
Led Zeppelin will perform a one-time comeback concert in memory of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records.
The band will perform together for the first time in 19 years on Nov. 26, at London’s The O2 venue, on the banks of the River Thames.
Promoters said the concert would pay tribute to Ertegun — the label boss who popularized Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin — who died in December at age 83.
“During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegun was a major foundation of solidarity and accord,” Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant said Wednesday. “For us he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator.”
Ertegun, who founded the Atlantic Records label, signed Plant’s band in 1968 and later snapped up the Rolling Stones.
Organizers said Led Zeppelin’s remaining original members Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones will headline the concert with late drummer John Bonham’s son, Jason, on drums.
The Who’s Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman, Foreigner and young Scottish singer Paolo Nutini — the last British act Ertegun signed — will also play at the tribute concert.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

O’Donnell says Barbara Walters should retire

Rosie O’Donnell’s memoir, “Celebrity Detox,” is already causing a commotion before its Oct. 2 release date.
The book recounts (among other things) O’Donnell’s time co-hosting “The View,” and O’Donnell reportedly indicates that the show’s frontwoman, Barbara Walters, should retire.
“At some point, a person gets tired. It’s inevitable,” O’Donnell writes, according to a report in The New York Post. “Barbara Walters is almost twice my age ... at some point it becomes necessary to step back.
“Everyone has to go. Going is part of the gig,” Rosie, 45, reportedly says of Barbara, 77, in the book.
“And I would be less-than-honest if I were to say that there is no trouble between Barbara and I,” O’Donnell writes, according to the report. “I mean, our differences are obvious.”
Walters, who has read the book, expressed her reaction to it in a statement to “Access Hollywood”:
“Rosie has written a sad book, but I choose to focus on the happier times that we had and the happy times that we hope to have in the future.”
A publicist for O’Donnell told “Access,” “Rosie loves Barbara, always has, always will.”
Despite any “differences” O’Donnell may have allegedly had with Walters in the past, she defends Barbara when it comes to her involvement in Rosie’s drawn-out feud with Donald Trump, according to the New York Post’s Page Six.
“I did not anticipate that (Trump) would be cruel enough to do what he did to Barbara,” Rosie reportedly writes in the book. “She should have been left alone.”
Walters was unwittingly brought into the fray when Trump claimed to various media outlets that she did not like O’Donnell, and that she regretted putting her on the show — a claim Walters denied.
As for the present day, “The View” has moved on since Rosie’s departure last May. New co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd are firmly in place alongside Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Walters is looking forward to a “wonderful year” with them on the show.

Timberlake, Rihanna rack 'em up in Las Vegas

After lackluster years in Miami and New York, MTV went west this year to seek its fortune for the Video Music Awards at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
But like most Vegas gaming rooms, the VMAs were filled with dizzying lights, an air of heightened anticipation, and very infrequent payouts.
The plan was to shake things up, but unfortunately it felt like MTV shook a little too hard.
As usual, the telecast was technically impressive as cameras smash cut to a half-dozen performance spaces, including the main stage, the Rain nightclub, and four chaotic, fan-packed "fantasy suite" parties headlined by Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy, and BFFs Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, respectively.
But the frenetic pace - there's 50 Cent rocking "Ayo Technology" with Justin and Tim! Look, Fall Out Boy is backing Rihanna on "Shut Up and Drive!" Hey, it's Adam Levine of Maroon 5 doing "Wake Up Call" with uber DJ Mark Ronson and the house band! - was disorienting, and worse, meant that there were very few whole performances. While the parties looked like loads of fun for the revelers, full performances would have been welcome from West, the Foos, and Common. Adding to the ADD-encouraging clutter were on-screen directives urging viewers to text their votes for best new artist or to check out more action online. Phew. Can't we just watch?

