Legendary country star George Jones is dead at 81

Country music icon George Jones — a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and a legend of the Grand Old Opry — died Friday in Nashville, where he had been hospitalized for more than a week with fever and irregular blood pressure. He was 81. His recording career spanned more than 50 years, kick-started with his 1959 hit, “White Lightning.” He charted more than 160 singles, a record in pop-music history that still stands. Over the decades, Jones worked with Mercury Records, United Artists, Epic Records, and MCA, as well as producers and songwriters including Billy Sherrill and Bobby Braddock, who were often behind Jones’ series of duets with his then-wife Tammy Wynette — “Golden Ring,” “Near You,” and “We’re Gonna Hold On.” Jones and Wynette’s tumultuous professional and personal relationship became a defining dynamic in country music, and his personal struggles with drugs and alcohol were also well documented; he later credited second wife Nancy Jones with helping him to reach and maintain his sobriety for the last three decades of his life.BJones’ final Top 20 country hit came in 1998, with “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me,” featuring Patty Loveless, followed 10 years later by a fêting at the Kennedy Center Honors. Jones announced his farewell tour in 2012, which was to conclude in November of this year with a sold-out show featuring Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, and Garth Brooks, among several others.

Michael Jordan Marries Model Yvette Prieto

After five years of dating, former NBA star Michael Jordan, 50, and his model-fiancée, Yvette Prieto, 35, made it official with a wedding in Palm Beach, Fla., on Saturday.  About 500 people arriving by tour buses piled into an Episcopal church called Bethesda-by-the Sea, where Donald Trump was married to Melania in 2005. NJordan invited another 1,500 to join them for the reception at the Bears Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course community in Jupiter, Fla., where Jordan recently built a 38,000-square-foot home.  "They've been planning for months and months," says a source of the nuptials. "He wanted to give Yvette everything she's ever wanted." Jordan, now the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, proposed over the Christmas holidays in 2011. They applied for their wedding license in March at the Palm Beach County courthouse.  On Friday afternoon, they were spotted attending their rehearsal at the church.  Prieto, 35, met Jordan at a Miami nightclub in 2008.  This is the second marriage for the Chicago Bulls legend. He and his first wife Juanita Vanoy divorced in 2006 after 17 years of marriage, and the couple have three grown children together. 

Clint Eastwood's Wife Checks into Rehab

Clint Eastwood's wife Dina has checked herself into rehab for help with depression and anxiety. Dina, who stars in her own reality show with Clint's daughter Francesca -- "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" -- entered an exclusive facility in Arizona.  she is NOT being treated for substance abuse. Clint and Dina have been married since 1996 and have a 16-year-old daughter, Morgan, who also stars in the reality show.  Clint is no stranger to the treatment facility circuit - He's a major donor to a hospital in Monterey, CA ... which named its youth program after him. The program specializes in teen drug, alcohol and mental health issues. The couple have been having marital issues and the possibility of divorce sent her over the edge. The rehab stint was Dina's choice ... and she plans to stay at the exclusive Arizona facility for a few months.

Vince Vaughn Expecting Second Child

Looks like the stork will soon pay another visit to Vince Vaughn! The 43-year-old actor revealed during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, set to air next Monday, that he and his wife Kyla are expecting their second child this  "We're very excited," beamed Vince, adding that the baby is expected to arrive on August 5th. The couple welcomed their first child, a girl named Locklyn, in December of 2010. Vince and Kyla tied the knot during an intimate ceremony January 2, 2010.

Lauryn Hill to Release New Album 

Lauryn Hill may be in a boatload of legal troubles, but that isn't stopping her from finally making new music -- and it's time for the world to rejoice. Hill posted a statement to her official Tumblr account, announcing that she's back in the studio for the first time since 1998's iconic "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." The singer's only album since "Miseducation" has been 2002's "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0," recorded live at the MTV Studios in Times Square the previous year. This will mark her first studio material in 15 years, and fans will surely be anxious to lay down a welcome mat for the former Fugees singer, who has steadily grown more eccentric over the past decade. Hill revealed on Tumblr that she is launching a new record label in conjunction with Sony Worldwide Entertainment as an effort to pay the $504,000 she owes immediately in taxes. Here's an excerpt of her post: I’ve remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce… free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I’ve been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.  It took years for me to get out of the ‘parasitic’ dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so.

