Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 26th, 2020

As Cher graces the latest cover of CR Fashion Book magazine alongside Kim Kardashian and Naomi Campbell as a "fantasy biker gang," the 73-year-old diva told the publication that her concerts may not be quite as good as they were five years ago. "I can still put on my show. It might not be as great as it was five years ago, but it's still pretty damn good," she said, adding that she "never expected" to still be famous at her age. "Now when I go on stage, I see such different groupings: really old people beside really young children. That's something really special. I know that I still make people happy, and that's my gift." Cher also commented on her reputation as an opinionated Twitter user, saying she likes the social media platform "because I like to say what I think and I don't have to worry about that kind of thing. Sometimes I get my a*s kicked on Twitter, but I still speak my mind... Don't f**k with me but also, I'm very gentle and very loving and I have a really good moral compass." Cher also said she's not very keen on selfies requests from her legion of fans: "People ask me all the time for them, and I almost always say no -- except for Naomi (Campbell)." - Music-news.com, 2/25/20...... The Liverpool City Council and the estate of George Harrison have announced a new woodland memorial dedicated to the late Beatle will be created in the city in 2021 to mark what would have been the legendary musician's 77th birthday. The George Harrison Woodland Walk will be located in the Liverpool suburb of Allerton, close to where Harrison was born and spent his formative years. Upon its completion, it will feature a selection of artistic installations directly inspired by Harrison's seminal lyrics and his life, as well as a "nature classroom" to help school children learn about the natural world. Local artists are already being solicited to submit ideas for their own artwork at CultureLiverpool.co.uk. Olivia Harrison, George's widow, noted that her late husband "was an avid gardener who found solace and joy in being in the outdoors." "I don't think there is any better way to commemorate him in Liverpool than with a garden which can become a place of tranquility and reflection for everyone. I am really looking forward to watching it change and grow over the coming years," she added. Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson called Harrison "one of our most-loved sons" and that "the site is beautiful and the plans for the area in the coming months are really exciting." - New Musical Express, 2/25/20...... The family of late Rush drummer have announced Rush fans will have the chance to participate in a Neil Peart tribute event for charity set for May 16 in Ontario's Meridian Centre. The venue is located in St. Catharines, Peart's hometown. The event, which is being coordinated with Peart's family, will benefit St. Catherines Hospital and Walker Cancer Centre, the Juravinsky Hospital and Cancer Centre, the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, as well as Overtime Angels, a non-profit charity that is also helping to put the event together. "We are especially pleased to be able to support this charity event that will benefit some much needed organizations that are close to our hearts," Peart's parents, Glen and Betty Peart, said in a statement. Peart died at age 67 on Jan. 7 after a three-year battle with brain cancer. "A Night for Neil" will feature musicians, guest speakers, and production professionals. The artists and speakers will be announced at a later date. - Billboard, 2/24/20...... Carlos Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire announced on Feb. 25 they'll kick off a "Miraculous Supernatural 2020 Tour" together on June 19 at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, Calif. The 32-city trek, which also visits such cities as Los Angeles (6/20), Salt Lake City (6/30), Dallas (7/3), Cincinnati (7/8), Syracuse (8/19) and Nashville (8/25) before wrapping on Aug. 29 in Tampa, will be the first time the two superstar acts have ever toured together. The tour is a continuation of Santana's 2019 "Supernatural" swing, with the band slated to perform songs from the guitarist's landmark 1999 comeback album, classic tunes and selections from his 2019 release Africa Speaks. "It is a great joy and honor to co-share music with the magnificent elements of Earth, Wind & Fire. We look forward to delight, joy and ecstasy!" said Santana in a statement. EWF lead vocalist Philip Bailey said he and his band "are excited to rock the USA alongside our friend Carlos Santana and his band with their off-the-chart musicianship and high energy show." "We're going to bring the mighty elements of the universe to the stage and take fans on a journey they'll never forget. This is gonna be a blast!," he added. - Billboard, 2/25/20...... In