Activists in the LGBT community in China are condemning a decision by Chinese authorities to release the recent Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody with all its references to homosexualy removed. The film was released in the country earlier in March with censored scenes, including ones which showed two men kissing or featured the word "gay." All references to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury's sexuality were also edited out, while the scene in which he comes out to his then-girlfriend was also removed. Another notable change includes the audio being muted during the emotional moment when Mercury tells the band that he has AIDS. Thousands of Chinese social media users have been sharing reviews of the film online, and most have been positive, however many have criticized their government's revisions of Bohemian Rhapsody. Homosexuality has been legal in China for more than two decades and the Chinese Society of Psychiatry removed it from the country's classification of mental disorders in 2001. But the movie's censorship was widely anticipated. In recent years, Chinese authorities have embarked on a campaign to purge content it deems inappropriate. Explicit references to same-sex relationships are banned under Chinese regulations. Gay content is frequently removed or censored by Chinese media anxious to ensure compliance. - New Musical Express/BBC.com, 3/27/19...... 
Sting will revisit and reimagine 15 of his best known songs as a solo artist and Police frontman on his new album My Songs, which drops on May 24. "I'm constantly tinkering and I'm always wanting to make the songs as contemporary as they can possible be, because I think they are good songs," Sting says. "Sometimes songs are identified by the technology they were recorded with -- recording techniques, the sound of synthesizers or the drum sound. They all date a song, so we just want to re-contemporize the stuff." My Songs was recorded in various locations, making use of both existing and newly recorded tracks, with members of Sting's touring band, including guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Josh Freese. A deluxe edition with five live bonus tracks will also be available. Sting, who shared a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album with Shaggy for their 44/876 collaboration, will hit the road again with the rapper on May 19 for a short U.K. tour, then play two dates in the U.S. during May before launching a "Sting: My Songs" tour starting on May 28 in Paris. He also has a handful of additional U.S. dates slated for late summer. - Billboard, 3/27/19...... '70s artists Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and Bill Murray will be among the cast for director Jim Jarmusch's upcoming zombie film, Focus Features announced on Mar. 28. Written and directed by Jarmusch, the film is set to hit theaters worldwide on June 14 and will also feature Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloe Sevigny, Danny Glover and Selena Gomez. Jarmusch is known for helming such films as Dead Man (1995) and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and some of the cast have worked with him in previous films, such as Pop in Dead Man. - Billboard, 3/28/19...... Herbie Hancock will be among the headliners in 2019's International Jazz Day weekend, set for April in Melbourne, Australia. The festival will occur on both Apr. 29 and 30 and will include jazz performances by artists from more than 130 countries around the world, education programs and community service initiatives across both days that feature over a dozen jazz masters. - Billboard, 3/27/19...... The Beatles producing legend Sir George Martin and late Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun will be inducted into the Music Business Hall of Fame during the 61st annual Music Business Association (Music Biz) conference on May 7 in Nashville. Music Biz launched its Hall of Fame in 2018, inducting Tower Records founder Russ Solomon. It aims to celebrate the achievements of industry executives, companies, media, venues, institutions and others who have made significant contributions to the music business. Martin, who passed away in March 2016 at age 90, will be inducted by his son, Giles Martin. The Music Biz 2019 Awards & Hall of Fame Dinner will take place as part of Music Biz's Annual Conference on May 7 at the JW Marriott Nashville. - Billboard, 3/27/19...... The Motown Museum in Detroit celebrated the 75th anniversary of one of its most famous performers, Diana Ross, on Mar. 26 with a screening of Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy at the Emagine theater at the original Hitsville USA headquarters. The new documentary showcases Ross's famed 1983 conterts in New York's Central Park, and patrons in attendance were also serenaded by the local Prism Mens Chorus, which sang her hit "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" as well as "Happy Birthday." Although Ross herself was celebrating her birthday at home in Los Angeles that night, Ross's youngest sister Rita, who reminded everybody she's the "baby of the family," told the crowd that she was "blessed to be part of my sister's journey for over seven decades." That included traveling with The Supremes as part of a Dick Clark Caravan tour and joining the group on Sammy Davis Jr.'s private plane on its way to the trio's first engagement at the Copacabana in New York during 1965. "I remember we were going over and over and over, trying to get their opening speech (down), so I learned it by heart," the younger Ross said. The event also included a specially videotaped message by Rhonda Ross, her daughter with Motown founder Berry Gordy and a member of the Motown Museum board. Meanwhile, Ross is pleading with critics of her late friend Michael Jackson to "stop in the name of love" amid resurfaced claims of Jackson's alleged sexual abuse stemming from the new HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. "This is what's on my heart this morning. I believe and trust that Michael Jackson was and is A magnificent incredible force to me and to many others," the former Supremes frontwoman posted on Twitter on Mar. 23. "STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE," she added, referencing the Supremes' chart-topping hit. - Billboard, 3/27/19...... 
In other Motown-related news, Stevie Wonder is set to headline a gig at this year's British Summer Time at London's Hyde Park on July 6, with former The Commodores and '80s solo superstar Lionel Richie as his opener. "The Stevie Wonder Song Party: A Celebration of Life, Love & Music" will be presented on Great Oak Stage with Wonder playing music from his almost six decades-long career. "I'm very thankful that you all have been so wonderful to me, giving me your life and allowing me to share my music with you since I was 11 years old, which was just a little ago," Wonder told the UK's New Musical Express. "So, we're just going to play and have fun." Wonder is also set to headline the international TV festival SeriesFest on June 24 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. This will mark Wonder's first-ever performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Meanwhile, Lionel Richie has announced he'll release his latest album, Live from Las Vegas, on Aug. 23, his first release under his new deal with Capitol Records. Recorded at Zappos Theater at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, the album will feature Richie performing some of his biggest hits, inclukding "All Night Long," "Say You, Say Me," "Hello," "Dancing On The Ceiling" and "Truly," as well as songs from his time with The Commodores, including "Three Times a Lady" and "Easy." Richie will kick off a 32-date "Hello Tour" on May 28 at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land, Tex., also making stops in Radio City Music Hall in New York CIty (July 17, 18) and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (Aug. 5), among others, before wrapping on Aug. 30 at the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, Minn. - Billboard/NME, 3/26/19...... Family members of late Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin celebrated what would have been her 77th birthday on Mar. 25 with a memorial service at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, nearby where Franklin was laid to rest in a crypt in August 2018. Those who attended remembered not only the legendary singer but also other departed members of the Franklin family. Later in the evening, the Detroit Institute of Arts hosted the premiere of the documentary Amazing Grace, which chronicles Franklin's 1972 performance at a Los Angeles church. Amazing Grace will be released on DVD in April with many extras, including several songs that aren't in the movie. - AP, 3/25/19...... Playing his 62nd sold out show during his residency at Madison Square Garden in New York on Mar. 21, Billy Joel surprised his audience by bringing out John Fogerty to jam with him on a couple of Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, "Up Around the Bend" and "Fortunate Son." Fogerty was in New York for the Woodstock 50 festival lineup announcement at Electric Lady Studios earlier in the week, where he also performed a few CCR songs. - Billboard, 3/25/19...... The estate of Michael Jackson is criticizing the recent announcement by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that Michael's mega-selling 1982 album Thriller (33 million copies sold) has been surpassed as the "best-selling album of all time" by the Eagles' 1975 hits collection, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, which the RIAA recently certified as a 38-million seller. Though the two albums have jockeyed for the top spot since the 1980s, trading the lead five times, executives from both Jackson's estate and Sony Music were stunned by the news that Their Greatest Hits had gained nine new platinum certifications in a single day from the RIAA for the years 2006 to 2018 -- meaning 9 million additional U.S. album sales had been made or discovered over those 12 years. Jackson estate co-executor and Ziffren Brittenham partner/head of music John Branca says he's skeptical. "When you review the analysis of the [Eagles] record's performance over the last 20 years, this sudden certification of newly discovered albums that were uncounted calls into question the accuracy of the RIAA certifications," he said in January. "Record companies regularly restrict audits of sales to a three-year period. I've never seen an audit that goes back 20 years." The data team at Warner Music Group, the Eagles' label, had undertaken an exhaustive forensic search to find all sales and royalty reports dating back to 1976, when the album was first issued, sources say. At the very least, Thriller remains the sales leader worldwide, says Branca: The United States accounts for only 30 percent of Jackson's sales and streaming, both of which are up even after the documentary. "When you look at it on a global basis, it's not even a fair conversation," he said. "No album comes close." - Billboard, 3/25/19...... 
