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Paul McCartney finally gets her out of his life, though Heather is not so unlucky, with a multi-million pay-off. Meanwhile, Rick Astley is on a roll, Britney Spears’ luck is picking up, too, although Be Your Own Pet have an Awkward time launching their second album…

Paul McCartney’s divorce battle with Heather Mills concludes, with the leggy former nude model, whose evidence is described by the judge as “inconsistent and inaccurate”, awarded £24.3 million. Mills describes the settlement as outrageous and pours a jug of water over her ex-husband’s lawyer, Fiona Shackleton. The former Beatle must be wondering why he ever let her go… Rick Astley is back in fashion, inadvertently spawning a new term when a phenomenon known as Rickrolling explodes around the world. A widespread Internet joke sends users who click on seemingly innocuous weblinks to a video of the Lancashire singer’s 1987 chart-topper, Never Gonna Give You Up. “It makes me laugh,” says Astley. “I’m sure it annoys a lot of other people.”… Britney Spears proves she has remarkable talents beyond singing and parenting. Her guest appearance on US sitcom How I Met Your Mother is an unexpected triumph. She gets positive reviews for her performance and comic timing as a ditzy receptionist and the show gets its highest-ever rating… Unlikely people to be encouraged to get naked, number 431: Amy Winehouse. The oft-dubiously dressed diva undresses – but for good reason. She poses nude, with any remaining modesty covered with a guitar and gaffa tape, for Easy Living magazine to raise awareness of breast cancer. Giant-foreheaded, caramel-voiced soul star Sade also peels off in support… Rapper Remy Ma faces up to 25 years in the clink after she is found guilty on assault and weapon-possession charges, having shot at a friend last summer… Ricki Rockett, drummer with rockers Poison, is arrested on rape charges after an alleged incident in Mississippi… Lisa Marie Presley feels pressured by tabloid slurs to admit that she is pregnant. She prepares to sue The Daily Mail, which remarked that she was “piling on the pounds”… Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records, reporting that their former label are using their name for a Pepsi Cola promotion without permission… Nashville fourpiece Be Your Own Pet’s new album Get Awkward is living up to its name. Three tracks have to be removed from the US version because their lyrics include references to violence and murder. As well as their language, they might also want to clean up London’s Vision Videobar. At the end of a gig at the Dalston venue, the band start a food fight by firing whipped cream into the crowd… The Rolling Stones play Blackpool for the first time since they were in their early-20s. The town’s council lifts a 44-year-old ban imposed after the band last performed at the Empress Ballroom. At the 1964 gig, 50 people were hospitalised following a riot that broke out after Keith Richards reportedly kicked a fan who spat at fellow guitarist Brian Jones… Guinness is not good for The Pigeon Detectives, it turns out. At a Saint Patrick’s Day gig at LA’s Spaceland, lead singer Matt Bowman tells the crowd that the Dublin-brewed black stuff is free at the bar. Venue managers aren’t amused and turf the band out of the venue after their set… It all goes Pete Tong at an 18th birthday celebration in Devon. When the DJ gives a shout-out to party-goers during his Radio 1 show, 2,000 gatecrashers flock to the birthday girl’s Grade II-listed home, leaving it in a mess. Although Tong did not reveal the address, the house owners blame his reference to a mansion party in the village of Bovey Tracey for the trouble… The South By South West festival in Austin, Texas, is as chaotic. A thousand Fucked Up fans begin moshing to an unofficial set on the Lemar Pedestrian Bridge by the hardcore punk band, but as the bridge begins to buckle, revellers leap in to the water for safety. Elsewhere at the festival in Austin, Texas, Michael Stipe dedicates a new REM song, Until The Day Is Done, to Heath Ledger, and The Lemonheads play their 1992 It’s A Shame About Ray album in full… Madonna is inducted into the US Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame along with Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp and the Dave Clark Five… Justin Timberlake, who appears on five songs on the Material Girl’s new album, reveals that during one recording session Madonna told him to drop his pants, before giving him a vitamin shot in his backside. “It was one of the greatest days of my life,” said Trousersnake. “That’s what she will continue to be for all of us: the shot in the ass, when we really need it.”… Gnarls Barkley’s return stalls when the video for Run is banned by MTV because its strobe effects may trigger epileptic seizures… Move over Kim Wilde. The X Factor winner Leona Lewis has charmed America. After a turn on Oprah Winfrey’s show, the Hackney warbler’s Bleeding Love becomes the first single by a British female to top the US singles chart since Ms Wilde managed it with You Keep Me Hangin’ On in 1986… In the UK, Amy Winehouse returns to the top of the album chart with the deluxe edition of Back To Black, but a potential successor to her throne in the guise of Duffy, with her debut Rockferry, leads the way for the rest of the month. Goldfrapp’s fourth album, Seventh Tree, grabs the runner-up slot, but, elsewhere, the boys march forth. The month’s other new entries to the Top 10 are from Donny Osmond, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, One Republic, The Temptations, Muse, Elbow, Bryan Adams, Mike Oldfield, Van Morrison, Panic At The Disco, Raconteurs, Foals and Guillemots… On the singles chart, Welsh singer Duffy also leads the way with Mercy, eventually yielding to Estelle and Kanye West’s remix of American Boy. Madonna’s collaboration with Justin Timberlake, 4 Minutes, appears in the Top 10 on downloads alone, a month before its physical release. And Westlife are finally showing signs of defeat when their 22nd hit, Us Against The World, becomes their first to miss the Top 5 in both the UK and their native Ireland… The sun continues to shine on Take That. Beautiful World, a film of their European tour, becomes the fastest selling music DVD in British history and the first to sell more weekly copies – 64,000 – than the week’s Number 1 album… Jason Rae, saxophonist with Haggis Horns and husband of Corinne Bailey Rae, dies of a suspected drug overdose, aged 31. Sean Levert, singer and son of O’Jays singer Eddie Levert, dies, aged 39. Neil Aspinall, The Beatles’ one-time road manager and chief executive of Apple Corps Ltd, dies, aged 65, after being treated for cancer. Jamaican reggae star Mikey Dread, who recorded with The Clash, dies of a brain tumour, aged 54. Ola Brunkert, a former session drummer who played on all of Abba’s albums, dies, aged 61, after apparently smashing a window by accident and cutting his neck on glass.