Dixie Chicks Sue, Barry Bonds Scores

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday August 28, 2001 01:00 PM EDT

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SUING: Dixie Chicks Emily Robison, Martie Seidel and Natalie Maines Pasdar have filed against Sony Music Entertainment, accusing the conglomerate of cheating them out of more than $4 million in royalties, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Grammy-winning country-pop group also wants to terminate a seven-album deal it signed with the company in 1997. The singers contend Sony engaged in "systematic thievery" to deprive them of royalty earnings. Sony officials, who previously sued the Dixie Chicks (claiming that the group owes it more than $100 million for five undelivered albums) declined to comment on the new suit . . . ACCOMPLISHED: San Francisco Giants baseball player Barry Bonds, 37, hit his major league-leading 56th home run Monday, becoming the fastest player to reach the mark in major league history. Bonds connected for his 550th career homer in the fifth inning of San Francisco's game against the New York Mets. The previous quickest to the mark was Sammy Sosa, now 32, who in 1999 hit his 56th in the Cubs's 132nd game . . . EXPECTING: Orlando Magic hoops star Grant Hill, 28, and his wife, "Stranger in My House" R&B singer Tamia, 26, announced Monday that they are expecting a baby in January. It is the first child for the couple, who wed two years ago . . . INDUCTED: A total of 17 recordings, including performances by Santana, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, are among the first to be inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame. Those on the list include Jobim's classic single "The Girl from Ipanema" and Carlos Santana's 1970 remake of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" . . . CAST: "Batman & Robin" costar Chris O'Donnell, 31, is taking a dramatic step forward. He will star in a rare revival of Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck," due to open on Broadway next spring, say producers . . . DIED: Skier DIANA GOLDEN BROSNIHAN, 38, who lost a leg to cancer at 12 and won a gold medal in disabled skiing at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, died of cancer Saturday at a hospital in Rhode Island. Also, BOB MARTWICK, 75, who discovered and handled Morris the Cat, passed away in Chicago on Sunday. A lifelong pet lover, Martwick also helped discover pooch Spuds MacKenzie.