Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on August 5, 2018

Rush frontman Geddy Lee has announced he'll be releasing a new book detailing the history behind his massive collection of 250 bass guitars. Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass will be published by Harper Collins and also feature interviews from famous bassists like John Paul Jones, Adam Clayton, Bill Wyman, Les Claypool and Bob Daisley. It will hit stores on Dec. 4. - Billboard, 8/2/18...... As it prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020, Aerosmith has signed a management deal with Larry Rudolph's ReignDeer Entertainment/Maverick group. Rudolph, who also manages Britney Spears and Pitbull, has handled Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's solo career since 2014 and took on the whole band recently. While Aerosmith has yet to announce any 50th anniversary celebrations, guitarist Joe Perry said in an April interview that "In 2019 we will be closing in on our 50th anniversary, so we are planning some dates and a tour to celebrate that. Right now we are pretty much laying low and finishing up some solo things before we start that." The band will be part of the Today show's Citi Concert Series on Aug. 15. Their last studio album was 2012's Music From Another Dimension. - Billboard, 8/3/18...... The Rolling Stones have wrapped the second leg of their European No Filter tour with 14 more sellouts to lead Billboard's Hot Tours roundup for the week ending Aug. 4. The Stones kicked off the 12-city leg on May 17 at Dublin's Croke Park and concluded at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, on July 8, grossing $117,844,618 with over 750,874 tickets sold. The Warsaw show also featured a guest appearance by James Bay for a performance of "Beast of Burden." Meanwhile, the band have teamed up with BMG and Universal to curate Confessin' the Blues, a 2-disc compilation of classic blues tracks that have inspired their career. Appropriately kicking off with Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone," the 42-track collection also features the likes of Chuck Berry, B.B King, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley and more. Frontman Mick Jagger has noted his love for the blues genre, saying "The first Muddy Waters album that was really popular was Muddy Waters at Newport, which was the first album I ever bought." Artwork for the release was created by Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood himself, which he says "depicts the raw passion and emotion the blues artists channelled into their music." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 8/3/18...... Tom Petty has become the first act to posthumously hit the top of the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs airplay list with "Keep a Little Soul (Outtake, 1982)," the first single from his upcoming 60-song box set An American Treasure. "Soul," originally recorded during the sessions for his 1982 album Long After Dark, is Petty's eighth Adult Alternative Songs top 10 appearance (solo and with the Heartbreakers). Petty died on Oct. 2, 2017 of mixed drug toxicity at age 66. - Billboard, 8/3/18...... Rocker and longtime political activist Graham Nash says it was an easy call for him to participate in the upcoming "Lantern Tour: Concerts for Migrant and Refugee Families," a five-date outing starting Oct. 23 that will feature artists such as himself, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne and Mary Chapin Carpenter who support the struggle to support migrant families seeking refuge as a result of Pres. Donald Trump's zero tolerance policy. "In my heart, and as a father, the thought that children of any age are being separated from their parents or guardians under great emotional stress, panic and fear is abhorrent to me," says Nash, 76. "We are better than this, and we must stand up against this sad affair." Nash says he has known many of the artists on the tour for decades, and "I respect them all... I'm delighted to have been asked to get involved and raise funds and awareness of this human problem and to help in some small way. Let our voices be heard that our humanity is at stake." All proceeds from the tour will benefit the Women's Refugee Commission. - Billboard, 8/3/18...... The world premiere of the new PBS Dionne Warwick documentary Dionne Warwick: Then Came You took place on Aug. 1, and the 77-year-old pop singing legend says that she "feels like I've truly been blessed." "I've been fortunate enough to have people who have been loyal over the years to me and have enjoyed the music I've given them, as I have. I always say things happen the way they're supposed to happen, and here I am," she added. Then Came You was produced by TJ Lubinsky, whose grandfather Herman Lubinsky recorded Warwick's first background session in the 1940s for his Savoy Records label, and is part of the PBS series My