Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 27th, 2020

Elton John has reportedly snapped up a batch of actress Gwyneth Paltrow's sensational new scented candles, irreverently titled "This Smells Like My Vagina" candles. Perfumer Douglas Little, who came up with the wax wonder with the Shakespeare In Love Oscar winner, says Sir Elton is "a fan" and has bought a "ton of them." Paltrow and Little unveiled the cheeky candle earlier in January, revealing the idea started out as a joke. "We were kind of messing around and I smelled this beautiful thing and I was like, 'This smells like my vagina'," Paltrow said in a recent interview. "I was kidding, obviously. It was really funny to us." Paltrow's "This Smells Like My Vagina" candle retails for $75, and is available via the Oscar-winning actress' online Goop wellness store. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/24/20...... '70s singer/songwriter legend John Prine was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards at L.A.'s Staples Center on Jan. 26. Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to Prine with an abbreviated acoustic version of Prine's classic "Angel From Montgomery," after which she pointed to Prine in the audience and said he "wrote 'Angel From Montgomery' and so many other songs that changed my life... I love you John." Prine released his highest-charting album ever in 2018, The Tree of Forgiveness, which peaked at No. 5. - Billboard,...... In other Grammys news, Aerosmith re-teamed with rap act Run-D.M.C. for a rendition of their 1986 remake of "Walk This Way." Rev. Run of Run-D.M.C. busted through a fake brick wall to join Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry on the first true rap-rock hit, trading verses with Tyler as Perry ripped off solos on a white custom electic guitar. As the performance wound down a member of Run-DMC's crew held up a No. 24 Los Angeles Lakers jersey in honor of late hometown basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who was among eight people killed in a tragic helicopter accident earlier in the day. The night before, Aerosmith was honored at a MusiCares Person of the Year gala, which raised over $6 million for musicians and other industry professionals in medical, emotional and financial need. Aerosmith was honored with performances from a range of artists including Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Foo Fighters, John Mayer and John Legend. Earlier in Grammy Week, co-founding Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer said he was "disappointed" after a Massachusetts Superior Court judge dismissed his legal bid to rejoin the group for their Grammy Awards performance. Kramer, who suffered an ankle injury in 2019 which caused him to miss most of Aerosmith's recent Las Vegas residency, sued the band and argued breach of contract. The 69-year-old says the band told he he was required to re-audition for his place, and apparently failed to prove he could perform "at an appropriate level." Celebrity gossip website TMZ.com captured footage of Kramer being turned away from Aerosmith's rehearsals for the show by security guards. "I'm sorry, we're just asking you not to come into the property right now," one security guard told him. "We've been hired by the other four members of the band to ask that you don't come in today." When he was asked if that was alright, Kramer responded: "Well, you're just doing your job," then thanked the guards and walked away. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine after the judge's decision, Kramer said: "The truth speaks for itself. Ever since I injured my foot last August and went through many hours of physical therapy to heal, not once did the band in its entirety offer to rehearse with me. That is a fact." - Billboard/New Musical Express, 1/26/20...... In more Grammy news, Willie Nelson was paid a pre-Grammy salute on Jan. 25 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles by the Americana Music Association's 7th annual pre-Grammy concert. Although Nelson, 86, was not present for the tribute at the Troubadour, his songs were showcased by several artists he has influenced, including John Prine, Shooter Jennings, Joe Henry, Amos Lee and others. On Grammy night, Nelson was named winner of a Best Country Solo Performance Grammy for his 2019 single, "Ride Me Back Home," beating out the likes of Blake Shelton and Tanya Tucker. - Billboard, 1/26/20...... What would have been the 75th birthday of late '70s reggae legend Bob Marley was celebrated during a pre-Grammys brunch on Jan. 24 in Los Angeles, about two weeks before his Feb. 6 birthdate. The event was attended by his children, including Cedella Marley, Julian Marley and Rohan Marley, and several of his grandchildren. Cedella Marley, a three-time Grammy winner, said her father, who died in 1981, taught his children important lessons about perseverance. "Daddy was a fitness guru... and there were times when we would do these relay races and a lot of parents just want their children to win, win, win. No, we had to really win," she said. "And