The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

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1. Lady Gaga will make a guest appearance on the upcoming season of The Simpsons; according to Entertainment Weekly , the singer decides to “stop in Springfield after learning that it’s teeming with low self-esteem, and winds up trying to cheer up a dejected Lisa through the power of speech, song, and a flash mob.” She’ll also reportedly share a kiss with Marge!

2. Tom Waits has released the title track from his forthcoming album, Bad As Me, which is due out on October 25. Listen to him growl here.

3. John Locke, who was the first self-published author to sell one million e-books on Amazon, has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster in order to provide readers with “traditional access” to his books. [via ArtsBeat]

4. According to a new report, the number of women working in TV — both in front and behind the camera — was down in the 2010-11 season, and only The CW represented female characters “in accurate proportion to their representation in the US population.” [via LAT]

5. RIP: It’s been a bad week for classic songwriters. Nickolas Ashford, who wrote “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” died at age 69, and Jerry Leiber, the man behind “Hound Dog” and “Stand By Me,” passed away at 78. [via NME]

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