Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 28th, 2018

Washington state congressman Rep. Adam Smith has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to name a post office in the state after Jimi Hendrix. Bill H.R. 6628 aimes to designate the post office in Renton, Wash. "The James Marshall Jimi Hendrix Post Office Building." Located at 4301 Northeast 4th Street, the post office is on the same street where Jimi grew up, and close to the Greenwood Memorial Park where Hendrix is also buried. So far, the bill has won unanimous backing from the Washington representatives in Congress. - New Musical Express, 11/28/18...... Elton John was forced to cancel a Nov. 27 concert at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., due to an ear infeciton. The Amway Center posted the bad news its Twitter account but encouraged concertgoers to "hold onto your tickets," as the show will soon be rescheduled. The show was part of John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" three-year tour, which kicked off Sept. 8 in Allentown, Penn. Elton's Nov. 28 show in Tampa, Fla. at Amalie Arena has also been postponed. - Billboard, 11/27/18...... Foreigner has announced a new stage production based on its songs will have its world premiere in Toronto at The Ed Mirvish Theatre for a limited run of shows from Feb. 20 to 24. "Jukebox Hero, The Musical" is produced by Annerin Productions, a division of the Canadian-based Jeff Parry Promotions, who also has produced musicals around such acts as Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, The Band and the Beatles. Named after their 1981 hit about a boy who couldn't get into a sold-out rock concert, "Jukebox Hero, The Musical" will feature 16 songs, including "Cold As Ice," "Hot Blooded", "Waiting For A Girl Like You," "Dirty White Boy" and No. 1 global smash "I Want To Know What Love Is." The storyline follows "the closing of rust-belt town of Blaydon, Pennsylvania's biggest factory," according to a press release. "Confronted with a deluge of unemployment and instability, the community calls on Ryan, a local boy turned rock 'n' roll superstar, for help. Yet Ryan never left his roots on good terms, so must confront the ghosts of his past as well as a home he no longer recognises." The idea for a musical based on Foreigner's songs dates back to the 1980s, when founder, co-writer lead guitarist Mick Jones bumped into Diana Ross in an airport lounge, according to the release. Foreigner, whose original singer was Lou Gramm, has continued to tour with a revolving door of players; Kelly Hanson is the current lead singer. Earlier in November, all of the surviving original members joined the current line-up at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles to kick of four "Double Vision: Then and Now" shows. The latest lineup will continue touring in 2019. - Billboard, 11/28/18...... After recently announcing a new North American Rolling Stones tour for next year that's set to get underway in Miami on Apr. 20, Mick Jagger told the AP in a Nov. 27 interview that fans can expect "a good night out for all." "We did a kind of similar tour in Europe this summer, so it's got a lot of fun... It's pretty high energy and it's a good a show, I think. I'm into it," Jagger said. Jagger added that the new music he's writing is "going good." "I enjoy the writing process a lot. I mean, you always think the last thing you wrote is really wonderful and sometimes they're really not (laughs). But it's really fun doing it and it's really enjoyable doing new things," he said. Asked about his TV and documentary producing, the 75-year-old singer volunteered that he "just actually finished doing a cameo part in a movie which is kind of a twisted thriller, which is called The Burnt Orange Heresy." "I just finished doing that in Italy. I did a couple weeks on that, so it'll be out next year. It was only a small part, but fun to do," he said. Meanwhile, Jagger's bandmate and songwriting partner Keith Richard said in a new interview with Rolling Stone that he and Jagger are in the "early stages" of working on songs. "Mick and I got together for a few days a month or so ago in the studio, just playing around," Richard said. Richard added that he hasn't thought about a farewell tour yet: "It's what I do, man," he said on playing. "Give me 50,000 people and I feel right at home. The whole band does. As Ronnie [Wood] and I often say before we go on, 'Let's get onstage and get some peace and quiet.'" - AP/Rolling Stone, 11/27/18...... Stevie Wonder announced on Nov. 27 that he plans on helping victims, firefighters and first responders impacted by the recent catastrophic wildfires in California. Wonder is asking concertgoers who attend his annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert on Dec. 9 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to bring an unwrapped toy or other gift. "We have to do our best to raise money for those that have been so less fortunate, for those that have lost dreams, lost their homes," Wonder said. "I am very happy to do this again this year but very, very, very excited to do something to help those in a bigger sense the less fortunate." Wonder said his foundation House Full of Hope along with the Entertainment Industry Foundation will also help raise money for those