AILING
Matthew Broderick, 44, broke his collarbone after falling off a horse on
Aug. 27 while vacationing in Ireland with wife Sarah Jessica Parker,
41.... Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton, 54, will undergo seven weeks of
radiation treatment for throat cancer. He is expected to rejoin the
band's tour in October.
RECOVERING
Supermodel/actress Amber Valletta (Hitch), 32, has completed a stint in
an Arizona rehab facility. While the exact nature of her stay wasn't
revealed, Valletta stresses it was not related to alcohol or substance
abuse. She has been sober for seven years.... Singer Linda Ronstadt, 60,
canceled 12 performances after undergoing surgery Aug. 22. Her rep
emphasizes that the procedure wasn't cancer-related, but would not
reveal any other specifics.
COURTS
Taylor Hicks, 29, has settled his suit against ex-producer William
Smith. Hicks claimed Smith, who's been releasing some of the American
Idol champ's 2001 recordings on his website, never owned the rights to
the songs.... Newly sprung jailbird Lil' Kim (née Kimberly Jones), 31,
was sued on Aug. 23 for plagiarism. The suit contends that reggae artist
Tanya Stephens' lyrics appear in Kim's 2005 song ''Durty.'' Lil' Kim's
reps did not return calls for comment.... 50 Cent (né Curtis Jackson),
31, was sued on Aug. 16 by two women who say the rapper injured them
during a concert in May 2004. 50 Cent allegedly jumped into the crowd
searching for an audience member who'd sprayed him with water, and the
women were standing in his path. His reps did not return calls for
comment.
CONTROVERSY
Rolling Stone Keith Richards, 62, is reportedly off the hook after
lighting up a cigarette during the band's Aug. 25 concert in Glasgow.
Under the city's smoking ban, the guitarist would have to pay a $95
fine, but the city council decided that ''the stage for the concert was
not... covered by the smoking ban legislation.''
DAMAGED
On Aug. 25, sixty acres of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa
Barbara were scorched by a wildfire that came within 200 yards of the
main residence. The King of Pop was away in Bahrain, and none of
Neverland's staff members or myriad exotic animals were harmed. The
cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
DEATHS
Bruce Gary, 55, drummer for the Knack (''My Sharona'') who also did
session work for artists like Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow, of
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Aug. 22, in Tarzana, Calif.... Independent movie
producer Sig Shore (Superfly), 87, of complications from chronic
pneumonia, Aug. 17, in Stamford, Conn.... Art director/photographer Ed
Thrasher, 74, who designed album covers for everyone from Frank Sinatra
to Jimi Hendrix, of cancer, Aug. 5, in Big Bear Lake, Calif.... Tony
Malara, 69, a president at CBS Television from 1982 to 1995, of a heart
attack, Aug. 24, in Syracuse, N.Y.... Robert K. Hoffman, 59, a cofounder
of National Lampoon magazine and noted philanthropist, of leukemia, Aug.
20, in Dallas.
LEGACY
MAYNARD FERGUSON 1928-2006
The gifted jazz trumpeter and bandleader, who died of kidney and liver
failure Aug. 23 in Ventura, Calif., was known to purists for his soaring
high notes and 60-plus-year career. To Rocky fans, however, Ferguson was
the man behind the popular rendition of its theme song, ''Gonna Fly Now.''
''He's the last of the big-band leaders—an era is closed,'' says manager
Steve Schankman. ''[He knew] what music means to the soul.''