Elton John revealed the title, release date and cover for his long-awaited biography on Mar. 25 to mark his 72nd birthday. Titled Me, the memoir will arrive in bookstores on Oct. 15 and its cover features a black and white image of John in his younger years, sporting a pair of his colorful trademark specs. "This is the very first time anyone has seen this, apart from me, of course," the singer said during the unveiling on Twitter. A press release describes Me as "[Elton]'s first and only official autobiography [which] reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, which is also the subject of the upcoming film Rocketman. The result is Me -- the joyously funny, honest and moving story of the most enduringly successful singer/songwriter of all time." Me will be published by Henry Holt in the U.S. and Pan Macmillan in the U.K. Meanwhile, actor Taron Egerton, who plays John in the upcoming biopic Rocketman spoke at a recent partial preview of the Dexter Fletcher-directed movie and said it tells the singer's full story -- warts and all. Egerton says that the film begins with John entering rehab, then the film unfolds as he tells of how he ended up so broken. Egerton has also denied rumours that a gay sex scene has been removed from Rocketman, and says it will be more of a musical than a typical bipoic. Rocketman hits theaters in the U.S. on May 31 and in the U.K. on May 2. - New Musical Express, 3/26/19...... The B-52's have announced plans for a farewell tour of the U.K. this summer. Best known for their hits "Love Shack" and "Rock Lobster," the Georgia-based band will play five dates, kicking off at Gateshead Sage in Newcastle on June 29, then visiting London's Aventim Apollo on June 30 and Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall on July 2. before wrapping up at Manchester O2 Apollo on July 3. The B-52's formed in October 1976 over a shared flaming volcano cocktail at the Hunan Chinese Restaurant. They released their self-titled debut album in 1979, produced by Chris Blackwell via Island Records. The band is also currently working on a documentary and their first official book. In 2018, the band celebrated what they dubbed their 40th anniversary by co-headlining a North American tour with fellow '80s stars Boy George & Culture Club and Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey. - NME, 3/26/19...... A new study from a team at New York University has revealed that the 1960s is the best decade for pop music. The team quizzed 643 subjects aged between 18 and 25 on their pop song knowledge throughout the last 50 years and, in a major victory for fans of the 1960s, it seems that chart toppers from that decade proved to be a whole lot more memorable than the songs from the years 2000 to 2015. Other songs from across the decades were also found to be particularly memorable. Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman," Blondie's "The Tide Is High" and the lesser known "Baby Come Back" by Player were among the most memorable tunes. As for the least memorable, that dubious accolade went to Dawn's "Knock Three Times," John Denver's "I'm Sorry" and Lionel Richie's "Truly." "The 1960s to 1990s was a special time in music, reflected by a steady recognition of pieces of that era-even by today's millennials," said Dr. Pascal Wallisch, lead author of the study. - New Musical Express, 3/27/19...... Olivia Newton-John has claimed that she is regularly haunted the ghosts of celebrity friends that have passed away. The singer made the comments in her new memoirs Don't Stop Believin' and suggested that her late famous pals -- including John Denver and Karen Carpenter -- hover around her while she's performing and act as her spirit guides to ensure her shows always go without a hitch. "I often feel as if they hover around me when I perform," the 70-year-old said. "They are my spirit guides who I ask to support me before every show and they keep me strong. They're gone, but their love never dies." Newton-John, who recently revealed she's currently battling cancer for the third time, also says that she has a number of ghostly companions, which also include a friend's daughter who died as a child, along with other family members. "She has been with me ever since (she passed away), along with my parents (and) my sister," she confessed. - WENN/Canoe.com, 3/26/19...... Redmond O'Neal, the troubled son of actor Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett, has been sued by one of the men he allegedly attacked in 2018 during a violent crime spree. The alleged victim, Steven Jaco, claims the 34-year-old Redmond stabbed him in the head during a drug-fueled rage in Venice, Calif. Jaco claims O'Neal attacked "without provocation," and was wielding his fists, along with some sort of "spike." Jaco, who insists O'Neal was under the influence of drugs, claims he was stabbed "on the right side of his skull, near the side of his left eye and his temple." Jaco claims he has incurred tons of medical expenses, along with not being able to work, and now wants to go after O'Neal for the damages. It's the second lawsuit brought against Redmond, as in 2018 another man sued him during a different violent spree, accusing him of a hate crime. O'Neal remains behind bars until his next hearing in July. - TheBlast.com, 3/26/19...... A new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Oh., spotlights the 2019 inductees, which include Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, The Cure, Def Leppard, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies. Nicks items include her performance outfits from her 1983 "Wild Heart" solo tour and the tambourine from the cover of her 1981 solo debut album. The 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Mar. 29 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with an edited version slated to air on HBO on Apr. 27. According to a press release, Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry will renunite with former members of his band, including Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera, at the ceremony. - Billboard, 3/25/19...... 
Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett is set to take the stage at WWE's Wrestlemania on Apr. 7, the entertainment company announced on Mar. 26. Jett will perform her hit song "Bad Reputation" as Ronda Rousey makes her grand entrance into the ring for the annual wrestling smackdown. With her performance, Jett will join a lengthy list of stars who've graced the extravaganza's stage over the years, including Snoop Dogg, Pitbull, Kid Rock and others. Wrestlemania is set to take place April 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and will stream live around the globe on WWE Network. - Billboard, 3/26/19...... Ranking Roger, a former member of The English Beat and General Public, passed away on Mar. 26 after a battle with cancer. He was 56. Roger, whose real name is Roger Charlery, announced his diagnosis back in January, revealing that cancer had been discovered in his brain and in his lungs after he suffered a stroke last summer. He began his career drumming for the Nam Nam Boys before joining The Beat (known as The English Beat in North America) for their three albums, 1980's classic I Just Can't Stop It, 1981's Wha'ppen? and 1982's Special Beat Service. After the band's breakup in 1983, Roger and Dave Wakeling went on to form General Public with members of Dexys Midnight Runners and The Specials. - Billboard, 3/26/19...... Scott Walker (neé Scott Engel) of the '60s group The Walker Brothers has died aged 76, his record label said on Mar. 25. The US pop trio enjoyed hits like "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" and "Make It Easy On Yourself" in the 1960s. The band moved to Britain and at one point their fame in their adopted country rivalled that of the Beatles. "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Scott Walker. Scott was 76 years old and is survived by his daughter, Lee, his granddaughter, Emmi-Lee, and his partner, Beverly," record label 4AD posted on Twitter. - TV News London, 3/25/19...... Blues harmonica virtuoso and onetime Muddy Waters sideman James Cotten died on Mar. 14 at a medical center in Austin of pneumonia. He was 81. Mr. Cotton, who was born on a cotton farm in Tunica, Miss. on July 1, 1935, came to prominence in the Fifties when he cut two singles for the fledging label Sun Records and performed gigs with Waters. Mr. Cotton, dubbed "Mr. Superharp," formed the James Cotton Band in 1966, with the group issuing a self-titled debut the next year. In the Seventies, he recorded for Buddha and Capitol, reuniting with Waters for LPs produced by guitarist Johnny Winter. The first, Hard Again, came out in 1977 and won a Grammy. He also made appearances on albums by Sumlin, Memphis Slim, Steve Miller and others, and welcomed Miller, Winter, Dr. John, Todd Rundgren, David Sanborn and others onto his own recordings. He continued to record throughout the Eighties, including a run on Alligator Records, and won the Best Traditional Blues Album Grammy for his Deep in the Blues LP in 1997. His most recent album was Cotton Mouth Man, which came out in 2013 and was nominated for a Grammy. - 3/19/19.
Although Paul Simon has announced he is finished touring for good, the singer/songwriter has signed on to headline the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, which is set for Aug. 9-11, and donating the entire net proceeds from his performance to local environmental non-profits. Simon's decision is in line with his 2018 retirement, where he said he was finished touring but not performing live. Simon will play Outside Lands nearly one year after wrapping his "Homeward Bound Farewell Tour" with a final two-and-a-half-hour show show at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in September where he closed with "Sound of Silence" before walking off stage and telling fans "It means more than you can know." In a statement about his Outside Lands appearance, Simon said: "I'm looking forward with great anticipation to playing at Golden Gate Park this summer. This will be my first appearance there, and it's an honor to join the long line of musicians who've given the park its sanctified musical heritage. I'm equally pleased to be playing in San Francisco with its well-deserved reputation for being in the forefront of environmental issues. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this vital cause." - Billboard, 3/22/19...... 
