Category: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal doctor, will face manslaughter charges for his alleged role in Jackson’s death Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ordered Jan. 11 after lifting the cardiologist’s California medical license. The action came at the end of a six-day preliminary hearing into what role Murray played in the death of […]

Legendary R&B singer Etta James is fighting old age and disease in Southern California while her husband and son scuffle in court over control of an estimated $1 million accumulated by the 70-year-old singer over the course of her career. James is undergoing treatment for leukemia while also battling dementia. The spunky performer is in […]

Donny Hathaway was the quintessential musician and a lyrical godfather of sorts to legions of R&B artists who say his singing – an ear-melting baritone – is everything a voice ought to be. Despite his resounding impact among music aficionados and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, […]

Six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton is considering posing for Playboy Magazine, she said on Twitter Jan. 4. “New Year, New opportunities,” she wrote. “So I have been considering taking up Playboy’s offer to feature me on their cover this year. What you think?” Playboy executives have asked her to grace the pages three times before, […]

Former day-time talk show host Montel Williams was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia as he attempted to board a flight at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Williams was caught with a smoking pipe by Transportation Security Administration agents while walking through a security checkpoint. However, when the pipe was tested by TSA agents, it […]

From the pages of Patricia J. McKissack’s brilliantly animated children’s book Mirandy and Brother Wind to Glen Echo, Md.’s storied Adventure Theatre, Mirandy – the bright-eyed, cocoa-hued protagonist – has found a place in young school children’s hearts nationwide. McKissack’s 1997 work imbues fantasy and rich African-American cultural references amid the backdrop of a small southern […]

What started out as a hobby to entertain friends and family with self-made short movies has turned into a full-time business for sisters Saba, 13; Keita, 17 and Tajiya, 21.  The Charlotte, N.C. natives have crafted everything on their animation projects from character drawings, scriptwriting, music scoring, designing the DVD menus, cover artwork, as well […]

Dulé Hill stars as Burton ‘Gus’ Guster on the USA Network series “Psych,” which airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST. Best known for his work as Charlie Young on “The West Wing,” Hill first came to prominence as The Kid opposite Savion Glover and Jeffrey Wright in the Broadway production of Bring in ‘Da […]

The Recording Academy recently named Washington, D.C. native Carolyn Malachi, R&B crooner Raheem DeVaughn and go-go music founder Chuck Brown as 2011 Grammy nominees for their hit 2010 singles.   Malachi has been nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her single “Orion” from the Lions, Tigers & Squares EP.  Similarly, DeVaughn’s 2010 smash “Customer” garnered him […]

Following the federal imprisonment of actor Wesley Snipes on a three-year sentence for failure to file income tax returns, a collection of celebrities, politicians, friends and supporters are demanding the actor receive a fair trial. A group calling itself The Friends of Wesley Snipes is pushing a petition for the famous actor in order to […]

Dr. Billy Taylor, an American Jazz icon, composer and educator, died in Manhattan on Dec. 28. He was 89. The influential musician, who also promoted the genre as a broadcaster for National Public Radio and CBS Sunday Morning, died of heart failure, according to his daughter. Taylor composed more than 350 songs during his six-decade-long […]

Concert pianist Dana Kristina-Joi Morgan and operatic tenor soloist Terrence Bradford Tarver are featured guest performers at Historic Asbury United Methodist Church’s “Watchnight Reflections” on Dec. 31 at 10 p.m. Their performances are preceded by a special time of fellowship beginning at 8:30 p.m. Morgan began playing the piano at age 3 and has continued […]