other tour news, Neil Young recently posted on his Neil Young Archives site that he wants to tour historic venues on his upcoming "Crazy Horse Barn Tour" but is struggling to find many still in operation. "Many of the old places we used to play are gone now, replaced by the new coliseums we have to book year in advance and we don't want to go to anyway," he wrote. Young added that it is a "real job if you have to book it and wait a year" and a large number of new arenas feel "soulless" to him. He included a long list of venues that he s played over the years, listing the buildings that have been demolished and those still existing. "We wanted to play in a couple of months because we feel like it. To us it's not a regular job. We don't like the new rules. If you are looking for us on our Crazy House Barn Tour, we will hopefully be in one of the existing arenas," he said. - New Musical Express, 2/23/20...... Herb Alpert Is.., a documentary chronicling the ife and career of the legendary trumpeter and A&M Records co-founder, Herb Alpert, will kick off a spring threatrical release with a world premiere at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on May 5. In a Herb Alpert Is.. trailer shared on YouTube, fellow artists from Quincy Jones to Sting expound on Alpert, who admits he could not enjoy his success in its height because he felt like just a number. "We were selling out these huge arenas in three minutes and at that point I realized, man, I'm rich, I'm famous, but I'm miserable," he says. At A&M, Alpert, now 84, discovered and/or worked with artists as diverse as The Carpenters, The Police, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton and Cat Stevens. The film also explores Alpert's work as an abstract painter and sculptor and his philanthropic support of arts programs nationwide. - Billboard, 2/25/20...... Alice Cooper made a guest appearance on Duncanville, the new animated FOX series from Saturday Night Live alumni Amy Poehler, on Feb. 23. Titled "Read Head Redemption," the episode saw Cooper make a guest appearance in one of dad Jack's (played by Ty Burrell) flashbacks. Tasked with decluttering the garage, Jack struggles to part with a guillotine that was once owned by the rock icon. In a flashback, viewers learn how he came into possession of the stage prop. Sharing the clip on Twitter, Cooper tweeted: "I've been animated! Don't miss Alice on tonight s episode of @duncanvillefox at 8:30/7:30c after the Simpsons on FOX." Duncanville was created by Poehler along with The Simpsons alums Julie Thacker Scully and Mike Scully. - New Musical Express, 2/24/20...... With his new album Ordinary Man in the stores on Feb. 21, Ozzy Osbourne says he's already planning on returning to the studio to record a follow-up. "I'm starting another one next month," Osbourne says, but also expressed his fear of touring, which he doesn't "like to think about" because "I can't even f---ing walk properly yet." Ozzy has credited Ordinary Man with pulling him out of a downward spiral caused by his health woes, including battling pneumonia and suffering a fall at his home last February, and last month, revealed he had been living with Parkinson's disease. And he also thanked the producer, and rapper Post Malone, who got them together by asking him to appear on his track "Take What You Want." "I've never been laid up for a year in my life and still been in so much pain at the end of it, but Andrew Watt and f----ing Post Malone and my daughter Kelly got me going in the right direction. If it's not a big hit that's fine, but this album is quite possibly one of the most important albums I've ever made because it saved my life." - Music-news.com, 2/22/20...... At 86, Willie Nelson's age is only 17 years higher than the number of albums he's released throughout his long and venerable career. On Feb. 23, Nelson announced his 70th studio album, First Rose of Spring, will drop on Apr. 24 and feature covers of songs from the likes of Toby Keith, Chris Stapleton and Billy Joe Shaver alongside a series of co-written Nelson originals. Nelson has also shared the title track of the new LP on YouTube. - NME, 2/23/20...... Songwriter Paul Williams is set to receive the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award at the 51st Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. "Paul Williams is a songwriter's songwriter," said SHOF chairman Nile Rodgers. "He’s one of the most wonderful and colorful creators of our time and a man who has given the world so much love through songs like 'Just An Old Fashioned Love Song,' 'We’ve Only Just Begun' and 'Rainbow Connection.'" Williams, 79, received three Grammy nominations for song of the year, for "We've Only Just Begun" (1970), "You and Me Against the World" (1974) and "Evergreen" (1977). He wrote all three songs with different composers -- Roger Nichols, Kenny Ascher