Barbra Streisand has clarified her comments regarding Michael Jackson and the controversial new Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland after facing criticism for an interview with the Times of London on Mar. 22 in which she said Jackson's "sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has... You can say 'molested,' but those children, as you heard [the grown-up Wade Robson and James Safechuck] say, they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn't kill them." Streisand went on to say that she has "a combination of feelings" on the situation and that she blames the parents of Jackson's alleged victims, saying, "I feel bad for the children. I feel bad for him. I blame, I guess, the parents, who would allow their children to sleep with him." On Mar. 23, Streisand issued an additional clarification, saying she is adamant that she does not condone the behavior Jackson is accused of perpetrating in the documentary, which details the experiences of Robson and Safechuck, who allege that Jackson sexually abused and groomed them as children. "To be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone," her statement reads. "The stories these two young men shared were painful to hear, and I feel nothing but sympathy for them." In an additional apology on her website, Streisand said that the original comments to The Times "do not reflect my true feelings." "I am profoundly sorry for any pain or misunderstanding I caused by not choosing my words more carefully about Michael Jackson and his victims, because the words as printed do not reflect my true feelings," she writes. "I didn't mean to dismiss the trauma these boys experienced in any way. Like all survivors of sexual assault, they will have to carry this for the rest of their lives. I feel deep remorse and I hope that James and Wade know that I truly respect and admire them for speaking their truth." - Billboard, 3/23/19...... In related news, the Jackson estate has been informing the media of its many concerns about the credibility of Leaving Neverland and Safechuck and Robson. In a 24-page PowerPoint document not intended for publication titled "Leaving Neverland and the Truth," the estate questions the accusers' memories and the filmmakers' motives in detail. The estate also attached recent news clips in which the Jackson's defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., called the charges "hogwash." "The quotes are taken out of context and no effort was made to clarify," notes the estate, which sued HBO before the film's wide debut for violating a 1992 nondisparagement clause. "The facts don't add up, but no one has really been interested in reporting on it." Meanwhile, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has said it has no intentions of removing Jackson from its list of legendary superstars despite the extensive allegations against Jackson. The music icon was inducted into the prestigious hall twice during his lifetime, once with the Jackson 5 in 1997, and again as a solo artist in 2001. This comes after the legendary Madame Tussauds wax museum said that all waxwork statues of Jackson are set to remain on display at all of their museums. "The figures on display at Madame Tussauds reflect profiles that have had an impact on popular culture and that visitors expect to see," a spokesperson says. "Michael Jackson has been and is currently a feature of Madame Tussauds attractions around the world. We regularly monitor our choice of figures on display based on external events and visitor feedback." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 3/22/19...... Sources close to the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman say the film is expected to get an R-ration for sex and drug scenes. Rocketman will reportedly include an intimate love scene between Taron Egerton, who portrays John, and Richard Madden, who plays Elton's former manager and lover, John Reid. Director Dexter Fletcher is in the midst of editing the film, which is slated for release in the U.S. on May 31 and in the U.K. on May 24, and produced by John's husband, David Furnish. Fletcher recently tweeted a statement saying the movie "has and always will be the no holds barred, musical fantasy that Paramount and producers passionately support and believe in." Paramount test screened the film earlier in March in Pasadena, Calif., and according to a source, it received scores in the high 80s, a promising sign for an unfinished $40 million musical that grapples with some challenging themes, including John's drug addiction. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/22/19...... An old school book containing essays written by Paul McCartney when the former Beatles member was 17-18 years old and studying at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys will be auctioned on Mar. 26 as part of a Beatles memorabilia auction by Merseyside's Omega Auctions. The green book contains English essays on such classic literary works as Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native and John Milton's Paradise Lost, as well as notes and doodles. The book is expected to reach a final price of between £4,000 and £6,000 -- although estimates of £10,000 have also been quoted. In Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn's book The Beatles - All These Years: Vol. One McCartney is quoted as saying, "I did most of my reading in (that) little period of my life I thought it was a bit swotty, a good image I felt like I was at university." - New Musical Express, 3/22/19...... 
As Todd Rundgren prepares to launch the U.S. leg of his "The Individualist" tour on Apr. 10 in Atlanta, Ga., the musician will release Todd Rundgren's Utopia Live at the Chicago Theatre on CD and Blu-ray/DVD on Apr. 5. Rundgren and Utopia, which is comprised of bassist Kasim Sulton, drummer Willie Wilcox and keyboardist Gil Assayas, hit the road for the first time in 32 years in the spring of 2018 for a 33-date tour. The quartet played two-set shows, the first focusing on the more expansive prog-rock of the early Utopia catalog, the second on the poppier side of the group's canon. "It was fun," Rundgren says in retrospect. "It started off very nerve-racking because of the volume of music we had to cover as well as, you know, the band hadn't played together for 35 years or whatever. So trying to regain some sort of tightness, synch, stuff like that, it doesn't must come immediately. It takes a couple gigs for all that to settle in. But as the tour went on it got to be more comfortable and more fun and lasted just about the right amount of time." Before the 20-date, 10-city U.S. leg of his The Individualist tour, Rundgren will play in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Apr. 3 and in London on Apr. 6. After the U.S. leg wraps on May 13 in San Francisco, Rundgren will play two shows in Japan, in Tokyo and Osaka, on May 22 and 23, respectively. Although Rundgren was nominated for the 2019 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he says he isn't losing any sleep about being passed over for the honor. "I didn't expect it and have never cared about it," he says. "I'm not looking for some organization to acknowledge me, somehow. Besides, the Hall of fame doesn't make any sense to me because musicians don't have to retire. Athletes retire, and that's when they go into the hall of fame, because they're not playing anymore. But everybody (the Rock Hall) is inducting now is still playing, so how can you say you've got the measure of them? You don't. So, no, I really don't care." - Billboard, 3/22/19...... Phil Collins, who wrapped his "Not Dead Yet!" tour in 2018, has announced he's returning to the U.S. for an extended run of shows this fall for which he has cleverly dubbed the "Still Not Dead Yet, Live!" tour. Collins' 15-date tour will kick off Sept. 23 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Tex., also visiting major markets including Houston (9/24), Atlanta (9/28), Detroit (10/1), New York (10/6), Denver (10/13), Phoenix (10/15) and San Francisco (10/17) before wrapping at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 19. Collins promises fans will be treated to an assortment of hits spanning his career, including "Against All Odds," "In the Air Tonight," "Invisible Touch" and more. - Billboard, 3/21/19...... The O'Jays have released a new single, "Stand Up (Show Love)," ahead of their new studio album The Last Word, which hits stores on Apr. 19. "Stand Up (Show Love)"'s video goes behind-the-scenes of The O'Jays' recording process, as the lead trio, lead by O'Jays veterans Eddie Levert and Walter Williams are assisted by backup vocalists and a luscious combination of guitars, drums, and keys. "'Stand Up (Show Love)' is our response to what we see happening in the world today as well as the ignorance and hatred we feel is coming from the Trump administration," Eddie Levert explains. "It is a great example of what The O'Jays are all about, message music that make you think while you dance. With this video we wanted to invite people into the studio with us and get them excited to stand up, to take action." Fans can catch The O'Jays performing cuts from the new LP as well as their many classic songs at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem on Apr. 26. - Billboard, 3/22/19...... 
Alan Parsons will release a new studio album, The Secret, on Apr. 26 which he says should appeal to his longtime fans more than his last set, 2004's A Valid Path in which he explored electronica. "I've been keeping busy," the musician-producer-engineer -- who recently won a Grammy Award this year for Eye in the Sky -- 35th Anniversary Edition for Best Immersive Audio Album -- says, ticking off a range of endeavors from buying a new home and building a new studio to putting together special reissues of the Alan Parsons Project's Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Eye in the Sky and an album for ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, who guests on The Secret. "Throughout this period Frontiers [Records] have been chasing me to make a new studio album, and eventually we came to an agreement and literally came to a deal that I could live with. Here it is, and here we are, almost 15 years later. I have no problem with that." The Secret also features vocals by Jason Mraz ("Miracle"), Foreigner co-founder Lou Gramm ("Sometimes") and longtime Parsons concert vocalist P.J. Olsson ("Beyond the Years of Glory"), with Parsons lending his vocals to "As Lights Fall" and "Soiree Fantastique." Genesis alumnus Steve Hackett plays on a rendition of Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," which kicks off the album. Parsons takes his live band on the road starting Feb. 26 in Quebec City, with dates throughout April in North America and a European run right after that into June -- and he promises more live dates will follow. - Billboard, 3/20/19...... R&B icon Curtis Mayfield's 1972 hit "Superfly" is among the 25 songs that have recently been added to the National Recording Registry, the Library of Congress announced on Mar. 20. Other memorable titles chosing by the Registry include Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," Earth, Wind & Fire's "September," Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" and songs from the '70s children's series Schoolhouse Rock. The library selects titles for preservation because of their cultural and historic importance to the American soundscape. - AP, 3/20/19...... The Michigan legislature has approved a portion of M-10 in Detroit be renamed "Aretha L. Franklin Memorial Highway" in honor of Aretha Franklin, who died in Detroit in 2018 after pancreatic cancer. The legislation will next go to the state Senate for approval before being signed by the governor. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Leslie Love of Detroit, says Franklin was a "special lady" who fought for civil rights and "gave us all a soundtrack to our lives." - AP, 3/20/19...... Fleetwood Mac is on track to gross more than $100 million on the North American leg of their 2018/2019 tour with venues across the country reporting grosses between $1.5 to $2 million per show powered by a new generation of fans who have embraced the legendary group and its deep catalog of No. 1 hits. In 2018, the group announced they were going on tour without longtime member Lindsey Buckingham, but with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Crowded House's Neil Finn standing in for the guitarist/singer Buckingham. "The tour is playing to sold out arenas every night and I love walking thru the crowds, seeing generations of longtime fans dancing and singing along to their favorite songs," the band's co-manager Sheryl Louis said in a statement. "What I've noticed on this tour specifically is so many younger fans, who are equally as enthusiastic, seeing the band live for the first time and loving it." - Billboard, 3/18/19...... Cher is reaching out to fans for help in finding her beloved black, rhinestone-studded "Eat the Rich" T-shirt which the diva says she has misplaced after remaining loyal to it for nearly 40 years now. On Mar. 20, Cher tweeted "My T-Shirt Is Gone," along with a few sad-face and broken-heart emojis. "Black studded Rhinestone Shirt with white pirate," she added. "Worn it for 30-40 years. My favorite piece of clothing." She also noted that she's hoping for a little divine intervention, tweeting, "I'm Asking St. Anthony To Get Involved, He Finds Everything." - Billboard, 3/21/19...... 
