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No doubt first-time parents Beyonce and Jay-Z are being bombarded with parenting advice from everyone in their lives. Even so, actress Jessica Alba has some advice of her own. Alba, who is mom to daughters Honor and Haven, told CNN she thinks Beyonce and Jay-Z should take control of the public's thirst for the first glimpse of baby Blue and sell the photos. The 30-year-old actress and husband Cash Warren made the decision to sell the first photos of Honor to OK! magazine for a reported $1.5 million. "For our family, we just wanted to control the experience. We put the money that the picture made into a bank account for Honor to do whatever she wants to do with," she explained. "It's her picture, it's her birth, and we didn't want it to be like a weird thing when we were walking out of the house with her for the first time." Alba believes that selling the first photos will stop the paparazzi from going to dangerous lengths to nab the first look at a celebrity's offspring. "If there's a price tag on your child -- which is so bizarre -- people will go to crazy lengths. We wanted to avoid the hysteria," she said, adding that they had a great experience with OK! magazine using a photographer they were friends with. Although Alba is a successful actress in her own right, she's doesn't attract the same amount of attention as Beyonce and Jay-Z. The notoriously secretive couple got married in April 2008 but wouldn't confirm they had actually wed until February 2010. Finally, at the Grammy awards Beyonce won Best Female Vocal Performance and thanked Jay-Z, saying, "I'd love to thank my family for all their support, including my husband. I love you." And it's not as if they need the money either -- even if it went to charity. Beyonce reportedly gave Jay-Z a $500,000 ring as a gift for being so supportive during her pregnancy. Alba's was quick to add that she's not trying to push anything on the new parents, telling CNN, "To each his own. The biggest thing is having a healthy baby .... I'm sure Beyonce will make the best decision for her family. "

Jennifer Hudson has some sage words of parenting advice for Beyonce, who's still in week one of mothering baby Blue Ivy. The Weight Watchers spokeswoman, who welcomed her own bundle of joy, David Otunga, Jr., in 2009, says she knows exactly what her number-one tip would be for her Dreamgirls costar. "Girl, get your sleep!" Hudson, 30, said during a Good Housekeeping event in New York City. "We talked about this when I had my munchkin. It goes so fast. She's going to look up and 's going to be six months. Next thing you know, she's going to be walking." The Oscar winner also suggests Beyonce treasure every moment with baby Blue. "Embrace it. Especially because of the lives we live, a lot of times other people have to care for themselves and you have to have that mommy time," said Hudson.

The entertainment world received some exciting news this weekend as Beyonce welcomed her first child, Blue Ivy Carter. We caught up with fellow music icon Jennifer Lopez, who just heard the happy announcement, and the mother of two lavished her praise on the new mom. "The best part of life is about to begin," said Lopez fondly. "I just wish her the best. I know she's going to love it and be a great mom."

Rihanna did it. Gwyneth Paltrow and Russell Simmons did it. So why didn't Michelle Williams, a member of Destiny's Child, Tweet congratulations to Beyoncé and Jay-Z on the arrival of their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, over the weekend? Because she'd rather do it in person. "Let's get ONE thing straight....I do NOT have to say congrats to someone when they're NOT on twitter...ESPECIALLY when I talk or email them all the time....or when I'll be physically present as well," Williams wrote in response to a user (whose page is NSFW) who suggested she needed to send a message of congratulations on the social networking site. "My friendship with people aren't always for twitter display," Williams continued. "Respect that and get a LIFE!!! Enjoy this FINE day!!! God bless!!!!" In a follow-up Tweet, Williams said, "This is a beautiful, precious, private time between two people and excitement is to be expected but NOT disrespect!" And to end the mini-rant, Williams used this hash tag: "#churchdismissed."

Ever since news of their baby's arrival broke in the wee hours of Sunday morning (January 8), Beyonce and Jay-Z's bundle of joy has ignited a firestorm of Twitter activity and conversation. The power couple welcomed their first child, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hospital in New York City on Saturday night, with the Houston Chronicle reporting that "baby and mom are doing just fine" after a planned C-section. While Beyonce and Jay's daughter was first reported to have been named Ivy Blue, further reports tell that the surely adorable girl has actually has been doted with the given name of Blue Ivy. Sending her well-wishes while helping clear the air when it comes to the name confusion, actress Gwyneth Paltrow first tweeted, "Welcome to the world, Blue. We love you already." When one of Paltrow's followers asked whether the baby was named "Ivy Blue or Blue Ivy," Gwyn responded by messaging, "It's Blue Ivy!' Meanwhile, Rihanna was one of the first to hop on Twitter to proclaim her love, as she wrote, "Welcome to the world princess Carter! Love Aunty Rih" Also of note, Beyonce's sister Solange offered up a short and sweet tweet, as she happily told, "The most beautiful girl in the world." With the congratulatory tweets piling up by the minute, below are more messages from prominent pals and fellow stars:

