• Aretha Franklin is showing some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to her fellow divas: The Queen of Soul will release an album Oct. 21 covering classic songs from other female singers. Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics will include songs such as Gladys Knight's "Midnight Train to Georgia," Barbra Streisand's "People" and Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman." The most contemporary track is a reworking of Adele's hit "Rolling In the Deep," which is the first single off the album. It will be available digitally today, when the 72-year-old will also perform the song on Late Night with David Letterman. Great Diva Classics reunites Franklin with longtime collaborator Clive Davis. "I mean, it is great," he said in New York City. "For her to do all these songs, it's very exciting." Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Andre 3000 are among the album's producers. Other songs covered by Franklin include the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Alicia Keys' "No One" and Dinah Washington's "Teach Me Tonight." The opening track is Etta James' signature song, "At Last," and Franklin closes the 10-track set with Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U."
• Thousands of runners took part Saturday in the sixth Dempsey Challenge in Lewiston, Maine, the first time the cancer support fundraiser in honor of Patrick Dempsey's mother has been held since her death. "This year's Dempsey Challenge is difficult without our mother but she is with us in our hearts and minds," Dempsey and his sisters, Mary and Alicia, said in a statement. "We are reminded of her strength in all of the survivors, friends, patients and family who join us this weekend in celebrating hope." For five years, their mother, Amanda Dempsey, led the survivor walk that opened the event. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1997 and battled multiple recurrences in the years that followed. She died in March at 79. Patrick Dempsey, who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on TV's Grey's Anatomy, launched the Dempsey Challenge because of his mother's battles. Money raised from the event goes to The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, which he and his sisters created in 2008 in partnership with the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Last year's Dempsey Challenge raised $1.1 million for the center.
A Section on 09/29/2014