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Country music icons WILLIE NELSON, MERLE HAGGARD and KRIS KRISTOFFERSON are working on a new supertrio project for 2011 after meeting up at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C. earlier this month (Dec10).
Haggard, who was being honoured by his two old pals at the prestigious event, admits he and Nelson were already planning a collaborative album and they wanted Kristofferson to be a part of it - but now the trio has decided to hit the studio together and form a new group.
The Okie From Muskogee singer tells RollingStone.com, "We talked about the three of us doing it. I’m sure if we’re healthy and live to do it, we’ll do it. We thought about the title: the Musketeers… because there’s the three of us.
"We’ll come up with some little way of describing ourselves, I guess, and put it together into a show." If the supergroup gets together, it won’t be Nelson’s first - he formed The Outlaws with Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings in the mid-1970s. The band’s self-titled debut became the first country album to go platinum with more than one million sales.

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Pop art icon ANDY WARHOL’s brother JOHN has died.
John Warhola, who helped found the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, passed away on Christmas Eve (24Dec10).
John helped raise his brother and partly paid his college fees. After the artist’s death, he also helped found the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and served as its vice president for over 20 years.

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BILLY BOB THORNTON managed to score free acting lessons when he moved to Hollywood after impressing his teacher by re-writing a WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE play.
The star arrived in Los Angeles with just $500 (£330) in his pocket and decided to take an acting class, where he was told to memorise a monologue.
Thornton admits he was baffled by the assignment and decided to tackle Shakespeare’s classic Othello - by putting his own spin on the tragedy.
He tells Britain’s Total Film magazine, "I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I took something from Shakespeare and I rewrote it to be a contemporary thing? Hamlet, s**t, no, that’s too hard for me. How about Othello?’ So I read Othello in one night…
"The way I’d designed it, I play all the characters… I played Iago as a redneck from the South, Casio was like a full-on gay guy, Desdemona was this valley girl chick, Othello was this black guy like you’d see in the NFL.
"The people (in the acting class) were just sitting there, stunned. It was about 40 minutes." Thornton’s unusual performance wowed his teacher, who offered to mentor him for free.
He recalls, "After the class, the teacher pulls me aside and he says a couple of things. ‘First of all, just so you know from now on, monologues are three to five minutes… Second of all, I’ve never had anyone in my classes who I thought were more likely to go on to become hugely successful at this… You are going to win an Academy Award for doing this stuff some day.’ "I said, ‘Well, I’m broke. I sleep on my cousin’s pool table.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ This guy let me go to this class for almost a year without paying. And that’s exactly how I became an actor." Thornton went on to win an Oscar in 1996 for writing, directing and starring in Sling Blade.

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U.S. reality TV star AMBER PORTWOOD has pleaded not guilty to beating up the father of her two-year-old daughter.
Teen Mom star Portwood was charged with two felony counts of domestic battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent and one misdemeanour count of domestic battery in Madison County, Indiana on Monday (27Dec10) after a series of alleged attacks on Gary Shirley.
The 20 year old was booked and jailed for 24 hours. She was released on Tuesday afternoon (28Dec10).

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The casts of hit shows FRIENDS and THE WEST WING have topped a new magazine poll to find the best ensembles of all time.
The stars of Friends beat Seinfeld and M*A*S*H for the best comedy cast and The West Wing’s ensemble trounced the competition in the Best Drama vote.
The political drama’s stars claimed 37 per cent of the TV Guide vote - 16 per cent more than Lost.
E.R. and The Sopranos also made the list.

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MATT LEBLANC has ruled out a FRIENDS TV reunion - because he can only imagine such an idea would be sad.
The actor, who played clueless Joey in the hit sitcom, is still in touch with his Friends castmates and he’d love to meet up for a party to reminisce, but he can’t imagine a storyline that would bring the sextet back together.
He says, "What would the story be? We all get together and what? Have coffee? It would be almost sad. It’s better to just imagine what those characters are doing now." LeBlanc just wants to be left with the memories of his time on the show, which ended in 2004 after a 10-year run.
He adds, "Friends was this magical, cool thing, like lightning in a bottle, and I feel superfortunate to have been part of it."

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BILLY BOB THORNTON was "terrified" of working with a teenage SCARLETT JOHANSSON on THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE - because the young star was so mature for her age.
In the 2001 Coen brothers’ drama, Thornton stars as a barber who is seduced by a friend’s teenage daughter, played by Johansson, and he admits he was in awe of her self-assuredness at just 15 years old.
He tells Britain’s Total Film magazine, "Scarlett was 15 at that time. We were all afraid of Scarlett. Because she wouldn’t put up with s**t from anybody.
"There’s a scene where she’s (simulating oral sex) in this car. I put a furniture pad on my lap out of respect for a 15-year-old girl who’s doing this b**w job scene. Scarlett just threw it off and goes, ‘What are you doing? I’m not some little kid. I’m not a moron.’ We were all terrified of Scarlett."

