Quick quips: Paul McCartney, Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, Journey

Paul McCartney will be releasing his new album, My Valentine, on May 7 via Concord/Hear Music. The album will mix Paul's takes on standards with a few songs that he wrote in the "standards" style.
McCartney told a French radio station "This will sound like the years between 1920-1940, the time when my father was 20. These are songs I heard. My family, my uncles, everybody sang. And there will be pieces I wrote, but in this style. I worked with Diana Krall, and great jazz musicians like John Clayton. This is an album very tender, very intimate. This is an album you listen to at home after work, with a glass of wine or a cup of tea."


Janet Jackson has a new job on the side. She is a new spokesman for the NutriSystem Weight Loss System. According to a press release, she has lost ten pounds in the first month on the program.
Jackson said of her accomplishment, "I am so impressed by both the thought and the nutritional science behind the program. There are millions of women like me who want to be successful but don't have the tools to do it on their own. I hope I can help inspire them."


Chaka Khan also has a semi-new job. She now has permanent custody of her 10-year-old granddaughter along with her sister Tammy McCrary.
TMZ reported back in September that Chaka had gained temporary custody after claiming the child's parents were drug addicts and not able to care for the girl.


Neal Schon, guitarist for Journey, has a bit of an embarrassing problem on his hands. Sometime in the past, Schon took or had taken nude pictures of himself. Somehow, those photos were stolen by another party and have been posted to the internet.
A source close to Schon told Classic Rock that "Neal has received menacing text messages over the past couple weeks from a person he has never met, telling him that he was in possession of Neal's stolen phone and threatening to release the photos. Apparently this person decided to carry out his threats. Neal is taking immediate legal action against all parties involved in this matter."


The producers of the Broadway musical Baby It's You and a group of artists depicted in the show, including members of the Shirelles and Dionne Warwick, have settled a lawsuit over the use of those artists names and likenesses. The show, which depicted the story of Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg, opened earlier this year and closed in September.
Details of the settlement were not announced.
TV One, the African-American oriented network, is readying another season of their excellent music bio series Unsung for debut on January 2. The new season will include programs on Vesta Williams, Bobby Womack, Atlantic Starr, Whodini, Ray Parker, Jr., David Ruffin, Freddie Jackson, Sheila E and Full Force.