Celebrity News for the SU2K3

[Gina1201]

From mtv.com:

Like Eminem, 50 Cent and Nas before her, Beyoncé Knowles is pushing up the release of her album to combat piracy.

The Destiny's Child singer's solo debut is now scheduled to hit stores June 24, two weeks before the original due date.

While Beyoncé has tried to keep Dangerously in Love under wraps, several of the tracks have leaked online and have hit the streets on bootleg copies of the album.

Beyoncé's LP, which includes the single "Crazy in Love" (#13 on Billboard's Hot 100), is expected to be one of the hot sellers this summer.

"It's a phenomenal record," Beyoncé's father and manager, Mathew, said at Saturday's MTV Movie Awards taping. "She went back to her roots on this one. [And she] co-wrote and co-produced almost 75 percent of the record. And it has a lot of guests on it."

Along with Jay-Z on "Crazy in Love" and the ballad "That's How You Like It," Dangerously in Love also features appearances by Missy Elliott on "Signs," Sean Paul on "Baby Boy" and Outkast's Big Boi on "Hip Hop Star."

Beyoncé also recorded a duet with Luther Vandross for the album, a remake of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway's 1978 duet, "The Closer I Get to You." Also included are Donna Summer, DeBarge and Shuggie Otis covers, according to Mathew Knowles.

The singer will premiere much of her new material on her June 14 pay-per-view TV special, "Ford Presents Beyoncé Knowles, Friends & Family, Live From Ford's 100th Anniversary Celebration in Dearborn, Michigan." Her Destiny's Child groupmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams will also join Beyoncé, along with her sister, Solange Knowles.

—Corey Moss, with additional reporting by Jeff Cornell