Boz Scaggs has released a video for "Little Miss Night and Day" from his latest album, 2018's Grammy Award-nominated Out of the Blues. "That's what it's about," Scaggs says of the black & white clip, which features backstage, soundcheck and on stage footage from a tour stop. "It's on the road. It's live. I like people to come out and see it, and we're really running on the enthusiasm that has been created from the last number of years of shows. It's exciting. I'd forgotten how much fun I could have on stage." Scaggs and his band will return to touring on Mar. 27 as part of the 70s Rock & Romance Cruise before starting a U.S. tour leading up to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Apr. 27, and then tours of Japan and back to the U.S. Out of the Blues, which was up for a Grammy for best contemporary blues album this year, was the concluding piece in a trilogy in which Scaggs explored his various musical influences, particularly soul, blues and Americana. Scaggs says he's looking at "a wide open palette" for what he'll do next. - Billboard, 3/20/19...... The Woodstock 50 anniversary festival has announced a massive list of headliners including Robert Plant, John Fogerty, Dead & Company, David Crosby and original Woodstock veteran Santana. Rappers Jay-Z and Chance The Rapper have also been confirmed to headline the event at Watkins Glen, N.Y. running Aug. 16-18. Original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang previously said the 50th anniversary Woodstock will "cross genres from rock to pop, folk and hip hop... It's kind of representative of this idea of engagement and trying to steer toward acts that are heavily involved in social issues. So there's some real gravitas in the performance and we want it to live on beyond the event." Woodstock 50 will occur on the same weekend as another Woodstock anniversary festival produced by Live Nation with headliners Ringo Starr and Santana. - Billboard, 3/19/19...... Jerry Lee Lewis has announced he is canceling several upcoming shows, including his appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on Apr. 28, as he recovers from a stroke he suffered in February. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also announced he is cancelling his May 18 concert in Knoxville, Tenn., and a June 8 concert in Alexandria, Va. According to a statement from the 83-year-old Lewis' neurologist released on Mar. 18, he is expected to fully recover with aggressive and intensive rehab. - AP, 3/19/19...... Country artist Roseanne Cash has joined forces with artist and producer Ry Cooder for a five-city run of "Cash and Cooder on Cash: A Musical Tribute to Johnny Cash." The performances are tribute to Johnny Cash by his daughter and Cooder featuring heartfelt personal interpretations of gems from his treasure-filled songbook. The special performances will kick off on June 16 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville then head to the Chicago Theatre in Illinois, Wang Theatre in Boston, Carnegie Hall in New York and close out on Nov. 3 at the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia. - Amplify, 3/18/19...... 
'70s hitmaker Ray Stevens is among the country/pop acts who have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the organization announced on Mar. 18. Stevens, along with Brooks & Dunn and Jerry Bradley, will be formally inducted during a ceremony at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum later in 2019. The induction into the CMHOF is the pinnacle of achievement in country music. - Billboard, 3/18/19...... A California judge has allowed a lawsuit brought by former Journey singer Steve Perry over vocals he recorded in a garage two decades ago to move forward. In Nov. 2018, Perry sued Phil Brown, claiming the musician wants to release without his permission demos the two recorded together in the early 1990s. Perry says he never intended for those vocals to be used in a larger sound recording in which any other party would have a copyright interest and that the two signed an agreement that Perry would control the exploitation of the musical compositions. Perry says Brown has ignored his cease and desist demands, so he sued. He asked the court for a declaration to clear up who owns the recordings, and is seeking damages for violation of his publicity rights and false endorsement. The court in November granted a temporary restraining order that bars Brown from releasing the works. The next hearing in the case is currently set for Mar. 25. - Billboard, 3/18/19...... R&B legend Andre Williams, perhaps best known for songs including "Bacon Fat" (1956), "Jail Bait" (1957), "Cadillac Jack" (1966), and the R&B classic, "Shake a Tail Feather" (1963), passed away on Mar. 17 in Chicago. He was 82. "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of legendary artist Andre Williams," a Facebook post from the Chicago-based label Pravda Records read. "He died this afternoon in Chicago at the age of 82. He touched our lives and the lives of countless others. We love you Dre." Mr. Williams was signed to Motown and Chess Records during his career, and released his last album, Don't Ever Give Up, via Pravda in 2016. - New Musical Express, 3/18/19.
A rep for Ringo Starr confirmed on Mar. 17 that the former Beatles drummer "has been working on a new record for months." This comes three days after Ringo's recording engineer, Bruce Sugar, posted a pic of himself, Ringo and Steve Lukather of Ringo's All-Starr Band on Facebook with the caption, "Another great day in the Studio..." Starr later tweeted the same day: "In the studio again with the great Steve Lukather what a guy peace and Love." Ringo's most recent album, Give More Love, peaked at No. 128 on the Billboard 200 in October 2017. There's no word on when the new album will be released. Ringo and his band will kick off a 2019 US tour on Mar. 21 in Funner, Calif., followed by nine shows in April in Japan. He'll be back performing in Canada and the U.S. starting Aug. 1, including the 50th anniversary Woodstock music festival. - Billboard, 3/17/19...... In other Beatles-related news, a letter written by John Lennon in 1971 which details his anger with his record label and the music industry at large over the Two Virgins album he released with Yoko Ono has been put up for auction, with bids expected to reach as much as £15,000. Addressed to "Martin George of Rock Ink," who is interpreted to be either Beatles producer George Martin or, more likely, underground Ink music mag journalist Martin George, the letter states: "Yoko and I got 'Two Virgins' out in spite of [which is underlined] being past owners of Apple. We made it in May and they f---ed us about till November! Then E. M. I. (who have the real control) wrote warning letters to all their puppets around the world telling them not handle it in any way (this after Sir Joe [Lockwood, chairman of EMI] had told us face to face that he would do 'everything he could' to help us with it - and asking us for autographed copies!!)." Lennon continues: "In the States it came out on Tetragrammaton which vanished leaving a few thousand spares (it was sold discretely wrapped in a brown paper bags). Retailers here and there were too scared to handle it and it sold very few - it's very well known but not many people could actually get it. In most other major markets, e.g. Japan, it has never been released." After railing against the censorship of the word "fuck" and the "banning" of Ono's 'Open Your Box', Lennon concluded the letter with: "Just thought you'd like to know." - New Musical Express, 3/13/19...... The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana has announced its upcoming Roger Ebert Eberfest film festival will feature the premiere of a restored version of Aretha Franklin's "lost" 1972 concert film Amazing Grace. The 1972 film directed by Sydney Pollack, which has been stored in a vault for decades, has now been restored and released. It will kick off this year's Ebertfest followed by a live community choir performance. Franklin died at the age of 76 in August 2018 from pancreatic cancer. The annual festival honors Ebert, the late Chicago Sun-Times film critic and UI graduate, and runs from Apr. 10-13 at Champaign's Virginia Theatre. - AP, 3/18/19...... As the Brexit issue comes to an apparent climax in the U.K., The Who's Roger Daltrey has told reporters for Sky News that Britain's controversial withdrawal from the European Union won't affect British musicians. Daltrey, who has previously defended his pro-Brexit views, was asked whether Brexit would be "bad for British rock music." "No. What's it got to do with the rock business?," Daltrey said. "How are you going to tour in Europe?" the interviewer replied. "Oh dear. As if we didn't tour Europe before the f---ing EU," he said. "Oh give it up!" Daltrey then compared the EU to the mafia, saying: "If you want to be signed up to be ruled by a f---ing mafia, you do it. Like being governed by FIFA." The Who will kick off a North American tour on May 7 in Grand Rapids, Mich. - New Musical Express, 3/17/19...... 
