Singer
Luther Vandross suffers stroke
Veteran
R&B superstar Luther Vandross
suffered a stroke at his Manhattan home on Wednesday (April 16). While
his current location and condition has not been revealed, his business
manager, Carmen Romano, issued
a statement that said he is "under medical care and his family
and friends are hopeful for a speedy recovery."
The five-time Grammy winner turns
52-years-old this past Sunday (April 20) and his' fifteenth album
called 'Dance With My Father'
on J. Records, was planned to be released on June 10 but now will
be put on hold until the singer fully recovers.
The set includes a duet with
Beyonce Knowles (of Destiny
Child's fame) 'The Closer I Get
To You,' as well as the track 'Lovely
Day', featuring rapper Busta Rhymes.
Also appearing on the record are Queen Latifah,
Foxy Brown, and Stevie
Wonder.
Source: xs4all.nl/~mroyen
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Ms
Dynamite inks deal with Pepsi
In
the past, Micheal Jackson did
it and more recently Sisqo and
Britney Spears have done it.
What's 'it' you might ask well they've all signed a lucrative deal
with Pepsi to appear in their
commercial ads. Now you can add newcomer and mother-to-be, Ms.
Dynamite to the list as well as she recently inked a
deal with the soft drink giant.
Ms Dynamite (who's given name
is Niomi McLean-Daley) signed
for a reported cool £1 million to become the new face of Pepsi.
She's joining forces with the company to encourage under privileged
children to break bad habits and get into the music industry to achieve
success in the future.
A spokesman for Pepsi told
british newspaper The Sun: "Ms
Dynamite had a meteoric rise. She started at the very bottom and
has become one of Britain's biggest music sensations." Dynamite,
who is due to give birth to her first child in June, takes over
the role from Gareth Gates who
promoted the soft drink throughout 2002.
Meanwhile, Pepsi are to sponsor
Ms Dynamite's forthcoming concert - her only full UK show of 2003
- at London's Brixton Academy on April 26.
Source: dotmusic.com
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R&B
singing superstar Toni Braxton
is gearing to return to the Broadway lights in the title role of
Elton John & Tim Rice's
'Aida' beginning June 30. There
was reports that Destiny's Child's Michelle
Williams would be taking the role, but Braxton signed on
for a four-month long gig at New York's Palace Theatre.
In 1998, Ms Braxton made her
Broadway debut playing the role of Belle
in Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast,'
which had won her modest praise.
"I am very excited to be
coming back to Broadway as Aida," Braxton said in a statement.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I have been a fan of Elton John's
music and to be able to sing the wonderful score he wrote with Tim
Rice will be a terrific challenge both as a singer and as an actress."
Braxton, who recently left Arista
to sign a deal with Blackground Records, has plans to release a new
album on Sept. 16.
Source: billboard.com.
