Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on March 31st, 2015

Danny Collins, a new film starring Al Pacino that was inspired by a letter written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono to a budding musician in 1971, is hitting US theaters in late March and early April. John and Yoko wrote the letter to young folk musician Steve Tilston after reading an interview with him in ZigZag magazine. Tilston was concerned about getting too popular and how wealth changes a person for the worse, and Lennon was reaching out with advice. But unfortunately, the letter didn't reach him until 2005. Using this story as inspiration, screenwriter/director Dan Fogelman started penning the script and wrote in scenes with Lennon originals accompanying them. He hoped he'd be able to clear one or two original Lennon songs for use. "I didn't have a back-up plan," he says. To the delight of Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, one of the film's producers who happened to know Ono, Yoko granted permission for nine Lennon masters to be used in the film, including "Imagine," "Working Class Hero," and "Beautiful Boy." The filmmakers say they think one reason they succeeded is that Lennon's music dominates the film. "The process would have been harder if it was a Lennon song amidst a bunch of other tracks," says Fogelman. "It was a story with a clear point of view." Nelson adds it's likely the theme of Danny Collins -- about an aging rock star trying to redeem himself from a self-indulgent past -- was also a catalyst for Ono's approval. "Yoko really wants to feel that a movie has a message of peace," she says. Meanwhile in other Lennon-Ono news, Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama and Ono are releasing a book of photo essays titled Double Fantasy that features many photographs never before shown publicly. In September of 1980, just three months before Lennon's death, Shinoyama spent two days in New York with the couple as they collaborated on their Double Fantasy LP. Over the course of those two days, Shinoyama captured approximately 800 photographs, capturing what, according to the artist, was "a moment of unclouded happiness for John and Yoko." The book, released in a limited edition of 1,980 copies -- a subtle ode to 1980 -- captures the many moments, both mundane and miraculous, that formulate two people in love. Releasing the book now was Yoko's idea. "There were many pictures that Yoko had never seen for over 30 years," Shinoyama explains. "She said to me, 'Thank you for taking images of my happiest time. How about making a photo book with these pictures?'" - The Wall Street Journal/HuffingtonPost.com, 3/27/15.

The Sunset Strip on L.A.'s Hollywood Boulevard was shut down on Mar. 30 as Van Halen performed a 3-song set for a performance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, eleven days after the band announced it would kick off a 3-month summer tour on July 5 in Seattle. Fronted by "Diamond" David Lee Roth who sported a bandage across his nose after hurting it with a microphone a few minutes into the show, the band performed "Panama," "Runnin' with the Devil," and "Dance the Night Away." "I got a hottie right here who's been dancing all night... Get her up here!," Roth said after the third number. " After she was pulled up onstage, the show abruptly came to a close. Van Halen is set to play the Apr. 6 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live as well, and its first official concert album with Roth, the 2-CD Tokyo Dome Live in Concert, hit stores on Mar. 31. They're also gearing up for a North American tour later in 2015. - Billboard, 3/31/15...... After hinting they planned to tour the US for many months in 2015, the Rolling Stones announced on Mar. 31 that they'll kick off a 15-city North American "Zip Code Tour" of second-tier cities like Dallas, Kansas City, Buffalo and Orlando with a San Diego performance on May 24. This time, the tour will pass over major markets the band hit on its 2012 "50th anniversary" and 2013 "50 and Counting" tours, and wraps on July 15 in Quebec. Tickets go on sale Apr. 13, although they will be available to American Express card members before the general public, beginning Apr. 8. "We are excited to be back in North America playing stadiums this summer!" frontman Mick Jagger enthused in a press release. "We are looking forward to being back on stage and playing your favorite songs." While the Stones played 22 arena dates across the U.S. and Canada in 2012 and 2013, the "Zip Code Tour" tour marks the first time the group has played North American stadiums since 2005-2007's "Bigger Bang Tour." In addition to the above mentioned cities, the band will also hit Columbus, Oh., Minneapolis, Atlanta, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Raleigh, Indianapolis, and Detroit. On May 26, two days after the tour's launch, the group will release a deluxe edition of its classic 1971 LP Sticky Fingers with a "generous