@dizzyfeet Nigel Lythgoe
#SuperSunday Congratulations to @Beyonce' on the birth of her first born

@snooki NiC0LE P0LiZZi
Beyonce congrats on your baby gurl mama!!!! So happy for you , you deserve it sexpot

@UncleRUSH Russell Simmons
congrats to my good friends Beyonce and Jay-Z

Beyonce may be ready to pop any minute and celebrities are now starting to share their predictions for the superstar's new role as a mother. And one of those celebrities is Lady Gaga. In a recent interview with The Insider, Gaga explains that she knows the singer will be a great mother because of the impressions Gaga got of her when she met her for the first time. "She's the nicest female I've met in the industry. She's wonderful!" Gaga gushes of the superstar. And she has no worries about Bey's role as a mother. "Of course she is," Gaga explained when asked if she thought the star would make a good mother. "That's a tremendous understatement."

Whose idea was it to include Jill Scott on the album?

I reached out to Jill and sent her the record. She said it was cool. Then I kinda told her where I wanted to go and she said, "You know what, Jeezy? Give me a week or two and I'ma send you something back." She sent me 'Trap Back,' and I listened to it. I loved it. I hit her back and said, "This is it." But we had some problems with the dude who did the track so I went and took the vocals to J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and had them re-do the tracks and revamp the whole song. I put my verses on it, and sent it back to her. She loved it. I haven't let my mother hear the song yet, but I'm quite sure when she hears it, she'll come to tears because a lot of that s--- she remembers but she probably don't think I remember 'cause I was so young. But my mother is my strength at times, 'cause things were so hard on her and it made me go harder. I felt like I was trapped and had no way out and I just had to find my way through the maze and I felt like, I did it for us. I couldn't see my mother struggle anymore so I had to do everything in my power to take it there. That record means a lot to me. I told Jill I was a big fan. I knew about Jill Scott, but... one day I was chilling in Vegas with Beyonce and all them, and we were just chilling by the pool. She was playing all these songs and I was like, "Who the fuck is that?" and she was like, "You don't know 'bout Jill Scott?" I'm like, "Yeah..." But was playing all these records I'd never heard. I just became a bigger fan and I felt I just had to do something with her.

Mary J. Blige wishes she had Beyonce's stable upbringing, insisting her life and career would have been less rocky if her parents had stayed together. The Crazy In Love hitmaker is famously close to her parents, Mathew and Tina Knowles, who helped manage her career from her early days in Destiny's Child. Blige, whose father left her mother when she was four, admits she envies the singer's happy childhood as her own was so drastically different, and she believes she would have thrived if her parents had not divorced. Blige tells Cnn's Piers Morgan, "You gotta look at a life like that (Beyonce's), with a mother and a father and a child and they're raising and they're in the music business with her where there is just so many vultures and people who don't ever tell you the truth... and to look at her life, and to look at how graceful and beautiful and what a lady she is, it just inspired me. "It made me a little sad because I wish I had that growing up, I wish my mom and dad had been together and I wish that they could have saw (sic) me through the music business and managed me and who knows how much further I would be and how much hell I wouldn't have gone through." Beyonce's parents split in 2009 following allegations that Mathew Knowles fathered a love child with another woman.

White Rabbits will be spending the next week on the road, wrapping up 2011 with a quick tour that ends December 11 in Baltimore. The reason for the trek, singer-pianist Stephen Patterson admits, is "a bit selfish." "We were itching to get out and play new songs," he says. Although Patterson initially worried about blasting the crowd with unfamiliar tunes — the band hasn't released a new album since 2009's It's Frightening — he says the reaction has been positive. "People are dancing more," he says. "I think that's a good sign." Here's a possible reason why: For their third album, the Brooklyn indie rockers took their inspiration from an unlikely source — Beyoncé. "I love how she takes on different attitudes in her vocals," Patterson says, pointing to the singer's shifts from party-ready to dark and contemplative on her latest disc, 4. "Plus, her production is wild." For the Rabbits as-yet-untitled LP, due in early 2012, Patterson didn't conjure up an alter ego, à la Sasha Fierce (but if he did, it'd be Stee Stee, his bandmates' nickname for him). He did, however, exercise some Beyoncé-style groove. "Our last record had a lot of raw energy and spontaneity and heavy tom-tom beats, but our new tracks have more of an R&B feel, rhythmically and vocally," he says. "It gets boring always trying to take from rock'n'roll bands." To cut the album earlier this year, the band — which also includes guitarist-singer Greg Roberts, guitarist Alex Even, drummer Jamie Levinson, drummer Matt Clark, and bassist Brian Betancourt — rented a house in Austin, Texas, and enlisted producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Heartless Bastards), who mixed It's Frightening. "We had a house in a nice little suburban area, which was a nice change of pace," says Patterson. The serenity helped the singer tap into his psyche. "Lyrically, this album is the most autobiographical thing I've ever done," he says. "With Fort Nightly , it was my first time as a songwriter, and I was insecure and self-conscious. With our second album, we had our guard up; we wanted to prove ourselves. At this point, I'm fed up with trying to avoid being myself." But don't expect Patterson to reveal all the self-referential topics he's referring to: "I'm bad at talking about that stuff."

