NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, whose choice of novel rhythms, classical structures and brilliant sidemen made him a towering figure in modern jazz, has died at the age of 91, his longtime manager and producer Russell Gloyd said on Wednesday.
Brubeck died of heart failure on his way to a regular medical exam at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., said Gloyd.
His Dave Brubeck Quartet put out one of the biggest selling jazz songs of all time: 'Take Five,' composed by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. Like many of the group's works, it had an unusual beat -- 5/4 time as opposed to the usual 4/4.
'We play it differently every time we play it,' Brubeck told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. 'So I never get tired of playing it. That's the beauty of jazz.'
'Take Five' was the first million-selling jazz single.
Brubeck injected classical counterpoint, atonal harmonies and modern dissonance into his music, hinting at composers such as Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky and Bach.
(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
This article is brought to you by MATCH.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Hugh Hefner heads to altar again, with "runaway bride"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is headed to the altar again - with the blonde Playmate who ditched him five days before their planned wedding in 2011.
Hefner, 86, and his former 'runaway bride' Crystal Harris, 26, obtained a marriage license in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Recorder spokeswoman Elizabeth Knox said.
Celebrity website TMZ.com said the couple, who reunited earlier this year, are planning a New Year's Eve wedding.
Harris was Playboy magazine's Miss December 2009 and appeared on the July 2011 cover of the adult magazine with a 'runaway bride' sticker covering her bottom half.
In what was described at the time only as a 'change of heart,' Harris dumped the magazine mogul and left his Playboy Mansion five days before a lavish June 2011 wedding before 300 guests.
This time around, the couple are playing it low-key, staying mum on their busy Twitter accounts with Hefner's spokeswoman declining to confirm or deny their plans.
Hefner, founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire, has been married twice before. He and his second wife Kimberley Conrad, also a former Playmate, divorced in 2010 after a lengthy separation. His first marriage to Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. He has two children from each marriage.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant)
This news article is brought to you by LINUXOS.PRO - where latest news are our top priority.
Hefner, 86, and his former 'runaway bride' Crystal Harris, 26, obtained a marriage license in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Recorder spokeswoman Elizabeth Knox said.
Celebrity website TMZ.com said the couple, who reunited earlier this year, are planning a New Year's Eve wedding.
Harris was Playboy magazine's Miss December 2009 and appeared on the July 2011 cover of the adult magazine with a 'runaway bride' sticker covering her bottom half.
In what was described at the time only as a 'change of heart,' Harris dumped the magazine mogul and left his Playboy Mansion five days before a lavish June 2011 wedding before 300 guests.
This time around, the couple are playing it low-key, staying mum on their busy Twitter accounts with Hefner's spokeswoman declining to confirm or deny their plans.
Hefner, founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire, has been married twice before. He and his second wife Kimberley Conrad, also a former Playmate, divorced in 2010 after a lengthy separation. His first marriage to Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. He has two children from each marriage.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant)
This news article is brought to you by LINUXOS.PRO - where latest news are our top priority.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
And the most overpaid actor award goes to: Eddie Murphy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eddie Murphy was once among Hollywood's top box office draws, but he now has the dubious honor of being crowned its most overpaid actor, according to Forbes magazine.
In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films' box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as 'Trading Places' and 'Beverly Hills Cop', displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.
'Murphy's career has just collapsed,' Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as 'Imagine That', 'A Thousand Words' and 'Meet Dave'.
Weighing box office receipts against paychecks, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just $2.30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.
Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with 'returns' ranging from $3.40 to $5.
Forbes took issue with Witherspoon's 'questionable' choices such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy 'How Do You Know', which was one of 2010's worst-performing films. It cost $120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry $49 million.
The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as actors generally considered solid at the box office such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
'Washington's films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheck on those movies,' Forbes noted. His current hit 'Flight' was not included for this year's list.
Washington's return was the same $6.30 calculated for Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent performers -- except when they're not, such as the disappointing 'Jack and Jill'.
It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said 'earns so much money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid. That's what happened with 'Tower Heist', in which the actor co-starred with -- Eddie Murphy.
Will Ferrell, who topped the list for two of the last four years and came in third a year ago, didn't place.
