Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 6th, 2020

Patti Smith has been tapped to receive the PEN America Literary Service Award during the organization's Literary Gala on May 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. "In all of Patti Smith's thrilling incarnations -- rock goddess, poet, eloquent witness to the bohemian New York of her youth -- she has testified to the transformative power of literature in her own life, and used her stardom to encourage reading and writing in the legions who revere her," PEN President Jennifer Egan said in a press release. "A polestar of my own teenage years, she set an example of badass female artistry, coupled with deeply principled humanity, that I'm still trying to live up to." The annual gala celebrates "freedom of expression through writing and its power to shape humane values." Meanwhile in other Patti Smith news, one of the punk poetess's former guitarist/producers has died at age 72. Ivan Kárl, a Czech musician who joined Smith's Patti Smith Group in the '70s as a bassist and guitarist and who co-wrote Smith's iconic 1979 track "Dancing Barefoot," passed away after a bout with cancer on Feb. 3 in his Michigan home. Kárl also worked with the likes of Blondie, Iggy Pop, John Waite and Shaun Cassidy after his short-lived band Luger broke up in 1973. His latest solo album, Smile, has been scheduled for release on Feb. 28. - Billboard/New Musical Express, 2/5/20...... On Feb. 5 the Rolling Stones teased they could be hitting the road Stateside in 2020 with a post on Instagram featuring a cartoon of their iconic "lips logo" being projected into the night sky, alongside the caption: "Feeling restless." While the vague post prompted plenty of speculation among fans, a variety of U.S. media outlets are reporting that a North American tour will be announced soon sometime in February, with ABC News pointing out, "their lips logo has been spotted on sidewalks in downtown Tampa, Florida, as well as Buffalo, Cleveland, Charlotte and other major US cities." Other cities rumoured to be on the list of American tour dates includes San Diego, St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. The Stones previously toured the U.S. in 2019, but were forced to reschedule a string of dates after frontman Mick Jagger underwent heart surgery. Jagger underwent successful surgery in March 2019 to replace a faulty heart valve, before resuming the tour at Chicago's Soldier Field in June. Meanwhile, actress Rae Dawn, best known for her roles in Commando and The Color Purple, is alleging that she once slept with Mick Jagger when she was only 15. In a new interview with the U.K. paper The Daily Mail Dawn, now 58, claims she and Jagger spent the night together one time in New York in 1977, and that Jagger was unaware of her age but didn't ask. "He never asked me how old I was and I never told him. It never came up. I remember thinking he was really cute. He had tousled hair. I thought, 'Oh man, he is beautiful'," she said. The pair reportedly spent a subsequent day together in the recording studio, before heading to a Fleetwood Mac concert at Madison Square Garden. But Rae, who later appeared in the video for Jagger's 1985 track "Just Another Night," says the rendevous took place in "a different era" and stressed that Jagger should not be vilified. "It was the 1970s, a different era. I wasn't a victim," she said. "I don't want him to get into trouble about this. It wasn't traumatising. I knew what I was doing. I wasn't an innocent schoolgirl. I always acted a lot older than I was. I was a grown-up at 15." While the age of consent was 17 at the time, Jagger cannot face criminal charges as the statute of limitations for reporting second-degree rape lasts 20 years. She added: "He did nothing wrong. He didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do. Jagger was married to Nicaraguan model Bianca Jagger from 1971-78. - New Musical Express, 2/5/20...... Country stars Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. will headline the inaugural Born & Raised Music Festival, set for the Pryor Creek Music Festival Grounds in Pryor, Okla., on June 6 and 7. Also performing at the music and camping experience, which will celebrate "Outlaw, Texas and Red Dirt country music" according to a press release, will be Shooter Jennings, Jamey Johnson, Whiskey Myers, Blackberry Smoke and Margo Price, among others. - Billboard, 2/5/20...... The family of late '70s reggae legend Bob Marley commemorated what would have been Marley's 75th birthday on Jan. 31 at the newly opened 1 Hotel in West Hollywood. A group of family, friends and industry dignitaries gathered for one in a series of Marley 75th birthday events in 2020, including 23-year-old Skip Marley, currently signed to Island Records, and free agent football