Grammy nominee Timothy Wright in critical condition, wife and grandson die
By Brian Frederick
DANVILLE, PA (Hollywood Today) 7/6/08 - - “He shall live,” Rev. Frank Williams told the congregants at the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center.
Grammy nominee Timothy Wright, 61, his wife Betty Wright, 58, and their grandson D. J. Wright, 14, were driving eastbound on interstate 80 Friday night when John Pick, 44, of Lewisburg, PA drove westbound on the eastbound interstate (the wrong way) opposite Wright’s vehicle, slamming head-on at approximately 10:30 p.m. while passing through Greene Township, Clinton County.
Despite the tragedy, Rev. Williams held Sunday services for hundred of worshipers. “He has impacted too many people. He has paid some of our rents when he couldn’t even pay his own.” Rev. Williams said.
Mourners solemnly gathered for services Sunday morning but the church’s founding pastor and co-pastor wife Betty, were noticeably missing. Rev. Wright lay in Geisinger Medical Center’s intensive care unit recovering more than 150 miles away in Danville, Pennsylvania. Betty died at the scene and their grandson died in the hospital on Saturday.
Sir George recipient of “Starry Night” award from Recording Academy
By Kat Kramer
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/3/08 — On July 12, The Grammy Foundation will honor Sir George Martin on the USC campus. It is the signature, annual “Starry Night” – a special benefit dinner and concert. Sir George is a legendary, six-time GRAMMY winner, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1996. He is best known to the world as “The Beatles” who signed them, and produced and arranged most all Beatles records. The president of the Grammy Foundation and The Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow will present the award to Martin on “Starry Night.” “Throughout his legendary career, Sir George has had an impact on music and popular culture that is immeasurable,” said Portnow. “We look forward to paying tribute to a man who has had an indelible influence on generations of music lovers around the world.”
According to Grammy Foundation board chair Steve Schnur, “Sir George’s celebrated career has extended far beyond the recording studio. His is a lifetime commitment to both music and humanity, and it is only fitting that this year’s foundation leadership award honors one of the most iconic figures in music history.”
Martin is currently in pre-production with PBS and Wildheart Entertainment on the eight-part prime-time showcase series, “On The Record: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives.” This unique program traces the history of recorded music and its major impact on our popular culture. It will be hosted by Martin and narrated by two-time Academy-Award winning actor Kevin Spacey, and is slated to air on PBS nationally in fall 2010.
The star-studded line-up for “Starry Night” includes Jeff Beck, Chris Botti, Natalie Cole, Tom Jones, Dave Grusin, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, Michael McDonald, and a few surprises. The dinner chairs include Sir Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, and Olivia Harrison. Tickets start Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Winehouse delivers the goods, with both music and controversy at Glastonbury Music fest: throws punch at fan during last song “Rehab” By Veronica Ramsden
GLASTONBURY, UK (Hollywood Today) 6/28/08 — “Ladies and gentlemen this is… Amy Winehouse” and the surprising thing it was.
She appeared on stage, on time, somewhat intense but nevertheless THERE for the audience who had spent the night in tents waiting for her at the Glastonbury fest, the Woodstock of the UK. And with her track record of skipping shows, her recent collapse and diagnosis of emphysema, her recent drug troubles and time in rehab, there was every reason for her to be a no-show.
Sporting four cocktail umbrellas in her trademark beehive’do, she launched into what was to be a full menu from aperitif to digestif of full Amy. It was an important show for her, her first full set since all her problems began in earnest.
And she was on best behaviour until she went into the security pit for her last two songs. During her Grammy-winning song “Rehab,” she threw a punch at a fan. It’s not clear what provoked the incident, the fan may have grabbed her. But she was mad – she even went back for second sock at the attendee.
Hannah Montana’ star says scandal made her more relatable
By Matthew B. Zeidman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/28/08 – In the midst of rampant media speculation that Miley Cyrus’ increasingly adult image had her on the outs with Disney executives, the “Hannah Montana” megastar, herself, took the time to play defense. In an interview released Friday by Billboard magazine, Cyrus, 15, posited that April’s controversial photo spread in Vanity Fair actually strengthened her standing with her core fan base.
“I was embarrassed,” the tween pied piperess told the magazine of the pictures taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, one of which showed Cyrus nude save for a bed sheet, staring starkly back at the camera. “But, also, it’s like every career thing that I do can’t be perfect, and sometimes my decisions are wrong. I think that just makes me even more relatable.”
