Mary J Blige & Beyonce Among Many Stars To Appear At Obama Inauguration Kick-Off!

Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Usher will join more than a dozen other music stars for the official kick off of Barack Obama's presidential inaugural festivities at Washington D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18.

The free event, which is open to the public, will also be broadcast on HBO and include 19 other performers across various musical genres, including Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, will.i.am, Heather Headley, John Legend, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Shakira, and Sheryl Crow. Queen Latifah, along with Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III and Denzel Washington, will give historical readings at the event, which carries the official title "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial." The celebration opens a four-day schedule of Inaugural events that will include 10 official Inaugural Balls, as well as an Inauguration-Day-eve youth concert at the Verizon Center.

A number of other music events celebrating Obama's Inauguration are being planned to take place around Washington D.C. as well, including the Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow headlining a "Hey, America Feels Kinda Cool Again" event on Jan. 19 at the 9:30 club; WAR and Marc Anthony appearing at the Latino Inaugural Gala at Union Station on Jan. 18; Jay-Z Jan. 19 at the Warner Theatre; and Bela Fleck and Wynton Marsalis performing at CNN's Inaugural event on Jan. 19 at the Kennedy Center.

Here is the initial music lineup for "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial":

Beyonce

Mary J. Blige

Bono

Garth Brooks

Sheryl Crow

Renee Fleming

Josh Groban

Herbie Hancock

Heather Headley

John Legend

Jennifer Nettles

John Mellencamp

Usher Raymond IV

Shakira

Bruce Springsteen

James Taylor

will.i.am

Stevie Wonder

Florida Students Get Out The Vote With Jay-Z

Down in Miami FL yesterday... the students at Florida Memorial University were surprised by several celebrity drop ins to help turn up the heat on Get Out and Vote. Jay-Z, along with Russell Simmons, Mary J. Blige and P Diddy came out to encourage the students to get out to the polls to let their voices be heard.

Kevin Lyles came out!

Jesse Jackson Jr. came out as well!

Mary J. Blige To Release Her Own Perfume

The "Queen" of R&B, Mary J. Blige, is joining the ranks of many other celebs out there who are dabbling in the fragrance market. Mary has been really gettin her paper lately with endorsement deals for Chevy, Carols Daughters and many others. Now the soulful diva has her own perfume coming out.

Following in the fragrant footsteps of Diddy, J Lo., and Mariah, Mary is said to be releasing her fragrance through Carol's Daughter, for whom she already serves as a spokesperson. "The name of it just came to me, but I can't tell you," Mary reportedly said. "I've always wanted to do a fragrance because I love when men and women smell good.

Mary J.Blige and Robin Thicke Tour Together

Mary J. Blige and Robin Thicke will set off on the road for their first tour together in North America this fl beginning Sept. 13 in Charleston, S.C. The R&B stars have dates on tap through Oct. 19 in Los Angeles.

Fans can grab pre-sale tickets via the artist's Web site.Thicke will be promoting his upcoming album, "Something Else," due Sept. 30 via Interscope. Thicke said that he recently completed a remix of the track "Magic" that features Blige, and that it may appear on "Something Else" as a bonus track.

Thicke has written the theme song for "Push," a new movie by Lee Daniels ("Monster's Ball"). Co-starring his wife actress Paula Patton as a teacher, the film is about '80s Harlem and the crack epidemic.

Thicke is also penning his own screenplay, a spy thriller love thing like 'The Bourne Supremacy and writing a book of poetry

Mary J Blige Sued For $2 Million

A Hip-Hop production company filed a $2 million lawsuit against singer Mary J. Blige and producer Theron “Neef-U” Feemster, over the track “Work That” from the R&B star’s Growing Pains album.

Dream Family Entertainment filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday (August 5), claiming that Feemster created the music while he was still under contact to Dream Family.

According to The New York Daily News, Dream Family Inc. alleges that they never granted Feemster or Blige’s label Geffen permission to release the song, which was also featured in a popular commercial for Apple’s iPod and the iTunes store.