player Nico Marley. "This family celebrates individuality," explained Mystic Marley of the family's legacy at the panel. "I feel like that comes from learning about freedom. We are all so different. If we all make a song, it will sound completely different (person to person). If we (want to) say something, it would never sound the same." On Feb. 5, Marley's daughter Cedella Marley dropped a revamped 40th anniversary video for Bob's trademark "Redemption Song." "I think it came out amazing," says Cedella of the song, which was originally released on Marley's twelfth album Uprising and written after he was diagnosed with the cancer. "When I watch it, it still gives me goosebumps." Marley died in 1981 of cancer at age 36. - Billboard, 2/5/20...... Founding Beach Boys members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine are calling for a boycott of a Beach Boys concert fronted by Mike Love and featuring Bruce Johnston set for Feb. 5 at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nev., due to the organization's support of trophy hunting, which Brian Wilson says he and Jardine are opposed to. According to a petition calling for a boycott of the show posted on Change.org, which has amassed more than 64,000 signatures, the convention "glorifies the killing of bears, lions, bald eagles, chimpanzees, parrots and turtles as 'trophies' for hunters." It also urges Beach Boys fans to "pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts, and purchasing any Beach Boys merchandise until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention and publicly state their opposition to this sick 'sport' of killing animals for 'fun'." The Beach Boys currently tour with two longtime members, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. Brian Wilson and Al Jardine have endorsed the petition. "This organization supports trophy hunting, which Both Al and I are emphatically opposed to," Wilson tweeted on Feb. 3. "There's nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition." - Billboard, 2/3/20...... A niece of Aretha Franklin says she's quitting as representative of the late singer's estate, citing a rift in the family since handwritten wills were discovered last year. "Given my aunt's love of family and desire for privacy, this is not what she would have wanted for us, nor is it what I want," Sabrina Owens stated in a letter filed on Jan. 30 in a suburban Detroit court. Franklin died without a known will in Aug. 2018, and Owens, an administrator at the University of Michigan, says she became manager of the estate at the request of Franklin's four sons. Nine months later, Owens reported that three handwritten wills had been discovered in Franklin's home, including one under cushions in the living room. One document seems to indicate that Franklin wanted a son, Kecalf Franklin, to serve as executor or representative. After a judge agreed to let a handwriting expert examine the documents last August, another son, Theodore White II, asked the judge to make him co-representative of the estate with Owens. Meanwhile, court filings show a mediator has been privately working with the parties. "I hope that my departure will allow the business of the estate to continue, calm the rift in my family and allow me to return to my personal life," Owens said. "I love my cousins, hold no animosity towards them, and wish them the best." Franklin's estate reported assets of $17 million at the end of August, including master recordings and publishing rights worth an estimated $10.5 million. The Internal Revenue Service in October filed tax claims against the estate of more than $6 million. - AP, 2/3/20...... Don Powell, a drummer in the UK hard rock group Slade, revealed on Feb. 6 that he's been fired from the band after over 50 years. "It is with great sadness and regret that Don needs to inform his fans that he now is no longer a member of Dave Hill's Slade," a post on his website reads. "Dave has sent Don a cold email to inform him that his services are no longer required, after working together and being friends since 1963." The message goes on to reveal that Powell is set to return to playing Slade songs with his new band, the suitably named Don Powell's Slade, which he has formed with ex-Slade bassist Craig Fenney. The post also says Powell is recording a debut solo album, and has completed a new record with his other band, Don Powell's Occasional Flames. "Don hopes that all his loyal fans will support his new ventures which he is very excited about," the message concludes. Hill responded to Powell's post on his Facebook page, wishing Powell "every success in his future" and adding that his announcement of how he was fired "is not accurate." Powell's departure means that Slade have effectively now split up, with Hill the only remaining member. Slade