People

By Ellin Martens

AN OLD ROCKER ROLLS AGAIN FOR SEPT. 11

Radio stations across the country got a little surprise in the mail last week: just-burned plain white compact discs on which were scrawled, Let's Roll and NEIL YOUNG. Yes, the Neil Young, muttonchopped crooner of protest hymns, who, while recording his new album, asked his manager to roll out Roll, his ode to the hijacked passengers of United Airlines Flight 93. Young was inspired by reading an article about Todd Beamer, 32, who stormed the cockpit--but not before signaling his fellow rebels with his now famous phrase, "Let's roll." The song is "a powerful funk-rock dirge," according to the New York Times. It has been getting much radio play and will be included in Young's new album next spring. But why the low-key marketing campaign? Said a rep from Young's record label: "This wasn't designed to compete with Britney and Shakira."

Love And Cartburn

Something was old (the groom's ancient MacLaren tartan kilt), something was new (the bride's white Giorgio Armani empire-waist dress); something was borrowed (Skibo, the Scottish castle where Madonna wed), and something was...burning! Actress ASHLEY JUDD (below, at this year's Oscar ceremony), 33, and Edinburgh-born race-car driver DARIO FRANCHITTI, 28, were reportedly 10 minutes into their wedding ceremony when a golf cart used to ferry guests around caught fire. The brief blaze was not the only excitement. Rumors of DeNiro, Paltrow, Douglas and Zeta-Jones cameos proved false, but other Judds sang Love Can Build a Bridge. Inside, fires blazed in their proper places, and the marriage bed was strewn with specially airlifted-in red rose petals--and extra tartan blankies.

BRILLIANT CAREER, INTERRUPTED

Last year two-time Oscar nominee WINONA RYDER told a reporter, "Trends are so fleeting that new clothes are a bad investment." This may help explain the inexplicable: why the Reality Bites star was charged by the Beverly Hills police department with felony grand theft last week. Police say Saks Fifth Avenue security staff captured her on video removing security sensors from clothes, jewelry and hair accessories, putting the goods into a large bag and leaving the store. Total haul: about $4,700. But it got more complicated for Ryder, 30, when police found pharmaceutical drugs in her bag--but no prescription. She was released on $20,000 bond and drove home in her black Mercedes. Her lawyer, Mark Geragos, says it's "a misunderstanding on the part of the store" and that Ryder can produce receipts. But can she produce a lift in her career? Her recent movies, such as Autumn in New York, have been box-office duds. Ryder has always been considered smart, edgy and a tad fragile. While promoting the psych-ward memoir Girl, Interrupted, she told reporters she'd once checked herself into a psych ward, and checked herself out two weeks later. Her next appearance: a Jan. 11 court date.

YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TO GAIN NIRVANA

Last week the privacy-averse Courtney Love--widow of Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana rocker who killed himself in 1994--penned a wounded e-mail to the band's fans. Seems the Widow Cobain is being sued by Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, who want her to have no say in the band's affairs. The two are fed up with Love's attempts to block release of a greatest- hits CD. So Courtney went straight to the fans. "Kurt Cobain was Nirvana," she wrote, and said she represents him. Grohl and Novoselic released their own missive, saying Love was acting out of an "obsessive need for publicity and attention." Is there a moral here? Play law-school dances for free.