Singers

Down and out in L.A. and trying to break into the music scene in the late 1990s, Colombian rock star Juanes could have used a handout. Now, 11 million album sales later, he's one of this country's best-known philanthropists. Like fellow Colombian singer Shakira, the 36-year-old lends his star power and cash to alleviate suffering in this war- and drug-ravaged nation, advocating for land mine and kidnapping victims, peace and reconciliation, and preschool education.

The VERY last scene of last year's hit film "Juno" pointed toward one small path in music's future: star Ellen Page sitting on a stoop, singing a song by obscure boy-girl folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Her leading man, Michael Cera, sang along, but he was really just her backup. Movie and television stars have always made music -- whether as a legitimate career stream (Rick Springfield), a relaxing side project (Kevin Bacon) or a presumably self-aware joke (William Shatner).

HOW DO you add sparkle to a fatigued operatic war horse? Bring out the jewelry and let it shine under the spotlight. But not just any old jewelry. For its latest revival of "Tosca," opening Saturday, Los Angeles Opera has obtained a rare stage artifact -- the jewelry worn by Maria Callas in 1956 for her Metropolitan Opera debut as Giacomo Puccini's tragic heroine.

Wagih Aziz's sharp voice echoed recently through an old theater in the heart of the city, striking a nerve with an audience of hundreds of Egyptians who face an uncertain future in a country overwhelmed by poverty and political disillusionment. "Speak out loudly and ask seriously with me," he sang, accompanied by his lute. "Are we alive or dead . . . ?"

Swedish tax officials want former ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus to pay $2.1 million for undeclared royalties from the supergroup's hits dating back decades. It is the second time the Swedish Tax Authority has claimed the 61-year-old singer dodged taxes by not declaring millions in royalties going back decades, officials said Thursday. Victor Palm, a tax official, said that authorities suspect royalty payments to Ulvaeus were made to companies operating in foreign tax havens.

A respiratory infection has forced Kylie Minogue to cancel two concerts in England on her comeback tour following treatment for breast cancer. The 38-year-old Australian singer managed to perform only half of a scheduled 2 1/2 -hour concert Saturday in Manchester, and dates for Monday and today were scrapped, spokesman John Bills said.

He was an R&B singer who had scored a nationwide hit with "My Girl." He performed around the country, drove luxury sedans and owned a palatial home in Calabasas. Then, suddenly, Waymond Anderson was an accused murderer. Police in bulletproof vests surrounded his black Mustang on Jan. 29, 1994, and handcuffed him as his wife and 6-year-old son watched.

Julie Andrews, whose career spans 50 years, takes center stage again Sunday as she is honored with the Screen Actors Guild's 43rd Life Achievement Award, given for acting excellence and humanitarian accomplishment. The show, during which SAG will also present awards for outstanding performers in movies and prime-time television, airs at 8 p.m. on TBS and TNT. Andrews, 71, was a teenager when she first appeared on Broadway, where she later brought "My Fair Lady" and "Camelot" to life.

Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary has written a protest song about a Japanese schoolgirl abducted by North Korean agents in 1977. Stookey, 69, sang "Song for Megumi" -- the title track of his new album -- at a performance Tuesday in Tokyo attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Megumi Yokota's parents, Shigeru and Sakie Yokota. Some of the lyrics are in Japanese. "\o7Anata wa doko\f7? (Where are you?)," Stookey sang at the performance, televised by public broadcaster NHK.