he was not the one that was just going to let you win just because, and I think that's an important lesson. Nothing is handed to you, you have to go out there (and work hard)." - AP, 1/25/20...... Former founding Pink Floyd member Roger Waters announced on Jan. 23 that he'll kick off a "This Is Not a Drill" North American tour this summer, playing in the round for the first time ever. Waters is promising the tour, which launches on July 8 in Pittsburgh, will be an entirely new show that pulls from his 50 years of experience in rock music. Other cities on the 31-date jaunt include Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, New York, Miami, Denver, Las Vegas, Vancouver and more, before wrapping on Oct. 3 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The tour marks Waters' return to the U.S. following his extraordinary performances at the 2016 Desert Trip music festival and his worldwide "Us + Them Tour" in 2017 and 2018. Waters announced the tour on his Facebook page on Jan. 23, posting a video of his previous shows and footage of him in the rehearsal studio with his band. "As the clock ticks faster and faster and faster down to extinction, it seemed like a good thing to make a fuss about it, so that's why I'm going on the road," he says in the clip. - Billboard/NME, 1/23/20...... Jeff Lynne's ELO announced on Jan. 24 they'll launch a 15-date tour of the UK and Europe this fall. Supporting their 2019 release From Out of Nowhere, the tour is set to kick off Sept. 19 in Oslo, Norway, also visiting Stockholm (9/21), Herning, Denmark (9/23), Hamburg (9/26), Berlin (9/27), Cologne (9/29) and Munich (9/30). October shows include Amsterdam (10/2), London (10/5, 6), Birmingham (10/11), Manchester (10/16), Belfast (10/18), Dublin (10/19) and Glasgow (10/21). "The audiences in the UK and Europe were so good," frontman Jeff Lynne said in a statement. "We're looking forward to bringing a new show and some musical surprises this fall. I can't wait." - New Musical Express, 1/24/20...... Neil Young was granted official U.S. citizenship on Jan. 23 at Tom Bradley Hall at the L.A. Convention Center. Young, 74, previously announced he had decided to apply for dual U.S./Canadian citizenship so he can vote in the 2020 presidential election, presumably for the opponent of the target of his many criticisms, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump. Young was cheered and congratulated by fans as he walked by alongside his wife Daryl Hannah and waved his paperwork and a small American flag. In an update on his NeilYoung.com website, Young posted "I'm Happy to Report I'm In!!" as he saluted next to a voter registration table that reads, "Democrats register to vote here." - Billboard, 1/23/20...... Brian Eno and his brother Roger Eno have announced they will release a joint album together entitled Mixing Colours. It will be the ambient music pioneer's first studio effort since 2017's Reflection. Eno says the latest album with his brother, who has also developed a career in the same genre, has been in the works since 2005. The album is due March 20 via Deutsche Grammophon, and the first single, "Celeste," has already been shared. In December, Eno released a satirical new track, "Everything's on the Up With the Tories," in the U.K. prior to the general election which was won by the Conservative party. All proceeds made from the two-minute, sing-song track went towards aiding the homeless, according to Eno. - New Musical Express, 1/26/20...... James Taylor announced on Jan. 23 that he'll release his first new album in five years, American Standard, on Feb. 28 via Fantasy Records. Taylor's 19th studio LP, American Standard features reimagined versions of such timeless 20th century songs as "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" from the musical "Oklahoma!," Bing Crosby's "Pennies From Heaven," Audrey Hepburn's "Moon River," and many more. "I've always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection -- and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together," Taylor said in a press release. "I know most of these songs from the original cast recordings of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, including My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Carousel, Showboat and others.... we were interested in doing something new, and in bringing something new to it, we've reinterpreted the songs, that's what makes it worth doing." Taylor also announced he'll mount a 28-city tour with opener Jackson Browne behind the new album beginning on May 15 in New Orleans, also hitting such markets as Houston (5/16), Portland (5/25), San Francisco (5/27), Anaheim (5/28), San Diego (5/29), Chicago (6/10), Detroit (6/13), Boston (6/21), Louisville (6/26), Atlanta (6/29), Nashville (6/3) and Holmdel, N.J. (7/7) before wrapping on July 10 in Camden, N.J. - Billboard, 1/23/20...... Multiple songs by Rush have dominated Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart for the week ending Jan. 25 following the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart on Jan. 7 after