A huge Lou Reed archive that personal notes, photographs and more than 600 hours of recordings is now available at the New York Public Library. The archive was acquired by the library after Reed's wife, performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson, decided to share it with an institution that could preserve and showcase the archive. In an interview with the New York Times, Anderson says her late husband never discussed what to do with his belongings before his death in 2013. She says she thought the archive should be accessible to young musicians and anyone interested in his life. Reed was the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the '60s band The Velvet Underground before launching a solo career that spanned decades. - AP, 3/18/19...... The Jacksons performed a "medley tribute" to their brother Michael Jackson on Mar. 16 during a concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Performing songs such as "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save' and "Dancing Machine," all of which feature Michael as the lead vocalist, The Jacksons member Tito Jackson says that their current world tour is "a tribute to MJ... He is everything and will be represented on the stage." In addition to Tito, the The Jacksons consist of Marlon, Jermaine, Randy and Jackie Jackson. However due to an illness Jermaine was unable to make the trip to Sao Paulo. The group will end their visit to South America on Mar. 23 with a concert in Chile. Meanwhile, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis announced on Mar. 15 that it plans to remove three Michael Jackson items from exhibits after the new documentary Leaving Neverland renewed allegations of child sexual abuse against the late singer and Gary, Ind. native. The Indianapolis Star reports a fedora and glove Jackson wore onstage and a Jackson poster are no longer on display at the museum, which says it wants items on display to tell stories of "people of high character." On Mar. 14, Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson posted on Twitter that "There's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said in regards to defense," of her late dad, noting that her cousin Taj Jackson "is doing a perfect job on his own and I support him." "I'm just (trying to) get everyone to chill out and go with the flow, be mellow and think about the bigger picture. that's me," she added. Taking a more aggressive approach to defending the memory of the late King of Pop are three of his fan club groups, who are suing his accusers for "sullying his memory." The Michael Jackson Community, the MJ Street, and On The Line fan clubs have filed a lawsuit in France against Wade Robson, 26, and James Safechuck, 41, who claim in the Dan Reed-directed film that they were sexually abused by Jackson when they were children. Their attorney, Emmanuel Ludot, told AFP on Mar. 15 that they are suing Jackson's accusers for "sullying his memory" and for "lynching" the late star. The groups, he added, "want to discredit the accusations of paedophilia." Ludot previously successfully sued Jackson's personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray for causing distress to his fans by giving him the drugs that killed him in 2009. - New Musical Express/AP/Billboard, 3/18/19...... Bernie Tormé, a former guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne's band in the early 1980s, died on Mar. 17 at age 66. The Irish guitarist's official website confirmed the news of his passing and his family issued a statement on Mar. 18, which read, "Bernie Tormé passed away peacefully on the 17th March 2019, one day short of his 67th birthday, surrounded by his family. He had been on life support for the past four weeks at a London hospital following post-flu complications. Bernie will be remembered for dedicating his life to his music for five decades. He will be sorely missed." Tormé came to prominence in the mid-1970s when he played in a series of bands that lead to a gig as the lead guitarist in Gillan, the hard-rocking group fronted by former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. His three-year stint ended in 1981, after which he briefly joined Osbourne's solo band for a handful of live dates as the replacement for Randy Rhoades, following Rhoades death in a plane crash in 1982. While that gig was short-lived, Tormé continued to write, record and tour with bands that performed under his name, including Tormé and Electric Gypsies. Osbourne and wife/manager Sharon Osbourne sent their best wishes to Tormé in February upon hearing of his illness. Tormé briefly teamed up with Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider in the group Desperado, whose only album was never offically released, and then formed the supergroup Guy McCoy Tormé in 2006 with former Gillan bassist John McCoy and drummer Robin Guy. - Billboard, 3/18/19...... 
Speaking at the South By Southwest Conference and Festival in Austin, Tex. on Mar. 13, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne screened and answered questions about the acclaimed 1986 Talking Heads documentary True Stories, as well as the music industry in general. The first of the digitally submitted questions asked Byrne to weigh in on the current economies of the music industry -- which producer T Bone Burnett focused a great deal of his time on during his talk in the same Hilton Hotel ballroom just before Byrne spoke. "Yes, things are changing very rapidly," Byrne told the overflow crowd. "In some ways what we as musicians do feels like it's been devalued over the years. It's become kind of free wallpaper or whatever." Byrne then noted that his personal antidote has been playing live. "I find that for me, at least, performance is still a thing that I do fairly often," Bryne said. "That experience as an audience or as a performer lives outside the commodification of music. That, to me, is a good sign. There's an opportunity for things to be heard beyond the gatekeepers." Byrne added that the changes in the music business have not really changed his creative practice, either. "I just kind of find other kinds of media, whether it's film or (his new Reasons To Be Cheerful) projects," he said. "I have been lucky enough to make enough money from touring -- not so much from records anymore, but from touring -- that I have the luxury of being able to say, 'Oh, I want to do this' and can dedicate my time and pay people to collaborate with me on things. That's not that different than what I used to do." Byrne says he launched his Reasons To Be Cheerful project as a response to the current state of division and divisiveness in America and other parts of the world -- through his own investigations as well as through musical projects such as his 2018 album American Utopia and the widely acclaimed tour that supported it. - Billboard, 3/13/19...... In other David Byrne news, the singer/songwriter will be among those inducting artists into the 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class on Mar. 29 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Byrne will be inducting Radiohead, with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor doing the honors for The Cure, Queen's Brian May for Def Leppard, The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs for The Zombies and Duran Duran's Simon LeBon, John Taylor for Roxy Music, and Harry Styles for Stevie Nicks. Although no details have been formally announced on which acts will perform, Def Leppard, Nicks, the Zombies and Roxy Music are expected to take the stage. - Billboard, 3/13/19...... Chauncey "Chick" Crumpacker, best known as the producer and music exec who brought Elvis Presley to RCA Victor Records, died of natural causes on Mar. 12. He was 91. Mr. Crumpacker's career in music began in 1953 in RCA Victor's A&R department shortly after moving to New York City. During his time in A&R, he played a key role in bringing Presley to the label from Sun Records and then toured and traveled with the now-iconic rocker. He also tried to bring Johnny Cash to the label, but was ultimately unsuccessful after the label failed to support the move. Mr. Crumpacker also wrote Grammy-nominated liner notes for many records at RCA and spent many of his last years in the label's archive, cataloging and researching. - Billboard, 3/15/19...... Eddie Lambert, a veteran music exec who who worked at companies including ABC/Dunhill, Motown and EMI-Capitol during his five-decade career, died on Mar. 4 at his home in West Hills, California, after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 76. In 1974, Lambert and his brother, songwriter/producer Dennis Lambert, launched Haven Records, and Eddie Lambert, as vice president and GM, signed the newly reunited Righteous Brothers as well as Evie Sands, Player and The Grass Roots. He also worked closely with Dennis on the Tavares and Glen Campbell albums that his brother and Brian Potter produced for Capitol. He also supervised and coordinated the soundtrack albums for The Big Chill (1983) and A Fine Mess (1986). A number of those LPs were produced or co-produced by his brother. He retired in 2017 because of his illness. - The Hollywood Reporter, 3/13/19...... 
Dick Dale, known as "The King of The Surf Guitar" whose biggest hit "Miserlou" soundtracked one of the most iconic opening sequences in film in Pulp Fiction, died on Mar. 16 after quietly suffering health issues for many years. He was 81. Born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston, Mass. in 1937, and first coming to prominence in the early '60s with his band, The Del-Tones and "Miserlou," Mr. Dale's take on the traditional Greek folk tune featured his furious, signature strum and served as the venerable hit of his 1962 debut LP, Surfer's Choice. The single enjoyed a later renaissance thanks to director Quentin Tarantino, who blasted it during the opening credits of 1994's Pulp Fiction 32 years after the song's release. The Black Eyed Peas notably sampled "Miserlou" in their 2006 hit "Pump It," which peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not only did Mr. Dale create an entirely new style of music, he was also credited with creating custom amplifiers for Fender that could handle his often powerful sounds and slides. His distinctive sound was influenced by his Lebanese heritage, and his 1961 hit "Let's Go Trippin'" is credited for sparking a sound that encompassed a budding Southern California surf culture. Among his movie credits were Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party and Back To the Beach with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funacello, and Let's Make Love starring Marilyn Monroe. His music was also featured in such movies as Escape from L.A., Space Jam, Barbed Wire and Jesus's Son, and he made appearances in such TV shows as Beverly Hills 90210, Beavis & Butthead, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The David Letterman Show and the Conan O'Brian Show. In 1996, he was inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame, and in 1989 the Surfing Hall of Fame. In 1963, he was the first rock guitarist to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, the nation's number one national show. In a 2015 interview with Billboard, Mr. Dale, who toured well into his twilight years, was candid about the various health issues he faced -- including renal failure, diabetes and more -- as he continued to travel the country and perform. "Even with my illnesses and diseases," he said, "I'm faster with my hands than I've ever been." MTV original VJ Kurt Loder shared his condolences to Mr. Dale on Twitter, while actor Seth Rogen admitted his affinity for the guitar hero. "Once I drove an hour and half to see Dick Dale perform at a horse track, and it was wonderful. RIP," Rogen wrote. He is survived by his longtime love, Lana, and son Jimmie. - Billboard/The Daily Mail/DickDale.com, 3/17/19.
