A host of star musicians is set to gather and record a remake of Michael Jackson’s Will You Be There for charity. The song was released as a single in 1993 and also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Free Willy.

Musicians expected to participate include Whitney Houston, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Usher, Dionne Warwick, Wyclef Jean, Jermaine Jackson, Larry King’s wife Shawn King and possibly Jennifer Hudson. Proceeds from the song are going to be split between the Larry King Cardiac Foundation and an unspecified charity close to Jackson.

Not surprisingly, Jackson was very generous with his money throughout his career — and we can expect more charity events like this one to take place in remembrance. The big one to watch is the planned tribute concert in Vienna, something Jermaine Jackson predicts could attract an audience of over 1 billion people through television alone. An event of that magnitude could raise a massive amount of cash for charity organizations, something we would love to see happen in honor of the King of Pop. Stay tuned — and check out Jackson’s video for Will You Be There after the jump below.

Neil Young has been immortalized as the official name of a newly discovered species of spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi. The honor was bestowed by Jason Bond, a biologist at East Carolina University. “I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice,” he said. Jason’s wife, who apparently isn’t cool enough to be immortalized as an eight-legged critter, had no comment. [via livescience]

Whitney Houston sang a rare live gig for the Caudwell Children’s Ball last week amidst the swirling rumors that she was paid anywhere from six to seven figures for the act. If it’s true, we think it’s BS that she would take so much cash to perform for a children’s charity. [via the cheers]

Ever wonder what an Al Gore presidency might have been like instead of the disaster that was the current administration? Sure, Saturday Night Live did a hysterical take, but the Huffington Post’s Norman McAfee really lays it all out for us. January ‘09 can’t come soon enough. [via Huffington Post]

Victoria Beckham is hoping some actual good will come out the toxic disaster that was the Spice Girls World Tour by auctioning off the swanky outfits she wore on stage. Posh expects almost $2 million dollars to be raised from the various auctions — with all the proceeds benefiting her children’s charity. [via sunday mirror]

Whitney Houston

Yep, you read that correctly. Pop singer Whitney Houston is charging nearly $1.4 million dollars to perform for one hour at an upcoming charity event in London. In case you’re slow with math, that works out to be about 56,000 dollars-a-minute…almost 10,000 dollars a second. Who would pay that price? The Daily Mail reported that billionaire philanthropist John Caudwell dished out the moola in hopes the singer might ensure the fundraiser’s success.

An anonymous source (how mysterious) said:

“John is hoping Whitney will be worth it. He thinks it’s important to raise the profile of the charity, and eye-catching stars such as Whitney Houston are exactly the sort of people he’s hoping to attract.”

And there’s more! In addition to the crazy ass salary, Whitney is demanding 35 rooms at two five-star hotels, specific food products and various other supplies for her traveling entourage. That’s one hell of an entourage for 1 hour of Do-Re-Mi!

I’m sorry Whitney, but I’m afraid I must unveil the Ecorazzi third generation, recycled and non-chemically treated Paddle of Shame, and administer upon you 3 green whacks. ONE-TWO-THREE!! I hope you know that hurt Mother Earth way more than it hurt you!

 Update: Further reports show that Whitney will be getting paid £1.4 million which actually mean  $2.78 million dollars. THAT’S INSAAAAANNNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!