Music. Then Came You features some of Warwick's most popular hits throughout her five-decade career, as well as interviews with those close to Warwick, including Barry Manilow, Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson. - The Hollywood Reporter, 8/3/18...... The Band musician Levon Helm's eastern Arkansas home was added to Arkansas' Register of Historic Places on Aug. 1 by the state's Historic Preservation Program's review board. University of Central Arkansas interior design instructor Ann Ballard Bryan and her students worked to acquire the historic designation, and also organized a fundraiser to help cover restoration costs for the Helm house. Work began in April. Helm was a singer, drummer and mandolin player for The Band, which backed Bob Dylan in the 1960s and went on to record 10 studio albums. - AP, 8/3/18...... A remix of Diana Ross's 1980 hit "I'm Coming Out" called "I'm Coming Out/Upside Down 2018" has topped Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for the week ending Aug. 4. The medley, remixed by Eric Kupper, Chris Cox and StoneBridge, among others, follows another remixed Ross classic, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough 2017," which led the Jan. 20-dated Dance Club Songs list. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, for so many blessings," the pop/soul icon said upon hearing the news. - Billboard, 8/2/18...... Bob Dylan was among the headliners of the 22nd annual Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan on July 27-29. The overall strong lineup also included hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, N.E.R.D., Jack Johnson, Vampire Weekend, Skrillex and Johnny Marr. Dylan played a number of iconic tracks from his canon, including "Simple Twist of Fate, "It Ain't Me Babe, "Highway 61 Revisited," "Don't Think Twice," "It's All Right, "When I Paint My Masterpiece, "Desolation Row, "Ballad of the Thin Man," and "Blowin' in the Wind. This year the Fuji Rock festival made a huge leap forward technologically with YouTube live streaming the celebration on two channels. As each channel broadcast nine performances, that meant 54 of the roughly 200 performances were accessible in real time around the world. - Billboard, 8/1/18...... Country icon Dolly Parton has announced her Dollywood amusement park in east Tennessee will be opening a $37 million expansion in 2019. Called Wilwood Grove, the expansion will include six ride attractions, featuring a suspended family roller coaster called The Dragonflier, as well as various indoor and outdoor play areas for families. In 2013 Dollywood committed to a $300 million over a 10-year period. - AP, 8/3/18...... In support of the current #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, Ann Wilson of Heart has recorded a cover of Lesley Gore's 1963 classic "You Don't Own Me" for her upcoming album Immortal. "I think that ('You Don't Own Me') has come to be way more universal now," Wilson says. "It could be the anthem of anyone who wants respect, anyone at all, not just women. I think we're in a time where we're having a discourse now as a culture about who people really are and how it's important to accept people, and so I thought the song really fits. I think it's really meaningful in today's world." Immortal, which drops on Sept. 14, recorded with original Heart producer Mike Flicker, is Wilson's tribute to friends, colleagues and heroes who have passed away during the past couple of years, including Tom Petty ("Luna"), David Bowie ("I'm Afraid of Americans"), Chris Cornell (Audioslave's "I Am the Highway"), Glenn Frey (the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane") and others. "I just wanted to honor these people somehow," says Wilson, who's currently on tour with Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers and Deborah Bonham. With Heart on a hiatus that began in 2016, Wilson is planning a "Storytellers" style tour behind Immortal this fall and says doesn't rule out a second volume of Immortal at some point. She says "when the time is right (sister) Nancy Wilson and I will get back together and do something again...We just wanted to get out and stretch our wings." - Billboard, 8/2/18...... Gloria Hiroko Chapman, the wife of John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, has revealed that her husband told her he was going to murder the Beatles icon two months before he shot and killed Lennon in New York City. In an interview with the UK paper The Mirror, Hiroko Chapman claimed that Chapman didn't carry out the threat because of his love for her, and says she once told Chapman's parole board "It didn't matter how long Mark was in prison. I would wait for him." Lennon was just 40-years-old when he was shot and killed by Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980 outside the New York home Lennon shared with wife Yoko Ono. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life for murdering Lennon. Gloria said that when news came in about the shooting, she knew her husband was responsible. "I knew it was Mark. How did I know? Two months earlier, Mark had travelled to New York. He came home scarred, telling me that to make a name for himself he had planned to kill Lennon. But he said my love had saved him." She also described the incident as "one of the darkest nights of (my) life." Chapman's next parole board hearing, his ninth, is due to be held during the week beginning Aug. 20. During his last parole meeting, Chapman was refused his freedom when officials said he would reoffend. Yoko Ono said after the last hearing, "One thing I think is that he did it once, he could do it again, to somebody else...it could be me, it could be Sean, it could be anybody, so there is that concern." - New Musical Express, 8/4/18...... In other Beatles-related news, a guitar from the band's last ever gig at the Cavern Club in 1963 is being put up for auction. The guitar, an Australian-made Maton Mastersound MS-500 is expected to fetch between £300,000 to £400,000 when it is auctioned in Wilshire, UK in September. It was played by George Harrison throughout the summer of 1963 as Harrison's regular guitar underwent repairs. Once the guitar was returned, it was bought by Roy Barber, a guitarist with Dave Berry And The Cruisers who had a hit with "The Crying Game" in the 1960's. After Barber's death in 2000, the guitar was on display at The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool. It has previously sold at auction in New York for £373,000 in 2015. Other Harrison memorabilia up for auction include a pair customized Ray-Ban sunglasses he wore during the 70's and 80's. They are expected to fetch more than £3000. - NME, 8/3/18...... Elsewhere on the Fab Four front, the location that inspired the Beatles' classic "Strawberry Fields Forever" is being turned into a tourist attraction in Liverpool. John Lennon's sister Julia Baird recently buried a time capsule on the site of the Strawberry Field children's home in the Woolton area of their native Liverpool, as work began to make it accessible to the public and reminiscent of the singer's time their as a young boy. "The plans to open Strawberry Field to the public for the first time," says Julia, "so people can see a unique exhibition about the home, how and why the song was written by John, and allow visitors to explore the grounds as John did as a child -- is very exciting." With £1 million needing to be raised to fund the work, donations can be made at StrawberryFieldLiverpool.com. - NME, 8/1/18...... Michigan rocker and vocal gun rights advocate Ted Nugent reportedly banned guns from a concert he gave at the Berglund Performing Arts Theater in Roanoke, Va., on July 31. According to local radio station WSLS, fans were told in a last minute announcement that they were not allowed to bring their guns into the venue, and it was Nugent and his team who made to decision to ban guns, not the venue itself. The announcement came as a change to prior rules where the venue discouraged guns, but couldn't ban people from bringing them on property. - Deadstate.org, 8/4/18...... Former Genesis frontman and '80s solo star Peter Gabriel has blasted the UK's foreign policy after a number of acts scheduled to play the Womad Festival from countries including Tunisia, Mozambique and India were refused entry to the UK. "The right to travel for work, for education and even for pleasure is increasingly being restricted and often along racial and religious lines," says Gabriel, who co-founded the festival back in 1980, which is described as "The World's Festival" and is known for its eclectic line-ups. Gabriel added that "It is alarming that our UK festival would now have real problems bringing artists into this country [many of whom] no longer want to come to the UK because of the difficulty, cost and delays with visas, along with the new fear that they will not be welcomed... Musicians travel for a living, and almost everywhere I have travelled I have been met with kindness and generosity. Do we really want a white-breaded Brexited flatland? A country that is losing the will to welcome the world?" - NME, 8/1/18...... Jeff Wadlow, the director of such projects as Truth or Dare, Kick-Ass 2 and Cry Wolf, is teaming up with Blumhouse and Sony Pictures to reimagine the '70s ABC series Fantasy Island into a movie. Sony owns the rights to the original series which was created by Gene Levitt and executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The series ran on ABC from 1977-1984 and quickly became a fan favorite. The island drama dealt with dark themes and the supernatural with a little bit of cheesiness as visitors would come to the island to live out their fantasies. - Deadline.com, 8/1/18...... Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley is reportedly fighting hard to enforce the postnuptial agreement she and her ex-husband signed, and is claiming her soon-to-be ex Michael Lockwood is "feigning amnesia or ignorance" and should be seen for the money grab that it is. Presley and Lockwood are set to appear in court in September in their divorce battle. They will be arguing the validity of the postnuptial agreement they signed in 2007, one year into the marriage. Lisa Marie is the sole trustee and beneficiary of the Promenade Trust, which owns 15% interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises. The stake was worth $62,763,382 when the couple signed the postnup, and Lockwood reportedly had a negative net worth due to significant tax and other debts. - TheBlast.com, 8/1/18...... Netflix has acquired the rights for Quincy, the documentary about legendary composer/producer Quincy Jones that was directed by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks. Netflix has set a global release for Sept. 21, and will give the film a limited theatrical release as well. Quincy is an intimate look into the life of Jones, who has been a force in music and pop culture for decades, transcending racial and cultural boundaries. - Deadline.com, 8/1/18...... The family of late Playboy founder/publisher Hugh Hefner has just sold off the last piece of the Playboy empire they owned for $35 million. A deal was struck between the Hugh Hefner Trust and the parent company that owns Playboy Enterprises, calling for the Hefners to sell their last shares in the company for $35 million. The money will be distributed to Hefner's kids and his widow, Crystal Hefner, as well as his other beneficiaries. One of Hefner's sons continues to work with the company but will have no ownership. Hugh Hefner founded Playboy in Chicago in 1953, which he famously funded with a $1,000 loan from his mother. - TheBlast.com, 8/2/18.

TV channel PBS announced on July 30 that it will air a 50th anniversary documentary about the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival in 2019 as part of its American Experience series. Directed by Barak Goodman, the two-hour special will examine the events that led up to the three-day festival that would become one of the defining moments of the tumultuous 1960s. In related news, an elusive '70s Colorado band named Magic Music will be the subject of a new documentary called 40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie that follows the band through their journey in the 1970s Colorado music scene to today. The Boulder, Co., band was a favorite of university students, however it broke up in 1975 without having signed a music deal. The film has been screened at the Woodstock, Napa, Newport, Richmond, Florida and Boulder Film Festivals, winning numerous awards along the way. The Orchard will release the film digitally on Sept. 4. - AP, 7/30/18...... Speaking of Colorado, Neil Diamond honored firefighters who are battled an intentionally set fire near his home at Lake Christine by giving a surprise performance for dozens of firemen gathered at the command post for a fire currently burning near Basalt, Col. Diamond took to the stage on July 27 to play his classic "Sweet Caroline," and a video of the event shows the pop music icon thanking firefighters for their efforts to save his community. Diamond, 77, retired abruptly from touring in January after he says he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Two people have been arrested for igniting the Lake Christine fire on July 3 by firing incendiary tracer rounds at a shooting range. - AP, 7/29/18...... Elvis Costello and his band The Imposters released two new songs -- "Under Lime" and "Unwanted Number" -- on July 27, also announcing an Oct. 12 release date for their first album in a decade, Look Now. "I knew if we could make an album with the scope of Imperial Bedroom and some of the beauty and emotion of Painted From Memory, we would really have something," Costello said in a press release. The 12-track Look Now will feature guest performances by such artists as Burt Bacharach and Carole King, and Costello and the Imposters will launch a 20-date North American tour behind the new LP in Bethlehem, Pa. on Nov. 2. - Billboard, 7/27/18...... Two weeks after Craig Raymond Turner, the 59-year-old son of Tina Turner was found dead of an apparent suicide on July 3, Tina paid tribute to Craig on July 27 with a Twitter post featuring a moving picture of her saying her final goodbye. Turner, 78, is pictured wearing a dark grey suit jacket and black gloves, about to drop a rose into the ocean with the caption, "My saddest moment as a mother. On Thursday, July 19 2018, I said my final goodbye to my son, Craig Raymond Turner, when I gathered with my family and friends to scatter his ashes off the coast of California." The son of Tina and Kings of Rhythm saxophonist Raymond Hill -- who was adopted by the singer's first husband, Ike Turner -- Craig