Fondly known to the music community as go go’s “godfather”, the performer enjoyed his biggest hit with Bustin’ Loose, which managed to spend a unheralded month atop of the American R&B chart towards the close of the 1970s. The guitarist, who passed away aged 75, became known for not taking a break between songs during concerts that often lasted for several hours. The style was named “go-go” by Brown as, in his own word, the music “goes and goes”.

Among those paying their tributes to Brown was the mayor of Washington DC, Vincent Gray, who commented that his city owes much to Brown for bringing go-go and that the guitarist’s passing marked an incredibly sad day for those who love music. Fellow figures from the world of entertainment, such as rappers Snoop Doggy Dogg and Chuck D of Public Enemy, whose own genre of hip hop took influence from the go-go style, also paid their respects.

While in prison during the 50s and 60s, serving eight years on a murder charge, Brown acquired his first guitar after he traded five cartons of cigarettes with another prisoner for the instrument. Upon release, he honed his craft then put together the Soul Searchers, who relied on funky horns, lively percussion, and Brown’s own deep vocals.

To the shock of many, including Melvyn Bragg, the show’s long-running host, the arts series was axed in 2009 by its original broadcaster ITV. Prince Charles joined the chorus of discontent when he branded the end of the show a “sad loss”.

Much to the excitement of viewers, Bragg is to return to host Sky Arts’ new series. He commented that it is great for him and the show to both be back in business. The first episode is to be broadcast on 27 May and will feature the first ever South Bank Show profile of Hytner – the boss of the National Theatre since 2003.

When he was a director, Hytner worked on History Boys by Alan Bennett as well as an adaptation of the Phillip Pullman trilogy – His Dark Materials. Two years ago, the leading figure was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama. In forthcoming episodes, violinist Nicola Benedetti and novelist Pat Barker are also to be profiled.

Dizzee Rascal, previously a Mercury prize-winner, and Tinchy Stryder are just some of the artists that have lent their thoughts to the already-filmed special episode that explores the origins of the UK’s grime music scene, as well as how UK hip-hop has impacted on east London.

The iconic Dame Monica Mason made her comments on both nutrition and eating disorders in the industryat the Dance UK conference, saying that while perhaps those involved in dancing were in denial in the past, anorexia is now a recognised problem and more can be done to help vulnerable young people suffering from the illness.

In July, Dame Monica will retire from her current role as the Royal Ballet’s director. Speakers who had their voice heard at the Nutrition and Disordered Eating Conference, attended by over 100 delegates, were dance and medical experts, with former dancer Kenneth Tharpe acting as chairman of the proceedings.

The conference was held earlier this week after professionals demanded that there be a public forum made for discussion. Tharpe, who is now heads a contemporary dance centre The Place, called for greater transparency on such issues as anorexia. He set the ball rolling at the conference by uttering ‘Let’s talk about it’,” at the very start.

Medical experts have repeatedly stressed the importance of dance organisations identifying staff that students can turn to. Following the conference, The National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (or NIDMS) was launched by Dance UK. NIDMS is a joint initiative between Birmingham Royal Ballet, the University of Wolverhampton, the University of Birmingham, Trinity Laban and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.

Discussing the Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell, written by Tom Bowers, at a celebrity-filled gathering at Serpentine Gallery in London, Cowell apologised to anyone he caused  embarrassment to and told guests of how he has spent the last week hiding under a pillow in his bedroom in shame, with all newspapers banned from his house.  The book, serialised in the Sun newspaper last week, tells of a relationship Cowell allegedly had with one of his fellow X Factor judges, Dannii Minogue, as well as his fascination with singer Cheryl Cole.

Sweet Revenge currently sits in The Bookseller’s hardback non-fiction chart at number five and is in its first week of release. Bower, who’s recent effort is his 20th unauthorised biography, has also used the likes of Formula One mogul Bernie Ecclestone, who was present at the launch of Sweet Revenge, Philip Green, and Karren Brady as subjects for some of his other books.

Cowell joked that he will not feature on television again for another year from this week onwards as he is now going to dedicate his time to writing a book entitled, The Sordid Sex Life of Tom Bower – a collaboration with the author that has caused him blushes recently with the release of Sweet Revenge.

Mr Clark, who was aged 82, died after a heart attack yesterday. He both produced and presented a string of programmes that included the likes of American Bandstand and the annual special on New Year’s Eve that he was perhaps most famous for.

Ryan Seacrest, who assumed the duties of the host of the New Year’s Eve special after Dick became ill, called his predecessor one of the biggest influences in his life. In 2004, Clark suffered a stroke, which led to Seacrest becoming host of the much celebrated Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve.

Seacrest told of how he idolised Dick from the very start of his own interest in entertainment and was graced by the veteran’s advice and counsel when he was just starting out in television. Seacrest explained that when he joined Dick’s show in 2006, a dream-come-true was finally realised.

Clark was the host and producer of the music programme American Bandstand over a 30 year period that spanned from 1957 to 1987. In each episode, groups of teenagers could be seen dancing to top 40 tracks, with a star guest performer singing their latest hit at some point of the broadcast.

