Ja Rule's Coup de Grâce
Ja Rule says his next album will be his last because he wants to focus on acting. The "Thug Lovin'" rapper helped close out the final night of the Desert Smash Charity Tournament at Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on March 8, and before his performance, he told Overheard that he's in the studio working on an album that he plans to call Coup de Grâce. (The record was originally slated to be titled Genius Loves Company.)  If Rule is true to his word, it will be an appropriate title because, he says, the record "will be my last because I'm focusing more on film and television and my companies."  

In 2015, he became the creative head of Magnises, a credit card company that is targeting millennials. That same year, he launched a line of men's sneakers with Steve Madden called Maven x Madden. Rule, 40, has also acted in a number of films including Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fast and the Furious (but famously turned down a role in the sequel). He and Irv Gotti are reportedly working on a TV show for Paramount about the history of Murder Inc. records. 

Also performing at the event, which was sponsored by Herradura tequila and benefited St. Jude Children's Hospital, were Cody Simpson and Natasha Bedingfield, who was introduced by Sia.  Backstage, the "Chandelier" singer wore her actual hair in braids (and refused to be photographed) but donned her trademark half-black/half-white wig before being helped onstage. (The wig obscures her vision.) Sia explained to the crowd that she could not perform "because I am singing at Coachella, and they say, contractually, I am not allowed to sing, so instead, I'm here to introduce some of the music acts. 

Bernie Williams’ Six-String Surprise
Jaws dropped at the MTK Tavern in Mount Kisco, N.Y., on March 5 when former New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williamssat in with the evening’s entertainment, Jay Prince and Friends, a group of studio and touring veterans who play or have played with The Rippingtons, Michael McDonald and The Saturday Night Live band. Williams -- who has put out two LPs, was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2009 and is currently studying guitar at the Manhattan School of Music -- drew cheers for his nimble fret work on the band’s jazzy interpretation of The Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” Boz Scaggs' "JoJo," and Steely Dan's "Green Earrings," among other tunes. Prince, the band's frontman and guitarist who toured with the late Donna Summer, tells Overheard he met Williams, who lives nearby, at another act’s gig in White Plains, N.Y., about a year ago.  "I told him he should come up to Mount Kisco, and he gave me his number,"  he says. 

Williams, whose 2009 album featured contributions by Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa, has since jammed with Prince's band a handful of times. “His passion is music. He plays his ass off,” Prince says of Williams, who officially retired in 2015.  "When we finished the show on Saturday, he asked me, 'When are we playing again?'" 

Robin Thicke’s Run For The Roses
“Blurred Lines” singer Robin Thicke is slated to perform in the land of blurred horses on May 6 at the fifth annual Unbridled Eve Gala. The event takes place the night before the Kentucky Derby at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville and has drawn such celebrities as Jennifer Lawrence and Luke Bryan. Wynonna Judd and the former lead singers of Kansas and Styx -- John Elefante and Dennis DeYoung respectively -- are also on the eclectic bill.