People talk 9/7/03

Stones tour will roll into China in November

BEIJING -- The Rolling Stones are planning to their first concert in China in November after canceling shows earlier this year because of the SARS infection scare.

The band is scheduled to play Nov. 14 in Beijing at the 17,000-seat Capital Gymnasium, Chen Jixin of the Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co. said Friday.

The Stones also may play shows in Hong Kong and Shanghai, though dates haven't been confirmed, Chen said.

China was on the verge of the radical 1966-76 Cultural Revolution -- which reviled Western pop music as spiritual pollution -- when the Stones began their rise to fame. Their music first became available in China only after the start of economic and social reforms in the late 1970s.

The Stones had been scheduled to play in Beijing and Shanghai in April but canceled because of the outbreak of SARS. The disease killed 349 people on the mainland and infected more than 5,300 before retreating in June.-- From wire reports

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TUCSON, Ariz. -- Diana Ross' trial on drunken driving charges has been postponed until December.

The singer's lawyers on Thursday requested and received the postponement, saying they needed more time to interview witnesses and experts.

Ross, 59, faces three DUI-related charges dating from Dec. 30. She has pleaded innocent.

The trial had been scheduled to start this month but now will begin Dec. 9.

The jury pool is expected to be larger than normal because of Ross' celebrity status.-- From wire reports

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NEW YORK -- Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy told a priest she was contemplating suicide after her husband was assassinated, according to a new book about the Kennedy family.

According to "The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings" by Thomas Maier, the first lady also told the Rev. Richard McSorley "I don't know how God could take him away," and expressed guilt that she had not been able to shield President Kennedy from the assassination in 1963.

The book says Kennedy asked McSorley to pray that she would die.

"McSorley looked Jackie in the eyes. He felt compelled to dissuade her from thoughts of suicide, but he would not try to stop her from wishing for death itself," Maier writes.

The book is being excerpted in the October issue of Redbook magazine. It will be released by publisher Basic Books next month.

Maier interviewed McSorley in 2000 and received permission to review McSorley's private journals in which he recorded his talks with the first lady.

McSorley, a Jesuit who taught at Georgetown University, died last year. He provided counseling to Jacqueline Kennedy while giving her tennis lessons arranged by Robert Kennedy in 1964.

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LOS ANGELES -- "Saturday Night Live" alumnus David Spade is the newest star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Spade, 39, who uses smug sarcasm as shtick, claimed the 2,235th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at a ceremony Friday in front of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

"Getting this star really, really means a lot to me," said Spade, currently starring in "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star." "There's a rumor that it's somehow tied to frequent flier miles and I'm hoping that's not true."

Guests at the event included Spade's "SNL" colleague Chris Rock, and his "Just Shoot Me" sitcom co-star Wendy Malick.

Spade spent five years on "SNL" and has appeared in the films "Tommy Boy," "Black Sheep," "Lost & Found," "Joe Dirt" and the animated "The Emperor's New Groove."

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Actor Danny Glover said he saw the improvement in his father's life after he was treated for anemia while suffering from kidney failure.

Since then, Glover, 56, has become the national spokesman of Anemia Lifeline, an organization helping people with the condition that can stem from diseases like kidney failure, diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV and AIDS.

Glover said his father was on dialysis after kidney failure.

"When he was diagnosed with anemia and treated, it changed the quality of his life," Glover said.

Anemia, in which less oxygen is circulated to the body because of a reduction in red blood cells, affects about 3.4 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Glover said it's important for people suffering with anemia, which can be detected with a blood test, to not just accept the problem as a condition of their disease.

Glover has starred in the "Lethal Weapon" movies, "The Color Purple" and "Beloved." Most recently, he has acted on Broadway in a revival of "Master Harold ... and the Boys."

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FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Two rap musicians who were ordered to pay a concert promoter $146,500 in a breach-of-contract case have been granted a new trial.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday vacated the judgment against Maurice Young and Katrina Taylor, who use the stage names of Trick Daddy and Trina.

The three-judge panel said the trial judge made numerous mistakes -- one being to let the jury, instead of the judge, interpret terms of the agreement between the performers and promoter Timothy Thomas.

Thomas, who was a student at Western Kentucky University, booked the rappers for a homecoming weekend concert in October 2000. His damage claim included $125,000 for lost ticket sales.

The performers said they did not go on with the show because Thomas failed to pay the $10,000 balance of their $20,000 fee. Thomas claimed Trick Daddy had used drugs and was too incapacitated to perform.

The appeals court agreed with the rappers that testimony about alleged drug use was more prejudicial than probative. There was no medical or laboratory evidence that either performer was incapacitated.

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HONG KONG (AP) -- Anita Mui, a Hong Kong movie star and pop singer, said she's suffering from cancer but promises to fight the disease and maintain her career.

"I have cervix cancer ... but it has reached not the terminal stage and my time is not up yet," the 40-year-old Canto-pop diva said at a news conference Friday.

Canto-pop refers to music sung in Cantonese, the dialect of Chinese that is most widely spoken in Hong Kong and also spoken in many overseas Chinese communities.

More than 20 celebrities, including action film legend Jackie Chan, one-time Bond girl Michelle Yeoh and Canto-pop singers Jackie Cheung and Nicholas Tse, stood behind her in a show of support.

Mui said she has been undergoing treatment and promised to continue her singing career.

"I am not a weak person, although I am a patient," she said. "I can tell you that I have never had any fears and I will win this fight."

She urged local paparazzi not to disturb other patients if she has to go to hospitals for treatment.

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NEWARK, N.J. -- The Australian concert that Kiss performed with a 60-piece symphony orchestra in February was big enough, but it's about to get even bigger.

A recording of the February concert at Melbourne's Telstra Dome will be shown at big-screen theaters in 21 U.S. cities Tuesday, to coincide with its release on DVD. A double CD from the concert was released in July as "Kiss Alive IV."

"This is a way to see Kiss more in the scale we should be -- larger than life," lead singer Paul Stanley told The Associated Press. "The concert itself is pretty jaw-dropping. To be able to see it on a big screen with a full audience of people rocking is pretty amazing."

"Size does seem to matter," bassist Gene Simmons added.

The show features original members Stanley, Simmons and drummer Peter Criss with the band's newest member, Tommy Thayer, a longtime touring assistant who was pressed into service when original guitarist Ace Frehley declined to perform following what was supposed to be a farewell tour in 2000-01.

The band is on a tour with Aerosmith, which Stanley said will continue through next summer, and is considering doing a new studio album.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Singer-songwriter Hal Ketchum will perform Tuesday on the Grand Ole Opry radio show to help raise money for drug and alcohol treatment centers.

Ketchum, an Opry member, and singer T. Graham Brown will do songs from a new compilation album called "Songs of Hope, Awareness and Recovery for Everyone." Proceeds from the album will go to drug and alcohol treatment centers nationwide.

The album includes previously released songs by Ketchum and Brown, as well as by Martina McBride, George Jones, Travis Tritt, Diamond Rio and others. Ketchum and Brown also perform a new song called "When Love Rules the World."

Ketchum, 50, has hits including "Small Town Saturday Night" and "Sure Love." He's been an Opry member since 1994.

The Opry was established in 1925 and is the nation's longest continuously running radio show, broadcast on WSM-AM.