JASON ALDEAN, WIFE JESSICA SEPARATE AFTER CHEATING SCANDAL

They tried to make it work, but Jason Aldean and Jessica Ussery have reached their breaking point as a couple. Seven months after the father of two was photographed making out with "American Idol" alumna Brittany Kerr, the country star and his wife have separated.

Box office report: 'Pain & Gain' leads slow weekend with $20 million

In the final weekend before Iron Man 3 kicks off the summer movie season in earnest, Michael Bay’s R-rated action comedy Pain & Gain topped a slow weekend at the box office with $20 million. In second place, Tom Cruise’s sci-fi adventure Oblivion, which last week debuted with $37.1 million. Warner Bros.’ $40 million Jackie Robinson drama 42 scored another $10.7 million in its third week. 

1. Pain & Gain – $20 million

2. Oblivion – $17.4 million

3. 42 – $10.7 million

4. The Big Wedding – $7.5 million

5. The Croods – $6.6 million

Jeffrey Wright Arrested for DWI

Veteran character actor Jeffrey Wright was arrested in NYC early Saturday morning for DWI. Law enforcement sources say that cops pulled Wright over in a Toyota Tacoma at around 3:00 AM ET for an unknown traffic violation.  When cops spoke with Wright, they detected an odor of alcohol and administered a field sobriety test. After Wright did poorly on that, he was arrested and booked for DWI. Wright has appeared in almost too many movies to name, but will next be seen by most of the free world in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

Draft Day

Sean Combs and Terry Crews have joined the cast of Ivan Reitman's sports pic "Draft Day" starring Kevin Costner. Scenes will be shot today at New York’s Radio City Music Hall during the 2013 NFL draft. The story follows the manager of the Cleveland Browns who struggles to acquire the top draft pick for his team on the day of the draft. Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary and Chadwick Boseman also star.

Queen of the Desert

James Franco is reportedly circling the role that Jude Law was going to play in Werner Herzog's "Queen Of The Desert". The story would follow Gertrude Bell, the real-life British woman who was a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. Though only a commoner, Bell ultimately helped found the modern states of Iraq and Jordan and installing their first rulers, King Abdullah and King Faisal. Naomi Watts and Robert Pattinson remain attached to play Bell and writer T.E. Lawrence respectively in the project.

The Other Woman

American Idol judge and pop star Nicki Minaj will join the Nick Cassavetes-directed comedy "The Other Woman" at 20th Century Fox. Cameron Diaz plays a mistress who realizes that her married boyfriend (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is seeing yet another woman (Kate Upton) on the side. She teams up with her beau's wife (Leslie Mann) to get revenge. Nicki Minaj is playing Cameron Diaz's outspoken assistant, who is on her third marriage. Melissa Stack penned the script while Julie Yorn is producing.

TV NEWS

NBC will air a special one-hour The Office retrospective on Thursday, May 16, directly before the sitcom concludes its nine-season run with its one-hour series finale. 

NBC is starting with the easy decisions. The network just renewed five drama series: Parenthood, Revolution, Grimm, Law & Order: SVU and Chicago Fire. All the shows — including Parenthood — received 22-episode orders for next season.

Though Thursday night’s preview was less than impressive, The Vampire Diaries spinoff dubbed The Originals was ordered to series by the CW. The network today also picked up a second season of Beauty and the Beast and a third year of Hart of Dixie. The CW already picked up Arrow, The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural for next season. No word yet on the futures of Nikita and The Carrie Diaries, however.

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Kristen Wiig is returning to her old stomping grounds to make her debut as host of the show on May 11, NBC has announced. Rounding out season 38 of the legendary sketch show will be Ben Affleck, who will make his fifth appearance on SNL‘s May 18 finale. NBC has also confirmed the widespread rumor that Kanye West will make his fifth appearance as the show’s musical guest on the May 18 episode, though it remains unclear whether the rapper, who has been in Paris working on his next album, will premiere any new music.

Beginning Tuesday, April 30, NBC will release new installments of its axed dating series Ready for Love on a weekly basis via NBC.com, VOD, iTunes, Amazon, Hulu and more.

Two men down, one half-man out the door? Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer have finalized deals to return to Two and a Half Men next season. Meanwhile, co-star Angus T. Jones — who came under fire last fall for biting the hand that has fed him for the past decade — will not be back as a series regular but could return as an occasional guest star.