The doctor caring for soul legend Etta James has said that the singer’s chronic leukaemia has been confirmed as incurable and that she is now very ill. Urging the singer’s fans to pray for James, she added that while said fans knew her patient had been sick for some time they didn’t realise “just how sick”.

Dr Elaine James, who isn’t related to the singer, was speaking after a conservatorship hearing in California to discuss the management of James’s $1 million estate, and expenditure on the singer’s healthcare.

As previously reported, James’s son has previously raised concerns about his mother’s medical treatment, and her husband Artis Mills’ management of her financial affairs.

Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding has spoken about her previously reported stay in rehab in October, as she sought to overcome depression and alcohol problems following her split from fiancé Tom Crane.

Speaking to Hello!, the singer said: “The day I left for rehab, I was in such a mess. I’ve been told by those close to me that was when I hit my worst. I was crying hysterically. I felt ashamed, embarrassed, terrified – my emotions were all over the place. I was so down but I just tried to keep busy and, to numb myself, I was drinking more. It was my way of escaping”.

Barry Manilow underwent hip repair surgery in LA yesterday, to repair torn abductor muscles and remove fluid-filled sacs in his hips, which sounds painful.

The surgery came a day after Manilow completed a seven year run of shows in Las Vegas. He is expected to take a six week break to recover from the operation, before returning to the stage in Chicago in February.

Confirming the surgery, Manilow said in a statement: “That’s what you get when you jump around to ‘Copacabana’ for 30 years!”

An LA-based producer and former music executive is in a critical condition in hospital after being the victim in a freak shooting on Sunset Boulevard on Friday.

John Atterberry, who worked with the likes of Jessica Simpson, Brandy and the Spice Girls during his time in the US music industry, was shot three times in the face and neck after gunman Tyler Brehm fired at his car on Friday morning. Brehm fired his gun randomly into traffic on the LA street, also wounding, albeit much less seriously, a Hollywood Reporter photo editor called Chris Godley.

It’s thought some onlookers initially assumed the shooter was an actor being filmed for a movie before realising something much more sinister was going on. Brehm was subsequently killed by the LAPD after seemingly taunting police officers to shoot him to stop the carnage. It’s thought the man may have been suffering from depression since splitting up with his girlfriend recently, and had possibly turned to drugs as a result.

That former girlfriend told reporters the shooting and alleged drug taking was totally out of character for Brehm, who had responded badly to the end of their four and half year relationship. She also confirmed he had sent her a number of text messages immediately before the shooting.

Atterberry had interests in a number of music companies while working in the industry, though has more recently been focusing on movie projects.

The Saturdays’ Frankie Sandford has spoken out about the time she recently spent in a private clinic, dismissing tabloid rumours surrounding both the so-called ‘rehab’ stay and her subsequent break from performing with the group. As previously reported, the singer told fans via Twitter that she’d “not been very well” in October, and then a spokesperson confirmed to Digital Spy that Sandford was receiving treatment at a private clinic.

Speaking to The Sun this week, Sandford said: “I was hospitalised, it wasn’t rehab. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with rehab. It takes a lot of courage to enter facilities to try to beat any addiction or overcome issues, but mine is a medical condition. I will talk about it in detail one day soon, for the sake of my fans, as they want to know. But I will say it wasn’t alcohol, drugs or an eating disorder. And the dark days are now behind me”.

Which is good news. Let’s just hope poor old Frankie, while busy recuperating, hasn’t been paying too much attention to that cheeky Example chap, who’s been telling the Daily Record that The Saturdays just aren’t good enough to justify their place on the top floor of British pop (though, given that their new album recently entered the chart at 23 and then dropped out of the top 40 altogether, I’m not sure they’re quite at the top).

Asked about his Twitter dissing of the girl group earlier this year, Example said: “The problem I had with The Saturdays is that they could be better. They could have better songs and be marketed better. Girls Aloud were an exciting girl group. The Saturdays don’t offer anything. They seem like lovely girls but their management or record label are not good enough”.

Doctors from Vienna General Hospital, where George Michael is being treated for pneumonia, have issued a statement saying that the singer’s condition is “improving steadily”.

Professors Gottfried Locker and Christoph Zielinski said: “The latest development in Mr Michael’s case – which has evolved from a severe pneumococcal infection – necessitated intensive care due to its severity and extension. We are happy to announce that Mr Michael is improving steadily with an impressive regression of pneumonic symptoms and follows a steady rate of improvement as hoped. As we said previously, complete rest and peace and quiet are mandatory”.