The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/overpaidactors.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)
This article is brought to you by FREE PERSONALS.
In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films' box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as 'Trading Places' and 'Beverly Hills Cop', displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.
'Murphy's career has just collapsed,' Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as 'Imagine That', 'A Thousand Words' and 'Meet Dave'.
Weighing box office receipts against paychecks, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just $2.30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.
Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with 'returns' ranging from $3.40 to $5.
Forbes took issue with Witherspoon's 'questionable' choices such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy 'How Do You Know', which was one of 2010's worst-performing films. It cost $120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry $49 million.
The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as actors generally considered solid at the box office such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
'Washington's films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheck on those movies,' Forbes noted. His current hit 'Flight' was not included for this year's list.
Washington's return was the same $6.30 calculated for Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent performers -- except when they're not, such as the disappointing 'Jack and Jill'.
It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said 'earns so much money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid. That's what happened with 'Tower Heist', in which the actor co-starred with -- Eddie Murphy.
Will Ferrell, who topped the list for two of the last four years and came in third a year ago, didn't place.
The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/overpaidactors.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)
This article is brought to you by FREE PERSONALS.
For rock legends Fleetwood Mac, it's 'til death do us part
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Do not call it a comeback and don't even think of it as a farewell tour.
After more than four decades making music and a 2010 tour, Fleetwood Mac will hit the road again next year. But it won't be its last tour, singer Stevie Nicks vowed, dismissing any notion that the band could be packing away their instruments in the near future.
'It's never going to be a final tour until we drop dead,' Nicks told Reuters. 'There's no reason for this to end as long as everyone is in good shape and takes care of themselves.'
The 34-city tour with dates in the United States and Canada will begin on April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, and finish up on June 12 in Detroit.
The tour coincides with the 35th anniversary of the blockbuster 1977 album, 'Rumours,' which landed the group four hit singles and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. The album will be reissued with unreleased studio and live recordings, Fleetwood Mac said.
After frequent changes to the lineup since the band formed in London in 1967, the 2013 tour will feature Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, and founding members Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass.
Touring again is 'a big deal,' said Nicks, 64, who is known for her floor-length blonde hair and frilly outfits.
'I don't want a Fleetwood Mac tour every year or year and a half. That's why people get so excited. ... All of a sudden the world is on edge and that's what gets you out there.'
For Nicks, who recently finished a two-year solo tour promoting her 2011 album 'In Your Dreams,' making music and being on the road is her life.
'If you never stop, you don't lose your energy,' the 'Landslide' singer said of keeping pace with a demanding tour schedule when each band member is into their 60s. 'Even when we stop, everybody is still doing a lot of stuff.'
'EVERYBODY IS NERVOUS'
Like Nicks, Buckingham has his own solo career, and Fleetwood has a restaurant in Hawaii and a U.S. vineyard as well as his own music gigs.
Fleetwood and McVie are both founding members of the band, and Buckingham and Nicks joined the group in 1974.
Singer and songwriter Christine McVie, who wrote the big hit 'Don't Stop' that was on 'Rumours,' joined the band in the early 1970s after marrying John McVie, but retired from touring after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. She still contributes on occasion to studio efforts.
Although the band will not kick off the tour until April, Nicks said the anxiety-filled grind begins months before during rehearsals when band members hammer out which songs to play.
Of the 22 songs Fleetwood Mac will play during a concert, 11 will be hits, such as 'Dreams,' 'Don't Stop' and 'Hold Me,' Nicks said.
For herself, it is a daily routine of vocal exercises and primping that can take hours.
'It's overwhelming in a good way, but it's still overwhelming,' Nicks said of the process. 'By the third day (of rehearsals) you start to calm down and get into your role. At first, everybody is nervous and not knowing what they'll do.'
But a decade removed from their last studio album 'Say You Will,' Nicks admits it may be time for another Fleetwood Mac release, adding that she and Buckingham had spent time writing songs together recently.
'Personally, I think we feel better than before,' Nicks said. 'We're not doing drugs and stuff like that ... You don't know what you'll do when you're not doing this.'
