Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 2nd, 2020

Sean Connery, the Scottish-born actor who rocketed to fame as James Bond and became one of the franchise's most popular and enduring international stars, died in his sleep while in the Bahamas on Oct. 31. He was 90 years old. Born of Irish ancestry in the slums of Edinburgh on Aug. 25, 1930, Thomas Sean Connery was robbed of an education by poverty, and and by his teens he'd left school and was working as an unskilled laborer. At 17, he was drafted into the Royal Navy, but he was discharged three years later due to a serious case of ulcers. He returned to Edinburgh and worked a variety of jobs, including as a lifeguard. He took up bodybuilding and placed third in the 1950 Mr. Universe competition. After moving to London, Mr. Connery learned of an opening in the chorus of "South Pacific." He took a crash dancing and singing course and, surprisingly, landed the role, in which he stayed for 18 months. He was "hooked," he said, but spent several years paying his dues in small repertory companies in and around London before anyone else became hooked on him .In his early career, his physique was his main asset as he modeled and picked up acting jobs where he could. In 1956, he landed the role of a battered prizefighter in the BBC production of Requiem for a Heavyweight. Mr. Connery was a bodybuilder, model, and milkman before he found fame as an actor, making his movie debut in 1954's Lilacs in the Spring. He went on to appear in a series of British TV roles and films until his big break in the Disney musical Darby O' Gill & the Little People in 1959. Good notices brought him to the attention of the entertainment community, and his first film was No Road Back, a B crime movie in 1956. He seemed doomed to play the hunk to ageing leading ladies, as he did opposite Lana Turner in Another Time, Another Place, or roles that stressed his looks such as Tarzan's Great Adventure in 1959. In 1962, Mr. Connery made his debut in the first Bond film, Dr. No. His stature grew with the ever more popular Bond sequels From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball, which arrived over the next four years. Bond gave Mr. Connery a license to earn; he was paid only $30,000 for Dr. No but $400,000 for Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie and was soon getting $750,000 a film. His initial efforts to break out of the Bond mold, however, proved fruitless. Films like A Fine Madness, Shalako and The Molly Maguires were well-intentioned attempts that did nothing to shake Mr. Connery as Bond from the public consciousness. After 1967's You Only Live Twice, he left the Bond franchise, but he was coaxed back for 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. He looked old for the role, and the series seemed tired, so with that, he left Bond behind -- though money would tempt him back once last time in 1983 for Never Say Never Again. He took a major misstep with sci-fi film Zardoz, and his career seemed to be foundering, but he bounced back in 1974 with a supporting role in Murder on the Orient Express and the following year with The Wind and the Lion and The Man Who Would Be King, two bold adventures featuring a mature, salt-and-pepper-bearded Mr. Connery. In 1987, his turn as a tough Irish cop in Depression-era Chicago in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables brought him a Best Supporting actor Oscar. Pairing Mr. Connery and Harrison Ford as father and son in the third Indiana Jones film was an inspired move, and the film grossed almost half a billion dollars worldwide. Meanwhile, The Hunt for Red October, in which Mr. Connery played a defecting Soviet sub captain, was also a major hit in 1990. By the 1990s, he was so popular that his uncredited cameo as King Richard in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves became one of the film's highlights. An audience favorite for more than 40 years and one of the screen's most reliable and distinctive leading men, Mr. Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 and was recently voted the best James Bond actor in an August 2020 Radio Times poll in the U.K. More than 14,000 voted and Connery claimed 56% of the vote. Global tributes poured in for Mr. Connery following news of his death, including current 007 Daniel Craig, who posted: "Sir Sean Connery will be remembered as Bond and so much more. He defined an era and a style. The wit and charm he portrayed on screen could be measured in mega watts; he helped create the modern blockbuster. He will continue to influence actors and film-makers alike for years to come. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Wherever he is, I hope there is a golf course." Mr. Connery, who was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962-73, is survived by his second wife, painter Micheline Roquebrune, whom he married in 1975; his son by Cilento, actor Jason Connery; and a grandson from Jason's marriage to actress Mia Sara. - Variety.com, 10/31/20.

