, so I'm not even going to go there.

Let's just say that what Chauncey did was ungentlemanly. I approached him on it, and at the time I approached him there was all these kids in front of the radio station. I was like, "We're two black men about to get into a scuffle for whatever reason, and all these kids are outside." Please don't test me, because I did go to boxing class three times a week. I know you don't want to unleash the dragon. I talk a lot of sh--, so I have to be physically fit. Just know I wouldn't talk this much sh-- if I couldn't back it up.

MTV: Your style has a certain edge.

Sisqó: I'm from Def Jam, dog, and we're always beefing. But at the end of the day, I'm still on the hip-hop label, and I hang with hip-hop cats. I hang with DMX, Redman. I don't even fit in the R&B category. You know, when you're a kid you don't want be an R&B dude, you want to be a hip-hop guy. You'll never hear me try to rap, but I have the aggression of a hip-hop artist and the soulful singing ability of an R&B crooner.

MTV: What about the next Dru Hill album? Sisqó: I don't know. All I can say is myself, Jazz, Nokio and Woody are still really good friends. We're like brothers. If I call Jazz at three in the morning, he's still there to talk. Same with Nokio and Woody. As of right now there is a new Dru Hill song on my album. But as far as a new Dru album, I don't know. I'm still waiting for the new Jodeci album and I don't want to have the Dru Hill fans waiting like I'm waiting for Jodeci, so I don't even want to put it out there.

MTV: What's your role like in the movie you're filming now, "Winterdance"? Sisqó: I know about the movie, but then I don't know about the movie. I pretty much just read my part. I'm in the beginning of the movie and at the end of the movie. I'm trying to build my credibility as an actor. I'm playing a comedic role in the movie, a dentist's apprentice, Cuba Gooding [Jr.]'s cousin. It's totally different from the persona of Sisqó, but my music on this album is so edgy, I feel like it was definitely cool to do.

I want to address the "Get Over It" movie. A lot of my fans said, "He played himself." I didn't play myself, dog. I know what I'm doing. I basically showed Hollywood I'm not a one-dimensional character. Doing a teen movie like "Get Over It" after coming out with a cheeky song like "The Thong Song" was the perfect move. Regardless of how it did in the box office, I got rave reviews on my performance and it also landed me another movie with Disney. I felt that was a cool role for me to try to tackle considering it was so different from my stage persona. A lot of artists pick roles where they're playing themselves. When you're trying to gain credibility as an actor in Hollywood, that's probably not the best way.

MTV: What are some of the other songs people can look forward to on this album? Sisqó: My favorite song on the album is "Infatuated," mainly because it sounds totally different from anything I've ever heard. I think that's all a part of trying to do what's best for the consumer, instead of doing what's totally best for you. You have to find a happy medium, and I think I did with this album. It's kind of like when Michael [Jackson] came out with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." Nobody wanted to hear "Beat It," they wanted to hear "I'll Be There." That's the same thing with me. They only want to hear me sing Dru Hill ballads. I gave them an album with all Dru Hill ballads and they ignored all of them and went straight to "The Thong Song." MTV: What are the songs you did with Teddy Riley? Sisqó: "Can I Live," featuring Lovher, my female group and my rap group the Associates. It was cool working with Teddy, because Teddy's such an iconic figure. Everyone respects Teddy. [Before working with him] I could not buy a ticket to see Michael Jackson. There was nothing I could do. All I wanted to say [was that] when I was little he was definitely the man and an inspiration. [Maybe] give him a pound or something. Mike was not trying to see Sisqó until I got with Teddy. Teddy opened up the door and Mike invited me to the studio.

I met him, and y'all don't know Mike. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, and I thought when I met him his hands were going to be cold and clammy. But they were kind of coarse, like he had been doing some work, and he had a firm grip. He's a real dude. He was kicking it with his kids, and I walked in and his son, Prince, looked at me like, "You ain't impressing me. My dad's Michael Jackson." I shook his little hand and he kept watching "Rugrats in Paris." MTV: Did you record anything with Michael when you were in the studio? Did you talk about recording anything in the future? Sisqó: Nope. Michael didn't say he wanted to do any work with me, but he did say he liked the Pepsi commercial. Mike liked the commercial, so I don't care what you all say. Mike's the man, he was feeling it.