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
After more than four decades making music and a 2010 tour, Fleetwood Mac will hit the road again next year. But it won't be its last tour, singer Stevie Nicks vowed, dismissing any notion that the band could be packing away their instruments in the near future.
'It's never going to be a final tour until we drop dead,' Nicks told Reuters. 'There's no reason for this to end as long as everyone is in good shape and takes care of themselves.'
The 34-city tour with dates in the United States and Canada will begin on April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, and finish up on June 12 in Detroit.
The tour coincides with the 35th anniversary of the blockbuster 1977 album, 'Rumours,' which landed the group four hit singles and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. The album will be reissued with unreleased studio and live recordings, Fleetwood Mac said.
After frequent changes to the lineup since the band formed in London in 1967, the 2013 tour will feature Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, and founding members Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass.
Touring again is 'a big deal,' said Nicks, 64, who is known for her floor-length blonde hair and frilly outfits.
'I don't want a Fleetwood Mac tour every year or year and a half. That's why people get so excited. ... All of a sudden the world is on edge and that's what gets you out there.'
For Nicks, who recently finished a two-year solo tour promoting her 2011 album 'In Your Dreams,' making music and being on the road is her life.
'If you never stop, you don't lose your energy,' the 'Landslide' singer said of keeping pace with a demanding tour schedule when each band member is into their 60s. 'Even when we stop, everybody is still doing a lot of stuff.'
'EVERYBODY IS NERVOUS'
Like Nicks, Buckingham has his own solo career, and Fleetwood has a restaurant in Hawaii and a U.S. vineyard as well as his own music gigs.
Fleetwood and McVie are both founding members of the band, and Buckingham and Nicks joined the group in 1974.
Singer and songwriter Christine McVie, who wrote the big hit 'Don't Stop' that was on 'Rumours,' joined the band in the early 1970s after marrying John McVie, but retired from touring after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. She still contributes on occasion to studio efforts.
Although the band will not kick off the tour until April, Nicks said the anxiety-filled grind begins months before during rehearsals when band members hammer out which songs to play.
Of the 22 songs Fleetwood Mac will play during a concert, 11 will be hits, such as 'Dreams,' 'Don't Stop' and 'Hold Me,' Nicks said.
For herself, it is a daily routine of vocal exercises and primping that can take hours.
'It's overwhelming in a good way, but it's still overwhelming,' Nicks said of the process. 'By the third day (of rehearsals) you start to calm down and get into your role. At first, everybody is nervous and not knowing what they'll do.'
But a decade removed from their last studio album 'Say You Will,' Nicks admits it may be time for another Fleetwood Mac release, adding that she and Buckingham had spent time writing songs together recently.
'Personally, I think we feel better than before,' Nicks said. 'We're not doing drugs and stuff like that ... You don't know what you'll do when you're not doing this.'
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
Monday, December 3, 2012
UK's Prince William and wife Kate expecting a baby
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, destined to be the country's future monarch, although the mother-to-be is in hospital with a type of very acute morning sickness that sometimes indicates twins.
'Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby,' the prince's office said in a statement on Monday, adding that Queen Elizabeth and the royal family were delighted.
The couple, officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, married in April last year, amid a global media frenzy and there has been much speculation, particularly in U.S. gossip magazines, about a possible pregnancy.
'It's only been a matter of time. Everyone has been waiting for Kate to announce that she was pregnant,' Claudia Joseph, who has written a biography of the duchess, told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the couple said 30-year-old Catherine, widely known as Kate, was in the King Edward VII Hospital in central London suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which causes severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.
Britain's National Health Service website said the condition was common in the early weeks of pregnancy but did not put the baby at any increased risk.
Professor Tim Draycott, a consultant obstetrician at the University of Bristol, told Reuters that the condition may indicate more than one royal baby may be in the offing.
'Hyperemesis is slightly more common with twins ' Draycott said.
William, a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot, was at her side and she is likely to remain in hospital for several days. There was no detail about when the baby was due, although the prince's spokesman said she was less than 12 weeks pregnant.
'I'm delighted by the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby,' Prime Minister David Cameron said on his Twitter website. 'They will make wonderful parents.'
BABY WILL BE KING, OR QUEEN
William, Queen Elizabeth's 30-year-old grandson, is second in line to the British throne, and their first child will become the third in succession when he or she is born.
