Casting singers indiscriminately
“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” will be taking a walk on the rock side this fall.
Grammy winner John Mayer will promote his upcoming album, “Continuum,” by performing his current single, “Waiting on the World to Change,” and another tune in a nightclub scene when the CBS series returns with new episodes next month.
That is, assuming his voice has returned by then; Mayer bowed out of a Connecticut concert on Saturday, citing laryngitis.
The two-part “CSI” season opener, Sept. 21 and 28, also will feature Danny Bonaduce, the radio-show host and former Patridge Family child singer, who’ll play the aging rocker victim of a brutal murder.
And in October, none other than Mr. Britney Spears himself – Kevin Federline – will guest star in a “CSI” episode.
The 28-year-old rapper will play a “menacing, arrogant teen” who harasses investigators Nick Stokes (George Eads) and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) on a job.
Linda laid low
Veteran singer Linda Ronstadt has canceled tour dates for the rest of the year to recover from surgery she had last week.
Her agent declined to provide details, but did say that she does not have cancer.
Ronstadt, 60, was scheduled for various performances through October.
Reins of terror
Horses can be hazardous to your health.
Matthew Broderick, vacationing in Ireland, suffered a broken collarbone after falling off a horse on Sunday. The 44-year-old actor, accompanied by actress-wife Sarah Jessica Parker, was treated and released from a hospital the same day.
The same day, actress Barbara Bach, a former Bond girl in “The Spy Who Loved Me” and wife of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, underwent surgery to repair a broken leg in a hospital near London after being kicked by a horse.
Blowing them off
An anti-land mine organization co-founded by Paul McCartney‘s estranged wife has canceled a fundraising gala after the former Beatle bowed out.
McCartney, who has begun divorce proceedings from Heather Mills McCartney, said he would not be able to attend the Adopt-A-Minefield event “given the current circumstances,” though he would make an unspecified donation to the cause.
Last year’s gala, hosted by the couple, raised some $3 million for minefield clearance and the rehabilitation of land mine victims.
Getting off light
Rolling Stone Keith Richards won’t be fined for reportedly smoking during a Rolling Stones concert in Scotland on Friday.
Violators of a new Scottish law banning smoking in enclosed public places, including theaters and sports venues, can be fined up to $95. But the Glasgow City Council said Monday the stage at Hampden Park, where the Stones performed, was exempt from the statute.
The birthday bunch
Actor-director Richard Attenborough is 83. Actor Elliott Gould is 68. Director William Friedkin is 67. TV personality Robin Leach (“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”) is 65. Singer Michael Jackson is 48. Actress Rebecca DeMornay is 44. Actress Carla Gugino is 35.