Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 20th, 2020

Many Seventies artists including Paul McCartney, Stevie Van Zandt, Paul Stanley and Bette Midler have posted tributes to U.S. congressman Rep. John Lewis after the civil rights icon died on July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. "Sad to hear the news that civil rights legend John Lewis died yesterday. He was such a great leader who fought with honesty and bravery for civil rights in America. Long may his memory remain in our hearts. How about renaming the famous Pettus Bridge...," Paul McCartney posted on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of Rep. Lewis standing before the bridge that was the scene of a famous standoff between protesters and authorities in the 1960s. "Hopefully the Edmund Pettus Bridge will be renamed the John Lewis Bridge. It should have happened while he was alive. Why we would have anything named after the grand dragon of the ku klux klan is way beyond me," E Street Band member Stevie Van Zandt noted in his Twitter post. "Icons cut from this cloth seem to be of another time but they remain timeless. We need more. Rest In Power John Lewis," Paul Stanley's Twitter post read, while Bette Midler's Twitter post said, "Goodbye to the Honorable, in all senses of the word, #JohnLewis Few of us will make as much difference in the world as he." - Billboard, 7/18/20...... Speaking of Paul McCartney, the former Beatle has released new EP featuring a remastered version of his 1997 song "Beautiful Night" with Ringo Starr. Currently available for streaming on Spotify.com, the EP is part of Sir Paul's forthcoming remastered deluxe re-release of his acclaimed 1997 LP Flaming Pie. The EP also features a 1995 demo of the track, an alternate "run through" recording, and "Oobu Joobu Part 5" -- a medley of Beautiful Night-themed chat, alternate mixes and interview recordings of McCartney and Starr speaking about the song. McCartney will also release a newly remastered video for "Beautiful Night," originally filmed in 1997. - New Musical Express, 7/17/20...... The German concert promoter CTS Eventim has acquired 49% of the production of the ABBA-themed dinner theater franchise "Mamma Mia! The Party" from the previous minority shareholders, leaving ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus with a majority 51% share. CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg says he hopes his company will help take "Mamma Mia! The Party" to "a new international level as soon as the restrictions of COVID-19 are relaxed... Even if the Corona crisis is a major setback for the entire event industry, we firmly believe in this project, which has already proven its potential." Launched in Stockholm in 2016 where it staged sold-out show for four years running, "Mamma Mia! The Party" combines dining and the classic songs of ABBA with inspiration from the "Mamma Mia!" musical and movies. In Sept. 2019, it opened at the O2 in London and ran successfully for six months, until it had to pause due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. - Billboard, 7/17/20...... In an interview on July 16 with Jackass star Steve-O on his podcast "Wild Ride!," Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon Osbourne said her husband has started work on his second album with producer Andrew Watt. "He's been hit by so much medically, but he's doing good. He's getting stronger every day. And you can't stop him. He's doing it," Sharon said. Referencing a fall Ozzy suffered at home in February 2019, Sharon added: "Ozzy says that as far as performing goes, he has to end it his way because it was his farewell tour that he was on, but he still had a year to do of that tour, and there were seats sold for the next year, but the accident stopped it all. But he said it's not gonna end just like that -- it's gonna end his way. And he's gonna go back out. And even if it's just one huge show to say goodbye, he's going to do it." Ozzy had been scheduled to complete a farewell tour prior to the onset of coronavirus but was forced to cancel in order to undertake Parkinson's treatment in Switzerland. - NME, 7/18/20...... In a video shot in June and has since gone viral, Billy Joel is seen stopping in front of an unloved upright piano on a sidewalk in Huntington, Long Island, to play an impromptu version of Shelton Brooks' 1917 ragtime tune "Darktown Strutters' Ball." Wearing a black jacket and pants and sporting a motorcycle helmet, the Piano Man opines, "Not bad, the action is good... Just needs tuning, and the finish is beat. It's a perfectly good piano." Joel then said, "It's a shame to throw it out" before suggesting "someone should donate it to St. Vincent de Paul." He also checked out the pedals and the finish on the keys and again praises the action on the piano. According to Newsday, Joel was on a motorcycle ride when he spotted the instrument and felt compelled to stop and give it a try. The video can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 7/17/20...... Queen's Greatest Hits album has just passed 900 weeks on the U.K.'s Official Albums Chart Top 100 tally, and is just the third album to do so. First released