JAZZHampton Suffers Stroke: Jazz great Lionel Hampton...

JAZZ

Hampton Suffers Stroke: Jazz great Lionel Hampton has been admitted to a New York hospital after suffering a mild stroke similar to one he experienced in March, his publicist said Wednesday. “He suffered a mild recurrence of a stroke Tuesday afternoon and is resting comfortably in the stroke unit at Mount Sinai Hospital,” publicist Phil Leshin said in a statement. “His doctors say he is alert and doing well.” The 87-year-old Hampton, who started playing jazz in the 1920s and pioneered the vibraphone as a jazz instrument, was released from the same hospital in May after treatment for the earlier stroke. He performed with his band in Georgia June 17. The statement said Hampton, who lives in New York, had been scheduled to begin a European tour July 6 with his Golden Men of Jazz but his doctors advised against it.

POP/ROCK

Jackson No. 1: Michael Jackson’s “HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1” sold 391,000 copies in its first week in the stores, SoundScan reported Wednesday. That means the two-disc set will enter the Billboard sales charts at No. 1, outdistancing the runner-up, the “Pocahontas” soundtrack, by almost 230,000 copies. Epic Records is touting “HIStory” as the fastest-selling double album in history, but Guns N’ Roses’ two “Use Your Illusion” albums, packaged separately, each sold about 700,000 copies during the first week of their release in 1991. . . . Natalie Merchant’s solo debut, “Tigerlily,” also had an impressive first week, coming in at No. 13 with 62,000 copies sold.

TELEVISION

‘TV Nation’ Resurfaces: “TV Nation,” Michael Moore’s quirky newsmagazine, returns to network TV--except it’s on a different network. Moore, formerly seen on NBC, has moved his operation over to Fox, where new episodes will premiere July 21 at 8 p.m.

PEOPLE WATCH

Unhappy Ending: Former Lebanon hostage John McCarthy and Jill Morrell, who led a public five-year campaign for his release, have split up. “It is true. We have separated. But I don’t want to talk about it,” McCarthy, 38, was quoted as saying in British newspapers Tuesday. McCarthy, a television journalist, was captured in Beirut in April, 1986. Morrell, who had dated McCarthy for three years, fought to keep his plight public. In August, 1991, church bells pealed and champagne corks popped when he was freed, and thousands of Britons yearned for a happy ending. The couple’s story--”Some Other Rainbow”--became a bestseller.

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Unhappy Ending II: Actor Michael Douglas and his wife, Diandra, are splitting up after more than 18 years of marriage. The couple separated Friday, the same day the divorce petition was filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court by her attorney.

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Your ($40,000) Song: An art dealer paid $40,000 to hear his lyrics put to music by Elton John. The rock star will record the song for Alexander Acevedo, who bid for the privilege at a Sotheby’s auction Monday in New York. The auction raised more than $1.2 million to benefit four AIDS-related organizations, organizers said. Other “fantasy lots” on the auction block included an appearance as an extra in Mike Nichols’ new movie, “All the Pretty Horses,” that went for $7,000, and a walk-on part on “Melrose Place” that went for $10,000.

QUICK TAKES

Opera composer Hugo Weisgall, 82, has been named a recipient of the $50,000 William Schuman Award, given by Columbia University. The award honors the lifetime achievement of an American composer. . . . Disney Interactive and 7th Level Inc. announced a new partnership to develop a CD-ROM game based on Disney’s popular “Lion King” characters, Pumbaa and Timon. . . . The cast of “Longtime Companion,” one of the first mainstream U.S. films to tackle the subject of AIDS, will reunite tonight at 7:30 at the Virgin Megastore in West Hollywood to present the Video Industry AIDS Action Committee with the Longtime Companion Award and help raise funds for AIDS awareness. . . . Actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a riding accident, was moved from Virginia to a New Jersey hospital that specializes in treating severe spinal cord injuries. . . . Comic, actress and singer Judy Tenuta announced that she will now be formally known as Sasse (pronounced sas-SAY).