WHITNEY HOUSTON: CEMETERY CLOSED TO FANS
WESTFIELD, N.J. (AP) -- Whitney Houston fans hoping to visit her grave won't be able to, at least not now. The Star-Ledger of Newark reports the New Jersey cemetery where she's buried has closed its gates because too many fans are trying to visit Houston's grave. Police say the cemetery's narrow lanes were gridlock Monday afternoon with more than 100 cars. Only people with relatives buried there are now being allowed access.
WHITNEY HOUSTON: NUMBER TWO ON iTUNES
UNDATED (AP) -- Whitney Houston is still popular on iTunes. For the week ending Monday, Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was the number two song, behind "Part of Me" by Katy Perry. Houston's "Whitney -- The Greatest Hits" album was number two, behind Adele's "21."
WHITNEY HOUSTON: BUMPED FROM NUMBER ONE
NEW YORK (AP) -- Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard" album is no longer number one for the longest stint for a woman at the top of Billboard's album chart. Adele's album "21" has spent 21 weeks atop Billboard's Top 200 albums chart -- and its 21st week is the biggest one yet. Nielsen SoundScan says Adele's sophomore album sold 730,000 copies the week after her Grammy Awards sweep. It's the longest time a woman has topped Billboard's album chart, displacing Houston's "The Bodyguard." "21" has also now sold 7.3 million copies.
MICHAEL JACKSON: PROSECUTORS WANT NO BAIL FOR DOCTOR
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles County prosecutors don't want Dr. Conrad Murray out on bail while he appeals his conviction of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. In a written motion, they say Murray would be a danger to the community and a flight risk. Murray was found guilty after a trial focusing on his use of the anesthetic propofol as a sleeping medication for the superstar. Jackson died of an overdose of the drug in June 2009. Murray is serving a four-year jail sentence. His lawyers have asked for his release either on bail or on his own recognizance with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet. Prosecutors say Murray practiced a very dangerous and experimental form of medicine on Jackson and should stay behind bars. A hearing on the motion is set for Friday.
MICHAEL JACKSON: FATHER'S LAWSUIT
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A setback for Joe Jackson in court. A judge has granted a motion to dismiss concert promoter AEG Live from a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's father. City News Service says the judge agreed with AEG attorneys who said Joe Jackson should have joined a separate suit filed by his wife, Katherine. The judge says the law does not favor multiple suits by individual heirs. AEG also argued that Joe Jackson is not a legitimate heir to his son's fortune since he was estranged from Michael when he died. The father was not mentioned in the King of Pop's will. The decision leaves Dr. Conrad Murray and a Las Vegas pharmacy as the only defendants in Joe Jackson's suit. Murray is in jail after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death and says he's broke.
RIHANNA/CHRIS BROWN: WORK TOGETHER
NEW YORK (AP) -- Is Rihanna making a mistake in working with Chris Brown? Billboard editorial director Bill Werde says probably not in the short run. He says he doubts corporate sponsors will drop her outright, but they may look elsewhere when her endorsement contracts expire. Werde says sponsors like someone whose story isn't "complicated." But, he points out Rihanna is a grown woman and she can sing with and date whomever she likes. Brown sings on the remix of Rihanna's song "Birthday Cake," and she sings on the remix for his song, "Turn Up The Music." They've also been tweeting each other. Brown assaulted Rihanna at a pre-Grammy event in 2009. Their representatives haven't commented on the remixes.
RIHANNA/BRUNO MARS: WINS BRIT MUSIC AWARDS
LONDON (AP) -- Rihanna has another award to put on her shelf. She's won the international female prize for a second year at the Brit music awards in London. Rihanna thanked her fans. She said at times when she feels misunderstood, her fans always remind her it's OK to be herself. The singer also won an award at the Grammy's earlier this month. Bruno Mars took the Brit Award for international male solo artist.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: SINGS THE BLUES
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With a little encouragement from Mick Jagger, President Obama has belted out a couple of lines of blues. At the White House last night, Obama and Jagger were joined by B.B. King in singing "Sweet Home Chicago." Twice, Obama sang out "Come on, baby don't you want to go." He handed off the mic to B.B. King for a moment, and then took it back to tack on "Sweet Home Chicago" at the end. That's how the president closed out a blues concert that's part of the PBS series "In Performance at the White House." The show will air next week.
