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Johnny Cash tries cover of Nine Inch Nails tune

LOS ANGELES -- At 70, Johnny Cash is rocking out with his cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt."

The video for the searing song is getting play on MTV2 and VH1, and the song is in regular rotation on rock station KROQ-FM.

Directed by Mark Romanek, the video combines images of the young Cash from concerts and movies with new footage of the elderly singer crooning "You can have it all, my empire of dirt. I will let you down."

"Most videos are about creating eye candy, a pretty image that can be a marketing tool," Romanek said. "We just tried to show the simple truth of what's going on in his life. It's kind of a sucker punch when you see it the first time because we're not used to that emotional depth in music videos."

Thornton earns honors for screenplay writing

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Billy Bob Thornton will be honored Saturday with the Horton Foote Special Achievement Award for Screenplay Writing.

Thornton, who won an Academy Award for his 1997 film "Sling Blade" and has acted in such popular movies as "Armageddon" and "Primary Colors," will receive the award as part of the 14th annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration.

The event begins Wednesday and features writing seminars, screenings, signings and publishing tips.

Saturday's award ceremony will end with a showing of "Sling Blade" and a question-and-answer session with Thornton.

The movie is about a man, played by Thornton, who is released from a psychiatric hospital where he has been since the age of 12 after murdering his mother and her lover. He returns to his childhood home to start a new life.

The award honors Foote, who won Oscars for his screenplays for "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Tender Mercies."

'Baywatch' castaways recover from rocky rides

RADNOR, Pa. -- Three "Baywatch" beauties have had tumultuous lives since the show ended, but Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra and Yasmine Bleeth say they're back on track and happy.

Anderson, who is engaged to rock-rapper Kid Rock and recently announced that she was diagnosed with hepatitis C, said she's concentrating on her family.

"I've had to start facing things like, 'What will happen if I'm not around,'" Anderson told TV Guide for its Feb. 22 issue. She has two sons, Brandon, 6, and Dylan, 4, with former Motley Crew drummer Tommy Lee. The two divorced after a rocky marriage.

Electra, who had a brief marriage to Dennis Rodman in 1998, has settled down with rock guitarist Dave Navarro. She said she and her fiance "stay home, eat and cuddle."

A "Baywatch" reunion movie, set to air Feb. 28 on Fox with all three actresses, is Bleeth's first acting job in a year. She was arrested in September 2001 and sentenced to two years' probation on a cocaine-possession charge. She said she has been sober for a year.

The arrest was "a wake-up call." She has settled down with new husband Paul Cerrito, whom she met in rehab.

Michael Jackson involved in another lawsuit

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Jackson's attorneys say they will ask a judge to throw out a lawsuit by the singer's former business manager who claims Jackson owes him $13 million.

According to court documents, Jackson alleges someone forged his name on an agreement to pay Myung Ho Lee for business advice.

Lee sued last April alleging Jackson backed out of a deal he signed on Sept. 14, 2001.

Lee, head of Union Finance and Investment Corp., handled the singer's business affairs starting in 1997. In his lawsuit, he argues that Jackson was aware of Lee's fees and commissions when he authorized him to make deals.