formed in 1963 with founding members Noddy Holder, Jime Lea, Hill and Powell. - New Musical Express, 2/6/20...... ABBA member Benny Andersson has said in a new clip shared by the ABBA fan site Talk that the Swedish quartet is "aiming" to release new music this September. "They're coming. They're coming this year. I'm guessing after the summer. But I can only guess, because I'm not really sure. But I would think so," Andersson said of their first new songs in 35 years that ABBA first announced in 2018 they were planning on recording. Asked if they will be out in 2020, he added: "One shouldn't promise anything but if I were to decide myself, it would be September. I can't make that decision alone. But that's what we're aiming for." In 2018, Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyndstad announced they had recorded two new songs, "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down" to tie in with a proposed ABBA avatar tour. They said in a statement at the time: "The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio." However, the tracks have yet to materialise and Bjorn later explained the plans had been delayed until at least 2020 due to the complex technical nature of the show they are creating. ABBA split in 1982 and performed together for the first time in decades in 2016 at a private event, which marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between songwriters Bjorn and Benny. - Music-News.com, 2/4/20...... John Lennon's eldest son Julian Lennon was recently rushed to hospital for an emergency cancer operation after a suspicious-looking mole was discovered during a routine appointment with is dermatologist. Julian, 56, told the U.K. paper The Sun that the mole was discovered during a routine appointment with skin expert Dr. Tess Mauricio. "The trouble is... you think you have time...," Julian noted. "A few days ago, I went to visit my dermatologist, here in LA, when she noticed a little bump on my head that was actually a mole that had been there, along with a birthmark, for the last 57 years. But this time, it looked & felt a little different," he explained. After a biopsy he had several days ago revealed that it was "malignant/cancerous" and needed to be removed immediately, Julian underwent the operation. "Hopefully we managed to remove all that was cancerous, but the mole is being sent off again, for a further/deeper analysis, and I'll have those results next week," he said. "I cannot tell you how I felt, from one moment of joy, to the fear of feeling that I may be gone, at any given moment. I'm still shaking inside... but my faith is strong." In a post on his Facebook page on Feb. 2, Julian urged his fans to also get checked out and "do every health check possible." "Life is too short & Don't make it shorter by being ignorant about your own health," he posted. Julian's latest album, Everything Changes, was released in 2011. Since then, he has released a handful of standalone singles, including 2016's "Saltwater 25." - Music-News.com, 2/4/20...... Director Spike Lee is set to direct a movie adaptation of former Talking Heads member David Byrne's "American Utopia" tour. The Do The Right Thing director will helm the feature-length adaptation of Byrne's well received tour, which features songs that are described as "forthright pleas and musings on a country that might one day build a better home for everyone in it." A Broadway adaptation of Byrne's "American Utopia" tour was also staged, and Byrne also released a live EP of the tour. Speaking about the film in a statement, Byrne said: "Pinch me. This couldn't have worked out better for this project. Spike Lee directing and Participant producing two socially engaged teams, well, three if you count us in the band, coming together in what I feel will be something moving, important, and unlike anything anyone has seen before." - NME, 2/2/20...... Blues rock artist Mike Zito has announced a spring 2020 U.K. tour behind his latest album, Rock 'n Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry. The tour will kick off in Kinross on Apr. 2, followed by shows in Hartlepool (4/3), Devizes (4/4), Sutton (4/5), Chislehust (4/7), London (4/8), Pershore (4/9) and Sheffield (4/11). The new album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne and, significantly, Chuck Berry's grandson, Charles Berry III. "This was a very special project for me," Zito says. "I lived in Chuck's hometown of St. Louis for 32 years... Chuck Berry was a tremendous influence on my career, and, of course, on many other musicians' as well." - Noble PR, 2/3/20...... Andy Gill, guitarist and founding member of legendary U.K. punk band Gang of Four, has died following a short respiratory illness. He was 64. Gill played guitar for Gang of Four since the Leeds band's inception in 