James Brown case sparks change in rape law
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A failed lawsuit accusing soul singer James Brown of rape has led lawmakers to change a portion of Illinois rape laws.
The law, which was signed Monday and takes effect Jan. 1, suspends the statute of limitations when the victim has been intimidated or manipulated into staying quiet. Currently, a person accusing someone of rape has just two years to sue in Illinois.
The shift is a response to a legal defeat for a state resident named Jacque Hollander, a former publicist for Brown, who died late last year. She says the singer raped her at gunpoint in 1988 and threatened to have her killed if she told anyone.
Hollander waited until 2005 to sue Brown, and the courts rejected her lawsuit as long past the deadline. Brown’s attorneys denied the rape allegation.
The Associated Press normally does not identify people alleging sexual assault, but Hollander has gone public with her story and spoken to news media.
Hollander said she’s thrilled by the change because it will help other women who are afraid to take action.
“Seeing that no one will ever walk in these shoes again is the win,” she said.

Oscar-winner Jane Wyman dies at 93

Jane Wyman, an Academy Award winner for her performance as the deaf rape victim in “Johnny Belinda,” star of the long-running TV series “Falcon Crest” and Ronald Reagan’s first wife, died Monday.
“I have lost a loving mother, my children Cameron and Ashley have lost a loving grandmother, my wife Colleen has lost a loving friend she called Mom and Hollywood has lost the classiest lady to ever grace the silver screen,” son Michael Reagan said in a statement.
Wyman died early Monday at her Palm Springs home, said Richard Adney of Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Cathedral City. Wyman’s age was listed as 93 in several reference books; however, other sources, including the official family Web site www.jane-wyman.com, say she was 90.

Will Britney's bomb kill her comeback?

So much for Britney Spears's breathlessly hyped comeback. A day after the pop star performed as if in a trance at the MTV Video Music Awards, critics and fans alike were questioning whether the singer can salvage her career.
Spears, who got tongues wagging at previous VMAs by writhing with a python and swapping spit with Madonna, put on an embarrassing show Sunday, clad in a black-and-silver glitter bikini and clumsily lip-synching the words to the unremarkable "Gimme More," the first single from her forthcoming album.
"She looks like she doesn't care," Whoopi Goldberg said yesterday on "The View." "This is like a bad stripper."
Dr. Phil, a guest on the show, agreed and went one step further. As he watched Spears stagger through her performance at the Palms Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Dr. Phil said he wondered if he'd "bought tickets to a train wreck."
Spears, whose performance was universally panned, trudged through her paces as if she were at dress rehearsal, teetering around on high-heeled boots and exhibiting all the spark of a wet paper bag as she wearily mixed it up with a troupe of dancers. And the ballyhooed Criss Angel "illusion" that was supposed to accompany her song? It vanished. Perhaps comic Sarah Silverman was right in her hit-and-miss monologue following Brit's opener: "She's 25 years old and she's already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life." Ouch.

Lindsay Lohan must go to court again

A judge Tuesday refused to dismiss portions of a lawsuit against the 21-year-old actress over an October 2005 accident in which her Mercedes-Benz collided with a van.
Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern rejected a motion that argued the lawsuit lacked legal sufficiency, and set April 7 for the trial.
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The California Highway Patrol concluded that Raymundo Ortega, a busboy, caused the accident by making an illegal U-turn, but he sued Lohan and is seeking at least $200,000 in damages.
Ortega was knocked out in the crash, said his attorney, Robert G. Klein.
Lohan and a female passenger sustained minor injuries.
Ortega’s suit contends that Lohan was fleeing paparazzi and was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
From cute child actor to svelte blonde to redheaded bombshell and Hollywood star.
“This case is about responsibility and she’s not taking responsibility,” Klein said outside court.
Lohan’s attorney, David J. Ozeran, said outside court that there was no evidence that Lohan was intoxicated.
Last month, Lohan agreed to spend a day in jail and complete a drug treatment program after pleading guilty or no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges stemming from arrests earlier this year in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.
