The Jolie-Pitts and Stefani-Rossdales are BFFs!

On Monday, Angelina Jolie
and part of her brood went to Gwen Stefani's
London home for a playdate. Shiloh, 5, Zahara,
6, and 3-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox were
all smiles alongside Kingston Rossdale, 5.

PHOTOS: Kingston's super cute style

So how exactly do Jolie, 36, and Stefani, 41, know each other? A source tells
Us Weekly that Brad Pitt has been
pals with the No Doubt singer and hubby Gavin
Rossdale for years. He and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston
attended the couple's L.A. wedding in Sept. 2002. "They've run in the
same social circle [for a long time]," adds a source.

PHOTOS: Shiloh's adorable fashion choices

When Shiloh and Kingston were born a day apart, the parents became "even
better friends. "Right away they started getting [the kids] together for play
dates," a source tells Us. "Brad had [the Stefani-Rossdales] up
to his Santa Barbara house for the weekend."

In an interview with CNN's Sanjay Gupta last year, Jolie admitted she

First, let's address the most burning question surrounding
the 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominations: No, Rush didn't make the
cut, again. Let the annual wailing and gnashing of teeth begin!

But, the great prog blackout notwithstanding, some other traditional
oversights did get addressed with this year's round of 15 nods.

Most gratifyingly, rock's female pioneers of the mid-'70s
are finally getting a shot at getting their due. It's sometimes seemed as if
the Rock Hall doesn't believe women did much of anything between Janis' death
and the Madonna nation's birth. But now they're coming straight on for you! The figures who arguably did the most to advance women in rock in the Me Decade, Heart and Joan Jett, both picked up first-time nominations.

So did Rufus with Chaka
Khan. Two previous women nominees associated with the era, Laura Nyro and Donna Summer, are also back among
this year's mix of contenders. (Maybe the nominating committee actually visited the Hall of Fame's new "Women

Beyonce descended from the palace made of clouds in heaven that we imagine she lives in to make an appearance Wednesday night at the New York launch party for her third scent (called "Pulse"). Bey was happy to discuss her pregnancy with reporters, and revealed she's experiencing cravings and a heightened sense of smell, just like non-Beyonce pregnant women have been since the beginning of time.

"My nose, I smell everything from a mile away," she told the Associated Press. "Usually it is food, it is onions or something that I just can't tolerate."

Beyonce said that she has felt newly empowered by the pregnancy (the scent is "about empowerment," according to the AP).

"It is the most powerful creation for you to be able to have life growing inside of you," she said. "There is no bigger gift, nothing more empowering."

She said she's not going to let the pregnancy affect her work ethic.

"I think it is just passion," she said. "When you are excited about something, you don't have to think

Cue the rapid-eye-mourning.

R.E.M. shocked the rock world today by announcing a wholly
unexpected breakup. "As lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided
to call it a day as a band," read the not-terribly-explanatory statement on
their website. "We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and
of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by
our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

Now, if they'd put a fork in it five or ten years ago, when R.E.M.
really did seem to be running on fumes, everyone would have understood and
murmured appreciatively, quietly pouring out a 40 in their honor. Reveal (2001) or Around the Sun (2004)? Now, those
are the kinds of wan, can't-even-rouse-the-faithful albums that bands are supposed to break up on.

But jaws dropped at their pulling the rug now, because R.E.M. was on a roll that bands aren't supposed to experience going into their second
decade together, much less their fourth. Three years