By Sabrina Ford

NEW YORK |
Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:32pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lenny Kravitz is touring the United States for the first time in five years and playing to packed houses, and while the singer says it is good to be in his home country, it’s even better that his fans haven’t forgotten him.

“I haven’t been for quite some time and it’s been a really great homecoming,” Kravitz told Reuters in a recent interview. “I didn’t take it for granted that people would come,” he added.

He said that after spending most of his time in recent years between homes in the Caribbean and Paris, he hadn’t know exactly what to expect when he committed to the U.S. tour which kicked off in Boston on January 27.

“I’ve spent a lot of time away. I didn’t know if people would even show up. You know, out of sight, out of mind.”

But the 47-year-old singer hasn’t been forgotten, not by a long shot. The release of his ninth studio album, “Black and White America” last year, almost 21 years after his debut album “Let Love Rule,” has kept his music in the ears of fans.

His recent show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall was sold out, and already for this current U.S. tour, he has made stops in Detroit and Chicago and performed at an NFL event in Indianapolis during Super Bowl weekend. He’ll wrap in Miami Beach on February 25 before heading to Australia.

While it’s been widely reported that his next release would be a funk album, “Negrophilia,” Kravitz said: “I’m actually working on two or three albums, so I’m not sure which will be next.”

Even as he contemplates his musical direction, his fans will see him in an acting role in the widely-anticipated sci-fi thriller movie “The Hunger Games,” which hits theaters in March.

Based on Suzanne Collins’ successful young adult trilogy, “Hunger Games” is among the most anticipated films of 2012.

APPETITE FOR ACTING

This is the second movie for Kravitz, who made his acting debut in 2009′s Oscar-nominated drama “Precious” playing a nurse who befriends the title character. But his acting didn’t come completely out of the blue.

“I was offered a lot of movies before I took on ‘Precious,’ and I turned them all down for years because they were very clichéd.” said Kravitz, who delighted in losing himself in the role to the point that he was unrecognizable to many moviegoers.

“I saw Quentin Tarantino and he was like, ‘I kept trying to figure out throughout the whole movie who that was. I didn’t realize it was you,’” Kravitz happily recounted. “That’s the greatest compliment.”

In “Hunger Games,” Kravitz portrays the talented and innovative Cinna, a visionary stylist and trusted friend to teen gladiator Katniss, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence. He said it was the character’s artistic ability and caring nature that appealed to him. The fact that he was already friends with Lawrence helped him get into character.

“I had a relationship with Jennifer through my daughter (actress Zoë Kravitz). They filmed ‘X-Men’ (First Class) together in London, and used to come to the house in Paris on weekends,” said Kravitz. He said his friendship with Lawrence made working together “comfortable and really fun. She’s an amazing actress.”

Kravitz said as film scripts pour in, he continues to be selective about future acting jobs. He hopes to work with friend and ‘Precious’ director Lee Daniels again and take roles that his fans don’t see coming.

“I’m looking for interesting characters,” said Kravitz. “I’m looking forward to being busy. Great roles, great characters and things that are not expected.”

(Reporting by Sabrina Ford; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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LOS ANGELES |
Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:26pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Jersey Shore” star Snooki and Charlie Sheen have topped a poll of nightmare celebrity Valentine dates, and few people want to cuddle up with Ashton Kutcher on February 14 — at least, not on film.

According to a Valentine’s Day survey by Yahoo’s OMG! website, 30 percent of men would rather be single than take Snooki, aka Nicole Polizzi, out on Valentine’s Day.

And newly-single Kim Kardashian didn’t do much better, coming second in the nightmare female celebrity date survey of 2,001 people.

Snooki’s “Jersey Shore” pal, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, was just behind Sheen on the women’s choice of bad Valentine’s Day dates.

Kutcher, also newly-separated from his actress wife Demi Moore, didn’t do much better.

According to a separate Valentine’s Day survey on movie website Fandango, Kutcher was voted the worst romantic comedy film actor. Sarah Jessica Parker of “Sex and the City” fame was voted worst romantic comedy actress.

Top of the movies to avoid was Paris Hilton’s 2008 effort “The Hottie and the Nottie”, which was voted the worst romantic comedy of all time on the Fandango survey, followed by “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

Dream celebrity dates for Valentine’s Day had few surprises; George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston remain tops, while the most romantic movie to see on the day for lovers was “The Notebook” followed by “Titanic”, according to Yahoo’s OMG!

