Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on December 28th, 2019

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.