Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

POP/ROCK

Sir Elton?: The Sunday Times of London has reported that Elton John will be among those up for knighthood when Queen Elizabeth reveals her new year honors list later this week. The paper said the queen will select John in part because he has raised more than $32 million for the Princess Diana memorial fund through sales of his song “Candle in the Wind 1997.” If the knighthood is confirmed, John will take his place alongside fellow British pop stars Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Cliff Richard.

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Hendrix Redux: “Band of Gypsys,” an album that Jimi Hendrix approved shortly prior to his death in 1970, will be re-released Jan. 13 in a CD edition officially sanctioned by the Hendrix family. The album, from EMI-Capitol Entertainment, has been digitally remastered by Hendrix’s engineer Eddie Kramer, and will feature the album’s original artwork.

Pavarotti Honored: The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and its charitable MusiCares Foundation have named opera singer Luciano Pavarotti as 1998 MusiCares Person of the Year. The tenor will be honored for his “humanitarian efforts, philanthropic leadership and generosity of spirit” during a Feb. 23 tribute in New York. Previous honorees have included Quincy Jones, Gloria Estefan and Natalie Cole.

MOVIES

That’s All, Folks: Bugs Bunny hopped into first place as the most popular U.S. postage stamp of 1997, while Elvis Presley retained his crown as the most popular stamp ever, the U.S. Postal Service announced Monday. Bugs--the first animated character honored on a U.S. stamp--no doubt benefited from his position as ambassador to the Postal Service’s youth stamp collecting program, as the Postmaster estimates that some 45.3 million Bugs stamps were added to collections this year. Collectors also snapped up about 18.1 million Humphrey Bogart stamps, to land the actor’s likeness in sixth place. Meanwhile, an estimated 124 million Presley stamps have been collected since that item was issued in 1993. The popularity of stamps is measured by determining the number actually saved--not used--through quarterly surveys of 60,000 U.S. households.

TELEVISION

Gloomy ‘Sunshine’: CBS had its seven-week Sunday movie winning streak snapped when “The Sunshine Boys” finished fourth in its time slot Sunday night. After sitting on the shelf for more than two years, the movie--which starred Peter Falk and Woody Allen--drew just 9% of available viewers in major cities monitored by Nielsen Media Research. The premiere was up against TV runs for two big-screen movies, Julia Roberts’ “I Love Trouble” on ABC, which garnered 19% of the audience, and Meryl Streep’s “The River Wild” on NBC, which drew 15%. “Sunshine” delivered the lowest rating for any CBS movie this season, losing viewers in each half-hour.

QUICK TAKES

NBC will premiere “TV Censored Bloopers ‘98,” a new Saturday night series hosted by Dick Clark, on Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. . . . Rapper Rakim didn’t appear for his Sunday show at Sunset Boulevard’s House of Blues, but the club allowed ticket holders in for a free performance by opening act the Psycho Realm. Tickets may be refunded or used at a rescheduled date to be announced. The club would not comment on the reason for Rakim’s no-show, and his agent in New York could not be reached.