Those born with a thirst for fame as well as an unfortunate (or boring) moniker face a tougher road to the A-list. So it’s no wonder that many celebs choose to drop their given name for something a bit more… catchy.
Of course, the gawking public isn’t dumb. They know the odds are slim that Sting was born with such an evocative handle. Each week we see an avalanche of searches for celebrity “real names.” Folks look up the obvious stage names (Larry the Cable Guy) as well as some that are a tad more subtle (John Wayne). Some of the lookups are met with disappointment. Madonna’s real name is, in fact, Madonna. Same deal with Prince.
Below we list the 20 top “real name” searches from the past week. Madonna and Tiger top the list, but you’ll find all sorts of actors, athletes, and musicians in the mix. Most people stick with the name they’re given. Celebrities are not “most people.”
Perhaps the slopes were a metaphor for the officials and the tree was the drug ring that took the life of Sonny Bono. Reports by an FBI agent claim the skiing accident in 1998 wasn’t an accident at all.
While in Nevada the ex-hubby of Cher turned politician met his end during a ski trip. The ruling was “accidental” and stated that he collided with a tree while tackling the slopes. Former FBI agent Ted Gunderson has been digging into the death of the notoriously hard hitting Sonny and believes he was actually clubbed to death.
“It’s nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. There’s zero evidence in this autopsy report… to show such an accident happened.
Instead, there’s powerful proof he (Bono) was assassinated. This was an evil plot that was carried out to almost perfection by ruthless assassins.”
The theory is that the assassins ambushed him on the slopes, beat him to death and then staged the impact with a nearby tree. Forensics experts are also in agreement. Another investigator, Bob Fletcher, also stated he found evidence that linked U.S. government officials to weapon dealers. He sent that information to Bono who turned up dead a month later.
TIME is having readers chose “The Most Influential People of the Year - The TIME 100″ from a list of 200 candidates.
Here’s the early voting:
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, is leading the pack at the moment, followed by Korean pop singer Rain, comedian Stephen Colbert, Shigeru Miyamoto (the guy who designed the Nintendo Wii), and J.K. Rowling (the Harry Potter author), the singer Bono, and rising hockey star Sidney Crosby.
I am somewhat skeptical of the methodology. At least President Bush is beating out former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar. Of course, when Howard Stern (currently high on the list himself) weighs in, that might change.
Rolling Stone has compiled a list of Rock’s Top 25 Songs With a Secret, which they describe as “tracks the meanings of which have inspired lots of debate.”
1. “Louie Louie” – The Kingsmen: Though the song was originally written by Richard Berry, the Kingsmen’s version was a huge hit and inspired an equally huge controversy when rumors spread the virtually inaudible lyrics were super dirty. The FBI even investigated the potentially un-American nastiness of the song’s message (their theories on what they lyrics say are hysterical) but ultimately it was concluded that the song was not bound to defile an entire generation of young minds. 2. “Lola” – The Kinks: Thought to be about a beautiful woman, actually inspired by an incident in which Kinks’ manager Robert Wace spent a drunken night dancing with a transvestite he mistook for a woman. 3. “Born in the USA” – Bruce Springsteen: Misperceived as a nationalistic anthem, is really a dark portrait of post-Vietnam life. 4. “One” – U2: Depending on who you ask, this song is about everything from a young man trying to tell his father about his HIV-positive status, to buffalos, but the track is widely believed to have been inspired by Bono’s relationship with his own father. 5. “Rainy Day Women #12 & #35” – Bob Dylan: With its lyrical proclamation, “everybody must get stoned” the song was embraced as a stoner’s anthem, but the song is actually about the literal throwing of stones. 6. “Please Please Me” – The Beatles: Thought to be a cute little teenage love song, is actually about oral sex. 7. “Alison” – Elvis Costello: Yeah, it’s a song about betrayal and misery directed at a member of the opposite sex, but it’s not about murder, as many have speculated. 8. “One I Love” – R.E.M.: Thought to be about the one he loves, is actually meant to be ironic. 9. “Edge of Seventeen”- Stevie Nicks: Thought to be about teen angst and or drug addiction, is actually about the deaths of John Lennon and Nicks’ uncle. 10. “Pictures of Lily” – The Who: Thought to be a sweet love song, is actually about a young boy’s obsession with a porn star. 11. “Polly” – Nirvana: Misunderstood by frat boys to glorify rape, was actually inspired by a true story in which a rape victim escaped from her captor. 12. “She Bop” – Cyndi Lauper: Thought to be a charming and innocent song about a girl dancing around, is actually about masturbation. 13. “Hey Jude” – The Beatles: Some suspect the song is about taking heroin, it was actually written by Paul McCartney for John’s son Julian. 