in 1981, the LP is just behind Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1984 hits album Legend (933 weeks) and ABBA's Gold compilation, the longest-running U.K. Top 100 album ever, with 949 weeks. But Queen's Greatest Hits reigns supreme in the UK's all time best-selling album category, with more than 6 million copies sold, according to the OCC. The album is currently at No. 16 on the chart and should notch-up week no. 902 when the next OCC weekly survey is published. - Billboard, 7/16/20...... Speaking of Bob Marley, his son Ziggy Marley held a livestream concert on July 19 honoring what would have been his dad's 75th birthday on Feb. 6. Available for streaming on YouTube, the online gig was the latest event to be held by the Marley family to celebrate the reggae icon's 75th birthday. The hour-long setlist, which was held in accordance with social distancing regulations including musicians wearing face masks, included such Marley and The Wailers classics as "Redemption Song," "One Love," "Rastaman Vibration" and "Exodus," among eight others. Ziggy Marley also took part in a Q&A during the livestream, which was filmed at Miami's CEEK VR studio. In more Bob Marley news, the late musician is among several famous rock acts including Queen, Michael Jackson, Beastie Boys and Coldplay who will get their own SiriusXM radio stations this summer. Marley will be honoured on Tuff Gong Radio, which began airing on July 16 and will remain on the air until Aug. 13. The Queen channel, meanwhile will see guest DJ sets from Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins. - New Musical Express, 7/19/20...... U.K. fans of Bruce Springsteen will be soon be treated with The Boss's popular "Bruce Springsteen: From My Home To Yours" radio show on SiriusXM when the broadcast begins airing on the BBC's Radio 2 from midnight to 1:00 a.m. on July 25, and also be available on "BBC Sounds." According to a press release, the first Radio 2 show will feature Springsteen "picking tracks from Roy Orbison, Don Henley, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Wyclef Jean, Morrissey and many more." Helen Thomas of the BBC said the broadcaster was "especially delighted that we're able to introduce 'Bruce Springsteen: From My Home To Yours' to the Radio 2 airwaves and BBC Sounds." - New Musical Express, 7/17/20...... Sneaker manufacturer Nike has just unveiled a new line of trainers inspired by the Grateful Dead, replete with a pouch on the inside of the tongue for storing weed. The shoes, dubbed "Nike SB Dunk Low Grateful Dead," were inspired by the legendary San Francisco band's iconic bears, first seen on the back cover of the 1973 GD live album History of the Grateful Dead, Volume 1 (Bear's Choice). The shoes sport a faux-fur and suede exterior, and an image of the bear on the tongue, with a pouch on the inside of the tongue for storing weed. Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux notes: "As the band's benefactor, Bear was an incredibly huge part of the Grateful Dead's ability to become who they were. They were talented musicians, but they would not have had the financial freedom to forgo jobs, move to Los Angeles and practice for 14 hours a day. The band wouldn't become what it is today without Bear's innovations and contributions. The shoes come in three different colors and cost $110 (£87). The orange version will be available beginning July 18 via FTC Skateshop, with the green and yellow versions arriving July 24 via Nike's app SNKRS. Meanwhile, the GD recently announced their own USDA-certified organic deodorant, handmade in small batches from 100% natural vegan ingredients. The five fragrances include "Skull and Roses" (lavender and rose), "Sunshine" (blood orange and bergamot), "Timber" (Douglas fir and sage), "Workingman's" (cedarwood and juniper), and unscented. - New Musical Express, 7/16/20...... In conjunction with the forthcoming 40th anniversary re-release of their 1981 album Back in Black, AC/DC have shared rare footage of the band performing "What Do You Do For Money Honey" in 1981. Viewable on YouTube, the footage was filmed at a show in Tokyo on the group's 1980-81 world tour and was the Aussie headbangers' first international tour with Brian Johnson, who had taken over vocal duties following the death of Bon Scott. Earlier in July, AC/DC premiered the inaugural episode of a new documentary series which chronicles the creation of Back In Black. - NME, 7/16/20...... L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young ruled on July 14 that Michael Jackson's former manager Tohme R. Tohme should be awarded a $3 million (£2.39million) settlement from the late singer's estate. Tohme is to be given the money he claimed he was originally promised in a 2019 settlement but where the deal was never finalised in writing. He first sued the estate in 2012 for $20million (£15.9million) after alleging he was owed a 15% commission on compensation Jackson received during the last year of his life, plus a cut of the Jackson concert film This Is It. He also sued on the basis of not receiving a finder's fee for securing a loan that prevented foreclosure of Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Judge