A Tina Turner mural featured on a pulldown storefront of a record store in North Carolina was defaced on Dec. 26. Employees of Static Age Records in downtown Asheville, N.C. reported the incident, in which the culprit covered the mural in a black sheet, to police and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Store owner Jesse McSwain said that his store is "a widely inclusive, safe space" and that "hate speech will get you out the door." In addition to Turner, the pulldown storefront also honors Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Lemmy from Motörhead and Lou Reed. Turner's mural was based on her character in the film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. - AP, 12/27/19...... 
Elton John thanked his legion of fans for a landmark year with a touching Christmas video posted on Instagram on Dec. 24. John, 72, highlighted his most recent accomplishments as he looked back on his "most successful year" ever and wished fans happy holidays. "Merry Christmas everybody, and thank you for making 2019 probably the most successful year of my career," he said. "Wow, at 72 years of age, I'm blown away. First of all you have all supported the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour so well it is breaking box office records everywhere, thank you," he added. John also opened up about the success of his new autobiography, Me, and the hit biopic Rocketman. "Rocketman came out in the spring and got incredible reviews, and did incredibly well, Thank you," he shared. "Me, my autobiography, came out in the autumn and did incredibly well, thank you." The rocker also said he "can't believe" he took the top spot on Billboard's 125 Top Artists of All Time list, and named the presentation of France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur, in June as another big highlight of 2019, adding, "I was blown away." He capped the post with another tribute to fans: "You have come to the show, you have dressed up, you've come along and had a great time and you've made me feel so happy every time I come on stage." - WENN/Canoe.com, 12/26/2019...... As if John wasn't awarded enough in 2019, Queen Elizabeth II released her annual New Years Honours list on Dec. 27, and those receiving 2020 honours include Sir Elton and Olivia Newton-John. Each year, the British honors system recognizes 1,097 new members by designating orders of chivalry. John, who received his knighthood (hence his "Sir" title and "CBE" post-nominal letters) from the Queen in 1998, was upgraded to Companion of Honour for his contributions to music and charity. His full name is now Sir Elton Hercules John, CH, CBE, but he can choose to use the new post-nominal letters "CH." The Order of the Companions of Honor only allows 65 members total, and John clocks in as the 62nd member. Sir Paul McCartney is also part of this exclusive organization. 
Additionally, Olivia Newton-John received her damehood for "her services to charity, cancer research and entertainment." The 71-year-old Grease star is currently battling breast cancer for the third time in her life and started the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia back in 2008. "I am extremely excited, honoured and grateful beyond words to be included with such an esteemed group of women who have received this distinguished award before me," said the British-born Australian singer-actress. "As a girl born in Cambridge, I am very proud of my British ancestry and so appreciative to be recognised in this way by the United Kingdom," she added. Olivia's new full name is Dame Olivia Newton-John, AC, DBE, but the post-nominal letters "AC" stem from the Companion of the Order of Australia, which she was awarded in June 2019. Others recognized for their musical efforts by the New Year Honours list include Queen drummer Roger Taylor and singers Billy Ocean (OBE) and Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody (OBE). Taylor, 70, has campaigned for the awareness of AIDs, launched a musical featuring Queen's greatest hits and is one of the few living people to appear on a Royal Mail stamp when he was pictured behind the late Freddie Mercury playing drums, which caused controversy in 1999. - Billboard/Deadline.com/New Musical Express, 12/27/19....... Ozzy Osbourne posted a Christmas 2019 playlist on Spotify on Dec. 23, announcing it on Twitter with a cheeky "How #Ozzy Stole #Christmas." Osbourne's 35-track playlist includes Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," Frank Sinatra's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," also delving into his heavy metal roots with Spinal Tap's "Christmas With The Devil," AC/DC's "Mistress For Christmas," Weezer's "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and Korn's "Kidnap the Sandy Claws." The rock icon also included some of his own solo tracks, including "Miracle Man," "Mama, I'm Coming Home" and his latest single, "Under The Graveyard." Ozzy will release Ordinary Man, his first solo LP since 2010's Scream, in January. - Billboard, 12/23/19...... A rock guitarist extraordinaire named Andrea Boccarusso has posted a video of himself to YouTube in which he performs a mind-blowing medley of 50 of Led Zeppelin's most classic riffs. Boccarusso, who has previously posted videos of himself running through the catalogs of the likes of AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Metallica, is seen switching back and forth between acoustic and electric guitars (sometimes playing both at once) on such beloved Led Zepp tracks as "Trampled Under Foot," "Stairway To Heaven," "Dancing Days," "No Quarter," "Gallows Pole," "When the Levee Breaks," "Dazed and Confused" and "In My Time of Dying." - NME, 12/24/19...... Just in time for Christmas, Paul McCartney has co-designed a collection of limited-edition cashmere sweaters embroidered with titles of two tracks on his 2018 album Egypt Station, "People Want Peace" and "Do It Now," and made them available for $400 apiece at his official merchandise shop on PaulMcCartney.com. The former Beatles reached out earlier in 2019 to sweater label Lingua Franca to create a collection of limited-edition sweaters. Lingua Franca sweaters -- stitched with punchy, culturally relevant slogans -- caught the attention of several celebrities amid the rise of the #Time'sUp movement, with phrases like "Fight Like A Mother" and "Nevertheless, She Voted." Lingua Franca's founder and longtime Beatles fan Rachelle Hruska MacPherson says Sir Paul was "really involved in the process, which was so beyond cool." "Paul's team asked if it would be possible to get a selection of designs mocked up. They had some potential slogans from Paul's recent album," MacPherson says. "We showed them fifteen mockups, and Paul picked six. We really trusted Paul's judgement on color combinations. The fact that Paul was picking all the colors was exciting," she added. - Billboard, 12/23/19...... 
