SUMMER AT RIVERPORT

ST. LOUIS -- Music will be made by Hootie, Ozzy and Sting this summer at Riverport Amphitheatre.

Country's Brooks & Dunn, riding high with the No. 2 song in the nation, "My Maria," kick off the summer songfest Saturday. David Lee Murphy is the opening act.

Another high-flying band is Hootie & the Blowfish, whose "Cracked Rearview" was the No. 1 rock album of 1995. The band will perform July 9, a Tuesday.

Sting, who has combined rock and jazz in a successful career since his days with the Police, will bring along Lyle Lovett as a special guest Aug. 3.

Oldies fans will get a chance to see '60s TV stars the Monkees June 15 along with the Turtles of "Happy Together" fame. Aging but still recording are Crosby, Stills & Nash, who will appear July 19 along with the highly popular '70s horn band Chicago.

Perennial rock favorites are the summer's bread and butter. They include Meat Loaf (June 29), the Moody Blues (June 30), Boston (July 12), Steve Miller with Pat Benatar (July 13), Alice Cooper with the Scorpions (July 16), Ozzy Osbourne (July 18), Ted Nugent with Bad Company (July 24), Lynyrd Skynyrd with the Doobie Brothers (July 26) and Styx with Kansas (July 27).

After Brooks & Dunn, country fans will have to wait until Aug. 16, when Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are due in.

In the diva vein, Celine Dion is scheduled for Aug. 18 followed by Gloria Estefan Aug. 22.

For festival-lovers, Riverport will offer rock, reggae and funk. The first of the festivals will feature Cameo, the Ohio Players, the Bar Kays and the Brothers Johnson June 28.

On July 14 it's the Reggae Sunsplash World Tour with Dennis Brown, Big Mountain, Capleton, Sugar Minott, Judy Mowatt, Skool Band, MC and Tommy Cowan.

Highly anticipated in Grateful Dead circles is the Further Festival July 17 featuring Ratdog, Mickey Hart's Mystery Box, Bruce Hornsby, Los Lobos and Electric Tuna. The first three acts include members of the Dead, which dissolved last winter with the death of leader Jerry Garcia.

Another multi-band evening is the Aug. 9 H.O.R.D.E. Festival, a potpourri of Blues Traveler, Lenny Kravitz, Rusted Root and King Crimson. That will be followed Aug. 10 by REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Peter Frampton in the Can't Stop Rock'n 1996 tour.

A final blowout of the summer will be provided Aug. 24 by the House of Blues Smok'n Grooves featuring Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, Cypress Hill, Fugees, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes and Spearhead.

Singer-songwriter James Taylor breaks the summer's mold of rock acts with an appearance July 5. Another departure is the appearance June 22 by singing comedian/"Saturday Night Live" alumnus Adam Sandler.

Switching the gears Aug. 2 will be heavy metal groups Pantera and White Zombie.

Also appearing in St. Louis this summer will be:

-- Cowboy Junkies, American Theatre, Tuesday.

-- Kiss, Kiel Center, July 2.

-- Bob James, Westport Playhouse, July 19.