GEORGE MICHAEL has announced two special shows in London in August to close his '25 Live' tour which started back in 2006. The two shows are billed as 'The Final Two', sequels to WHAM!'s 'The Final' show in 1986. The announcement of the shows has fuelled rumours that Michael will retire from touring after playing the two concerts. See GIGS for dates.

DURAN DURAN, who this week played a very special fundraising show at Paris' Louvre Museum - the first rock act to play at the historic site - are to play a free show in Germany on June 17th as part of the 'O2 World On Tour'. See NEWS for more details.

CYNDI LAUPER has European shows in the UK, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands. See GIGS for all the dates.

SIMPLE MINDS are to release a 25-CD boxset, 'Themes', on June 23rd. The set will contain the band's first four singles boxsets ('Themes' 1-4, each containing five CDs containing all the band's remixes, b-sides and a selection of live tracks) which were released in 1990, alongside a fifth box ('Themes 5') containing material released since then. The five sets will be packaged together in a special box an each 'Themes' Volume will also be made available digitally. See NEWS for the full tracklistng.

REM frontman MICHAEL STIPE will be signing copies of the new REM photo book 'REM: Hello' in New York on June 15th. See NEWS for more details.

EDDY GRANT is on tour around Europe in June and July with twenty-six shows lined up including Nelson Mandela's birthday concert in London and the Glastonbury and Montreux Festivals. See GIGS for all the dates.

HEART are the subject of a new book 'Heart: In The Studio' which tells the story of the band and features exclusive interviews and contributions from both Ann and Nancy Wilson as well as other band members and all the group's producers.

VINCE CLARKE collaborator ROBERT MARLOW's current project 'Marlow' is featured on a new 20 track compilation of contemporary electro tracks entitled 'Trans Continental Electronica' which is to be released shortly. See NEWS for more details.

HUE AND CRY will release a new album 'Open Soul' on September 8th, their first album for sixteen years, which will include a cover of Beyonce's 'Crazy In Love' alongside eleven new Hue And Cry songs. See NEWS for the full album tracklisting.

RICK ASTLEY's classic 'Never Gonna Give You Up' has been covered by High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale...

THE HUMAN LEAGUE are about to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first release and fansite The Black Hit Of Space are giving away downloadable fan mixes of Human League classics throughout June, culminating in a very special, exclusive mix... see NEWS for details.

CHINA CRISIS have been confirmed as the support to OMD on their forthcoming UK dates in October and November. See GIGS for details.

THE B-52's will support THE POLICE at the final ever concert The Police will play on August 7th at New York's Madison Square Gardens.