With millions of adoring fans and millions in the bank, celebrities may seem to have it all but behind closed doors, they have their dark moments too.Here’s a list of stars who have survived suicide attempts.

WENN

Paris Jackson

Paris Jackson lived a life relatively outside of the spotlight until her very famous dad suddenly passed away in June 2009. Since then, the King of Pop’s only daughter has struggled to deal with his death. To make matters worse, the 15-year-old is expected to stand trial at the lawsuit her family has filed against Jackson’s concert promoter later this month. Early Tuesday morning the younger Jackson was rushed to the hospital after trying to take her own life. She reportedly slit her wrist and took a large amount of aspirin pills. Grandma Katherine’s rep has released a statement on the teen: “Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are. It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you. Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention. Please respect her privacy and the family’s privacy.”

When artists have beef with each other, the easiest way to let the other person know what’s up is to put it in a song. Many of the rappers and singers who made this list have been known to cause controversy and have no problem speaking their mind. Let’s take a look at some of the most memorable and funny beefs in hip hop.

Given the many, many celebrities who’ve dropped out of high school, it’s obvious that one doesn’t need a diploma to make it in showbiz. Still, we thought we’d take a closer look at 15 of these stars – some of whom were actually gifted, others who’ve since gotten their GED’s, and others who are probably just relieved their occupations don’t call for much education. Click on to find out which stars made the list!

Source: WENN

Drake

Drake has been very open and honest about his education – or lack of it, we should probably say. The YMCMB rapper dropped out of school at 15-years old, but recommitted himself to his studies, proudly earning his GED in 2012.

HRC-WENN

Despite her innocent looks and child-like performances, Taylor Swift seems like the girlfriend from hell. When it’s over, she writes songs about her exes, picks on them and drags their names through the dirt. Here is a list of 15 famous musicians that would give Taylor a taste of her own medicine if they ever dated.

Regardless if someone is rich or poor, young or old, no one is immune from the grim reaper. Stars may live the glamorous life and seem to not have a care in the world but when tragedy suddenly struck these 15 celebrities, they learned first-hand how quickly everything could be snatched away within the blink of an eye.

WENN

Tennis star Serena Williams has dominated the courts for almost a decade but her career and life were in severe jeopardy a few years ago. Williams had to undergo emergency surgery when doctors discovered a blood clot in her lung. “I couldn’t breathe and I just thought I was out of shape, so I thought I needed to get on the treadmill or hit the gym,” the 30-time Grand Slam champion said. “It could have gotten a whole lot more serious a day or two later – it could have been really not good, possibly career-ending, but for the grace of God we caught it in time and I was able to recover.

Image: Ray Garbo / WENN.com

It was called the “Eminem case” but the outcome can affect hundreds of other musical artists. It may also have an impact on pending lawsuits involving royalties for downloads and ringtones, says Variety.

As the New York Times explains it, producers who discovered Eminem sued his record label, the Universal Music Group (UMG), because of the way UMG calculated the artist’s royalties for digital music. The argument was over “whether an individual song sold online should be considered a license or a sale. The difference is far from academic because, as with most artists, Eminem’s contract stipulates that he gets 50 percent of the royalties for a license but only 12 percent for a sale,” the article says.

Now a resolution has been reached. F.B.T. Productions filed to dismiss its case against Universal Music Group and Aftermath Records after reaching a settlement agreement with the two music companies. This was most likely unwelcome news for artists who were hoping F.B.T, would prevail, which could have resulted in higher royalties to artists for digital sales and usage.

In September 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2009 jury verdict favoring UMG in F.B.T.’s suit, filed against Aftermath and UMG in 2007.

“The F.B.T. case had been closely watched, for several class actions and individual suits had been launched in the wake of the appellate decision by artists – - most of them heritage acts with contracts dating in many cases back to the ’70s — who claimed they were also entitled to higher digital royalties. In nearly all cases, the actions cited the appellate decision as a precedent,” reports Variety.

Why all these suits? The plaintiffs claim that they are entitled to a royalty rate of 50 percent of net receipts, granted for masters licensed to third parties. As in the F.B.T. case, the plaintiffs have claimed that they were paid at a far lower royalty rate, according to the music business magazine.

Eminem isn’t the only artists wrapped up in a digital royalties case. There are acts that have been filed which include such artists as James Taylor, Peter Frampton, Chuck D of Public Enemy and the estate of Rick James. And all the major label groups have been sued.

If you’re not paying attention, it might seem like celebrities have it all together, like everything is in control. But if you take a closer look, you’ll start to realize that, like everyday people, some celebrities can’t hide their personal trials and tribulations from the public eye, no matter how hard they might try. The following are a list of celebs who seem, or are actually going through something and we’d like to give a hug to help them through.

Source: billboard.com

Kanye

We’ve known for a while that Kanye is a sensitive type of dude. There’s nothing wrong with that; but his sensitivities, when not properly dealt with, can turn into behaviors that read like major cries for attention. There have been the concert tirades talking about his ex Amber Rose, the random and unnecessary stabs at his current boo’s ex husband, the major shift, and some would argue downgrade in his lyrical content and then the whole dating Kim Kardashian thing. Not only is he dating her but he’s appearing on her reality show. It just seems like such a far cry from the guy we used to rock with. We still can’t help but think that Kanye has yet to deal with the death of his mom and for that we just want to give Kanye a big bear hug and let him know it’s gon’ be alright.

jusflippin.com

Ever take a moment to check up on the latest and greatest with your favorite stars and always see the same people with issues? The media, of course, is always to blame for how they act and are portrayed and not them.  *blank stare* For some stars all may be good but there’s one thing you wonder: “Does he ever smile?”

Well these men, for many different reasons have not always been in the high favor of the media or public opinion….let’s see why they are always mad…

Read the rest of this entry »

Since the new millennium artists have emerged that rival the popularity of legends that spent decades building their careers. They are reaching audiences worldwide due in large part to their abilities to blur the lines between genres and generate cross-cultural appeal. Whether by signing them or producing monster hits, many seasoned African-American artists are behind these megastars.  The Atlanta Post rounds up six:

Lady Gaga and Akon

Lady Gaga is currently the biggest music star in the world.  Her latest album “Born This Way” recently sold over 1 million records in less than a week.  Much of her success can be accredited to Akon.  Recognizing her vocal ability Akon convinced Interscope records to sign Gaga in a joint deal with his record label, Kon Live Distribution.  In the past he has referred to her as his “franchise player” and recently admitted to considering retirement due to the income the “Mother Monster” is bringing in.

(New York Times) — Following a recent court decision that gave Eminem and his producers a higher royalty rate for digital music, the estate of Rick James has filed a class-action suit against the Universal Music Group, saying that the company has failed to properly account for royalties and may owe its artists “tens of millions of dollars.”  The suit, filed on Friday in United States District Court in San Francisco, seeks unspecified damages from Universal as compensation for unpaid royalties. The case was filed on behalf of a trust representing James, the singer of hits like “Super Freak” who signed with Motown — now owned by Universal — in 1977, and died in 2004.  In response, Universal said in a statement: “The complaint filed by the estate of Rick James suffers from many infirmities, not the least of which is that the claims asserted are not appropriate for class treatment. We intend to vigorously defend against it.”

Read More…