by Charles Gans

NEW YORK (AP)—Abbey Lincoln, a jazz singer and songwriter known for her phrasing, emotion and uncompromising style, died Saturday in New York at age 80.

“AMAZING GENIUS”—In this Sept. 17, 2005 photo, jazz singer Abbey Lincoln performs during Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert in New York.

She had been declining in health for the past year. Her death was confirmed by friend and filmmaker Carol Friedman, who has been working on a documentary on Lincoln’s life.

Lincoln made records and acted in films in the 1950s and ’60s, then saw her career surge again in the 1990s when she found new voice as a songwriter.

Robert Wilson bassist of The GAP Band has died. He was 53. He is believed to have died of a heart attack, said Karen Lee, publicist for his brother and Gap Band singer Charlie Wilson. The Gap Band was composed of brothers Robert, Ronnie and Charlie. “My brother Robert was a bad boy on the bass,” Charlie Wilson said. “We shared a bond as brothers, musicians and friends. I loved him, and losing him is difficult for both Ronnie and I. The music world has lost a very talented man.”

ROBERT WILSON

NEW YORK (AP)—An 11-year-old girl who played young Nala in “The Lion King” on Broadway is getting a potentially lifesaving procedure.

Shannon Tavarez has leukemia and will get an umbilical-cord blood transplant on Tuesday. The blood-producing stem cells used in transplants can come from cord blood, bone marrow or blood.

SHANNON TAVAREZ

Her mother, Odiney Brown, says she’s praying it will work.

The actress was forced to quit the show in April. Cast members held a bone marrow donor registration drive for her last month.

The bone marrow registry DKMS held another drive for Shannon on Sunday at 50 Cent’s community garden in Queens. The rapper has made a video in her honor.

You should never have eaten that last slice of cake.

Once you got the shirt home, the color looked awful on you. Yes, those pants make you look fat. Dating that geeky guy from the office seemed like a good idea at the time. You wish you had listened to your instincts.

Throughout your life, you’ve had a thousand regrets. But, as you’ll see in the new novel “Big Girls Do Cry” by Carl Weber, things could be worse. You’ve never asked your sister to carry your baby.