Young declared the settlement should "irrevocably, unconditionally, release, acquit and forever discharge any and all claims against each other, meaning that should Tohme receive his $3 million, he wouldn't open any further lawsuits." - NME, 7/17/20...... American pop singer/songwriter Emitt Rhodes, known for his contributions to power pop and psychedelic pop in the 1970s and 1980s, has died at age 70, according to his reps and collaborators. Rhodes, a former member of such bands as Palace Guard and The Merry Go Round before going on to release five solo records including his classic 1971 eponymous debut for ABC/Dunhill Records, is said to have passed away in his sleep overnight on July 19. Rhodes' last solo studio album was 2016's Rainbow Ends, released through Omnivore Records. It marked 43 years since his previous album, Farewell To Paradise, due in part to legal battles between Rhodes and his label for not fulfilling contractual obligations. It featured contributions from the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, Aimee Mann and Jon Brion, among others. Among the music industry figures mourning Rhodes' death on Twitter were Hoffs, his label Omnivore, and Sadie Depuis, who said Rhodes' home studio work "is a reason I started both Speedy Ortiz & later Sad13." Director Tony Blass, who created a documentary based on Rhodes' career, also celebrated the late singer's life with a Twitter post that said, "I feel honored and blessed to have worked and spent time with him for the past 12 years. I tried my best to tell his story, share his music and spend some quality time with him. We usually got completely drunk together." - New Musical Express, 7/20/20...... Phil Ashley, a former keyboardist for KISS who also worked with Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and Aerosmith, died on July 10 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 65. Ashley performed on KISS's 1987 hit "Crazy Nights," their 1988 single "Let's Put the X in Sex" and two tracks from 1989's Hot in the Shade. His other credits include Billy Idol's 1986 LP, Whiplash Smile, the Aerosmith's singles "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll," and Jagger's 1987 LP, Primitive Cool. KISS frontman Paul Stanley was among the first to pay tributes to Ashley on Twitter, posting "I am at a loss for words. My dear friend Phil Ashley has died suddenly. He was a no bullshit, warm and kind soul who I shared so many hours talking with about the value of life, family and music. He played keyboards for many of the greats. The times we won't have leaves me empty." Guitarist Joe Satriani also said: "Our dear friend Phil Ashley passed away last week. He was a magnificent musician and human being. My deepest condolences to his family. R.I.P Phil, we will all miss you." Ashley's family said they "hope to honor his life next year with a memorial service - details to come." - NME, 7/17/20.

AC/DC announced on July 14 they're marking the upcoming 40th anniversary of their 1980 album Back in Black with a new documentary series that chronicles the creation of the classic LP. In the first episode, which has been shared on YouTube, the band discusses the creation of "You Shook Me All Night Long," their first single with Brian Johnson after the death of former frontman Bon Scott in Feb. 1980. Compiled from vintage footage, the clip shows Johnson discussing how late AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young played an integral role in determining the final lyrics and guitar lines of the track. More episodes are expected to follow ahead of Back In Black's 40th anniversary on July 25. - New Musical Express, 7/14/20...... The original handwritten lyrics of the Don McLean song "Vincent," a tribute to painter Vincent van Gogh and the most famous of the American singer/songwriter's songs after his epic No. 1 hit "American Pie," are going up for sale with an asking price of $1.5 million. The L.A.-based rare documents dealer Moments in Time said on July 15 that the lyrics, scrawled in pencil over 14 pages with deletions and additions, are being sold by a person who acquired them directly from McLean. "They are written in pencil. There are some corrections. They differ very slightly from the final lyrics, which show he really had the song well thought out in his head when he wrote it," said Moments in Time owner Gary Zimet. Zimet said he hopes the lyrics end up at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which houses the largest collection of artworks by the 19th-century painter as well as hundreds of drawings and letters. McLean's "Vincent" is also played at the museum. "I am hoping they buy it. They should have it. That would be ideal," Zimet said. First released in 1971, "Vincent" opens with the words "Starry, starry night" and was inspired by the painter's famous work "The Starry Night." McLean, 74, has said he was inspired to write it after reading a biography of van Gogh. His "Vincent" lyrics were most recently seen in public when he lent them to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville for a 2018 exhibit. In 2015, McClean's "American Pie" lyrics fetched $1.2 million at