In a recent chat on the Fox News channel, Marie Osmond reflected on the horrific abuse she suffered as a teen when she was told to "keep food out of her fat face" by studio executives. Osmond, 60, revealed that while she was a 15-year-old filming her show Donny & Marie with her brother Donny Osmond herself after a member of staff at the studio took her out into the parking lot to tell her they would cancel the show unless she went on an extreme diet. "I was 103 lbs. -- I'd kill to be 103 lbs. So I got down to 93 lbs. I never realized the mental abuse behind that," she said. Marie has since found it difficult to keep her diet consistent, and lost 50 pounds ahead of her Dancing With the Stars appearance in 2007. Osmond, a mother of eight, also ecently opened up to People magazine about the 2020 suicide of her son Michael Blosil at 18 years old. "You can't breathe, when you're contemplating something that devastating in your life, you can barely function," she said of her son's loss. However she said it was her strong faith that helped her to get through the ordeal: "You have to find a way to breathe again. Mine was my faith. I have great faith, and I know I will see him again." - DailyMail.co.uk, 12/27/19...... In a new interview with the Toronto Sun, The Who guitarist Pete Townshend claims The Who "invented heavy metal" in 1970 with their acclaimed concert album Live At Leeds, and added that Led Zeppelin "copied their sound." "We sort of invented heavy metal with Live At Leeds. We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin -- you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did." Townshend continued: "Cream, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in '67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense. So people who want to hear that old heavy metal sound, there are plenty of bands that can provide it. So it's not really what we can actually do today. Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes." The Who were honored with the founding stone in London's new Music Walk of Fame in November, and have received positive reviews for their latest LP, WHO. - New Musical Express, 12/23/19...... Speaking to the UK paper The Sun, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood said he feels the Stones are "indestructible" after multiple band members have survived health scares. "After 50 years of chain smoking, my life was hanging by a thread, but I survived. The doctors were able to remove the tumour from my left lung, thank God the cancer had not spread," Wood noted, also running through the health problems of other members. "Not to forget Charlie [Watts], who had laryngeal cancer a few years ago, and Keith [Richards], with his heavy bleeding after falling from a palm tree. Everything went well, a big miracle. The Stones are simply indestructible." Earlier in 2019, frontman Mick Jagger also underwent successful heart surgery. - NME, 12/23/19...... In other Stones-related news, Tom Waits has written a new poem about Keith Richards for his recent birthday on Dec. 18. In the poem which appears in the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine, Waits runs down the list of qualities he admires in the guitarst: "He wrote his share of the songs from Sticky Fingers/ In a henhouse in Malta / He once won the Hope Diamond in a poker game/ And in the same night lost it in a game of craps / He owns a lug wrench and a tire jack made of solid gold." Richards appeared on several of Waits' albums including Rain Dogs and Bad As Me, and the pair also teamed up to record a track for Johnny Depp's Pirate Chanteys album. - NME/Rolling Stone, 12/20/19...... Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley is apparently "going to war" with her ex-husband Michael Lockwood over her vast fortune and custody of the couple's twin daughters. The judge in the
estranged couple's case has set a trial date for July 20, 2020, setting aside an entire month for the trial in one of the nastier celebrity divorce settlements in recent years. During a 2016 investigation by the L.A. Dept. of Children and Family Services prompted by Lisa Marie after she accused Lockwood of inappropriate behavior with their daughters, Lockwood claimed Presley was "coaching" the children to accuse him of illegal acts. Lisa marie claimed she had found "disturbing photos" of the couple's twin daughters on her ex's computer, however it turned out Presley was actually in the bathroom when most of the pictures were taken. Lockwood was ordered to pay a huge chunk of Lisa Marie's attorney's fees to the tune of $140,000, which is an important part of the case as Presley claims the $100 million fortune she inherited from her dad Elvis Presley is all but gone after she entrusted it to her former business manager, Barry Siegel. Presley claims Siegel, who she is now suing, made a series of bad investments that dwindled the fortune down to just $14,000, and also saddled her with a host of debts. A rep for Siegel responds: The 2005 deal she is complaining about now cleared up over $20 million in debts Lisa had incurred and netted her over $40 million cash and a multi-million-dollar income stream, most of which she managed to squander in the ensuing years." - TheBlast.com, 12/21/19...... 
Six-time Emmy-winning TV producer Lee Mendelson, who produced more than 60 specials featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, died on Christmas Day at his home in Hillsborough, Calif., after a long battle with cancer. He was 86. Working often with the late Bill Melendez -- the only animator permitted by Charles M. Schulz to work with the Peanuts characters -- Mendelson collected his first Emmy in 1966 for A Charlie Brown Christmas -- writing the lyrics to its famous theme song "Christmastime Is Here" -- and his last in 2016 for It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown. He also wrote and directed for the franchise. He amassed 29 Emmy noms during his career, 26 for his work with Peanuts characters, and earned a pair of Grammy nominations as well. His landmarks included 1966's It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, 1967's You're in Love, Charlie Brown, the Oscar-nominated A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1971), 1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, 1975's You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, 1976's It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown and 1980's She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown. The San Francisco native and Stanford graduate also won Emmys in 1984 and 1987 for producing programs featuring the cartoon characters Garfield and Cathy, respectively. "It wasn't great for us, but to have him pass on Christmas really ties into his history and legacy," one of his sons, Jason Mendelson, told the Palo Alto Daily Post newspaper. He is also survived by his wife, Ploenta, two other sons, a daughter, and eight grandchildren. - The Hollywood Reporter, 12/27/19...... Tony Award-winning composer Jerry Herman, who wrote the cheerful, good-natured music and lyrics for such classic shows as "Mame," "Hello, Dolly!" and "La Cage aux Folles," died on Dec. 26 at age 88. The creator of 10 Broadway shows and contributor to several more, Mr. Herman won two Tony Awards for best musical: "Hello, Dolly!" in 1964 and "La Cage aux Folles" in 1983. He also won two Grammys for the "Mame" cast album and "Hello, Dolly!" as song of the year, and was a Kennedy Center honoree. He had three original Broadway productions playing at the same time from February 1969 to May 1969. "We lost one of the greats," Broadway actor Harvey Fierstein tweeted. "A collaborator and friend for almost 40 years. I cannot thank him enough for his love, trust, encouragement, support and laughter." - AP, 12/27/19...... Veteran radio personality Don Imus whose insult humor and savage comedy catapulted him to a long-lasting and controversial radio career, died of as yet undisclosed causes on Dec. 27 at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in College Station, Tex., after being hospitalized on Christmas Eve. He was 79. Outspoken in an age of political correctness, Imus's often coarse satire offended sensibilities. Yet, his listeners included those whom he often ridiculed. He sparked national outcry in 2007 when he made derogatory, racist remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team. Both CBS Radio and MSNBC dropped his show. Imus rebounded by signing a multi year contract with the Fox Business Network in 2009 to simulcast his radio program Imus in the Morning from 6 a.m. - 9 a.m., with Fox anchors appearing during the program. Imus battled a lifelong addiction to drugs and alcohol and in 2009, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is survived by his wife Deirdre, two sons and four daughters. - The Hollywood Reporter, 12/27/19...... 
