Taking Names

The ’yuck’ factor

Sen. Barack Obama says his two daughters are fans of Hannah Montana and Beyonce, but they think anything to do with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton is “yuck.”

The Democratic presidential contender told celebrity magazine Us Weekly that his daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, got to meet Beyonce backstage at a concert and “they just love her to death.”

“They’re pretty down on Britney and Paris and all of that. They think that’s very ’yuck,’ ” he said.

As for his wife, Michelle, Mr. Obama said she has a star crush on Stevie Wonder.

“I’ve been teasing her because Stevie fell off the stage at one of our events,” Mr. Obama said. “I said to her, ’This is your favorite performer, and you push him off the stage?’ Fortunately, he was OK.”

The Illinois senator described himself as a “pretty cool” dad who tries not to embarrass his daughters even when he’s dancing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” as he did in October.

Dad, sis and me

Frank Sinatra Jr. has joined his famous dad and sister on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

The 64-year-old singer received star No. 307 on Palm Canyon Drive.

Mr. Sinatra noted that he used to play on the same street as a boy. “This has been quite a sentimental journey,” he said Thursday.

Nancy Sinatra said her brother deserves the honor because he “is practically, single-handedly, keeping the American songbook alive.”

He has made numerous records, including a tribute to his late father.

Twitty suit

The children of the late Conway Twitty have sued Sony/ATV for a share of royalties and publishing copyrights for the country artist’s music.

The lawsuit filed in chancery court in Nashville, Tenn., last week claims the children didn’t understand the agreement when Mr. Twitty sold his music publishing and sound recording interests to Sony-Tree in March 1990, three years before he died.

But his widow, Dee Jenkins, disagreed with her stepchildren. They fought a 14-year legal battle over his estate after his death, which the children eventually lost.

She said Friday that the family knew what they signed 18 years ago and that their lawsuit has dishonored their father’s memory.

But his daughter, Joni Jenkins Riels, said that nothing was explained and that they didn’t know what rights they were giving up.

“Dad had a long relationship with Sony. We tried to work with them, but it didn’t work out. So, we had to file the lawsuit,” Mrs. Riels said Friday.

The children could get more than $100,000 a year from the recordings if they were to get the copyrights back, says Rose Palermo, a lawyer for his estate, who added that she was concerned about the claims in the lawsuit.

“I’m somewhat astounded that they make an allegation that they didn’t know what they were doing,” Ms. Palermo said. “[Mr. Twitty] was supporting his children … giving some of them $50,000 a year in salaries and a free place to live.”

Mr. Twitty, whose real name was Harold Jenkins, died after a 30-year career with 40 No. 1 hits, including “Hello Darlin”’ and “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man,” a duet with Loretta Lynn.

• Compiled by Kevin Chaffee from wire reports.