selection" of previously unreleased studio outtakes from the album's sprawling sessions (which spanned from 1968 through 1970) as well as live material from the era, likely in the same vein as its Exile on Main Street reissue in 2010. - Billboard, 5/31/15...... As a new Bob Dylan DVD dubbed Roads Rapidly Changing -- In & Out of the Folk Revival 1961-1965 is set to drop on May 5, Dylan has reportedly approved another DVD of footage from his Feb. 6 MusiCares Person of the Year concert that included performances by Bruce Springsteen, Alanis Morissette and Jack White. It is unclear whether his notorious 35-minute acceptance speech as he picked up the award, which alternated between thankful and hostile, will be part of the package. - Billboard, 3/30/15...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, The Who's Roger Daltrey claims his bandmate Pete Townshend wants to record another Who album, which would be the follow-up to 2006's Endless Wire. "He's just talking about it. I've heard a couple of tracks, which are great," Daltrey said. "There are loads of things we can do in the future, but we can't keep doing this sort of tour. This bit of our career is closed, but maybe two more doors open up. Pete is an incredibly vibrant musician. I could see us playing acoustically in some ways." The band is currently in the midst of its "Who Hits 50" tour, which will continue throughout ost of 2015 and include a show at London's Hyde Park on June 26. Although the Who hinted it would be their last tour ever, Daltrey has stated that he would be open to more shows. "If people want to add shows and we still feel great, then it will go for a while longer, but not that much longer. It might last two years," he said. On Mar. 26, the band brought the tour to London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust Concert gigs, performing a two-hour set of deep album cuts and hit singles spanning their entire career. - New Musical Express, 3/27/15...... Although new rumors have popped up that actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen will play Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic of the late Queen frontman, Queen guitarist Brian May posted on his blog on Mar. 28 that Queen's manager Jim Beach wasn't serious when he reportedly said on Mar. 26 that "an important breakthrough is that we have now managed to persuade Sacha Baron Cohen to write, produce and direct this movie, and he has also agreed to star" during the Artist & Management Awards in London. "I'm afraid some folks might have taken it seriously," May wrote. Looks like another Queen rumor bites the dust. - Billboard, 3/29/15...... The promoter of Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfiesta tour announced on Mar. 28 that the Mexican leg of Ozzfiesta will be canceled as Osbourne will undergo an unspecified surgery. The Black Sabbath frontman had been scheduled to perform at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya from May 27-31, a four-day festival was scheduled to include an acoustic set by Zakk Wylde, a concert by Black Label Society, a headlining performance by Osbourne, and much more, but now promoter Cool Breeze Concerts says that "Ozzy is having surgery, scheduled for May, following his South American tour. He requires at least four weeks of recovery time. We are very disappointed that we need to cancel." The promoter is offering refunds to people who purchased tickets to the event. Osbourne will undergo surgery following shows in South America, which begin April 25. Black Sabbath previously announced it will play its "farewell concert" on Nov. 22, 2015, as it headlines the second day of Ozzfest at Japan's Makuhari Messe venue, outside Tokyo. - Billboard, 3/28/15...... Country/pop legend and well known marijuana proponent Willie Nelson announced on Mar. 27 that he and his family are launching a new brand of marijuana and pot stores called Willie's Reserve, which the budding company's spokesperson Michael Bowman says will be a "Whole Foods for weed." Bowman says the shops will include signature strains of pot as well as others' strains that are grown to meet quality standards."Let's just call it the anti-Walmart model," he told DailyBeast.com. "Personally, internally, that's what we call it. A certain standard by which growers have to account for carbon and such, in a way that empowers small growers who are doing the right thing." Bowman said Willie's Reserve is looking to 2016 to open shops in states where voters have legalized marijuana, such as Colorado, Washington and Alaska. This is a culmination of Willie's vision and his whole life," Bowman said. "I'm not sure any of us could have predicted how fast the dominoes would start falling once they started falling (as far as legalization). And you have the men like Willie who's been out there getting arrested, standing up saying what's right and not wavering from that core." - Billboard, 3/27/15...... Gene Simmons of Kiss will partner with professional