Buzz Briefs: Beyoncé, Nick Reynolds
Beyoncé Has Been Busy Cranking Out The Tunes
After falling crazy in love with hip-hop star Jay- Z, who is now her husband, Beyoncé apparently has had a lot of material for new music.
She ended up with over 70 songs for her new album, People reported.
"I have recorded over 70 songs and have created a sound that reveals all of me," the 27-year-old singer wrote on her Web site about her upcoming album.
The album is due out on Nov. 18. She has not confirmed a title or track listing just yet however.
"I am in a different place right now and I wanted people to see the many sides of me," she said.
Kingston Trio's Nick Reynolds Dies At 75
Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the U.S. revival folk scene of the late 1950s and paved the way for artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, has died. He was 75.
Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other illnesses, and died Wednesday in San Diego after his family took him off life support, said son Joshua Reynolds.
The Kingston Trio's version of the 19th century folk song "Tom Dooley" landed the group a No. 1 spot on the charts in 1958, and launched the band's career.
Oct. 2, 2008
Comedian Sandra Bernhard Dropped Over Palin Comments
Comedian Sandra Bernhard says the decision by a Boston women's shelter to cut her act from its annual benefit was based on a misleading account of what she said about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Bernhard said Palin would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" during a diatribe in her one-woman show in Washington last month in which she also criticized Palin for opposing abortion rights.
Bernhard made the remarks before Palin visited New York to campaign.
Bernhard says the comment was part of a larger piece from her show about "women, racism, freedom and the extreme views of Governor Sarah Palin" and that her words were taken out of context.
Salma Hayek: On A Mission To Fight Tetanus In Moms, Babies
Hollywood mom Salma Hayek is lending her star power to a UNICEF campaign to eradicate tetanus in mothers and babies around the world within four years.
Hayek, a paid spokeswoman for Pampers' tetanus vaccine program, recounted her experiences during a recent trip to the West African nation of Sierra Leone, where she met with tetanus victims.
"One of the things that was very moving about the trip was to see 15-year-old girls, really young, taking responsibility for their lives and their children before they're born by saying 'I am going to be healthy, I am going to take this vaccination,"' she told journalists at the United Nations on Thursday.
"I had no idea how much this was going to really personally move me," added the 42-year-old star of films including "Desperado" and "Frida."
The Pampers-UNICEF partnership has already provided over 50 million vaccines to mothers and babies in developing countries, where tetanus kills up to 140,000 infants and 30,000 women each year, according to the U.N. agency.
Pampers, owned by Procter & Gamble Co., said it would give UNICEF the money for one tetanus vaccine for every pack of specially marked diapers it sells before the end of the year. It expects that to produce 70 million more vaccinations.
Hayek's daughter Valentina Paloma Pinault was born in September 2007.
Dolly Parton Adds Smokies Ambassador To Resumé
Entertainer Dolly Parton, who often refers to her Smoky Mountains upbringing, will serve as the ambassador for the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
There will be events throughout 2009 celebrating Congress' approval to form the park on June 15, 1934.
Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson said in a release Thursday that Parton emerged as the obvious choice for the ambassador selection.
Parton, who grew up in the foothills of the Smokies in Sevier County, Tenn., said she's always been an advocate for the park, but she is honored to become "official."
Parton will lend her endorsement through media announcements and publications and has written an album titled "Sha-Kon-O-Hey" - the phonetic spelling of the Cherokee words for "Land of Blue Smoke."
Colbert Weaves A White House Web With Spider-Man
Stephen Colbert is hoping to swing into the White House - alongside Spider-Man.
The host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" appears with the web-slinger in an issue of Marvel Comics' "The Amazing Spider-Man," out on Oct. 15.
As a joke, Colbert had tried but failed to get on both the Democratic and Republican presidential primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina. The consolation prize is a fictional appearance as a major candidate on a make-believe ticket in Spider-Man's world.