Kelly Rowland says she's "just happy to be nominated" for a Grammy, despite facing competition from Beyonce. The singer was nominated earlier this week for best rap/sung collaboration at the awards ceremony. Motivation, a duet with Lil Wayne, is up against songs by Rihanna, Drake, Eminem and Kanye West in the category. Rowland also faces competition from former bandmate Beyonce Knowles, who has a nomination for Party, a collaboration with Andre 3000. The 30-year-old has previously won awards at the ceremony as a member of Destiny's Child. The X Factor judge said: "If I were to win it would make a fifth Grammy. "There are so many artists that should be given an award. What's so cool about the Grammys is they're awards from your peers." Speaking about going up against Beyonce Knowles in the category, Rowland said: "We've both had great years and great songs so I'm not tripping, I'm just happy to be nominated." The singer also told Newsbeat the Grammy awards she has already won inspire her to keep making music. "I take very good care of my Grammys," she said. "They actually make me want to work harder, because you do want more." The ceremony takes place on 12 February, 2012.

The singer for Florence + the Machine, whose ‘Ceremonials' is out Tuesday, has been listening to Beyoncé, Suicide, Freddie King and more.

What are you listening to these days?

Right now I'm really interested in the new Kanye and Jay-Z record, “Watch the Throne.” I'm a huge Jay-Z and Kanye fan, and there's a song on it called “Lift Off” that has Beyoncé on it, and it's pretty amazing. While we were on tour I was running around San Francisco — I like to go running outdoors in new places because you can explore the city — and that song was playing as I was running up the hills of San Fran through Chinatown. It was amazing, seeing the trams, and suddenly you can see the sea and the bridges. It was just a really amazing moment.

Is that how you hear a lot of music, while you're running?

I listen to a lot of high-octane stuff, like Beyoncé — “Countdown” is a really good one to run to. And I wouldn't say I was an athletic runner. I'd say I'm more of balletic runner. I always end up doing a lot of leaps and jumping on park benches and doing twirls because I get so carried away with the music — dancing at street signs.

A glowing Adele graces the cover of this month's Cosmopolitan Magazine, but insiders say on the day of the cover shoot, the 'Someone Like You' songstress was feeling anything but gorgeous. Plagued by the throat issues that forced the singer to cancel her North American Tour and deny cancer rumors, Adele was barely able to talk throughout the entire shoot. However, Adele did request something that would make her feel better -- for the shoot staff to turn off her music and turn UP Beyonce's album. The NY Post's Page Six is reporting that an insider at the shoot claims Adele beseeched them to switch off her own CD because "she hated hearing herself" but then requested they blast Bey because she was her "girl crush." Wow! Adele's obsession with Beyonce has been documented before, most recently in an interview with Q Magazine, where Adele recalled her memorable meeting with Jay-Z and his lady love at a 2011 Grammy party. "She went, 'Adele' and I went, 'Uh Beyonce!' And then Jay-Z went, 'Adele! I was like, 'You can't both call me Adele!' laughs the British diva. "I was like, 'Can I have a picture?' and Beyonce said, 'Can I have a picture with you?'" It was then Beyonce uttered the line Adele will never forget. Bey told her famous fan, "When I listen to you, I feel like I'm listening to God." "I heard it but I was like, 'Don't let her know you've heard it,'" admits the self-described "common" Adele. "I ran out on the balcony and fell into her security's arms, going, 'She's so nice!' And literally collapsed. Sobbing my heart out, it was like being winded. Highlight of my life, ever." "I don't know her but she's a huge part of my life," continues Adele "Everything I refer to has always got something to do with Destiny's Child or her. She just knows what she wants. She's in control of it all. She's classy. She's still totally f***ing relevant. And just a nice person." Adele might be the president of Beyonce's celeb fan club, but the singer herself has her own famous super-fan ... Kelly Clarkson. Kel tells AOL Music,"I want to stalk Adele so she'll sing with me!"

Even the First Lady can't resist Beyoncé's beats. Michelle Obama, who is encouraging the nation to work out as part of her "Let's Move" campaign, has revealed the tunes that get her motivated. "I always love Beyoncé, so anything fast-paced that she's doing is a good one for me," Obama said in a video response to questions from the "Let's Move" online audience. "But I have very eclectic tastes, so my playlist on my iPod, which I listen to, runs from fast paced to a little more mellow." The Obamas are actually longtime Beyoncé fans – the singer performed at the Neighborhood Ball celebrating the President's inauguration. But no matter Americans' musical tastes, the First Lady says the most important thing is to find something that moves you. "Listen to whatever you like and whatever is going to get you motivated, and for me that's a lot," she added. "The important thing is that you get up, you try to get that workout in."