14. “Pretzel Logic” – Steely Dan: Mistakenly thought to be about Adolf Hitler. 15. “Crystal Blue Persuasion” – Tommy James & The Shondells: The song was misunderstood to be about making crystal meth, when the actual inspiration was a description of Heaven in “The Book of Revelation.” 16. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” – The Beatles: Though this song is widely assumed to be about LSD, the official statement is that the song was inspired by Julian Lennon’s drawing … which John Lennon was looking at while high on LSD. Just kidding. The song has nothing to do with drugs (officially). Seriously. Drawings. Not drugs. Got it? 17. “Harder to Breathe” – Maroon 5: Originally this song was thought to be about a troubled romance and or stalker-like-tendencies of a particularly pissed off lover, but Levine says it was inspired by record company pressure to write more singles. 18. “Pennyroyal Tea” – Nirvana: Thought to be inspired by many things, including a tea Kurt drank to ease his stomach pain, was actually inspired by an herbal remedy meant to cause an abortion. 19. “In the Air Tonight” – Phil Collins: Widely thought to be about a drowning incident, is actually about divorce. 20. “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”– Green Day: Misperceived as a love song, is really about a bitterness-filled breakup. 21. “Take Me Out” – Franz Ferdinand: Fans have speculated that the song is about a troubled couple who just can’t get their adolescent hearts together, it’s actually inspired by the assassination of Austria-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 22. “Some Candy Talking” – Jesus and Mary Chain: Though every other Jesus and Mary Chain song ever written seems to have a trippy theme and or feel, the band insists this song is not, as many believe, about heroin. Not. About. Drugs. Officially. 23. “Girl” – Beck: Thought to be a love song, is actually about nefarious seduction that ends in murder. 24. “Drain You” – Nirvana: Thought to be just another song about heroin, is actually about a case in which one twin baby stole the nutrients from its twin while in the womb, resulting in one stillbirth. 25. “Dier Eir von Satan” – Tool: Thought to be about something to do with Satan, the lyrics, which are all in German, actually consist entirely of a repeating recipe for hashish cookies.
Irish rock star and global humanitarian Bono became a knight of the British empire Thursday — and joked that his youngest son thought he was about to become a Jedi instead.
Bono, 46, was named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in an informal, laugh-filled ceremony in the Dublin home of British Ambassador David Reddaway.
“You have permission to call me anything you want — except sir, all right? Lord of lords, your demigodness, that’ll do,” he told reporters afterward. Because he is an Irish citizen, Bono won’t have the title of “sir” before his name. That honor is reserved for citizens of the United Kingdom or British Commonwealth countries. Ireland left the Commonwealth when it became a republic in 1949.
Reddaway paid tribute to Bono’s work as a campaigner against poverty and disease in Africa — but first asked whether he was disappointed that becoming a knight no longer involves a sword or kneeling. “Please, I wasn’t expecting you to kneel,” said Bono, his hand on the ambassador’s shoulder.
Accompanying the rocker were his wife, Ali, and their four children — Jordan, 17; Eve, 15; Elijah, 7; and John, 5. U2 guitarist The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton also attended. John was disappointed that his dad wasn’t presented with a light saber, said Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson. “He thought I was becoming a Jedi.”
Bono sported lapel pins for two of his previous European government awards, the Legion d’Honneur from France and the Order of Liberty from Portugal.
Hecklespray’s Stuart Heritage is not particularly impressed. His post title sums it up rather well: “Bono Given A Tiny Balding Pretend British Knighthood.”
Bono received his knighthood in recognition of his services to bleating around all the time in an unbearably self-important way. Just kidding - Bono received his knighthood in recognition of his services to being in a band that has made a successful career out of only really having two songs. Just kidding - Bono received his knighthood in recognition of his services to going “doo doo doo” on adverts for iPods. Just kidding - Bono received his knighthood in recognition of his services to wearing sunglasses indoors on overcast days like a bell-end. Just kidding - Bono received his knighthood in recognition of his services to probably something to do with charity or something.
That’s about right.
And good for Bono - although as an honorary knight we aren’t allowed to refer to Bono as ’sir’, he does join a list of other famous knights like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Cliff Richard, Michael Caine and Pele, all of whom have their own bespoke suit of armour and jousting lance in their garages and are legally obliged to lead the charge into any country that the Queen feels like invading.