affected by the wildfire. Nearly 90 people were killed in the massive wildfires as thousands have been displaced from their homes. The lineup for this year's charity benefit has not been announced. Last year's performers included Tony Bennett, Pharrell Williams and Andra Day. - AP, 11/28/18...... Bruce Springsteen is the subject of a cover story in the December 2018 issue of Esquire magazine, and the singer says that "I do feel that people feel under siege, and sometimes for reasons that I don't agree with and that are unfortunate. Like I say, whether it's the changing face of the nation or... I think those people legitimately feel under siege. Their way of life is somehow threatened... that's always been a part of the American story. It continues to be a part of it today." Springsteen invited the magazine backstage for the interview at The Walter Kerr Theater in New York, where he's in the midst of his "Springsteen on Broadway" run. Springsteen also spoke about Pres. Donald Trump, specifically, the rise of the alt-right and those "invested in denying the idea of a united America and an America for all." "[He] has no interest in uniting the country, really, and actually has an interest in doing the opposite and dividing us, which he does on an almost daily basis." he said. "So that's simply a crime against humanity, as far as I'm concerned. It's an awful, awful message to send out into the world if you're in that job and in that position. It's just an ugly, awful message." Still, the Boss says that he's hopeful "we'll survive Trump." "Let people view themselves as Americans first, that the basic founding principles of the country could be adhered to, whether it's equality or social justice. Let people give each other a chance," he said. "Springsteen on Broadway" is set to close its run on Dec. 15, and will hit Netflix in the form of a special for the streaming network on Dec. 16. - Esquire, 11/27/18...... Class of 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees Def Leppard have released a new compilation, The Story So Far -- The Best of Def Leppard, featuring three fresh tracks. One of those is an official recording of the band's fan-favorite cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus (Rock On Remix)." Def Leppard recently wrapped the North American leg of their co-headlining tour with Class of 2017 RRHOF inductees Journey, which played to 1 million fans. - Billboard, 11/27/18...... ABBA launched an official Twitter account on Nov. 28, ahead of their recent announcement to release new music in 2019. Earlier in 2018, ABBA revealed that they would be unveiling two new tracks, marking their first release in 35 years. "I Still Have Faith In You" and another new song will be revealed on a BBC TV special in December, ahead of a "virtual" ABBA hologram tour in 2019. "We have Arrived to Twitter," their first post reads, playing on the title of their hit fourth 1977 album, Arrival. In October, ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus hinted that the band"s recent recording sessions could lead to "a new album, possibly." "Or four songs or something like that -- that"s possible," he continued, before repeating his insistence the band would not tour. "But for us to perform on stage that"s just not going to happen. That"s a definite." - NME, 11/28/18...... In a new interview from his home in Los Angeles, Birmingham, UK native Ozzy Osbourne revealed that he no longer follows British politics and doesn't really understand what the word "Brexit" means. "People keep going on at me about that -- is it a big deal over there? What will happen with it? Are people voting in or out, what's going on?," Ozzy said. "I don't read the newspapers and I don't really talk politics because I don't really know. I don't really understand Brexit," he added. The Black Sabbath singer also weighed in about the Kardashian klan. "I said to (wife) Sharon (Osbourne) the other day, 'What the f**k is the deal with these Kardashians? They don't sing, they don't act, they don't do anything,'" he said. "She told me, 'The trend now is that people want to be celebrities and make money for doing f**king nothing.'" Ozzy and his family were stars of their own reality series, The Osbournes, from 2002 until 2005, and the rocker was quick to compare the two shows. "When we did The Osbournes it was totally raw, there was no script," he said. "We just did what we did and had the camera rolling. Have a camera crew in your house for three years and you go a bit crazy!" - New Musical Express, 11/26/18...... Bob Dylan and Neil Young are set to co-headline next summer's British Summer Time music festival at Hyde Park in London on July 12. The iconic pair first shared a stage in 1976 at a farewell show for Dylan's backing band and have consistently supported each other's musical talents since. Dylan last toured the U.K. over the summer, while Young was part of the O2 fest in London in June 2016. The rest of this year's line up is yet to be announced. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Nov. 30. Meanwhile in other Bob Dylan news, the musician made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show on Nov. 24, however he never said a word. Instead, Dylan -- who rarely appears on chat shows -- joined Fallon for a pre-recorded clip that saw the pair enjoying some of the Dylan's new line of whiskey together while watching a private circus performance from the "Big Apple Circus." Dylan is promoting his new brand of whiskey, called Heaven's Door. The star filed a trademark for the term "bootleg whiskey" back in 2015, which caught the eye of liquor entrepreneur Marc Bushala and led to the new line being created. "Dylan has these qualities that actually work well for a whiskey," Bushala told The New York Times. "He has great authenticity. He is a quintessential American. He does things the way he wants to do them. I think these are good attributes for a super-premium whiskey as well." The label for the drink is silhouettes of wagon wheels and crows, and it retails at $50-$80 a bottle. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 11/27/18...... KISS has just added 25 new dates to its "End of the Road" farewell world tour, which are set to begin on Aug. 6, 2019 in Sunrise, Fla., and wrap on Sept. 16 in Oakland, Calif. Currently, KISS' "End of the Road" trek is scheduled to wrap in Australia on Nov. 26, 2019, but that could easily change, according to the rockers. Tickets for the second leg of the "End of the Road" farewell tour go on sale on Dec. 3. - Billboard, 11/26/18...... David Bowie's son Duncan Jones has shared a Twitter tribute to director Nicolas Roeg, who passed away on Nov. 24 at the age of 90 and directed Duncan's dad in his first major onscreen performance, 1976's The Man Who Fell to Earth. "Just heard another great storyteller, the inimitable Nicolas Roeg left us today," Duncan tweeted. "What an incredible body of work he's left us with! All my love to his family. Thank you for making so many brave choices, & giving this strange little lad in pajamas an ongoing love of filmmaking." Jones accompanied the post with a photo of him as a lad with his father and Roeg on set, along with his heartfelt message. - Billboard, 11/24/18...... Aretha Franklin's historic mansion in Detroit has sold for $300,000 at auction. The 5,600-square-foot brick home adjacent to the Detroit Golf Club was built in 1927. Franklin bought the home in 1993, but nearly lost it in 2008 due to unpaid property taxes. Meanwhile, Franklin's 4,148-square-foot Colonial-style house in suburban Detroit's Bloomfield Township still is listed for $800,000. Franklin died of pancreatic cancer in August in her Detroit riverfront apartment. She was 76. - AP, 11/24/18...... In a new interview with the UK's The Daily Mail paper, Barbra Streisand revealed that she had a secret rough relationship with her mother Diana, who died in 2002. Streisand, 76, said that after her father Emanuel died of an accidental morphine overdose when she was only 15 months old, Diana had to care for her alone. "I think there are parents who don't really like themselves. They don't like their offspring either. My mother meant well. She loved me as best she could. She had dreams of her own and she wanted to be a singer. She was jealous, and that was staggering for me to learn," Barbra remarked. Streisand, known for her diva ways, added in the emotional interview about Diana, "She never praised me to my face but I have a feeling she praised me to other people. And she never hugged me or said, 'I love you.'" The Funny Girl star, who is married to James Brolin, added, "I'm more of a toucher than my mother. Now I'm older I can do it, but for a long time touching felt alien. I always felt, 'Why are you hugging me, what is this about?' I didn't understand it and it felt uncomfortable. But I owe her my career. It was painful on the way up. I was always trying to prove to her that I was worthy of being somebody. She'd say, 'Your voice needs strengthening. Put an egg in milk and whip it up.'" - Canoe.com/American Media Inc., 11/24/18...... Ricky Jay, a famous magician and actor who appeared in such films as the '70s-themed film Boogie Nights, died on Nov. 24 in Los Angeles. He was 72. In a 1993 profile of Jay in The New Yorker, fellow magician and actor Steve Martin said of Jay, "I sort of think of Ricky as the intellectual lite of magicians. I've had experience with magicians my whole life. He's expertly able to perform and yet he knows the theory, history, literature of the field. Ricky's a master of his craft. You know how there are those teachers of creative writing who can't necessarily write but can teach? Well, Ricky can actually do everything." In addition to his long career as a magician, Jay also appeared in such movies as Magnolia (1999) as the narrator, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) as a cyber terrorist and Boogie Nights (1997), among others, and several times appeared in David Mamet's films, including House of Games; Homicide, Things Change, The Spanish Prisoner, State and Main and Heist. He also had various roles on television series, including The X-Files and Deadwood. In addition to acting, Jay wrote and hosted his own television specials for the likes of CBS, HBO and the BBC, and he also served as host and narrator of the first documentary miniseries on conjuring, The Story of Magic, for the A&E network. - The Hollywood Reporter, 11/25/18.

