Composer Lloyd Webber is diagnosed with cancer

Composer Lloyd Webber is diagnosed with cancer

LONDON — Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

The 61-year-old Lloyd Webber’s condition is in its early stages, a statement from his publicists said.

“Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year,” the statement said.

Lloyd Webber recently announced plans for a sequel to his phenomenally successful musical “Phantom of the Opera.” Called “Love Never Dies,” it is scheduled to open in London in March and follow on Broadway in November. Rehearsals begin in the new year.

At a media event for the new musical earlier this month, Lloyd Webber said that while the story picks up where “Phantom” left off, he doesn’t regard it as a sequel — “it’s a standalone piece.”

But Lloyd Webber said he was inspired to write the musical because “there’s unfinished business.”

Singer Morrissey released from hospital after collapse

LONDON — Former Smiths frontman Morrissey was released Sunday from a hospital where he was held overnight after collapsing on stage during a concert.

A spokeswoman for the Great Western Hospital in the English city of Swindon said the singer was “much improved.”

A note on the 50-year-old singer’s Web site thanked fans for their good wishes.

Morrissey was performing at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, about 100 miles west of London, on Saturday night as part of his “Swords” tour when he was stricken. Two band members rushed to his side and dragged him offstage.

Up for auction: Warhol’s portrait of Jackson

LOS ANGELES — Christie’s auction house will offer up a portrait of Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol in New York on Nov. 10.

The auction house told The Associated Press on Friday that the 30-by-26-inch portrait should fetch an estimated $500,000 to $700,000. It’s one of a small group of Warhol silk-screened images of Jackson created in 1984.

The painting depicts Jackson smiling in a “Thriller”-era jacket, with squiggles of red and yellow in his hair.

Deputy chairman Brett Gorvy says the seller is an anonymous private collector in New York who bought it from the Andy Warhol Foundation in the 1990s.

The image is part of 47 lots being auctioned, including two other Warhol paintings.

Today’s birthdays

Actress Shelley Morrison (“Will and Grace”) is 73. Actor Bob Hoskins is 67. Actress Jaclyn Smith (“Charlie’s Angels”) is 64. “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is 63. Musician Bootsy Collins is 58. Singer Maggie Roche of The Roches is 58. Actor James Pickens Jr. (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 57. Guitarist Keith Strickland of The B-52’s is 56. Actress Rita Wilson is 53. Actor Dylan McDermott (“The Practice”) is 48. Actor Cary Elwes is 47. Singer Natalie Merchant is 46. Country singer Keith Urban is 42. Actor Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”) is 41. Writer-actor Seth McFarlane (“Family Guy”) is 36. Actor Jon Heder (“Blades of Glory,” “Napoleon Dynamite”) is 32. Singer Mark Barry of BBMak is 31.