wrestling's WWE on three-picture deal under the banner of Erebus Pictures to finance three new horror films. The films, starring Temple and written by Matt Savelloni, will follow a team of operatives trapped inside an isolated military compound after its artificial intelligence shuts down. While investigating the source of the malfunction, the crew experiences strange phenomena as they attempt to uncover who or what killed the team previously stationed at the compound. WWE Studios plans to use its platforms -- weekly TV shows such as Monday Night Raw and SmackDown and the WWE Network -- to market its titles. "The horror genre continues to fascinate me as it proves to be endlessly thrilling and engaging for audiences," Gene Simmons said in a statement. Erebus Pictures is named after the Greek primordial deity that personifies darkness. - Billboard, 3/27/15...... As Ringo Starr releases his new studio album Postcards From Paradise on Mar. 31, the Beatles legend has revealed he originally wrote the LP's new songs on drums alone, before inviting other musicians to record their various parts. "It's just the way I do it," Ringo says. "I start off on my own. I play drums and nobody's there, we have no song and I'm saying 'Oh, there's a verse... and chorus... and the end'. So far it's worked." Produced by Starr and recorded at his home studio in Los Angeles, Postcards From Paradise features contributions from such guest musicians as Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Benmont Tench, Dave Stewart, Ann Marie Simpson, Richard Marx, Amy Keys, Nathan East and Glen Ballard. On Apr. 18, Starr will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a one-off Award For Musical Excellence, with Paul McCartney handling the honor. New Musical Express, 3/31/15...... Meanwhile, Ringo's fellow 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bill Withers has told Rolling Stone that he's a big fan of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. "I can actually deal with Taylor Swift because she's clever. Being a songwriter, I can appreciate her wit. She deserves all of her success," Withers told the mag. "But I do like Katy Perry? Look, I don't think there's a lot of 76-year-old people hanging on Katy Perry's every word. I'm not against it, but it doesn't come and get me," he added. Withers also said that "asking me about today's pop music would be like asking me who the national marbles champion is." "I just don't care," he said. "If music gets me, I'll come and listen to it." - NME, 3/27/15...... A Kickstarter.com campaign has been started to raise funds to publish an "illustrated scrapbook" that will document the making of the 1979 Tom Waits short film Tom Waits For No One. The film, which was animated by John Lamb using rotoscoping, has been labelled as one of the first music videos of its kind, and includes a video of Waits singing "The One That Got Away." Tom Waits For No One: The Illustrated Scrapbook will be 160 pages of "animation cels, rotoscope drawings, character studies and backgrounds... documenting the artwork and inspiration behind Tom Waits For No One according to the campaign, and the book will be limited to 250 copies. So far, the campaign has raised $3,964 of its $8,250 goal. - NME, 3/30/15...... In a new interview with the UK's The Guardian paper, actor Russell Crowe claims that Michael Jackson used to prank call him after Jackson found out what secret name Crowe used to book hotel rooms. "For two or three f---ng years, I never met him, never shook his hand, but he found out the name I stayed in hotels under, so it didn't matter where I was, he'd ring up do this kind of thing, like you did when you were 10, you know," Crowe said. "'Is Mr. Wall there? Is Mrs. Wall there? Are there any Walls there? Then what's holding the roof up? Ha ha.' You're supposed to grow out of doing that, right?," he added. - NME, 3/30/15...... Actor Harrison Ford of Star Wars fame has reportedly been released from UCLA Medical Center following his dramatic plane crash earlier in March. Ford was spotted driving in Los Angeles on Mar. 28, according to People magazine. On Mar. 5, the 72-year-old actor was forced to make an emergency landing on a California golf course after experiencing a mechanical issue while flying a two-seater vintage fighter plane, and is said to have undergone surgery to treat his injuries. - WENN.com, 3/30/15...... Lawyers representing the late Robin Williams' wife and children are appeared before a San Francisco probate judge on Mar. 30 to argue over who should get clothes and other personal items the actor kept at one of his Northern California homes. In papers filed in December, Williams' wife, Susan, says some of the late actor's personal items were taken without her permission, and she has asked the court to exclude the contents of the San Francisco Bay Area home she shared with Williams from the items the actor said the children should have. Williams' children, Zachary, Zelda and