Today we celebrate the birth of one of the more controversial performers of the last two decades. Fred Durst, the red-hatted frontman of Limp Bizkit, turns 39 years old today. Back in 1997, Durst's band stormed onto the rock scene with a bristling mix of metal, hardcore, hip-hop and Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque sex funk. The group first gained attention with their extra-loud cover of George Michael's "Faith," but they made the crossover into superstardom with 1999's Significant Other (which featured the hits "Nookie" and "Break Stuff"). Durst became a staple on "TRL" and — along with his friends in Korn — built a tiny nation of disaffected suburban youth.

His career has not been without controversy. In addition to being accused of inciting riots at Woodstock '99, Durst has had public altercations with stars like Creed's Scott Stapp and Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland, while he's claimed in public to have had sexual relationships with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. (There was also an unfortunate sex tape incident.)

The turn of the millennium wasn't kind to Limp Bizkit. Despite the success of Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water, the band produced a pair of albums that landed with a thud and had to deal with the departure of guitarist and muse Wes Borland. But Durst made hay getting involved in film. A longtime director of Limp Bizkit videos (as well as clips for Korn, Cold and Staind), Durst has directed two feature films: The surprisingly sensitive "The Education of Charlie Banks" and the underrated football film "The Longshots." He's currently touring with the reunited Limp Bizkit (once again featuring Borland on guitar) and plans on releasing a new album once the run wraps up. Here's hoping he gets back to the business of making videos, for as "N 2 Gether Now" proves, he has a knack for it.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the final day of the original Woodstock (the music actually carried over into the wee hours of August 18), so a lot of people are re-evaluating the lasting legacy of the festival. Did it really usher in a message of peace and love, or was it simply the beginning of a brand name? Is it truly a great representation of the era's mentality or just another slice of Boomer nostalgia? Whatever the case, Woodstock left a pretty bad taste in everybody's mouth when the festival celebrated its 30th anniversary with another three-day affair in upstate New York, featuring Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The aggro attitude of the music combined with the questionable resources of the festival and a general feeling that everybody had been ripped off led to violent mosh pits, multiple cases of sexual assault, vandalism and fires. MTV was there live (and often the victim of the crowd's aggression) and captured the debauchery on film.

The aftermath certainly put the concept of Woodstock to bed for a while. In fact, promoters intended on celebrating the 40th anniversary with another festival but had trouble recruiting sponsors and support funds. The now-poisonous Woodstock name probably had something to do with it, but they were also dealing with a frigid economy and a musical landscape overflowing with festivals (in '99, Coachella was a small upstart event, Lollapalooza was dormant and events like Bonnaroo, All Points West, Outside Lands and Virgin Fest were years off). But Woodstock '99 didn't do the legacy any favors, and replaced the images of peace and love with notions of aggression, misogyny and greed. It certainly taught future festival organizers what not to do, but couldn't we have learned those lessons without so much unchecked brutishness?

What do you think: Were the Woodstock '99 organizers to blame, or did the bands not do enough to try to control the crowd? Was it simply a matter of macho guys trying to outdo each other? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com and make your voice heard!

It's officially the halfway point of summer this week, as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is tomorrow at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The week will feature a number of musical guests, including a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" care of Sheryl Crow and a performance by David Cook at tonight's Home Run Derby.

While the actual All-Star Game is perpetually a snoozer even for hardcore fans, the Home Run Derby is always a reason to tune in to ESPN. This year's contestants are an eclectic mix of old saws and newcomers, and since it's regularly impossible to project just who is going to win (past victors include not-quite-legends like Garret Anderson and Wally Joyner), the only real way to judge who will come out on top is to judge each contestant by his entrance music.

Yes, just like the WWE, just about every player in baseball has a song that plays over stadium PAs when they come to the plate. Some choices are inspired, some inexplicable. So here's how the field will likely shake out, based solely on each individual's taste in tunes.

8. Brandon Inge (Detroit Tigers; Korn, "Coming Undone"): Inge would have picked up some points by having the only rock song on this list, but he loses everything he might have gained by attaching his name to one of the least badass tunes in the Korn catalogue. Why wouldn't he go with "Right Now" or "Got the Life"?

7. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies; Ludacris, "Last of a Dying Breed"): Howard is one of the most feared hitters in baseball, and the intro to "Last of a Dying Breed" is fittingly epic, but the track is full of over-blustery boasts like "Soldiers couldn't cause more disasters on D-Day" and "Luda's got more records than a DJ."
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"Young funky little JD"? "Mr. Make It Rain on Them Hos"? "DJ show me love/ He say my name when the music stop"? Really?

I'm not saying Korn singer Jonathan Davis has never spent time in a strip club (he is married to a former porn actress, after all). And I'm not saying he's never worn fat chains and rained money down on Cheyenne while she worked the pole on the Cinnamon stage at Shotgun Willie's. Or that a DJ hasn't stopped the music when he rolled in with his Bakersfield crew.
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Some people give their friends books or cool framed photos to remember them by. 50 Cent? He gives new BFFs like "Streets of Fire" co-star Val Kilmer a $100,000 cherry 1965 Chevy Impala. Fif, call us, we gotta hang out!

In related 50 Cent news, the NYPD said they don’t know anything about it, but according to a post on 50 Cent’s site, his DJ, Whoo Kid, was arrested for driving without a license on Thursday while tooling around the city in Fif’s $300,000, chrome-plated Lamborghini. We said earlier today that the G-Unit General is a good friend to have, but even we wouldn’t let someone take out this kind of ride without a license.

