LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Donna Summer, whose music dominated the 1970s disco era, died of cancer on Thursday at age 63, leaving a legacy of hit singles like "Love to Love You Baby," "Last Dance" and "Bad Girls." Summer, who won five Grammys and sold more than 130 million records worldwide, died surrounded by her family in Naples, Florida, publicist Brian Edwards said. Edwards said she died of cancer but he declined to comment on a report from celebrity website TMZ.com that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time was when TV talent shows set out to turn wannabes into stars. These days? Not so much. It's the celebrity judges who are raking in the cash and using TV contests not only as a way to re-launch a fading career, but to further boost a thriving one. For music stars in an era of weak record sales, the trend spells victory for their bank account, but for fans and the music industry always hungering for a new star, it's a loss. And for TV networks, the once cheap-to-produce shows are ever more expensive, yet they don't always pay off in bigger audiences. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Adele won two Ivor Novello awards for songwriting on Thursday, adding to a lengthening list of musical accolades, but she lost out in the best album and song categories. The 24-year-old chart queen picked up two coveted Ivor Novello prizes for the most performed song of 2011 ("Rolling in the Deep") and songwriter of the year. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chuck Brown, known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" for the subgenre of funk music he helped create, died on Wednesday at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore after being admitted earlier this month suffering from pneumonia. A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the death but could not provide a cause, and Brown's manager, Tom Goldfogle, was not immediately available to comment. Goldfogle told the Washington Post Brown died of complications from sepsis. Brown, a singer/songwriter and guitarist had been a key personality in the Washington, D.C. ...

Chuck Brown, who styled a unique mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds to create go-go music in the nation's capital, has died after suffering from pneumonia. He was 75.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez is casting doubt on whether she will return to "American Idol" next year as she juggles motherhood with a comeback in both her pop music and acting careers. Lopez, who has young twins, told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres this week that she wasn't sure about renewing her contract as a judge on the TV singing contest for a third year. And on Wednesday, sources close to the singer told E! News that she was "just too busy" and was planning on calling an end to her time on "American Idol". "Now this is my second year - I don't know if I can go for a third ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears hasn't even taken her seat as the new judge of "The X Factor," but the pop icon is already getting a lesson in the media glare of live, talent show television. Spears had barely wrapped up an appearance in New York confirming she is joining the singing contest before the celebrity knives were out, raising the question of how well the singer, who went through a public meltdown in 2007, can handle all the newfound attention. ...

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Some thoughts on Lisa Marie Presley: "Too bad she ain't just like her daddy/Oh what a shame/She got no talent of her own/It's just her name." No, that's not our review. That's Presley anticipating (or reviving) some of the conventional/cynical wisdom about her musical career in "Sticks and Stones," a bonus track on the deluxe version of her new album, "Storm & Grace." She even refers to her own possibly hereditary pout: "She looks bad, she looks mad... ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the face of it, Universal Music Group's bid to buy a big chunk of EMI stands to make the world's leading music company an even more formidable force, combining Universal's star lineup of Lady Gaga and Rihanna with the British company's deep library of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Katy Perry. Certainly the fierce opposition from rival Warner Music Group, consumer groups and independent music companies makes it seem that way. They have all vowed to fight it tooth and nail, telling U.S. ...

iTunes' Official Music Charts for the week ending May 14, 2012

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Simon Cowell and Fox television are gambling on pop icon Britney Spears and teen singer Demi Lovato to revive "The X Factor", but for many media watchers it could be a case of "Oops!..." did they do it again? Spears, 30, and former Disney Channel star Lovato, 19, are expected to bring in bigger, and more importantly younger, audiences when the singing contest returns for its second season on U.S. television in September after a weaker-than-expected debut in 2011. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock singer Bret Michaels has settled a lawsuit he filed against the Tony Awards and CBS for damages to his head after a stage set piece knocked him down and he claimed it contributed to a brain hemorrhage he later suffered. The terms of the settlement were not released. Michaels sued CBS and Tony Awards Productions after he performed in 2009 with his band Poison during the awards telecast of Broadway's best shows, claiming producers failed to tell him how to exit the stage safely. ...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Pop star Lady Gaga has been refused a permit to perform in the Indonesian capital next month over security concerns, police said on Tuesday, after Islamic groups voiced strong objections to her "vulgar" style. Three Islamic groups have expressed their opposition to the concert on June 3, demanding it be stopped, national police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution said by telephone. Indonesia, a secular state, has the world's largest population of Muslims as well as significant minorities of Christians, Buddhists and Hindus. ...

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears and former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato officially joined the U.S. version of "The X Factor" on Monday, leading creator Simon Cowell to pledge the second season would "seriously kick butt" when it returns in September. Spears, 30, the world's biggest pop phenomenon of the 2000s, and Lovato, 19, will fill the judge's slots left open by Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, who were both fired by Cowell after a disappointing first season in 2011. Spears and Lovato appeared with Cowell and fellow judge Antonio "L. ...

Jay-Z is in a Philadelphia State of Mind: The rapper announced a two-day music festival Monday in the City of Brotherly Love.