People: It’s time to say goodbye, Dolly
Dolly Parton says she feels like a part of her died along with her old duet partner, Porter Wagoner.
But she’s grateful that she was able to spend a few final hours with the man who launched her career before he succumbed to cancer on Sunday.
“Part of him will always live through me and my music, as he was my first big break,” says Parton, 61.
The 80-year-old Grand Ole Opry star and showman died of lung cancer in a Nashville hospice, after being transferred there Friday from a hospital.
Parton says she was there with Wagoner’s family, sang for him and prayed with him.
“It felt good that I had the opportunity to say goodbye properly,” she says.
Wagoner had a streak of hits in the 1960s and ‘70s and enjoyed a comeback in recent months, releasing a new album and opening for the White Stripes at Madison Square Garden.
To many longtime fans, though, he may be best remembered for his sparkly rhinestone suits and for singing with Parton on his TV show from 1967 to 1974.
Going soft on Rock
No criminal charges will be filed in the well-publicized scuffle between Pamela Anderson ex-husbands Kid Rock and Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Rock, 36, had been cited by police for misdemeanor battery after allegedly slapping and punching the 45-year-old Motley Crue drummer, who reportedly started the incident.
Blame the Beenie counters
Grammy-winning musician Beenie Man has been released on bail after appearing in a Jamaican court on tax evasion charges.
Authorities say the singer/rapper, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis, owes about $661,000 in overdue taxes.
Some straight talk
Oprah Winfrey, distraught over allegations of abuse at the school she sponsors in South Africa, reportedly broke down in tears over the weekend and sought forgiveness from parents.
“I’ve disappointed you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Winfrey said at an emergency meeting.
A matron at the school has been accused of fondling one girl, while other students were alleged to have been physically abused.
Winfrey gave students her phone number and e-mail address and said to call her anytime.
Paris is learning?
Her planned trip to Rwanda has been postponed, but Paris Hilton is still determined to use her celebrity status for good causes.
“I want to travel the world,” the 26-year-old socialite says. “I feel like there’s a lot I can do, and a lot I can do to help.”
The Playing for Good Foundation announced last week that Hilton’s trip to visit schools and health-care clinics in Rwanda was postponed due to restructuring of the children’s charity.
The birthday bunch
Newsman Dan Rather is 76. Folk singer Tom Paxton is 70. Actor David Ogden Stiers (“M*A*S*H”) is 65. Newswoman Jane Pauley is 57. Director Peter Jackson is 46. Actor Dermot Mulroney is 44. Country singer Darryl Worley is 43. Actor Rob Schneider is 43. Musician Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice) is 39. Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas (“American Pie”) is 27.