Veteran rockers celebrate Grammy acknowledgments

New York — Veteran performers Rod Stewart and Jerry Lee Lewis are celebrating their awards from the Recording Academy.

Stewart won the Grammy for traditional pop vocal album for “Stardust … The Great American Songbook Volume III,” and Lewis received a Lifetime Achievement Award this weekend in Los Angeles.

It was Stewart’s first Grammy, and the 60-year-old singer said he’ll take it “everywhere” he travels.

The 69-year-old Lewis, whose hits include “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” said it was “pretty hard to beat a lifetime achievement award.”

“I feel great about this award because you earn it,” he told The Commercial Appeal of Memphis. He added: “I just thank God I’m living.”

Aguilera’s beau pops question

Christina Aguilera may be getting what a girl wants.

The Grammy-winning singer is engaged to her boyfriend of two years, music executive Jordan Bratman, Aguilera’s representative, Meghan Prophet, told The Associated Press on Saturday night.

Bratman, 26, proposed to the 23-year-old pop diva on Friday night while the two were vacationing at an undisclosed location, Prophet said.

The engagement initially was confirmed to the magazines People and US Weekly.

A princely Valentine

London — Prince Charles and his fiancee, Camilla Parker Bowles, celebrated Valentine’s Day in private at his country estate after the heir to the throne spent the day at work.

The couple spent a quiet weekend together following the massive publicity surrounding their wedding announcement Thursday.

In the coming weeks, they are expected to complete preparations for their April 8 civil wedding ceremony at Windsor Castle.

The prince spent Monday on official engagements in central England.

In the early evening, he returned to Highgrove, his country estate in Gloucestershire, western England, to spend the rest of Valentine’s Day with Parker Bowles.

Hip-hop mogul joins fight against KFC

New York — Hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons has joined other celebrities and activists who have criticized Kentucky Fried Chicken, saying he will call for a boycott if the company doesn’t reform its slaughter practices.

Simmons called slaughter practices used by the fast-food chain’s suppliers “grossly inhumane” and has filmed a commercial “showing some of the very worst abuses chickens undergo” before they are served to customers, the Daily News reported Sunday.

Simmons, who is chairman of Def Jam Records and is a vegan, said he has talked to officials of Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, and said he will release the ad and start a boycott if the company does not reform its practices.

Other celebrities and activists who have raised their voices against KFC include the Rev. Al Sharpton, comedian and social activist Dick Gregory, actress Pamela Anderson and musician Paul McCartney.

Yum! Brands Vice President Jonathan Blum disputed Simmons’ claim.