Celebrity News & Gossip

Jay Z and Will Smith are the producers! The powerhouse pair are backing the Broadway show Fela. Although how much moola Will, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and Jay Z are investing in the production is undisclosed, just having these three big names attached will bring in loads of interest! Fela is a musical based around Afrobeat icon and political activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.   “There’s going to be an enormous incentive for people to investigate Fela when they know that Jay-Z and Will Smith are all rabid fans,” Rikki Stein, Kuti’s former co-manager and executor of his estate, recently said. “It’s a sign that the underground is moving overground.” [Photo: Getty Images]

Oh, 1999. Napster would launch in June, gradually putting an end to those halycon days of albums selling tens of millions of copies, but no one could have guessed that during the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in Februrary. All the big stars were there: Missy, Madonna, J. Lo, J. Lo. Hew., Shania, Erykah and even Natalie. What…don’t you remember Natalie Imbruglia? What about Lauryn Hill? She was the big winner that night for The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, and she still hasn’t released a studio follow-up to the album. Maybe next year!

Will Smith and Celine Dion attend the 1991 American Music Awards, where they presented the award for Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock New Artist to Slaughter. We’re not kidding.

[Photo: Time & Life]