A Hillary Clinton endorsement? Not bad. Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, they're okay. But Bob Dylan? Senator Obama, the times they are officially a-changin'.

The Plain White T's are bunking in a big house in Malibu, California, recording the follow-up to their breakthrough Every Second Counts album. The still-untitled CD is slated for a September 16 release. Also, the band's massive hit, "Hey There Delilah," just became the fourth song in history, and the first rock tune, to top the 3 million mark in paid digital downloads.

Seems like Korn fans are getting their bondage pants in a bunch over rumors that singer Jonathan Davis might be working with English producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Britney Spears, Alanis Morissette) on his solo debut. Um, did they already forget that the band worked with the Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Hillary Duff) a few years ago?

Speaking of Korn, former guitarist, Brian "Head" Welch, is slated to release his solo debut, Save Me From Myself, on September 9.

Remember that Bobby Brown memoir that was going to include all kinds of juicy stories about the singer's tumultuous marriage to Whitney Houston? Well, it may not be coming out after all.

One day after his song "Black President" landed all over the Internet, Nas has flooded cyberspace again with his untitled album's first official single, "Hero." The track was produced by Polow Da Don. Nas' LP has been pushed back from July 1 to July 15.

Prince has made a habit of busting out the odd cover now and then during his shows, from the Foo Fighters (“Best of You”) at the Super Bowl to Joan Osborne’s “One of Us,” you just never know what he’s going to hit you with. He pulled a major surprise over the weekend during his headlining set at Coachella, though, covering not only the Beatles’ “Come Together” but also Radiohead’s 1993 debut single, “Creep,” which he flipped from a grungy anthem of angst and self-loathing into a towering soul jam about longing that sounded like it could have been on his seminal Purple Rain album.

That got us thinking about all the other oddball Radiohead covers out there. No, not the cheesy business like Korn’s lounge-pop version of “Creep,” but things like Bilal and the Roots funking up “Everything In Its Right Place” at Clive Davis’ Grammy party last year, jazzer Brad Mehldau getting all meditative on “Exit Music (For a Film)” and Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante taking “Lucky” to the acoustic side.

Hell, everyone has taken a swing at “Creep” -- from Moby to Tears For Fears -- but one of the weirdest, non-hit-single covers is the glam-metal, high-kicking falsetto-rama of “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” unleashed by late, lamented English rockers the Darkness. The boys made it sound like a lost Judas Priest single from the early 1980s. And remember Panic at the Disco’s Queen-like emo take on “Karma Police,” complete with xylophone and cello?

Certain Radiohead tracks have been covered to death by a wide swath of pop and rock singers: “Fake Plastic Trees,” Alanis Morissette; “Karma Police,” Howie Day; “Knives Out,” Flaming Lips; “No Surprises,” Iron & Wine. But covers have also emerged from artists of just about every genre, perhaps taken with the English band’s majestic arrangements. From NPR-favorite classical piano player Christopher O’Riley, to string quartets, bluegrass pickers, and even dub reggae fanatics. (Awkward? Yes.)

And then, of course, there’s John Mayer, who not only raved about Radiohead’s “Kid A” but covered it and put it on the bonus disc of his Heavier Things album. That surely gives the kid more cred than that tattoo sleeve.

· Lily Allen's had enough of the paparazzi. In her blog, she claims some overzealous photogs smashed a window in her car, while trying to snap her picture. "There were so many of them hassling us that it is difficult to say which one of them did it but i had to leap in a taxi to get away from them, my friend Emily had to get into the car which was covered in broken glass and drive it away," she writes. "It was a scary situation and I want people to know that it was totally their fault and that the whole situation has angered and upset me."

· Britney Spears popped up again at the Millennium Dance Complex on Tuesday to serve as a guest instructor to a group of 15 kids. In February, the troubled pop tart first visited the California studio and now has become somewhat of a regular (at least that's some sort of consistency in her life). "I like Britney," a 5-year-old student said, doting on her teacher. Clearly, this is where the comeback starts.

· Given her new boyfriend, I guess this qualifies as music news? Yeah, probably not. But Paris Hilton is set to appear on the sitcom, "My Name Is Earl," which returns to TV on April 3, the first episode for the series since the end of the writer's strike. She'll be playing - wait for it - herself.

· Canadian metallers Kittie are down a member, following the departure of bassist Trish Doan, who has been diagnosed with the eating disorder anorexia-athletica-nervosa; she developed the disorder during the recording of the band’s 2007 LP Funeral For Yesterday. "It breaks my heart to say goodbye to this family that has given me the best two years of my life," Doan said in a statement. "I wish my time with Kittie did not have to end, but this decision was made based on doctors' orders. Unfortunately this is the only option that will allow for my full recovery."

· According to the Canadian Press, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger had a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he was pulled over two years ago on suspicion of driving drunk by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In a ruling Monday, the judge in Kroeger’s impaired driving trial ruled the results of his breathalyzer test admissible. The rocker was stopped by police back in June of 2006, after an officer saw a Lamborghini going "well over" the speed limit. An officer noted Kroeger had red, glossy eyes and a red, flushed face, and the singer allegedly handed over his credit card when asked for his driver’s license. Awesome.

· We don't even really know what to say about this. Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer has announced plans to release music by a new side-project, called Fear and the Nervous System; the band’s debut will be in stores August 8. In addition to Shaffer, the band also features Faith No More’s Billy Gould on bass, Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland on guitar, and Bad Religion’s Brooks Wackerman on drums.