1976, alongside original members Jon King, Dave Allen and Hugo Burnham. Though the band's line up changed several times over the years, Gill remained the sole original member of Gang of Four throughout -- a career ranging from 1978 debut single "Damaged Goods" to 2019's Happy Now, their most recent studio album. Gill was also a highly respected producer, not only on much of Gang of Four's work, but several high-profile bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Stranglers, Michael Hutchence, Killing Joke, Therapy?, The Jesus Lizard and The Futureheads. The news was announced in a post on the Gang of Four's Twitter account on Feb. 1. "This is so hard for us to write, but our great friend and Supreme Leader has died today," the statement begins. "Andy's final tour in November was the only way he was ever really going to bow out; with a Stratocaster around his neck, screaming with feedback and deafening the front row... to us, he was our friend -- and we'll remember him for his kindness and generosity, his fearsome intelligence, bad jokes, mad stories and endless cups of Darjeeling tea. He just so happened to be a bit of a genius too." - NME, 2/2/20...... Veteran director/producer Gene Reynolds, a six-time Emmy winner best known for directing and producing for the lauded socially conscious 1970s TV shows M*A*S*H and Lou Grant, died on Feb. 3 in Burbank, Calif. He was 96. Born in Cleveland, Oh. as Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal, Mr. Reynolds began as a child actor, making his big screen debut in a 1934 Our Gang short. His first significant non-acting work came in 1957 for the TV series Tales of Wells Fargo, which he created with James L. Brooks and Frank Gruber. Over the series' multiseason run, Reynolds wrote and directed several episodes. He had a solid run as a director on My Three Sons and stints on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Donna Reed Show, Gidget, The Munsters and F Troop. Over the course of his career, Mr. Reynolds drew 24 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning six times, including for outstanding series for M*A*S*H and, twice, for Lou Grant. He won his first Primetime Emmy in 1970 as a producer for Room 222. M*A*S*H remained in the top 10 for its entire run, and its final episode was at the time the most-watched program in history, with more than 50 million families tuning in. Mr. Reynolds described his later career as "freelance directing," and helmed several TV movies and episodes of such TV series as Life Goes On, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Touched by an Angel. His last directing effort was the 1999 telepic How to Get There. Starting in 1993, Mr. Reynolds served four years as president of the Directors Guild of America, which confirmed his death. He also won a Humanitas Prize for Lou Grant and DGA awards for direction of a comedy series for M*A*S*H twice and for direction of a drama series for Lou Grant once. In 1993, Mr. Reynolds received the DGA's Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award for extraordinary service to the guild. - Reuters, 2/4/20...... Legendary Hollywood actor and producer Kirk Douglas, one of the first box office stars of the silver screen, died at his home on Feb. 5, according to his son, actor Michael Douglas. He was 103. "It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," Michael Douglas told People magazine. "To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to." With over 92 acting credits, including some 75 movies, seven of which co-starred his friend Burt Lancaster, Mr. Douglas became a superstar even before the term was coined. Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, the poor son of an illiterate Russian-Jewish immigrant, in Amsterdam, N.Y., on Dec. 9, 1916, Mr. Douglas was known as Izzy as a child and had some 40 jobs growing up including newsboy, before acting in high school plays sent him on the course that would eventually make him a household name. He studied at Manhattan's American Academy of Dramatic Arts alongside classmate Lauren Bacall, who later helped get him a screen test that led to his first movie role, opposite Barbara Stanwyck, in 1946's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. He received his first Academy Award nomination in 1950 for Champion, and was nominated again in 1953 for the Hollywood expose The Bad and the Beautiful, and once more in 1957 for his performance as Vincent Van Gogh in the biopic Lust for Life. A man of heartfelt conviction, Mr. Douglas hired blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo -- and giving him full-screen credit -- to write the 1960 epic Spartacus, in which Mr. Douglas starred and served as executive producer. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community, and in 2018, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The legendary actor had been in good health since suffering a stroke in 1996, and spent the last years of his life surrounded by his loved ones including Michael's son Cameron, who was released from prison in 2016 after being convicted on drug charges. He celebrated his 103rd birthday on Dec. 9 with his family -- and several tributes from his relatives including Michael and his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. He survived by his wife of 65 years, Anne, and his sons Michael, Joel, and Peter. - People.com/TheBlast.com, 2/6/20.