and Barbra Streisand, respectively. He has also received three Oscar nominations for best original song, for "Nice to Be Around" from Cinderella Liberty (1973), "Evergreen" from A Star Is Born (1976) and "The Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie (1979). Williams won an Oscar for writing the lyric to "Evergreen," and is just the fifth recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award who has won both an Oscar for best original song and a Grammy for song of the year. Williams is also passionate about recovery and works tirelessly to destigmatize alcoholism and addiction. His career, life, and work in recovery were chronicled in the 2011 documentary, Paul Williams Still Alive. - Billboard, 2/25/20...... In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Clint Eastwood said he thinks former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg should be the next president and that he wishes Pres. Donald Trump would change his behavior. The 86-year-old Dirty Harry actor, a self-described libertarian, says although he agrees with some Trump policies he thinks the president should act "in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names." "I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level," the Academy Award-winner told the paper, before adding "The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there." Eastwood also weighed in on the sensational trial of disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, saying the #MeToo movement has undercut the "presumption of innocence" and rejected accusations of sexism related to his latest film Richard Jewell, which was criticized for suggesting a female reporter traded sex for tips about case. - Dailymail.co.uk, 2/21/20...... As Eastwood endorses Bloomberg, small-screen icon Dick Van Dyke has come out for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. "I can't wait to see Bernie debate Mr. Trump," the 94-year-old Van Dyke said in an endorsement video released on Feb. 21. "The age question keeps coming up," Van Dyke noted. "I know that I'm 20 years older than Bernie. I have all my marbles. I could run for office if I wanted to. So I don't think age... it really doesn't matter, except for his experience and the years he's put in." The actor also said he's struggled understanding why Sanders had difficulty appealing to those from the older generations. "Why wouldn't an older citizen vote for somebody with that kind of a record and with that kind of experience and honesty and trust? It just doesn't make sense to me that he's not getting my generation. And I want to urge my generation to get out and vote for him, please." The Mary Poppins star also declared that the November election would be the most important one held since the end of World War II. While not mentioning Trump by name, Van Dyke did suggest that democracy was doomed if his administration had "another four years." "We must get him out of there. Democratic principles are flying out the window. He has assumed authority beyond what the president is allowed and he's going to get worse," he concluded. Dailymail.co.uk, 2/21/20.

Rod Stewart closed the 2020 Brit Awards at London's O2 Arena on Feb. 18 with a reunion with two of his former Faces bandmates -- guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones. Stewart first performed a solo rendition the Crazy Horse song "I Don't Want to Talk About It," which he dedicated to the mother of Brit Awards host Jack Whitehall, joking that she was "throwing herself" at him earlier in the night. Rod then said, "This show may be 40 years old, but the Faces are 50 years old," referring to the bluesy hard rock outfit that formed out of Small Faces decades ago in the U.K. "There used to be five of us, and now there's three," he said, before inviting out the fellow two surviving members -- Wood and Jones -- for a little reunion in the form of the Faces' scuzzy booze-blues classic "Stay With Me." The 74-year-old Stewart also contributed some dance moves that stole the finale. - Billboard, 2/18/20...... A rare David Bowie album called I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) has been announced for release for Record Store Day (Apr. 18). The LP collects previously unreleased tapes from Bowie shows in Nashville and Detroit in 1974 and will be released on 2LP and 2CD format, and joins a previously announced Bowie album, ChangesNowBowie, which will also be released on Record Store Day. In a press release, Parlophone Records said I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) "was recorded mostly during David's performance at the Michigan Palace, Detroit on 20th October, 1974, with the encores taken from the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville on 30th November, 1974." ChangesNowBowie, a 9-track album culled from a 1996 session with longtime Bowie bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, guitarist Reeves Gabrels and producer Mark Plati during rehearsals for a 50th birthday gig at Madison Square Garden, was previously announced for Record Store Day release in January. - Billboard, 2/20/20...... A remastered version of the classic live Elvis Presley film That's The Way It Is will be screened in select cinemas in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Australia and New Zealand for one night only on Apr. 22. Originally released in Nov. 1970, the Denis Sanders-directed documentary was filmed during a series of shows the King played in Las Vegas in 1970. Tickets will go on sale on Feb. 26. Meanwhile, a Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic of Presley is currently in the works, with Tom Hanks set to play the late singer's manager Colonel Tom Parker. - New Musical Express, 2/20/20...... Ozzy Osbourne attended an album release party for his new solo album Ordinary Man at L.A.'s Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip on Feb. 20. With wife Sharon Osbourne, daughter Kelly Osbourne, and others in his sizable entourage including Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith also in attendance, Ozzy held court in the back booth for two full hours as tracks from the new LP played at top volume, the walls of the venue papered with photos from all different phases of his career. Osbourne, who was walking with the help of a cane and holding onto the arm of a male friend as he entered and exited the venue, recently told the UK tabloid The Sun that he is in "unbelievable pain 24/7" after a fall at his home in Feb. 2019 aggravated an old neck injury. In January, he revealed he had been diagnosed with a type of Parkinson's disease known as PRKN 2, a milder form of the progressive nervous system disorder. His health issues caused him to announce on Feb. 20 that he's postponing planned U.S. and Canadian dates on his "No More Tours 2" while he seeks treatment overseas. "I cannot go out on the road, until I'm 100 percent confident that I can pull it off," Ozzy said in an interview with Radio.com. "If I go out now and I can't carry on, people are gonna think I've lost the plot, ya know. So I'm not gonna go out there until I can give them the show that I want to give them, because it's not fair to them. I mean I've waited this long. I'm intending on going back out on the road," he added. The 27-date tour, with Marilyn Manson supporting, had been slated to kick off in May. Ordinary Man is currently available for streaming on Spotify.com. - Billboard, 2/21/20...... After becoming an official American citizen in January, Neil Young is already exercising his First Amendment rights with a scathing open letter to US Pres. Donald Trump that begins with the phrase: "You are a disgrace to my country." Young posted the lengthy screed on his Neil Young Archives Times-Contrarian website on Feb. 18 with a featured cover image of an angry young boy riding a bike with the American flag waving behind. "Your mindless destruction of our shared natural resources, our environment and our relationships with friends around the world is unforgiveable," the singer/songwriter wrote. "Your policies, decisions and short term thinking continue to exacerbate the Climate Crisis.... The United States of America, my country, is not a green on one of your branded gold courses that you can ride around on and damage so that other players cannot shoot straight," he added. Young also slammed the president for using Young's Grammy-winning classic rock anthem "Rockin' in the Free World" after kicking off his 2016 Republican presidential candidate announcement with the track, a song Young says he wrote back in 1989 as a critique of former Pres. George H. W. Bush's administration and his lack of care toward the poor in America. "'Keep on Rockin' in the Free World' is not a song you can trot out at one of your rallies," Young wrote. "Perhaps you could have been a bass player and played in a rock and roll band. That way you could be on stage at a rally every night in front of your fans, if you were any good, and you might be... Every time 'Keep on Rockin' in the Free World' or one of my songs is played at your rallies, I hope you hear my voice. Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying US citizen who does not support you. Me." Before ascending to the presidency, Pres. Trump attended multiple Young concerts over the years and even sat next to Patti Smith in the first couple of rows at a 2006 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reunion show at The Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City. "He's got something very special," Trump said in the interview at the time of the concert. "I've listened to his music for years." - Billboard, 2/19/20...... As he grants new interviews to help publicize his latest album American Standard, James Taylor told the UK paper The Guardian that his good friend Joni Mitchell is "coming back" with new music soon as she recovers from a brain aneurysm she suffered in March of 2015 and was found unconscious at her home. Taylor revealed the two have recently reconnected and that he "recently sort of re-engaged with Joni, and that's been wonderful." "She came to a show of mine recently, at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an unusual thing for her to do," Taylor said. Going on to seemingly reveal a comeback for the iconic folk singer, he added: "She's recovering, she's coming back -- which is an amazing thing to be able to do -- and I wonder what she has to tell us about that... think she's coming back musically... It's amazing to see her come back to the surface." Mitchell's most recent album, 2007's Shine, is set to be released on vinyl later in 2020. Taylor also told The Guardian that he fears he may have played a role in the demise of the Beatles by giving John Lennon hard drugs. Lennon's issues with heroin have long been rumoured to have contributed to the band deciding to break-up in 1969, a year after they met Taylor, who was at the time battling his own opioid addiction, and signed to their Apple Records label. Describing his drug use, he said: "You used to be able to buy something called Collis Browne's Chlorodyne, which was an old-fashioned medication. Essentially, it was a tincture of opium, so you'd drink a couple of bottles and you could take the edge off." But Taylor added he isn't absolutely sure it was he who introduced Lennon to hard drugs. "They were leaving as I was coming in. I often came in early and would sit in the control room and listen to them recording -- and hear playbacks of what they had just cut." Asked whether the band was "unravelling" at that stage, he adds: "Well, it was a slow unravelling, but it was also an extremely creative unravelling." Taylor subsequently left Apple Records, beat his addictions in rehab and moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded his breakthrough record Sweet Baby James featuring vocals from Carole King. - New Musical Express/WENN, 2/17/20...... Speaking of the Beatles, the Fab Four's Apple Corps and Subafilms, which owns the Yellow Submarine trademark, have been granted a $77 million default judgement over fake band merchandise. A Florida judge fined the 77 defendants in the case each $1 million in damages for trademark violations. London-based Apple Corps and Subafilms, which are owned by the former Beatles members, brought the federal lawsuit against the individuals in Nov. 2019 asking a judge to not only prohibit them from selling the counterfeit merchandise, but to also hold them accountable for any commercial sales made that infringed on the trademark. Apple Corps was also granted a permanent injunction against the defendants prohibiting them from "manufacturing, importing, advertising, or promoting, distributing, selling or offering to sell counterfeit and infringing goods using" the bands' trademarks. Defendants in the lawsuit were listed only through their domain names, seller IDs, URLs and email addresses. An attorney familiar with the case says the lawsuit was likely filed by Apple Corps "to send a message; protect its legitimate licensees; build its case against future infringers and hopefully, just hopefully, catch a few bad actors in the act, seize their assets and put them out of business." - Billboard, 2/18/20...... A charity founded in honor of late Black Sabbath and Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who died on May 16, 2010, will remember the musician with a 10th anniversary Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund concert and memorial awards gala at The Avalon in Hollywood on Feb. 20. Metal media maven Eddie Trunk will host the second annual gala, which will feature a performance by the current edition of the Dio band, which has been touring with a hologram of the late singer. Presenters will include Ahmet Zappa, Sebastian Bach, Motley Crue's Tommy Lee, Cinderella's Fred Coury, Quiet Riot's Frankie Banali, Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, Dokken). Among the evening's honorees will be Rhino Entertainment/Warner Music Group (which will receive the Holy Diver Award), T.J. Martell Foundation CEO Laura Heatherly (the Killing the Dragon Award), and Dio hologram creator Jeff Pezzuti of Eyellusion (the Stand Up and Shout Award). Dio's widow Wendy Dio says she hopes to have a new Dio hologram out later this year with the Dio road band, which went on tour during 2019. "We're developing a new one because technology changes every day," she explains. "I was happy with the one we just did last year in the U.S., but now we can make it even better. It's something I think Ronnie would have wanted to do. He loved going to Disneyland and seeing the holograms there and always was very