Diana Krall Marries Elvis Costello
NEW YORK - Jazz singer Diana Krall has tied the knot with her beau of one year, Elvis Costello, in a wedding in England, Costello's public relations firm confirmed Wednesday.
The couple married Saturday night in a ceremony at Elton John's mansion in Surrey, England, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported.
"The wedding was a private event with close friends and family in attendance," Shore Fire Media said in a statement.
About 150 guests, including Paul McCartney and Canada's consul general to New York, Pamela Wallin, were sworn to secrecy, the newspaper reported. Krall grew up outside Vancouver, British Columbia.
The 39-year-old jazz singer and Costello, 49, live in New York and have a home on Vancouver Island.
The marriage is a first for Krall. Costello's previous two marriages ended in divorce.
Beyoncé, R. Kelly Win at Billboard Awards
LAS VEGAS - R&B dominated Wednesday's 2003 Billboard Music Awards, as sultry singer Beyonce and crooner R. Kelly each earned four awards.
Beyonce, who appeared at the ceremony in a sequined Versace dress, won new female artist of the year, new R&B artist, Hot 100 female artist and a special Hot 100 award for most weeks at No. 1.
The Destiny's Child frontwoman, who went solo this year with her album "Dangerously in Love," told reporters before the show that she was nervous about the possibility of making an acceptance speech.
"I don't know what to say. I completely blank out," she said.
In the end, she told the crowd after winning the Hot 100 female artist award: "This is amazing. This has been an incredible year."
R. Kelly, whose album "Chocolate Factory" sold more than two million copies despite a looming child pornography case against him, was the night's other big winner. He took home awards for Hot 100 producer, R&B producer, Hot 100 songwriter and R&B songwriter — and closed the show with a flamboyant performance that had him riding down the aisle in a horse-drawn chariot.
No Doubt opened the nationally televised show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest of "American Idol," with a performance of their hit single "It's My Life."
Singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, featured on the MTV reality show "Newlyweds," presented the first award for duo/group of the year to 3 Doors Down. Simpson — now famous for her dippy blonde moments on the show — turned to her husband and said, "Don't say anything dipsy or stupid. I keep telling myself the sex is worth it."
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog provided additional comic relief, saying he and Michael Jackson had a lot in common: "We're both partly made of rubber."
Rapper 50 Cent had a leading six nominations heading into the show at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. By the end of the night, he won three awards — for top artist, R&B artist and rap artist.
Stevie Wonder presented Sting with the Century Award for creative achievement. The Grammy Award-winning singer has sold 100 million albums and singles with The Police and as a solo artist.
But Sting said album sales didn't matter: "If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living."
For the first time, the Billboard Awards recognized the sales of legally downloaded music tracks, honoring "Hey Ya!" by OutKast as the digital track of the year.
The Billboard Awards honor the year's chart-topping artists. Winners are determined by the magazine's year-end chart listings, which are based on record sales and airplay.
Gun in Phil Spector's Hand After Shooting -Police
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Record producer Phil Spector emerged from his California mansion with a gun in his hand and said "I think I just shot her," his driver told police shortly after a B-movie actress was found dead in the foyer.
According to police reports unsealed late Tuesday, actress Lana Clarkson was sprawled on a chair, her teeth and blood spattered about the room from a gunshot wound to her mouth when police arrived at the faux castle outside Los Angeles at about 5 a.m. on Feb. 3.
The documents -- police affidavits, a catalog of evidence seized from the crime scene and search warrants -- provide the first public glimpse of the killing that last month led to a murder charge against the legendary music producer.
The police reports suggest an intimate evening of drinks by candlelight that ended tragically.
Clarkson, 40, was wearing a "black nylon slip/dress, black nylons and black shoes," according to an affidavit by Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Mark Lillienfeld that was made public at the request of crime author Carlson Smith.
"A leopard print purse, with a black strap, was slung over her right shoulder, with the purse hanging down on her right side by her right arm," Lillienfeld said. "Broken teeth from the victim were scattered about the foyer and an adjacent stairway."
Sheriff's Detective Danny Smith, in an affidavit, said Spector's driver, Adriano Desouza, told police that shortly after he heard a single gunshot at about 5.0 a.m., the record producer emerged from his Alhambra, California mansion with a gun in his hand and said, "I think I just shot her."
Lillienfeld's affidavit said, "Spector came out the back door holding a handgun, stating words to the effect of, 'I think I just killed someone."'
Spector, who created the lush, layered recording technique known as "The Wall of Sound," suggested in a magazine interview earlier this year that the statuesque blonde actress killed herself. Spector, 63, pleaded innocent to the charge and remains free on $1 million bail.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In his affidavit, Lillienfeld said that on the floor beneath Clarkson's left leg was a blue steel, .38-caliber Colt revolver with five live rounds and a spent cartridge under the hammer. The weapon was blood-spattered, the detective noted.
Investigators also found blood smears on the back door handle and on a wooden stairway railing near the death scene, he said. A blood-spattered man's jacket was recovered from an upstairs dressing room, and a blood-soaked cloth was found on the floor of a bathroom next to the foyer, Lillienfeld said.
In the adjacent living room, candles had been lit atop a fireplace mantel and a partially filled brandy glass and bottles of tequila and soda stood on the coffee table between two sofas, the report said. Desouza told police Spector and Clarkson had spent about an hour and a half in the mansion before the shooting, having arrived there at 3.30 a.m.
Police took nine guns, a bloody holster, fragments of Clarkson's teeth and fingernails, and false eyelashes from Spector's 12,000-square-foot home, according to court records.
Interviews with Desouza revealed that Spector had dined with a woman named Rommie Davis on the night of the shooting, and had drinks at two other Los Angeles night spots before meeting Clarkson at the House of Blues, where she worked as a hostess.
Police believed that the pair met for the first time on the night she died, Lillienfeld said. Clarkson starred in such films as "Amazon Women in the Moon" and "The Barbarian Queen."