Singer Jerry Reed dies at 71

Jerry Reed, a country music singer, country guitarist, session musician, songwriter, and actor who became a good ol' boy actor in car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit," has died at the age of 71. Reed died on Monday from complications from emphysema. Reed had quadruple bypass surgery in June 1999.

Reed was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Reed's parents separated four months after his birth, and he and his sister spent seven years in foster homes or orphanages. Reed was reunited with his mother and stepfather in 1944. Music helped ease the stressful times the new family was under.

At age 18, Reed was signed by publisher and record producer Bill Lowery to cut his first record, "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creeks Don't Rise."

He won a Grammy Award for "When You're Hot, You're Hot" in 1971 for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. A year earlier, he shared a Grammy with Chet Atkins for their collaboration, "Me and Jerry." In 1992, Atkins and Reed won a Grammy for "Sneakin' Around.". Jerry Reed appeared in over a dozen movies.

"I'm proud of the songs, I'm proud of things that I did with Chet (Atkins), I'm proud that I played guitar and was accepted by musicians and guitar players," Reed told the AP in 1992.

Dixie Chick Emily Robison and Charlie Robison have divorced

Dixie Chicks' Emily Robison and singer-songwriter Charlie Robison have divorced. It is reported that singer Charlie Robison filed for divorce in January after nine years of marriage. The couple were at the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday August 6, 2008 when the divorce was finalized.

"They remain the best of friends and their family is obviously the priority."
a rep for the singer told PEOPLE Magazine. The divorce filing states their marriage had "become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities."

Emily Robison of the country group Dixie Chicks married the country singer Charlie Robison on May 1, 1999. They have three kids Charles Augustus born November 11, 2002 and twins Julianna Tex and Henry Benjamin born on April 14, 2005.

"We can confirm that the divorce is final. They remain the best of friends and their family is obviously the priority," a spokesperson for the Dixie Chicks said to The Associated Press.

Musician Katie Reider Died

Singer and songwriter Katie Reider, 30, died Monday morning, July 14, 2008 in New Jersey after a two-year battle with a tumor that forced her from the stage in 2006, but not from her will to survive.

Earlier she wrote on her website

"There always seems to be a lot of waiting and that can be frustrating, but while I wait, I am trying to LIVE! Let’s live together and remind one another how precious life is and how we should live each moment to the fullest."

After multiple diagnoses and treatments, doctors diagnosed her in June 2007 with a rare myofibroblastic inflammation tumor that had progressed from her sinus and upper left jaw to behind her left eye and later she had double vision that made it impossible for her to perform. Just when doctors had controlled her tumor, Reider began to hemorrhage from an artery in her brain. It was this hemorrhaging that led to Reider's death on Monday.

Reider's mother Gaile Reider, died of cancer last year. "The mother-and-child reunion going on in heaven right now must be unbelievable," her father said Monday from his Montgomery home. Reider's father Rob Reider, best known as a singer on the Cincinnati-based syndicated entertainment program The Bob Braun Show in the 1970s and ’80s.

Katie Reider is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio and has been performing and making music since she was a little girl. She received her first guitar, a red Gibson Epiphone, from her parents when she was in fifth grade.

Amy Winehouse Still in Hospital

British singer Amy Winehouse, 24, must remain in the hospital to receive more tests because test results have proved inconclusive.
Last Monday, She fainted in her apartment in London, and was taken to hospital after medics were called by her father who demanded to be taken to hospital as "a precaution.".
A spokesman for the star says, "Doctors want to get to the bottom of it before releasing her. There will be further tests and they will keep her under observation. She seems to be fine... but they are taking their time to be sure."

The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as self-destructive behavior.

Winehouse was arrested on 7 May 2008 on suspicion of possessing drugs after a video of her apparently smoking crack cocaine was passed to Scotland Yard in January, but was released on bail a few hours later.