Associated Press

Associated Press

• German pop singer tried over HIV allegation - 08/16/2010
  A German singer facing accusations that she infected a man with the virus that causes AIDS acknowledged in court Monday that she had unprotected sex despite knowing she was HIV-positive. Nadja Benaissa, 28, a member of German girl band No Angels, is charged with grievous bodily harm for allegedly infecting a partner with the virus in
  

• Met Opera breaks box office record, topping $2.6M - 08/16/2010
  The Metropolitan Opera has set a record for its box office opening day, selling more than $2.6 million worth of single tickets for the new season. The total, reflecting the sale of more than 24,000 tickets on Sunday, compares to $2.5 million in sales on last year's opening day. Sales included in-person purchases, plus those made by te
  

• Robert Wilson, bassist for the Gap Band, dies - 08/16/2010
  Robert Wilson, who as the bassist for the funk and R&B group the Gap Band had a string of hits including "You Dropped a Bomb On Me," has died. He was 53. He died at his home Sunday in Palmdale, Calif., outside of Los Angeles. He is believed to have died of a heart attack, said Karen Lee, publicist for his brother and Gap
  

• Jazz photographer Herman Leonard dies at 87 - 08/16/2010
  Jazz scene photographer Herman Leonard, famous for his smoky, backlighted black-and-white photos of such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, has died. He was 87. Leonard, who moved to Los Angeles after Hurricane Katrina flooded his New Orleans home and destroyed tho
  

• Hendrix items on show in his former London home - 08/16/2010
  Clothing, mementoes and handwritten lyrics belonging to Jimi Hendrix are going on display at his former London home to mark the 40th anniversary of his death. The guitarist lived during the late 1960s in an apartment in the Mayfair area of London. He died in the city on Sept. 18, 1970. Composer George Frideric Handel lived
  

• Graceland vigil marks 33 years since Elvis' death - 08/16/2010
  Candles flickered in the balmy night as thousands of Elvis Presley fans filed silently by his grave during a vigil at Graceland, marking 33 years since the American icon died. Elvis admirers from around the world descended on Elvis' former home Sunday night to attend an annual candlelight vigil and procession that ran into Monday morn
  

• Jazz singer Abbey Lincoln dies at age 80 in NY - 08/15/2010
  Abbey Lincoln, a jazz singer and songwriter known for her phrasing, emotion and uncompromising style, died Saturday in New York at age 80. She had been declining in health for the past year. Her death was confirmed by friend and filmmaker Carol Friedman, who has been working on a documentary on Lincoln's life. Lincoln made
  

• APNewsBreak: Jean seeks dual citizenship for Haiti - 08/15/2010
  Hip hop artist and presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean said Saturday that as leader he would work to change Haiti's constitution to allow dual citizenship and give many Haitians living abroad the right to vote in their homeland. The issue is central in Haiti where hundreds of thousands have emigrated to flee poverty and the money they se
  

• Sheriff: Tila Tequila says audience threw rocks - 08/15/2010
  A sheriff says reality TV actress Tila Tequila complained that audience members pelted her with stones and feces during an outdoor music festival in southern Illinois. Hardin County Sheriff Tom Seiner told a Carterville TV station it happened early Saturday at the Gathering of the Juggalos. That's a weekend festival based around the b
  

• Minute's silence at Swiss parade for Duisburg dead - 08/14/2010
  Revelers at Zurich's annual 'Street Parade' festival have observed a minute's silence for the victims of a fatal stampede at a techno event in Germany last month. Organizers stopped the floats and turned off the music at precisely 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) to honor the 21 people crushed to death at the Love Parade festival in the western Germ
  

• Richie Hayward, co-founder of Little Feat, dies - 08/13/2010
  Richie Hayward, co-founder of the Little Feat, an eclectic jamband that maintained a strong cult following throughout the decades, has died. He was 64. The drummer had been suffering from liver cancer and died Thursday at a hospital near Vancouver, Canada, after complications of pneumonia, his publicist, Bridget Nolan, confirmed Frida
  

• Rapper Foxy Brown indicted for NY court violation - 08/13/2010
  Rapper Foxy Brown has been indicted on charges of violating an order of protection stemming from a 2007 confrontation with her neighbor in New York City. Prosecutors say Brown violated the order in July by screaming at neighbor Arlene Raymond before bending over, baring her buttocks at Raymond and showing her underwear while shouting
  

• Rapper Juvenile pleads guilty in La. drug case - 08/13/2010
  New Orleans rapper Juvenile has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in Louisiana. The St. Bernard Parish sheriff's office says the 34-year-old, whose real name is Terius Gray, entered the plea Thursday. The rapper and an aquaintance were arrested Feb. 25. He received a suspended sentence of three mon
  

• Green Day teams with Gang Green in Jets' opener - 08/13/2010
  Gang Green and Green Day are ready to play together. The New York Jets said Friday the band will play during their regular-season opener Sept. 13. The Jets face the Baltimore Ravens in the Monday night game at New Meadowlands Stadium. Green Day will perform "Last of the American Girls" with the Broadway cast of th
  

• Ga. trestle from R.E.M. album may become trail - 08/13/2010
  An aging Georgia railroad trestle known for gracing a 1980s R.E.M. album may be preserved as part of a trail network if voters approve a county sales tax plan. Officials in Athens, Ga., where the band formed, say they won't decide if they can save the wooden trestle until voters in November decide on extending a 1-percent sales tax fo
  

• NJ's Lautenberg to hold fundraiser with Lady Gaga - 08/13/2010
  Sen. Frank Lautenberg is going gaga. Lady Gaga, that is. The nation's oldest senator will hold a fundraiser at the pop singer's Monster Ball Tour at the Verizon Center in Washington on Sept 7. The Washington Post reports the 86-year-old New Jersey Democrat is offering seats in a private suite for $2,500 a person for politic
  

• Justin Bieber contributes to Tenn. flood relief - 08/12/2010
  Teen pop star Justin Bieber is proving he's not the only one in his world. He brought his My World tour to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena Wednesday and donated a portion of every ticket sale to Middle Tennessee flood relief. Concert promoter AEG Live matched the donation. Together with proceeds from last month's show featuri
  

• Elvis Week hits stride as buyout talks heat up - 08/12/2010
  Elvis Presley is in play. CKx Inc., owner of the "American Idol" television program and 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, is mulling at least two offers to buy the company. At the same time, thousands of Elvis fans have descended on Memphis for Elvis Week, the annual commemoration of the American music icon's life and
  

• A year after Swift diss, Kanye to return to VMAs - 08/12/2010
  A year after his infamous outburst at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West will return. The rapper is scheduled to perform at the show Sept. 12 in Los Angeles. Last year, he dissed Taylor Swift at the event, grabbing the microphone from her as she accepted the award for best female video and saying Beyonce should have won it.
  

• Aguilera lends her voice to support the arts - 08/12/2010
  Christina Aguilera is doing her part to help the arts. The Grammy-winning singer is lending her voice to a fundraiser in support of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's latest project. Aguilera will perform at the Sept. 25 grand opening celebration of the museum's Lynda and Stewart Resnick Pavilion, described by LACMA as