Ron Artest Joins "Dancing With The Stars"

Ron Artest has been named in the 13th season of hit Abc show 'Dancing With The Stars'.

The basketball star and occasional rapper will be joined by soccer player Hope Solo, talk-show host Ricki Lake and actor David Arquette amongst others. The new cast will dazzle their way on stage in the season premiere on September 19th and leading the way will be the L.A. Lakers star, who is currently in the process of changing his name to METTA WORLD PEACE but producer Deena Katz believes that such a large character can only be a good thing. "There are some strong personalities" she says speaking to USA Today, "Anytime it gets people talking, it gets people watching. The first show is definitely going to be water-cooler talk."

ARTEST is no stranger to the limelight, having first turned professional in 1999 with NBA team the Chicago Bulls, he was also a major participant in the infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl of November 2004 in which he started an altercation between players and fans. He has since gone on to release an album entitled 'My World' in 2006.