Jessica hard at work on country album

After her bad luck at the box office, Jessica Simpson is hoping to bounce back with a country music career. "I am a country girl," she says in a new interview with Billboard.com. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to make a country album, but I wanted to wait until the time was right." She also cites Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Reba McEntire as inspirations, adding, "I think there is a strength in female country artists." She won't reveal her songwriting collaborators, but tells the website: "Writing is a release for me. It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book." Simpson is still not certain if she'll hit the road to support the disc, which is due later this year. "Since the record is in the beginning stages, there hasn't been much talk about a tour just yet," she says.

Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds wed

Eddie Murphy celebrated New Year's Day by tying the knot with film producer Tracey Edmonds. Their representatives said the pair exchanged vows Tuesday on a private island off Bora Bora in French Polynesia in front of a small group of family and friends. Murphy and Edmonds began dating in 2006 and were engaged in July. Murphy, 46, has five children from his marriage to Nicole Mitchell Murphy, who filed for divorce in 2005. He also has a daughter with Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown. Edmonds, 40, has two sons from her 13-year marriage to singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. As head of Edmonds Entertainment Group, Inc., she has produced the film and television series "Soul Food."
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