Aretha Franklin was honored during a Thanksgiving parade in her hometown of Detroit on Nov. 22. Members of the late Queen of Soul's family traveled in Ford Mustangs on a three-mile route along Woodward Ave. as thousands of spectators turned out in sub-freezing temperatures. A high school marching band also performed Franklin's signature tunes during the parade. Franklin's son, Eddie Franklin, and niece, Sabrina Owens, were among the family members traveling in Mustangs. "We were honored to be invited to be a part of a Detroit tradition," Owens told reporters. "Aretha loved the holiday season, so it was great for the family to be able to represent her." Meanwhile, Franklin has appeared on Billboard's Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart for the first time in 24 years as her new version of "Silent Night" debuted at No. 28 on the survey dated Nov. 24. The song, fully titled "Silent Night (Solo Piano Version)," was originally released on the late icon's 2008 album This Christmas, which arrived on vinyl for the first time on Nov. 16. Franklin died on Aug. 16 at 76. - AP/Billboard, 11/23/18...... An official David Bowie app based on the "David Bowie Is" exhibition is set to launch in January 2019, it has been confirmed. The exhibition -- which explored "the broad range of the late artist's collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art, and film" -- closed down for good in July 2018 ,five years after it debuted at the V&A in London and became the institution's most-visited touring exhibition. The Augmented Reality (AR) app, first announced in the summer, has now been green-lit for a launch on Jan. 8, 2019, to mark what would've been the legend's 72nd birthday. It will be available in iOS and Android, and will grant fans access to the show's hundreds of costumes, videos, handwritten lyrics, original works of art and much more. Dozens of items not featured in the original exhibition will also be included, including some entirely new and exclusive to the AR version of the app. - New Musical Express, 11/20/18...... Diana Ross was among the many stars highlighting the 92nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan on Nov. 22. Ross chose Paul McCartney's holidy tune "A Wonderful Christmas Time" as her yuletide tribute, and members of her family were also present on her float. With temps as low as 19 degrees, the parade was the coldest Macy's Thanksgiving parade on record. - Billboard, 11/22/18...... German electronic rock pioneers Kraftwerk have been announced as the first headliners of the UK's 2019 Bluedot Festival, set for July 18-21 in the ground's of Cheshire's Jodrell Bank Observatory. Kraftwerk will provide a special 3-D live performance for the show, which will mark their first-ever UK headline festival appearance and will see the group bring their 'Gesamtkunstwerk' (translated as "a total work of art") style of live performance to the festival. More acts for Bluedot 2019 will be announced in January. - New Musical Express, 11/21/18...... Cher took to Twitter on Nov. 20 to tease that she may be planning a follow-up to her successful ABBA-based album Dancing Queen. Cher posted "If I was going to do [ABBA] 2," then listed a number of ABBA songs, including such well-known hits as "Take a Chance on Me," "Money Money Money" and "Does Your Mother Know." Dancing Queen was Cher's critically-acclaimed 26th album recorded by the diva after she appeared in the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! film as Ruby Sheridan, mother of Donna (played by Meryl Streep) and grandmother of Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried). Meanwhile, Cher discussed her life, loves and unexpected success of the new Cher-based Broadway musical "The Cher Show" in a new interview with Elle magazine published on Nov. 19. When asked about how following her instincts has always led her to huge career-defining moments, she replied: "It doesn't always -- look, I've had huge failures in my life. Huge dips and 'Oh, you're over. You're over.' This one guy once said, 'You're over' every year for I don't know how many years. And I just said to him, 'You know what? I will be here when you're not doing what you do anymore.' I had no idea if I was right or wrong. I was just tired of hearing him say it." - Billboard, 11/21/18...... Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has officially canceled his string of headlining tour dates on the heels of his recent hospitalization after collapsing backstage after a cameo appearance at a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 11. He was treated by medics before taken to the hospital and released soon after. Perry now says he will be taking the rest of 2018 off. - Billboard, 11/20/18...... Yoko Ono said in a recent interview promoting her 14th album Warzone that she decided to use a crow, elephant and wolf on several tracks on the album because those animals aren't typical pets. "These animals are very strong," Yoko says. "I noticed that many people get animals they can pet and I wanted to show that many animals are very independent of us." The album also features a stripped-back version of John Lennon's "Imagine," and when asked why she interpreted the song in such a minimalist fashion, Yoko said: "I think that people are too concerned about isms, because again what happened to the song was something that came to my mind without even knowing it." Ono also commented on the new John Lennon stamp which has recently been issued