After former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters announced on Jan. 23 he'll launch a summer North American tour in July, the Jewish advocacy organization B'nai B'rith International is pushing back on one of the tour's ticket presale sponsors, Major League Baseball. In a letter to MLB commisioner Rob Manfred, B'nai B'rith charged that Waters "is an avowed anti-Semite whose views on Jews and Israel far exceed the boundaries of civil discourse" and they were "saddened and outraged that baseball ... would use its online resources to publicize an individual with an alarming history of anti-Semitic hatred. We call on MLB to cease providing Roger Waters a platform." MLB said in a statement the promotion was part of an ad buy by AEG/Concerts West for multiple concert tours and that the league "will respond to B'nai B'rith privately." Waters' tour is slated to begin July 8 in Pittsburgh and wrap on Oct. 3 in Dallas. - AP, 1/31/20...... Footage from an upcoming Beatles documentary from director Peter Jackson about the fractious Let It Be recording sessions was previewed at a Universal Music showcase on Jan. 28, and indications are it could change the way the Fab Four are viewed forever. Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) has been has been working on the film for a year, remastering hours of unused footage from Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1970 documentary film Let It Be and editing previously unreleased footage into a film that appears to bust the myth that the sessions were fraught with tension between band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. One clip reportedly showed the quartet in Let It Be recording sessions "joking around, making fun of each other, singing in silly accents and generally indulging in vintage Moptop hijinks," according to Variety. The footage was presented by Apple Records president Jeff Jones, who said: "We have created a brand-new film that will attempt to bust the myth that the Let It Be sessions were the final nail in the Beatles' coffin." With rehearsals of songs that would appear on the 1970 Let It Be album and early demos for songs that would crop up on solo records, Variety says that Beatles fans "will lose their minds over this film." Both the original Let It Be film and LP of the same name were released in May 1970, a month after the band officially announced their split. However, they had released Abbey Road, recorded during the band's final ever studio sessions together as a four-piece unit, in 1969. It was recorded after the notorious Let It Be sessions. The new Let It Be film is being prepped to coincide with its 50th anniversary this May, and will reportedly be followed by a remastered rerelease of the original film. - Yahoo Movies UK, 1/29/20...... In an interview with the UK music publication Kerrang, Ozzy Osbourne says he doesn't think he'll be around for "too much longer" after he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and that he thinks about when his time will come, but "I don't worry about it." "It's gonna happen to us all," Osbourne says. "Am I happy now? No. I haven't got my health. That thing knocked the shit out of me, man, but I'm still here." Ozzy's battle with PRKN 2, a form of Parkinson's, comes after he fell in the middle of the night while going to the toilet in Feb. 2019, which impacted metal rods that were implanted after a motorbike accident in 2003. He added that he "feels better now" after owning up to his fans about having Parkinson. "To hide something is hard -- you never feel proper. You feel guilty. I'm no good with secrets. I cannot walk around with it anymore. It's like I'm running out of excuses," he said. Ozzy says he's now on the mend though and will release Ordinary Man, which features a title track collaboration with Elton John, on Feb. 21 and launch a UK tour of rescheduled arena shows behind the new album in October. Meanwhile in other Ozzy news, the shock rocker is featured in a new cat anti-declawing video by the animal rights group PETA. In the video, Osbourne shows the bloody stumps of his fingers to decry declawing cats. The musician nearly lost some of his own fingers in late 2018 as a result of an infection, and