New Edition & BBD founder Michael Bivins is still in the industry mix. On the heels of the male group working on a reunion tour, Mr. Bivins dished exclusively to TheYBF.com on how he feels about younger artists (most recently Beyonce) paying homage to vets like N.E. who opened doors for the huge boy bands after them. Check out what he had to say about Bey's new "Love on Top" nod to the fellas, plus inside details on his mission to help the homeless of New York City.... In the sneak peek of Beyonce' Knowles' "Love on Top" video, she's clearly serving up her own rendition of one of the most popular R&B boy bands, after saying she wants to start her own some day. But was New Edition founder Michael Bivins, who helped pave the way for NKOTB, N'Sync, BSB, & Boyz II Men, feelin' it? Yup! He tells TheYBF.com: "When I saw Beyonce on the MTV awards in the sequined jacket this year and with the dancers in R & B group positions, I knew then she was showing love to NE! The video teaser was part two...the classic video "If It Isn't Love" reference." And the advice he has for Bey about the type of father Jay will be: "Jay-Z is a trailblazer of no fear and is totally a blueprint for all kids with dreams from the hood. As a parent-to-be, he has the answers. It started with marrying his wife. Their child will be born into professional hustle!"

J. Cole is celebrating the good life. On October 5, the rapper was announced as a champion of Billboard Hot 200, thanks to his debut album "Cole World: The Sideline Story". Soon afterwards, he was showered with congratulatory messages and texts from his acquaintances including Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Jiggaman said of his protege's achievement, "J. Cole's success is testament to amazing artist development and Cole's hard work." The Roc Nation founder added, "I want to congratulate him on a #1 album and more importantly a great body of work." In addition to the press release, the Hov also contacted Cole to personally salute him. "I actually woke up today from the plane ride and had the most texts I've ever had in my life," Cole told radio personality Angie Martinez. "I got the Jay-Z call, got the Mark Pitts congratulations conversation, got the Beyonce congratulations email." In return to those congratulations, Mr. Nice Watch said, "Thank you very much to everybody, to the fans, to all the magazines, blogs, BET, MTV, the label, Roc Nation, Columbia, my management, my DreamVillain team. Number one album in the country, I can't believe it. It doesn't make sense, but it does."

L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell have declared Beyoncé as "the most talented performer alive," saying that she is from a "new breed" of pop stars. The pair were promoting X Factor USA when the conversation turned to Queen Bey. Listing all her atributes,Simon said: "Ambitious, talented, competitive. She defines this new breed of what I call super popstars, and they are all the girls at the moment. It's like a new super species who literally want to rule the world." Simon also told Extra that he felt guilty for criticising Bey in public and then having to face her when she appeared on The X Factor two years ago. "It was still obviously in her head, what I said. I apologised because I was wrong. She sang better than anybody I have ever heard anyone sing in my life live and at one point just looked over at me and went, 'criticise that.'" X Factor USA judge L.A. then added: "She may arguably be the most talented performer alive."

Media outlets erupted in chatter earlier this week when it was reported that Simon Cowell had accused Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry of being “boring”. However, mastermind of ‘The X Factor (US)’ has slammed those claims and issued a statement in which he praised Beyonce by calling her “the biggest star of the last 20 years”. Read what Cowell had to say below: “This was completely misreported. It’s the complete opposite in fact,” Cowell’s rep told RadarOnline.com exclusively Thursday. “Simon is a massive fan of both and he always refers to them as amongst the artists he most admires. He thinks they are two of the most interesting, talented and relevant artists today”. We got some comments from the mogul about both megastars, and in both cases, the always-blunt Cowell had the highest words of praise for each of them. “It’s like they’ve all been bred to take over the world and dominate everything in entertainment,” Cowell told RadarOnline.com exclusively. “They are unbelievable, these girls.” On Beyonce, Cowell told us exclusively she’s “the biggest star we’ve seen in 20 years; we’re seeing sort of the rise of the super female pop star. It’s like a different breed. Beyonce has that.”

Britney Spears has offered mum-to-be Beyoncé some advice when it comes to being a celebrity mother in the music industry. Speaking exclusively to MTV News, the I Wanna Go singer - who was present at the VMAs when Queen B announced her pregnancy - has advised Bey to "treasure the moments" with her unborn child. When asked if she had any words of wisdom for the Single Ladies hitmaker, Britney told us: "Just embrace it fully. And just to...do whatever you want to do." "If you want to take two or three years off...because, you know, they grow so fast; it happens so fast. Just treasure the moments."