Welnick, Grateful Dead’s last keyboardist, dies at 51

Los Angeles – Vince Welnick, the Grateful Dead’s last keyboard player and a veteran of other bands, including the Tubes and Missing Man Formation, has died, the Grateful Dead’s longtime publicist confirmed Saturday. He was 51.

Welnick died Friday, said Dennis McNally, who would not release the cause.

He lived in the northern California town of Forestville, but McNally said he didn’t know whether he died at home or in a hospital.

“His service to and love for the Grateful Dead were heartfelt and essential. He had a loving soul and a joy in music that we were lucky to share,” the group said in a statement on its Web site. “Our Grateful Dead prayer for the repose of his spirit: May the four winds blow him safely home.”

Welnick was the last in a long line of Grateful Dead keyboardists, several of whom died prematurely, leading some of the group’s fans to conclude that the position came with a curse.

Welnick had replaced Brent Mydland, who died of a drug overdose in 1990. Mydland succeeded Keith Godchaux, who died in a car crash shortly after leaving the band. And Godchaux had replaced the band’s original keyboard player, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who died at 27 in 1973.

Welnick was the last musician to join the group before the 1995 death of lead guitarist and unofficial leader Jerry Garcia, which McNally said hit Welnick particularly hard.

Former ‘Idol’ contestant Daughtry says no to Fuel gig

Charlotte, N.C. – Former “American Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry said Saturday he has turned down an offer to be lead singer for the band Fuel.

Daughtry, in Greensboro for a day of welcome-home appearances, said he expects to announce his next career move in a few months, probably after he finishes with an “American Idol” summer concert tour.

“I’m going to be doing my own thing,” Daughtry told The Charlotte Observer.

The band offered Daughtry a job hours after viewers voted him off the Fox television talent show last month. Bass player Jeff Abercrombie and guitarist Carl Bell made their pitch on the TV show “Extra.”

Wolverine tops magazine’s list of fictional power players

New York – Wolverine, the blade-bearing “X-Men” superhero played by Hugh Jackman, ranks as the top fictional power player, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The magazine lists the top 10 franchise characters in its new issue, on newsstands Monday. Wolverine beat out Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Bart Simpson, among others.

The mutant with mutton chops stars in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” which opened last week with a four-day domestic gross of $122.9 million.

Following Wolverine, in order, are Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Shrek, Robert Langdon (the main character of “The Da Vinci Code”), Jason Bourne (“The Bourne Identity” and “The Bourne Supremacy”), James Bond, Jigsaw (the villain of the “Saw” horror films), Bart Simpson and Madea (Tyler Perry’s trash-talking grandmother).

Game show host gets star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame

Los Angeles – Veteran game show host Wink Martindale saw his name enshrined in concrete as he received the 2,313th star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

A beaming Martindale ran his hand over the star as it was unveiled Friday on the sidewalk near Hollywood’s landmark Roosevelt Hotel.

The 71-year-old entertainer has hosted more than a dozen TV game shows, including “What’s This Song,” “Tic-Tac-Dough,” “Trivial Pursuit,” “Can You Top This,” “Gambit” and “High Rollers.”

He also produced the real-time, interactive game shows “Boggle and “Jumble” for the Family Channel.

He has also been a popular disc jockey at several radio stations since arriving in Los Angeles in the late 1950s, and he hosts the syndicated radio program “Music of Your Life.”

McConaughey, Cruz ‘have decided to split’

Los Angeles – The “sexiest man alive” is available again.

Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz “have decided to split,” Cruz’s spokesman, Robert Garlock, told The Associated Press on Friday.

McConaughey’s representative, Alan Nierob, confirmed the breakup, first reported by People magazine.

The couple co-starred in 2005’s “Sahara.”

McConaughey, People’s reigning hunk of hunks, appeared in this year’s “Failure to Launch.”

Cruz, 32, stars in Pedro Almodovar’s new film, “Volver (Return),” which just made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

LL Cool J, Bill Withers to receive music awards

Los Angeles – Rapper LL Cool J and R&B crooner Bill Withers will be honored for their musical contributions by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the organization announced.

LL Cool J will receive the Golden Note award, and Withers will be presented with the Rhythm & Soul Heritage award at a June 26 ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

ASCAP president Marilyn Bergman called LL Cool J “one of the most important figures in the history of hip-hop.”

“He has weathered all the trends in the rap world and is as commercially viable today as he was when he started out in 1985,” she said in a statement Friday.

Past recipients of the Golden Note include Sean “Diddy” Combs, Tom Petty, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder.

Withers is “one of America’s premier singer-songwriters,” Bergman said.