People

Laryngitis stops Stones

Madrid, Spain — The Rolling Stones suspended a concert in the Spanish tourist resort town of Benidorm after 60-year-old lead singer Mick Jagger fell ill with laryngitis, organizers said Tuesday.

The concert set for later in the day was part of the Stones’ “Forty Licks” tour and had been expected to attract some 30,000 spectators at the Foeits Sports Stadium. Spain’s private news agency Europa Press said the concert would be rescheduled for Sept. 19.

The Stones already have played sold-out shows in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao in Spain as part of the tour.

New line of writing

Bangor, Maine — When he was in college at the University of Maine in the 1960s, best-selling author Stephen King had a column, “King’s Garbage Truck,” that ran in the student newspaper.

Now the Bangor novelist has a column again, this time in Entertainment Weekly magazine. It marks the first time King has written a regularly scheduled column since his university days.

His monthly piece, called “The Pop of King,” debuts in the Aug. 8 issue. In it, he gives his opinions on books, movies, television, music and more.

King, 55, says he loved the third “Terminator” movie (“Arnold is still the perfect machine,” he writes) and slams Celine Dion.

“Steve King thinks ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ is better than all the songs Ms. Dion has recorded, put together,” he writes.

Musicians stage class act

Austin, Texas — Willie Nelson, Ray Benson and Michelle Shocked are among the artists behind “Don’t Mess With Texas Music,” a public awareness campaign to help music programs survive in schools amid budget cuts.

The campaign, being launched by the Texas Music Project, is similar to VH1’s national “Save the Music” drive.

Nelson is honorary chairman of the Texas Music Project. Benson, leader of the band Asleep at the Wheel, and Shocked, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, are on the advisory board.

“Don’t Mess With Texas Music” also is the name of an upcoming benefit CD with songs by 21 artists with state ties. Other musicians joining the effort are Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lucinda Williams and Erykah Badu.

Simon sells a secret

Edgartown, Mass. — Carly Simon will finally reveal who’s so vain to a man with major connections in the media world — should he ever decide to break his vow of secrecy.

But Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC sports and NBC Olympics, said he’ll never tell once Simon divulges to him the subject of her 1972 song “You’re So Vain” after a private performance in about two weeks. Ebersol won the secret information with a $50,000 bid in a charity auction; he also gets a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Ebersol said Simon gave him one clue about the man’s identity that she said he could reveal: He has the letter “e” in his name.

That could be any of the chief suspects: actor Warren Beatty, whom Simon dated; Mick Jagger, who sang backup on the song; and her ex-husband, James Taylor.