interested in developing one." Meanwhile, a new RJD documentary is on the way. BMG Music announced on Feb. 18 that the film will be the first documentary to be fully authorized by his estate and include never-before-seen archival footage and photos from his personal archives, as well as scenes with his closest peers, friends and family. The film will complete Dio's unfinished autobiography, which he was working on before his untimely death from stomach cancer in 2010. In conjunction with the film, BMG will release on Mar. 20 a remastered collection of Dio's acclaimed 1996 - 2004 studio albums Angry Machines, Magica, Killing The Dragon, and Master Of The Moon with rare and unreleased bonus tracks. - Billboard, 2/19/20...... The estate of late funk singer Rick James is being sued for $50 million by a woman who claims James raped her when she was only 15 years old. The unidentified plaintiff says James raped her while she was staying at a group home in Buffalo, New York, in 1979. The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 13 against the James Ambrose Johnson Jr. 1999 Trust, which is run by the singer's estate. The suit was filed under the Child Victims Act, which opened a one-year litigation window for victims who were once blocked by the statute of limitations. In the lawsuit, the woman said James was visiting one of the parents at the group hope. She said he came into her room after dinner and raped her. "He grabbed my hair and pushed my head into the pillow," she said in the suit. "I tried to fight him off, but he told me to 'shut up and quit moving or I'll cut you.'" The woman says she has suffered "physical, psychological and emotional injury" due to the alleged assault. James was convicted in 1993 of assaulting two women. The first case occurred in 1991, when prosecutors said James and his girlfriend tied a woman to a chair, burned her with a hot crack pipe and forced her to perform sex acts during a cocaine binge at his West Hollywood home. He was free on bail when the second assault occurred in 1992 in James' hotel room. He served more than two years in prison. He was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Aug. 6, 2004. - AP, 2/18/20...... Debbie Harry of Blondie, John Fogerty, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Sheryl Crow are among the headliners at the 2020 Jazz Plus concert series at the Hollywood Bowl which will begin on July 29 and run through Sept. 23. Corea and the Spanish Heart Band are set to open the series on July 29; Harry will participate in a Peggy Lee tribute on Aug. 5; Fogerty will headline on Aug. 19; Crow will perform on Sept. 16, and Hancock will close out the series on Sept. 23. Other headliners include Charlie Wilson (8/12) and Hiatus Kaiyote (9/9). - Billboard, 2/18/20...... A new musical inspired by the life and music of late '70s reggae legend Bob Marley will debut at London's Lyric Theatre from Feb. 6, 2021, on what would have been the seminal musician's 76th birthday. "Get Up, Stand Up!" will chronicle Marley's rise to superstardom, with Kene tackling the role of Marley. "I feel absolutely honoured to be able to take on this role," Kene said in a statement. "It is not only an honour to be able to spread Bob Marley's message further, but to get to be him for a little while is a lifelong dream come true. I grew up on his music and his mantra and he has been one of my role models since I was a child. I feel as if he's in my DNA. He's the man, I love him." - New Musical Express, 2/16/20...... Elton John canceled the two remaining New Zealand shows on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour on Feb. 18 as he continued to suffer from a bout of pneumonia. The shows have been rescheduled for next year. Earlier in February, John was forced to cut short a performance in Auckland after he lost his voice and needed medical help on stage. In a statement, Elton said he was "incredibly disappointed" and sent his sincerest apologies to his fans. It was not immediately clear if his illness would affect other dates on his tour, which next moves to Australia. John had just returned to New Zealand after performing at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 9. He won an Oscar for best original song for his theme song for the movie Rocketman. - AP, 2/18/20...... The Who are set to join an all-star group of performers for the 2020 Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows at London's Royal Albert Hall in March. The Who's Mar. 28 show will feature Who frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist/singer Pete Townshend performing with a full orchestra as part of a week of gigs (Mar. 23-29) in support of the only UK charity dedicated to meeting the needs of young people (13-24) battling cancer. The TCT shows, conceived and curated by Daltrey, have traditionally featured all-star lineups, including the likes of Paul