auction. He said at the time he felt it was time to sell them. - Reuters, 7/15/20...... Guitarist Robby Krieger of the Doors will release his seventh solo album, The Ritual Begins at Sundown, on Aug. 14. The album, comprised of all instrumental songs, was produced by ex-Frank Zappa bassist Arthur Barrow, who has produced all but one of Krieger's solo albums. Although Krieger's previous solo effort, Singularity, was also instrumental, he the new one is more energized by the xperimental jazz and progressive excursions of artists like Zappa. "If you had to categorize it, I guess it's a jazz album," says Krieger. "The progressions are jazz, but there's a little Zappa in there and a little Doors. Hopefully, it's not just a straight jazz album. I think it's more unique than that." The Doors and Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention played numerous gigs together in the 1960s, and Krieger says he met Barrow through Zappa keyboardist Don Preston, who played on Krieger's second solo album, Versions, in 1982. "I've been doing stuff with Arthur on and off for 20 years now," says Krieger. "Musically, we get along good together. He loves the Doors. He always wants to write stuff that's like the Doors, but I don't. So we let a little Doors creep in once in a while." Krieger also spoke of the 1971 death of Doors frontman Jim Morrison at age 27: "It was so sad," he said. "If that hadn't happened, I think we could have gone on to make even better records in the vein of L.A. Woman. But we had a wild ride. I don't regret any of it. And now I'm having fun working with Arthur Barrow and making new music. I've got no complaints." - Billboard, 7/14/20...... Speaking to the New York Times, original Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth says he fears the iconic classic rock band's touring days are over because Eddie Van Halen is still recovering from a series of health woes and doesn't want to hit the road again. "I don't know that Eddie is ever really going to rally for the rigours of the road again...," Roth says. "He's (been) down now for enough time that I don't know that he's going to be coming back out on the road. You want to hear the classics? You're talking to him." In 2019, news emerged that a VH tour featuring the band's classic line-up was in the works, but online reports have since suggested Eddie's health may have nixed the plans. Van Halen last toured in 2015. Meanwhile, Roth also told the Times that he has turned to painting to relieve the boredom of the extended coronavirus lockdown, which cut short his 2020 solo tour in March. "My hand has always been in wardrobe, background sets, stage sets, album covers, video direction," he explains. "This is part of it." Roth added that he fears he may have picked up "a little COVID-19" while he was on tour as KISS' support act at the beginning of 2020, adding, "I'm not so unconvinced I didn't have the corona. Man, they gave me enough prednisone to put boots on the moon!" - WENN/Canoe.com, 7/13/20...... Tina Turner is returning from retirement by teaming up with Norwegian producer Kygo on a remix of her iconic track "What's Love Got To Do With It?." Kygo shared a picture of himself and the 80-year-old rock/soul icon on his Twitter feed on July 14, and confirmed that the remix will be available on July 17. "'What's Love Got To Do With It?' is one of my all time favourite songs and it feels surreal to get the opportunity to work with such a legendary artists. Can't wait for you all to hear it!," Kygo posted with the photo. Kygo previously debuted his remix of the late Whitney Houston's "Higher Love," which gave the singer her first posthumous hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 2019. - New Musical Express, 7/14/20...... Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will return to live performing on the evening of July 11 for their biggest concert since the COVID-19 pandemic, performing a drive-in concert at Monmouth Racetrack in Oceanport, N.J., not far from their longtime home on the Jersey Shore. Led by John Lyon, the band will perform in front of more than 1,000 cars holding up to four passengers each for what is being billed as one of the largest drive-in concerts in the U.S. to date. The concert is presented by the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, N.J., and is being built out to include a full stage with four large screens for enhanced viewing and sound delivered from a PA system as well as FM signal for vehicles. Tickets went on sale on June 5 and sold out within a few hours for the hometown show, which benefits the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. Lyon, known as the "Grandfather of the Jersey Shore Sound," rose out of the 1970s Ashbury Park scene, playing venues like the Stone Pony alongside the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt and later Jon Bon Jovi. - Billboard, 7/11/20...... Elton John is among many stars who have signed an open letter to the British Government calling for a ban on conversion therapy, a practice used to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a person. The letter, addressed to Liz Truss -- the Minister for Women And