was a real estate agent in the San Fernando Valley. - Billboard, 7/27/18...... Two members of '60 hitmakers The Byrds reunited on July 24 during a 50th anniversary tribute to the Byrds album Sweetheart fo the Rodeo at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman took Byrds fans down memory lane by performing the landmark country/rock LP in its entirety, and closed the set, after three tribute tracks written by their late protege Tom Petty, with the Byrds classic "Turn! Turn! Turn!." - Billboard, 7/27/18...... The "supergroup" Hollywood Vampires comprised of Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp have released a six-minute behind-the-scenes video chronicling their first world tour behind their self-titled debut album. The video opens with a montage of photos, soundtracked by the band covering The Who's "My Generation," before taking you onstage, backstage and everywhere else as the group hangs with such rockers as Duff McKagan and Toni Iommi of Black Sabbath. - Billboard, 7/26/18...... '70s rockers Toto have revealed they will release a cover of the alternative band Weezer's "Hash Pipe" after a fan-driven campaign prompted Weezer to cover Toto's hit "Africa" in May. Toto's Steve Lukather said Toto originally wanted to cover Weezer's "Beverly Hills," "(but) "I thought 'Hash Pipe' had a better melody... I love the message, you know what I mean? And we wanted to do it justice." Lukather and his Toto bandmate Steve Porcaro were interviewed on L.A.'s KROQ on July 29, and also discussed Weezer's cover of "Africa," giving it a "B++". Weezer "kicked ass on it," they said. - New Musical Express, 7/30/18...... A new study from two North American academics claims that Paul McCartney "misremembers" writing the Beatles' "In My Life" and it was actually John Lennon who wrote the sentimental 1965 Rubber Soul track. The new study, led by Harvard's senior lecturer in statistics Mark Glickman and Dalhousie University's Jason Brown, a Professor of Mathematics, concludes the song more stylistically resembles one of Lennon's musical creations, and an analysis found that there is a "less than 1 in 50 chance" that Sir Paul wrote the music to "In My Life." The study analyzed such features as frequency of chords, chord transitions and melodic notes from Beatles songs which were written between 1962 and 1966, and the probability that the tune was written by McCartney "is .018... Which basically means it's pretty convincingly a Lennon song. McCartney misremembers." The ownership of the song has been debated in the intervening years, however, with McCartney telling Paul Gambaccini a decade later: "Those were the words John wrote, and I wrote the tune to it. That was a great one." A spokesperson for McCartney has said that he will not be responding to the results of the survey. - New Musical Express, 7/30/18...... Meanwhile, Paul McCartney played a 27-song set at Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club on July 26 in a stunning return to the humble venue where the Beatles got their start. Hundreds of fans had gathered outside the club by the crack of dawn to see the music legend kick off the gig with an unnamed jam before diving into "Twenty Flight Rock," the Eddie Cochran song Paul played to prove his chops to John Lennon at the garden fete at St Peter's Church, Woolton, on July 6, 1957. Fab Four and solo classics followed, including "Magical Mystery Tour," "Jet," "All My Loving," "Letting Go," "Come on to Me," and a "Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady" medley. The 76-year-old rock icon closed his set with "I Saw Her Standing There," "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)," and "Helter Skelter." McCartney briefly interrupted his show at one point to berate the crowd for using phones at the Cavern. "You've all been told not to take photos," he said. "You're taking them, and you're taking them, and it's putting me off! So, you know, play by the rules, man!" McCartney has announced he will resume touring later this year in support of his upcoming 17th solo album Egypt Station, which is set for release on Sept. 7. - NME, 7/26/18...... Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick is the latest musician showcased by Foo Fighters on their current North American tour. During a Foo Fighters concert at Chicago's Wrigley Field on July 29, frontman Dave Grohl invited Nielsen -- who hails from Illinois -- on to the stage to play Cheap Trick's famous cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame," which the veteran power popsters have been playing live since the late '70s. Grohl played drums during the cover, while Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins -- who took on lead vocals -- was spotted wearing a Cheap Trick vest during the gig. Joe Walsh and John Travolta have previously jammed with Foo Fighters on their tour. - NME, 7/30/18...... Tom Jones posted an apology on