Samantha Ronson's name wouldn't mean much to those outside the electronic music scene if not for Lindsay Lohan.
Legal oopsies, rehab, their hot-and-cold relationship and some wee-hour debauchery fueled tabloids – and late-night talk show jokes – since the two became hot newsmakers after LiLo confirmed her romantic relationship with Ronson on radio show "Loveline" last year. Attention on Ronson's music career shifted to her status as Lohan's lady – until they split this month, which makes Ronson's no-press rule, told to Between The Lines by her direct publicist at Career Artist Management, all the more counter-productive should she care to break from Lohan's shadow.
Now, to publicize her local gig May 9 at Motor City Casino's Sound Board in Detroit, the media is stuck writing about what they know – and when it comes to Samantha Ronson, it's not much.
Wouldn't someone who spent almost a year basking in an A-list celebrity's limelight – who was granted silly nicknames like saMAN (in reference to her butch outer shell) from Perez Hilton – be down with speaking about what people cared about in the first place: her music? Yes, music. To those who think Ronson was only there to fulfill Lohan's lesbian craving – until Ronson decided, according to Lohan, to just vanish – the English DJ's ties to her acting ex go back. Way back, compared to the time they've actually been a item. Ronson contributed "Built This Way" to Lohan's 2004 high school comedy "Mean Girls" – so fetch! She recorded an album, "Red," that no one really cared about (not even a label, since it was never officially released), but scored some big gigs spinning for MTV's New Year's Eve 2001 show in Times Square, in addition to Maxim, Sundance and Jessica Simpson parties.
None of this really matters to the average person who spends lunch breaks getting their celebrity dish via Perez Hilton's blog. Or perusing magazine racks and spotting the recent eye-catching Lohan cover story of Us Weekly – "I Am So Alone." Or watching Ellen DeGeneres, who played shrink last week to a walking, talking, weeping feather – wait, Lindsay, that was you?
Together the two – LiLo and SamRo – probably equal a whole person, but is that (when referred to in the most literal sense) any reason to stay together? So instead, Lindsay told Ellen she's focusing on what's left of her career (hey, we'd be cool with a "Mean Girls 2") – and Ronson, who knows?
Her official Web site doesn't let us into her psyche too much – she really, really likes "American Idol" top-fiver Adam Lambert! – but, uh, where does she want to take her career? What about chicks get her ticking? Can she do the limbo? Maybe one day, when (more) people stop caring about her ties to Lindsay, we'll find out.
Samantha Ronson and DJ LaFemme
9 p.m. (doors), May 9
Club Sound Board Grand Opening
Motor City Casino Hotel
http://www.samantharonson.com
