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Stan Lee turns 95, 'Avengers' stars wish him happy birthday
Stan Lee received birthday wishes on Twitter from Avengers stars such as Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo on Thursday for the comic book legend's 95th birthday.

"The one and only! Happy birthday!!" Evans, who portrays Captain America in Disney's Marvel cinematic universe, said.

"Happy birthday to the legend," Ruffalo, who portrays the Hulk, said alongside a throwback, black and white photo of Lee standing in front of a shelf of comic books.

"Happy born day, Stan!!" Don Cheadle, who appears as War Machine, said.

Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel studios, also wished Lee a happy birthday and teased that more cameos featuring the comic book icon appearing in various Marvel films are on the way.

"Happy 95th birthday @TheRealStanLee!!! #SoManyMoreCameosToCome," Feige said.

Lee last had a cameo in Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, where he portrayed a hairdresser tasked with cutting Chris Hemsworth's (Thor) hair.

Lee, a former chairman of Marvel Comics, is known for writing and co-creating Marvel's staple of iconic superheroes including the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and the X-Men with Jack Kirby, and Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Steve Ditko, among others.


Celebrity deaths: Who we lost in 2017
Music fans spent much of 2017 grieving the sudden deaths of cherished artists, many of whom were performing in the days before they died.

Soundgarden front-man Chris Cornell, 52, hanged himself in a Michigan hotel May 18. His longtime friend, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, sang the ballad "Hallelujah" at Cornell's funeral, then committed suicide in the same manner at his California home July 20. Bennington was 41.

Less than two months later, Troy Gentry -- half of the country duo known as Montgomery Gentry -- was killed Sept. 8 at age 50 when the helicopter he was riding in to a concert venue crashed in New Jersey.

Sixty-six-year-old Grammy winner Tom Petty died Oct. 2 at UCLA Medical Center after going into cardiac arrest at his house. He had wrapped up a string of shows with his band the Heartbreakers on Sept. 25 and wasn't known to be ill. He said in an interview last year this was likely to be his last big tour because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The year also saw the passing of rock 'n' roll pioneers Chuck Berry, 90, and Fats Domino, 89, as well as jazz legend Al Jarreau, who was 76; country star and actor Glen Campbell, who was 81; singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, who was 69; Broadway icon Barbara Cook, who was 89; onetime teen idol David Cassidy, who was 67; and Pat DiNizio, vocalist-guitarist for the rock band The Smithereens, who was 62.

The comedy world took quite a hit with the deaths of 91-year-old Nutty Professor funny man Jerry Lewis, 90-year-old insult comic Don Rickles, 84-year-old writer, actor and activist Dick Gregory and 80-year-old Mary Tyler Moore, heroine of the classic sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Other memorable television luminaries lost in 2017 include Benson and Sports Night actor Robert Guillaume, who was 89; Batman star Adam West, who was 88; Gomer Pyle lead Jim Nabors, who was 87; Touched by an Angel standout Della Reese, who was 86; The Sopranos alum Frank Vincent, who was 80; NCIS: Los Angeles and Twin Peaks favorite Miguel Ferrer, who was 61; Happy Days veteran Erin Moran, who was 56; and Elementary and True Blood co-star Nelsan Ellis, who was 39.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, 91, also died this year, as did Cool Hand Luke and Pretty in Pink actor Harry Dean Stanton, who was 91; former James Bond portrayer Roger Moore, who was 89; Night of the Living Dead filmmaker George Romero, who was 77; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard, who was 73; and Twister and Titanic star Bill Paxton, who was 61.


LOOSE LIPS:
"All I wanted was to make [a] good movie. I got more than that - [writer-director Rian Johnson] made an all-time GREAT one! #HumbledHamill."
--Mark Hamill, revealing he "regrets" airing his The Last Jedi concerns in public, on Twitter



??? Guess Who ???
Which legendary musician made $132 million in 2017 with his tour?


Shakira announces new U.S., European tour dates
Shakira has announced new dates for the European and North American legs of her El Dorado world tour.

The singer postponed the tour in November due to lingering complications from a vocal cord hemorrhage.

"To my dear fans and friends, I wanted to write one more letter to express my gratitude to all of you for the immeasurable love and support that you have sent me these past few weeks," Shakira wrote on Instagram Wednesday.

"You have made me feel that my voice is not only mine but also yours, and that it has a purpose. There were times when your prayers and messages of affection and encouragement along with those of my family were the only thing buoying my spirits," she continued.

"Thankfully, I am so relieved and happy to share with you that I will be getting back on the road in June 2018 with my El Dorado World Tour in Europe, and the U.S., with Latin America dates to be announced soon."

The El Dorado tour will now begin in Europe on June 5 in Cologne, Germany, until July 7 in Barcelona. The U.S. leg will begin Aug. 3 in Chicago before wrapping up Sept. 6 in San Jose, Calif. Other notable dates include performances in Paris, Milan, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Las Vegas.

Shakira was originally set to perform in Germany in November before heading to Chicago in January. The venture is in support of her latest album, El Dorado, which was released in May.


'Hamilton' leads the way as Broadway box office reaches $38.8M
Broadway ticket sales for the week ending Dec. 24 took in $35.8 million, an 18 percent increase over last year's totals.

Hamilton led the way as the No. 1 musical, earning $3.8 million with an average ticket price reaching $353.06, Deadline reported.

The $3.8 million represents the highest total Hamilton has reached since the hip-hop musical premiered in July 2015 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, Play Bill reported.

Rounding out the rest of the top five musicals were The Lion King with $2.7 million, Springsteen on Broadway with $2.4 million, Hello, Dolly! with $2.3 million and Wicked with $2.2 million.

The top five grossing plays included Meteor Shower with $812.7 thousand, Farinelli and the King with $812.1 thousand, The Parisian Woman with $520.4 thousand, The Play That Goes Wrong with $446.3 thousand and Latin History For Morons with $426.7 thousand.

Ticket sales for the week leading up to New Year's Eve are expected to be higher.

Springsteen on Broadway was extended to stay in New York until June 30, 2018, Ticketmaster recently announced.


??? Guess Who ???
Which legendary musician made $132 million in 2017 with his tour?

Paul McCartney's One on One tour earned $132 million in 2017 and the legendary musician topped Billboards Hot Tours chart for the week ending on Dec. 25.

McCartney grossed $67.5 million from 15 shows with previously undisclosed profits. That brings the grand total to $132 million.

The One on One tour featured 37 concerts from April to December that sold 907,610 tickets.

The worldwide trek first began in April 2016 in Fresno, Calif., before McCartney added additional North American dates in April -- including his first show at Madison Square Garden since 2005 and a trio of performances inside the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

The Tokyo Dome shows earned $22.8 million and rank as the music legend's highest grossing series of concerts in 2017.

McCartney is estimated to have surpassed $240 million earned for the One on One tour overall from 2016-2017 with about 1.8 million tickets sold worldwide.