American spiritual teacher, former academic and clinical psychologist Baba Ram Dass, who embodied the 1960s psychedelic youth movement by authoring such books as 1971's Be Here Now, died on Dec. 22 at his home on Maui, Hawaii. He was 88. Born Richard Alpert, he returned from a trip to India in 1968 as a bushy-bearded, barefoot, white-robed guru, and became a lecturer on New Age possibilities and a popular author of more than a dozen inspirational books. His lecture presentation was a mix of pithy wisdom and humor, often expressed in the same sentence. "Treat everyone you meet like God in drag," he said in one talk. Ram Dass also started a foundation to combat blindness in India and Nepal, supported reforestation in Latin America, and developed health education programs for American Indians in South Dakota. He was particularly interested in the dying, and started a foundation to help people use death as a journey of spiritual awakening and spoke of establishing a self-help line, "Dial-a-Death," for this purpose. His book Be Here Now, originally published in 1971, has had more than three dozen printings and sold more than two million copies. Wavy Gravy, the eccentric poet and peace activist, once said, "Ram Dass was the master of the one-liner, the two-liner, the ocean liner." By the 1980s, Ram Dass had a change of mind and image. He shaved off the beard but left a neatly trimmed mustache. He tried to drop his Indian name -- he no longer wanted to be a cult figure -- but his publisher vetoed the idea. Ram Dass said that he had never intended to be a guru, and continued to turn out books and recordings, making sure his books and tapes were reasonably priced. Ram Dass's death was announced on his official Instagram account. - The New York Times, 12/23/19.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the latest installment in the legendary Star Wars franchise that began in 1977, scored a huge launch in the third weekend of December with $175.5 million at the North American box office and $373.5 million globally. Though coming in notably behind the previous two films in the trilogy in the U.S., the J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi flick opened No. 1 in nearly every country overseas, Rise of Skywalker sputtered in China with $12.1 million. Europe topped all regions with $122 million, led by the U.K. ($26.8 million) and followed by Germany ($21.8 million) and France ($15.2 million). In Japan, the film scored the No. 3 opening of the year for a Western film with $14.6 million). Generally speaking, sci-fi is a challenged genre in Latin America and parts of Asia. The film -- which cost Disney and Lucasfilm as much as $300 million to produce before marketing -- also marked the third-biggest opening of 2019 in North America to date, behind Avengers: Endgame ($357.1 million) and The Lion King ($191.7 million) - Billboard, 12/22/19...... 
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebeck, who hosts his annual Christmas party at Vitello's restaurant in Los Angeles, was serenaded by Don McLean on Dec. 18 after Trebeck requested the "American Pie" singer perform at the event. "I sent an email to Don's people on his website and here we are tonight," Trebek told the audience. "I can officially take this off of my bucket list. This was a real treat for me," he added. "I had never met Alex and normally I just come in and do my thing," McLean told People magazine. "When I arrived, Alex handed me a piece of paper with a list of songs he wanted me to perform and in the order he wanted them performed in. Then when I looked next to each song, he had timed them out." "I looked at Alex and said, 'Well, tonight is your night and I will do exactly what you want,'" McLean continued. "And that is what I did. Except I did toss in one Christmas song in the spirit of the event! Alex is a wonderful man and is loved by the world." Trebek, 79, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in March. - Billboard/People, 12/20/19...... In a new interview with Haute Living, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler said he spent "many years" feeling angry at being forced into rehab by his bandmates as they went on vacation. "There were no such things as rehabs; there were mental institutions.... I went away in '84 and '86, and I didn't really get it," Tyler said, referring to some of the times he failed to detox. "The early 80s were terrible, and drugs took us down. I was the first one to get treatment." Tyler added his breakthrough moment came in 1988 when his management and the rest of Aerosmith stepped in and "pulled an intervention" on him. "They thought, 'Get the lead singer sober, and all our problems would be over. So, I got sober, and you know it took me many years to get over the anger of them sending me to rehab while they went on vacation." But Tyler says he feels nothing but gratitude toward the band now: "But today because of that moment I am grateful and owe a thanks to them for my sobriety. I stayed in this band because I know the power that Joe [Perry] and I have from all the songs that we've written, or Brad [Whitford] and Tom [Hamilton] and Joey [Kramer]," he said. "Joey has been here through thick and thin. My whole life is dreams coming true. I am so beyond grateful for it all." - New Musical Express, 12/23/19...... In a new interview with the BBC's Reel Stories, Rod Stewart revealed he mainly joined the 1960s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the U.K. to "get shagged." "We used to all go on the CND marches. "I used to do it to get shagged. I didn't care about the war actually," said Stewart, who joined the anti-nuke Aldermaston Marches on Easter weekends in England and was once arrested at a sit-in. Reflecting on his early years, the "Maggie May" singer said he's shocked he was so successful with women, because his personal hygiene wasn't great. "It was just rebellion, that's all it was," he said. "You had to be smelly, though. You had to wear corduroy trousers for months and it really smelled. Don't change your underpants. It was disgusting." But the 74-year-old rocker, who is now married to third wife Penny Lancaster, 48, added that despite being rough around the edges, his hair was always on point. "On the Tube (London Underground), all us were going down there holding on to our bouffant haircuts, because when you go down the escalator the train comes in and there's an awful wind that comes up," he mused. "So (there would be) six or seven of us all going down holding our hair. Even then I used to have it back-combed." - WENN/Canoe.com, 12/22/19...... Country great Willie Nelson and his musician sons Micha and Lukas Nelson have paid tribute to late rock legend Tom Petty by recording a version of Petty's song "For Real." Bob Dylan's son Jakob Dylan, George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, and Amos Lee also appear on the Petty and the Heartbreakers track that was previously unreleased until it appeared on the TP greatest hits collection The Best of Everything earlier in 2019. - New Musical Express, 12/22/19...... 