They added: “There are no other health issues with regards to the patient other than the underlying pneumonic disorder, and no further measures had to be taken. Michael is receiving precisely the same treatment as any ordinary patient in Austria would receive at the hospital for this disease”.

George Michael is slowly recovering from that nasty bout of pneumonia, according to his close friend Fadi Fawaz, who various media claim is dating the singer. Fawaz spoke amid rumours that Michael’s condition was deteriorating, rumours possibly fuelled by an announcement on Friday that the singer was cancelling all remaining dates on his Symphonica tour because of his ill health.

But Fawaz told the Mirror: “George is doing well and is in good spirits. I have been seeing him each day and he is getting stronger all the time. George is trying to stay upbeat. He is smiling through it all and everyone is just willing him to get better. A lot of what has been reported isn’t true. I’ve been with him every day and his condition is getting better. His family and friends are very happy with his care. He is in the best place, getting the treatment he needs”.

George Michael has postponed his upcoming shows in Cardiff after being diagnosed with pneumonia. The singer already postponed performances in Strasbourg and Vienna earlier this week, as well as a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall last month.

A statement reads: “With great regret, George Michael has been forced to postpone his 26 and 27 Nov shows in Cardiff, Wales, due to his ongoing illness. George was recently forced to postpone tour dates in Vienna and Strasbourg under doctor’s orders after being diagnosed with pneumonia. He is currently receiving treatment”.

The Albert Hall show will now take place on 2 May. Details of the other rescheduled shows will be announced in due course.

Bee Gee Robin Gibb was rushed to hospital again last week as he continues to deal with health problems, though he was allowed home within the day.

As previously reported, a very frail looking Gibb attended a press launch last month, shortly after a previous stint in hospital, for the record he was involved in released in aid of this month’s Poppy Day Appeal.

It is thought that the singer has been suffering from abdominal problems, and speculation has begun to surface online that Gibb is battling liver cancer, though that has not been confirmed in anyway.

According to the Mirror he was rushed to hospital last Tuesday, but was allowed to return home after just five hours in the medical facility.

Sean ‘Diddy Man’ Combs received shoulder surgery on Tuesday, he has confirmed via Twitter. The hip hopper reported via a tweet on Wednesday: “Had shoulder surgery yesterday – at home recovering – feels like I’ve been shot in my arm and I have to wear a sling but I’m OK! God is the greatest!”

It’s not clear why Diddy required the surgery in the first place. Meanwhile, it’s thought that, despite the operation, the Bad Boy chief will still give a eulogy at the funeral of late rapper Heavy D, who died earlier this month and whose funeral is due to take place later today.

Dr Conrad Murray, the medic guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson, has been admitted to the medical ward at the LA County Jail, where he is awaiting sentencing for his manslaughter conviction.

As previously reported, Murray, whose negligence was blamed for the late king of pop’s death, was jailed immediately after being found guilty last week, and will now be sentenced on 29 Nov. He faces up to four years in jail, though will likely spend much less time actually behind bars, partly due to overcrowding in the Californian prisons.

A spokesman for the LA County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed Murray has been admitted to the medical facility in the jail where he is incarnated, but said he was unable to comment on what condition had caused the doctor to be moved to the medical wing.

Adele has undergone a minor surgical procedure at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to correct throat problems that have caused her to cancel a string of US shows this year. It is hoped that the procedure, carried out by Dr Steven Zeitels, who did the same for Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler in 2006, will stop the singer’s vocal cord from repeatedly bleeding.

The hospital said in a statement: “Adele underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Dr Steven Zeitels to stop recurrent vocal cord haemorrhage from a benign polyp. This condition is typically the result of unstable blood vessels in the vocal cord that can rupture. Based on the advice of her doctor and voice therapist in the United Kingdom, Adele came to Boston to consult and undergo corrective voice surgery with Dr Zeitels, the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center … Dr Zeitels expects Adele to make a full recovery from her laser microsurgery”.

Avril Lavigne’s boyfriend Brody Jenner ended up with a large gash on his face after being hit with a bottle at the weekend. Initial reports were that Jenner had been involved in a bar brawl, though later it emerged that he had been attempting to prevent another woman from attacking Lavigne.

