newsmakers

newsmakers

Scarlett Johansson, fiance have baby girl

LOS ANGELES

Scarlett Johansson is a first-time mom.

A spokesman for the 29-year-old actress told The Associated Press on Thursday that Johansson and her fiance, Romain Dauriac, have welcomed a baby girl, whom they’ve named Rose.

Marcel Pariseau says mother and daughter are doing well.

He added that the couple is seeking privacy and are supporters of the No Kids Policy, the celebrity effort to keep famous folks’ children out of the public eye.

Johansson and Dauriac, a French former journalist, have been engaged since September, 2013. She previously was married to Ryan Reynolds.

Johansson’s recent credits include the films “Lucy,” “Chef” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

Garth Brooks starts digital partnership

ROSEMONT, Ill.

Garth Brooks isn’t just going digital. He’s launching his own digital sales service.

The country superstar announced Thursday that he has partnered with creators of digital pay site ghosttunes.com to release his back catalog bundled with pre-orders for two new albums for about $30 and is encouraging other artists to join him in taking control of their music.

“If there is competition for music, then hopefully the consumer is the winner,” said Brooks, a founder and part-owner of the company. “So the more options you have, I think the better the consumer gets treated.”

Brooks was one of the last holdouts refusing to put his music out digitally. The 52-year-old said the bundle is for fans who have waited a decade for him to put his songs online.

Like it or not, ‘Fancy’ is song of the summer

Just as the season’s winding down, there’s finally a definitive pick for Song of the Summer: Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.”

The surprise of few (and to the chagrin of many), Billboard Magazine has tracked the single’s collective rankings on its Hot 100 chart, which it led for seven weeks. The song remained in the top five of that chart for an additional six weeks.

Billboard’s Song of the Summer ranking tracks a song’s performance on that chart between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Vindicator wire services