PASSAGES: Simon Bridges McCartney Void

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/20/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

REPLACED: Paul Simon, 59, will fill the slot vacated by Paul McCartney at this year's 25th annual Kennedy Center honors in December, the Kennedy Center announced Monday. McCartney, 60, withdrew because of an unspecified personal obligation, but will be feted in 2003. This year's other honorees are conductor James Levine and actors James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera and Elizabeth Taylor. . . SUED: Robert De Niro, 59, filed notice of a $1 million lawsuit Monday over a photograph of him and fellow actor Sean Penn, 42, blowing out their birthday candles at a private party at the star's lower Manhattan apartment last year, reports the Associated Press. (Both share the same Aug. 17 birthday.) The photo was offered for sale by photo agency Celebrity Vibe, said De Niro's lawyer, Tom Harvey, who filed initial paperwork for the case in Manhattan Supreme Court . . . ONBOARD: Former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, 39, is joining the Ozzfest lineup, taking over for Drowning Pool after the death of lead singer Dave Williams, LAUNCH.com reports. Lee joins Ozzy Osbourne's concert Thursday in Denver. Williams was found dead aboard the band's tour bus in Virginia last week. The cause of death is unknown . . . GATHERED: John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow and James Taylor are among the performers expected at two concerts that will benefit the family of Timothy White, 50, the Billboard editor in chief who died of a heart attack June 27, leaving behind a wife and 10-year-old twin boys, reports the Associated Press. One concert is set for Oct. 7 at Boston's Fleet Center, with the other the next day at Madison Square Garden. Mellencamp, Crow, Don Henley and Sting will perform at both concerts. Billy Joel and Taylor will be at the Boston shows, while Brian Wilson and Jimmy Buffett will play the New York shows.