Last year Britain and other Commonwealth countries which have the queen as their monarch agreed to change the rules of royal succession so that males would no longer have precedence as heir, regardless of age.
The agreement also means an end to a ban on a future monarch marrying a Catholic, a stipulation dating back some 300 years.
Britain's royal family are currently riding the crest of popularity on the back of William and Kate's wedding and the queen's diamond jubilee this year which has witnessed nationwide celebrations.
The young royal couple have become global stars after some two billion people tuned in to watch their glittering marriage ceremony and the sumptuous display of pageantry that accompanied it, and barely a day goes by without a picture of Catherine appearing in the pages of Britain's royalty-obsessed newspapers.
The duchess, the first 'commoner' to marry a prince in close proximity to the throne in more than 350 years, is now a fashion icon, with her attire scrutinized every time she steps out in public and followed by legions of women around the world.
That has also brought unwanted attention and there was anger in Britain when topless photos of Kate relaxing on holiday were published in a French magazine in September.
The pictures rekindled memories of the media pursuit of William's mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.
'I will be very surprised if this isn't handled with the utmost tact and sensitivity,' said media commentator Steve Hewlett. 'Newspapers realize there's a huge amount of goodwill towards Will and Kate, and they take their cue from their readers.'
'DADDY'S LITTLE CO-PILOT'
Kate made her last public appearance on Friday when she returned to her old school - a minor event that nonetheless generated live television coverage on news channels - when she looked healthy and joined in a game of hockey with pupils.
Earlier in the week William had hinted at a pregnancy during a visit to Cambridge in central England when they were given a home-made baby suit emblazoned with the words 'Daddy's little co-pilot', a reference to William's job.
'When I gave it to him he said 'I'll keep that', and handed it to his aide,' said Samantha Hill.
Joseph, author of 'Kate: The Making of a Princess', said she believed the couple, who currently live in north Wales where the prince is based as a search and rescue pilot, had been waiting for the right moment to have a baby.
'My feeling has always been that they were not going to take the spotlight away from the queen in her Jubilee. But now 2013 is going to be William and Kate's year,' she said, adding the couple would make wonderful parents.
'We have seen her with children and she is lovely with them, she's got the natural touch, and her parents run a party business and she has spent a lot of time with children,' Joseph said. '(William) he has always talked about wanting children, so I am sure he is delighted.'
(Additional reporting by Tim Castle and Peter Schwartzstein, editing by Paul Casciato)
This news article is brought to you by GLOBAL WEATHER NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
'Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby,' the prince's office said in a statement on Monday, adding that Queen Elizabeth and the royal family were delighted.
The couple, officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, married in April last year, amid a global media frenzy and there has been much speculation, particularly in U.S. gossip magazines, about a possible pregnancy.
'It's only been a matter of time. Everyone has been waiting for Kate to announce that she was pregnant,' Claudia Joseph, who has written a biography of the duchess, told Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the couple said 30-year-old Catherine, widely known as Kate, was in the King Edward VII Hospital in central London suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which causes severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.
Britain's National Health Service website said the condition was common in the early weeks of pregnancy but did not put the baby at any increased risk.
Professor Tim Draycott, a consultant obstetrician at the University of Bristol, told Reuters that the condition may indicate more than one royal baby may be in the offing.
'Hyperemesis is slightly more common with twins ' Draycott said.
William, a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot, was at her side and she is likely to remain in hospital for several days. There was no detail about when the baby was due, although the prince's spokesman said she was less than 12 weeks pregnant.
'I'm delighted by the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby,' Prime Minister David Cameron said on his Twitter website. 'They will make wonderful parents.'
BABY WILL BE KING, OR QUEEN
William, Queen Elizabeth's 30-year-old grandson, is second in line to the British throne, and their first child will become the third in succession when he or she is born.
Last year Britain and other Commonwealth countries which have the queen as their monarch agreed to change the rules of royal succession so that males would no longer have precedence as heir, regardless of age.
The agreement also means an end to a ban on a future monarch marrying a Catholic, a stipulation dating back some 300 years.