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RIHANNA is single again after splitting from baseball hunk MATT KEMP, according to U.S. reports.
Sources tell Us Weekly magazine the couple grew apart and ended its 11-month romance before Christmas (10).
The insider says, "(Rihanna has been) so busy, he just can’t keep up with her crazy travel schedule… It was never as serious as it looked." A spokesperson for Rihanna could not be reached for comment.
The Kemp romance was the singer’s first since she split from Chris Brown following a fight in February, 2009.

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AVRIL LAVIGNE is glad she stood her ground in a dispute with her record company over her latest album - because she was determined not to compromise her musical "vision".
The singer’s new record Goodbye Lullaby has been completed for more than a year, but has been mired in delays due to problems with bosses at her RCA label.
Lavigne blasted label chiefs in a furious post on her website back in November (10), claiming she has been struggling with "bureaucratic BS (bulls**t)", but the album is now finally set to hit shelves in March (11).
And the singer insists she’s proud of herself for standing by her opinions.
She tells EW.com, "You know a lot of people run into complications with their record companies sometimes where they have their vision, but I’ve always had my own vision for my music and I put my foot down, and you know, had to be strong about that, and overall I made the record that I wanted to make, so I’m very happy with it and very excited to finally be putting it out." Goodbye Lullaby is Lavigne’s first release since 2007’s The Best Damn Thing.

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FLAVOR FLAV is set to add author to his resume - the rapper is putting pen to paper to write his life story.
The MC, one of the founding members of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy, is set to release his autobiography, Icon, in March next year (11).
In the memoir, Flavor Flav - real name William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. - will reflect on his rap career, his struggle with drug abuse, and his reality TV success, according to XXLMag.com.

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AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. SHADOWS is urging fans to celebrate the life of tragic drummer JIMMY ‘THE REV’ SULLIVAN on Tuesday (28Dec10) - one year after the musician’s death.
The band members were left devastated when Sullivan died from a drug overdose on 28 December, 2009. He was 28.
Shadows admits he still struggles to deal with the grief, but he’s urging his bandmates and their fans to celebrate the rocker’s life on the day that marks the tragedy.
He tells Kerrang! magazine, "It’s a daily struggle since Jimmy’s death. There are good days and bad days - days where you don’t think about it so much, and then there are days where you sit there and just can’t believe it. We’re just trying to move forward and live our lives as best we can, and we’re just happy to be here right now.
"We’re going to celebrate his birthday (09Feb11) and not necessarily his death. But I think I’ll want to get together (with the rest of the band) and watch his tribute video and talk about him. We do that every day anyway, but (today) I just want to keep it chilled and remember the guy for how f**king awesome he was." Avenged Sevenfold recruited Sullivan’s favourite drummer, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, for their summer (10) shows. Portnoy was dismissed from the group earlier this month (Dec10).

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LADY GAGA has another chart-topping feat to celebrate ahead of the New Year - she recorded the bestselling album of 2010.
Gaga’s The Fame Monster - an extended version of her 2008 debut The Fame - has scored nearly six million sales worldwide over the last year.
She finished ahead of Eminem, who came in second after clocking up 5.7 million album sales with Recovery.
Gaga celebrated the news with a recent posting on her Twitter.com blog, writing, "The Fame Monster was named the best-selling album of 2010! I’m so excited for the future, believe + work hard, you will achieve your dreams." Gaga also revealed plans to make a special announcement about her forthcoming album, Born This Way, at midnight on New Year’s Eve (31Dec10).

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Actor RYAN GOSLING turns down as many movie jobs as possible, insisting he "feels sick" when he sees himself on the big screen.
Two of Gosling’s latest films - Blue Valentine and All Good Things - will hit theatres in the U.S. this month (Dec10) and the simultaneous releases have left him with a sense of dread.
He tells the Los Angeles Times, "I try not to make too many movies. I get sick of myself, so I can imagine how everyone else feels. And for the two to come out at the same time, it makes me feel sick." But the Notebook star admits he can’t stop himself from acting - although he doesn’t quite understand his passion for performing.
Gosling adds, "I don’t really like doing interviews because I don’t have any answers about why I act. It’s like a compulsion. It’s (similar to) people who eat and eat and eat and they don’t know why and they keep getting fatter but they can’t stop. It’s like that… And then you find yourself on a set throwing yourself off a bridge, and you’re asking yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ And I don’t know."