Lavigne later tweeted: “I don’t fight. I don’t believe in it. To clear things up I got attacked by five people last night out of nowhere. Not cool. My face is fucked, as in black eye, bloody nose, hair ripped out, scratches, bruises and cuts. So not OK to be abusive to others. Violence is NEVER the answer”.

Jenner added: “Interesting Saturday night… Just got of the hospital with a new scar on my face”.

The incident reportedly took place at around 1am on Sunday morning outside the Roosevelt Hotel in LA. According to reports, no charges have been brought against anyone involved thus far.

Andy Williams has been diagnosed with cancer of the bladder and will begin a programme of chemotherapy. Concern for the 83 year old singer’s health had grown recently after he cancelled a series of gigs.

A source told the National Inquirer last week: “Andy got the diagnosis of invasive bladder cancer very recently. That means his cancer has invaded the lining of his bladder, but doctors weren’t sure yet whether it had spread to other parts of his body. If the chemo shrinks the tumours, doctors will surgically remove Andy’s bladder. Andy is in for the fight of his life”.

Meanwhile Williams himself confirmed his condition when appearing at a show on Saturday in Missouri, where he said: “I do have cancer of the bladder. But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing. They’re kicking it, and they’re winning more and more every year. And I’m going to be one of them”.

Rapper Rick Ross has claimed that medical tests show him to be “totally healthy” and blamed five years of not sleeping properly for the two seizures he suffered in quick succession last month.

As previously reported, as Ross travelled to a gig in Memphis recently, the plane he was on was forced to return to the airport from which it had embarked after he suffered a seizure. He received treatment from a doctor on the plane and then from paramedics back on the ground. Seemingly fine, he chartered a private jet and tried once again to get to Memphis, but that was also forced to land early when he suffered a second seizure.

Amid concerns that those incidents suggested Ross had some sort of serious illness, the rapper assured BET’s ’106 & Park’: “It was [just] a case of me not getting enough rest, enough sleep”.

See the full interview here:

Rihanna was forced to cancel a show in the city of Malmö, Sweden on Monday night after she was admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms. She was back to normal and able to perform in Stockholm last night though. Organisers hope to reschedule the missed show in the near future.

In a statement the singer said: “I am sorry to everyone who was coming out to my show in Malmö. I was so excited to perform for you all. It would have been a great time… so much better than being sick with the flu, ugh! I’m really disappointed I couldn’t be there”.

She also posted a picture of her arm hooked up to an IV drip to Twitter, which you can see here if you like that sort of thing.

Bee Gees star Robin Gibb looked noticeably frail when appearing on a TV show earlier this week, he having left his sick bed to promote a cover version of Bee Gees track ‘I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You’, which has been recorded by Gibb and military-pop-trio The Soldiers in aid of this year’s British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Gibb was recently hospitalised in Oxford after suffering acute abdominal pains and, although now recovering at home, he still looked very unwell, but insisted on attending and performing at the launch of the charity single.

Opting not to comment on his health, Gibb was nevertheless keen to talk about the record, saying: “It’s an emotional appeal because when your back is against the wall, human beings tend to think about those things that are most important – home, kids and life in general, and girlfriends… That’s why it was so important for me to do everything possible to support this record”.

An Aerosmith concert in Paraguay has been postponed one day after the band’s frontman, Steven Tyler, fell in his hotel bathroom, hitting his face and losing two teeth apparently. Although he needed stitches and dental work, a spokesman for the group said the singer’s injuries were “minor” and the show – the band’s first in the country – will go ahead 24 hours behind schedule this evening. Tyler, of course, has a habit of injuring himself while on tour, with past injuries – admittedly more serious than this one – resulting in cancelled shows and, almost, the implosion of the whole group.

Colin Meloy, frontman with indie folksters The Decemberists, has announced that the band’s accordion and keyboard player Jenny Conlee’s breast cancer has gone into remission.

Meloy revealed Conlee was fighting the disease back in May, and that she would have to step back from some of the band’s summer gigs while she received treatment. He posted the good news on Twitter last week, saying: “For those of you wondering, saw Jenny this week; our girl’s officially in remission!”

Sly Stone has gone into rehab in California in a bid to kick his drink and drug addictions.

The funk icon, last seen on these pages when he was in court to face cocaine possession charges back in June, told TMZ last month that he had been clean “for about a week and a half” and was now serious about getting help to overcome his addictions.

Someone close to the singer told Perez Hilton he could be in rehab for three months. Stone has reportedly fallen on hard times in recent years, and has been recently living out of a van.