Equalities, urges her to "introduce a truly effective ban" on conversion therapy, which campaign sponsor The Trevor Project claims "uses a variety of shaming, emotionally traumatic or physically painful stimuli to make their victims associate those stimuli with their LGBTQ identities. (They think) LGBTQ is a mental illness that should be cured." Meanwhile, the Elton recently opened up about smoking marijuana during a creative music session in which he says he went to a "higher place" and "saw God." Speaking during his online Apple Music series "Rocket Hour," John says he once tripped out after smoking the drug while listening to electronic dance music. According to the 73-year-old hitmaker, the combination of the weed in his system and the music beats running through his mind left the singer in a state of bliss, which resulted in him seeing God before his eyes. John credited Kraftwerk's 1977 dance album Trans-Europe Express for really heightening the trip, saying: "I love that because it was the first record I ever heard that really sounded German as far as pop music went. I remember smoking a joint and listening to it on really loud speakers and I thought I saw God during that album." - Music-News.com/WENN/Canoe.com, 7/12/20...... In a new interview with Hawaii Public Radio, Alice Cooper discussed the Black Lives Matter movement and police reform, saying that he believes that police in America who are racist need to be "weeded out." Discussing the violent protests of the 1960s and civil rights marches, Cooper said: "Well, isn't it amazing that that was 50, 60 years ago, or something like that, and we're still dealing with the same problem? You would have thought that that solved the problem. But there's always that five percent of people that are racist." He continued: "To be honest with you, I know a lot of cops. I don't know one racist cop. But I guarantee you that five percent of the police force in every city have got a racial problem.... You don't have a full police department of racists in there; you have maybe a small percentage, and those are the guys that need to be weeded out. I can't see why we don't spend the money on getting a committee in every city to weed out the bad guys." Meanwhile, the Coop is teaming up with the Arizona-based dairy company Danzeisen Dairy to release his own chocolate milk bottle. The news first became public earlier in July in an Instagram post by Ideas Collide, an Arizona-based marketing agency. The post included pictures from a product photo shoot, featuring Alice himself. "We are rocking it for chocolate filming AZ rock legend @alicecooper!," Ideas Collide wrote in the caption. Proceeds from sales of Cooper's chocolate milk bottle will benefit his non-profit organization Solid Rock, which he founded in 1995 to provide free music, film, dance and art classes for youths in Arizona. Cooper and Danzeisen Dairy have not yet announced a release date for the milk bottle, but it is expected to hit shelves later in 2020. The beverage will be available for home delivery and at grocery stores across Arizona. - New Musical Express, 7/14/20...... Laura Lian, a British sculptor who has created a six-foot bronze statue of John Lennon, says she would like the statue to go on a tour of Liverpool to mark what would have been Lennon's 80th birthday this October. The likeness of Lennon, which can be seen on Lian's Twitter page, has been displayed at London's Hard Rock Cafe since Lian completed work on it in 2018. But Lian is now calling for the statue to tour all of the boroughs in Merseyside over the next two years. "With all the trouble in the world about statues & the pandemic and the strife, it's so right that Lennon can go back to where he belongs," she told the UK paper The Guardian. "For my generation growing up amid protests against the Vietnam war and the threat of nuclear war, Lennon was an inspiration in the way he inspired us to dream of peace," Lian says. "I had always intended for the statue to have a permanent home up on Merseyside and at one stage it looked like the Lennon statue was going to be erected in the Strawberry Fields area of Liverpool. That project fell through but when the metropolitan mayor of Merseyside, Steve Rotheram, suggested it should go up in the borough of Sefton, I thought that was a great idea," she adds. Every year a borough on Merseyside is nominated as the borough of culture and this year it's Sefton's turn. Lian says she thought it was appropriate that the statue "comes home to Liverpool" ahead of the 40th anniversary of his tragic death in December. - New Musical Express, 7/13/20...... Residents at a nursing hime in Edgware, U.K., have found a creative way to keep themselves entertained during the coronavirus lockdown -- and it involves some of rock music's most iconic album covers. Covers undertaken for the challenge include Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A, Michael Jackson's Bad, Queen's Queen II, and David Bowie's 1973 album Aladdin Sane. Robert Speker, the entertainment manager at Sydmar Lodge Care Home, says he encouraged the home's residents to recreate some of the most famous classic album covers, and he shared some of the