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Rich Cronin, the singer for 90s boy band LFO, died today of leukemia at the age of 35.

Cronin penned the band’s biggest hit, “Summer Girls,” which topped the summer charts in 1999. (Video below.) The song garnered a lot of attention due to its seemingly random lyrics. Members of the band later said it was not intended to be released, but a radio station began playing it after a demo tape leaked.

E! says Cronin had been battling the disease since 2005:

Cronin was first diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in 2005. He started the Rich Cronin Hope Foundation to raise awareness about the disease and educate the public about donating blood and bone marrow.

Sad sad day that Rich Cronin died- was a amazing guy. : (

A new book is to follow Lady Gaga behind the scenes of her ‘Monster Ball’ tour.

The ‘Alejandro’ hitmaker has teamed up with photographer Terry Richardson to document her offstage life while traveling the world on the 181-date arena tour.

However, the eccentric singer admitted there were times when having someone follow her around all the time became a little too much to handle.

She told Japan’s Vogue Hommes magazine, “He wanted to a book about the ‘Monster Ball’. He wanted to shoot me backstage, not onstage, and look at who I am offstage. He’s on the bus with me. He just follows me everywhere. He’ll photograph me when I’m changing — those quick changes during the show. And sometimes I’ll have to pee during the show, and I’m always screaming, ‘Terry, get out!’

“And he’ll be saying, ‘It’s so beautiful. You’re so punk!’ If only my fans knew I was peeing in a beer cup backstage.”

Meanwhile, the kooky star has caused outrage among animal rights campaigners for posing on the cover of the magazine wearing a bikini made entirely of red meat.

Ingrid Newkirk, president of animal rights campaign group PETA, said: “Lady Gaga’s job is to do outlandish things, and this certainly qualifies as outlandish because meat is something you want to avoid putting on or in your body. No matter how beautifully it is presented, flesh from a tortured animal is flesh from a tortured animal.

“Meat represents bloody violence and suffering, so if that’s the look they were going for—they achieved it.”

Kristen Stewart “wasn’t allowed to grope” Dakota Fanning on the set of ‘The Runaways’.

The actress told how there were strict rules in place when she performed her on-screen kiss with the teenage star, but their intimate moment felt “natural”.

Kristen, who rose to fame in the ‘Twilight’ franchise said, “Well, she was 15, and I wasn’t allowed to grope her. I’m not kidding. There are major restrictions.

“But it’s very innocent in the movie, just a kiss. Of course, everyone’s talking about it like it’s a huge deal but it was so natural and impulsive.

“And it’s like five seconds in the movie.”

The film tells the true story of rock star Joan Jett, who the 20-year-old actress portrays, and her all-girl band The Runaways, a teenage group from the 70s. Dakota plays the group’s singer Cherie Currie.

Kristen said the role differed to her previous work because she had to portray a living person, but that she became close to Joan, who was one of the movie’s producers, during filming.

She told Stylist magazine, “I think we really do understand each other, and that’s rare. We have a lot of idiosyncrasies and tics that are really different to other people, and so I feel the role was an easy thing to step into.

“When we were shooting I was doing a lot of press and I think I was sort of wearing her and projecting her a little bit.”

Jay-Z organized a surprise birthday bash for wife Beyonce Knowles at the weekend.

The rapper made the ‘Halo’ hitmaker’s 29th birthday party on Saturday, September 4, one to remember by hiring out New York eatery The Darby, where the couple were joined by celebrity pals Kayne West, P Diddy, Serena Williams and Alicia Keys.

An insider told the New York Post newspaper, “Jay brought a six-layer cake out for Beyonce, they were really affectionate. Cassidy played Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’. The party went on until 6 am.

“Both Jay and Beyonce’s moms were there, but there was no sign of her father or her sister. Diddy was the last to leave. Jay filled the room with orchids.”

Earlier this week, it was claimed Lady Gaga had splashed out thousands of dollars on a custom-made diamond whip and matching underwear set as a birthday gift for the singer, which she presented to her backstage at Jay-Z’s concert in Detroit last week.

A source explained, “Gaga wanted to give her something special. The whip was made out of hundreds of diamonds and leather. When Beyonce received it she squealed with excitement.”

Selena Gomez doesn’t know what love is.

The 18-year-old star, who has previously dated Nick Jonas, thinks she is too young to know about relationships and the feelings they bring.

She said,“I’m 18, but I feel like I’m still 15. I feel very young at heart, and I still want to jump up and down on my bed singing and rocking out.

“You never really know when you’re in love at this age. I don’t know what love is.”

However, the ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ actress says she has a good idea of what her ideal boyfriend will be like.

She said, “I would like someone who is not cool and who is really fun to be around and loves family and has good morals.”

As well as being on the search for her perfect man, Selena, who is of Mexican, English and Italian descent, is keen to learn Spanish.

She told Latina magazine, “I really need to learn my language. I practice, but I can understand it better than I can speak it.”

Selena also revealed how she will only do projects she feels passionate about, saying, “I’m not just going to slap my name on something. I want to be really passionate about everything I do, so it’s all about timing.”

Joe Francis, the notoriously slimy proprietor of the Girls Gone Wild franchise of semi-porn, is back in court over a “tell-all” book written by a former GGW cameraman, titled FLASH!