Cody, said in response that Susan Williams is "adding insult to a terrible injury" by trying to change the trust agreement and rob them of the late actor's belongings, including jewelry and memorabilia. The two sides also disagree over items put in storage, watches Williams owned and his memorabilia. Robin Williams died at his home in Tiburon, north of San Francisco, in August. The coroner ruled his death a suicide that resulted from asphyxia caused by hanging. - AP, 3/30/15...... Singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, best known for his 1969 hit "Spirit in the Sky," was critically injured in an automobile accident in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Mar. 29 that also killed a motorcyclist. According to the California Highway Patrol, longtime Santa Rosa resident Greenbaum was the passenger of a Subaru Outback that turned left, crossing into the path of 20-year-old motorcycle rider Ihab Usama Halaweh. Halaweh died at the scene, and his passenger was also critically injured. According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Greenbaum and the motorcycle passenger are being treated at a local hospital, and the car's driver was not injured. Police say that alcohol was not a factor in the crash. Originally written and recorded by Greenbaum, "Spirit in the Sky" was a No. 3 hit in the US in March 1970, and it topped the charts in the UK. It has been featured in some 50 movies and several TV shows, and was later covered by the likes of Bauhaus, Doctor and the Medics and Gareth Gates, the latter two versions also topping the UK singles chart in 1986 and 2003 respectively. - AP, 3/29/15...... Patricia Hearst, who was infamously kidnapped and brainwashed in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army, is lashing out at her newest biographer, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, calling him an "emotional rapist" and says that she has no interest in reading Toobin's latest book about her, or seeing a movie version of the book. "I'm tired of being a cash cow for hack writers like Jeffrey Toobin," Hearst told PageSix.com. "He is an emotional rapist." Toobin's book, title unknown, won't be published by Doubleday until 2016, but it has already been optioned by Fox 2000, with Big Eyes screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski signed for the screenplay. Current A-list actress Jennifer Lawrence has reportedly been connected to play Hearst in the movie, but Hearst says that she "couldn't care less who plays me... I don't have anything to do with it and neither do any of my friends." In 1988, Hearst released her own book, Patty Hearst: Her Own Story, that detailed how she was locked in a closet for 57 days, threatened with death and raped before she joined her captors in robbing banks, for which she served 22 months behind bars. "This didn't define her. It was 40 years ago," said one friend. "She's had a great marriage, two beautiful children, grandchildren.... It was just one chapter in her life." - PageSix.com, 3/27/15.

Former White Stripes frontman Jack White was joined by former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant onstage in Argentina on Mar. 21 when Plant made a surprise appearance to jam with White on Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song" during White's Lollapalooza Argentina headlining show. White has long been a fan of "The Lemon Song" and performed it when he headlined Bonnaroo in 2014 and has covered it during his Lazaretto tour. It was the first time Plant has performed "The Lemon Song" live since he and Jimmy Page played it in Norway in 1995. Plant has also expressed a desire to record with White, posting several months ago on his Facebook Q&A page that he'd be "happy to make a single with him," possibly a remake of the 1958 The Phantom single, "Love Me." Plant was also on the bill for the Lollapalooza Argentina concert. - The Huffington Post, 3/22/15...... Country music's Oak Ridge Boys, who kicked off a 15-year period in 1977 with their hit "Y'all Come Back Saloon" that would see the vocal group become one of the most-successful acts on country radio, will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, it was announced on Mar. 25 in Nashville. The Oak Ridge Boys scored a total of 16 chart-toppers on Billboard's Country Singles Chart, including "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight," "I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes," and their most famous single, a 1981 remake of Dallas Frazier's 1960's song, "Elvira." Also up for induction in 2015 are Jim Ed Brown and The Browns and legendary musician Grady Martin. - Billboard, 3/25/15...... In other country music news, the legendary Ray Stevens of "Ahab the Arab," "Guitarzan" and "The Streak" fame is back with yet another funny tune, this one about contemporary pop sensation Taylor Swift. "Taylor Swift Is Stalkin' Me," from his just released album Here We Go Again, is pretty self-explanatory, and Stevens