The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
- Rapper Ja Rule released from prison
- Madonna auctions painting for girls' education
- Heavy Metal rocker nabbed in murder-for-hire plot
| Rapper Ja Rule released from prison Posted: 07 May 2013 09:14 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Ja Rule was released from prison on Tuesday after serving about two years on gun and tax evasion charges, a spokesman for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons said. Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, was released from federal prison in Ray Brook, New York, and will be under house arrest until July 28, a spokesman for the Always On Time rapper said. Ja Rule, 37, pleaded guilty in 2011 to failing to file tax returns over a five year period and attempted criminal possession of a weapon in 2010. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison after failing to pay $1.1 million in taxes between 2004 and 2008, prosecutors said. The rapper was also sentenced to two years in prison for possessing a semi-automatic handgun, which police found hidden in his car following a 2007 concert in New York. He was able served both sentences concurrently. Ja Rule scored No. 1 albums with 2000's Rule 3:36 and 2001's Pain Is Love, which also garnered a Grammy nomination. The rapper is best known for his collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, I'm Real and Ain't It Funny, which both topped the U.S. Billboard song chart in 2001. |
| Madonna auctions painting for girls' education Posted: 07 May 2013 09:10 PM PDT REUTERS - Madonna sold an abstract painting by French artist Fernand Leger for US$7.16 million on Tuesday to raise funds for girls' education projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. The 1921 painting, Trois Femmes a la Table Rouge, which carried a pre-sale estimate of up to US$7 million, was purchased by an unidentified buyer at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York, according to the auction house's website. The pop singer said in April that she bought the painting in 1990 and that selling it would combine her passions for art and education by raising funds for the Ray of Light Foundation, a non-profit organization offering vocational training for street children and poor farmers. "I cannot accept a world where women or girls are wounded, shot or killed for either going to school or teaching in girls' schools. We don't have time to be complacent," Madonna said in a statement last month. "I want to trade something valuable for something invaluable - Educating Girls!" Madonna has adopted two children from Malawi in southern Africa and plans to build 10 schools there. |
| Heavy Metal rocker nabbed in murder-for-hire plot Posted: 07 May 2013 08:59 PM PDT SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Tim Lambesis, lead singer for the heavy metal band As I Lay Dying, has been arrested over accusations he sought the help of an undercover detective to have his estranged wife killed, police said. Lambesis was taken into custody on Tuesday in Oceanside, California, after he solicited help in the scheme from the undercover detective, said San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell. Police had previously learned Lambesis was seeking someone who could commit the slaying, Caldwell said. "The information came to us late last week. We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy," she said. Caldwell said the ongoing investigation prevented her from disclosing any details about why Lambesis might have wanted to have his estranged wife killed or how police first learned about what they described as his murder plan. A representative for the As I Lay Dying's record label, Metal Blade, could not immediately be reached for comment. It was unclear if Lambesis had an attorney. The band's 2007 album An Ocean Between Us debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 list, and ranks as one of their top-selling releases. Last year, As I Lay Dying put out its sixth album Awakened. Lambesis is a founding member of the band, which was formed in San Diego. As I Lay Dying has at times been described in the media as a Christian group, but Lambesis said this year in an interview with heavy metal website Noisecreep that group members wanted "to be judged on the music" rather than their "personal beliefs." Lambesis is expected to appear in court for an arraignment on Wednesday or Thursday. A spokesman for the San Diego District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment. |
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