Recently in Celebrities Category

Once again artists are taking their message to the web to reach their fans first. Those socially conscious rockers U2 have released a new Christmas tune, "I Believe in Father Christmas" over at (Red) Wire, along with several other top artists.

(Red) Wire debuted its digital download service Monday for World AIDs Day to bring attention to the humanitarian aspect of their service. Part of the monthly subscriber fee goes to the Global Fund to help those suffering in Africa.

Other artists such as Jay Z, Sheryl Crow and Coldplay will also premiere fresh content on the site, which has business ties to MSN. This is just the latest example of how charity has become a hot marketing trend, so all indicators are that (Red) Wire will be a hit. Who can argue with listening to music and feeling good for donating a few bucks to a good cause?

As part of a well-calculated comeback, Britney Spears is finally opening up--a little bit anyway--about her wild antics and failed marriage in an MTV documentary that aired last Sunday and will be available on demand at MTVs website starting today.

"Britney: For the Record" doesn't really answer questions like whether her former entourage, and manager Sam Lutfi, were aiding any addictions or doping her up to get her cash, as has been alleged in many tabloids. She also doesn't say anything about Daddy Spears being her executor now, or why she hooked up with that sleazy tabloid photographer. She kept her answers positive but vague, focusing on the future and not reliving too many sordid scenes.

She also spoke about the effect dancing has on her mental health:

"People think when you go through something in life you go through therapy, for me art is therapy, because it is like you are expressing yourself in such a spiritual way."

What was moving was the way Britney talked about her children. In the interview she said, "I see my babies and say ... you have to believe in God. How can these two babies be here without there being a God?" Such a display of child-like faith gives some hope that Brit will perhaps continue to return to her Southern Baptist roots and find some peace at last.

I recently got the chance to speak to singer Joan Osborne, who--even if you aren't a fan--you probably know from her hit 1995 single, "One of Us." [Oh, you know the words: "What if God was one of us/Just a slob like one of us/Just a stranger on the bus/Trying to make his way home."]

Well she hasn't disappeared. She's actually out in full force with a new album, "Little Wild One," which I highly recommend you check out. My favs are the title track, "Hallelujah in the City" and "Sweeter Than the Rest." I'll have a complete interview with Joan up on Beliefnet soon, but for the time being here is a sampling:

What are you most thankful for this year?

My daughter is always at the top of my list of things that I'm thankful for, since she was born a few years ago. She's always the number one person on that list. But, I guess I would probably broaden that to include my family in general.

I [left] my hometown and came [to New York City] years ago and was very focused on thoughts about my career and what I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted to contribute as an individual in the world.

And a lot of my attachments to family seemed very easy to leave behind. And perhaps since my daughter was born, or perhaps just because I'm getting a little older, I feel that pull of family and that awareness of family and how important it is and how precious it is a lot more than I use to.

Do you have any special holiday traditions?

I try to take my daughter to the Big Apple Circus right after Thanksgiving every year. That's kind of become a new tradition. It's great to sit beside her and watch her experience this kind of a show, through her little 3-year-old eyes. It's really beautiful. .

And also, in Kentucky [her hometown], we have a Christmas Eve tradition. Usually we'll do a big Christmas Eve dinner at my cousin's house, and then one of the older cousins will get dressed up as Santa Claus and come down the stairs--not the chimney, but the stairs.

The little kids are just squealing and totally beside themselves and he gives out some presents. To see that through your own child's eyes is pretty special.

Stay tuned for the complete interview, where Joan talks about her Catholic upbringing and her spiritual life now.

After I heard that Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson named their newborn boy Bronx Mowgli, not only did I get an "icky" feeling, but I got a "that's a bizarre Rudyard Kipling literary reference" feeling. Then, I realized that the baby's initials are B.M.W.--is this a luxury baby?--I couldn't take the craziness of celebrity kids names anymore.

When Gywneth Paltrow and Chris Martin named their son Moses after naming their daughter Apple, I thought, "Well, at least it's a proper name and not a piece of fruit."

I remember Prince for his risque lyrics and videos back in my middle school and teen years, when "Purple Rain" was his claim to fame. My mother forbid me to see the movie and listen to his music, at least while she was around to stop me.

Times have changed for this miniscule musician, it seems, and so have his views about sex and religion--at least according to Claire Hoffman's recent, controversial New Yorker article, "Soup with Prince," that's taking the gossip columns and blogs by storm. Hoffman's feature spills a good deal of ink on Prince's faith life (he's now a Jehovah's Witness)--and this "Artist Formerly Known As" does not come across as very, well, sympathetic. In fact, he sounds rather idiotic:

"Seven years ago, he became a Jehovah's Witness," writes Hoffman. "He said that he had moved to L.A. so that he could understand the hearts and minds of the music moguls. "I wanted to be around people, connected to people, for work," he said. "You know, it's all about religion. That's what unites people here. They all have the same religion, so I wanted to sit down with them, to understand the way they see things, how they read Scripture."

(My commentary: Um, so Prince thinks religion is what unites people in LA. Huh? Since when is everyone a Jehovah's Witness in L.A.? I must have missed that bulletin....)