US country music star Willie Nelson and his tour manager were spared a jail sentence yesterday after pleading guilty in Louisiana to possessing marijuana.
Nelson, tour manager David Anderson, Nelson’s sister, Bobbie Nelson, and two drivers were issued citations on September 18 after state troopers said they found marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms on his tour bus during a commercial vehicle inspection.
State District Judge Paul deMahy fined Nelson and Anderson $US1,024 ($A1,232) each and put both on six months probation. As part of a plea agreement, the citation against Bobbie Nelson was dismissed, The St Martinville Advocate reported.
St Martin Parish Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars said he dismissed the citations against the two drivers because there was no indication they “had anything to do with the contraband”.
Word that Nelson was in the small southern Louisiana town quickly spread, and about 25 fans gathered outside the court to wait for the entertainer after his brief appearance. Nelson obliged, shaking hands, signing scraps of paper and posing for photographs.
“Thank y’all,” he said, waving as he climbed into a waiting car.
Clive Davis and Simon Cowell announce that they will partner together to supervise the much-anticipated international debut album by 21-year old British singing sensation Leona Lewis, the first female winner of Britain’s top-rated television show, The X Factor, which will be released on J/Syco Records.
Born and bred in London, Leona has already broken several records in the U.K. since she was proclaimed the winner of The X Factor in one of the most watched television events in Britain.
Within hours of the announcement, Leona’s single was made available online and set a world record for downloads by selling 50,000 copies within 30 minutes of its release. The download also became Britain’s largest download in one week. Also, the single reached platinum status and sold over 600,000 copies in its first week of release, topping the UK charts over the Christmas holidays. The single also topped the Irish pop charts and Lewis became the UK’s fastest-selling debut female artist of all time, breaking a record previously established by Britney Spears in 1999.
Both Davis and Cowell will have direct, personal involvement with Lewis’ first project, a major global launch and album release from the U.K.’s latest young hitmaker which is planned for late summer, 2007.
Emily King is really growing as a live performer and doing it quick… Raw talent so good it hits you over the head, much in the vain of Lauren Hill meets Alicia Keys (who was A & R’d by the same guy as Emily). Keep an eye on this young talent as she explodes onto the music scene this summer.
Performing to a packed house last night at Crash Mansion she played:
E- Melody
Colorblind
You & I
Ain’t no Sunshine
It was You Business Man
Walk in My Shoes
Hold Me
“I’m just finding my own culture within myself,” she says. “We have a lot of division in our society, but I was never raised like that. I feel like what I’m doing right now is going to bring a lot of people together.
For more, you can see the Imus vs. Emily video on a previous post or her official myspace page.
Ok…so it’s that time of year when the Hip Hop game pushes out as many catchy, chant, dance, sing-along summer anthems as possible.
Out of all of them that are starting to emerge “A Bay Bay” by Hurricane Chris (okay, I may be biased on the name) is one worth checking out: “A Bay Bay”