Two of Pres. Donald Trump's biggest archenemies from the '70s music world -- Cher and Bette Midler -- have reacted to Pres. Trump's impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 18 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, only the third time in history a president was charged with committing high crimes and misdemeanors. Midler simply posted "Impeached" on her Twitter feed after the vote to impeach, while Cher posted: "'IMPEACHED PRESIDENT' donald j.trump, Makes RICH RICHER, poor poorer, & Will PURGE MILLIONS Of DEMOCRATS Off VOTING ROLLS. RUSSIA, RUDI, RESTRICTIONS, That's trumps game plan. For What Does It Profit a Man To Gain The Whole (Earth emoji), Yet Lose His Own Soul(?)." Pres. Trump now faces removal from office by the Senate in a trial set for January. - Billboard, 12/18/19...... '70s artists Chicago, Roberta Flack, John Prine, Iggy Pop and the late Isaac Hayes will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy during the 2020 Grammy Awards on Apr. 18 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif. Chicago and Prine were previously both nominated for Best New Artist Grammys, but came up short, while Iggy Pop has never won a Grammy Award in competition. Also honored with LAA's will be the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who also never won a Grammy in competition. Composer/pianist Philip Glass, who likewise never won a Grammy, has been selected to receive a Trustees Award, along with Ken Ehrlich, who has produced or executive produced the annual Grammy Awards telecast for 40 years, and the late A&R executive Frank Walker. Meanwhile, Elvis Costello & the Imposters' 2019 album Look Now and Barbra Streisand's 2019 set Walls were nominated for Grammys in the Traditional Pop Category. Also, the 2019 Woodstock retrospective box set Woodstock: Back to the Garden The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive was among the nominees for Best Historical Album Grammy, which also include releases by Bobbie Gentry, Pete Seeger and Vladimir Horowitz. - Billboard, 12/19/19...... Turning to the Oscars, Randy Newman and Elton John are on the shortlist for two Oscars each for the 92nd annual Academy Awards in 2020. Newman is shortlisted for Best Original Score for Marriage Story, and for Best Original Song for "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from Toy Story 4. Newman has been nominated in the latter category with a song from each of the first three Toy Story films. John is in the running for Best Original Song with both "Never Too Late" from The Lion King (which he co-wrote with Tim Rice) and "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman (which he co-wrote with Bernie Taupin). Meanwhile, Elton John and husband David Furnish have announced details for their 28th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, set for West Hollywood Park in Los Angeles on Feb. 9. Cast members of the Netflix series Queer Eye (Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown and Bobby Berk) will be co-hosting the gala along with Sir Elton and Furnish, and British actor, singer-songwriter and Brits Critic Choice Award winner Sam Fender will be the headline performer. "I absolutely love Sam Fender. He's so talented," said Elton in a press release. "Each year we are blessed to have incredible artists do what they do best at our party and this year will be another special night not to miss. Given we have some of the wonderful hosts of Queer Eye at our party, we all wanted to use the event to raise funds for our work with LGBT communities around the world, many of whom are 20 times more vulnerable to the disease than their straight peers. AIDS isn't over until no one gets left behind." IMDb.com will broadcast its four-hour "IMDb Live" streaming show during the party with co-hosts actress and comedian Aisha Tyler and IMDb special correspondent Dave Karger. The Academy Awards Viewing party benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which was founded in 1992 and has funded local experts in 23 countries "to spread awareness, prevent infections and provide care and treatment for the most marginalized groups," according to the release. - Billboard, 12/18/19...... In other Elton news, John has topped the monthly Billboard Boxscore tours list with a gross of $24 million from 11 shows in November during his final North American dates of 2019, as well as the opening show of his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour's Australian leg. The November earnings bring his tour to a so-far total of $268.6 million and sends John's career-total to $1.309 billion. That places him about $30 million behind from Madonna, currently the second-highest grossing solo artist and top-grossing female artist in the history of Billboard Boxscore. After dipping to No. 6 in October, John returns to the peak position, having topped the chart in September and February. November marks his eighth month on the Top Tours chart, and seventh in the top 10. - Billboard, 12/19/19...... 
Folk-rock icon Judy Collins has earned her first career No. 1 on any Billboard music chart, more than 55 years after she first reached a ranking. Collins's new holiday LP, Winter Stories featuring Jonas Fjeld and featuring Chatham County Line, has climed from No. 2 to No. 1 in its second week on the Bluegrass Albums Chart for the week ending Dec. 21, with 1,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 12, according to Nielsen Music. Collins, 80, initially appeared on a Billboard survey when her debut LP Judy Collins #3 entered the Hot 200 album chart dated March 28, 1964. Her 1968 LP Wildflowers reached No. 5 on the Hot 200, her lone top 10 of 18 appearances to-date. The most iconic track from Wildflowers, Collins' rendition of the Joni Mitchell-penned "Both Sides Now," rose to No. 8 on the Hot 100 pop singles chart, her sole top 10 among 10 entries. Collins recently said that Winter Stories is more of a winter-themed project than Christmas-specific. "Winter lasts a lot longer than Christmas does, that's for sure," she said with a chuckle. The set finds Collins collaborating with Norwegian singer-songwriter Jonas Fjeld and veteran Americana band Chatham County Line, based in Asheville, N.C. The set also sports new versions of the Joni Mitchell-written "River," as well as the Collins compositions "The Blizzard" and "Mountain Girl." - Billboard, 12/18/19...... The estate of Michael Jackson has settled a long-running dispute witht he Disney-owned network ABC over an unauthorized TV documentary, The Last Days of Michael Jackson, that ABC screened in 2018. The Jackson estate filed a lawsuit against Disney in May of that year, claiming the program used "substantial portions" of copyright material owned by Jackson's estate without permission. This included Jackson's music videos plus concert and documentary footage. Jackson's estate also protested that they were only made aware of the special days before its broadcast. They were also angry at Jackson's image being used in promotional material for the documentary, which they said made it look like it had the approval of the estate. ABC withdrew the promotional photo, but they argued that the use of the video, concert and documentary footage was allowable under US TV's "fair use" rules.A spokesperson for Jackson's estate now says the dispute "was amicably resolved," but details of the settlement have not been revealed. - NME, 12/20/19...... Famed rock & roll pioneer and country artist Jerry Lee Lewis was presented with a Mississippi Country Music Trail marker on Dec. 19 during a ceremony at the 84-year-old's Nesbit, Miss., ranch. The event was attended by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Grammy-winning country singer Marty Stuart and local officials. The Mississippi Country Music Trail celebrates the state's contributions to country music. Lewis, a member of the inaugural Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 1986, was born in Ferriday, La., in 1935. He later moved to Memphis, Tenn., and began establishing himself as a musician there in 1956. However his career took a nosedive in 1958 after news leaked that he had secretly married his 13-year-old cousin the previous year. - AP, 12/23/19...... Bohemian Rhapsody star Ben Hardy has hinted there could be a potential sequel to the hit 2018 Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic. Hardy, who played Queen drummer Roger Taylor in the movie, says he "would love to" appear in a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel. "I loved working with all those guys, and the thought of going back and being with those guys for another three months or four months would be amazing, but I'm the same as you, I've only heard the rumour mill," Hardy said. "The film goes up to '85, so you've got another six years there that you can tell. I think it'd be a very different movie," he added. Meanwhile, Queen and Adam Lambert are set to head out on a huge UK arena tour in 2020. - New Musical Express, 12/20/19...... Stevie Nicks will be among the headliners at the 30th Anniversary Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival, a three-day experience set for Labor Day 2020 weekend in Snowmass, Colo. Also performing will be Eric Church, Maren Morris and Kings of Leon, marking the first time all four headliners have performed at the event. Founded in 1991 and entering its 30th season, JAS is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Its mission is to present and preserve jazz and related forms of music through world-class events, performances and education programs. - Billboard, 12/18/19...... 
