George Michael May Join Paris Hilton's Status As Inmate

George Michael is due to be sentenced later for driving while stoned.

Magistrates heard the 43-year-old had a cocktail of drugs in his system including GHB and cannabis after he was found slumped at the wheel of his Mercedes in north London last October.

The star admitted driving while unfit, claiming it was due to tiredness and prescribed drugs.

At an earlier hearing he told the court: "I did something very stupid and I am very ashamed since doing it.

He added: I'm not used to defending myself in a position where I am ashamed of something. I was not in my normal physical state and I'm perfectly prepared to accept the correct punishment for that and I would have accepted it a long time ago."

His court appearance comes a day before he kicks off his European tour at the new Wembley stadium.

Rapper "The Game" Pleads Innocent To Brandishing Gun

US west coast gangsta rapper "The Game" pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Los Angeles court to felony charges that he threatened a man with a gun at a pickup basketball game.

"The Game," aka Jayceon Terrell Taylor, 27, is charged with three counts in the February incident in which he allegedly hit a player on the opposing team, then went to his Cadillac and got a gun and threatened to shoot the man.

One of the charges relates to possessing the gun in a school zone, and another to exhibiting the gun in the presence of a police officer.

He could get five years in prison if convicted on all the charges.

Taylor, nominated for two Grammys for his hit 2005 CD "The Documentary," is a star of gangsta rap, which glorifies gang culture and violence.

He is free on 50,000 dollars bail and scheduled to appear in court on June 27.

Richie Sambora Enters Treatment Facility

Richie Sambora, lead guitarist for the rock band Bon Jovi, has entered a treatment facility, a spokesman for the group said today (Thursday).

Sambora, 47, checked into the Los Angeles facility on Wednesday. No other details on the treatment he was seeking were disclosed.

In recent months, Sambora has experienced personal hardships including a breakup with girlfriend Denise Richards, the finalization of his divorce from ex-wife Heather Locklear and the death of his father.

"Richie Sambora has entered an undisclosed treatment facility in Los Angeles. He asks that you respect his and his family's privacy at this time," said the spokesman.

New Jersey band Bon Jovi shot to stardom in the 1980s with songs like "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer" that topped record charts.

The group has a new CD, "Lost Highway," scheduled to hit record stores on June 19, and is set to begin a tour on June 24 in London.

B-52s Soon To Release New CD After 15 Years Of Silence

Fifteen years after their last album of new material, The B-52's are wrapping up work on their next one.

The quirky dance-pop outfit, which burst onto the new wave scene in 1979 with songs like "Rock Lobster" and cracked the pop charts in the late '80s with the party classics "Love Shack" and "Roam," returned to their hometown of Athens, Ga. to finish recording the as-yet unnamed record.

"We all lived down there for two months and just got back in the swing of things," singer Fred Schneider said from his home on Long Island, N.Y.

He said the group, which has been performing together since 1998 after taking an extended break, always had intentions of recording again. But with members living in New York, Georgia and Florida, it was tricky to get together and write new material.

"After the `Cosmic Thing' and `Good Stuff' tours (in 1989 and 1992), we were a little burned out," he said. "We just had our ins and outs and things going on. It took a while for things to fall back into place."

Schneider said the 11 new tracks will maintain the B-52's dance party vibe but will showcase some new directions for a band that, along with R.E.M., helped put Athens on the map as a hotbed of alternative music.

"There's more electronica on it," he said. "It's up-tempo and a bit sexed-up. It's sexier than ever."

Schneider said post-production work on the album is expected to begin soon, with plans to release it early next year. The band owns the master recordings of the album and is now shopping for a record label to release it, Schneider said.

Meanwhile, the group plans a handful of U.S. and European tour dates this summer, with a full concert schedule planned when the album is released. (Photo = First Album)