B.B. KING/BUDDY GUY: PERFORM AT WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House was the house of blues last night. B.B. King, Buddy Guy and other blues musicians were part of a program called "In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues." Jeff Beck and Mick Jagger also performed. President Obama says it's nice being able to have the likes of King and Jagger come to your house to play. Obama says the blues speaks to something universal. He says no one goes through life without joy and pain, triumph and sorrow, and the blues "gets all of that." The show will be broadcast Feb. 27 on PBS, and American Forces Network will broadcast it later.
SOUL TRAIN'S FUTURE
WASHINGTON (AP) -- What's to become of the Soul Train brand? Before the death of Don Cornelius, a group of black entrepreneurs had started talks to carry it beyond line dances at parties and TV reruns. Former NBA great "Magic" Johnson created Soul Train Holdings, when he bought the "Soul Train" library and brand last year. He says "Soul Train" will last a lifetime. CEO Kenard Gibbs tells The Associated Press the holding group is discussing a "Soul Train" TV variety show, talking with writers about taking "Soul Train" to Broadway, looking into movie and book deals, and launching the first "Soul Train" cruise in 2013.
STAR JONES: RETURNING TO "THE VIEW" -- AS A GUEST
NEW YORK (AP) -- Star Jones is returning to "The View." She'll be a guest on today's show. Jones hasn't been on the show in years. She left the show after a major beef with co-host Barbara Walters in 2006. Jones is returning to promote an awareness campaign about heart disease among women. Jones and Walters had open heart surgery to repair faulty valves within two months of each other in 2010.
TYLER PERRY: "GOOD DEEDS"
UNDATED (AP) -- Tyler Perry makes movies and has a new one coming out this week. But he also loves being on stage. In fact, when he's planning a movie, he'll do a live play based on the characters and take it across the country before he writes the movie. He says it's another way to connect with the audience. He says he tries to do stage work as much as he can. His new movie "Good Deeds" opens this week. It's about a guy who has lived his life for everyone but himself, until he meets a woman played by actress Thandie Newton.
MINORITY-OWNED CHANNELS COMING TO CABLE
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and "Magic" Johnson will be the guiding forces behind two new cable channels. Comcast says four minority-owned networks will be launched on its cable-TV systems in the next two years, including channels spearheaded Combs and Johnson. Combs' network will be called Revolt, and have programming fueled by music and pop culture. Johnson's channel, named Aspire, will target African-American families with positive programming. The other channels are El Rey, a general entertainment network in English geared to Latino audiences, and BabyFirst Americas. That channel is designed for infants, young children and their parents, and will be the first of the networks to appear, debuting in April.
MAGIC JOHNSON: LAUNCHING CABLE TV CHANNEL
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- "Magic" Johnson says his new cable TV channel, Apsire, will be inspiring. The channel will target black viewers with positive, uplifting images of African Americans. Johnson says Aspire will be a network that encourages and challenges African-Americans to reach for their dreams. He says it will "celebrate our heritage," groundbreaking achievements and the fearless talent that has shaped American culture. Aspire's mix will include film, TV, music, comedy, performing arts and shows about faith. Johnson says he's wanted a vehicle to showcase positive images of African Americans with stories written, produced and directed by blacks. His cable deal came about after Comcast reached an agreement with the FCC and the Justice Department to diversify. Aspire will launch on June 30.
EMINEM: LOOKING BACK
UNDATED (AP) -- On this date in 2001, it was another disappointing night for Eminem at the Grammys. His album "The Marshall Mathers LP" had been up for best album, despite the controversy over its lyrics. And he got to perform the song "Stan" at the ceremony alongside Elton John. But he ended up losing the best album category to aging pop duo Steely Dan. They picked up their first ever Grammys, including album of the year for "Two Against Nature."
FLORENCE BALLARD: LOOKING BACK
UNDATED (AP) -- On this date in 1976, original Supremes member Florence Ballard died in Detroit of coronary thrombosis. She was just 32 years old. Ballard and her children were living on welfare at the time of her death.
STEVIE WONDER: LOOKING BACK
UNDATED (AP) -- On this date in 1990, Stevie Wonder picked up a victory in a legal matter. A jury in Los Angeles rejected a claim his hit "I Just Called To Say I Love You" was stolen from another songwriter.
DANIEL E. SMITH: BIRTHDAY
UNDATED (AP) -- A birthday for Daniel E. Smith. The actor who starred along with Denzel Washington in "John Q." is 22 years old today.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
