13 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Lily Allen, who announced her pregnancy last month, has had a miscarriage.

“She and her partner, Ed Simons, will be making no further comment and we ask that their privacy be respected during this difficult time,” Allen’s spokesman, Jon Bills, said Friday in a statement.

Simons, 37, is a member of The Chemical Brothers.

Allen’s cheeky debut album, “Alright, Still,” which includes the hit single “Smile,” was released in the U.S. last year. The 22-year-old British pop singer’s follow-up CD is expected to be released this year.

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On the Net:

Lily Allen:

http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/

The Chemical Brothers:

http://www.thechemicalbrothers.com/home/

39 minutes ago

NEW YORK - A judge says she wants more information before she decides whether to let rapper Foxy Brown get out of jail and go to California for repair of an electronic ear implant. Acting state Supreme Court Justice Melissa Jackson said Thursday she wanted proof of Brown’s claim that deafness looms unless she goes to Los Angeles’ House Clinic for treatment and for repair of a defective cochlear implant.

Brown, 29, revealed her hearing problems during a court appearance in late 2004. Her petition says her condition is worsening in jail and her hearing faces serious harm unless she has the cochlear implant reprogrammed and repaired.

Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was sentenced in September 2007 to a year in jail for violating probation.

The judge had put her on probation after she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of two manicurists at a Manhattan nail salon in August 2004.

Brown’s lawyer, Laura Dilimetin, told the judge she was asking her to amend her client’s sentence so she could make the medically necessary trip to the West Coast.

Assistant District Attorney Cindy Chung objected, saying Brown had offered nothing to show the medical procedure could not be done in New York. She said a jail inmate has no right to the doctor of her choice.

Chung also opposed the request to amend Brown’s sentence.

“The mere existence of a debilitating health condition does not merit a sentence reduction, even if it is a terminal illness,” the prosecutor told the judge. “Basically, your honor, this is a desperate and frivolous petition.”

The judge ordered Dilimetin to give the hip-hop diva’s medical records to the district attorney, the Department of Correction and the Department of Probation so they could file position papers. She said the records would be sealed.

“I need to have more information on this,” the judge said.

Before being led out of the courtroom, Brown told the judge she had had a lot of time to think and had learned a lot in jail, including how to suppress her emotions and make better decisions.

“I have too much talent to throw it away,” Brown said. “I know I will make you proud and my family proud.”

The judge told the rapper, “I’m glad you’re learning some very hard lessons that needed to be learned.”

courtesy of NME.com Thu Jan 17, 7:00 AM ET

Amy Winehouse’s incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil has threatened to divorce the troubled singer.

According to Grazia, Fielder-Civil made the threat after the couple recently had a fight.

Winehouse’s father Mitch said: "Blake threatened to issue divorce proceedings when they were having a row. Unfortunately, Blake is influenced by things his mother has said. I think [his mother] Georgette wants them to divorce, but it's up to them.

"From Amy's point of view, she would stick by him not matter what. But he has said things like, 'I want a divorce.'"

For more on Amy Winehouse, check out her NME.com page.

56 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four photographers were arrested for reckless driving after a late night car chase of pop star Britney Spears on the outskirts of Los Angeles, police said on Thursday.

Los Angeles police spokeswoman Sara Faden said the four were among a group of paparazzi seen driving at high speed in the Mission Hills area of the city around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday on the trail of the troubled singer.

"Britney Spears was part of the group, but was not driving recklessly," Faden said. She said four men were booked for reckless driving and each ordered to put up $5,000 bail.

According to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, Spears told police that one of the cars, which she could not identify, may have tried to run her off the road.

Spears, 26, has been trailed by paparazzi day and night for several months as her personal and professional life has fallen apart following her divorce from Kevin Federline and bitter battles over the custody of her two children.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Alan Elsner)

7 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Ashley Tisdale says she was somewhat distressed when she first saw her new profile after her recent nose job.

She “kind of freaked out,” the 22-year-old actress-singer tells People magazine in its Jan. 28 issue. “I was so swollen, I was like, `Oh my gosh, is it going to stay like this?’”

Tisdale says she doesn’t regret having the surgery but is sorry she decided to sing in public two weeks later.

Since performing at last month’s Z100 Jingle Ball concert in New York, she has suffered a backlash from fans who say they barely recognize the actress they loved as scene-stealing Sharpay in the Disney Channel TV movie “High School Musical” and its sequel.

“People were saying I was `unveiling my look,’ but I was still recovering! That’s not what I look like right now,” she tells the magazine.

