R.I.P. Isaac Hayes

(CNN) -- Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film "Shaft," has died, sheriff's officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday.  

Singer Issac Hayes seen performing in the U.K. last year. Hayes was found dead Sunday at age 65.

Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.

Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff's department said.

No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement.

Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio's backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.

He released his first solo album in 1967, and his 1969 follow-up, "Hot Buttered Soul," became a platinum hit.

In 1971, the theme from "Shaft" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and won an Academy Award for best original theme song. The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme.

Hayes won a third Grammy for pop instrumental performance with the title track to his 1972 "Black Moses" album.

From the late 1990s through 2006, Hayes provided the voice of "Chef" for Comedy Central's raunchy animated series "South Park," as well as numerous songs.

The role introduced him to a new generation of fans, but he left after the show lampooned his own religion, the Church of Scientology.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002

New York gig marks end of the road for The Police

from Reuters - By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British rock trio The Police played their final concert together on Thursday and were joined by the real police -- the New York City police band.

Singer and bassist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers reunited for a world tour last May and have since played 150 concerts for 3.7 million people, Sting told the crowd between songs at Madison Square Garden.

"The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other," he said, adding: "That's not to say it hasn't crossed my mind, or Stewart's, or Andy's."

There were touches of the surreal in the final gig by the band that made its name in the late 1970s and 1980s with such hits as "Walking on the Moon" and "Every Breath You Take."

Sting took an unusual break after the main set and before the first encore -- lying back in a barber's chair backstage as two blond women shaved the salt-and-pepper beard that he had been sporting, the most obvious sign of the passing years.

The beard had come in for some harsh criticism from fashion mavens in recent days, though the former teacher was quoted by media this week as saying, "The ladies love it."

His make-over was beamed to a giant screen above the stage as fans cheered and chanted for more music. He bounced back on stage fresh-faced and looking as lithe as ever without his shirt to deliver crowd-pleasers "Roxanne" and "So Lonely."

The band opened with the Cream song "Sunshine of Your Love" and were then joined by around 20 drummers and musicians of the police band for "Message in a Bottle."

They may be more used to playing in a marching band, but the burly uniformed police officers sang along and banged their drums with gusto as Sting strutted his stuff in a police cap.

Later in the set, three young women who looked like fans popped up on stage, joking around, dancing and taking snapshots as the band played "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."

"These are my daughters," Sting explained.

The band played all of its big hits, as well as a few cover songs, ending the encore with "Every Breath You Take." The band came back for a brief second encore before finally calling it a day with the song "Next to You."

The concert marked the end of a tour that has grossed more than $350 million and was the biggest selling tour of 2007.

The Police fused punk with reggae grooves and intricate arrangements to gain global popularity before splitting in 1984. Sting went on to a hugely successful solo career, while Copeland and Summers have also stayed in the business, recording and scoring music for the movie industry.

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See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Newly discovered Beatles tape up for sale

(AP)

A tape recording of The Beatles chatting and breaking into giggles during an early recording session is to be sold next week in England.

Cameo Auctioneers said Thursday that the reel-to-reel tape was recorded in 1964 and was recently found by a man in northern England while he was clearing out his father's attic.

On one part of the half-hour tape, John Lennon and Paul McCartney repeatedly collapse in laughter as they try to complete the ballad "I'll Follow the Sun."

"There are lots of false starts where the band can't get it together," said Alan Pritchard, head of the auction house's entertainment department.

The tape also features versions of songs including "I Feel Fine," "I'm a Loser" and "Don't Put Me Down Like This."

The tape is expected to sell for 8,000 pounds to 12,000 pounds (US$16,000 to US$24,000) at an auction in Midgham, about 45 miles (75 kilometers) west of London, on Tuesday.

'Designer Vaginas' Blacklisted in Australia

from news.com.au

Cosmetic surgery to "rejuvenate" the vagina has been blacklisted by Australian gynecologists who say more women are being injured by the dangerous procedures.

Top female sexual health specialists say they are seeing an increase in women with scarring, infections and altered sexual sensations after undergoing vaginal surgery.