says the idea for a Taylor Swift song came from his collaborator, Chuck Redden, with input on lyrics from Buddy Kalb. "It turned out to be a three-writer song, but Chuck had the idea," Stevens says. "I thought it was an attention grabber and wanted to see if we could make something out of it." "Taylor Swift Is Stalkin' Me" has indeed caught the attention of many, especially through the viral ranks. But has Swift and her camp heard the song yet? "I think they have," Stevens says. "I haven't heard any direct feedback from them -- pro or con, but I can't imagine that anybody would take offense. It's all in fun." Stevens, who also had huge hits with "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Mr. Businessman," says humor is only an "element" of what he does, but comedy is what he is largely recognized for."I'm just a guy who loves music and to have fun," he says. "When I get on stage, I'll tell a joke and sing a funny song." Stevens, who says he has several projects on tap and is working on building a performance venue in Nashville, has no plans to retire yet. "I've seen guys retire. They don't last long. Something about it just clicks a switch off in your brain and you just say 'The funeral isn't far off.'' I don't want to do that." - Billboard, 3/24/15...... David Crosby made two panicked calls to 911 emergency dispatchers on Mar. 21 after he accidently hit a jogger as he was driving near his Santa Barbara County home. "He's on foot and he's hurt and we need an ambulance here right now," Crosby told the dispatcher. "I'm worried about him a lot," he can be overheard telling someone next to him. After a dispatcher assured him an ambulance is on the way and tells him to stay in place, Crosby hung up, but than calls back and asks "if the ambulance is on its way, and how fast will it be here?... I think this guy really needs an ambulance right now." Crosby said the the sun was in his eyes and he couldn't see 46-year-old Jose Jimenez jogging on the same side of the road as his car. Jimenez, who was hospitalized with broken bones, cuts and bruises, is expected to survive. Crosby was not hurt. Authorities say the 73-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member was cooperative and neither drugs nor alcohol were involved in the crash. - AP, 3/25/15...... A new documentary on influential New Wave singer Grace Jones will be produced by the film arm of the British Broadcasting Co., the BBC announced on Mar. 25. Directed by Sophie Fiennes, Grace Jones -- The Musical Of My Life has been in the works for seven years, and is being co-financed by BFI Film Fund and the Irish Film Board. Jones, a former model who became a sensation with hits such as "Pull Up to the Bumper," "Slave to the Rhythm" and "Private Life," has long been seen as a musical and fashion influence on scores of female singers. Her last album was 2008's Hurricane, and she contributed the track "Original Beast" to the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack in 2014. Jones also has a June 21 concert set with Kylie Minogue in London. Sophie Fiennes is the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes. - Billboard, 3/25/15...... Bonnie Raitt will be featured on a new Boz Scaggs song called "Hell to Pay," which will be featured on Scaggs' forthcoming studio LP, A Fool to Care. Raitt, who contributes vocals and also plays slide guitar on the track, says she's "so glad to finally get to play and sing with Boz, who's always been a favorite... The song was so cool lyrically and musically and it seems like a perfect fit." Scaggs, who admits he "was scared to call Bonnie... I'm sort of in awe of her," says Raitt is "just a really strong musician, a remarkable woman. That's special to me." A Fool to Care will drop Mar. 31. - Billboard, 3/25/15...... In an interview with Australia's News.com.au, Gene Simmons of Kiss criticizes both the Rolling Stones and U2 for using "backing tracks" during their live shows. "I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks," Simmons said. "It's like the ingredients in food, if the first ingredient on the label is sugar thats at least honest." The bassist/vocalist, whose band released their latest album Monster in 2012, added: "It should be on every ticket that you're paying $100, 30 to 50 per cent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they'll sing sometimes, sometimes they'll lip synch. At least be honest. It's not about backing tracks, it's about dishonesty." Simmons says that there are "no synthesizers, samples of drums, nothing" during Kiss concerts. "There's very few bands who do that now -- AC/DC, Metallica, us. I can't even say that about U2 or the Stones. There's very few bands who don't use [backing] tracks." - New Musical Express, 3/26/15...... The Doors's classic 1967 debut album The Doors, Joan Baez's 1960 debut LP Joan Baez, the Righteous Brothers' classic 1964 single "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," and Ben E. King's 1961 often-covered