Actor Calvert DeForest, best known for his role as Larry “Bud” Melman on the Letterman show, has died at the age of 85.
The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry “Bud” Melman on David Letterman’s late-night television shows has died after a long illness. Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.
He made dozens of appearances on Letterman’s shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: singing a duet with Sonny Bono on “I Got You, Babe”; doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where her 1970s show was set; handing out hot towels to arrivals at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal. Cue cards were often DeForest’s television kryptonite, and his character invariably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick, black-rimmed glasses.
“Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself — a genuine, modest and nice man,” Letterman said in a statement. “To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him.”
DeForest’s gnomish face was the first to greet viewers when Letterman’s NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film “Frankenstein.” “It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life,” he once said of his first Letterman appearance.
DeForest, given the nom de tube of Larry “Bud” Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host moved to CBS to launch “Late Show with David Letterman” in 1994. The Melman character opened Letterman’s first CBS show, too — but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over “intellectual property.” DeForest, positioned inside the network’s familiar eye logo, announced, “This is CBS!”
DeForest often drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a “Late Show” correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway and the Woodstock anniversary concert that year. His last appearance on “Late Show” came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.
Although he has never served in the military, has never pulled a sword from a stone, and does not wear armor, Bono is being made a knight.
Irish rocker and humanitarian Bono will become a knight of the British empire — but the U2 frontman won’t be called “Sir.” Britain confirmed Saturday Bono will receive his honorary knighthood from the British ambassador to Ireland, David Reddaway, in a Dublin ceremony shortly after New Year’s Day. The Dubliner, whose real name is Paul Hewson, won’t be entitled to use the title “Sir” because he is not a national of Britain or the Commonwealth of former British colonies.
A spokesman said the 46-year-old singer was flattered by the honor and hoped it will help him open diplomatic doors in his campaign for more Western aid to Africa.
In a letter to Bono released Saturday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the singer’s lobbying had forced wealthy nations to focus on increasing aid to Africa. “I know from talking to you how much these causes matter to you,” Blair wrote. “I know as well how knowledgeable you are about the problems we face and how determined you are to do all you can to help overcome them. You have tirelessly used your voice to speak up for Africa.”
I suppose twenty years of campaigning for better awareness of the plight of Africans is more than others have done for knighthoods, although it still strikes me as strange to confer military honors on civilians for non-heroic acts.
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey and humanitarian rocker Bono hit the city’s “Magnificent Mile” on Thursday for a shopping spree to promote a new line of clothing, accessories and gadgets, including a special-edition iPod, that will raise money to fight AIDS in Africa.
Dozens of “(Product) Red” items will go on sale in the coming weeks by Gap Inc., Apple Computer Inc., Motorola Inc., Converse Inc. and Emporio Armani.
Portions of the product sales will go to The Global Fund, an organization that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
“Some people won’t put on marching boots, so we’ve got to get to people where they are at, and they’re in the shopping malls,” Bono said in a phone interview. “Now you’re buying jeans and T-shirts, and you’re paying for 10 women in Africa to get medication for their children with HIV.”
The Gap, which will debut its Red line in stores on Friday, will donate half the profits to The Global Fund. Apple will contribute $10 from the sale of each new red-colored iPod nano. The model, priced the same as its $199 cousins, goes on sale Friday.
The celebrities, who arrived at the downtown Chicago Gap store in a red Ford Thunderbird, got a sneak peak at the products during a private shopping stint that will be broadcast Friday on Winfrey’s show.
After visiting the Gap, the duo walked along Michigan Avenue to an Apple store and picked up the red iPod, the first music product from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company designed to raise money for charity.
The two also stopped at Armani and Motorola stores.
“Shop ’till it stops,” said Bono as he walked out of the Apple store clutching bulging shopping bags. source
Courteney Cox and David Arquette pictured with U.N. adviser Dr. Jeffrey Sachs at his Millennium Promise (www.milleniumpromise.org) bash in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
The nonprofit, which is also supported by such activist-luminaries as Angelina Jolie and Bono, has a mission to end world poverty by 2025.
“It’s nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. There’s zero evidence in this autopsy report… to show such an accident happened. 
1. “Louie Louie” – The Kingsmen: Though the song was originally written by Richard Berry, the Kingsmen’s version was a huge hit and inspired an equally huge controversy when rumors spread the virtually inaudible lyrics were super dirty. The FBI even investigated the potentially un-American nastiness of the song’s message (
