Latest Celebrity News

30 years after firing, a soprano returns to the Met Opera for a recital

Mar. 18, 2024 16:18 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Soprano Kathleen Battle is returning to the Metropolitan Opera for a recital three decades after the company fired her and publicly accused her of “unprofessional actions" following a verbal confrontation. The 75-year-old is scheduled to perform on May 12 in only...

Descendant of judge who wrote infamous Dred Scott decision pens a play about where we are now

Mar. 18, 2024 12:51 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Writer and actor Kate Taney Billingsley has been thinking a lot about America's racial history and her family's part in it. One of her ancestors had an outsized role. Billingsley's great-great-great-great uncle was Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, who made arguably...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 24-30

Mar. 18, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 24-30: March 24: Harmonica player Lee Oskar of War is 76. Singer Nick Lowe is 75. Bassist Dougie Thomson of Supertramp is 73. Actor Robert Carradine (“Revenge of the Nerds”) is 70. Actor Donna Pescow is 70. Actor Kelly LeBrock is 64. DJ...

Usher, Fantasia Barrino, 'Color Purple' honored at 55th NAACP Image Awards

Mar. 17, 2024 23:37 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Usher was named entertainer of the year at the 55th annual NAACP Awards on Saturday night, which highlighted works by entertainers and writers of color. After Usher accepted his award at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the superstar R&B singer spoke...

Byron Janis, renowned American classical pianist who overcame debilitating arthritis, dies at 95

Mar. 17, 2024 17:13 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Byron Janis, a renowned American concert pianist and composer who broke barriers as a Cold War era culture ambassador and later overcame severe arthritis that nearly robbed him of his playing abilities, has died. He was 95. Janis passed away Thursday evening at a...

Cockney Rebel singer Steve Harley, who had a hit with 'Make Me Smile,' dies at 73

Mar. 17, 2024 11:58 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Steve Harley, a British musician whose glam-rock band Cockney Rebel had an enduring hit with the song “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me),” has died. He was 73. Harley’s family said Sunday that he had “passed away peacefully at home, with his family by his...

Hundreds of people in Mexico City stretch out for a 'mass nap' to commemorate World Sleep Day

Mar. 16, 2024 02:45 AM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Those walking through the milling streets of downtown Mexico City on Friday were greeted with a strange and sleepy sight. Lolling with bright blue yoga mats, sleeping masks and travel pillows, hundreds of Mexicans laid sprawled out on the ground at the base of...

Today in History: March 16, US soldiers kill hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese in My Lai massacre

Mar. 16, 2024 00:19 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Saturday, March 16, the 76th day of 2024. There are 290 days left in the year. Today’s highlight in history: On March 16, 1968, the My Lai (mee ly) massacre took place during the Vietnam War as U.S. Army soldiers hunting for...

Pierce Brosnan pleads guilty to walking off trail at Yellowstone hot springs, must pay $1,500

Mar. 15, 2024 01:24 AM EDT

MAMMOTH, Wyo. (AP) — Actor Pierce Brosnan, who pleaded guilty Thursday to stepping off a trail in a thermal area during a November visit to Yellowstone National Park, was caught after posting pictures online, court records said. Brosnan, who called in to the court hearing in...

Today in History: March 15, Julius Caesar is assassinated

Mar. 15, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

Today in History Today is Friday, March 15, the 75th day of 2024. There are 291 days left in the year. Today’s highlight in history: On March 15, 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and...