Britain's royal family are currently riding the crest of popularity on the back of William and Kate's wedding and the queen's diamond jubilee this year which has witnessed nationwide celebrations.
The young royal couple have become global stars after some two billion people tuned in to watch their glittering marriage ceremony and the sumptuous display of pageantry that accompanied it, and barely a day goes by without a picture of Catherine appearing in the pages of Britain's royalty-obsessed newspapers.
The duchess, the first 'commoner' to marry a prince in close proximity to the throne in more than 350 years, is now a fashion icon, with her attire scrutinized every time she steps out in public and followed by legions of women around the world.
That has also brought unwanted attention and there was anger in Britain when topless photos of Kate relaxing on holiday were published in a French magazine in September.
The pictures rekindled memories of the media pursuit of William's mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.
'I will be very surprised if this isn't handled with the utmost tact and sensitivity,' said media commentator Steve Hewlett. 'Newspapers realize there's a huge amount of goodwill towards Will and Kate, and they take their cue from their readers.'
'DADDY'S LITTLE CO-PILOT'
Kate made her last public appearance on Friday when she returned to her old school - a minor event that nonetheless generated live television coverage on news channels - when she looked healthy and joined in a game of hockey with pupils.
Earlier in the week William had hinted at a pregnancy during a visit to Cambridge in central England when they were given a home-made baby suit emblazoned with the words 'Daddy's little co-pilot', a reference to William's job.
'When I gave it to him he said 'I'll keep that', and handed it to his aide,' said Samantha Hill.
Joseph, author of 'Kate: The Making of a Princess', said she believed the couple, who currently live in north Wales where the prince is based as a search and rescue pilot, had been waiting for the right moment to have a baby.
'My feeling has always been that they were not going to take the spotlight away from the queen in her Jubilee. But now 2013 is going to be William and Kate's year,' she said, adding the couple would make wonderful parents.
'We have seen her with children and she is lovely with them, she's got the natural touch, and her parents run a party business and she has spent a lot of time with children,' Joseph said. '(William) he has always talked about wanting children, so I am sure he is delighted.'
(Additional reporting by Tim Castle and Peter Schwartzstein, editing by Paul Casciato)
This news article is brought to you by GLOBAL WEATHER NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
UK's Prince William and Catherine expecting a baby
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, destined to be the country's future monarch, the prince's office said on Monday.
"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the office said in a statement.
"The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news."
The couple, officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, married in April last year, prompting a global media frenzy and there has been much speculation, particularly in U.S. gossip magazines, about a possible pregnancy.
The statement said Catherine was in the King Edward VII Hospital in Central London suffering from very acute morning sickness. She is likely to remain there for several days.
It said her condition required supplementary hydration and nutrients. There was no detail about when the baby was due, with the statement stating the pregnancy was in its early stages.
"I'm delighted by the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby," Prime Minister David Cameron said on his Twitter website. "They will make wonderful parents."
William, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, is second in line to the British throne, and their first child will become the third in succession when he or she is born.
Last year Britain and other Commonwealth countries which have the queen as their monarch agreed to change the rules of royal succession so that sons would no longer have precedence as heir, regardless of age.
The agreement also means an end to a ban on a future monarch marrying a Catholic, a stipulation dating back some 300 years.
William and Catherine currently live in north Wales where the prince is based as a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot.
(Reporting by Michael Holden)
"Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the office said in a statement.
"The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news."
The couple, officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, married in April last year, prompting a global media frenzy and there has been much speculation, particularly in U.S. gossip magazines, about a possible pregnancy.
The statement said Catherine was in the King Edward VII Hospital in Central London suffering from very acute morning sickness. She is likely to remain there for several days.
It said her condition required supplementary hydration and nutrients. There was no detail about when the baby was due, with the statement stating the pregnancy was in its early stages.
"I'm delighted by the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby," Prime Minister David Cameron said on his Twitter website. "They will make wonderful parents."
William, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, is second in line to the British throne, and their first child will become the third in succession when he or she is born.
Last year Britain and other Commonwealth countries which have the queen as their monarch agreed to change the rules of royal succession so that sons would no longer have precedence as heir, regardless of age.
The agreement also means an end to a ban on a future monarch marrying a Catholic, a stipulation dating back some 300 years.