MTV: Any more endorsements coming up? Sisqó: I have a clothing line coming out called [the] Dragon collection and you can see a lot of pieces from that line in the "Can I Live" [video]. My line's basically an urban line with a futuristic edge. We're experimenting with new materials and new designs. I know you all heard me say I'd never do a clothing line because I thought it was corny, but at the end of the day I spend $50,000 to $100,000 per custom outfit. Every time you see me I [have] something new custom-made. Even if nobody else wears it, at least I'm not paying $50,000 per outfit anymore.

MTV: 'NSYNC is going on the road this summer. You toured with them last summer. Talk about hanging with them.

Sisqó: If 'NSYNC wanted me to go on tour again and would give me a little more stage space — no, damn, I can't go again. I had a ball, though, and I loved Justin, Lance, Chris, Joey, JC, they all my boys. But I'm definitely trying to headline my own tour this year. But if my music doesn't go too good, if y'all want me to go I can pack up my sh--.

'NSYNC, in my personal opinion, is the illest singing group. I know you have your rock groups, your this group, your that group, but as far as singing groups, 'NSYNC shuts them down. They [are] the illest, period. Nobody can out-dance them, out-sing them. Their image is tight. Being a part of their tour last summer was definitely an iconic moment for me, because it brought "The Thong Song" to a whole other audience. When I'd walk out there with the six-pack and the booty and the parents in the first row — thank you, guys, for letting me traumatize America with you.

MTV: Elaborate on your production deal with the Associates and Lovher.

Sisqó: My female group Lovher [is] ghetto, period. Lovher will get compared to Destiny's Child mainly because you got two light-skinned chicks and it's a girl group. We're not going for the crossover. We're just basically putting out good, soulful music. Now is the perfect time to bring out a hip-hop group [the Associates] mainly because Baltimore seems to be on the come-up with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl, [and] Hasim Rahman taking the heavyweight boxing championship. It's time to show the hip-hop cats from Baltimore that have talent.

I'm a little older, a little wiser. I'm more of a businessman now. I'm just coming to take what's mine. I gave you "The Thong Song" and y'all thought that was the best I could do. Now I'm just a little more aggressive. For anybody who feels like I'm dissing them, I'm not. If you know your music and you know your sh--, come with it. I'm coming with mine.

• Sisqó

Whitney Houston
Photo: Arista

Whitney Houston is scheduled to join Christina Aguilera and Luther Vandross onstage in Las Vegas this month to honor the first artist ever to be given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award — and that artist just happens to be Houston herself.

Aguilera and Vandross will duet on a not-yet-chosen hit by Houston, who will ultimately come onstage to sing with them, a BET spokesperson said Friday. The trio will perform June 19 at the inaugural BET Awards, which will be broadcast live from Las Vegas. (MTVi's parent company, Viacom, also owns BET.) Houston said she was thrilled to accept her award. "I see this prestigious award as another major milestone in my career," she said in a statement released by BET.

Other performers at the BET Awards include Destiny's Child, Lil' Bow Wow, Eve with Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliott and Outkast, as well as Sisqo, Usher and Patti LaBelle.

Vandross is set to release his new self-titled album on June 19.

• Whitney Houston
• Christina Aguilera
• Luther Vandross
• Destiny's Child
• Eve

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• Sisqó

Miley Cyrus Hosts The 2008 CMT Music Awards

• Miley Cyrus
• Billy Ray Cyrus
• Carrie Underwood
• Taylor Swift
• Paula Abdul

'Pieces of April'

• Sisqó

Beyoncé 20th Birthday Party

• Destiny's Child
• Jermaine Dupri
• Eve
• Mos Def
• Diddy

Best Of Summer Flipbook

• Sisqó
• Backstreet Boys
• Mandy Moore
• BBMak
• Ludacris

2001 Grammy Nominations

• Destiny's Child
• Bon Jovi
• Macy Gray
• Sisqó
• Dr. Dre

Sisqo Flipbook

• Sisqó

• Sisqó