People talk 11/6/03

Evanescence guitarist sitting out current tour

Evanescence lead guitarist Ben Moody has abandoned the group's world tour, and planned to meet informally Wednesday with representatives of his record label in Los Angeles.

"Ben is not on the current dates," Steve Karas, a spokesman for Wind-up Records and one of Evanescence's producers, told The Associated Press Tuesday.

There is no word on when -- or if -- he'd rejoin the group, Karas said. Moody was spotted Monday night by staff at Juanita's, a Little Rock bar. Karas said Moody hasn't played with the band since its Berlin show last month; he wouldn't say why the musician left the group.

Karas said Wednesday that "a statement will be forthcoming soon from Ben."

Evanescence has been on tour since August and is set to play Nov. 19 in Mexico City before returning to the United States for a set of concerts with Seether and Finger Eleven starting Nov. 21 in Tucson, Ariz.

.Kid Rock's Christmas show not a silent night

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. -- Screeching guitars, thumping beats, barely dressed women and even an R-rated version of "Frosty the Snowman."

Only Kid Rock could put on a Christmas show like this.

The Detroit-based rap-rocker taped a concert Tuesday night for a 90-minute holiday-themed television special.

"A Kid Rock Christmas," to air Dec. 14 on VH1, will include clips from Tuesday's show and an animated short that features Kid Rock doing his own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, treated fans at the Emerald Theatre to several songs from his new CD, which will be released next week.

Morgan, Kershaw file mutual protection orders

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country singers Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw have filed for orders of protection against each other.

A judge will decide the matter at a hearing within 15 days. The two were married in 2001.

Morgan filed for an order Monday and Kershaw asked for his Tuesday, saying she put her chest against him, pushed him back and "tried to provoke me."

Morgan, 44, has had hits including "What Part of No" and "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." Kershaw, 45, has had hits such as "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and "Love of My Life."

The two have recorded duets including "He Drinks Tequila" and "Maybe Not Tonight."

Montel fined for carrying marijuana paraphernalia

ROMULUS, Mich. -- Television talk show host Montel Williams was fined $100 after authorities at Detroit Metropolitan Airport found him with marijuana paraphernalia.

Williams, who has multiple sclerosis, has been prescribed medicinal marijuana to treat the disease, The Detroit News reported. The 47-year-old paid the fine Monday night, boarded a flight and left Michigan.

"He has prescriptions for many different medications for MS," a statement on his behalf read. "One of the medications he has been prescribed to alleviate his chronic pain is medical marijuana."

Messages from The Associated Press seeking comment from Williams' producers weren't immediately returned.

Airport police referred calls to airport spokesman Mike Conway, who declined to comment on the matter.

Dolly says she's 'not near done' in interview

NEW YORK -- Dolly Parton says she was never crazy about her looks while growing up in Tennessee.

"I always wanted to be prettier," she tells People magazine in its Nov. 10 issue. "I got to fixin' myself up. I wanted my clothes tight, my makeup bright, my nails long, my lips red. I got into it."

Parton, 57, is the subject of a tribute CD "Just Because I'm a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton" (Sugar Hill Records), and was up for a Country Music Association Award for female vocalist of the year. The awards were being presented Wednesday night in Nashville, Tenn.

The 5-foot-1 singer tells the magazine: "I'm full of life, energy and dreams. I'm not near done. I feel like I just left home."-- From wire reports

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LOS ANGELES -- Oscar-winner Irwin Winkler will receive the American Society of Cinematographers' Board of Governors Award.

Winkler, 72, will be honored at the association's awards celebration Feb. 8, 2004, at the Century Plaza Hotel.

"Irwin Winkler has earned the admiration and respect of our members for his extraordinary work as a producer and director of artful and meaningful films that linger in your memory long after you have seen them," Owen Roizman, chairman of the organization's awards committee, said Tuesday.

Winkler won best picture honors for 1976's "Rocky," which he co-produced with Robert Chartoff.

He began his career in 1967 with the Elvis Presley movie "Double Trouble." He went on to produce 1969's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They," 1980's "Raging Bull," 1983's "The Right Stuff," 1990's "GoodFellas," and 1992's "Night and the City."

Winkler is being honored for advancing the art of making movies. Past award recipients include Gregory Peck, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Warren Beatty, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Jodie Foster.

It is the only award the group reserves for non-cinematographers.

NEW YORK -- Courtney Love has admitted to using heroin in the past, but says she doesn't have a problem now, despite being charged recently with drug possession.

"I want to make one thing clear right now. I do not take narcotics," Love tells Us Weekly magazine for its Nov. 17 issue. "I have taken prescription pills, and I went to rehab once. I take Xanax that is prescribed to me, but practically everybody does that nowadays. But I do not take street narcotics."

The 39-year-old actress and former Hole lead singer was arrested last month for allegedly breaking into the Los Angeles home of her ex-boyfriend, music producer Jim Barber.

Hours later, Love overdosed on painkillers in front of Frances Bean, her 11-year-old daughter with late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain.

Los Angeles County child services workers took the girl away from Love, who was admitted afterward to a psychiatric ward for making a suicide threat, which she says was a joke. On Oct. 28, Love was charged with felony counts of possessing hydrocodone and OxyContin in connection with the overdose.

Now, Love says, "there is no fight" to regain custody of her daughter, who's staying with Love's stepfather and sister.

"She is back and doing great. We are in the middle of a reunification process," she says. "I have visitation time every day. ... My kid loves me, and I love my kid. She's been scared, but she's taking it like a champ."

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stephen Hartke, professor of composition at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, has been selected to receive the $225,000 Charles Ives award.

Philip Pearlstein, president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, announced Hartke's selection Monday.

The award, formally known as the Charles Ives Living, gives a promising American composer an income of $75,000 a year for three years. The recipient agrees to forgo all salaried employment during that time, although nothing restricts acceptance of composing commissions.

Hartke will begin his three-year term in July 2004.

"There's no more precious gift to an artist than time to concentrate exclusively on work," Hartke said in a statement. "I am enormously grateful to the Academy for choosing me and to the administration at the University of Southern California for granting me the extended leave to accept this wonderful opportunity."

The selection committee consisted of five composers from the Academy. Previous honorees are Martin Bresnick in 1998 and Chen Yi, whose three-year term expires in June 2004.

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ANDERSON, S.C. -- Coaches, teachers and administrators are helping James Robert "Radio" Kennedy collect memorabilia from his beloved T.L. Hanna High School to replace items destroyed in a weekend fire.

A pile of shirts, jackets and pants, as well as a sports bag, backpack and some stuffed animals, were waiting for Kennedy at the school Monday afternoon.

But some items collected in his three decades with the school are no longer available and can't be replaced, principal Mike Sams said.

Kennedy, 56, who is mentally disabled, became an inspiration first for the high school's football team and then the community at large. He earned his nickname riding around town in a grocery cart with a transistor radio.

"Radio," a film exploring Kennedy's longtime relationship with former head football coach Harold Jones, is now in theaters. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris.

The community has donated food, clothes and other items to Kennedy and his two brothers, all of whom share the home that was damaged by fire Saturday morning.