said in a statement that "amputating a cat's toes is twisted and wrong." "If your couch is more important to you than your cat's health and happiness, you don't deserve to have an animal! Get cats a scratching post -- don't mutilate them for life," he added. Veteranarians say declawing cats is like cutting off the end of human fingers, and the animals have to relearn how to walk because of the impaired balance, and are more likely to bite as a means of self-protection since they've lost their first defense mechanism. New Musical Express/Billboard, 1/30/20...... Sammy Hagar and his backing band the Circle have announced they'll kick off a 30-city U.S. summer tour with openers Whitesnake and Night Ranger on July 9 in West Palm Beach, Fla. "I love some friendly competition on stage and that's exactly what this is going to be," said Hagar in a release. "David [Coverdale] and I have nothing but the highest respect for one another, but we would also like to blow the other guy off the stage! Add in Night Ranger and the fans will have one hell of a night of music," he added. Hagar's band the Circle also includes former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham, and guitarist Vic Johnson. The tour is set to run through Georgia, Virginia, New York, Michigan, Texas, and more before wrapping on Sept. 20 in Chula Vista, Calif. Hagar says his setlist will include career-spanning hits from his former bands Van Halen and Montrose, along with several solo career tracks. - Billboard, 1/27/20...... Boston-based groups Aerosmith and New Kids on the Block have announced they'll headline two shows at Boston's Fenway Park, the home of baseball's Red Sox, on Sept. 18 and 19, respectively. Aerosmith's gig is being billed as a "50th anniversary celebration" and will feature support from Extreme. Aerosmith were recently honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year during Grammy week before taking the stage at the Jan. 26 Grammys show to perform "Walk This Way" with Run-D.M.C.. - Billboard, 1/27/20...... Elton John was forced to abandon a concert in Australia on Jan. 31 after a downpour occurred during the show. As John was in the middle of playing his 1973 single "Funeral For a Friend," a torrential rain and hailstone storm began to flood the stage and instruments were damaged. Three assistants ushered Sir Elton off the stage in Victoria more than 95 minutes into his concert at Rochford Wines in Yarra Valley. He was unable to return to the stage because the bad weather continued. At the beginning of the concert, John remarked how "f---ing hot" it was in Australia. "Thank you for buying a ticket to the show. We love doing it, even though it's hot," he said, to widespread applause. The concert was the first of two shows John played in Victoria. - New Musical Express, 1/31/20...... Queen + Adam Lambert have added two final dates to their upcoming U.K. "Rhapsody Tour." The two new shows in Birmingham on June 14 and 15 come after six shows at The O2 in London between June 2 and 9, and before four additional shows at London's O2 between June 17 and 21. The band will kick off the European leg of the tour in Bologna, Italy on May 24. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Queen guitarist Brian May's company Brian May Guitars has begun selling sports bras. - NME, 1/29/20...... Tom Jones and Lionel Richie will be among the headliners of the UK's Edinburgh Summer Sessions 2020 festival, which runs from Aug. 8-20 at Princes Street Gardens. The two-week event kicks off with Jones performing on Aug. 8 and Richie headlining the following evening's show, with additional headliners on other nights including such acts as The 1975, McFly, Simple Minds and Travis. ionel Richie, who will be making his Edinburgh Summer Sessions debut, said in a statement: "I'm really looking forward to heading back to Scotland next summer, the crowds are some of the best in the world and I can't wait to get back over there to see you all." - NME, 1/29/20...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood says his band will never reunite with former member Lindsey Buckingham, who was fired from the band in 2018. "No," Fleetwood said when asked about the prospect of Buckingham rejoining the group. "Fleetwood Mac is a strange creature. We're very, very committed to [new members] Neil [Finn] and Mike [Campbell], and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left. And it's not a point of conversation, so I have to say no." Fleetwood continued: "It's a full drama of Fleetwood Mac, no doubt. [Buckingham's] legacy is alive and well, and as it should be. A major, major part that will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us. Neil and Mike have tremendous respect for Lindsey. The situation was no secret. We were not happy. It was not working, and