a battle with glioblastoma. Rush's 1981 track "Tom Sawyer" leads the list at No. 3 with 4,000 digital downloads, followed by "Limelight" at No. 10 (1.6 million streams, 2,000 sold), "The Spirit of Radio" at No. 13 (1.3 million streams, 2,000 sold), and "Subdivisions" at No. 24 (1.1 million streams, 1,000 sold). In all, Rush's song catalog drew 34.2 million on-demand streams, a jump of 622%, and moved 42,000 album units, up 701%, in the tracking week. - Billboard, 1/22/20...... Former Happy Days star Henry Winkler has denied he and Tom Hanks are still feuding over Winkler's firing from the movie Turner & Hooch. Winkler was dismissed as the director of the 1989 Disney dog film, with rumours swirling for years that he and Hanks had clashed on set. This made for an awkward moment during the Jan. 19 SAG Awards as a camera cut to Winkler when a clip from Turner & Hooch was shown during a career spanning montage celebrating Hanks receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Denying they are at odds, Henry told TMZ: "I don't have a feud with Tom Hanks." Winkler, 74, also said that "sure," he would want to work with Hanks again, despite the fact that teaming up on Turner & Hooch did not work out for him. Winkler said that he and Hanks had in fact been friends for "years" and that he had also enjoyed working with the two-time Oscar-winner's wife, Rita Wilson. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/22/20...... Mick Jagger is set to act in his first significant film part since 2001's The Man From Elysian Fields when he appears in the forthcoming movie The Burnt Orange Heresy. In the movie, the Rolling Stones frontman plays shady art dealer Joseph Cassidy who tries to persuade an art critic (played by Claes Bang) to steal a painting from a reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland). According to a synopsis, "Soon, James' greed and ambition get the better of him, and he finds himself caught in a web of his own making." A clip from the movie, which hits U.S. theaters on Mar. 6 (no U.K. release date has been set), can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 1/25/20...... Longtime PBS NewsHour anchorman Jim Lehrer reportedly died "peacefully in his sleep at home" on Jan. 23 at age 85. Mr. Lehrer anchored NewsHour, the flagship newscast on public television in the United States, for 36 years until his retirement in 2011. Mr. Lehrer was also noted for hosting several U.S. presidential debates, once stating he always tried to keep the focus on the candidates and not on himself. "I'm heartbroken at the loss of someone who was central to my professional life, a mentor to me and someone whose friendship I've cherished for decades," said Judy Woodruff, who replaced Mr. Lehrer at the NewsHour anchor desk. "I've looked up to him as the standard for fair, probing and thoughtful journalism and I know countless others who feel the same way," - CNN.com, 1/23/20.

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer filed a lawsuit against his bandmates on Jan. 17, charging they violated his contract by not allowing him to perform with the band on the upcoming 2020 Grammy Awards on Jan. 26. Kramer, who says he's fully recovered from several injuries he suffered in the spring of 2019, says the band unfairly blocked his return for the Grammys performance. Aerosmith responded to the suit in a statement devoid of animosity: "Joey Kramer is our brother; his wellbeing is of paramount importance to us. However he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so." The statement goes on to say Kramer "has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week" and the band would "be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse." Kramer says that Aerosmith, which is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy as well as being named MusiCares Person of the Year in another Grammy week event, is depriving him "of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers for our collective lifetime contributions to the music industry... Neither the MusiCares' Person of the Year Award nor the Grammys' Lifetime Achievement honors can ever be repeated." - Billboard, 1/22/20...... In an interview with the ABC's Good Morning America on Jan. 21, Ozzy Osbourne revealed that his been struggling with a form of Parkinson's disease called PRKN 2 after he suffered a fall in February 2019. "It's been terribly challenging for us," Ozzy told GMA, which posted the interview on their Twitter feed. Osbourne continued: "I did my last show New Year's Eve at The Forum. Then I had a bad fall. I had to have surgery on my neck, which screwed all my nerves. A year ago next month I was in a shocking state. I'm on a host of medication, mainly from surgery. I've got numbness down this arm from surgery, my legs feel like they're going cold, I don't know if that's from the Parkinson's." Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne, also present for the interview, stressed Ozzy's diagnosis "is not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination" and that the couple "will travel to a doctor in Switzerland in April in a bid to secure further treatment for the condition." Ozzy added how he's determined to hit the road again in October for a planned UK tour, and that 2019 was the "longest, most painful and miserable" year of his life. The following day, Sharon thanked fans for their "outpouring of love" after Ozzy's revelation on her daytime show The Talk. "...Just to have all this outpouring of positive reaction from everyone that watches the show, and our friends, it's heartwarming. And I know that Ozzy will be just over the moon. He will be taken aback." Ozzy will release his latest solo LP, Ordinary Man, on Feb. 21. - New Musical Express, 1/21/20...... The estate of Michael Jackson renewed its partnership with music rights management company BMI on Jan. 21, in an agreement that dates back 41 years. BMI announced it will continue licensing the King of Pop's songwriting catalog for public performance, renewing a pact first signed in 1979 and last refreshed in 2014. According to BMI, 17 of Jackson's songs have exceeded over one million plays on radio, with some exceeding five million spins. "The influence of Michael Jackson's revolutionary music is undeniable," said BMI president/CEO Mike O'Neill "We are extremely pleased that his estate continues to entrust BMI to represent his extraordinary catalog." - Billboard, 1/21/20...... Hall and Oates announced a massive 32-date 2020 North American tour on Jan. 21 that will see the popular rock/R&B duo visit cities across the entire US, from Hawaii to New York. With openers Squeeze and KT Tunstall, Hall and Oates will launch the trek with a two-night stand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Conn. on May 15 and 16 and continue through Los Angeles (5/29), Denver (6/14), Austin (6/19), Toronto (7/10), Cleveland (7/14), Atlanta (8/13), Tampa (8/15) and more. The tour is currently scheduled to close out on Sept. 2 at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H. "I'm really looking forward to a big time 2020 tour!" said John Oates in a release. "Having KT Tunstall and Squeeze on the bill with us is just gonna make for an amazing night of music. Can't wait to see you all on the road." Warm ups before the tour begins in earnest in May will include shows at Giant Center in Hersey, Penn., on Feb. 26; Madison Square Garden in NYC on Feb. 28; and two shows in Hawaii on March 27 and 29. - Billboard, 1/21/2020...... AC/DC are reportedly planning to make a live comeback in 2020 with former frontman Brian Johnson handling vocal duties for the legendary Australian hard rockers. Australian radio personality Eddie McGuire, on his "Triple M Melbourne" show, says Johnson will return to the group after hearing loss forced him to leave the band in 2016, and that the band is planning a new album "in February/March this year... and [will be] touring Australia in October/November 2020." "And after a lot of work and a lot of technical research, they have been able to get a hearing aid for Brian Johnson, who will be out front," McGuire added. He also raised the possibility of former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, who left the band in 2015 after being convicted of drug possession and threatening to kill a former employee, returning to the band "after the issues that he's had in recent times. Rumors of a full AC/DC reunion date back to 2018, when there were reports the band was working after a lot of work and a lot of technical research, they have been able to get a hearing aid for Brian Johnson, who will be out front." Rumors of a full AC/DC reunion date back to 2018, when there were reports the band was working on a new album that would feature the work of their late rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young on "every track," and Rudd and Johnson were spotted together in Vancouver in 2019, where the band has recorded all their albums over the last two decades. - New Musical Express, 1/20/20...... Family members of Prince have apparently reached settlements in their wrongful death lawsuit against a slew of defendants who they originally sued in April 2018, two years after the funk-rock icon died of died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016, without leaving a will. The defendants include the Minnesota doctor who saw Prince in the weeks before his death and the Illinois hospital that treated him for an opioid overdose seven days before he died. Prince's heirs alleged the parties had the duty and opportunity to diagnose and treat Prince's addiction and prevent his death, but failed to do so. But as early as summer 2019, the family has quietly dismissed the suits. Claims against Dr. Michael Schulenberg -- a doctor who treated Prince in the weeks before his death -- were permanently dismissed in November, along with claims against Schulenberg's former employer. Both sides agreed to the dismissals. Claims against Walgreens, which filled prescriptions for Prince, and Trinity Medical Center, the Illinois hospital where Prince was treated for an opioid overdose a week before he died, were also permanently dismissed in August