SHANIA’S A MOM, BONO MOURNS, HAWKINS HURLS

The cycle of life is one of the few undeniables in this world, unswayed by mankind’s railing at the heavens and FedExed "incentives" from indie promo guys alike. One hand giveth and the other get greaseth.

And so it is that in one pathetic posting on an even more pathetic website, we report of one happy couple’s newborn joy, one son’s sorrow and one drummer’s trip to detox.

According to Reuters, which learned of the blessed event today through Country.com (www.country.com), Shania Twain and hubby Robert John "Mutt" Lange brought a bouncing baby boy into the world last week. The child, named Eja (like the Steely Dan album title, but different) is the couple’s first in their eight-year marriage. Hey, who even knew they were still married?

That happy event is tempered, however, by news out of the U2 camp that singer Bono’s father, Bob Hewson, has passed away in Dublin after a lengthy battle with cancer. Bono (born Paul Hewson) had reportedly been flying back to Ireland after each date on U2’s current "Elevation" tour in recent weeks to be by his father’s side. The elder Hewson, a retired postal worker, was in his 70s.

Meanwhile, trouble has reared its beer-soaked head on the Foo Fighters’ European tour. Drummer Taylor Hawkins has been hospitalized in London and is said to be in stable condition following a festival show there, "having apparently overindulged" during after-show festivities, according to a statement from the band. Remaining Foo dates in Europe and the UK have been canceled.