hit "Stand By Me" are among the recordings to be inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, it was announced on Mar. 25. Comedian/actor Steve Martin's 1978 album A Wild and Crazy Guy and Sly and the Family Stone's 1969 LP Stand! were also among the 25 recordings selected for induction in 2015. The U.S. Librarian of Congress each year selects 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and at least 10 years old, and the Library's National Recording Preservation Board, which is comprised of leaders in the fields of music, recorded sound and preservation, suggest the nominations, with input from the public. The latest inductions brings the total number of registry recordings to 425. - Billboard, 3/25/15...... A 50th anniversary Grateful Dead memorabilia auction of more than 700 items from the legendary band's long career is set for Apr. 11 and 12 in Union, Ill., about 50 miles northwest of the location of the band's "Fare Thee Well" shows in July. Conducted by Donley Auction Services, the auction will handle items ranging from artist Stanley Mouse's original 1966 artwork for the Grateful Dead Fan Club poster to concert T-shirts. Also up for sale will be "unusual personal stuff" by band members including late frontman Jerry Garcia's kitchen table where he often sat in the Grateful Dead's office. Bidding for that item starts at $1,000. The auction will be held live starting at noon central on both days with online and phone bidding. - Billboard, 3/24/15...... Van Halen announced on Mar. 19 it will kick off a massive three-month summer tour of North America beginning on July 5 in Seattle, Wash. With David Lee Roth fronting the band, VH will hit nearly 40 cities during the tour, including Portland, Ore. (7/7), San Bernadino, Cal. (7/11), Irvine, Cal. (7/14), Salt Lake City, Ut. (7/18), Kansas City, Mo. (7/22), Chicago, Ill. (7/24), and Boston, Mass. (8/1) before wrapping at L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 2. Van Halen will also be featured on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a performance on Hollywood Boulevard that will be broadcast over two nights, Mar. 30 and 31. It will mark the group's first U.S. television appearance with Roth, its original singer. It was previously announced that classic albums from the band's catalog will be remastered and released in 2015, starting with Van Halen and 1984 on Mar. 31. Tickets for the tour go on sale April 4. - Billboard, 3/24/15...... In other tour news, John Fogerty will expand his forthcoming "1969" summer tour, which celebrates the year his band Creedence Clearwater Revival released three hit albums. The "1969" dates start May 2 at the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis and are currently booked to Aug. 9, including a July 15 stop at the Hollywood Bowl. The tour will wrap on Aug. 9 in Albuquerque, N.M. Fogerty has also announced he'll publish his autobiography, Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, on Oct. 6 via LittleBrown, and the book will be as frank and forthright as the song it's named after. "I'm just being brutally honest," he says. "I'm not trying to shock or surprise anybody; really, I'm just being honest.... In the end, human beings, we are what we are. I'm not running for president or anything, so I'm not white-washing the life that I lived." Fogerty's "1969" trek recently played to rave reviews in Canada, and a retrospective Fogerty box set is also expected to be released in 2015. - Billboard, 3/23/15...... Also announcing a new autobiography for 2015 is British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, who will release Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink through Penguin Books later in 2015. The 352-page tome has a street date of Oct. 15 and will be "rich with anecdotes about family and fellow musicians, introspective about the creation of his famous songs," according to a press release from the publisher. - Billboard, 3/24/15.... Elton John has signed on to be among the headliners at the Outside Lands foodie music festival, which will take place at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Aug. 7-9. Outside Lands is known for marrying music with gourmet food, including a stage dedicated to "culinary entertainment," and also on the bill are Kendrick Lamar and Sam Smith. - AP, 3/24/15...... Brian Wilson says that Lana Del Ray and Frank Ocean will not appear on his upcoming studio album No Pier Pressure, despite previous reports that those two artists will contribute to the LP. "Well, Frank Ocean didnt want to do the song. He wanted to do rap, so we cancelled him," Wilson told Vulture.com. "Lana Del Rey, uh, she just cancelled out on us." Wilson recently unveiled a series of live dates in the UK for September, including Liverpool, Cardiff, London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. He will be supported on the tour by Edwyn Collins and America. - New Musical Express, 3/26/15...... Former Roxy Music guitarist/songwriter