Singer Dan Fogelberg dies after cancer battle

New York – Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits “Leader of the Band” and “Same Old Lang Syne” helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday morning at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.

Fogelberg was found in 2004 to have advanced prostate cancer. In a statement then, he thanked fans for their support: “It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years. … I thank you from the very depths of my heart.”

Fogelberg’s music was powerful in its simplicity. He didn’t rely on the volume of his voice to convey his emotions; instead, they came through in the soft, tender delivery and his poignant lyrics. Songs like “Same Old Lang Syne” – in which a man reminisces after meeting an old girlfriend by chance during the holidays – became classics not only because of his performance, but for the engaging storyline, as well.

Fogelberg’s heydey was in the 1970s and early ’80s, when he scored several platinum and multiplatinum records fueled by such hits as “The Power of Gold” and “Leader of the Band,” a touching tribute he wrote to his father, a bandleader. Fogelberg put out his first album in 1972.

U.S. Reps. Mack, Bono tie the knot

Asheville, N.C. – Mary Bono, who was married to late singer-turned-politician Sonny Bono and replaced him in Congress after his death, has married U.S. Rep. Connie Mack.

Bono’s sister, Katherine Whitaker, told The Associated Press the couple were married Saturday in a private ceremony at Whitaker’s home.

Mack, a Republican representative from Florida, and Bono, R-Calif., had been dating for two years.

The 45-year-old Bono replaced Sonny Bono in Congress in a special election in 1998. The 40-year-old Mack, who is divorced, is the son of the Florida senator of the same name and great-grandson of Hall of Fame baseball manager Connie Mack.

Celine Dion takes final bow in Las Vegas

Las Vegas – Celine Dion called it a wrap at Caesars Palace, acknowledging in her final show that pregnancy and poor early reviews almost sank her titanic five-year engagement.

As adoring fans cheered, stood and clapped through Saturday night’s performance, Dion interspersed her usual numbers with emotion-filled monologues.

“At one point, it was like feeling like the Titanic was about to sink again,” she said. “But we believed and we went on with it. Even though the vibe was not that positive for us.”

While the show was still in development in 2000, Dion, 39, became pregnant and told husband-manager Rene Angelil she did not want to continue.

“I had a life for the first time,” the French-Canadian chanteuse said in a video before her 717th show. “I knew then that I wanted to have more success as a mother than a singer.”

But Angelil told her that too much money and too many people were involved. Not only would the Colosseum cost $95 million to build, her initial three-year, $100 million contract broke records for a live entertainer.

So she pushed on, fighting through initial bad reviews to make it five years of filling a 4,100-seat arena.

Since opening in March 2003, Dion’s show, “A New Day …,” grossed more than $400 million and was seen by nearly 3 million fans.