William and Catherine currently live in north Wales where the prince is based as a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot.
(Reporting by Michael Holden)
Obama salutes entertainers at Kennedy Center Honors
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Music legend Led Zeppelin was recognized on Sunday alongside entertainers from stage and screen for their contributions to the arts and American culture at the Kennedy Center Honors, lifetime achievement awards for performing artists.
The eclectic tribute in Washington, alternated between solemn veneration and lighthearted roasting of honorees Academy Award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, wisecracking late-night talk show host David Letterman, blues guitar icon Buddy Guy, ballerina Natalia Makarova and Led Zeppelin.
'I worked with the speechwriters - there is no smooth transition from ballet to Led Zeppelin,' President Barack Obama deadpanned while introducing the honorees at a ceremony in the White House East Room.
Friends, contemporaries and a new generation of artists influenced by the honorees took the stage in tribute.
'Dustin Hoffman is a pain the ass,' actor Robert DeNiro, a former honoree, said in introducing the infamously perfectionist star of such celebrated films as 'The Graduate' and 'Tootsie.'
'And he inspired me to be a bit of a pain in the ass too,' DeNiro said with a big smile.
At a weekend dinner for the winners at the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that the performing arts often requires a touch of diplomacy as she toasted Makarova, a dance icon in the former Soviet Union when she defected in 1970.
Makarova, the pride of her national ballet program, said she obeyed an impulse for creative freedom when she sought asylum while in London for a performance.
'It's most incredible because it looks like I lived two lives,' the artist told reporters before the event. 'I've come a long way, baby, no? That's the way someone said it for me.'
The lightest moments came in the tribute to variety show host David Letterman. Several performers said his oddball program was a worthy successor to 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,' which was the standard bearer for late-night shows from the 1960s through the early 1990s.
Comedian Tina Fey, honored with the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2010, marveled at Letterman's ability to goad and humble his celebrity guests.
'David Letterman is a professor emeritus at the 'Here's Some More Rope Institute,'' she joked.
Letterman, who joked earlier in the weekend that he was going to fund an investigation to determine how he was given the honor, was at a loss for words on the red carpet.
'I was full of trepidation, but now I am full of nothing but gratitude,' he said. 'I don't believe this, but it's been nice for my family.'
Despite the president's misgivings about his own speech, performances at the Kennedy Center easily transitioned from precision dance tributes for Makarova to gritty blues music when the spotlight turned to Guy, a sharecropper's son who made his first instrument with wire scrounged from his family's home in rural Louisiana.
'He's one of the most idiosyncratic and passionate blues greats, and there are not many left of that original generation,' said Bonnie Raitt, who as an 18-year-old blues singer was often the warm-up act for Guy.
Raitt led an ensemble tribute that included singer Tracy Chapman and guitarist Jeff Beck.
Guy, 76, was a pioneer in the Chicago blues style that pushed the sound of electrically amped guitar to the forefront of the music.
'You mastered the soul of gut bucket,' actor Morgan Freeman told the Kennedy Center audience. 'You made a bridge from roots to rock 'n roll.'
In a toast on Saturday night, former President Bill Clinton talked of Guy's impoverished upbringing and how he improvised a guitar from the strands of a porch screen, paint can and his mother's hair pins.
'In Buddy's immortal phrase, the blues is 'Something you play because you have it. And when you play it, you lose it.''
It was a version of the blues that drifted over the Atlantic to Britain and echoed back in the heart-pounding rock sound of Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy Page, 68, was the guitar impresario who anchored the compositions with vocalist Robert Plant, 64, howling and screeching out the soul. Bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, 66, rounded out the band with drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980.
The incongruity of the famously hard-partying rock stars in black tie under chandeliers at a White House ceremony was not lost on Obama.
'Of course, these guys also redefined the rock and roll lifestyle,' the president said, to laughter and sheepish looks from the band members.
'So it's fitting that we're doing this in a room with windows that are about three inches thick - and Secret Service all around,' Obama said. 'So, guys, just settle down.'
On stage Sunday night, Nancy and Ann Wilson of the rock band Heart, belted out Zeppelin's emblematic 'Stairway to Heaven' to close out the show.
