Iron Maiden will mark the exit of...

Iron Maiden will mark the exit of singer Bruce Dickinson with a pay-per-view telecast of a “farewell performance” in London on Aug. 28. Dickinson plans to pursue a solo career and perhaps some acting, while the future of the rest of the band is up in the air. Performing with the band in the concert will be English “shock magician” Simon Drake, whose tricks reportedly will include chopping off Dickinson’s head while he sings. . . .

Perfectionist Michael Jackson has been fiddling more with his 90-minute home video, “Michael Jackson: Dangerous--The Short Films.” The tape is now due Sept. 12 and will include two previously unreleased shorts, “Gone Too Soon” and “Who Is It.” . . . KRS-One is adding two songs to his oft-delayed “Return of Da Boom-Bat” solo album--now due Sept. 28--in part to upstage bootleg copies that have become common since tapes were sent out to radio and press people in June to test the waters on the rapper’s current popularity. . . . Rip magazine editor and syndicated hard-rock radio host Lonn Friend is putting together the music for the metal-oriented film “Airheads” that is now filming. First on board is newly hot White Zombie, which will also have a bit part in the flick. There’s also talk that Friend’s Saturday-night radio show may return soon to L.A. airwaves; it has been off since the end of Pirate Radio earlier this year. . . .

Ministry’s Al Jourgensen has been showing up to jam at recent Anthrax concerts in the Midwest. Meanwhile, he and his bandmates have officially moved from Chicago to Austin, Tex. . . . It’s all but official that the new Fleetwood Mac lineup will have singer Bekka Bramlett (Delaney and Bonnie’s daughter) and veteran singer-guitarist Dave Mason joining Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie. Christine will not retire from the group as planned, but Stevie Nicks is officially out, with plans to devote herself to her solo career. . . .

Jody Watley says her upcoming album, “Intimacy,” is designed to stimulate discussion between lovers about such issues as AIDS and domestic violence. “I want women to hear it and buy it for their man with a note attached, ‘Let’s talk,’ ” she says. . . .

See the ad in the new L.A. Weekly seeking musicians to accompany a female singer on tour? That’s Maria McKee, the latest L.A. artist to advertise for band members. She’s looking for a bassist, a drummer and a guitarist for an upcoming U.S. tour since her regular band members, including ex-Lone Justice partners Marvin Etzioni and Don Heffington, are busy with other ventures. . . .

The work of such late-’50s and early-’60s New York songwriting teams as Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller and Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman will be honored in the four-CD box set “The Brill Building Sound,” due Sept. 7 on Era Records (distributed by K-Tel!).