NEWSMAKERS | Report: Vince Neil released from jail

NEWSMAKERS

Report: Vince Neil released from jail

LAS VEGAS

Motley Crue singer Vince Neil has been released from jail after serving 10 days of a 15-day sentence for a drunken driving conviction.

The Las Vegas Sun reports the 50-year-old rocker got out of the Clark County Detention Center on Friday.

Neil pleaded guilty in January to driving drunk last summer near the Las Vegas Strip. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail and 15 days on house arrest under a plea deal that spared him a trial. He was also fined $585.

Neil could have faced up to six months in jail if convicted.

Las Vegas police said he was stopped in his black Lamborghini sports car June 27 after leaving the Las Vegas Hilton resort.

The jail and police didn’t immediately return calls from The Associated Press.

Medical exam ordered for singer Etta James

RIVERSIDE, Calif.

A Southern California judge has ordered an independent medical evaluation of ailing Etta James after her son’s attorney contended that the “At Last” blues singer could be in “very serious danger” under the care of a live-in doctor.

The 72-year-old James suffers from dementia, leukemia, kidney problems and other ailments. Her son’s attorney, James E. Deering Jr., said at a Thursday court hearing that Dr. Elaine James, who is not related to the singer, put feeding tubes into James’ stomach at home — a procedure that should have been performed in a hospital, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

Deering compared the singer’s situation to that of Michael Jackson, who died while under the care of a live-in physician. Dr. Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

Elaine James told The Associated Press by phone that she welcomed the independent examination and said the judge made a wise decision.

John Legend: Take my tax cut. Please.

WASHINGTON

Singer John Legend was in Washington to sing at the White House on Thursday but he had a few choice words for the politicians in town, too.

Legend told reporters before an evening concert celebrating Motown’s music that too often the arts are the first thing to go when budgets need to be cut.

“People fought to give me — a millionaire — a tax cut this year,” he said. “I didn’t need it. And all the other millionaires didn’t need it either.”

Associated Press