Singer KT Tunstall didn’t necessarily used to think of herself as someone who’d get excited about the prospect of marriage, but the engaged rocker has changed her tune.

“I can’t wait,” she told PEOPLE Thursday before her concert at The Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport, Conn. “I didn’t think I would %26#91;want to get married.%26#93; But I am excited about it.”

In fact, just deciding to tie the knot has been a life-changing experience for the unconventional singer, who accepted a traditional proposal from her longtime boyfriend, Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band, on Christmas Day.

The couple plan to wed in Scotland in the fall.

Tunstall is also looking forward to becoming a mom someday. “I’m inspired by women in music who manage to juggle family and a career,” said the eco-friendly singer, who is traveling across the United States for her Drastic Fantastic tour in a bio-diesel bus. “I certainly don’t want to stop touring.”

Planning a wedding while on tour can be challenging, she admits. “It’s hard. I’ve got very good friends and family. And my mom is amazing. Anything I’m forgetting, she’s on it. She’s a rock for me.”

One month into his game Batman is still ruling the box-office.

The Dark Knight remained No. 1 at the cineplex for the fourth straight weekend, grossing $26 million and bringing its total take to $441.5 million - and making it the third top-grossing film of all time, surpassing the previous third-ranked Shrek 2, reports Variety.

Sometime this week, the movie, starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger, is expected to overtake the No. 2 record box-office holder, Star Wars. (Still ranked No. 1 is Titanic, with $601 million.)

No. 6 was Mamma Mia!, with $8.1 million - enough to put it over the $100-million mark.

Eighties heartthrob Rick Springfield is back on the music scene with his highest charting album debut in more than 20 years.

Springfield’s 17th CD, Venus in Overdrive, came in at No. 28 on the Billboard charts this week. The Australian native, who found fame on General Hospital in 1980 and then followed withhis song hit “Jessie’s Girl” in 1981, has sold more than 19 million albums over his career.

“I haven’t been this excited about a new record since the ’80s,” Springfield tells PEOPLE. “I’m a loner in my private life, so the party animal only comes out on stage. That’s really my connection to people.”

Springfield, 58, still tours on the weekends and says he hasn’t grown weary of his ’80s hits. “I liken them to favorite children. You never get tired of trotting out your kids. When they do well at something, you’re really proud of it,” says the rocker, who lives in Malibu with his wife Barbara. (His son Liam, 23, is a budding musician and actor, and son Josh, 19, attends the University of Southern California).

With his original fan base growing older, Springfield’s thrilled that he’s developing a new audience. “There are a lot of people who were fans when they were little kids. They’ve grown up and are bringing their kids, and women are bringing their husbands,” he says.

But the women still make their presence known. Thanks to the new single (whose title was inspired by the Victoria’s Secret lingerie chain), “I’m seeing more underwear on stage,” says Springfield.

Rick Springfield as Eli Love on General Hospital

%26#34;I wanted it to be comedically fresh, but at the same time to feel like a real journey. Even though I was sweaty the whole time and covered in Vaseline.%26#34;

• Rainn Wilson tells Sunday’s Page Six Magazine about playing “lovable loser” Robert Fishman, in The Rocker

Lisa Marie Presley can’t wait to add to her family.

In a Friday posting on her MySpace page, the singer, 40, writes that she and husband Michael Lockwood, 45, are “beyond thrilled and blessed, elated and saturated in happiness” over the twins they will welcome this fall.

The pair will be the first children together for Presley and Lockwood, a musician. The expectant mom, who proudly displays her baby bump in the September issue of Marie Claire, has daughter Riley, 19, a model, and Benjamin, 15, with ex-husband Danny Keough.

In her first blog entry since May, she expresses her gratitude to fans for well wishes to the couple, who wed in January 2006. “Thank you so much for all of the amazing positive energy and beautiful well wishes,” she writes, adding, “We love reading them.”