After brisk ticket sales for his June 29 show at the 20,000-capacity T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Paul McCartney has just added a second show at the same venue a day earlier. The concert is the latest addition to the U.S. leg of Sir Paul's "Freshen Up" tour, his first extended stateside run since the "One On One" tour that played to some two million fans around the world between 2016-2017. The tour, with the 76-year-old superstar playing for three hours each night, gets underway on May 23 at New Orleans' Smoothie King Arena, hits mostly medium-sized markets including Raleigh, NC; Greenville, SC; Lexington, KY; Green Bay, WS; and Arlington, TX. It will wrap on July 13 at L.A.'s Dodger Stadium. - Billboard, 3/12/19...... The New York Post's PageSix.com site is reporting there might be a sequel to the hugely successful Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Rudi Dolezal, who directed several Queen videos including "One Vision," told Page Six that he expects the group's legendary manager, Jim Beach, will back a second biopic about the band and its late frontman, Freddie Mercury. Beach produced Bohemian Rhapsody, which won several major film awards earlier in the year including Best Picture at the Golden Globes and numerous Best Actor awards for Rami Malek, who portrayed Mercury in the blockbuster. However the site also noted that Queen nor its management have supported Dolezal's claims. Queen fans will be able to indulge in more of the band's history when a new documentary about Queen and current frontman Adam Lambert airs in the US this spring. The two-hour film, The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story, is set to be shown on ABC on Apr. 29. - NME, 3/11/19...... '70s New Wave icon Joe Jackson's "Four Decade" tour hit L.A.'s picturesque Orpheum Theater on Mar. 10, with Jackson delivering a 24-song set that traveled across decades and genres with easy assurance. He cast his set as a scrapbook flipping through the '70s, '80s, '90s and 2000's, bookending the show with "Alchemy" from his new LP, 
A private gift of art and lyrics sent by Joni Mitchell will be released in book form on Oct. 22, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced on Mar. 11. 
A demo that is thought to be among the first recordings of David Bowie's 
Legendary session drummer Hal Blaine, a virtual one-man soundtrack of the 1960s and '70s who played on the songs of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys among countless others, died on Mar. 11 of natural causes at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 90. The winner of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last year, Mr. Blaine's name was known by few outside the music industry, even in his prime. His drumming can be heard on songs that included Presley's "Return to Sender," The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man," Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were," the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations," dozens of hits produced by Phil Spector, and the theme songs to Batman, The Partridge Family and dozens of other shows. "Hal Blaine was such a great musician and friend that I can't put it into words," the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson said in a tweet that included an old photo of him and Blaine sitting at the piano. "Hal taught me a lot, and he had so much to do with our success -- he was the greatest drummer ever." Ringo Starr also paid his respects to Mr. Blaine, tweeting, "God bless Hal Blaine peace and love to all his family Goodbye Hal an incredible musician." As a member of the Los Angeles-based studio band "The Wrecking Crew," which also featured keyboard player Leon Russell, bassist Carol Kaye and guitarist Tommy Tedesco, Mr. Blaine forged a hard-earned virtuosity and versatility that enabled him to adapt quickly to a wide range of popular music. According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he played on 40 No. 1 hits, 150 top 10 songs. Mr. Blaine also played on eight songs that won Grammys for record of the year, including Sinatra's "Strangers In the Night" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and may be the only drummer to back Presley, Sinatra and John Lennon. Mr. Blaine nicknamed himself and his peers "The Wrecking Crew," because they were seen by their more buttoned-down elders as destructive to the industry -- an assertion that Kaye and others disputed. Many members of The Wrecking Crew worked nonstop for 20 years, sometimes as many as eight sessions a day, a pace that led to several marriages and divorces for Mr. Blaine. As more bands played on their own records and electronic drums arose, business dropped off in the 1980s even as younger musicians, such as Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, cited his influence. His memoir, Hal Blaine & The Wrecking Crew, came out in 1990 and he continued to appear at symposiums and workshops into his 80s. Mr. Blaine also was seen in the 2008 documentary The Wrecking Crew and was played by Johnny Sneed in the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy. The son of Jewish immigrants, Mr. Blaine was born Harold Simon Belsky in Holyoke, Mass. on Feb. 5, 1929. By age 8, he was already drumming, using a pair of dowels he removed from a seat in the living room. He was a professional by age 20 and within a few years switched from jazz to rock. He is survived by his daughter Michelle Blaine, and seven grandchildren. - AP, 3/11/19.
Alice Cooper and the Grammy-winning band Halestorm have announced they'll kick off a co-headlining tour across North America this summer. The 19-city trek will kick off on July 17 at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. and run through major markets, including Detroit, Chicago, Houston and more, even making a stop at the traditionally country venue, The Opry House in Nashville, before closing out on Aug. 16 at BB&T Pavilion in Camden, N.J. "We've played festivals with Halestorm, including Rock In Rio, and now I'm excited about doing this summer tour with Lzzy [Hale] and the band, can't wait to get to the first show," said Cooper in statement. Alice adds he'll bring his all-new "Ol' Black Eyes Is Back" show for the Summer 2019 tour. He's is also expected to release new music produced by his longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin in time for the summer dates. The follow up to Cooper's 2017 album Paranormal, it will feature friends like ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, U2's Larry Mullen Jr, and Deep Purple's Roger Glover, as well as original Alice Cooper band members Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce. In addition to recording and touring both on his own and with the Hollywood Vampires (with pals Joe Perry and Johnny Depp), Cooper continues his nightly syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper, heard worldwide on over 100 radio stations. - Billboard, 3/4/19...... Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor paid tribute to their former tour manager Gerry Stickells, who has died after, according to Taylor "a long struggle with illness." "So sad that our wonderful tour manager for many years Gerry Stickells passed away this morning. Lost for words. RIP GERRY. Love ya. Thanks for everything," May posted on social media on Mar. 8, with Taylor adding that Stickells was "the world's greatest tour manager." "He was more than a tour manager to Queen - he was a father figure, great friend and teacher and an island of calm in the midst of chaos. He had a profound effect on my life, all of it good... We will miss him greatly and send love to Sylvia and the family at this difficult time," Taylor added. In addition to Queen, Stickells also worked with the likes of Elton John, Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney. Stickells was diagnosed with a brain tumor 16 years ago after suffering a seizure whilst on tour with McCartney. Since the diagnosis, he had reportedly suffered "multiple health issues" associated with the disease according to a GoFundMe page that sought to raise funds to help with his treatment and care. - New Musical Express, 3/8/19...... In other Queen news, Brian May has responded to what he describes as the "vindictive sickness" of some critics after the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody defied a critical mauling to triumph at the Academy Awards on Feb. 24. Posting on Instagram, May shared a piece from the U.K.'s The Spectator paper that defended the film and explained how the film's awards triumph was a major victory over its detractors. "Well, yes. You saw I went very quiet after the Oscars were over, signalling the end of the whole movie awards season," wrote May on Instagram. "What really happened? We opened the Academy Awards show in a way it's NEVER been opened before, in an avalanche of excitement, looking out on an instant standing ovation from a glittering audience containing many of our heroes, all beaming and singing with us and punching the air." In his lengthy post, May also addressed the negative reception of many critics: "If you look at the Press and Internet discussions that took place over the last few months, you can see that 90% of it is aimed at discrediting one or other, or all of the nominated films by innuendo and smears, rather than discussing their merits and admiring the skills that went into making them. Vitriol and dishonesty, and blatant attempts to shame and influence the members into voting the way they, in their arrogance required them to." He then directed readers to 
A new Frank Zappa hologram that will be featured in an upcoming UK tour in May 2019 has been unveiled. Dubbed "The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa," the clip shows a hologram of the psychedelic legend, who died in 1993, saying: "I'm a person who likes to do what he wants to do whether people like it or not and what I do is designed for people who like it, not for people who don't." Zappa always fought against censorship throughout his career, particularly for artists' rights. He even appeared before Congress in September 1985, and later famously volunteered to slap his albums with a "warning guarantee" label. The hologram will feature in a new virtual Frank Zappa tour of five UK cities that includes hours of never-before-seen Zappa performance footage from the early seventies. The footage, locked away in the Zappa vaults for 44 years, will be juxtaposed with "outrageous visuals that offer a striking view into his complex musical works." Joining Zappa's hologram on stage will be longtime Zappa players including Ray White, Mike Keneally, Scott Thunes, Robert Martin and Joe "Vaultmeister" Travers. The hologram will feature on a number of UK dates including the London Palladium on May 14, then make an appearance at the Doctor Music festival in Spain over the weekend of July 12-14. - NME, 3/1/19...... Barbra Streisand has been confirmed to headline the 2019 British Summer Time concert series in London's Hyde Park on July 7, alongside other previously announced acts including Florence & the Machine, Celine Dion and Robbie Williams. Additional special guests are expected to be announced in the coming months. It was previously announced that a co-headlining show from Bob Dylan and Neil Young would headline the event, however they dropped out after Young objected to Barclays bank's "fossil fuel entity" sponsorship of the concert, even though BST eventually announced the show would go ahead without Barclays' backing. - NME, 3/7/19...... As the Woodstock 50 concert approaches with little more than four months to go, the reboot of the iconic festival in upstate New York is expected to announce its full lineup soon, with ticket sales also going live. Among those confirmed to appear so far include the Grateful Dead spinoff band Dead and Company, Santana, The Killers, Imagine Dragons and Chance the Rapper. More than 80 bands and artists are expected to perform at the three-day event, which is being organized by original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang at set for Aug. 16-18 in Watkins Glen, NY. Since the festival is not backed by a major promoter like AEG or Live Nation, most acts insist on receiving 100 percent of their fee upfront before taking the stage. Following reports that that the festival was having issues paying certain artists the entirety of their fee, representatives for the event confirmed that as of Mar. 4 all artists had been paid in full. In addition to the unpredictable August weather in upstate New York, another concern is the area surrounding Watkins Glen has minimal infrastructure to support the 100,000 fans expected to attend the 50th anniversary event, with few hotels in close proximity. - Billboard, 3/6/19...... In other festival news, Willie Nelson has announced the lineup for his 2019 Outlaw Music Festival tour. The country icon will be supported by Phil Lesh & Friends, The Avett Brothers, Alison Krauss, The Revivalists and more for the summer leg of the tour. Produced by Blackbird Presents, the touring festival will kick off in Bangor, Maine on June 14 and include additional performances from Nelson's sons Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real and Particle Kid. The tour will then hit New York, Connecticut, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and wrap on July 3 in Dallas, Texas. In addition to several guest artists including Counting Crows and Steve Earl & the Dukes at selected shows, each festival tour date will feature a unique range of festival attractions including local cuisine, craft beers, and crafts by local artisans to provide music fans in each city with a unique concert experience. In 2018, the Outlaw Tour hosted more than 200,000 fans in amphitheaters and arenas all over the US. - Billboard, 3/5/19...... 