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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LAS VEGAS |
Thu Feb 9, 2012 8:02pm EST

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight was jailed briefly in Las Vegas on three outstanding traffic warrants and suspicion of marijuana possession, after being pulled over for a driving infraction, police said on Thursday.

The onetime rap music mogul was stopped near the Vegas Strip shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday when police saw him changing lanes and making a turn without a proper signal, Metro police officer Jay Rivera said.

A records check turned up three outstanding Nevada traffic warrants for Knight, including one for a driving on a suspended out-of-state license, Rivera said.

Police said Knight, 46, also was found in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, a misdemeanor offense. He was later released on about $2,600 bail, according to Rivera.

Knight, who helped launch the careers of such rap stars as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur in the 1990s, has seen his own career overshadowed in recent years by various run-ins with the law.

In May 2010, he was arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. In February 2009, he was treated for facial injuries he suffered in a fight at a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He was arrested in August 2008 in Las Vegas on drug and assault charges after he was accused of punching his girlfriend and pulling a knife on her during an argument outside a strip club.

(Reporting by Timothy Pratt; Editing by Steve Gorman and Bob Tourtellotte)

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By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES |
Thu Feb 9, 2012 10:16pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Paul McCartney finally got his own star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame on Thursday, becoming the last of the four Beatles to get the honor.

“In Liverpool, when we were kids and listening to Buddy Holly and all the other rock and roll greats, I would have never thought the day would come when I’d be getting a star on the Walk of Fame. I thought it was an impossible thing to happen. But here we are today,” McCartney, 69, said.

“I couldn’t have done it without a certain three boys, so I want to say thanks to those guys, John, George and Ringo,” he said.

McCartney’s star was placed outside the Capitol Records building, alongside those of band members John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

The Beatles were given a star as a group in 1998, more than 25 years after they split up. Lennon and Harrison were given their individual stars several years after their deaths in 1980 and 2001 respectively, while Starr got his in 2010.

Hundreds of fans of the Fab Four gathered, clutching memorabilia, to see McCartney honored for his 50-year legacy in the music industry.

Starr was prevented from attending Thursday’s ceremony because of illness, but rocker Neil Young was on hand to pay tribute to McCartney as a singer and songwriter “at the top of his game.”

The Beatles, who hailed from Liverpool, England, became one of the best-selling bands in the world in the 1960s, triggering a wave of Beatlemania for hits like “Love Me Do”, “Yellow Submarine” and “Let it Be”.

“Thanks to all of you, to all the fans around the world, I’d like to send you hugs and kisses on the bottom,” the singer said cheekily, referring to his latest album, “Kisses on the Bottom.”

McCartney will receive the Recording Academy’s MusiCares person of the year award on Friday, and perform at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy)

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By Tim Ghianni

Wed Feb 8, 2012 11:35pm EST

(Reuters) – Country music legend Merle Haggard is rehearsing with his longtime band, The Strangers, and gearing up to hit the road again after being sidelined by a bout of pneumonia and other ailments.

Haggard, 74, was hospitalized on January 17 after illness forced him to cancel a show in Georgia just moments before taking the stage. Doctors treating him for double-pneumonia in a Macon hospital later discovered a number of other ailments.

“I’m feeling good and ready to get back on the bus,” Haggard said on Wednesday in a statement issued by his Los Angeles-based publicist Tresa Redburn.

“Thanks to all for their powerful prayers that led to my speedy recovery. I’m rehearsing with the band and looking forward to playin’ and singin’ again,” Haggard said.

His first performance will be February 28 at the Fox Theatre in Tucson, Arizona. The January dates that he had to postpone due to his illness will be made up in April, Redburn said.

Even after the doctors had his pneumonia cleared up, the singer remained in the hospital for several days to recover after eight polyps were removed from his colon and for treatment of three stomach ulcers and diverticulitis in his esophagus, all of which were discovered by Macon medical staff, Redburn said.

Upon his release, Haggard credited the Macon medical team for “probably saving my life.”

Best known for songs such as “Mama Tried,” “Okie from Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” the member of the Country Music Hall of Fame was released from a Macon hospital on January 26 and flew home to Northern California to continue recuperating.

With influences ranging from Lefty Frizzell to Bob Wills to Jimmie Rodgers, Haggard is an architect of country music’s so-called “Bakersfield Sound.”

(Editing By Cynthia Johnston)

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