we parted company. And that really is the all of it." Band frontwoman Stevie Nicks has cited Buckingham wanting too much time off to concentrate on his solo work as the reason for his being kicked out of the band. Buckingham has denied that was the case, and says he was given a list of things that "Stevie took issue with" in a phone call with the band's manager Irving Azoff, including how he had "smirked" during her thank you speech at a MusiCares concert and that he had had an outburst over the band's intro music, "Rhiannon." - NME, 1/28/20...... Film and TV character actor Robert Sampson, veteran of such shows as The Twilight Zone, That Girl, Green Acres, Bridget Loves Bernie and Star Trek, died peacefully of natural causes on Jan. 18 in Santa Barbara, Calif., it was reported on Jan. 31. Mr. Sampson enjoyed a 50-plus-year acting career spanning over 150 movie and television productions, including Re-Animator, The Dark Side of the Moon, Robot Jox, and many theatre and commercial productions. Mr. Sampson worked steadily from the 1960s to the 1990s and held regular roles in five short-lived television series, acted in about thirty-five movies, and guest-starred in about eighty television series, primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. He starred alongside David Birney in the 1970s series Bridget Loves Bernie, playing Bridget's older brother, a priest. In the original Star Trek series, he portrayed Sar 6 in the first season episode "A Taste of Armageddon." He is survived by a partner, Richard Witt, and a daughter, Rebecca. - TheLifeandTimesofHollywood.com, 1/31/20...... Fred Silverman, a legendary network TV programmer who greenlit such influential projects as All in the Family, Roots and Hill Street Blues during tenures at CBS, ABC and NBC, died on Jan. 30 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He was 82. Known as "The Man With the Golden Gut," Mr. Silverman gave David Letterman his first TV show; orchestrated such popular spinoffs as The Jeffersons, Rhoda, Laverne & Shirley, The Bionic Woman and The Facts of Life; and brought "Jiggle TV" series like Charlie's Angels and Three's Company to the airwaves (and suggested Suzanne Somers play Chrissy on the latter). Known as a genius of counterprogramming, Mr. Silverman honed his skills working on kids shows (he came up with the idea for Scooby-Doo), game shows (he resurrected The Price Is Right and launched Family Feud) and daytime TV (under his watch, All My Children and General Hospital aimed for younger viewers). At CBS, Mr. Silverman jettisoned rural comedies like The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction in favor of smarter shows like All in the Family and M*A*S*H, then took the beleaguered ABC network to No. 1 in primetime. He shifted to NBC in 1978 with oversight of the entire company, reporting only to the chairman of RCA. Born on Sept. 13, 1937, in New York City and raised in Queens, Mr. Silverman's father was a TV and radio repairman for Sears and his mom a housewife. He made a hobby of collecting radio scripts, getting them from the porters who worked at the radio networks; he said that at one point that he had about 5,000 of them. He earned his master's degree at Ohio State, where he recalled an adviser suggested he get into programming instead of his first choice of directing because programming "requires a real knowledge of the business, and it is kind of creative, because you're picking the shows." His first job was editing commercials at Tribune's WGN-TV in Chicago in 1961, where he oversaw Bozo's Circus, a live program that was a hit at noon, then found unlikely success with a repackaged, recut and heavily promoted block of Bomba, the Jungle Boy films. In 1970, Mr. Silverman was put in charge of everything on the air at CBS. "We had an old schedule that was directed at old people in rural areas," he once said. "Our company-owned stations in cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles were dying with this schedule. Something had to be done." He convinced CBS president Bob Wood to put All in the Family on the air, after ABC twice passed on it. Soon, the network was thriving, helped by Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times and One Day at a Time -- all from producer Norman Lear. In 1978, Mr. Silverman jumped to NBC as president and CEO, where he guided David Letterman's talk shows and came up with the idea for Hill Street Blues, but exited the network in 1981 after it finished with its worst season in history. Mr. Silverman was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1999. He married his secretary at CBS, Catherine Ann Kihn, in 1971, and they had two children, Melissa and Billy. They survive him, as does his daughter-in-law, Anna. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/30/20.