The soulful, sultry singing legend passed away at the age of 73 this morning due to complications from Leukemia. Etta James had a voice like no other; it was earthy, emotional and endearing.

Surely, her loss is felt by every musician around the world. Here are how some celebrities have been reacting to the sad news.

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In Touch is reporting that Chris Brown and Kelly Rowland are hooking up. Sources say the two have hit it off while on tour.

Rowland and Brown are working together on Chris’ F.A.M.E. tour. Sources say Chris started asking out Kelly four days into the tour, and the couple started going out. Initially Kelly was not interested, but eventually she gave into his advances.

There is a bit of an age difference of course. Kelly is 30 years old and Chris is only 22 years old.

Do you think there is truth to this rumor? This video while Chris and Kelly were on stage could suggest something might be going on…..

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Jay-Z is apparently pissed at Kelly Rowland for agreeing to go on Chris Brown’s tour. Chris Brown of course struck Rihanna in 2009, and Rihanna was signed by Jay-Z, and acted as her mentor.

A source told The Sun: “Some in Jay-Z’s camp think it’s an unusual choice for her. They’re not happy. Beyoncé is one of her best friends so she’s stuck in the middle. But at the end of the day, it’s Kelly’s own choice.”

Another issue is the Chris Brown tour could interfere with her job as a judge on X Factor. 

An insider says, ”Kelly is taking a real risk jetting off in the middle of her first series of The X Factor. Some of the cast and crew are worried she is not taking it seriously.”

It looks like Kelly Rowland might be making some powerful enemies. She might be treading on thin ice.

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Chris Brown is heading out on the road to support his new release, F.A.M.E. T-Pain, Kelly Rowland and Tyga will be joining him.

“This tour will allow me to paint a picture musically,” commented Brown.  “I want to bring a lot of energy and excitement to all the fans. It’s going to be a great show.”

Here are the F.A.M.E. tour dates:

Sept. 12: Toronto, Canada (Molson Canadian Amphitheatre)

Sept. 14: Buffalo, N.Y. (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)

Sept. 16: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC)

Sept. 17: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)

Sept. 18: Detroit, Mich. (Joe Louis Arena)

Sept. 21: Cleveland, OH (CSU)

Sept. 23: Chicago, Ill. (Tinley Park)

Sept. 24: St. Louis, Mo. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)

Sept. 25: Indianapolis, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)

Sept. 28: Baltimore, Md. (1s Mariner Arena)

Sept. 30: Uniondale, N.Y. (Nassau Coliseum)

Oct. 1: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek Amphitheatre)

Oct. 2: Atlanta, Ga. (Lakewood Amphitheatre)

Oct. 7: Tampa, Fla. (1 800 ASK GARY)

Oct. 8: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)

Oct. 9: Virginia Beach, Va. (Farm Bureau Amphitheatre)

Oct. 12: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)

Oct. 14: Dallas, Tex. (GEXA Pavilion)

Oct. 15: New Orleans, La. (New Orleans Arena)

Oct. 16: Houston, TX (Woodlands)

Oct. 18: Phoenix, Ariz. (Ashley Pavilion)

Oct. 20: Los Angeles, Calif. (Staples Center)

Oct. 22: Oakland, Calif. (Sleep Train Concord)

Oct. 23: Sacramento, Calif. (Sleep Train Amphitheatre)

Oct. 26: Memphis, Tenn. (Fed Ex Forum)

Oct. 28: Philadelphia, Pa. (Wells Fargo Arena)

Oct. 29: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Consol Energy Center)

Oct. 30: Hartford, Conn. (XL Center)

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‘Destiny Child’ member and solo singer Kelly Rowland has officially signed on to join the judges panel for the UK’s ‘X Factor,’ reports Perez Hilton.

In its eighth season, Rowland will join fellow judges Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, and Louis Walsh.

In a statement, Rowland said: “I am so excited to join The X Factor UK and be able to spend time in one of my favourite places in the world.   The music coming out of the UK right now is incredible with artists like Adele, Jessie J and James Blake, so I’m confident this season of The X Factor will give me opportunity to hear a few diamonds in the rough.”

“Being a judge is never easy, but I promise to be as sternly honest as I can and also encourage everyone who crosses the stage.  I can’t wait to meet the world’s next superstar!”

I wonder what Cheryl Cole will do with her time now that she is not returning to the UK version. Cole was set to be a judge on the US version, but was replaced with Nicole Scherzinger due to American audiences not being able to ‘understand her.’ And now, there are no spots for Cole to return to on the UK version. Talk about a tough week.

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The cover art and collaborators list for Pitbull’s upcoming album ‘Planet Pit’ has been released, reports Perez Hilton.

Featured artists on the upcoming Pitbull album will include Marc Anthony, Chris Brown, T-Pain, Ne-Yo, Kelly Rowland, and Sean Paul.

All-star producers that have collaborated on ‘Planet Pit’ include Afrojack, Benny Blanco, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, David Guetta, RedOne,Polow Da Don and DJ Frank E.

That’s one hell of a team, the album is sure to impress.

Here’s what Pitbull, aka Armando Christian Pérez, had to say about his upcoming album via press release:

“It embodies a bit of everywhere I’ve been. I’m trying to be the ambassador; the bridge builder who brings elements from all over the world and puts it all together so it sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before.”

“When the congas are pounding and the bass is thumping behind me, nothing can touch me,” adds Pitbull.

The album is expected to drop in June 2011.

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Not only is Kelly Rowland infuriated with Matthew Knowles (Beyonce’s father), but it seems as though the ultimate punishment is having to head to Chicago on Tuesday for a lawsuit against the former Destiny’s Child group.