Twitter on July 28 after a planned concert at the UK's York Racecourse on July 27 was cancelled at the last minute due to weather conditions. "So disappointed about York last night and so sorry for you all," Sir Tom wrote. "But lightening is unpredictable, dangerous and causes havoc so much better safe than talking about something tragic today. Hopefully see you soon, we are working on it." The show was due to take place after the Welsh legend cancelled a number of earlier dates due to illness. His apology was met with a mixed response, with one fan tweeting: "Everybody knew the weather was bad but people travelled from all over to see you, why didn't you come up in the morning. Disgrace. I wouldn't go to my back garden to see you now." - NME, 7/28/18...... Former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon) will voice a "power hungry mutant pig" in a new cartoon series titled Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was revealed during the San Diego Comic-Con festival on July 19. Lydon will play a character called Meat Sweats in the Nickelodeon series that will air in September. It will be the fourth animated version to be produced based on the comics and 1980s cartoon about the crime-fighting New York turtles. - NME, 7/27/18...... Universal Music, which owns the rights to the late Prince's music, has shut down a video which shows fans in Minneapolis singing Prince's "Purple Rain" just hours after he died after citing "copyright infringement." According to Universal, the footage violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). The clip was filmed by Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Aaron Lavinsky, who responded on Twitter that Universal's action is "very disturbing." "...I shot of thousands of Prince fans singing Purple Rain the night of his death. This was clearly fair use and UMPG and Twitter are in the wrong," he posted. The DMCA, which "bars the unlawful reproduction, distribution or performance of copyrighted Works," was originally passed in order to help curb online peer-to-peer file sharing, on platforms including Napster. But the fair use standard can often excuse material that is used for factual work, noncommercial purposes, or nonprofit educational purposes. It is unclear whether the Star Tribune will fight the DMCA takedown. - NME, 7/27/18...... Actor Alan Alda revealed that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease on July 31 during an appearance on CBS This Morning. However the beloved M*A*S*H star, 82, says he's not angry and considers it a challenge, and that he has acted and given talks since his diagnosis. Alda added that he hopes revealing his diagnosis might be helpful to others with Parkinson's by demostrating that there are still things they can do. Alda said he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder three and a half years ago. - AP, 7/31/18...... Iconic '70s sitcom producer Norman Lear has announced his Act III production company has signed a two-year first look deal with Sony Pictures TV. The pact includes the option to re-imagine titles from Lear's extensive library including All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, among others. "I couldn't be prouder and more excited about joining Sony Pictures Television, who has the guts to go with a kid," quipped Lear, who celebrated his 96th birthday on July 27. Sony Pictures TV, which owns the Norman Lear library, has been his partner for the past few years and currently produces the reboot of One Day at a Time on Netflix. Executive produced by Lear, the comedy is currently filming its third season. Lear, a Kennedy Center honoree, has won four Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. He is also the founder of People for the American Way. - Deadline.com, 7/27/18...... Accomplished TV/film composer Patrick Williams, an Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer who worked on scores for such series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, Lou Grant and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, died on July 25 at age 79. Mr. Williams also received an Oscar nod for his work in the 1979 film Breaking Away, and worked on concerts with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond and Gloria Estefan. - Billboard, 7/26/18...... Dan Cleary, a booking agent and personal manager who represented the likes of Nat King Cole, Olivia Newton-John and the Carpenters during his half-century in the music industry, died of natural causes on July 8 in Los Angeles, it was announced on July 24. He was 89. Mr. Cleary also repped Patti Page, Andy Williams, Burt Bacharach and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, and left his position at a talent agency to become a personal manager for Newton-John, The O'Jays, The Commodores, Ronnie Milsap, John Farrar, Natalie Cole and others. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/24/18.