by the US Postal Service: "I always wanted to do it! And finally it's a reality. John would have been very pleased." - Billboard, 11/20/18...... In related news, a new live John Lennon tribute album featuring performances by Willie Nelson, Brandon Flowers, Steven Tyler, Sheryl Crow, Aloe Blacc and more has been given a January 2019 release date. Imagine: John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert will showcase the 2015 concert that took place at New York City's The Theater at Madison Square Garden to celebrate Lennon's iconic career. "It's beautiful to see so many wonderful and talented musicians come together for this special show to celebrate John's birthday," Yoko Ono said in a statement. "John's art continues to give hope, light and happiness to generations of people everywhere. His belief that each of us can change the world continues to inspire the human race to believe in themselves, and his influence is everlasting in everyone's hearts as we all share in the possibilities and power of music." The concert will also be released as a vinyl LP featuring artists including Kris Kristofferson, Peter Frampton, Juanes, Tom Morello, Chris Stapleton, Kevin Bacon, Eric Church and Pat Monahan of Train. - Billboard, 11/20/18...... In other Beatles-related news, a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the Fab Four's 1968 album The Beatles (aka "The White Album") has re-entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart at No. 6 following its release on Nov. 9. The set climbed back onto the tally with 63,000 units earned (up 1,499%) in the week ending Nov. 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 52,000 were in traditional album sales (up 5,596%). "The White Album," first released in 1968, was remastered and reissued in a variety of formats, including some with a bevy of bonus tracks. The set spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 between Dec. 28, 1968 and March 1, 1969, and is one of the band's 19 No. 1 albums on the survey. - Billboard, 11/18/18...... Queen has topped the Billboard Artist 100 chart for the week ending Nov. 24 for the second straight week following the Nov. 2 premiere of the new Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. The Artist 100, which launched in July 2014, measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity. Queen is the first duo or group to spend consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Artist 100 since Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Oct. 2017, following Petty's death. - Billboard, 11/20/18...... In an exclusive interview with iHeartMedia on Nov. 19, the Rolling Stones confirmed they will be heading back to the U.S. for a North American leg of their "No Filter Tour" that will kick off on Apr. 20 in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Stones will also be visiting 12 other cities during the jaunt, including Jacksonville, Fla. (4/24), Houston (4/28), Glendale, Az. (5/7), Pasadena, Calif. (5/11), Santa Clara, Calif. (5/18), Seattle (5/22), Denver (5/26), Washington, D.C. (5/31), Philadephia (6/4), Foxborough, Mass. (6/8) and East Rutherford, N.J. (6/13) before wrapping in Chicago on June 21. "We finished off a few months ago in Europe and it just felt so good that when they said do you want to do the States? Yeah, because I didn t want to get off, I mean I thought we were just getting going," Stones guitarist Keith Richards told iHeartMedia. Frontman Mick Jagger added: "You want to pick towns that you haven t been for a while. Last time, we toured a lot of the UK and a lot of those towns we haven t been to in a very, very long time. - Billboard, 11/19/18...... Folk/rock icon Arlo Guthrie says his Nov. 24 edition of his annual Thanksgiving concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall will probably be the penultimate one. "I don't know if we'll continue it beyond next year," Guthrie says. "Next year we'll do the actual 50th anniversary show at Carnegie, and I think I'll probably call it quits after that. It's been a long tradition, but the older I get the harder it is to do. I'd rather quit while we're ahead and it's still a good show." Guthrie is in the midst of his "Alice's Restaurant -- Back By Popular Demand Tour," which he started this fall and plans to carry into 2020, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his epic 1967 story song and the 1969 movie it helped inspire. "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" -- which chronicles a citation for littering in 1965 and the U.S. Army's refusal to draft him because of that conviction -- came out during October of 1967 and became an instant Thanksgiving tradition for fans and radio stations around the country. Guthrie himself gave it a long lay-off before returning to performing it during 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event that inspired that song, complete with a multi-media presentation on stage. Guthrie says plans are being formulated for 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Alice's Restaurant film, in which he starred -- although he was "never a big fan of the movie" -- and for which director Arthur Penn received an Academy Award nomination. Firm plans have yet to be announced, but the 2019 Carnegie Hall show will be a focal point. In the meantime Guthrie