“For those who have been asking me,” writes Presley, who released her debut album, To Whom It May Concern, in 2003 and the follow-up, Now What, two years later. “I am not recording at the moment as there isn’t much room for breathing and singing right now, most of that area has been taken up and I can’t really sing a line without running out of air halfway though.”

Recording Will Resume

Assuaging antsy listeners, she adds, “Writing and recording will resume when the little occupants in there have decided to join the outside world.”

The otherwise euphoric rocker also used a portion of her post to vent about life under constant media scrutiny.

“In the past couple of years, high profile type people seem to have less and less rights,” observes the only child of Elvis Presley. “Less privacy and protection. The onslaught of Internet and tabloid sites mostly want only blood now. They have managed to make being a public figure a 24/7 public stoning and execution of various sorts. Some obviously more brutal than others.”

Bernie Mac’s wife and daughter were with him until the very end, says the late comic’s sister-in-law in a personal and touching interview with PEOPLE that took place Saturday.

Speaking of a heartbreaking moment between her younger sister, Rhonda, and the 50-Year-old actor-comedian - who succumbed to complications from pneumonia in a Chicago hospital at 2 a.m. Saturday - Mary Ann Grossett says that the night before Mac died, “He struggled for his life. He couldn’t breathe.

“He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, ‘Don’t leave me … ‘I’m waiting for you to come back.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that’s when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired.”

Prior to that, the couple had last communicated on July 31. “He told his wife %26#91;non-verbally%26#93; that he could breathe on his own, and he wanted the ventilator out. He motioned that he wanted it out,” says Grossett.

Lung Disease Contributed

The sister-in-law says Mac’s inflammatory lung disease contributed to his death. “He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission,” she says. “But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection … He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that’s where the pneumonia came from.”

She reveals that Mac - having trouble breathing and running a fever - was actually hospitalized on July 24, eight days before the date given for his admittance. The actor was diagnosed with pneumonia and immediately placed on a ventilator.

“He was critically ill when he was in the hospital,” says Gossett. “He was in intensive care the whole time.”

She adds that doctors kept the star sedated, although he was conscious at times and he contracted a second strain of pneumonia while in the hospital.

His Wife’s Reaction

Of her widowed sibling (like Mac, Rhonda is 50), Grossett says, “She’s devastated. However, she’s at peace about his transition because of her faith in God. Her faith is what is sustaining her.”

She says of the couple’s enduring union, “They had 30 years of marriage. That’s unprecedented in today’s time, particularly for celebrities. That brings joy to her. They loved each other and respected each other on a daily basis. She was by his side to the very end.”

Recalling the couple’s early years, when they were still in their teens, Grossett says, “When they started dating, he said, ‘Girl, you better come on board this train, because I’m going to be rich.’ And her response was, ‘Okay,’ and they were married. That’s how he charmed her, with his sense of humor.”

She adds, “When they got married they were kids. He was 20 and she was 19. They both grew up together, and they both matured in this marriage.

‘She’s Going to Miss Him Dearly’

“What she will treasure the most is the fact that she was his wife for 30 years - and not only was she his wife, but she was his best friend. She’s going to miss him dearly.”

Mac’s funeral is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15, at an undisclosed location. The family requests that donations be made to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. Ninth St., Suite 601, Chicago IL 60605.

Bernie Mac, who for the past 30 years made the public laugh with an over-sized comic persona in film, television and comedy clubs, has died of pneumonia, PEOPLE has confirmed. He was 50.

“%26#91;He%26#93; passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his rep, Danica Smith, told PEOPLE. “No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected.”

On Aug 1, Mac was admitted to a hospital at Northwestern Memorial hospital with pneumonia said his rep, adding that he was expected to recover, despite widespread rumors about the seriousness of his condition.

The Bernie Mac Show, which ran from 2001 to 2006, often poked fun of Mac’s own life and proved a favorite of both critics and audiences - receiving a prestigious Peabody Award, as well as honors from the Television Critics Association (for best individual achievement in comedy).