Due to his youthful appearance, the astute businessman and producer was commonly referred to as “the world’s oldest teenager”. President Obama told of his sadness over Clark’s passing, adding that American Bandstand had seen the introduction of several decades’ worth of music to America viewers.

The Casual Vacancy will be released in hardback on 27 September while e-books and audio downloads will also be available. Rowling commented at a press conference that the freedom to venture into new territory has been a product of the success of the Harry Potter series she created.

The Casual Vacancy centres on the passing of Barry Fairweather, an event which shocks the villagers of Pagford. Rowling’s publisher, Little, Brown & Co said in a press release that Pagford seems like a typical English idyll with its cobbled market square and ancient abbey yet what lies behind its pretty facade is a village at war.

The tale as been described as blackly comic and thought-provoking yet also constantly surprising. Speaking at the red carper premiere of the last Potter movie in 2011, Rowling told reporters that the release of the movie marked the beginning of a completely new writing direction for her before adding that she had numerous projects in the pipeline.

As over 450 million copies of the seven Potter books were sold worldwide, author Rowling is among the richest novelists of all time. When the final novel of the series went on sale almost five years ago, thousands of copies were snapped up in minutes.

Laura Johnson, aged 20 and of Orpington in south-east London, previously denied her charges and claimed that she had been acting under duress. While at Inner London Crown Court, Miss Johnson, a student, also had herself convicted of handling a TV looted from Currys – although she did not steal it herself.

The judge warned Johnson, who was cleared of a charge of stealing and handling both cigarettes and alcohol from a BP garage, to expect jail time. Her co-defendant, who is a 17-year-old male who can’t be named yet for legal reasons, may have been cleared of one burglary but was convicted of another.

Addressing the two defendants, Judge Patricia Lees commented that they had been convicts of incredibly serious offences that appear worse than usual considering they were committed during a time of civil unrest in the UK capital London during last summer. The court was told that University of Exeter student Johnson is extremely intelligent and well-educated by solicitors representing her.

The millionaire’s daughter explained her fear of refusing to join Emmanuel Okubote – aged 20 and a convicted dealer of the harmful drug crack cocaine dealer referred to by his nickname, T-Man – on a cross-city mission of theft.

The former Saturday Night Live star made an appearance on talk show Conan as 1970’s character Ron Burgundy, a San Diego newscaster, to make the announcement. Steve Carrell will feature in the sequel too, which will be released this year. The original film took £57.2m overall at box offices worldwide and saw Christina Applegate star as a female challenger to Burgundy’s position as a ruler of a male-dominated newsroom.

Thus far plot details of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’s sequel are yet to be written. What is known though is that Ferrell will again co-write with the original’s director.

Ferrel said during his in-costume appearance on Wednesday night that he wished to announce to everyone in the Americas, Spain, Turkey and Britain – including England – that Paramount Pictures and himself have managed to come to terms on making an Anchorman sequel.

Ferrel also gave a performance on a jazz flute as the outlandish character, Burgundy. In the eight years following the release of the original film, Anchorman stars such as Carell have had their careers blossom through the success of a string of box office hits.

Aged 23, Mohammed Merah, who claimed to have received al-Qaeda training, started opening fire on police commandos as they stormed their way into his apartment at around 09:30 GMT. French prosecutors say that the young man, of Algerian origin, was killed by a single shot to the head upon attempting to flee.

Merah was the man behind three separate attacks, in total killing four Jewish citizens at a Hebrew school as well as three soldiers. The main factors behind Merah’s attacks were “avenging Palestinian children” and protesting against French army intervention overseas.

Prosecutor Francois Molins spoke at a news conference to confirm that a trained marksman employed by Toulouse’s police force had killed Merah when the suspect tried to make his way out of his apartment via a bathroom window. An official examination of Merah’s corpse revealed that he had a bullet-proof vest under his clothing and was carrying a gun on his person while another firearm was found next to his dead body.

On the 23-year-old’s balcony, Molis explained, the materials needed to put together Molotov cocktails were discovered.  Callously, Merah filmed each one of the three attacks he carried out. While the French government wanted Merah to be captured alive so that he could face prosecution for his crimes, it was decided that too many lives had already been put at risk.

The series, starring Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman and 48 Hours star Nick Nolte had been filming episodes for its second season before the incident occurred. A statement from HBO said that the network has been left with no other choice than to cease all future productions of Luck.

Created by David Milch, the force behind Western drama Deadwood and NYPD Blue, and Heat director Michael Mann, the series examined US horse-racing’s seedy side. Hoffman played crime kingpin Chester Bernstein. The character was attempting to wrestle control of a Californian racetrack by introducing casino gambling while exacting revenge on a former business associate for landing him in federal prison.

Luck made its American debut in January and is to have the finale of its first season broadcast on 25 March. Recently, it began airing in Britain on Sky’s Atlantic channel. HBO’s decision to scrap the entire series was made just a day after filming had to be suspended pending further investigations into the horse’s death.

On Tuesday, the AHA – or the American Humane Association – issued a suspension order for the show. HBO said in its statement that the horse suffered a head injury and was put down on the track at a racecourse in Arcadia, California, where Luck had been filming.