Ozzy Osbourne has topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart with his latest song, "Under the Graveyard," the first single from his forthcoming studio album Ordinary Man. On Dec. 19, Osbourne unveiled the cinematic music video for the tune. "I've always enjoyed working with [director] Jonas (Akerlund)," Osbourne says. "Jonas' vision for 'Under the Graveyard' was to create something more than just your standard music video." The clip stars Jack Kilmer and Jessica Barden as a young Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne in 1979, as the latter details how she wanted to help the young musician out of his struggles with addiction. "I wasn't going to let him give up on himself," Barden tells the camera as the young Sharon marches into the hotel room and stays up all night with Ozzy, calming him through withdrawals and temptation to enter back into his dangerous lifestyle. In a touching happy ending, "Under the Pressure" concludes with a real-life snapshot of Ozzy and Sharon on their wedding day. - Billboard, 12/19/19...... The legendary UK Monmouth recording studio where such legendary acts as Queen, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath recorded music over the years is up for sale. According to the BBC, Rockfield Studio was set up in the early '60s by brothers Charles and Kingsley Ward after they converted their farm. Monnow Valley Studios near Monmouth in Wales started out as the rehearsal facility for Rockfield but became an independent studio when Charles branched out on his own in the early '80s. The studios then split, with Monnow operating independently ever since. Monnow Valley Studios has changed ownership over the years but has remained a recording and rehearsal space. Other artists who have recorded there over the years include Welsh crooner Tom Jones and Oasis. - NME, 12/19/19...... To celebrate the festive season, Piston, the five-piece rock and roll band from Cannock, West Midlands, UK, have recorded an electrifying homage to the '70s hard rock outfit Slade by releasing a cover of Slade's 1972 anthem "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" just in time for Christmas. The official music video features cameos from Bad Touch, Collateral, Gorilla Riot, Sons of Liberty, New Saints and Liberty Lies. Piston embarked on a UK tour with Collateral in September. In October, the band supported The Cult on their Sonic Temple UK tour and former Deep Purple icon Glenn Hughes on his Classic Deep Purple Live tour. - Noble PR, 11/29/19...... British actor and singer Kenny Lynch, one of the UK's first black pop stars who toured with the Beatles in the 1960's and became famous for his UK Top 10 hit "Up On the Roof," has died at the age of 81. His family announced the news on Twitter, saying that he would be "remembered and missed by many." His acting career included roles in the likes of Carry On Camping, Bullseye and The Sweeney. Tributes to the late actor and singer have been led by '80s hitmaker Boy George, who called Lynch an "absolutely huge part of my 70s life and on." - NME, 12/18/19.
A three-minute "Facebook Live" video of Ted Nugent signing a long line of red "Re-Elect That Motherf----r" hats has topped Billboard's monthly Top Facebook Live Videos chart for November. Nugent had the hats produced to show his enthusiastic support of Pres. Donald Trump and to sell them to fans. Along the way, he apologized for the delay in getting the hats, which resemble Pres. Trump's famous "Make America Great Again" hats, out to those who had ordered them. Nugent's video was the only upload from any musician to top 1 million views in its first seven days, racking up 1.2 million views, and was the week's most shared by a musician (17,000). Billboard's Top Facebook Live Videos chart tracks the widest-reaching and most-reacted-to videos posted by musicians on Facebook Live. - Billboard, 12/17/19...... Tom Petty's widow Dana Petty and his daughters Adria Petty and Annakim Violette reached a settlement agreement on Dec. 13 in their legal battle over the estate of the late rock star, who died of an accidental drug overdose on Oct. 2, 2017, at age 66. The legal feud first erupted in April 2019, when the two parties filed dueling court petitions accusing the other of attempting to control Petty's assets. In May, a $5 million lawsuit was filed against Dana and several co-defendants by Petty Unlimited, an LLC established in Petty's will, that accused her of "self-dealing, theft, and gross mismanagement" of her late husband's estate and an attempt to "deprive" Adria and Annakim of their share of his assets. Dana then filed a petition two weeks later asking the court to fund and execute an operating agreement for Tom Petty Legacy, a separate LLC she established on her own, while alleging "foul behavior" on Adria's part with regard to estate matters. She also accused the two daughters of interfering in and delaying several posthumous Petty releases, including the 2018 box set An American Treasure, the 2019 greatest hits collection The Best of Everything and a 25th anniversary reissue of Petty's 1994 acclaimed solo album Wildflowers that has yet to materialize. The new legal documents, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, do not disclose details of the settlement. - Billboard, 12/13/19...... French musician/composer Alexandre Desplat, who scored the new movie version of Louisa May Alcott's famous 1868 novel Little Women, says that David Bowie provided inspiration for his music for the new film. Desplat says Little Women director Greta Gerwig had requested music resembling "Mozart meeting Bowie" for the film's score. "I always try to ask, 'What do you expect from me as the composer? Do you want me to do something grand? Melancholic? Lush? Huge? Small?'," Desplat said of his initial discussions with the director. "She said with enthusiasm, 'I'd like the music to be a mix of Mozart meeting Bowie'. It doesn't mean anything, but it does mean something if you let the energy come into your system and you get something of that, and this opening is about that." The film has already received an early nod for the 2020 Oscars in the Music (Original Score) category. Desplat has previously bagged two Academy Awards for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water. - Billboard, 12/18/19...... 