says he'll keep the "Massacree" alive in concert -- as well as the spirit of counter-culture protest it evokes and which is still a big part of Guthrie's own repertoire. - Billboard, 11/19/18...... The Criterion Collection will reissue former Talking Heads frontman's David Byrne's zany 1986 directorial debut, True Stories, on Nov. 27. Byrne, who doesn't usually enjoy looking backwards, says he's borderline excited about revisiting the movie. "You know [those features are] what you're going to get in one of [Criterion's] packages, and Criterion doesn't let you down," Byrne said in a phone interview. "And with the mastering of the film it's like, 'This is the version that we hope people see.'" The package includes a reworked soundtrack, an hour-long making-of retrospective, a series of essays about the film, and a remastered cut. Meanwhile, Byrne and his band continue to tour behind Byrne's latest solo effort, American Utopia. - Billboard, 11/19/18...... A memorial service for late country music star Roy Clark was held at Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, Okla., on Nov. 21. Family and friends including Vince Gill and Ricky Scaggs gathered to remember the singer, who died on Nov. 15 due to complications from pneumonia. Clark's family asked that contributions be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in lieu of flowers. Clark headlined a golf tournament for St. Jude's for many years, where a floor was named in his honor. - Billboard, 11/19/18...... British blues rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Laurence Jones will be special guest on the second UK tour of former Deep Purple frontman Glenn Hughes' "Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live" tour in May 2019. The eight date UK 2019 tour will be a two-hour live extravaganza homage to Hughes' tenure in the "MK 3" and "MK 4" incarnations of Deep Purple. Laurence Jones has previously supported the likes of Status Quo, Gary Clark Jr, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Van Morrison, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Joe Bonamassa and Eric Burdon. "I'm excited to be touring the "Classic Deep Purple Live" in the UK in May 2019 with Laurence again," Hughes says. "I first toured Classic Deep Purple Live in Australia and New Zealand last year and it went down like a storm. We are looking forward for a second round in 2019," he added. The tour gets underway May 14 in Holmfirth, also visiting seven additional cities. - Noble PR, 11/19/18...... Legendary The Price Is Right game show host Bob Barker was rushed to the hospital over a medical emergency on Nov. 17. According to reports, the 94-year-old Barker was picked up from his Hollywood Hills home by an ambulance this and taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital. At the time, he said he was experiencing severe back pain related to his 2017 fall. Barker is reportedly doing much better at home after his health scare. - Canoe.com, 11/19/18...... A police department in Washington state has opened an investigation into the death of "American Top 40" host Casey Kasem more than four years after the radio icon's death. "We received information from the family that alleges the death to be wrongful and we are conducting an administrative review of that information. The case is being titled Death Investigation," Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey told NBC News. He said the review was opened on Oct. 29. Kasem died in June 2014 in Washington state, where his wife, Jean Kasem, took him after removing him from a medical facility in Southern California where he was receiving around-the-clock care. Kasem had a form of dementia and severe bedsores when he died. Jean Kasem and Kasem's three adult children from a previous marriage have been in a drawn-out and sometimes bizarre battle since his death. Kerri, Julie, and Michael Kasem filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jean Kasem in 2015 after prosecutors declined to charge her with elder abuse. Jean has denied the claims. Both sides have accused the other of being motivated by greed over Casey Kasems estimated $80 million fortune. - NBC News, 11/20/18...... British songwriter and producer Scott English, who worked on some of the most iconic tunes in pop music history, died on Nov. 20 at age 81. Mr. English is best known for penning "Brandy" (not to be confused with the 1972 Looking Glass hit), which later became known as Barry Manilow's 1974 hit "Mandy." He also co-wrote a plethora of other smashes, including "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and "Bend Me Shape Me," and has songs on albums by the likes of Thin Lizzy, Bobby Darin, Black Lace, Slade, Donny Osmond, Dionne Warwick, Lynsey De Paul, Jeff Beck, Carole King, Amen Corner, Alan Parsons and Mama Cass. "Scott English was a gifted songwriter and an incredibly warm person who everyone loved working with," said Mike Smith, managing director of Warner/Chappell Music UK. "Even when he was ill in hospital, he was still working on new lyrics. 'Brandy', which went on to be popularised as 'Mandy', is a timeless pop classic, while his prodigious output included songs for artists ranging from Dionne Warwick to Thin Lizzy. He'll be truly missed and our thoughts are with his family." - Billboard, 11/20/18.