Tisdale says her face looked “practically paralyzed” in photos of the Dec. 15 event but she is now able to make facial expressions and even scrunch up her nose.

“I think I still look like me,” she says.

Tisdale had surgery Nov. 30 to correct a deviated septum that worsened over the years and contributed to breathing problems. She says her nose had changed shape and “was leaning in a different direction” after being fractured twice.

She begins shooting the “High School Musical 3″ feature film in April.

Tisdale says she decided to talk about her surgery because she “didn’t want to play a game of denying it or being coy.”

“I wanted my fans to know because I don’t take plastic surgery lightly,” she says.

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The Disney Channel is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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On the Net:

Ashley Tisdale:

http://www.ashleytisdale.com/

People magazine:

http://www.people.com/people

The Disney Channel:

http://disney.go.com/index

16 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Mary J. Blige is returning to “One Life to Live.”

The Grammy-winning singer taped another appearance Thursday on the ABC soap opera. She last visited the fictional town of Llanview in July 2006 to perform hits from her multiplatinum album “The Breakthrough.”

For her second cameo, she’ll be a surprise guest at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party for Starr Manning (played by Kristen Alderson), ABC said. The episodes are set to air Feb. 15 and Feb. 18.

Accompanied by her band, Blige, 37, will sing “Just Fine,” the Grammy-nominated single from her new album, “Growing Pains,” as well another track called “Hurt Again.”

“It’s absolutely amazing to be integrated into a soap opera I’ve watched since I was a little girl,” Blige said in a statement. “I am beyond thrilled to be welcomed back again.”

Nelly Furtado, Chris Botti, Erykah Badu, Timbaland and Keri Hilson have also performed on the show.

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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On the Net:

ABC:

http://abc.go.com/daytime/onelifetolive/

Mary J. Blige:

http://www.mjblige.com

David Jenison Thu Jan 17, 9:09 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Are the Stones rolling away from their longtime label?

Despite a 16-year relationship with Virgin/EMI, the Rolling Stones signed a one-album deal with Universal to release Shine a Light, the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese concert film due in April.

With the band's EMI contract set to expire this year, the move may be a precursor for Mick & Co. to join Paul McCartney and Radiohead in exodus from the once powerhouse music company.

Should the Stones change companies, the World's Greatest Rock Band would take with them a catalog of 14 studio albums dating back to 1971's Sticky Fingers. Universal already owns the group's 1963-1970 catalog.

However, the iconic rockers might follow the lead of Madonna and consider signing with Artist Nation, the new music company by concert giant Live Nation (which won two Billboard Touring awards for producing the Stones' A Bigger Bang tour).

Or, the Stones might simply be using the uncertainty to get a better deal from EMI.

The London-based label, which entertained a merger with Universal a decade ago, has struggled in recent years after decades of success. The company currently has the lowest market share among the big four music groups, and last year its share slipped into single-digits at just over 9 percent.

By comparison, Universal, the biggest of all, controled 32 percent of the pie, followed by Sony/BMG (25 percent) and Warner Music (20 percent).

EMI rejected a $4.8 billion merger bid by Warner Music last year but wound up falling to a similarly priced takeover by London-based Terra Firma Capital Partners, whose other investments include pubs, theaters and cinemas.

Paul McCartney, whose Beatles catalog is one of EMI's most valuable assets, left the company last March ahead of the takeover and signed with Starbucks' Hear Music label. After the Terra Firma deal, Radiohead decided not to reup with EMI, later saying they didn't want to be "simply part of their stock."

There have been reports suggesting that Coldplay might follow Radiohead's lead after fulfilling its contract with a greatest hits album in 2009. Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams, who are immensely popular in the U.K., also expressed interest in jettisoning EMI.

While EMI tries to retain its top artists, several of its employees were shown the door this week. Terra Firma boss Guy Hands, whose business experience is considerably vaster than his music industry experience, announced plans this week to cut 2,000 of the company's 5,500 staff worldwide.

One employee he won't have to cut, however, is former U.K. chief executive Tony Wadsworth, who resigned last week. During his quarter-century tenure at EMI, Wadsworth signed many of the company's top acts.

EMI's 77-year history includes works by the Beatles, the Stones, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, the Spice Girls and other international sensations. But the label struggled to break a new superstar act in recent years. Hands' plan includes cutting staff and artists and focusing more on A&R development and addressing the digital market. Hands will also strive for more Stateside success with his British stars.

The question remains, when Hands finishes reshaping EMI into a new model, how many of his top artists will remain?

As far as the Rolling Stones go, he might want to queue up one of their chestnuts: "It's All Over Now."