The Who's Pete Townshend will release a rock novel entitled 
HBO's two-part Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland, which premiered on the network on Mar. 3, has attracted ratings rarely seen for documentaries on the premium channel. Part one of Leaving Neverland averaged 1.29 million viewers for its first airing on Mar. 3, the third-largest audience for an HBO documentary this decade behind Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (1.7 million) and Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (1.6 million). The Mar. 4 conclusion brought in 927,000 viewers, giving the entire film an average of about 1.11 million viewers. The two-day average is also in the upper reaches for HBO documentaries in recent years. Following the doc, the Oprah Winfrey-hosted special After Neverland -- featuring interviews with Jackson accusers Wade Robson, James Safechuck and director Dan Reed, and an audience of sexual-abuse survivors and their families -- drew 780,000 viewers on HBO (it was simulcast on Winfrey's OWN cable channel). The documentary is also selling widely to broadcasters and streamers internationally in such countries as Australia, New Zealand, France, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and Russia as it drums up controversy. However its popularity is also stirring up a significant backlash -- both for and against Jackson -- in several countries. According to reports, a group of about 20-30 loyal Jackson fans, many brandishing placards, gathered outside Channel 4 offices in the UK around midday on Mar. 6, with one having traveled from as far away as Austria. The protestors chanted "innocent," "facts don't lie" and "Channel 4, shame on you," according to the music weekly New Musical Express, adding that they criticized the accounts of Robson and Safechuck, saying they "hijacked the #MeToo movement." Meanwhile, The Simpsons principals James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean have announced they've decided to pull the 1991 The Simpsons episode featuring Jackson from recirculation after viewing the controversial documentary. "It feels clearly the only choice to make," Brooks told The Wall Street Journal. "The guys I work with -- where we spend our lives arguing over jokes -- were of one mind on this" even though he described it as a "treasured episode [with] a lot of great memories wrapped up in it... this certainly doesn't allow them to remain." On Mar. 7, a statue of Jackson at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England, which had been on display since 2014, was removed in the wake of the controversial film. Also, Sony's reported $250 million (£190 million) acquisition of the distribution rights to Jackson's back catalog could be threatened by the allegations that have been made against the late singer in Leaving Neverland. Royalties from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are included in the deal, as are those from radio station plays. Variety is also reporting that three radio stations in Canada have announced that they're pulling all Michael Jackson music from their airwaves due to the allegations made in Leaving Neverland and concerned comments from listeners. As the 10-year anniversary of Jackson's death approaches in June, the stakes are high for Jackson's brand and legacy. "This would be the time that you would want to rerelease a movie or a new film," says one well-placed industry source. Or a Broadway-bound musical. "That may be dead for this year, or delayed." "Frankly, it caught [Jackson estate co-executor] John Branca by surprise," the source added. "The estate got blindsided by Leaving Neverland. They had no idea it was going to elicit the reaction it did." However not everyone believes the documentary will have a lasting effect on the Jackson brand. John Gallant, an attorney representing Bob Marley's estate in a trademark case, says, "Usually you see a period where there's no new licensing and the estate holds back on his image until the dust clears. I would imagine that's what happens. You ride out the storm." - Billboard/The Hollywood Reporter/Varity/NME, 3/6/19...... 
Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager has been added to the list of honorees for the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award at the upcoming 50th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner on June 13 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the SHOF, given only to songwriters and songwriter teams who have already been previously inducted. Bayer Sager was inducted into the SHOF in 1987 for her lyric writing on songs including "Nobody Does It Better," "Don't Cry Out Loud" and the Oscar-winning theme from the movie Arthur, "The Best That You Can Do." Bayer Sager will be joined at the event by this year's inductees, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Tom T. Hall, John Prine, Jack Tempchin and Dallas Austin. Legendary music publisher Martin Bandier will also be honored with the Visionary Leadership Award, with more honorees to be announced. - Billboard, 3/6/19...... Visitors to a Beatles-themed cafe in their hometown of Liverpool will soon be able to play the world's first and only official pinball machine dedicated to the Fab Four. The Beatles and Stern Pinball have joined forces to create a series of US-made, limited-edition pinball machines, with the first of its kind debuting at The Beatles Story's Fab4 Cafe. Only 1,964 of the games will be produced in recognition 1964, the year when Beatlemania kicked off, according to The Guide Liverpool. Nine Beatles classics will feature on the machine in the cafe, which will be available to play for £1, including: "A Hard Day's Night," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Ticket to Ride," "All My Loving," "Help," "Drive My Car," "It Won't Be Long," "I Should Have Known Better," and "Taxman." The game also features iconic introductions by Ed Sullivan, who introduced America to the band in 1964, as well as custom speech and callouts by Hall of Fame disk jockey, Cousin Brucie, who famously introduced the Beatles at New York's Shea Stadium in 1965. If fans can't make it to Liverpool to play the game, they can purchase their own limited-edition machine from the attraction's Fab4 Store for £11,995. - New Musical Express, 3/3/19...... Meanwhile in other Beatles-related news, on Mar. 2 a new plaque was unveiled in commemoration of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's first public gig, which took place 50 years ago at Cambridge University. Ono held a jazz performance at Lady Mitchell Hall on Mar. 2, 1969, and Lennon joined her as "her band." Now, a plaque that reads "Yoko Ono John Lennon Cambridge 1969" has been unveiled to mark the event. The couple's experimental jazz concert was covered in brief in student publication The Cambridge News at the time. The report explained that Lennon sat with his back to the audience for a large portion of the 26-minute set, as Ono opened with a "fearsome siren note" and wrapped up the gig with "a long series of screams." In 1980, Lennon spoke to the BBC about the Cambridge concert. "The audience were very weird, because they were all these sort of intellectual artsy-fartsies from Cambridge," he said, but added that they "were totally solid." The plague unveiling precedes a six-month exhibition of Ono's work which will be displayed in various cities. The "Yoko Ono: Looking For" exhibition, which opens in June and runs until the end 2019, will feature more than 90 works by Ono. - NME, 3/2/19.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Stevie Nicks revealed, among other things, that she owns thousands of shawls and keeps them in a temperature-controlled vault. "I have my shawl vault -- they're all in temperature-controlled storage," the Fleetwood Mac singers says. "I have these huge red cases Fleetwood Mac bought, all the way back in 1975 -- my clothes are saved in these cases. All my vintage stuff is protected for all my little goddaughters and nieces. I'm trying to give my shawls away -- but there's thousands of them. If I ever write my life story, maybe that should be the name of my book: There's Enough Shawls to Go Around." Nicks also says that at age 70, she sees no end in sight for her career. "As long as I take care of myself, I am still going to be doing this when I'm 80," she says. "There's so many things I want to do. I want to do another record. I want to make a mini-series. If the coven reforms, I want to go back to American Horror Story. I tell myself, 'Do it now, because you're spry, you're in good shape, you can still do the splits, you can still dance onstage and wear a short skirt and high six-inch heels.'" The diva also swoons over the multiple artists that have drawn inspiration from her work over the years, saying she sees them as her children. "He's Mick [Fleetwood]'s and my love child," she says of former One Direction member Harry Styles, who recently covered "The Chain." She also calls out Natalie Maines, LeAnn Rimes and Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum," saying, "I feel like I have a lot of daughters." Nicks' interview comes ahead of the latest leg of Fleetwood Mac's tour, sans Lindsey Buckingham. She'll also be inducted, as a solo artist, into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on Mar. 29. - AVClub.com, 2/28/19...... After the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was release on DVD and Blu-ray on Feb. 12, three weeks after its digital arrival on Jan. 22, multiple Queen songs have re-entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart for the week ending March 2. The onslaught of 16 tunes is led by "Bohemian Rhapsody, which re-entered the chart at a new No. 3 peak with 15,000 downloads. "Another One Bites the Dust" follows at No. 5 on the chart, with 8,000 downloads sold. Queen songs were additionally aided by activity surrounding the 91st Academy Awards on Feb. 24, as the movie was nominated for multiple honors, including Best Picture. It won for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing, while Rami Malek, in the role of late frontman Freddy Mercury, won best actor. Queen also opened the broadcast with Adam Lambert on vocals. - Billboard, 2/28/19...... In other Queen-related news, in a surprise to many Chinese film industry observers who assumed the release of Bohemian Rhapsody would be banned in their country because of Beijing's past repressive handling of content involving gay characters, the Chinese goverment granted permission on Feb. 27 for Bohemian Rhapsody to be released theatrically in China. No release date has yet been set, but a source with knowledge of the import plans at China Film Group says the film is expected to open sometime in mid-March. Sources also say that at least one minute of cuts will be made to the film, removing portrayals of drug use and several intimate kisses between Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury and other male characters. The surprise announcement comes after the Chinese streaming site Mango TV cut the phrase "gay man" from Malek's Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech during the Academy Awards on Feb. 24 as he encouraged young people struggling with their identity and replaced it with "special group" instead. Mango TV came under fire for their action, with screen grabs of the moment -- many of them accompanied by statements of outrage or complaint -- circulating on Chinese social media ever since. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/27/19...... 
