Issue Date: December 26, 2004

Also this week:
USA WEEKEND: A year in photos

2004: Year in Gossip

Our cover stars of this past year were busy in front of and away from the cameras. Catch up with the year's dish on our favorites.

By Tameka L. Hicks

The biggest splash of the year belongs to Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps, who draped himself in a USA WEEKEND towel on our cover in August before the Games. The 19-year-old then won six gold medals. His return home to Baltimore included a Phelpstival and his very own street, called Michael Phelps Way. But even an Olympic champion can stumble; he was charged with drunken driving in early November. He's determined to put it behind him: Phelps delivered what appeared to be a deeply felt apology on NBC's "Today" show. He continues training for the 2008 Olympics and plans to begin classes at the University of Michigan in January. ...

Jamie Foxx was the most buzzed-about actor in Hollywood with the release of "Ray." "I have all the tools I need right at my fingertips. What I'm doing is putting those tools to work the best way I know how," he told us in October. A virtual lock for an Oscar nomination, Foxx may want to hold on to one of those tools, his "Ray" shades, as he's now contemplating a film based on the '80s TV hit "Miami Vice..."

Clint Eastwood didn't want to discuss Oscar nominations for our American Icon Series cover in January. "It's bad luck," he said. Turned out to be a winning strategy. His film "Mystic River" received six nominations and took home two awards: Sean Penn for Best Actor and Tim Robbins for Best Supporting Actor. Even more Oscar buzz surrounds "Million Dollar Baby," the new drama directed by and starring Eastwood. ...

When it comes to awards, Eastwood isn't the only star who ran into good fortune after doing a USA WEEKEND cover. Country star Kenny Chesney was much talked about this year when his album "When the Sun Goes Down" debuted at No. 1 on the country album charts. After winning an Academy of Country Music Award in 2003, he told us in March, "I looked out and saw my heroes, whose songs I sang in the little honky-tonks coming up. Man, it was tough to talk. Someday I want to win another one so I can get to say the speech I had for that night." Nearly eight months later, he got his chance, with two Country Music Association Awards: Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year. ...

Usher had a huge year, with consecutive No. 1 hits and a tour that grossed $30 million. "I'm going to take over the world," he told us in June. Apparently, that includes the romantic universe: Rumors have him dating supermodel Naomi Campbell. ...

Explaining how she gained weight for "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," our November cover gal Renée Zellweger told us, "I probably had the least of the doughnuts among my crew friends. But there were doughnuts here and there. I had to fill my quota for the day." She slimmed down after "Edge of Reason" and portrayed a brunette for the movie "Cinderella Man." She's still sporting the look. Who says blondes have more fun? ...

It's no secret Kate Spade is an expert on accessories. "The key is to know what suits you personally," she told us in March. "The idea of no rules leads to more freedom of personal choice for the customer." Purses aside, the fashion icon will add the ultimate accessory to her collection: a baby, due early next year. ...

MTV's Gideon Yago was influential in getting young adults out to vote. "We're big MTV; we're this cultural force," he told us in July. "But you've got this young audience who grew up with the Internet and is using it to go out and do things on a grass-roots level. Our goal is to facilitate that." Consider that goal met: More than 21 million 18- to 30-year-olds made it to the polls in November. That's 52% of those who were eligible, up from 42% in 2000. ...

Yago isn't the only music industry figure who's determined to influence politics. R.E.M. puts a political stamp on its music. "As members of a democracy, we are exercising the very right men and women have fought and died for," bassist Mike Mills told us in October. The Vote for Change Tour was just that, as the band joined a slew of artists, including Bruce Springsteen, in urging citizens to participate in the election. ...

Christina Applegate had watched her mother battle cancer twice by the time she spoke with us last summer. Her mom is in remission. Applegate is a spokeswoman for Lee National Denim Day, which has raised nearly $40 million for breast cancer research. ...

Catherine Zeta-Jones is bashful. Really. "The biggest misconception of me is that I'm some die-hard, ambitious, do-anything-to-get-anything kind of person," she told us in June. "I'm not. I'm very shy socially." So you can bet that when a topless club in Nevada used her image for promotion without her permission, the demure Zeta-Jones took action, filing a lawsuit. ...

NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart and Kyle Petty demonstrated how much they care about kids this fall as USA WEEKEND's Most Caring Athletes, pouring their personal and financial resources into the Victory Junction Gang Camp for sick children. Their efforts ignited the entire NASCAR community, Petty told us in October. "When it got out that we were doing this, people like Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett came to us and said, 'What can I do?' " Those same drivers came together to offer the racing community comfort and support later that month when 10 NASCAR associates bound for the Subway 500 in Martinsville, Va., died in a plane crash. ...

In September, we gave you 11 of fall TV's hottest young stars in a special poster. So far, so good for many of those featured, including Taye Diggs, whose UPN show, "Kevin Hill," was just renewed for a second season. He plays alongside a baby on the series; now he and actress wife Idina Menzel plan to start working on one of their own. "In a couple of years we're going to pump out some kids," he revealed in October.