The lawsuit, citing copyright infringement on the hit single “Cater 2 U” is Matthew’s fault, according to Rowland. According to people.com, Rowland states that Matthew has a long history of trying to get songwriters to add Beyonce’s name to songs she didn’t compose, just so she gets publishing royalties, and not it’s coming back to haunt all three former members of the girl group.

The girls, who had remained close for several years, have distanced themselves from each other. Rowland fired Matthew as her manager earlier in 2009. A source had this to say about Beyonce and Rowland’s relationship:

“She and Beyoncé remained cordial at first. But things have gotten tense since Kelly griped that Matthew is the cause of this lawsuit.”

This reeks of familiarity. According to perezhilton.com, Beyonce was called out by Ne-Yo for her declaring that she wrote the hit Irreplaceable, and he issued a statement that said she was not involved in the lyrics and was barely involved in the accompanying music.

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Former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland performed for a packed house Thursday at Tao’s Worship in Las Vegas, reports Perez Hilton. Rowland was celebrating the finale of her Bravo series, The Fashion Show.

She hit the stage to perform her single When Loves Takes Over after partying in the VIP section of the restaurant.

Earlier this year, Rowland parted ways with her manager, Matthew Knowles, the father of her former band mate Beyonce.

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Kelly Rowland is about to become an author for children’s books.

The former “Destiny’s Child” singer confessed to People magazine, during a backstage break in Cannes Friday, that she is set to work on the new project for kids.

“I’m getting into different ventures. I’m in the process of writing a children’s book,” said Rowland. But the “Bootylicious” singer couldn’t divulge anymore information.

“Everything is confidential right now, but I’m really excited because I’ve talked to some different publishing companies and got some people interested.”

Rowland says the inspiration behind her decision to write for children were her five godchildren: “I love my god-kids! I love kids!”

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Kelly Rowland has officially been appointed 2008 Ambassador for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.

The foundation empowers young people who are working to eliminate HIV and AIDS in their communities.

“I am honoured to work with The Staying Alive Foundation in its mission to transform attitudes to HIV and AIDS around the world,” the Destiny’s Child alum commented in a press release. “The Foundation continues to recognize and reward young people whose relentless mission is to encourage, educate and empower their peers in the fight against HIV and AIDS. I am excited to be a part of this remarkable initiative and look forward to supporting Staying Alive in all its efforts to change the prevailing culture of ignorance which fosters and perpetuates this disease.”

Rowland will kick off her first solo tour and new role simultaneously, when she visits Africa in June. There she will visit tour some of the grassroots projects supported by the Foundation.

Her new album, ‘Ms Kelly Deluxe’, will be released May 12.

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Kelly Rowland’s dog has hijacked our phone interview.

“Stop it!” Rowland says over strident barks. “Don’t you dare.”

“I hope you’re talking to the dog.”

Rowland is spending the day at her Houston home (she also has a house in Miami), but it’s no time for relaxation. She’s been promoting her second solo album Ms. Kelly (out in stores this week) for a few months and won’t stop the campaign any time soon (she hopes to tour late this year).

It’s a lot of work, but Rowland isn’t complaining.

She’s just happy Ms. Kelly is seeing the light of day. Rowland had been working on the record – or at least a record – for nearly three years. The album’s original release date, under a different name, was over a year ago, but Rowland realized it wasn’t turning out to be the album she wanted. So she scrapped it.

“I was missing an element,” says the 26-year-old. “I was missing my youthful element in the whole record. There were so many mid-tempos and ballads, I needed a few up-tempos on there!”

She knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do it because Rowland, the former Destiny’s Child member, looks back at her debut solo album, 2002′s Simply Deep, with a hint of regret.

Worldwide, it was a relative success, selling over two million copies. In the U.S., it sold around 600,000 copies, about the same amount Destiny’s Child albums sold in their first weeks of release. The figures weren’t low enough to be considered a flop, though nothing to celebrate.

And not something she speaks too highly of now.

“I was rushed on the last record,” Rowland says. “My label rushed me because of the momentum from Dilemma.” Dilemma, a duet with rapper Nelly, stayed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for an impressive 10 weeks and earned the pair a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

“I wanted to make sure that I was able to take my time with this record.”

So with no pressure to meet any record label deadlines, Rowland did just that.

The finished product, she says, introduces Kelly Rowland to the world, again, “away from Destiny’s Child.”

“I feel like I’m a woman now,” Rowland says. “I’ve come into my own and I know what I want and I’m confident and I’m sure of myself.

“Not saying that I wasn’t before,” she continues, “but it takes years to get to that point and I’m still not at the full potential that I could be, but that’s what life is about. You can’t just expect to be great overnight.”

Rowland also used Ms. Kelly as a form of therapy.

She was set to wed Dallas Coyboys safety Roy Williams in 2005, but they ended the relationship two months before the wedding date.

“For me, [the album] was very therapeutic,” she said. “I had the chance to express myself in the studio. I talk about my personal life but it’s not to the point where it was something I didn’t want to say. I always made sure it was something I felt comfortable saying.”

With the album in stores, Rowland can now focus on touring, something she says is her favourite part of the music business.

“I’ve already started to think of who I would love to tour with. Justin [Timberlake] has already gone out but I would love a great fun tour, like with Nelly Furtado or Rihanna.”

Ladies, Ms. Kelly awaits a response.

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Destiny?s Child members Kelly Rowland, Beyonc? Knowles and Michelle Williams reunited on Sunday to perform the American national anthem at the NBA?s 55th annual All-Star Game.

Following Jann Arden?s mediocre rendition of Oh Canada, Destiny?s Child rocked Houston?s Toyota Center with a beautiful and flawless rendition of America?s Star-Spangled Banner.

Destiny?s Child fans shouldn?t get their hopes too high. According to various sources this is “their last ever performance.?

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