Entertaining Posts

Monday, August 22, 2011

"Hound Dog" songwriter Jerry Leiber dies at 78

LOS ANGELES | Mon Aug 22, 2011 6:26pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jerry Leiber, who partnered with Mike Stoller to write such iconic rock hits as Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock," died on Monday at age 78, his representatives said.

Leiber died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of cardiopulmonary failure, Randy Poe, the president of his publishing company, told Reuters.

Family members of the legendary songwriter were with him when he died, said Leiber's assistant, Marilyn Levy.

Leiber and Stoller, who met when they were 17, wrote such tunes as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Stand By Me" and "Poison Ivy."

Presley, the Drifters, Ben E. King and Peggy Lee were among the many singers who recorded songs from the duo.

They also helped ignite the career of the Coasters by writing and producing the doo-wop act's hits including "Yakety Yak," "Charlie Brown" and "Along Came Jones."

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

Kate Winslet escapes fire at Branson holiday home

LONDON | Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:52am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - British Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet was among the guests who escaped unhurt from a fire which swept through Richard Branson's Caribbean holiday retreat overnight, the billionaire said on Monday.

Branson said the blaze was caused by a lightning strike on The Great House on Necker Island, and that the building was completely destroyed.

Branson, his wife Joan and son Sam were staying in a nearby property, but among those who fled the affected building were 35-year-old Winslet, her boyfriend and family, Branson's mother Eve and his daughter Holly.

"Around 20 people were in the house and they all managed to get out and they are all fine," Branson said in comments released to the British media.

"We had a really bad tropical storm with winds up to 90 miles per hour. A big lightning storm came around 4 a.m. and hit the house.

"My son Sam rushed to the house and helped get everyone out. Kate Winslet, her boyfriend and her family were there and Holly and some of her friends were also staying. My mother was there and they managed to get her out and she is fine."

He said his office was based in the main house, and that he had lost thousands of photographs in the fire.

Branson added that he planned to rebuild the property, which British media said had been expected to be the venue for the marriage later this year of Holly to fiance Fred Andrews.

Necker Island is part of the British Virgin Islands and is privately owned by Branson.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Steve Addison)

Cyber squatter foiling Winehouse charity plan

LONDON | Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:06am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Amy Winehouse's father Mitch said his plans to set up a charity in his late daughter's name had been frustrated by a cyber squatter who had stolen the organization's intended address on the internet.

Mitch, a former taxi driver who launched his own musical career on the back of Amy Winehouse's success, plans to set up a foundation to help young people suffering from substance abuse, and has already received donations from the public.

Winehouse, a chart-topping singer whose album "Back to Black" helped her win five Grammy awards and international fame, was found dead in her London home on July 23 aged 27. She had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

"Instead of concentrating on allocating funding, I am having to send cheques back cos (because) we don't haven't got bank ac (account) in that name," Mitch Winehouse wrote on micro blogging site Twitter.

"We all have to bombard the tabloids websites to put pressure on this dick head who stole our foundation name.

"Our solicitors are all over this, but it takes time. Meanwhile we can't get on with foundation."

According to the Guardian newspaper, the internet address Amywinehousefoundation.org.uk was registered to a "sghuk" who bought it on August 16.

Amywinehousefoundation.com had also been purchased, and amywinehousefoundation.org was registered by someone on July 31 2011.

According to Mitch Winehouse, one of the cyber squatters thwarting his plans allegedly contacted his daughter's ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

Fielder-Civil and Winehouse were married between 2007 and 2009, but their families bickered publicly about the influence the couple had over each other during a tumultuous relationship.

Fielder-Civil was jailed in 2008 after pleading guilty to attacking a pub landlord and then trying to cover it up.

Since his daughter's death, Mitch Winehouse has urged politicians to do more to help young people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Steve Addison)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Country singer Chely Wright weds girlfriend

LOS ANGELES | Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:58pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chely Wright, the first mainstream country performer to come out as lesbian, married her partner, activist Lauren Blitzer, on Saturday in Connecticut, People magazine reported.

Wright, 40, met Blitzer, 30, soon after the singer's 2010 announcement that she is a lesbian.

Named the top new female vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1995, Wright hid her homosexuality for years, believing it would hurt her career in the traditionally conservative country music community.

"They would rather you were a drug addict than be gay," she told reporters at the time of her coming-out, which is chronicled in the upcoming documentary "Wish Me Away."

Both a reverend and a rabbi presided over the weekend ceremonies at Blitzer's aunt's home with more than 200 guests in attendance. Wright is Christian, and Blitzer is Jewish.

The women wore white wedding gowns and skipped the veils. Wright explained to People, "We like our hair too much!"

(Reporting and writing by Sheri Linden; Edited by Bob Tourtellotte)

U2 singer Bono denies reports of health scare

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