NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Now that “Need You Now” has changed their lives, the members of Lady Antebellum are ready to change the subject.
The country trio will release their follow-up to that Grammy-winning album on Sept. 13. “Own the Night” turns the page on a notable chapter in the story of Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley’s rise from promising country up-and-comers to one of the most successful crossover acts in music history. It’s time to move on.
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“We don’t want anyone to think we’re a one-trick pony,” Kelley said in a phone interview with The Associated Press from Los Angeles. “That’s our goal, to say, ‘Hey, guys, we’ve got more coming.’“
“Need You Now” was the top-selling country album of 2010 with 3 million copies sold, and the title track was the top-selling digital download. Fans downloaded the song about an ill-advised and drunken late-night call to an old flame more than 3.1 million times last year. It was the rare country song that resonated across the spectrum of listeners, rising to No. 2 on Billboard’s pop music chart.
The song netted most of the major country awards, and Lady A won a leading five Grammys, including song of the year.
Jeff Bridges travels to Virginia to fight childhood hunger
ARLINGTON, Va. — Oscar winner Jeff Bridges is lending his star power to a public-private partnership in Virginia to combat childhood hunger.
Bridges joined Gov. Bob McDonnell and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at Barcroft Elementary in Arlington for the start of Virginia’s No Kid Hungry campaign. The program will connect low-income kids to federal nutrition programs, like those that provide lunches during summer when school’s out.
Bridges, who won an Academy Award for his role in “Crazy Heart,” serves as a national spokesman for the No Kid Hungry campaign. Bridges said he’d feel miserable if he didn’t do his part to alleviate childhood hunger.
Jennifer Hudson writing book about weight struggles
NEW YORK — Jennifer Hudson is working on a memoir, mostly about food.
The Academy Award-winning actress and singer has a deal with Dutton for a memoir about her struggles with weight and how she dropped 80 pounds.
Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), announced Tuesday that Hudson’s book will come out in January. The memoir is currently untitled.
The 29-year-old Hudson is known for the film “Dreamgirls,” for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. Her latest album, “I Remember Me,” came out this year.
Bill Murray prepares for role as FDR in film
HYDE PARK, N.Y. — Academy Award-nominated actor Bill Murray has checked out Franklin D. Roosevelt’s old upstate New York digs as he prepares for a turn as the former president in a film set on the eve of World War II.
The “Caddyshack” and “Ghostbusters” star spent several hours Sunday in Hyde Park, which is the setting for Richard Nelson’s screenplay, “Hyde Park on Hudson.”
The film centers on the June 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to FDR’s Hudson Valley home. The movie is being directed by Roger Michell, who helmed “Notting Hill.”
Laura Linney is cast as FDR’s distant cousin Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, with whom the 32nd president had a close relationship. Filming starts next month. Release is scheduled for 2012.
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