Rolling Stones memorabilia auctioned after divorce

By Andrea Burzynski

NEW YORK | Sun Oct 28, 2012 6:29pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An assortment of Rolling Stones memorabilia and artwork provided by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his ex-wife was sold in a two-day auction, Julien's Auctions said on Sunday.

The collection featured memorabilia spanning four decades from the guitarist's work with the band, and included several worn leather and velvet jackets, real and cardboard guitars, tour ephemera and a signed lithograph of Eric Clapton.

Among the items were a white leather coat worn by Wood that sold for $8,960, and a lithograph of Eric Clapton drawn by Wood that features his signature as well as Clapton's that fetched $5,120.

Despite being made of cardboard, a guitar cutout gifted to Wood by Keith Richards sold for $6,875. The real thing commanded almost nine times that price, with a 1955 Fender Stratocaster guitar often played on stage by Wood bringing in $60,800.

Bidding took place live online as well as in person and by phone at Julien's Beverly Hills gallery on Friday and Saturday.

The auction comes ahead of the release next February of the memoirs of Wood's ex-wife Jo, which promise to reveal her tales of life as the wife of a Rolling Stone.

Ronnie and Jo Wood were married for 23 years before separating in 2008 when Ronnie left her for a young cocktail waitress named Ekaterina Ivanova. The couple's divorce was finalized in 2011.

After the auction was announced in September, the former couple issued opposing statements feuding about the ownership of the auction items, but seemed to have worked out their disagreements. Julien described the items for sale as jointly owned and said that they were part of the couple's divorce settlement.

Part of the proceeds from the auction will go to MusiCares, the Grammy Awards charity that offers help to people in the music industry with finance and addiction.

Wood has recently been focused on his visual art career, but is best known as a musician with the Rolling Stones and The Faces. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

In addition to her upcoming memoirs, Jo Wood - a former model - has also founded a skincare line.

(Reporting by Andrea Burzynski, editing by Gary Crosse)

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Singer Stevie Wonder files for divorce

Stevie Wonder poses with the Billboard Icon Award backstage at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada May 20, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Steve Marcus

LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 3, 2012 5:58pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran singer Stevie Wonder has filed for divorce from his second wife, fashion designer Kai Millard Morris, according to court papers filed in Los Angeles on Friday.

Wonder, 62, real name Stevland Morris, cited irreconcilable differences and listed the couple's date of separation as October 2009.

The papers obtained by Reuters showed that the "Superstition" singer was asking for joint custody of the couple's two boys, 10-year-old Kailand and seven-year-old Mandla.

The singer, who has been blind from birth, signed the papers using two fingerprints and agreed to pay spousal and child support. He also requested that all his earnings after the separation were kept separate from the couple's assets.

Wonder and Millard Morris were married in September 2001. The singer was previously married to Motown singer Syreeta Wright from 1970 to 1972, and has had several relationships since, from which he has seven children.

Wonder rose to fame as a child musical prodigy in the 1960s and has since won 22 Grammy awards and a Grammy lifetime achievement award for his work.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Marguerita Choy)

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American Idol winner Ruben Studdard seeks divorce (AP)

COLUMBIANA, Ala. – American Idol winner Ruben Studdard is divorcing his wife of three years, saying they haven't lived together since last year.

Court records show Studdard filed a contested divorce last week in Shelby County, where he lives in suburban Birmingham. The complaint says he and Zuri Studdard split in October 2010, and she now lives in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Ga.

The complaint cites a "complete incompatibility of temperament" for the divorce, and it asks a judge to enforce a prenuptial agreement that was signed before they wed in 2008.

Studdard was known as the "Velvet Teddy Bear" when he won the second season of American Idol in 2003. Studdard is playing host to a weekend-long event in Birmingham that begins Friday and includes a half-marathon Sunday.

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