NEW YORK—Beyonce says her parents prepared her for the hard work of marriage.

In an interview in the latest issue of Giant, the 27-year-old singer talks about getting hitched to Jay-Z. She says she doesn’t have a fantasy view of marriage. That’s because she’s seen her parents, Matthew and Tina Knowles, struggle but stick through it.

Says Beyonce: “My parents are tighter now than ever, but they’ve been through it all. There were times when they were together, times when they were apart. I learned that it’s a lot of hard work, that it’s more than a dress.”



NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Trace Adkins feels like a marked man these days.

“I’m the guy in Nashville where if a couple of songwriters are sitting down and write a song that is so nasty that nobody will possibly ever record it, I’m the guy they’ll send it to,” Adkins said recently before a show at the Grand Ole Opry.

Adkins, a 46-year-old former oil rig roughneck, earned a reputation for racy material with hits like “One Hot Mama” and “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” a song about a woman’s derriere.

“I get a lot of nasty songs,” Adkins said. “I’m their last hope. They think, ‘Let’s send it to Trace. If he won’t cut it, we’ll just trash it.”’

Adkins’ 10th album for Capitol Records Nashville is fittingly titled “X.”

He said he’s pleased to still be going strong after a tumultuous career and personal life that includes battles with alcoholism and being shot in the chest by his ex-wife.



LOS ANGELES—Kanye West says he’s not concerned about whether his new album is a blockbuster, because he’s made “great art”—and he feels really good about it.

West’s new CD, “808s & Heartbreak,” was released Monday. It’s a departure for the 31-year-old rapper because it mostly features him singing.

Says West: “You know people sometimes don’t understand great art when they first hear it, but I am very confident in it. Whether it sells as much as the last one, or way more, I feel like I am just successful in doing something I felt really good about.”