“It still hurts, when I think about it,” Cyrus continued later on in the article. “But, you know what? It doesn’t mean that you can’t move on.”
Leibovitz defended the photo in question via a statement shortly after the scandal broke, claiming that it had been misinterpreted as overtly sexual and that it was “a simple, classic portrait” and “very beautiful.”
He hopes its amicable, she loads for bear – 3 kids and $600 million at stake
By Jeffrey Jolson
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/27/08 — Madonna has reportedly hired Paul McCartney’s divorce lawyer to handle a split with 71/2 year husband, filmmaker Guy Richie. The couple has three children — hers: 11-year old Lourdes, theirs: 7-year-old Rocco and Malawi’s: 2-year-old adopted David.
With nearly eight years under their belts and three kids, they were considered stable for the music biz, however unlikely their marriage might have seemed after they met at a Sting party in 1999.
Ritchie was a young director making movies about London’s east end crime scene like 1998’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.” Madonna had seemingly slept with half the men on two continents and would never settle down.
Yet the two drifted apart. CBS News noted that things were a little tense was obvious when the couple were in India earlier this year. From the looks of tabloid photos of their visit, it would have been hard for two people to be further apart in a car.
She has been involved with causes including anti-poverty and AIDS awareness - and devoted to the Kabbalah, a mystical side of Judaism.
Punk at Tim McGraw concert attacks defenseless woman – McGraw ain’t have’n none of that Pardn’r
By Brian Frederick
Auburn, WA (Hollywood Today) 6/26/08 - - “Get rid of the guy, security,” Tim McGraw shouted. But when security did not respond, the country star, apparently a true cowboy, served up some whoop ass of his own to the drunken 350-pound bully.
“A man rushed to the front of the stage. This overly aggressive fan (in proverbial wife-beater t-shirt) attacked a female fan, and Tim witnessed this incident. Tim called for security but when they could not respond quick enough, Tim and several crew members removed the fan from the audience. He was then turned over to the local authorities,” Tim’s rep said in a statement.
There were no arrests made after the incident in Auburn. A friend of McGraw’s who goes by the name of Jay, interviewed on station KMPS and said McGraw tried to ask the man to come up on stage away from the woman he was hurting but when the man did not respond the way a cowboy gentlemen should, that’s when McGraw pulled him up by the seat of his pants - - literally - - and all 350 pounds of him.
The videotaped incident took place at the White River Amphitheatre Tuesday night in front of a sold-out crowd as Tim sang ‘Indian Outlaw.” He had no trouble picking up the song after Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Paranoid Kanye believes people “plotting his downfall”
By Brian Frederick
MANCHESTER, TN (Hollywood Today) 6/25/08 - - “This Bonnaroo thing is the worst insult I’ve ever had in my life. This is the most offended I’ve ever been. This is the maddest I ever will be,” said the world’s angriest man, Kanye West, 31.
The Naomi Campbell of music say’s he was “dealing with idiots who didn’t really have the capacity to really put on this show properly.”
Once again West is mad at somebody, something or somewhere. He also complained at the Grammy Awards when he felt he didn’t get enough statues and stormed onstage during the actual winner’s presentation at the MTV Europe Awards to the group Justice, screaming the award should have been his.
West was scheduled to perform at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee at 8:15 p.m. Saturday night but asked festival organizers to delay his start so that it would be dark enough for his “glow-in-the-dark” performance. Per the request of West, festival organizers accommodated his wishes but that was not good enough for the rarely happy performer.
Court finally allows Spears to spend time overnight with her boys
By Matthew B. Zeidman
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 6/26/08 – Britney Spears’ parental star is rising. Following a closed-door court session in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the “Gimme More” singer was awarded the privilege of overnight visits with her two young sons, according to an anonymous E! source.
The dramatic custody case — spurred by K-fed, now Fed-ex, who is looking for a big payout from the pop princess – may be winding down and end with a whimper, not a bang. Though Britney is definitely capable of anything, she has been working steadily in television, staying out of the headlines, and accepting the help of her father, once estranged.
After the hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini told reporters that Court Commissioner Scott Gordon changed Spears’ visitation status after putting a series of questions to the popular entertainer and her parenting coach, but would not officially confirm the nature of the alteration.
LONDON, UK ( Hollywood Today ) 6/25/08 - - Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and Kurt Cobain are all current members of music’s infamous 27 club waiting for their newest member.
The only downside to joining the 27 club – you have to be dead.