As the new Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers compilation 
Rock & roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis suffered a minor stroke on the night of Feb. 28 according to a statement on his official Facebook page. The 83-year-old, known as "The Killer," is expected to fully recover and is currently spending time with his family in Memphis. "The Killer looks forward to getting back into the studio soon to record a Gospel record and on the road performing live for his fans," the post reads. "His family requests privacy at this time. Well wishes and prayers are greatly appreciated." According to The Tennessean, Lewis will not be canceling any shows, including his May performance at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He was among the 10 rock legends inducted into the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. - The Tennessean, 2/29/18...... Former Baretta star Robert Blake has settled things up with his third wife, Pamela Hudak. Blake, 85, filed for divorce from Hudak in Dec. 2018, after two years of marriage. According to the terms of the settlement, both Blake and Hudak will keep all their own property they came into the marriage with. The documents note Blake will hold onto his pension from working in the entertainment industry, as well as a 1987 BMW. There will be no spousal support between the two, because of the short marriage, but Blake agreed to cut Hudak a $5,000 check to cover her moving expenses. Hudak testified on Blake's behalf during his 2005 murder trial of Bonnie Lee Blakely. He was acquitted of murder, but later found liable for her death in a civil suit. - TheBlast.com, 2/28/19...... Andy Anderson a former drummer for Iggy Pop and the English alternative band The Cure, died on Feb. after a battle with terminal cancer. He was 68. "Andy Anderson was a true gentleman and a great musician with a wicked sense of humor which he kept until the end, a testament to his beautiful spirit on the last journey. We are blessed to have known him," Cure founding member Lol Tolhurst posted on Twitter. Anderson joined the Cure in 1983 after Tolhurst switched to keys, and went on to work with a number of major artists including Pop, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the Sex Pistols' Glen Mattlock, Edwin Collins, Peter Gabriel and Isaac Hayes. Anderson revealed his diagnosis via Facebook earlier in February. "No Boo, Hooing, here, just be positive, for me it's just another life Experience and Hurdle, that one has to make yet another Choice in life... thank you all for the well wishes I love them all, and are held very, very close to my heart dearly, and will stay with me for ever, any way, stay well yourselves and chat soon," he wrote. - Billboard, 2/26/19...... Prolific composer/arranger/conductor Stan Applebaum, whose half-century-long career in music included orchestration for hits by artists such as Ben E. King, Bobby Vinton and Connie Francis, died in New York on Feb. 23. He was 96. Mr. Applebaum's work can be heard on more than 25 top 10 hits and a handful of No. 1 singles from artists such as Francis, Vinton, Neil Sedaka, The Drifters, The Coasters, Brook Benton and, most famously, Ben E. King's 1962 classic "Stand By Me," for which he arranged the strings. Mr. Applebaum also arranged the orchestration on a number of other classic early rock hits, including The Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me," King's "This Magic Moment" and "Spanish Harlem" and Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do." Mr. Applebaum was also a prolific composer for commercials, with more than 1,500 credits, including Pan Am Airlines' iconic "Makes the Going Great" (which later inspired a ballet by George Balanchine), winning four Clio Awards for his efforts. - Billboard, 2/28/19...... 
Actress Katherine Helmond, best known for her roles in the sticoms Soap and Who's the Boss, among many other roles, died February 28 of Alzheimer's complications at her home in Los Angeles. She was 89. On Soap, Ms. Helmond played the flighty Jessica Tate on ABC's 1977-81 ensemble primetime soap opera, and as the sexy, wise and flitatious Mona Robinson -- who showed that romance and excitement are not over for older women -- opposite Tony Danza, Judith Light and Alyssa Milano on ABC's 1984-92 series Who's the Boss? She received four Best Actress Emmy Award nominations for Soap and back-to-back noms for Who's the Boss? in 1988-89. Helmond also scored a Best Actress Golden Globe Award for Soap in 1981, another for Supporting Actress in Who's the Boss in 1989 and a second a Globes nom for the latter in 1986. Ms. Helmond was also well-known for her recurring roles as Doris Sherman on ABC's Coach (1995-97) opposite Craig T. Nelson and Jerry Van Dyke, and as Debra Barone's mother Lois Whelan opposite Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton on the CBS hit series Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2004). She also earned a Guest Actress Emmy nom for that role in 2002, giving her seven overall for her career. More recent television credits included guest-starring roles on A&E's The Glades, as well as the role of Caroline Bellefleur on HBO's True Blood. Other roles include appearances in such memorable TV series as Gunsmoke, The F.B.I., The Bob Newhart Show, Mannix, Medical Center, Barnaby Jones, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman and The Love Boat. "I was in love with her," Tony Danza said. "She was such an influence on me. From being a single guy with a hit show in Hollywood, though my marriage and having kids -- she was with me. No matter what problem I had, I could go to her. Very few people could match her." A memorial service is being planned for family and friends to celebrate her life and career. - Deadline.com, 3/1/19...... Oscar-winning pianist/composter/conductor André Previn, who was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won four, passed away in his Manhattan home on Feb. 28 at age 89. Mr. Previn won Oscars for his soundtrack work on My Fair Lady (1964), Gigi (1958), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Irma La Douce (1963). While much of his Hollywood labors were spent on lesser films (Challenge to Lassie, for one), the work gave him "a thorough schooling in the practical aspects of music making," he once told The Washington Post. He said it allowed him to "stand up in front of an orchestra of superlative players" and hone his conducting skills. Born Andreas Ludwig Prewin in Berlin, Mr. Previn was named musical director of the Houston Symphony in 1967, and went on to lead such renowned orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London s Royal Philharmonic. In 1998, his opera based on "A Streetcar Named Desire" premiered at the San Francisco Opera. He married five times, including glittering collaborations with Mia Farrow and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. He was among those in Hollywood who early on experimented with LSD, and his memoir of his movie-studio days, No Minor Chords, contained juicy revelations about everyone from Lenny Bruce to Ava Gardner. The Korean orphan he and Farrow adopted, Soon-Yi, became the center of a tabloid scandal when she became involved with Farrow's then-boyfriend, Woody Allen, and eventually married him. "I would cheerfully run him over with a steamroller," Mr. Previn once said of Allen, who eventually adopted two children with Soon-Yi. - AP, 2/28/19.