Legendary soul-belter Tom Jones wowed a London crowd yesterday when he busked 11 songs outside Royal Festival Hall.

The singer was taking part in an event designed to raise funds and awareness for Cancer Research, and took to a makeshift stage by walking through the audience flanked by security guards.

Addressing the crowd, Jones said: “We’re going to do some ’50s rock ‘n’ roll songs and a couple of my own just to get the flavour. This is an acoustic afternoon - and I hope we make a lot of money for Cancer Research.”

Charity buckets were passed around during the set, which was filmed by the BBC’s Culture Show, quickly raising £500.

Good on you, Tom.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has implied that the end of Coldplay could be on the cards sooner than fans think.

NME reports (via the Daily Express) that Martin said:

“I’m 31 now and I don’t think that bands should keep going past 33. So we’re trying to pack in as much as possible. Up until the end of next year, we’ll just go for it in every sense. I don’t believe in time off. We’ve still got most of our hair, we can still fit into our musical trousers and we’ve got to make the most of that.”

In a moment of typical Martin modesty, he added:

“The reason we’re the biggest band in the world at the moment is because the others are on holiday. That’s how you get your breaks. That’s how the understudy gets his opportunity. While U2 and Green Day are away, we’ve gotten to make the most of it.”

Last weekend, Leona Lewis silenced any remaining doubters with a spell-binding X Factor performance of her Snow Patrol cover, ‘Run’.

The song was expected to be made available as a single this week, but UK fans were left disappointed when the song failed to appear anywhere in legitimate digital or physical format. Currently, the only way to obtain the song legally is it purchase the deluxe re-issue of Leona’s Spirit album.

Some have speculated that Leona’s label decided to withhold the single at the eleventh hour in order to bolster sales of Spirit.

A little birdie tells us that Spirit is due to jump over 100 places to number 2 on the album chart this Sunday, so it’s safe to say the plan seems to have worked.

Justin Timberlake is set to release his first new material since 2005’s ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’.

The track, ‘Follow My Lead’, features Mya-soundalike Esmee Denters, the first artist signed to Timberlake’s own Tennman Records.

The song was recorded at the recent charity event Justin Timberlake and Friends: A Special Evening Benefiting the Shriners Hospitals for Children, and is available through MySpace Music. All proceeds from the track will go towards the Shriners Hospital.

As we reported earlier this week, Michael Jackson is being sued for £4.7million by former pal Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain.

The Sheikh alleges that Jacko reneged on a deal to record a new album and write a book, despite receiving significant funding from the Sheikh for these projects. Jackson is arguing that the money was a ‘gift’.

In a new twist, Jackson’s lawyer Robert Englehart claims that his client is too sick to travel to London to testify, saying mysteriously:

“It would be unwise for him to travel, given what’s he’s got now.” He declined to elaborate “for the obvious reasons.”

Al Khalifa’s lawyer, Bankim Thanki, said the medical excuse was “very unsatisfactory” and, bizarrely, that Jackson’s illness could be treated with a bandage “if the diagnosis is positive. It’s not the first time a sick note has been presented by Mr Jackson.”

Judge Nigel Sweeny will decide tomorrow if Jackson can give evidence via video link. Read more here.

Just days after settling a lawsuit against a disgruntled video editor (Prince lost to the tune of $58,000), the purple pop pixie has been slapped with yet another lawsuit.

This time he is being targeted by fragrance company Revelations, who have filed a $100,000 suit against him after he allegedly failed to promote the fragrance 3121, which appeared in 2006 as a companion to the album of the same name.

Prince’s publisher, Universal Music Group Publishing, has also been accused of failing to galvanize Prince into promotional activities, despite UMG Publishing receiving 50% of the fragrance profits.

NME reports that UMG have labelled the claims “completely without merit.”

Great pop star hook-ups of our time #1,003:

The Mirror reports that Aussie songbird Natalie Imbruglia has been spotted getting amorous with Black Eyed Peas mainman Will.I.Am at London’s Monroes nightclub.

A source told the paper:

“They went in for a big tongue sandwich in the VIP room, right in front of Sienna Miller and Jesse Metcalfe.”

Oh, couldn’t they have gone behind the bike sheds like everyone else?

Last week she gave us a sneak preview, today sees the full release of Rihanna’s new video ‘Rehab’, featuring Justin Timberlake.

Staggeringly, ‘Rehab’ is Rihanna’s eighth hit single from her ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ album, a feat only recently matched by Shania Twain, who had eight hits from the mega-selling ‘Come On Over’ between 1997 and 1999.

Here’s a summary of Rihanna’s US success - which does not even include her current hit ‘Live Your Life’ with TI.

“Umbrella,” No. 1 for seven weeks (2007) [Rihanna featuring Jay-Z]
“Shut Up and Drive,” No. 15 (2007)
“Hate That I Love You,” No. 7 (2007) [Rihanna featuring Ne-Yo]
“Don’t Stop the Music,” No. 3 (2008)
“Take a Bow,” No. 1 for one week (2008)
“If I Never See Your Face Again,” No. 51 (2008) [Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna]
“Disturbia,” No. 1 for two weeks (2008)
“Rehab,” No. 91 to date (new) (2008)

Read more over at Billboard.

Velvet Revolver and former Guns ‘N Roses legend Slash has released a pro-gay marriage video with wife Perla.

The one-minute clip sees the guitarist playing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ in the background, while Perla says:

‘I married my sweetheart, you should be able to marry yours too. Say no to hate and yes to equal rights. Keep up the fight.’

Yet another reason to love Slash!