After a five-year break and one tragic close call, Blink-182 are reuniting for an extensive summer tour. The band will play nearly 50 dates across the U.S., with Weezer and Fall Out Boy–headliners in their own right–as openers. Also along for the ride are Panic at the Disco, All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth and Chester French.

Tickets range from $60-$20 and go on sale May 30. The guys kick things off July 24 in Las Vegas and criss-cross the U.S. to land in Altantic City, N.J. by October 3.

Many thought the band would never get back together after a nasty separation in 2005. Two groups formed from the split–+44 and Angels and Airwaves–and members subsequently addressed the rumors about each other in the press. But the plane crash drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM survived, coupled with the death of Blink producer Jerry Finn, brought the boys back together.

After the tour, the band has plans to hit the studio to record a new album. And if you’re the type who takes none of the aformentioned bands seriously or, conversely, you feel a tinge of guilty pleasure for reading this far, you’re in great company.

Ciara tweeted about it first, claiming the deets had already been leaked, and now Hova’s people have confirmed the news: Jay-Z is hitting the road in July for a series of shows across the U.S. Jay will have a full backing band and Ciara will open. Though the full official dates have not yet been confirmed, Jay-Z and crew will have stops in Las Vegas, Chicago, Connecticut and Atlanta.

And should the Marcy son ever need a one-man band for live shows, we can put him in touch with multi-instrumentalist and producer Cassettes Won’t Listen. Jason is an old-school hip-hop head well-versed in its many sampling possibilities. So maybe he can’t rhyme, but he knows Jay-Z is one of the few contemporary rappers truly holding it down.

Uncensored Interview is always finding cool new ways to interact with our favorite artists and the fans who love them. From funny video interviews to Twitter chatter on all the latest trending topics, we like to stay informed on all things music and hook our friends up with what we’ve learned. Now, we’re very proud to announce a new series of podcasts titled “Uncensored Discussions.”

Host Courtney Smith sits down with Miranda Lee Richards in our inaugural podcast to discuss one of Richards’ favorite topics: The Beatles. In this two-part series, you’ll learn first about The Beatles as a band, and later about John Lennon as a solo musician.

Singer-songwriter Richards has friends in all corners of the music world, including Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Tricky. Her debut, The Herethereafter, was a hit in the film and television world, and she has a new follow up, Light of X, that just came out in February.

Listen now to Richards and Smith swap thoughts and stories on The Fab Four.

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Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select one lucky Uncensored Interviewee who we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months.

Formed just a year and a half ago, Brooklyn-based Amazing Baby has skyrocketed in a short amount of time. The core duo–Will Roan and Simon O’Connor–met at Wesleyan, the university that also spawned pals MGMT, Chairlift and Santigold. The two joined forces and began writing songs together when their separate bands started to crumble and–voila!–Amazing Baby was born.

Their music–equally poppy and psychedelic–is a fresh take on the comforting kinds of sounds you grew up listening to if your parents were hippies of any real degree. Infinite Fucking Cross, their debut EP, only came out last summer, yet the guys have captured the attention of fans and critics alike. Later filled out with Rob Laakso on guitar, Don Devore on bass and Matt Abeysekera behind the drums, the band has been featured in publications as respected as The Guardian and NME to Interview and Rolling Stone.

After touring with MGMT and Cold War Kids, the band is now preparing to release their anticipated debut full-length, Rewild, out June 23. “Bayonets” has made its rounds on the Internet as their newest hot single, while the video for “Headdress” is a hazy, fantastic trip, complete with a cloak, a forest and a fair maiden.

In another reality, the boys discuss the brainchild of Teddy Riley–new jack swing–and gems of the genre given to us by Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe and Tony! Toni! Toné!

Starting next month the corporate power couple that is (RED) and Live Nation will produce 26 shows across the U.S. to raise money for the fight against AIDS in Africa. The (RED)NIGHTS series includes Uncensored Interview artists Lisa Hannigan and Gomez, as well as Santigold, O.A.R., Fall Out Boy, The Veronicas and The All-American Rejects. (RED) was co-founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver, and portion of the proceeds from the concert series go to the Global Fund.

The shows are an extension of (RED)WIRE, a digital magazine where part of the subscription fee goes toward purchasing medicine for those with the HIV virus. The mag has featured artists like Jay-Z, Elvis Costello, Neko Case, TV On the Radio and, of course, U2.

We don’t think they had to twist Lisa Hannigan’s arm to participate. She’s long been a supporter of social causes and recognized the rigorous work that goes into fighting the good fight.

Who knew the monotone newsman had some soul? Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is taking a stab in the music world with a new web series unabashedly titled “BriTunes,” a name he claims wasn’t his idea. (Bonus point for being defensive–see how he’s trying to establish street cred?).

The title makes him sound like a blatant corporate shill and an uptight yet corny bro, but we bet his interview subjects don’t mind. Williams chats it up with Rhode Island-raised, now Brooklyn-based Deer Tick in the inaugural webisode that runs just under four minutes long and explores their forthcoming album Born On Flag Day, out June 23.

Williams calls it a “great time to be alive” because of the incredible access fans have to new music (via iTunes!), and fashions the band as the next to blow up, due in part to their song “Dirty Dishes.” Deer Tick handle it cooly, with vocalist John McCauley stating he feels the release of the new album is when things are really going to “start poppin.’”

And to further show he’s a musician’s musician and not at Rockefeller Center for an autograph, he tells Williams he’ll know the band has made it when the ladies start calling with the news most men can expect at least once in their lives. Huzzah!

For years you’ve practiced shredding riffs and jumping off the living room couch, and for good reason. Gamers and music fans everywhere will be happy to know entertainment publisher Activision Blizzard has multiple releases slated for this year, including DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and…wait for it…Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

For those interested in getting the virtual band back together, there are now more options than ever. No details on Guitar Hero 5 have been released yet, but the promise of getting crazy to “Hot For Teacher” or “Runnin’ With the Devil” should hold you over. For the family, there’s Band Hero, a poppy, more commercial sound. And hip-hop heads and electronic fans will finally get their comeuppance with DJ Hero. Its controller is not a guitar, but a mock-turntable with three buttons.

But it’s not all fun and games. True to hip-hop form, there’s beef over DJ Hero and a rival game, Scratch. Publisher of the game, Genius Products, along with turntable producer Numark, are suing the developer it hired to create Scratch, 7 Studios. Why? Activision, producer of DJ Hero, tried to buy 7 Studios to squash the competition. The bid failed, but now Genius and Numark contend there was some bedroom talk between 7 Studios and the people behind DJ Hero. Juicy!

But no matter which game suits you best and no matter your level of difficulty, can you play and moonwalk at the same time?