In addition, the program provided a popular platform for Mac to win consecutive NAACP Image Awards for outstanding actor in a comedy series, from 2003 to 2006.

Named top actor in a comedy series at the ‘06 ceremony, Mac clutched his trophy and reverted to his standup character, declaring: “America, I heard your prayers, and you wanted me here. The Mac Man cometh, and I’m bringing hell with me.”

Movie Roles

He scored on the big screen, too. Among his appearances were those in the comedy Guess Who (as Ashton Kutcher’s imposing, prospective father-in-law); the Ocean’s 11 franchise; Bad Santa; Charlie’s Angels; and Pride, costarring Terrence Howard.

This spring, Mac wrapped the upcoming film Soul Men, a comedy costarring Samuel L. Jackson about a former singing duo staging a comeback. He is also set to appear in Old Dogs with John Travolta, Robin Williams and Matt Dillon.

Responding to news of Mac’s death, his Ocean’s cohort George Clooney, said, “The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly.”

A man of many media, Mac published a 2001 collection of comic riffs, I Ain’t Scared of You and a 2006 memoir, Maybe You Never Cry Again.

In February 2005, Mac, then 47, revealed that for the previous two decades he had suffered from sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in organs such as the lungs or lymph nodes. “It has not altered or limited my lifestyle,” he said at the time.

Since 1977, Mac was married to Rhonda McCullough, with whom he had a daughter, Je’Niece, born in 1978. A graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana (with a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters in mental health counseling), Je’Niece married in 2003 and also has a daughter, Jasmine. His family survives Mac.

Wanted to Enjoy Life

In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on the Late Show that he intended to retire from standup comedy.

“It’s going to be 30 years for me, and I’m going to call it,” said Mac. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”

The years of hard work, Mac says, caused him to “miss out on so much, you know, and you live in all these hotels - I was on the road 47 weeks out of the year.” As the comedian told Letterman, “I want to enjoy my life a little bit.”

In the wake of the untimely death of Bernie Mac Saturday morning at age 50, fellow entertainers fondly remember the standup comic and actor as a quintessential funnyman - and a warm guy.

George Clooney, who starred with Mac in 2001’s casino caper Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels, says, “The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly.”

Said fellow Ocean’s colleague Brad Pitt, “I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man. My thoughts are with Rhonda and their family. Bernie Mac, you are already missed.”

Mac, who died at a Chicago hospital of complications from pneumonia, will be seen this fall in the comedy feature Soul Men opposite pal Samuel L. Jackson, who says, “It goes without saying that Bernie was one of the preeminent comedians of our generation.”

“My sincere prayer is that his family will be comforted by the warmth of love from all of us who knew and respected this man.”

George Lopez, Luke Wilson Remember

To fellow comedian George Lopez, “He was one of those comics that was unique because of his approach, his look, his voice %26#91;and%26#93; the content of his material.”

Admitting that at times Mac’s material might have sounded a little rough, especially to the ears of younger people, Lopez, during the press junket for Henry Poole Is Here, told PEOPLE, “Bernie fell into that category of people who were inherently different like when you saw them, you knew they were different and when they spoke, you knew they were different .”

Admiring Mac’s gifts, Lopez also said, “As comics, we’re all brothers. and I’ll miss him a lot. He was a good friend of mine.”

Henry Poole star Luke Wilson, Mac’s costar in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, told PEOPLE, “He couldn’t have been a nicer guy. He just seemed like a real family man and just a nice guy on the set, just very kind of normal guy.”

Actress-comedienne Niecy Nash, who played Mac’s sister on The Bernie Mac Show, recalls his knack for making fellow actors feel at home on the set.

“When I showed up to work, he said something to me that had never been said to me on a set before,” she says. “He said, ‘Baby girl, the script here is not the Bible. Do you, and I’ll follow. I got mine, you get yours.’ When he said that, I knew everything was going to be all right. I was happy to have the freedom to make up some funny with him. It was simply delicious.”

