Singer Daniel O'Donnell, a household name on the Irish and UK music charts, brought his brief U.S. Spring Tour to the Peoria Civic Center Theater this afternoon.

O'Donnell, who has twenty UK Top 40 albums, as well as fifteen Top 40 singles, has sold over 10 million records to date. Earlier this year, he became the first artist to have an album in the UK charts for 24 consecutive weeks. O'Donnell stopped to take this photograph and sign a compact disk for my collection as he made his way from his hotel to the venue.

O'Donnell's singing partner, Mary Duff, was also gracious and took a moment to pose for this shot as she arrived at the stage door entrance.

Many people consider Jackie Joyner-Kersee the greatest female athlete of the 20th Century. Joyner-Kersee is a three-time Olympic gold medalist (plus three other Olympics medals) and world record holder in the women's heptathlon. She was in Quincy, Illinois, this past weekend to serve as Race Marshal for the Bridge the Gap to Health Race.

Joyner-Kersee gladly signed several 8x10 shots and two magazine (Time and SI) covers for me and posed for this shot during Friday's Race Expo. The following morning, she "medaled" me as I crossed the finish line of the Race's half-marathon.

Grammy-award winning songstress Debby Boone is in St. Louis this weekend for a concert at the Bezmes Family Theater on the campus of Lindenwood University. Boone's show features the music of Rosemary Clooney.

Boone, who is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," gladly stopped to sign a couple of photographs and pose for this shot as she arrived in town earlier today. "Life" was a number one song for ten weeks on the Billboard charts in '77 and helped Boone earn a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

While waiting for Boone, another Grammy Award winner, Fantasia, passed by me. She was in town for a Mother's Day show at Chaifetz Arena. Although I already have a photo with her, I asked for a new pose. Unfortunately, her manager told me, "we don't take no pictures in no airports." OK.

Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey are on the road one last time before calling it a career. Their current tour stopped at Sangamon Auditorium in Springfield, Illinois, Sunday evening as they paid tribute to former band mate Mary Travers.

Following the show, Yarrow set up shop in the Auditorium's lobby to greet fans and sign autographs, however, Stookey wasn't present. I made a quick decision to check the stage door, and a good decision it was as Stookey was already in his rental car preparing to depart to St. Louis to catch a flight early the next morning. Even though a light rain was falling, he was kind enough to sign a couple of 8 x 10s and step out of the car to pose for this shot.




Back inside, the line was long for Yarrow as he continued to meet and greet fans with his usual warm and welcoming demeanor. Once I reached the table, it was like meeting an old friend as he joked with me and added his signature to the 8 x 10s and to a copy of his book, Puff the Magic Dragon.

Ron White, an original member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, was in Springfield, Illinois, Friday night for a show at The Center. White stopped on his way to dinner at the local Bennigan's to pose for this shot and sign an 8 x 10. He was sporting some extra snazzy saddle shoes and I noted their attractiveness, to which he replied with a grin, "them's my drinkin' shoes."

I then headed north about an hour to Bloomington, Illinois, to get this photograph with Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin who was in concert at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. Colvin, who attended SIU-Carbondale, gladly signed a copy of her 1996 release, "A Few Small Repairs," as she departed the venue. The disk features "Sunny Came Home," the song that earned her two Grammy's for Record of the Year and for Song of the Year.

Bo Darvill, Lewis Medlock, Gator McCluskey. Recognize the names?

They are all characters portrayed by one of America's most famous film and television actors, Burt Reynolds. Reynolds is in Chicago this weekend for a Movie Tribute at the Hollywood Cinema Theater in Woodridge, Illinois.

Reynolds met fans, signed autographs, and took photos before and after screenings of Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, and The Longest Yard. Without a doubt, he is one of the nicest celebrities I've met. He was warm and genuine. Reynolds made me feel like a friend as we chatted. You don't get that from many "A list" celebrities. He signed a Smokey and the Bandit DVD cover and disk for my collection and then posed for this shot.

It was Coco, Faith, Huggy Bear, Murphy Lee, and that guy from The Man Show all in St. Louis Saturday.

Conan O'Brien and Faith Hill headlined the annual Bob Costas Benefit for Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

I pulled up just in time to get this shot with Faith as she arrived at the Fox Theater for her mid-afternoon sound check. In addition to the photograph, Hill signed a promo "This Kiss" CD for my collection.

About an hour later, O'Brien emerged from his hotel to catch his ride to the Fox. I was with a group of fans camped out across from the hotel's lobby. After we called to him, he walked over to us to sign autographs and take photos for all who asked. While signing, he asked how the Cardinals games was going, but he wouldn't divulge what his April Fool's Day prank was at the airport that got him in a little trouble.

Earlier in the afternoon, comedian/actor/talk show host Adam Carolla hosted a book signing at Vintage Vinyl in the Delmar Loop. The always cool and relaxed Carolla took a moment to pose before starting his event. The former Man Show host was in concert later in the evening at The Pageant.

While waiting for Carolla to arrive, I grabbed this photo with rapper Murphy Lee outside the store. Lee and his street time were distributing promo copies of his newest disk.

Finally, after getting Faith Hill, I walked across the street to the Grandel Theater to see if I could find Antonio Fargas. Fargas played "Huggy Bear" on the 70's sitcom Starsky and Hutch. It was my lucky day as I caught Fargas in the lobby on his way to an after matinee snack. Fargas has been in St. Louis the past several weeks performing in the play, The Real McCoy. After chatting about his colorful bathrobe, his stay in St. Louis, and his favorite eating establishments, he posed for this shot.