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ELIZA DUSHKU is aiming to raise $30,000 (£20,000) by her 30th birthday later this month (Dec10) to build a recovery centre for former child soldiers in Uganda.
The Bring it On star is spearheading efforts to purchase land for the project, which will help rehabilitate young soldiers who were abducted by the African country’s rebel army.
And she’s told friends and family not to buy her gifts when she turns 30 on Thursday (30Dec10), requesting donations for the cause instead.
Dushku tells Celebuzz.com, "My mother Judy is a professor of African politics and political science, and she has been going to Africa my whole life, and she’d take groups of students and her kids to Africa on trips… Because of her teaching, she started thinking about the Ugandan child soldiers who were eight, nine years old and what that looked like. That’s how it all began.
"She and I went to Uganda and we started to get deeper and hear the stories of these kids who were abducted in the night, forced to kill their family members so they didn’t have anyone to come home to…
"They’re still always in fear of being kidnapped, and we’re trying to figure out how you can recover from that… So, we’re looking to build a centre to help them heal through things like art therapy, film therapy… We want to create the centre and really focus on the rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
"I don’t have the money in my pocket to build or complete an initiative, but sharing those stories is what I can do. If I can create any kind of awareness, that’s what I can do."

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Aussie star CHRIS HEMSWORTH and his longtime girlfriend, Spanish actress ELSA PATAKY, have wed.
The 27-year-old Star Trek actor and 34-year-old Pataky, who appeared in 2006 movie Snakes on a Plane, were married over the Christmas (10) holiday, People.com reports.
Hemsworth’s spokesperson has confirmed the wedding.
No further details were made available at press time.
Hemsworth is the brother of Miley Cyrus’ ex-boyfriend Liam Hemsworth.

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Actress NATALIE MENDOZA has dropped out of Broadway’s troubled SPIDER-MAN musical - one month after suffering a concussion during a preview show.
Mendoza, who played villainess Arachne in Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, was hit in the head with a weighted rope during the production’s first preview performance last month (28Nov10).
She returned three days later but took another two weeks off after suffering nausea and a headache. Understudy America Olivo took over the role.
The actress recently hinted at her departure in posts on her Twitter.com blog, writing: "Can feel a trip to India coming on & visiting my magic little orphanage Ramana’s Garden in Rishikesh. Raising funds as we speak. Be the change." The New York Times reports Mendoza’s representatives and Spider-Man producers have been negotiating an exit agreement for days.
Mendoza is one of four actors who have suffered injuries during onstage mishaps in the $65 million (GBP43.3 million) production, and she is not the first star to leave the show. Earlier this year (10), both Alan Cumming, who was set to play the villainous Green Goblin, and Evan Rachel Wood, cast as Spider-Man’s leading lady Mary Jane, quit, citing scheduling difficulties.
All parties involved in Mendoza’s departure have refused to comment on the report.

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BILLY BOB THORNTON has dispelled rumours he wore a vial of ANGELINA JOLIE’s blood around his neck, blaming the public image of the couple as "vampires" for the bizarre story.
Thornton married the actress in 2000 and they frequently made headlines with reports about their love life, including speculation they kept one another’s blood in tiny bottles.
But the Armageddon star insists their relationship was not so eccentric - the pair actually wore lockets with small smears of blood.
He tells Britain’s Total Film magazine, "(There are rumours that) I wear blood around my neck and all that horses**t. (It was) a clear locket you’d put your grandmother’s picture in. That’s what we had, Angelina and I. And it was her idea that we literally prick our fingers and rub the blood on the glass in the locket and wear it.
"If it had been Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, it would have been the most romantic story: this amazing couple that loved each other so much that when they were apart they would have these lockets where they’d pricked their fingers, like blood brothers. Angie and I do it and we’re these vampire blood-sucking creatures who wear tanks of blood around our necks."

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LINDSAY LOHAN’s mother has confirmed the family is considering legal action in a bid to stop a movie spoofing the actress’ colourful personal life.
Lydia Hearst and Joan Collins have signed up for roles in Dogs in Pocketbooks, about a troubled young star making her way in Hollywood, and screenwriter Charles Casillo has confirmed the model/socialite’s part is "obviously based on Lindsay Lohan".
The move has already riled Lohan’s father Michael, who criticised the film plans, and now the actress’ mother Dina has confirmed she is talking to lawyers about the project.
Lohan settled a multi-million dollar battle with executives at financial firm E-Trade back in September (10) over allegations they mocked her in an advert, and Dina is convinced bosses behind Dogs in Pocketbooks could face a similar lawsuit.
She tells TMZ.com, "(The movie role) is definitely based on Lindsay’s likeness… We have a very strong case. It’s shadowing E-Trade… Anyone bringing negativity will be dealt with accordingly." Lawyer Stephanie Ovadia, who has reportedly been retained by Dina, adds, "They are again using her likeness without her being compensated… Not only that but they are advertising the fact that they are using her likeness."

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