KISS announced on Dec. 17 that former Van Halen lead singer and solo star David Lee Roth will be their special guest on the final legs of their self-proclaimed continuing End of the Road farewell tour. "David Lee Roth will bring his exciting stage show featuring a twin guitar big rock sound and a set list of classic hits and future energy," the band said in a statement. The tour is slated to officially wind-down with a July 17, 2021 show at an as-yet-unannounced venue in the group's native New York. KISS is currently in Japan where they played the Osaka Dome on Dec. 17, while Diamond Dave is gearing up to launch a Las Vegas residency on Jan. 8 at the House of Blues Las Vegas. Roth recently posted an announcement of his Vegas residency on 
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain says his main focus in 2020 will be making some new Journey music, the band's first since 2011's Eclipse. Cain says it will probably be in the form of an EP rather than a full album just to "break the ice" after the long gap. "I have quite a bit of ideas lyrically," Cain says. "We have the beginning of a really good song and we've even got a title for the next record. For me it works best with just [guitarist] Neal [Schon] and I in a room and we come together rather than trying to dictate what it is." Cain adds that he and Schon have "mended our friendship and moved on" since their relationship was fractured after some vitriolic social media posts by Schon during the summer of 2017 when Schon became upset that Cain, Journey singer Arnel Pineda and bassist Ross Valory attended a meeting at the White House with Pres. Trump. "Neither one of us liked the way all that went, and neither did the fans. It was just a lot of misunderstanding and things that were taken wrong," Cain says. "I think we both learned a lot, and it shows that our relationship is better than that and we shouldn't come against each other." Cain, who began a solo Christian music career with 2016's What God Wants to Hear and followed it up in 2018 and 2019 with two additional Christian albums, says he's among those who welcome rapper Kayne West to the ranks of Christian music. "For me it looked like a move of God, and I'm thrilled he's doing it," Cain said. Meanwhile, Journey will play the next edition of its Vegas residency in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace starting Dec. 27, including a New Year's Eve show. Its summer tour with Pretenders kicks off May 15 in Ridgefield, Wash., with arena and amphitheater dates into September. - Billboard, 12/17/19...... Roy Loney, the founding lead singer of the influential '70s San Francisco power pop band the Flamin' Groovies, died of "severe organ failure" at CPMC Davies Campus in San Francisco on Dec. 13, after a brief hospitalization. He was 73. Loney was a charismatic frontman whose high-energy stage moves and growly, blues-inflected vocals were part of the psychedelic, hippie vibe of the Bay Area rock scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unlike the prevailing flower power sound of the time, the Groovies were full-steam-ahead '50s-inspired rockers, injecting blues, rockabilly and R&B swing into a power pop froth on songs such as "Love Have Mercy," "The First One's Free" and "Bam Balam" -- all written or co-written by Loney -- on their full-length 1969 Epic Records debut. They jumped to Kama Sutra Records for their second effort, 1970's even more raw Flamingo, which solidified their gritty sound. In 1971, the band released Teenage Head, a masterpiece of loose, concise bluesy garage rock. But by the next year Loney quit the group as a precursor to a long solo career with a number of different bands; the Flaming Groovies, however, would record 
Legislators in Tennessee are considering replacing a controversial bust of former Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest that has resided in the state Capitol building since 1978 with one of the state's most celebrated musicians, Dolly Parton. According to The Tennessean newspaper, Parton is being considered for the honor because of her revered status as a country music legend and as an ambassador of goodwill around the world, in contrast to the former KKK Grand Wizard. "If we want to preserve history, then let's tell it the right way. Right now there are eight alcoves [in the Capitol]. Seven are filled with white men," said Tennessee House of Representatives member Jeremy Faison. Faison has also suggested building a monument to honour the slaves who built the Capitol Building, while the bust of Forrest should be placed in a museum to educate people about the Fort Pillow massacre of 1864 -- where soldiers under his command massacred African-American troops. Meanwhile, Parton's new Netflix series arrived in late November, and she released her latest album, Heartstrings, on Nov. 22. - The Tennessean/NME 12/16/19...... Joe Smith, a legendary record executive who signed the Grateful Dead and helmed three labels, including as president and CEO of Capitol-EMI Music, died on Dec. 2 at the age of 91. Mr. Smith, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, worked closely with a number of artists, including Bonnie Raitt, whom he signed while president at Warner Bros. Records in the '70s and then brought to Capitol and was part of her comeback in the late '80s, including her multiple Grammy winner, 1989's Nick of Time. Among the other artists with whom he worked are Jackson Browne, Frank Sinatra, Garth Brooks, Eagles, Rod Stewart, The Cars and Bob Seger. In 2012, the Library of Congress acquired more than 200 hours of interviews conducted by Mr. Smith for his 1985 book, Off the Record: An Oral History of Pop Music, a collection of interviews with more than 200 artists, producers and executives, including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, B.B. King and Barbra Streisand. "Joe believed in supporting artists for the long haul, allowing us to stretch and grow," Bonnie Raitt said in memoriam to Mr. Smith. - Billboard, 12/2/19...... Emmy Award-winning composer, conductor and electronic music pioneer Gershon Kingsley, who wrote the 1969 top 10 hit "Popcorn" and played a pivotal role in popularizing the Moog synthesizer sound, died Dec. 10 in New York. He was 97. Although "Popcorn" was written by Mr. Kingsley, it was a remake by Hot Butter that reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, and No. 1 in at least six other countries. In 2005, Crazy Frog released its version, with the song again going to No. 1 in a number of countries. In 2018, Mr. Kingsley released a yellow vinyl 12" of his trademark song for Record Store Day. Mr. Kingsley also wrote theme music for the American game show The Joker's Wild and several German television shows. In the 1980s, Mr. Kingsley released a number of New Age albums, and one of his latest theatrical works, "Raoul," about Raoul Wallenberg, premiered in New York in 2004 and went on to full production in Bremen, Germany, in 2008. - Billboard, 12/14/19.
On Dec. 13, Pink Floyd released 
To the delight of Talking Heads fans, the New Wave icons opened what appears to be an official Instagram account on Dec. 9, sparking rumors of a potential long-awaited reunion. Although the account has yet to share a single post or be authenticated by Instagram's coveted blue check mark, the band's new handle, @talkingheadsofficial, has already garnered more than 10,000 followers in just two days, including former TH keyboard player Jerry Harrison. While frontman David Byrne has been famously reticent in the past about getting the band back together, interestingly 2020 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Heads' critically-acclaimed fourth album, Remain in the Light, which Harrison already announced he'll be celebrating by playing a series of special shows with Adrian Belew and the funk band Turkuaz. - Billboard, 12/11/19...... The Eagles announced on Dec. 10 that they'll be playing their seminal 1976 album Hotel California in its entirety next summer at London's Wembley Stadium. The pair of shows, which will also include a set of the country-rock legends' greatest hits, are set for Aug. 29 and 30 as part of the band's "Hotel California" tour in the U.K. Tickets for the Wembley shows go on sale to the general public on Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. and can be purchased by visiting the Eagles' official website. - Billboard, 12/10/19...... An urban legend that Jimi Hendrix was to blame for the arrival of wild parakeets in Britain has been finally debunked in a new study published in the Journal of Zoology. It was previously claimed that Hendrix released the first pair of parakeets, called Adam and Eve, as a symbol of peace while stoned in London's Carnaby Street in 1968. But the study confirms that the birds were sighted in Britain as far back as 1855, when one parakeet was spotted in Norfolk. Experts now believe that the parakeet population may have risen after the birds escaped from damaged bird houses during Britain's Great Storm of 1987. They also claim that many parakeets kept as pets were released during an outbreak of "parrot fever" in 1929, 1930 and 1952, with the public urged by newspapers to keep away from the "dangerous birds." A rival urban legend claimed that late '80s pop singer George Michael was to blame, after burglars broke into his Hampstead home in the 1990s and raided his secret aviary, but he failed to report the crime since he was wary of the police. Another popular theory claimed that the birds escaped from the set of the classic 1951 film The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. - NME, 12/12/19...... The family of the late Marvin Gaye are asking the original judge in the now infamous "Blurred Lines" vs. "Got To Give It Up" lawsuit to revisit his decision to deny an award of $3.5 million in attorney fees after Pharrel Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay half of "Got To Give It Up"'s royalties to Gaye's family as well as a one-off payment of $5.3 million in damages in 2015. Gaye's famiy claim that Williams committed perjery in court when defending himself in lausuit after he told GQ magazine in November that he "reverse engineers the feeling he gets from listening certain music, adding that he "did that in "Blurred Lines' and got myself in trouble." The Gaye family, represented by litigator Richard Busch, believes Williams' November 2019 comment constitutes a fraud on the court and evidence of perjury, and wants US District Court Judge John Kronstad to deny the attorney fees. The Gaye family's motion stops short, however, of requesting new criminal prosecution. - NME, 12/10/19...... 