McCartney, Oasis and The Cure. The 2020 shows will feature such artists as Stereophonics (3/25), Groove Armada (3/27) and Nile Rodgers and Chic (3/29). This year's gigs will celebrate the 20th year of TCT shows at Royal Albert Hall and the organization's 30th anniversary. - Billboard, 2/18/20...... "American Utopia," the critically acclaimed theatrical concert from former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, is set to begin a return Broadway engagement at New York's Hudson Theatre for a 17-week run this fall, with beginning performances set for Sept. 18 and scheduled through Jan. 17, 2021, and an official reopening date to be set. The "American Utopia" production combines songs from Byrne's Talking Heads heyday with selections from across his eclectic solo output, and calls for his fellow humans to "rewire their brains and connect with our ailing planet." A filmed version of "American Utopia," directed by Spike Lee, has been shot, with a release date to be announced for later in 2020. Meanwhile, Byrne and his backing band will be the musical guests on the Feb. 29 edition of Saturday Night Live. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/17/20...... A video of a KISS cover band musician has been posted on Twitter with the hair of Bobby Jensen, who portrays Gene Simmons in the cover band Hairball, accidentally catching fire as he keeps on rock 'n rolling. Jensen was performing in Sioux City, Iowa, dressed in full KISS make-up and costume, when his long hair accidentally caught fire from the onstage pyro spark. He kept it totally cool, not missing a chord, or even really reacting at all, as the fire spread up his head while two crew members raced over to put out the flames. The crowd burst into cheers once the scary moment was over and Jensen was alright. See it all go down below via a fan on Twitter, who fittingly titled the clip: "The most rock and roll thing you will ever see." - Billboard, 2/18/20...... Actress Ja'net Dubois, best known as Willona Woods on the classic 1970s sitcom Good Times, apparently passed away in her sleep in her home in Glendale, Calif., on Feb. 18. She was 74. In addition to famously portraying the exhuberant neighbor Woods on Good Times, Dubois also co-wrote and performed "Movin' On Up", the theme tune for another All in the Family-related spinoff, The Jeffersons. Prior to her Good Times fame, Dubois made TV history with her role as Loretta Allen on soap opera Love of Life in 1970, when she was cast as the first African-American female regular on a daytime serial, and she went on to win two Emmy awards for her voice work on animated series The PJs, which ran from 1999 to 2001. Her other screen credits included films like 1988's I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2003, while on TV, she appeared in Shaft, Kojak, ER, Home Improvement, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, and A Different World. The actress was also known for her roles on Broadway, where she began her career in plays like "A Raisin In The Sun" and 1956's "Golden Boy", which also featured Sammy Davis Jr. and Louis Gossett Jr. She reunited with Good Times co-star Janet Jackson in 1987 to play the R&B icon's mother in the video for her single "Control." "I am so very saddened to hear my longtime friend Ja'net DuBois has passed away," Janet Jackson posted online as news of Dubois' death broke, alongside a slideshow of snapshots of the pair taken over the years. Good Times producer Norman Lear also posted a tribute to the late actress and singer, sharing on Twitter, "Ja'Net DuBois was all light and will be missed. I love that she wrote the theme song for her passing, 'Movin' on Up'," referencing the theme song to The Jeffersons, which DuBois wrote and performed." - WENN/Canoe.com, 2/19/20...... Actress Kellye Nakahara, who portrayed Lieutenant Nurse Kellye on the hit wartime sitcom M*A*S*H died on Feb. 16 in Pasadena, Calif., following a battle with cancer. She was 72. The Hawaii native, who moved to San Francisco before landing the role as Nurse Kellye on M*A*S*H, also appeared in the films Clue and Black Day Blue Night, and was an accomplished watercolour artist. "Kellye Nakahara was a beautiful person and a natural as an actor," M*A*S*H star Alan Alda told Fox News in a statement. "She began as a background performer and worked her way up to playing the lead in an episode I wrote for her. She was adorable and brilliant in the part. But, you couldn't beat what she was as a person, funnier and warmer and kinder than most people I've known. We all loved her on 'M*A*S*H,' and we're all heartbroken to know she's gone. Kelley was a treasure." Alda's M*A*S*H co-star Loretta Swit also offered her condolences, calling Nakahara a "jewel" [who] radiated sparkle and goodness and joy. The light that her presence brought will be deeply and forever missed." - WENN/Canoe.com, 2/18/20.