results on his Twitter feed. The residents also recreated more recent album covers by the likes of Adele, Taylor Swift and Blink-182. - NME, 7/12/20...... Actress Kelly Preston, who appeared in the films Jerry Maguire, Twins and Mischief and was the wife of Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta, died on July 13 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57. Travolta, who had been married to Preston for 29 years, confirmed her death on his Instagram account. "It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer," Travolta wrote. "She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. ...I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don't hear from us for a while. All my love, JT," he added. Born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, she changed her name to Kelly Preston before securing her first film role in the 1985 romcom Mischief, then appeared in another teen comedy, Secret Admirer. She went on to appear in SpaceCamp and then Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. In Jerry Maguire, she played Tom Cruise's fiancee Avery Bishop, then co-starred opposite Kevin Costner in For Love of the Game. Travolta and Preston met on the set of the 1987 movie The Experts. The duo would later marry in Paris in 1991. Preston has said in interviews that she had a premonition when she saw the poster for Grease at age 16 that she would marry Travolta. In the 2000s, Preston appeared on TV in Medium and Fat Actress and in films including What a Girl Wants, Sky High and Casino Jack. Her final film role was as mobster's wife Victoria Gotti alongside Travolta as John Gotti in Gotti. The actress and philanthropist is survived by her husband and two children. Her son Jett died in 2009. - Variety.com, 7/13/20...... Benjamin Keough, the son of Lisa Marie Presley and grandson of Elvis Presley, died on July 12 in Calabasas, Calif., from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in what has been officially ruled a suicide. He was 27. Keough also was the brother of actress Riley Keough and son of musician Danny Keough. (Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough divorced in 1994.) His maternal grandmother is Priscilla Presley. Lisa Marie, according to her rep, is "completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated" over the death of her son, "but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter, Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life." In 2013, Lisa Marie told the Huffington Post that she was letting Benjamin do "his own thing." "He's doing his own thing right now. I'm going to let him decide when he wants to go out and do what he wants to do," she said. In 2012, Keough and his siblings all were featured in the video for Lisa Marie's "duet" with Elvis of his 1954 song "I Love You Because" through archival footage. Lisa Marie also posted a family photo in June 2019 with all her children, which include his twin sisters Finley and Harper Lockwood (whose father is Lisa Marie's ex-husband Michael Lockwood) with the caption: "Mama Lion with cubs." Benjamin at one point tried to follow in his famous grandfather's footsteps, reportedly signing a $5 million record deal with Universal in 2009 to record up to five albums. However, the label denied at the time that any such deal had been struck. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/12/20...... Folk singer and songwriter Judy Dyble, known for her work with the UK band Fairport Convention, died on the morning of July 12 after suffering from a long-term illness. She was 71. "It is with great sadness that we announce that English singer-songwriter Judy Dyble passed away on 12th July 2020 following a long illness borne with great courage," a press release said. "We wish to express our deepest sympathies to Judy's family, friends and many associates from her musical career at this time. Judy's family would like to thank her fans for their messages and good wishes on social media over the last few weeks, but at this time ask that they avoid contacting them for now as they would just like some quiet time," the release continued. Rising to prominence in the 1960s, most notably as a founding member of Fairport Convention and vocalist with cult band Trader Horne, Dyble largely withdrew from the music scene in the early 1970s to concentrate on her family before being invited back to perform with Fairport Convention in 1997 for the 30th anniversary reunion at Cropredy. In 2017, she contributed to "The Ivy Gate," a song on the progressive rock band Big Big Train's tenth studio album Grimspound. She went on to form a close working relationship with Big Big Train's multi-instrumentalist frontman David Longdon and the pair were scheduled to release an album, Between a Breath and a Breath, on Sept. 25. Prog-rock greats King Crimson were among those paying tribute to Dyble on Twitter, along with the band Hand of Glory who described her as "just instantly one of the loveliest people you could ever meet, and managed to achieve the near impossible in making records in recent years that were at least as good as her old ones... She'll be missed." - New Musical Express, 7/12/20.