The gala will be aired on CBS television on December 26.
(Reporting By Patrick Rucker and Mark Felsenthal)
This news article is brought to you by SHOCKING DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
The eclectic tribute in Washington, alternated between solemn veneration and lighthearted roasting of honorees Academy Award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, wisecracking late-night talk show host David Letterman, blues guitar icon Buddy Guy, ballerina Natalia Makarova and Led Zeppelin.
'I worked with the speechwriters - there is no smooth transition from ballet to Led Zeppelin,' President Barack Obama deadpanned while introducing the honorees at a ceremony in the White House East Room.
Friends, contemporaries and a new generation of artists influenced by the honorees took the stage in tribute.
'Dustin Hoffman is a pain the ass,' actor Robert DeNiro, a former honoree, said in introducing the infamously perfectionist star of such celebrated films as 'The Graduate' and 'Tootsie.'
'And he inspired me to be a bit of a pain in the ass too,' DeNiro said with a big smile.
At a weekend dinner for the winners at the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that the performing arts often requires a touch of diplomacy as she toasted Makarova, a dance icon in the former Soviet Union when she defected in 1970.
Makarova, the pride of her national ballet program, said she obeyed an impulse for creative freedom when she sought asylum while in London for a performance.
'It's most incredible because it looks like I lived two lives,' the artist told reporters before the event. 'I've come a long way, baby, no? That's the way someone said it for me.'
The lightest moments came in the tribute to variety show host David Letterman. Several performers said his oddball program was a worthy successor to 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,' which was the standard bearer for late-night shows from the 1960s through the early 1990s.
Comedian Tina Fey, honored with the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2010, marveled at Letterman's ability to goad and humble his celebrity guests.
'David Letterman is a professor emeritus at the 'Here's Some More Rope Institute,'' she joked.
Letterman, who joked earlier in the weekend that he was going to fund an investigation to determine how he was given the honor, was at a loss for words on the red carpet.
'I was full of trepidation, but now I am full of nothing but gratitude,' he said. 'I don't believe this, but it's been nice for my family.'
Despite the president's misgivings about his own speech, performances at the Kennedy Center easily transitioned from precision dance tributes for Makarova to gritty blues music when the spotlight turned to Guy, a sharecropper's son who made his first instrument with wire scrounged from his family's home in rural Louisiana.
'He's one of the most idiosyncratic and passionate blues greats, and there are not many left of that original generation,' said Bonnie Raitt, who as an 18-year-old blues singer was often the warm-up act for Guy.
Raitt led an ensemble tribute that included singer Tracy Chapman and guitarist Jeff Beck.
Guy, 76, was a pioneer in the Chicago blues style that pushed the sound of electrically amped guitar to the forefront of the music.
'You mastered the soul of gut bucket,' actor Morgan Freeman told the Kennedy Center audience. 'You made a bridge from roots to rock 'n roll.'
In a toast on Saturday night, former President Bill Clinton talked of Guy's impoverished upbringing and how he improvised a guitar from the strands of a porch screen, paint can and his mother's hair pins.
'In Buddy's immortal phrase, the blues is 'Something you play because you have it. And when you play it, you lose it.''
It was a version of the blues that drifted over the Atlantic to Britain and echoed back in the heart-pounding rock sound of Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy Page, 68, was the guitar impresario who anchored the compositions with vocalist Robert Plant, 64, howling and screeching out the soul. Bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, 66, rounded out the band with drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980.
The incongruity of the famously hard-partying rock stars in black tie under chandeliers at a White House ceremony was not lost on Obama.
'Of course, these guys also redefined the rock and roll lifestyle,' the president said, to laughter and sheepish looks from the band members.
'So it's fitting that we're doing this in a room with windows that are about three inches thick - and Secret Service all around,' Obama said. 'So, guys, just settle down.'
On stage Sunday night, Nancy and Ann Wilson of the rock band Heart, belted out Zeppelin's emblematic 'Stairway to Heaven' to close out the show.
The gala will be aired on CBS television on December 26.
(Reporting By Patrick Rucker and Mark Felsenthal)
This news article is brought to you by SHOCKING DATING ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)