In the book, former Francis employee Ryan Simkin, recounts an incident wherein Francis allegedly requested he bring cocaine and ecstasy to Paris Hilton. Hilton, who was in a relationship with Francis at the time, was flying to France to meet her then-boyfriend, and the quantity of contraband was fairly large. Simkin alleges that he asked what we would all ask:

“I took out the Camel box (of cocaine and ecstasy) and handed it to her, and she thanked me. We talked for a minute or two about the apparent difficulty of procuring those drugs in Europe. I asked if she was flying private, and she said, “No, commercial.” And then as politely as I could, I asked her how she planned on traveling with that amount of blow and X. She held the box in her right hand, and then with an underhand swoop like a lower case J, she demonstrated exactly how she intended to beat airport security. She even whistled as she did it. A little alley-oop with the Camel Box, straight up her snatch. Classic.”

Francis is suing to stop the sale of Simkin’s book, but neither he nor Hilton have commented on the “box of drugs in the vagina” incident.

[Gawker]

Katie Holmes thinks it is “magical” when she brings her daughter to work.

The 31-year-old actress, who has four-year-old Suri with husband Tom Cruise, adores spending time with the youngster and admits she helps keep her spirits high when she’s having a bad day.

She said, “It’s been really wonderful and I love being a mom. Suri comes to the set with me… She is amazing and it’s really fun to share making a movie with her. She brings so much to it.

“She is such a light that you instantly feel better. When I’m working, I feel like, ‘Wow, this is so magical I get to share this with you, and you give me so much.’ It’s really fun.”

Katie has spent the past few weeks portraying the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for mini-series ‘The Kennedys’, alongside Greg Kinnear.

The brunette beauty adored working on the show, which will air on the History Channel next year – because it allowed her to portray the “amazing” woman.

She told US TV show ‘Access Hollywood’, “She was an amazing mother and she was a very strong woman. She did a lot right.”

Katie was also delighted with how movie bosses have allowed them to integrate their family life into filming.

She explained, “We’ve had a lot of fun with all of the kids on set. Everyone brings their kids and we do play dates there and paint pottery. There’s always like a million things going on at once and you just do it.”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have purchased a $40 million mansion in Italy.

The property, in the Italian hills of Valpolicella, features 15 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a theatre and two swimming pools, and is the third in the showbiz pair’s property portfolio, adding to a Los Angeles mansion and New Orleans home.

Angelina reportedly fell in love with Italy while filming her latest epic ‘The Tourist’ with Johnny Depp.

However, the couple and their children, Maddox, nine, Pax, six, Zahara, five, Shiloh, four, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, will continue to use their Los Angeles home as their base.

Meanwhile, the ‘Changeling’ actress has visited the victims of flooding in Pakistan in a bid to draw attention to the disaster – which has killed 1,500 people and affected a further 20 million.

After meeting survivors of the devastation, she said, “I am very moved by them and I hope that I am able to do something to help bring attention to the situation for all the people in need in Pakistan.

“This is not just a humanitarian crisis, it is an economic and social catastrophe.”

Discussing what she saw when she visited homes affected by the floods, she said, “There are people displaced by the floods and they’ve lost their homes, the water was as high as the ceiling. It’s not just a tent that has collapsed, it’s a home, it’s collapsed, it’s mud, it’s their entire life.

“Many of them lost their children. So there is irreparable damage.”

Glenn Shadix, the actor best known for his role as an interior designer named Otho in classic 80s film Beetlejuice died Tuesday at his home in Birmingham, Alabama.

Cause of death wasn’t officially announced, but the actor’s sister indicated that Shadix, who was born William G. Scott, may have hit his head in a fall from his wheelchair. A statement released on Shadix’s website officially announced his passing and plans for a memorial service:

It is with great sadness and pain that the family of William G. “Glenn Shadix” Scott announces his passing this morning.

A memorial service will be held at Lakeside Baptist Church,  2865 Old Rocky Ridge Road, Birmingham, on Saturday, September 11th at 2 p.m.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made in Glenn’s name to the Theatre Department of the Alabama School of Fine Arts, 1800 8th Avenue, Birmingham, AL 35203.

E! quoted the actor, who also had parts in Planet of the Apes, Seinfeld, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, on the massive success of Beetlejuice:

“There is a part of me that is not surprised,” Shadix said of Beetlejuice‘s cult-classic status. “We had so much fun filming this unusual and so very original movie that I had a feeling something very special was happening.”

A woman claiming to be the love child of the late Michael Jackson has had her case thrown out.

Mocienne Petit Jackson, who filed documents with the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July demanding a DNA test to prove she is the offspring of the late ‘King of Pop,’ had her request denied yesterday, September 9, with her claim she should be entitled to a share of the King of Pop’s estate dismissed by the court, reports gossip website TMZ.

The 25-year-old woman had alleged she was conceived in 1975 when the ‘Bad’ singer impregnated her mother Barbara, who she claims is the sister of soul singer Diana Ross, when he was just 17 years old.

Mocienne alleged an elaborate cover-up plot was then hatched by Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, so the world would never know about the singer’s indiscretion, and claims the pop matriarch even decided to fake an “abduction” of her when she was nine in the hope of protecting the legendary star’s reputation.

According to Mocienne, who now lives in the Netherlands, all seven of her supposed abductors were then murdered after taking her to Belgium.

This is not the first love child mystery to have surfaced since Michael’s death from acute Propofol intoxication at the age of 50.

In 2009, 25-year-old Norwegian dancer Omer Bhatti was rumoured to be his son, the result of a one night stand between his mother Pia and the ‘Billie Jean’ hitmaker in 1984.

Omer, who lived at the singer’s Neverland ranch for several years, later denied Michael was his biological father, but revealed the singer used to tell him he was “like a son” to him.