by agreement. Meanwhile, Prince's siblings are still waiting to learn how much his estate is worth. Court filings several months after Prince's death suggested the estate was worth around $200 million before taxes. More recent filings suggest the estate and Internal Revenue Service have not yet agreed on its value. - AP, 1/20/20...... Former The Police frontman Sting is adamant against being the subject of a Rocketman-like biopic treatment, according to a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "Absolutely not," the 68-year-old Grammy-winner told the publication. "I'm telling my story in an artistic way." That way is Sting's musical "The Last Ship," which is currently being presented at Broadway's Ahmanson Theatre through Feb. 16, a different version from the one that ran on Broadway for four months in 2014. Sting wrote the music and lyrics and plays the foreman of a Newcastle shipyard in the show, which draws from his early years growing up in a grim, ship-building town in Northern England. "It's really the story of my town," Sting says. "I come from a little town in the Northeast of England. It was a famous shipyard town. We built the biggest vessels ever constructed on the planet, right at the end of my street. So it was a kind of epic, surreal industrial environment, which I didn't appreciate as a kid. It was a very frightening idea that I would end up in the shipyard as my ancestors had done. I'd pass thousands of men every morning, thinking, 'I don't want this.'" Other topics Sting weighed in on included the demise of the Police ("Everything we set out to do as a band we achieved 100 fold. After you've done that it becomes diminishing returns in terms of satisfaction") and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the Royal Family ("I think the press are making more of it than even the royal family are. I mean, he has every right to make his own life... It's ridiculous what they're making of it. Poor lad."). - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/20/20...... Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie announced on Jan. 21 that Blondie will embark on an "In Conversation" book tour of the U.K. in April centering around Harry's and Stein's respective books, Harry's best-selling autobiography Face It and Stein's two photo books, Negative and Point of View. The conversations will, according to a press release, be further "illuminated with seminal images of the band and New York City from Debbie's autobiography and Chris Stein's two books, as well as film clips, fan art, book readings and audience Q&As." "I've always loved the way Chris tells stories," Harry said in the statement. "I think you will too." The tour will begin on Apr. 22 in Glasgow, then visit Birminham on Apr. 24, Manchester on Apr. 26 and London on May 28. - NME, 1/21/20...... Bruce Springsteen surprised fans on Jan. 19 with three separate performances at the Light Of Day Parkinson's disease charity at the historic Stone Pony venue in Asbury, N.J. The Boss first took the stage during a set by Jesse Malin as part of the Light of Day week of fundraising shows for contributions to two of Malin's songs, then later joined Willie Nile to play "One Guitar" before joining Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers for a full ten-song set. The crowd was also treated to versions of his own classics, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Atlantic City" and "The Promised Land." Springsteen made a similar surprise appearance at the event in 2015. - NME, 1/20/20...... Britain's Royal Mint announced on Jan. 20 that they will release a new Queen 5 coin beginning on Jan. 24, the first in a series of "Music Legends" collection by the mint. The coin commemorates all four members of the band through the portrayal of each member's instrument, including Freddie Mercury's Bechstein grand piano which he played on the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody." Queen's logo is placed at the center of the design and is underscored by Mercury's signature mic stick. In a statement when the coins were first announced in May 2019, Queen guitarist Brian May said, "This is a big 'Who could have imagined it?' moment for us. When we began as Queen, even the first rung of the ladder to recognition seemed remote and unreachable. To have our band recognised and our music celebrated in this way is very touching -- a real honour." The commemorative coins are priced at £13 for an uncirculated coin right up to £2,100 for a gold proof coin, and can be viewed and purchased at the RoyalMint.com website. Queen recently announced plans to perform at a benefit concert for Australian bushfire relief at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on Feb. 16. - New Musical Express, 1/20/20...... A longtime friend of Rush says some of the rumors surrounding Rush drummer Neil Peart's final days are inaccurate. Donna Halper, the woman credited with discovering Rush while working at an Ohio radio station back in 1974, says rumors currently circulating on social media that the musician was in a wheelchair and unable