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Report: Alexa Ray Joel called 911

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel called 911 and told the operator she wanted to die after swallowing eight tablets of Traumeel, sources told the New York Post.

Traumeel is a homeopathic alternative to ibuprofen.

Joel, the 23-year-old daughter of rock 'n' roll icon Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley, reportedly was hospitalized in Manhattan after she took the pills Saturday. Her friends and family have said she was upset over a failed romance.

The Post said EMS workers received a message from the 911 dispatcher saying: "Female caller. Took eight pills. Wants to die. Now feels funny. Wants to live."

A source told the newspaper Joel was discharged from the hospital Saturday night and spent Sunday with her parents.

One insider insisted Joel did not seriously intend to kill herself.

"It was more like a cry for help," the source said.

Weezer singer hurt in tour bus crash

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo suffered three cracked ribs and internal damage in a weather-related tour-bus crash in New York, a band spokesman said.

E! News reported the 40-year-old musician was injured when the bus crashed Sunday morning after hitting an ice patch.

Cuomo's wife and 2-year-old daughter, who were riding with him, reportedly were not hurt.

However, Rivers' assistant, Sarah Kim, fell out of the upper bunk of the bus, fracturing two ribs and a lower vertebrae, E! News said.

Rivers and Kim were transported to an upstate New York hospital where they are being treated for their injuries.

McCartney narrates slaughterhouse video

LONDON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- British rock 'n' roll icon Paul McCartney has narrated a 13-minute video about slaughterhouses for the group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The 67-year-old former Beatle and longtime vegetarian narrated "Glass Walls" in an effort to raise awareness about how animals and workers are treated in slaughterhouses, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian," the newspaper quoted McCartney as saying.

In the video, McCartney reportedly also explains how cows, pigs and chickens "endure almost unimaginable suffering." While he talks, images of the animals being killed are shown, the Telegraph said.

"Eating meat is bad for our health. It's bad for the environment and it directly supports appalling cruelty to animals. The decision is yours. Please make the compassionate choice," McCartney said in the clip, which can be viewed at www.meat.org

Morgan tapped to host Boyle special

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- British television personality Piers Morgan has signed on as host of the upcoming "I Dreamed a Dream: the Susan Boyle Story" television special.

The one-hour program is to air on TV Guide Network in the United States and ITV in England Dec. 13.

Morgan is a judge on "Britain's Got Talent," the competition series on which Boyle made her stunning debut.

"I've really enjoyed myself and I'm really enjoying making the show. I don't want the dream to end -- in fact, I want it to become a reality," the 48-year-old Scottish singer said in a statement about making her TV special.

"It is very hard to think of anyone in the history of show business that has come from such an extraordinary background as Susan Boyle," Morgan added. "To be propelled from the complete anonymity of Blackburn to global super-stardom and having 300 million people downloading you, it is to me the most extraordinary transformation I've ever seen in this business."

Boyle's first album, "I Dreamed a Dream," was released last month. The CD spent time atop the U.S. album chart and was the best-selling debut album for a female artist on the Billboard 200 since Soundscan has been keeping track of sales. To date, the album has sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide and tops the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada and London, TV Guide Network said Monday.