In the midst of a career surge that has made him one of rap's biggest stars, Lil Wayne is bracing for a year behind bars after pleading guilty yesterday in a 2-year-old gun case.

A glum Lil Wayne, 27, said little as he admitted illegally having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007, moving to end a case that had churned along as he collected Grammys and gold records.

The plea, which came as he boasted the country's No. 1 pop song, makes Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Carter, the latest in a long line of rappers to face incarceration after topping the charts.

The relationship between chronicling crime and living it has long been an issue in rap. Some of the genre's big names — including Tupac Shakur, Lil' Kim, Beanie Sigel, Shyne, Mystikal and C-Murder — have done a few months to several years behind bars for crimes committed after they became famous.

BON JOVI VENTURING OUT INTO 'BIG WORLD'

Rock band Bon Jovi announced plans yesterday for a new world tour that will swing by the new home of the New York Giants and Jets.

The two-year tour begins Feb. 19 in Seattle and includes a May 26 show at New Jersey's new $1.6 billion Meadowlands football stadium. The tour will feature 135 shows in 30 countries.

"It's a big world," lead singer Jon Bon Jovi said when asked about the length of the tour. "And we still make house calls."

CONAN LOSES EDGE IN KEY DEMOGRAPHIC

Conan O'Brien is losing ground in the late-night ratings battle.

For weeks, NBC has found consolation in the fact that though David Letterman's "Late Show" was drawing more viewers, "The Tonight Show" was doing better among those 18-to-49 that most advertisers covet.

According to Nielsen figures released yesterday for last week, however, the two shows tied for that demographic.

And overall, CBS had a commanding lead, with Letterman averaging 4.2 million viewers to O'Brien's 2.5 million.

NORWAY STUDENT TOPS IN MONOPOLY

A 19-year-old student from Norway has won the Monopoly World Championship in Las Vegas.

Bjorn Halvard took the title yesterday over New Zealand's Geoff Christopher, 25.

Halvard won $20,580 in real money for the title. That's the total amount in the bank of a standard Monopoly game. The tournament began Wednesday at Caesars Palace with players from 41 countries.