Fragrance deal makes scents for Sean Combs

Fragrance deal makesscents for Sean Combs
NEW YORK -- Sean Combs seems to have teamed up musically with everyone, from Notorious B.I.G. and Usher to Sting and Dave Navarro.
But his next collaboration, through his fashion-designer persona, is with Est & eacute;e Lauder: The cosmetics company is planning to create and market a new line of fragrances under the rapper's Sean John name.
"People express themselves in many ways -- through their music, through the way they dress, and also through the fragrance they choose, so deciding to make a fragrance was very natural for me," Combs said Thursday.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity to partner with one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic young fashion brands in the market, as well as with a man who has built a phenomenal reputation as a tastemaker in music, in fashion and in business," said William P. Lauder, chief operating officer of The Est & eacute;e Lauder Companies.
King, meet king: Bluesmanto receive Swedish award
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Critics and fans alike consider him blues royalty, but B.B. King said he gets nervous about meeting a real monarch.
"I never met a king before," the Itta Bena, Miss.-born bluesman said Friday in the Swedish capital, where he'll receive the 2004 Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf next week.
"I did meet the queen of England once, and I shiver every time I think about it now," he added. "So I'm wondering what will happen now that I have a chance to meet the royal family. I'm grateful, but I'm still scared."
The 78-year-old King and Hungarian-born composer Gy & ouml;rgy Ligeti were selected for the annual prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music earlier this year.
Helen Hunt, boyfriendbecome new parents
NEW YORK -- Helen Hunt and her boyfriend, writer-producer Matthew Carnahan, have something to be mad about besides each other: a baby girl.
The 40-year-old actress gave birth Thursday night in Los Angeles to a daughter, named McKenna, People magazine reported Friday on its Web site. This is the couple's first child.
Hunt has been dating Carnahan, 43, since 2001. The former "Mad About You" star, who won an Oscar for "As Good As It Gets," previously was married for about a year and a half to Hank Azaria, who voices several characters on "The Simpsons."
Today's birthdays
Movie reviewer Judith Crist is 82. Conductor Peter Nero is 70. Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 66. Actor Frank Converse is 66. Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 64. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 54. Model Naomi Campbell is 34.