Linda Ronstadt, who was honored with a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor at the 42nd annual Kennedy Center Honors gala in Washington, D.C., had some strong words for Sec. of State Mike Pompeo at a dinner the evening before the ceremony after Pompeo introduced her to the audience, congratulating her and joking aloud "when he would be loved," a reference to Ronstadt's hit "When Will I Be Loved." In response, the 73-year-old singer told Pompeo, "Maybe when you stop enabling Donald Trump." The awkward exchange was tweeted about by Sam Greisman, the son of Oscar-winning actress and fellow 2019 Kennedy Center Honors recipient Sally Field. "Linda Ronstadt got up to get laurels, looked the f---er right in the eye and said 'maybe when you stop enabling Donald Trump.' Icon," he wrote. Other honorees included Earth, Wind and Fire; conductor Michael Tilson Thomas; and the long-running children's TV show Sesame Street. The event, hosted by LL Cool J, was taped and will be broadcast on CBS on Dec. 15. Pres. Trump an first lady Melania Trump declined to appear at the event for the third year in a row. - Billboard, 12/8/19...... The U.S. Library of Congress announced on Dec. 12 that Prince's 1984 film Purple Rain is among the 25 films added to its annual National Film Registry in 2019. The grossed more than $68 million at the box office in the US in its first release and earned over $80 million worldwide. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song Score, the last movie to receive that particular award. Other "culturally and historically significant" films that are set to be archived in 2019 include Martin Scorsese's classic concert film for The Band, The Last Waltz, and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It. - NME, 12/12/19...... Queen + Adam Lambert have added five new dates to their forthcoming UK "Rhapsody" tour. The band had already announced five nights at London's O2 Arena in June 2020 along with two dates at the Manchester Arena (6/11, 12). Now they've added five more nights at the O2 to run throughout the month. The "Rhapsody" shows were inspired by the Oscar winning 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and will feature ambitious staging, lighting and visuals. The film is now the highest-grossing music biopic of all time and the biggest-selling film of 2019 in the UK. - NME, 12/11/19...... An AC/DC reunion with former lead singer Brian Johnson has apparently been confirmed by their fellow hard rock acts Twisted Sister and Behemoth, with the latter band's member Nerghal telling Loudwire: "I know there's a new AC/DC album in the making with [late AC/DC rhythm guitarist] Malcolm Young. It's coming. It's going to be an outtake from Rock or Bust. What do I expect? I expect nothing more and nothing less, just give me f---ing rhythm and Angus and Malcolm's guitar. Don't give me anything extra. [Brian Johnson] is back in the band." Dee Snider of Twisted Sister also seemingly backed the reports on Twitter, claiming that the band will reunite with drummer Phil Rudd, who was ousted from the group following his conviction in 2018 for drug possession and making threats to kill a former employee. - NME, 12/10/19.
December 8 marked the 39th year since John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York apartment at age 40, and his widow Yoko Ono posted an emotional tribute to her late husband on Twitter that day. "Dear Friends. Every day, 100 Americans are shot and killed with guns. We are turning this beautiful country into a War Zone. Together, let's bring back America, the green land of peace," she wrote. Ono also shared a statistic that revealed over 1,400,000 people have been killed by guns in America since Lennon's death. "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 39 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him. Imagine all the people living life in peace," she added. Yoko's outdoor art installation, the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjav'k, Iceland, is lit up each year in memory of John from the date of his birthday until the anniversary of his death. Live footage of the tower can be viewed on 
Rod Stewart has earned his first Billboard Classical Albums chart No. 1 with his new album 
Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett have announced a massive co-headlining stadium tour in 2020 simply titled "The Stadium Tour." Visiting some of America's largest venues, the Stadium Tour gets underway July 7 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and then hit cities including Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Boston, Chicago and more. The 22-date trek will close out on Sept. 5 at the brand new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. During a press conference at SiriusXM Studios' garage in Hollywood on Dec. 4 featuring members of Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Poison, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott said, "There's a lot of people who still think the '80s is a mockable decade, and we're about to prove that it's not. It's last man standing to a point maybe, but we have survived. Whether we've gone away and come back or we've been constant, it's the music that's been the thread that keeps bringing everybody back again." - Billboard, 12/4/19...... Two members of The Ramones have apparently reached a truce in their ongoing trademark dispute. Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman) and Johnny Ramone (born Johnny Cummings) died in 2001 and 2004, respectively -- both from cancer. After a year of arbitration, Joey Ramone's brother, Mitchel Hyman, and Johnny Ramone's widow, Linda Cummings-Ramone, have come to an agreement over the use of the name Ramone. A final arbitration agreement was filed on Dec. 2 in New York, resulting in Hyman and Cummings-Ramone each owning 50% interests in Ramone Productions Inc. (RPI), the company which markets license and produces memorabilia and music-related products bearing the group's name and likeness. Cummings-Ramone is also the company's co-president and director. The dispute started when Hyman brought claims against Linda Cummings after she legally changed her name to Ramone in 2014. Hyman claimed that Cummings' use of the Ramone name was "improper and unauthorised." He also wanted to stop her from referring to her Los Angeles house as "Ramones Ranch." - Billboard, 12/6/19...... Questlove, the drummer of the band The Roots, is set to make his directorial debut with a feature documentary titled Black Woodstock, detailing 1969's Harlem Cultural Festival. The outdoor festival, held in Harlem's Mount Morris Park, was headlined by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and The Staple Singers for a musical celebration of African-American culture and unity. However despite attracting a crowd of 300,000 attendees, the festival -- held in the same year as Woodstock -- failed to receive any mainstream media coverage. It's said that Black Woodstock will use 40 hours of never-seen-before footage, while producers promise music and performance footage to "knock audiences out of their seats." "I am truly excited to help bring the passion, the story and the music of the Harlem Cultural Festival to audiences around the world," Questlove said in a statement. "The performances are extraordinary. I was stunned when I saw the lost footage for the first time. It's incredible to look at 50 years of history that's never been told, and I'm eager and humbled to tell that story," he added. - NME, 12/5/19...... 
