SAUDI PRINCE WAS WILLING TO PAY AEROSMITH $2 MILLION.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Now, it can be told - rock stars Aerosmith recently turned down a $2 million offer to play a one-night gig for a Saudi Arabian prince.

Steven Tyler doesn't name the royal (and there are many Saudi princes), but he does say it turned out the desired date conflicted with the band's last European concert tour. ``When you know the kids are waiting to see you, the last thing you want to do is cancel a date for money. The band's not about money,'' he says. ``We feel like, `If you build it, they will come'' - that is, if we play, the money will come.''

Of course, there's nothing new about the super-wealthy contracting private performances by top stars.

Tyler says Aerosmith periodically gets requests to ``come play at this island or that'' for some fantastic sum.

This summer, Aerosmith actually planned to play a gig at Harrods department store in London for the daughter of owner Mohamed Al Fayed (whose son, Dodi Al Fayed, was killed in the automobile crash with Princess Diana).

``Governments love to play games,'' says Tyler, who explains that the band's British work permits only allowed them to play their Wembley Stadium dates.

``For every rule, there's a rule to be broken, and sometimes, you can get away with it, and sometimes, you can't,'' says the rocker, who gives a no-holds-barred account of his present and past in our current E! Online interview.

``We didn't want to blow Wembley and have them take our permit away. So, we said OK.

But we did meet Mohamed, and he gave us some cigars, and he opened Harrods for us to shop the night before we played Wembley, after hours. It was like Supermarket Sweep! We were running all over the place.''

Girding himself

Director Rupert Wainwright says he loves to court controversy.

He risked affronting the Catholic church with his new MGM film, ``Stigmata,'' starring Patricia Arquette.

And soon, he says, he'll be facing off against the National Rifle Association.

``I'm doing a movie about a guy who takes on the NRA. It's called `Gun Men,' and it's about men and guns - and why they should never be allowed within a hundred yards of each other,'' says the outspoken British director.

``Gun Men'' is still in the development stage, and Wainwright says it may have to wait till he's done with ``The Furthest Place'' for 20th Century Fox.

``That's a female action thriller, which James Cameron is producing. There's a couple of different people we're talking with to star, and it may go as early as winter.''

They can watch the video

John Tesh will have to bring in the millennium sans family. The musician-composer is set to perform his ``Heart of the Sunrise'' tune against the backdrop of The Millennium Wall in Gisborne, New Zealand, the city of the first light of the first day of the year 2000.

Sounds like a must-see event, but Tesh says not so for wife Connie Sellecca.

``Connie's very Y2K crazy,'' says Tesh. ``She's not into that, so she'll be home with the generator.''

Tesh just began his 40-city ``One World'' tour, and says he's already feeling crazed.

``It's been a big deal to put on a show in a different city every night with two hours of rehearsals.''

Tesh is traveling with a troupe of ``about 35, 40 people in three buses and two semis.

The cool thing about this tour is that we have all sorts of unusual people. In addition to the orchestra, we have Native Americans, Celtic dancers, flamenco dancers and a woman who sings in Latin.

So far, the reaction has been really good.''

That's a laugh

They're talking about a big future over at New Line for Mike Epps, the stand-up comic who's wrapping up his first film, ``Next Friday,'' which the firm will be releasing at Christmas.

The cut-up, who's been climbing his way up the stand-up ranks for the past five years, was spotted at L.A.'s Comedy Store by Ice Cube - who snapped him up to co-star in the ``Friday'' sequel written, produced and starring the hip-hop cool dude mogul. Epps plays Cube's cousin Day-Day, who works at a record store in the suburbs where his family moved after winning the lottery.

Epps won't have to rely on a lottery win to make a living. He's already been signed for a co-starring role opposite Jamie Foxx in Castle Rock's ``Bait.'' It's a comedy. What else.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois.

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4 Photos

PHOTO (1) TYLER

(2) WAINWRIGHT

(3) TESH

(4) SELLECCA