Adds Nash, “My working experiences with Bernie were so amazing, that from that point on, I wouldn’t have cared if he called me in the middle of the night to come and be in a scene where I didn’t have anything to do but sit in the background and eat cereal. I would’ve just done it because I loved him like that.”

• Reporting by ELAINE ARADILLAS, JED DREBEN, MARY GREEN, JULIE JORDAN, BRENDA RODRIGUEZ and HILARY SHENFELD

Despite her recent break-up with her boyfriend of four years, accused conman Rafaello Follieri, Anne Hathaway still intends to date - in the future.

Regarding the rules of the game, the actress, 25, says, however, “I try not to date where I work. It makes life easier.”

Speaking to Britain’s The Independent, Hathaway says, “I don’t say no to anybody because I’d hope that people wouldn’t say no to me just because I’m an actor - but they’d have to be pretty extraordinary.”

As for the latest status on Follieri, the Italian businessman remains in prison in the U.S., awaiting trial on a dozen counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

With the brave face that Hathaway has been keeping in public, she quotes 1920’s humorist Will Rogers: “The worst thing that happens to you can be the best thing for you, if you don’t let it get the best of you.”

As the world was still catching its breath from Friday’s spectacular Olympic ceremony opening, news surfaced from Beijing that on the first day of the competition Saturday, a knife-wielding Chinese man attacked two relatives of the coach for the U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball team at one of the city’s tourist sites.

Todd Bachman of Lakeville, Minn., was killed and his wife Barbara was seriously injured when they were stabbed by a man while the couple and their daughter, Elisabeth, were visiting the 13th century Drum Tower. The assailant then killed himself by jumping from the second story of the site, according to Olympic officials.

Elisabeth, who was not hurt in the attack, is a 2004 Olympic U.S. women’s indoor volleyball player and wife of men’s volleyball head coach, Hugh McCutcheon.

“It is impossible to describe the depth of our sadness and shock in this tragic hour,” said U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth. “Our delegation comes to the Games as a family, and when one member of our family suffers a loss, we all grieve with them. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the Bachman and McCutcheon families.”

The midday incident was all the more shocking due to increased security for the games as well as the infrequency of violent crime against foreigners in tightly controlled China.

During the elaborate spectacle, a giant globe rose from the floor of the National Stadium (an architectural wonder simply called the Bird’s Nest), and a glittering fireworks’ display extended as far over the city to the ancient Great Wall, as if to illuminate the entire country.

In all, the presentation involved 14,000 performers, including 9,000 from the People’s Liberation Army and, significantly, 2,008 drumbeaters.

Yao Ming, the Chinese professional hoop star who plays for the Houston Rockets, carried his home nation’s flag into the stadium. (Per Olympic tradition, the host country is the last of the 204 nations to appear.) A young schoolboy who had survived the devastating May earthquakes in western China accompanied the 7′6″ Yao into the stadium.

The Bushes Wave Flags

President Bush and his wife, Laura, sat in the stands along with about 90 international dignitaries, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Bushes stood up and waved their hands and miniature American flags at the U.S. delegation, which was comprised of nearly 600 athletes dressed in a Ralph Lauren-designed, 1930’s-style outfits of blue blazers, red, white and blue silk ties and scarves, canvas shoes and white twill hats.

On Saturday, Katerina Emmons, of the Czech Republic, won the first gold medal of this year’s games, in the women’s 10-meter air rifle.

“It really doesn’t get any better than this - representing this country,” said U.S. basketball’s LeBron James. “All these Olympic athletes are here and we are competing but we are representing more. The Olympics is more then just basketball, soccer and track and field, we’re all representing each other. When I am out there playing basketball, I am representing a gymnast and the swimmers not just my teammates. This is the biggest stage.”

• Reporting by CYNTHIA WANG