Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Aretha Franklin has a lot more than her 70th birthday to celebrate: She’s reuniting with one of her musical mentors, Clive Davis, for a new album. In an interview at her swanky birthday party on Saturday, Franklin said she and Davis, who helped engineer her comeback in the 1980s, would be working on new music. “I have re-signed with Clive Davis, so I’m recording with Clive again,” Franklin said. After Davis’ birthday next month,she said, “we’re going to sit together and decide what it is we’re going to record.” Davis, who is associated with Sony Music Entertainment, sat next to Franklin for most of the night at the soiree at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, which included a sit-down dinner, a dance performance and a mini-concert that featured rising jazz pianist Kris Bowers. Other guests included Diane Sawyer, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Willie Wilkerson, Franklin’s longtime companion and briefly this year her fiance. Wilkerson stood by Franklin’s side as she cut her three-tier, lime-green birthday cake while the crowd serenaded her with Stevie Wonder’s version of “Happy Birthday.” When asked whether marriage might once again be in her future, the Queen of Soul simply said: “We’ll see what happens.”

Former reality TV star Rupert Boneham thinks he has a real shot at becoming Indiana’s next governor after being nominated as a third-party choice Saturday. The fan favorite from 2004’s Survivor: All-Stars was unopposed for the Libertarian Party’s nomination, which came during the party’s state convention in Indianapolis. “My aim, honestly, is to win governor,” Boneham said in a phone interview afterward. “I really feel I have a strong chance of pulling not just the Libertarian vote, but the independent vote, the undecided vote, and maybe even some votes from Democrats and Republicans.” He will face Republican Mike Pence and Democrat John Gregg in November’s gubernatorial election. Current Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is limited to two terms and cannot run again. The tie-dye wearing Boneham won $1 million on the Survivor series and donated some of the prize to his Rupert’s Kids charity, which provides mentoring and job training to at-risk youths. Boneham has been a Libertarian for more than 20 years, he said, but didn’t become active in the party until this year.