The upside to joining the 27 club is the tremendous adulation you will receive from your crying-adoring fans, mountains of flowers and cards at your door step, posthumous accolades for your incredible musical talent and the most important part of joining the 27 club – your record sales will go through the roof! Although it is hard to enjoy the fruits of your labor while you’re dead, but others will.
Singer songwriter extraordinaire, Amy Winehouse, 24, is walking the staircase to the pearly gates of the 27 club. According to her father Mitch Winehouse, “Amy has damaged her lungs by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes.”
“The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her,” Mitch Winehouse said.
Cigarette smoking and crack cocaine have damaged lungs of singer Amy Winehouse
By Brian Frederick
LONDON, UK (Hollywood Today) 6/23/08 – “Amy has damaged her lungs by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes,” says her father Mitch Winehouse. “The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her.”
After Winehouse collapsed a week ago at her London home, she was taken to the hospital for tests and remained there all week. “Amy has early stage emphysema and an irregular heartbeat and has been warned she will have to wear an oxygen mask unless she stops smoking drugs,” says Mitch Winehouse. “There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She has 70 percent lung capacity.”
Winehouse is scheduled to sing at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday party in London on Friday and to participate in the Glastonbury music festival on Saturday. Mitch Winehouse has stated he expects his daughter to perform next weekend despite Amy’s physical state. “When she’s been inactive work-wise then that’s when the problems really start,” says Mitch Winehouse. “The doctors have said that medically there isn’t any reason why she can’t do Glastonbury.”
It’s also unclear how Amy Winehouse can need serious medical treatment, yet plan to sing at a weekend music festival surrounded by people likely to offer her drugs. Her father blames drug dealers for his daughter’s condition. “I’m saying to those drug dealers, and they know who they are, if they are supplying crack to Amy then they’ve got to take responsibility.” So far, no illegal drug dealers have stepped forward to accept responsibility.
In 2006, Amy Winehouse released her break-out album, ‘Back to Black’, that received six Grammy nominations, won five and tied the record for the most wins for a female recording artist in a single night. The success of ‘Back to Black’ is estimated to have catapulted Amy’s net worth to $25 million.
Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and Kurt Cobain are celebrity members of music’s infamous “27 club”, made up of musicians who died at age 27. Singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse is 24. Can she survive three more years?
Sister Britney Spears flies back to L.A. to paparazzi fracas
By Matthew B. Zeidman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/22/08 – Britney Spears and her family have had a whirlwind week. The pop starlet spent several days by 17-year-old sister Jamie Lynn’s side (explaining her absence from a Los Angeles court appearance Tuesday), ending with the birth of her first niece, Maddie Briann, on Thursday at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb, Miss.
According to OK! Magazine, the 7-pound, 11-ounce newborn will bear the last name of her father, boyfriend Casey Aldridge, 19. Spears’ sibling, best known for playing a student at a lush California boarding school on Nickelodeon’s popular “Zoey 101,” has kept a low profile since she revealed her pregnancy to the magazine in December.
Spears returned to business-as-usual the following day, flying back home on a commercial flight and being absorbed by a horde of paparazzi as she left Los Angeles International Airport. According to E! Online, a fracas with a photographer almost became a legal matter when one of the “Gimme More” singer’s bodyguards allegedly pushed a camera into the lensman’s face, but both parties agreed charges weren’t necessary.
Earlier in the week, Spears’ father, James, received court approval to sell the entertainer’s gated mansion in the Studio City section of Los Angeles. He has acted as co-conservator of her estate since Jan. 31 and will continue to do so until at least July 31, when his status in his daughter’s financial life will be re-examined.
Father James Spears intends to liquidate posh estate
By Matthew B. Zeidman
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 6/18/08 – Pop star Britney Spears is pulling up stakes for whereabouts unknown. The performer’s father and co-conservator, James, received court approval Tuesday to put her posh Los Angeles home up for sale.
Spears has been living in the 7,400-square-foot mansion since December. The property, which sits in the celebrity-heavy Studio City area of the city, has been a paparazzi hotspot since she moved in and was swarmed by photographers during Spears’ first of two highly publicized hospitalizations during the month of January.
Spears, whose father has been managing her financial affairs since Jan. 31, will remain in his care until a July 31 hearing, when his position as co-conservator will be re-examined. At that time, legal representatives for both father and daughter will either agree to set a new deadline or go to trial regarding the matter.
Expect her to move to a gated and patrolled community where paparazzi cannot convene in the driveway as they do now.
