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'Crazy Love' film subject Linda Pugach dead at 75

NEW YORK, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Linda Riss Pugach, who married a man after he hired three others to throw lye in her face -- blinding her -- has died in New York, said her husband, Burton.

She was 75 when she died of heart failure Tuesday at Forest Hills Hospital in Queens, her spouse of 38 years told The New York Times.

Riss was 22 in 1959 when she ended an affair with her married beau, lawyer Pugach, who then hired thugs who permanently scarred her face and blinded her. She married Pugach after he got out of prison more than a decade later.

Their relationship and related legal battles were documented in the 1976 book "A Very Different Love Story" by Berry Stainback, as well as the 2007 documentary, "Crazy Love."

"We loved each other more than any other couple could have," Pugach tearfully told the Times in a phone interview Wednesday. "Ours was a storybook romance."

Pugach, 85, denied in the interview having ordered the use of lye in the attack on his future wife.

"I asked one guy to find someone who would beat her up, to try and get her back," he said. "I didn't ask anybody to throw lye at her."

Country singer Chely Wright pregnant with identical twins

NASHVILLE, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Chely Wright is pregnant with identical twins, the U.S. country singer announced on Howard Bragman's YouTube show "Gwissues."

"We're excited to be parents and we hope we don't mess it up too badly," Wright told Bragman Wednesday.

The 42-year-old mom-to-be said the babies are due in July but "with identical twins, they typically have to be delivered a month early."

"We're anticipating I'll be as big as a ... bus or an A-frame house by around June," said Wright, who married Lauren Blitzer-Wright in August 2011.

"We feel like God blessed us with twins," Wright said. "We feel our entire relationship has been blessed. We feel lucky and ready to take on the challenges."

Cyclist Lance Armstrong turns down 'DWTS'

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Lance Armstrong's publicist has confirmed the disgraced U.S. cyclist turned down an offer to compete on TV's "Dancing with the Stars."

"Lance has been offered the show each and every year since its inception. Although flattered he has passed on their generous offers," Armstrong's representative told EW.com.

Armstrong confessed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey last week that he used banned substances and blood transfusions to win seven Tour de France titles.

Armstrong long denied he cheated in races, even after he was stripped of his titles and banned for life from competing by the governing body of cycling in 2012.

'Thrift Shop' is No. 1 on the U.S. record chart

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" featuring Wanz is No. 1 on the U.S. record chart, Billboard.com reported Thursday.

Coming in at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 is Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven," followed by The Lumineers' "Ho Hey" at No. 3, Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie" at No. 4 and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" at No. 5.

Rounding out the top tier are will.i.am and Britney Spears' "Scream & Shout" at No. 6, Swedish House Mafia's "Don't You Worry Child" featuring John Martin at No. 7, Rihanna's "Diamonds" at No. 8, Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat" featuring Nicki Minaj at No. 9 and Phillip Phillips' "Home" at No. 10.