Pirates are so hot that even Bono is singing sea chanteys these days. At a party for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie hosted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner at The Spotted Pig in New York’s West Village, many of those responsible for this whole chic trend gathered, ate, drank, and discussed the film. Liv Tyler and her husband, rocker Royston Langdon, caught up with Tyler’s Lord of the Rings costar Orlando Bloom while Kate Bosworth chatted with Juliana Margulies, Alessandro Nivola and Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Though Bloom is out of the loop when it comes to the upcoming Johnny Depp-sanctioned record Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys he’s up for adding his own tune to the list. “Gladly” Bloom gushed when we asked him if he’d contribute to the next collection, “I’ll sing something along the lines of Oengaland, engaland.”

[Photo: Larry Busacca/Wireimage.com]

If you’ve already heard Fergie’s solo single “London Bridge (Oh, Shit)”, we feel your pain. Yes she calls herself “Fergie Ferg” and yes her “voice” is accompanied by the sound of vodka being poured into a glass, but pace yourself re: revulsion because we have a whole record of this to endure in the fall. [from PerezHilton]

The latest move in Albarn’s bid to be the rockstar with the most side projects is his rumored collaboration with Clash bassist Paul Simonon and a currently unnamed (but gasp-worthy) third party. We suggest Paul McCartney (he needs to play the pain away). Who would you like to see fill the third spot in this supergroup?

Call it a little Fourth of July gift from us to you (or from diyrockstar to us to you cuz that’s who we nicked it from.) This genius video clip has been amusing all of us endlessly as we pretend to work while waiting out the rest of this Friday. Does anyone know who put this together?

Do you know what Zodiacal Dust is? Us either. But it’s apparently come back in style. Queen guitarist Brian May, who is an astronomer, began writing his thesis on the subject (something to do with, you know, stars) back in the ‘70s but was busy with the band and never had a chance to finish. Now Zodiacal Dust is a hot topic among professional stargazers and May has submitted the thesis to London’s Imperial College for review.

The final installment in our tribute week for the now-defunct UK pop show:

1. Madonna, “Holiday“: You’ve never seen anybody lip-sync with so much commitment and joy.

2. The Kinks, “Apeman“: One of many great Kinks TOTP performances.

3. U2, “New Year’s Day“: Young Bono rocks the mullet.

4. T. Rex, “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”: Check out Elton John kicking away the piano bench.

5. The Rolling Stones, “The Last Time”: One of the few bits of ’60s TOTP footage available; watch the audience dance in an arrhythmic shuffle. (George Best, whom the camera seeks out in the crowd, was a British soccer superstar.)

THE LATEST: Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister has reportedly spoken out against Pete Doherty, saying, “Hey Pete, you suck!” and claiming to be appalled by the disparity between Pete’s image and his music. In other Pete news, those of us who read Pete’s soon-to-be-published journals will also be treated to bad poetry by Pete’s ex, Kate Moss.

Johnny Jenkins, the influential guitarist who backed Otis Redding at some of his earliest sessions, died June 26th in Macon Georgia; he was 67.

Panic! At The Disco are not going away: The Las Vegas punk-pop band are inching up the Soundscan charts every week, and six months now they could easily be where their mentors Fall Out Boy are now – that is, big as all hell. But are they good for rock? We sent two Rolling Stone staffers – contributing editor Jenny Eliscu and Rock and Roll Daily writer Elizabeth Goodman – to a Panic show at New York’s Nokia Theater this week, and this exchange ensued:

Elizabeth Goodman: Their live show is really outer-limits in terms of theatrics. This is a band that, at the age of twenty, on their first record, is bold enough to take an intermission in the middle of their show to change costumes, and the fans just eat it up.

Jenny Eliscu: Their performance was like a Six Flags theme park, Las Vegas-cheesy version of a rock show. It’s mostly just smoke and mirrors and make-up and hairdos to distract you from the fact that they’re not playing that well together and that their songs aren’t all that catchy or interesting. The closest thing they have to a real hook is “closing a goddamn door.”

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For his third straight year, Bob Dylan’s US summer tour will consist solely of dates at minor league baseball parks. Jimmy Vaughn with Lou Ann Barton Junior Brown and Elana James & The Continental Two will serve as the opening acts. Read on for dates:
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• Lil’ Kim is getting out early for good behavior. The diminutive but saucy rapper will be released from prison on Monday and will spend the 4th of July at home as part of a 30-day house arrest.

• Dido taps Fiona’s producer (Jon Brion) to help her de-gloss.

• Watching the elegant and provocative trailer for new Lennon documentary The US Vs. John Lennon brings an instant sense of nostalgia but in a hopeful, oh-yeah-all-is-not-lost kind of way. Sniff.

• Judas Priest are writing a Puccini-like rock opera to honor Nostradamus, who was “all about metal” Priest frontman Rob Halford apparently said. We all have to wait ’till early next year to score copies of this, um, album, but the band already has more than 90 minutes of music written so get psyched.

• Why is Marilyn Manson so awesome? At the premier for Pirates of the Caribbean he was schmoozing like a proper Hollywood producer, joking that he’d get Johnny Depp loaded (”we drink absinthe” he apparently said, “that’s what we do”) and manipulate him into joining the cast of Manson’s new film, which is about the life of Lewis Carroll.

• Just to reiterate: Michael Jackson is broke.

On Wednesday we reported that Tom Petty had no axe to grind with The Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Strokes for ripping off “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “American Girl,” respectively. Many of you rock savants responded that Petty himself ripped off The Jayhawks’ guitar riff in “Waiting For The Sun” when he wrote “Mary Jane” (hear snippets of the Jayhawks here, and Petty here), which seems like a fair point to us. There’s more, though: Listening to an advance copy of Petty’s excellent upcoming album Highway Companion, a few Rolling Stone staffers were struck by how much the track “Down South” bears a resemblance to Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic “Love Minus Zero” (lest ye forget, Dylan and Petty were both in the Traveling Wilburys, and have toured together).

Of course, Dylan has lifted his fair share of work, too. The cosmic wheel keeps turning; to prove that we still love all these rock and roll hustlers, here’s a link to Petty’s Yardbirds cover from Bonnaroo:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “I’m a Man”

Meet Scott Storch, hiphop and pop’s hitmaker of choice. He wears a $3 million ring, owns an island mansion in Miami with 14 bathrooms and drives a Lamborghini. He’s the man behind megahits from Dre, 50 and Beyonce — just don’t jilt him on your second album.

Get access to the secret world of a superproducer — check out our profile in the latest issue of the magazine.

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy spoke out about Brandon Flowers of the Killers’ recent bout of emo and punk-pop hating: “I kinda like how [Flowers] called Fall Out Boy ‘dangerous’,” said Wentz, “it felt like how Ice called Maverick ‘dangerous’ in Top Gun.” The only thing that bugs him, he said, is that Flowers keeps insisting the two bands have never met. “I think they maybe tried to order drinks from us at the MTV Video Music Awards, because they thought we were waiters.” Brandon?

Crack! Matisyahu got a hit during a pick-up game at Bonnaroo. “Hey!” he barked at Tom Petty as he rounded first, “__________________!”