Phil Manzanera says he's owed "six figures" worth of income by rappers Kayne West and Jay-Z after they sampled a long-lost track of his that dates back to 1978. West and Jay-Z sampled Manzanera's song "K-Scope" on their Watch The Throne collaborative track "No Church In The Wild" in 2011. However, Manzanera claims to have not been paid yet. "I'm owed six figures," he told Britain's The Independent. "Six figures plus, which is more than I've made in the past 15 years with Roxy. I haven't got paid yet but it really reassured me about all of my beliefs, why I'm doing what I'm doing and the power of music. Things come and go " fame, fortune -- I'm not interested in that. I just do what I do because I love music but it felt like someone, somewhere up there in the ether, has said: 'You know what? You've been doing stuff for ages, had ups and downs -- you can have that now.'" - NME, 3/24/15...... Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne crashed his own tribute concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall on Mar. 23, leading a marching band down the aisle and, eventually, to an onstage dance party to the tune of "Uptown Funk." Byrne showed up at the end of an annual tribute that benefits music education, an unusual sight since past musicians whose work was celebrated -- like Paul Simon and Prince -- did not appear. Byrne's entrance came after CeeLo Green brought the tribute to a close by singing the Talking Heads smash hit of Al Green's "Take Me to the River." Also performing that evening were Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Steve Earle. - AP, 3/24/15....... Legendary soul diva Patti LaBelle brought down the house on the talent TV show Dancing With the Stars on Mar. 23 with her pick for the show's "My Jam Monday" episode. The 70-year-old LaBelle chose to dance to 50 Cent's 2003's hit single "In Da Club," and overcame a recent knee injury to perform the song in a salsa routine with dance partner Artem Chigvintsev. - Billboard, 3/24/15...... Black Sabbath have reportedly invited their founding drummer Bill Ward to rejoin the band for their "farewell" gig, which will take place at the Tokyo leg of Ozzfest on Nov. 22. Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne made the announcement on YouTube on Mar. 23. Ward did not record with the band when they returned with latest album 13 in 2013, with Osbourne claiming that the drummer was overweight and unable to contribute to the band's recording and live plans. It was additionally claimed that the band could not come to a financial agreement with Ward, who was arrested following a bar brawl in Death Valley, Calif., on Jan. 27 of 2015 and charged with misdemeanour assault, public intoxication and vandalism. Black Sabbath has also announced it will release one final album in 2015, the follow-up to 13. - NME, 3/24/15...... Rod Stewart's son Sean Stewart was reportedly arrested on Mar. 22 at Miami International Airport in Florida for "riding" the luggage conveyor belt into a restricted area. Sean Stewart, who was travelling to a charity event in Haiti when he allegedly took a ride on the luggage carousel, was detained by airport police and later freed on bail. His mother is American former actress/model Alana Stewart, and he is believed to be plotting a new reality TV venture with his sister Kimberley. - WENN.com 3/23/15...... British singer-songwriter Jackie Trent, who composed for such artists as Frank Sinatra, Petula Clark, Shirley Bassey, Jack Jones, Nancy Wilson, Vikki Carr and Dean Martin among some 400 others, died at a hospital in Menorca on Mar. 21 after a long illness. She was 74. Trent reportedly scored her first recording contract in the early 1960s and topped the UK charts in 1965 with "Where Are You Now (My Love)." - Billboard, 3/22/15...... Guitarist-songwriter John Renbourn, a former member of the British folk-rock band Pentangle, died at his home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders on Mar. 27. He was 70. In 1967, Renbourn founded influential folk group Pentangle in 1967. The original Pentangle line-up released six albums, before disbanding 1973. He continued his solo career and also made music with The John Renbourn Group. Renborn was found at his home after he failed to turn up for a gig at the Ferry in Glasgow, according to the Guardian newspaper. - NME, 3/26/15...... Miriam Bienstock, who helped found Atlantic Records with her then-husband Herb Abramson and Ahmet Ertegun and became a theater investor later in life, died Mar. 21 at her home in New York City. She was 92. Ertegun once credited Ms. Bienstock as being the one who "first played me Ray Charles' SwingTime records" before Charles was signed to Atlantic, and added that "the company would have folded" without her help in running the office. Most recently, Ms. Bienstock was an investor in the Broadway produciton "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," which won two Tony Awards in 2014. - Billboard, 3/24/15.