Most have had labioplasty operations, to change the external appearance of the vagina or, less commonly, to narrow the vagina or "amplify'' the female G-spot.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a position statement on the trend, labelling it dangerous, expensive and unwarranted.

"The college is particularly concerned that such surgery may exploit vulnerable women,'' the statement said.

Dr. Ted Weaver, chairman of the college's women's health committee, said there were now a number of clinics, mostly in Sydney and the Gold Coast, offering these treatments.

Most of the operations cost at least $10,000, an "extraordinary amount of money,'' Weaver said.

"We feel these operations might prey on people with insecurities and fears who actually need psychological help,'' he said.

"They are also not very anatomically-based and have the potential to cause serious harm.''

Many college members had treated patients with scarring, permanent disfigurement, infection and altered sexual sensations, some of whom required reconstructive surgery, he said.

There was concern that women seeking the most common operation, the labioplasty, did not understand there was a huge variation in how women's external genitalia look.

"In one case we heard of a man bringing in a Brazilian pornographic photo and saying: `Make my girlfriend look like this','' Weaver said.

"We don't think it is ethical behavior to agree to do that.''

G-spot augmentation, where collagen is injected into the vaginal wall to enhance sexual pleasure, was also controversial.

"It is often not clear where the G-spot is or if it even exists at all in some women,'' he said.

"So the procedure is done without that being verified, often causing problems in sex.''

Daniel Fleming, president of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery, said the vast majority of people who undergo labia and vaginal surgery were "very happy'' with the result.

"If there's a problem (the gynecologists) need to submit the evidence so we can find out why it's happening and if any particular group of doctors is implicated in the alleged increased complication rate,'' Fleming said.

Debbie Harry: 'Madonna hurt Blondie comeback'

from digitalspy.co.uk -By Simon Reynolds, Entertainment Reporter

 

Debbie Harry has claimed that Madonna's pop success prevented the Blondie comeback from taking off.

The 63-year-old admitted that she was "kind of shocked and not very happy" about Madonna's dominance of the pop scene.

Harry quit touring in the mid-'80s to help bandmate and then-boyfriend Chris Stein fight the genetic disease Pemphigus. When Blondie reunited in 1997, Madonna was firmly established as a best-selling artist.

WENN quoted Harry as saying: "I had been performing all along, with one or two solo albums. But we could not get back with Blondie because of legal problems. We had publishing issues, messy record company deals, management problems.

"But I think that is one of the things that Madonna was very smart about. That is something she can be commended for."

However, the 'Atomic' singer added that she had no problems with Madonna, noting that she "listens to me for inspiration and I have to take that as a compliment".

Fergie 'thrilled' to play a prostitute

By DERRIK J. LANG

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Fergie is excited about adding the role of a prostitute to her acting portfolio.

The Grammy-winning singer has been cast as Saraghina in "Nine," a big-screen adaptation of the Tony-winning musical. She will perform the saucy song "Be Italian" with Guido, played by Daniel Day-Lewis.

"She's basically a prostitute on the beach," Fergie told The Associated Press in an interview. "She introduces him to the world of sexuality. It's a very strong song. I'm just thrilled I get to play a character. I'm singing, but I'm not singing as myself. I'm going to be singing as a character, and that's what's really exciting to me."

Fergie, 33, joins Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Kate Hudson in "Nine," directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago"). Filming is set to begin in October. Fergie, whose real name is Stacy Ann Ferguson, had minor roles in the "Poseidon" and "Grindhouse" movies.

"I'm speechless," she said of the opportunity to work with the film's A-list talent. "I'm definitely going to be a sponge on set. I want to pick up on everything that all these brilliant actors are bringing to the table. I'm probably going to be the quietest that I've ever been while working just because I want to watch and learn."

She was in Las Vegas on Monday to debut her two new shoe lines at the World Shoe Association show in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Fergie, who released her hit-packed solo album "The Duchess" in 2006, said she's now in the studio working on a new album with the Black Eyed Peas, their first new record since 2005's "Monkey Business."

"It's a new sound," she said. "We're going into the future. We're not doing the same old thing. We're not trying to copy what's out there on the radio. We're being artistic and pushing the envelope."