Betty Ford helped pave road to recovery for stars (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 1 hr 3 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Long before it became reality show fodder, Betty Ford helped create the original celebrity rehab.

The center that bears her name has a legacy of rehabbing Hollywood's elite. In the process it became a household name, a punchline, but — above all — a highly respected addiction treatment center.

Since its opening in Rancho Mirage, Calif., in 1982, stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Cash and, most recently, Lindsay Lohan have been among the more than 90,000 people who have received treatment at the center.

Taylor met one of her husbands, Larry Fortensky, while in treatment. Kelsey Grammer credited his stay there with saving his life. So, too, did Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin, who paid tribute to the former first lady on social networking site Twitter on Friday evening.

"She & Betty Ford Center helped me beat my addiction & she was an angel to many," Matlin wrote.

"One Day at a Time" actress Mackenzie Phillips, another Betty Ford alumna, wrote on the site, "RIP Betty Ford. A pioneer in treatment of addicts. We owe Mrs. Ford our gratitude and prayers. And love. She was one classy woman."

Ali McGraw, who was treated at the center in 1986, said in a statement Friday that she is grateful for what Ford has done for her.

"She changed so many of our lives with her courage and intelligence, her honesty and humility, and her deep grace," McGraw said. "Her vision impacted my own life as few people have."

Taylor's first stay at the center came in 1983 and provided another high-profile face to those struggling with addiction.

Cash soon became a patient after he broke five ribs and relapsed into abuse of painkillers. "I ended up in the Betty Ford Center for 43 days," Cash told The Associated Press in 1986. "I've had no drugs since then. It has been the best three years of my life, the most productive and the happiest."

One of Ford's defining characteristics was her candor, and that included confronting her own addiction head-on. She revealed a longtime addiction to painkillers and alcohol 15 months after leaving the White House, and regularly welcomed new groups of patients to rehab with a speech that started, "Hello, my name's Betty Ford, and I'm an alcoholic and drug addict."

"People who get well often say, `You saved my life,' and `You've turned my life around,'" Ford once said. "They don't realize we merely provided the means for them to do it themselves, and that's all."

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Adele, Lady Gaga power music recovery (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British soul singer Adele and flamboyant pop singer Lady Gaga have helped the U.S. music industry stage a modest comeback after a decade of decline.

According to data released on Wednesday by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, overall album sales rose 3.6 percent to 221.5 million units during the first half of 2011, the first increase since 2004.

While it is too early to judge if the trend will last through the year, an annual increase would be only the second in 11 years.

To be sure, the year got off to a rough start, with overall weekly sales hitting record lows several times. But Adele and Lady Gaga have restored some hope to an industry battered by piracy, label retrenchment and the recession.

Adele sold 2.5 million copies of her second album "21" in the 19 weeks after it went on sale in late February. It spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 and never dipped below No. 3.

"21" easily outpaced Lady Gaga's second effort, "Born This Way," which has sold 1.5 million copies -- albeit after only six weeks. But Lady Gaga's sales slumped after a record-breaking first week when it sold 1.1 million copies with help from a 99 cent promotion on Amazon.com.

"Born this Way" currently ranks at No. 12 on the latest weekly chart, while "21" is at No. 2.

"ROLLING" TO NO. 1

Adele's success has been powered by her chart-topping hit single "Rolling in the Deep," the best selling digital track so far this year with 4.1 million downloads.

The title track of Lady Gaga's album was No. 3 with 2.9 million units, just behind perky pop singer Katy Perry's "E.T." with 3 million units.

While Lady Gaga has been ubiquitous on the worldwide promotional trail in a staggering array of colorful costumes, Adele has adopted a relatively low-key approach for her confessional album. She recently postponed the remaining nine dates of her sold-out tour of mid-sized North American venues because of throat problems.

The success of "21" revived sales of Adele's 2008 debut, "19," which yielded two Grammy Awards including best new artist. It sold 341,000 copies during the first half to rank as the top-selling "catalog" release among albums that were distributed more than 18 months ago. Its total sales stand at 1.2 million copies.

The third-biggest selling artist so far this year is another soulful British act, the folk revivalists Mumford & Sons, who have sold 982,000 copies of their 2009 debut "Sigh No More," thanks in part to attention-grabbing performances at the Grammys and the Coachella music festival in California. Its total sales are currently 1.6 million.

Country singer Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" (763,000) and pop/R&B singer Bruno Mars' "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" (686,000) rounded out the top five.

More than 40 years after their breakup, the Beatles managed to top one chart during the first half. Their 1969 album "Abbey Road" was the No. 1 vinyl release, selling 20,200 copies.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

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Hangout Festival helps post-oil spill recovery (AP)

GULF SHORES, Ala. – A year ago bad vibes from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and fear over the future of Gulf Coast tourism hung like rain clouds over the inaugural Hangout Music Festival this resort destination.

Flash forward 12 months and the festival has sold out. Paul Simon, Foo Fighters and Widespread Panic are headlining and a place that relies heavily on tourism is getting what looks like a long-term boost. Organizers bill the three-day festival, which starts Friday, as the only event where you can watch music with your toes in the sand and a beach view.

"What makes the Hangout so successful is that we booked a stellar lineup of music in the most beautiful setting," Hangout founder Shaul Zislin said. "We also take pride in our how we treat our fans, our artists and our staff. Everyone who attended last year's Hangout knows we put on a first-class festival experience — it's what will keep people coming back and telling their friends about us."

Local officials looked to the festival as a barometer for the rest of the tourist season a year after the BP oil spill fouled the Gulf of Mexico and left business owners fearful of a black tide on the white sand beaches. All signs are positive. All 35,000 tickets sold out about a month ago and you can't find a room in an area where you can walk from your condo door to the festival.

The ticket sales are more than double last year's 15,000 and some of music's hottest acts signed on this year. Along with the headliners The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, The Flaming Lips, The Avett Brothers and Cee Lo Green make for a top-heavy lineup this year.

Fans who didn't make it to the beach this year can watch select live concerts and highlights streaming on the Internet at http://www.spin.com and www.iclips.net beginning each day at 1:30 p.m. EDT throughout the weekend.

___

Online:

http://www.hangoutmusicfest.com

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Bret Michaels -- Making An 'Amazing Recovery'

5/3/2010 12:30 AM PDT by TMZ Staff   Bret Michaels continued to make tremendous progress in his recovery this weekend -- and one source close to the singer tells us the whole thing is nothing short of "amazing."

We're told Bret was "very aware" and in a "good mood" this weekend during an evaluation with a specialist -- the singer was even described as "somewhat talkative."

It's a major improvement from the "critical" state Bret was in after suffering a massive hemorrhage near his brain stem back on April 23 -- a condition that can often be fatal if not treated quickly by experienced professionals. 

Tags: Bret Michaels, Exclusives

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