In a recently surfaced interview with local San Antonio, Tex. news station KSAT, Willie Nelson revealed that in an effort to take better care of himself, he no longer smokes cigarettes or marijuana. "I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful," the 86-year-old said. "I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever. And that almost killed me," he added But a rep for Nelson told the AP later that Willie hasn't given up cannabis, and pointed out "there are different ways" to consume pot. "That said," she said "Willie does what he wants, when he wants, when it comes to smoking." One thing though Nelson won't be giving up anytime soon is touring. "I love the bus," he told KSAT. "This is my home." When asked how he feels about rumors that his health problems might suggest he is "near death," Nelson, in response, said "I don't give a f---, I'm here, I'm glad to be here." - AP/Jezebel.com, 12/4/19...... Carroll Spinney, the legendary puppeteer who gave the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch their warmth for nearly 50 years, died on Dec. 8 at his home in Connecticut at age 85, according to the Sesame Workshop. Mr. Spinney voiced and operated the two major Muppets characters from their inception in 1969 when he was 36, and performed them almost exclusively into his 80s on the PBS kids' television show that later moved to HBO. "Before I came to 'Sesame Street,' I didn't feel like what I was doing was very important," Mr. Spinney said when he announced his retirement in 2018. "Big Bird helped me find my purpose." Through his two characters, Mr. Spinney gained huge fame that brought international tours, books, record albums, movie roles, and visits to the White House. The Sesame Workshop said in a statement that Mr. Spinney lived for some time with dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions. "Carroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending," the Workshop said in a statement. - AP, 12/8/19.
On Dec. 3 Lynyrd Skynyrd announced U.S. dates for the third year of their farewell tour with special guests Travis Tritt and the Eli Young Band. New dates for the legendary Southern rockers' "Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour" will launch on Mar. 7 at Martin Luther King Jr. Arena in Savannah, Ga. The tour will continue through California, Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kentucky and more. On July 31, the newly announced dates will close out at The Amphitheater at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Ind. "We've said we want to play every venue and market we've ever visited around the world one last time and even some places we haven't, so we get to see all of Skynyrd Nation," said the band's lead singer, Johnny Van Zant, in a press release. "We are getting close!" International dates will be announced soon. - Billboard, 12/3/19...... In other Southern rock news, Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Chuck Leavell will lead a Dec. 3 Macon City, Georgia Auditorium concert celebrating the re-opening of the home of the group's former record label, Capricorn Records. ABB drummer "Jamoe" Johanson, Cowboy guitarist Tommy Talton, bluesman Taj Mahal and Widespread Panic's John Bell will be performing, as well as newer artists like Marcus King, Brent Cobb and Dickey Betts' son Duane Betts. The ABB released its debut album in November 1969, the first album issued on Capricorn Records. The Macon, Ga. based imprint would become synonymous with Southern rock, thanks to iconic hits by the Allmans, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie and others. On Dec. 3, the legendary studio is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a grand re-opening as "Mercer Music at Capricorn." - Billboard, 12/3/19...... German electronic rock pioneers Kraftwerk have been confirmed as the latest headliner for the UK's All Points East 2020 festival, joining a line-up that includes the likes of Iggy Pop, Johnny Marr, Anna Calvi and Kim Gordon. Kraftwerk will perform their "Kraftwerk in 3D" show at London's Victoria Park on May 29, in what is set to be their only UK show of 2019. In October, Kraftwerk were announced among the latest nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. - New Musical Express, 12/3/19...... As Elton John's massive "Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour" kicked off in Australia in late November, the Rocket Man blasted off with a four-letter tirade at security personnel at HBF Park in Western Australia on Dec. 1, objecting to the treatment of a female fan who was being ejected. "Hey, you two security guards with the girls, F--- off. Bring her back here immediately," he said, as the audience cheered him along. "Come on you c---s. Morons, you both are, morons. You don't treat girls like that. Leave her alone you turds." His colorful outburst happened at the second of two Perth concerts on his farewell tour, and was caught on film by onlookers and posted on 
Beatles fans are being invited to listen to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at a new immersive event that aims to give the impression that the Fab Four are performing live. The pioneering experience, which is set to take place at Liverpool's Dr. Martin Luther King Building between Dec. 19 - Jan. 9, will present fans with a remixed version of the legendary 1967 album by George Martin's son, Giles Martin. The record will be played in Dolby Atmos with speakers being placed around the fans in a bid to transport them to Abbey Road Studios, where the album was recorded. "People will become fully immersed in a soundscape, which is unlike any other," Martin told the Liverpool Echo. "For me, it's like imagining falling through the vinyl of a record and and into this world where you're surrounded by the Beatles. It's like sitting in Abbey Road's Studio 2 and having the Beatles play for you," he added. In other Beatles-related news, singer Rihanna has shared a funny clip of her chance reunion with Paul McCartney during a flight from New York after Thanksgiving. The pair, who collaborated on Kanye West's song "FourFiveSeconds" in 2015, bumped into one another in the first class section of the plane, which was heading to London. A video that Rihanna shared on her Instagram stories reel (since reposted by the 
Family members of late "American Top 40" radio personality Casey Kasem have settled dueling lawsuits alleging that Casem was badly mistreated before his death in 2014. The two sides filed a joint request on Dec. 2 in Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit by three of Kasem's children and his brother against Kasem's widow that claimed her neglect and physical abuse led to his death, as well as a countersuit making similar claims against the plaintiffs that was filed by his widow and another daughter. The terms of the agreement were not revealed. Kerri Kasem, one of the daughters who filed the initial lawsuit, released a statement saying she was "distraught and heartbroken over her family and lawyers' decision to force her into a settlement." The first lawsuit was filed four years ago by Casey Kasem's children from a previous marriage, Kerri, Julie and Michael Kasem, and his brother Mouner Kasem. It was a lingering chapter in a series of heated and often public fights between his children and his second wife, former actress Jean Kasem, that began even before his death at age 82. The wrongful death lawsuit accused Jean Kasem, who was married to Casey Kasem for 34 years, of elder abuse and of inflicting emotional distress on his children by restricting their access to him before his death. Jean Kasem denied all of the allegations. She counter-sued and alleged that Casey Kasem's children were motivated by their desire to get his money after he cut them off financially in 2012, and that they had brought emotional distress to her and her father, claims they denied. Police and prosecutors in California and Washington investigated his treatment and death and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Best known as the voice of radio's "American Top 40" for decades and for his sign-off catchphrase, "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars," Kasem was also a constant on television as a host of shows and specials and as the voice of animated characters that included Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo TV cartoons. - AP, 12/2/19...... Actress Shelley Morrison, best known for her roles on The Flying Nun and Will & Grace, died on Nov. 30 of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 83. Ms. Morrison played Sister Sixto alongside Sally Field on The Flying Nun, but was probably best known for her role as Rosario Salazar on Will & Grace from 1999 to 2006. She was the maid to Megan Mullally's character, Karen and the two often bantered back and forth. Mullally tweeted that her heart was heavy after learning about her co-star's passing. Ms. Morrison, who held many stage and screen roles throughout her 50-year career, more recently voiced Mrs. Portillo on the children's cartoon Handy Manny. - CBSNews.com, 12/2/19.
