WORLD CELEBRITIES NEWS
From the Desk of J.D. Lacroix, Monthly Herald UK/USA Chief Correspondent
Aretha Franklin has been hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment and is in stable condition, her publicist said Monday. The Queen of Soul, who lives in Detroit, was hospitalized Saturday, according to Gwendolyn Quinn, her New York City-based publicist. Quinn declined to say where the singer had been hospitalized. The publicist said she had no further information about Franklin's illness or how long she would be hospitalized. The legendary singer turns 62 on Thursday. Last month, she won a Grammy Award for best traditional R&B vocal performance for Wonderful from her latest CD, So Damn Happy. Franklin, whose soulful voice has made her one of the world's most revered singers, is best known for her signature song Respect, though she's had countless other hits including (You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman, Chain of Fools and Freeway of Love-CP
Billy Bob Thornton says he and former wife Angelina Jolie had "a great relationship" but different ideas about how they wanted to live their lives. "It was a great relationship," Thornton tells GQ magazine in its April issue. "For the time we were together, we loved each other and we did it all the way. We didn't leave any stone unturned. But we had different ideas about how we wanted to live our lives - that's all it was." The couple married in May 2000. They bragged about their sex lives in interviews and, at one time, wore vials of each other's blood around their necks. They divorced in 2003. On whether he cheated on Jolie, Thornton told the magazine: "No, no, no. That was the rumour, but that was never it." Jolie is now a UN goodwill ambassador and proud mom of Maddox, whom she adopted from Cambodia. Her new film, Taking Lives, opened in theatres Friday. "She's all over the world, and I respect her for it," Thornton told the magazine. "I want to stay home." Thornton plays Davy Crockett in The Alamo, which is set for release on April 9.-CP
