Country singer Chris LeDoux dies of cancer

Cheyenne, Wyo.– Chris LeDoux, a world champion bareback rider who parlayed songs about cowboys he knew on the rodeo circuit into a successful country music career, died Wednesday from complications of liver cancer. He was 56.

LeDoux died in Casper, according to Judy McDonough, spokeswoman for Capitol Nashville, LeDoux’s recording company.

He had checked into the hospital this week after complications from his cancer and was with family and friends at the time of his death.

“All of us at Capitol Records and EMI Music are saddened at the passing of Chris,” said Capitol Nashville President and CEO Mike Dungan. “In a world of egos and soundalikes, he was a unique artist and a wonderful man. We have always been proud to represent his music, and honored to call him our friend.”

In November, LeDoux canceled several tour dates while undergoing treatment for cancer of the bile duct. He had undergone a liver transplant in 2000 after a lengthy illness.

LeDoux described his music as a combination of “Western soul, sagebrush blues, cowboy folk and rodeo rock ‘n’ roll.”

By 1989, LeDoux had released 22 albums. They were mostly cassettes produced by his parents, which he sold at concerts and rodeos. He had a loyal, if limited, fan base.

But that all changed that year when Brooks had a hit with “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” which included the line: “A worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux, lonely women and bad booze/seem to be the only friends I’ve left at all.”

The song came at a time when LeDoux’s career was sputtering with an independent label.

“And here he comes along and mentions the worn-out tapes in his song,” LeDoux said of Brooks in an interview with The Associated Press in 2001. “To me, Garth, he’s kind of like my guardian angel. It’s like every time I need some help, he’s there.”

Actress to fight charges from GOP convention arrest

New York City — Rosario Dawson says she’ll fight disorderly conduct and obstruction charges stemming from her arrest during last year’s Republican National Convention.

Dawson, 25, was arrested while filming “This Revolution” along with director Stephen Marshall. Authorities said she was wearing two handkerchiefs on her face with only her eyes showing.

A criminal complaint says the actress refused when ordered by police to move from the 35th Street and Eighth Avenue location, near the site of the GOP convention.

When Marshall tried to show the city film permit to police, he and Dawson were arrested.

Dawson denies the police department’s claim that she refused to move.

Her trial begins next week.

50 Cent ends feud with rapper The Game

New York — Perhaps selling 1.1 million copies of his new album in four days has softened the heart of 50 Cent. Or maybe he has so many feuds going, he can afford to let one go.

On Wednesday, 50 Cent and The Game publicly squashed a bitter feud that had erupted into gunfire last week after 50 kicked Game out of his G-Unit clique for disloyalty.

The two platinum-selling gangsta rappers didn’t exactly kiss and make up. When they emerged before a media throng at Harlem’s famed Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, both looked as if they’d been shoved into apologies by a stern mother.

But they did shake hands, albeit at the end of the press conference, after speaking about contrition and the need for peace.

50 presented an oversized check for $150,000 to the Boys Choir of Harlem. Game donated $103,500.