to speak in the months prior to his death after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, are "inaccurate." "The vast majority are inaccurate," Halper says. "As for me, I choose to remember Neil as he was, and I want to respect his family's privacy during this difficult time." Also in her Twitter feed, Halper said: "Normally, I would remain silent and let people say what they want to say, but this is different. My friendship with Rush is something I take very seriously, and I will defend the truth as much as I can. It's the least I can do. But it ended the way he wanted, surrounded by his family & best friends. (By the way, he was able to speak, almost till the very end, I am told.) Anyway, I'm just sorry there is no cure for the kind of cancer he had. May he rest in peace." - NME, 1/19/20...... Parlophone Records has shared a video for another previously unreleased David Bowie track, "I Can't Read '97," on YouTube. The track is one of six on the new Record Store Day Bowie EP Is It Any Wonder? The original version of "I Can't Read" appeared on the self-titled debut album of Bowie's short-lived supergroup Tin Machine in 1989. Bowie re-recorded the track during the mixing stage of his 1997 LP Earthling, but it was cut from the album at the last minute to be replaced by "The Last Thing You Should Do." - NME, 1/17/2020...... In an interview with the UK's Mail on Sunday, former Rod Stewart girlfriend Britt Ekland claimed Rod was tight with his money and made her pay rent to him during their two-year relationship. Ekland, 77, who dated Stewart from 1975 until 1977, also made the sensational claim that the 75-year-old "Maggie Mae" singer also used to like wearing her satin knickers. "People thought he bought me Chanel suits but I bought copies of Chanels with my own money," said Ekland, adding scathingly that Rod gave her "nothing." Ekland said that Stewart, who was famously once branded as "tight as two coats of paint" by his former Faces bandmate and current Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, added she "had to pay $100 a month board and lodgings when I was living with him... I would go shopping with him and watch him buy clothes from Yves Saint Laurent but nothing for me." Britt went on to claim Rod used to borrow her underwear: "He did used to like to wear my underwear though," she said. "He would wear these baggy satin trousers and needed little satin pants. Rod would wear my knickers. He liked them." In addition to her courtship with Stewart, the Swedish born Ekland is known for being a Bond girl, starring as Mary Goodnight in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun alongside Roger Moore. In an odd twist, Ekland briefly dated actor George Hamilton before her relationship with Rod, and Hamilton's wife, Alana Hamilton, would later leave him for Rod -- when the singer was dating Britt. Describing the moment she found out Stewart had been unfaithful, she said: "George Hamilton told me, 'Oh how funny, [Alana] has just left me for your ex-boyfriend.'" "Suddenly a light went on and I thought 'Rod'," Ekland says. "I got in the car and drove home. I wanted to throw up. He never said sorry. Never. I wish he had. I think that would have brought it to an end. I think it is only fair to do that." - DailyMail.co.uk, 1/20/20..... Mic Gillette, first trumpet and founding member of the '70s Oakland funk outfit Tower of Power, has died at age 64 after suffering a heart attack. Gillette played a bevy of brass instruments alongside trumpet throughout his tenure in Tower of Power, including trombone, flugelhorn and tuba. Along with Tower of Power, Gillette was a member of two Bay Area funk bands, Cold Blood and the Sons of Champlin, and for a time played with Blood, Sweat and Tears. Both on his own and as a member of the Tower of Power horn section, he recorded with an array of artists including the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Santana, Sheryl Crow and Rod Stewart. After years of touring, he left Tower of Power in the mid-'80s to focus on raising his family, but continued to work as a session musician and record solo material with his own Mic Gillette Band. While Gillette rejoined Tower of Power for a reunion tour in 2009, he continued to focus on teaching music to East Bay middle and high schoolers. - The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/19/20...... David Olney, an underappreciated Nashville singer/songwriter whose work was recorded by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury and others, died of an apparent heart attack while performing onstage at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., on Jan. 18. He was 71. The Rhode Island native moved to Nashville in 1973 and later formed the rock group The X-Rays. He released the first of over two dozen solo albums, Eye of the Storm, in 1986. "Olney was in the middle of his third song when he stopped, apologized and shut his eyes," his singer/songwriter friend Amy Rigby wrote in a Facebook post. "I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment," she added. - Billboard, 1/19/2020.