The Addams Family of rock music goes ghostbusting in the new two-hour Travel Channel documentary The Osbournes: Night of Terror, which sends Jack and Kelly Osbourne off to explore paranormal activity at an allegedly haunted spot in Los Angeles while parents Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne monitor the investigation remotely. "None of us realized how insane and freaky this was going to be," says Jack, who has had the most experience working with the weird as cohost of Portals to Hell, "but [everyone] certainly held their own." Night of Terror premieres on the Travel Channel on Oct. 30 at 9:00 p.m. EDT, 8:00 Central. - TV Guide, 10/26/20...... In related news, Alice Cooper announced his new Halloween-themed party game called "HorrorBox" on YouTube on Oct. 27. HorrorBox sees players mix and match question and answer cards, scoring points for funny combinations. The base game comes with 420 cards but several expansion packs have already been released, including a "Slasher Pack," "Monsters Pack," "Aliens Pack" and "R-Rated Pack." "Minions, you know me. I've never played games with you, until now. This is a horror-themed card game with questions, answers and dares," Alice said in the launch video, while a press release warns that "player discretion is advised" and "all wimps easily scared, beware." - New Musical Express, 10/28/20...... Eddie Van Halen's hometown of Pasadena, Calif., has announced plans to memorialize the late guitar legend, but the City Council hasn't yet decided what form the tribute would take. On Oct. 26, the council directed officials to come up with ideas and report back on how to best remember Van Halen, who died of cancer Oct. 6 at age 65. According to a local paper, one idea could be renaming a street or alley near one of Van Halen's 1970s rehearsal spaces, while building a statue, installing a plaque or rechristening a city building also could be considered. Meanwhile, a memorial has grown outside Eddie and brother Alex Van Halen's boyhood home northeast of Los Angeles, where some fans are lobbying to make the house designated as a historic landmark. The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena after emigrating to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1962. Eddie and Alex formed Van Halen about a decade later with singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, who all grew up in the Pasadena area. - AP,...... In other Van Halen-related news, Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen is pushing back on rumours that he's replacing his father as the guitarist in a new incarnation of Van Halen, calling the speculation "a shitty lie." Wolfgang took to social media on Oct. 26 to refute claims being made in a Wolfgang Van Halen Fan Page on Facebook, which were shared to Twitter by user @MetalSludge. The Facebook post claimed that "there is a good strong possibility" that Wolfgang would be swapping his current role as Van Halen's bassist for his late father's position of lead guitarist, with "Van Hagar" era vocalist Sammy Hagar handling vocals and former VH bassist Michael Anthony handling duties on bass. Drummer Alex Van Halen would continue his position as drummer in the imagined lineup. The post claimed that the information came from "the VH camp", with Eddie Van Halen allegedly telling "his son and his brother, I give you my blessing." But Wolfgang says the rumour just isn't true. "This is just a shitty lie attempting to capitalize on these awful times," he tweeted in response to @MetalSludge sharing the post. "Please stop with this. Anyone peddling this shit is not only hurting the fans, but hurting me and my family." - NME, 10/26/20...... In related news, KISS bassist Gene Simmons said that he was "scared to death" one time after getting a lift with Eddie after a Metallica gig in Long Beach in the 1980s. Talking with Dennis Miller on his Options podcast, Simmons said Eddie offered him a ride in his Jeep... "this old jalopy thing with no doors" as seen in the M*A*S*H TV series. "And Edward's smoking away like a chimney and driving what I thought was a hundred miles an hour up the 405 [freeway]," Simmons recalled. "And I'm holding on for dear life and trying to pretend that I'm a guy without fear and all that. [I was] scared to death. And I said, 'Eddie, Eddie, slow down.' And a cigarette was hanging out of his mouth, and he said, 'Why?' I didn't quite know what to answer," he added. Meanwhile, Ozzy Osbourne revealed on his Sirius XM radio show Ozzy's Boneyard that Eddie once asked him to join Van Halen. Although Osbourne didn't specify an exact year when Eddie extended the invite, he did say it was "way after Sammy [Hagar]" was in the line-up. The guitarist left the band in 1996. Ozzy added that he thought Eddie might have been "a bit drunk" when he made the phone call. "We've all done one of them calls at four o'clock in the morning... I've got a great idea!," he said. - NME, 10/26/20...... On Oct. 23, Elton John unveiled a new Barbie doll modelled on the rock superstar. Part of a collaboration with Mattel, the doll, costing $50 (£38), will be available in Walmart in the US, and can be ordered through the Walmart website. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the new doll, John said: "Barbie is an icon in her own right, so having her pay tribute to my work and personal style is a real honour. I hope that she inspires fans everywhere to fearlessly pursue their own dreams and limitless potential." - NME, 10/23/20...... On Oct. 20 Jimmy Page released his new book The Anthology, which documents hundreds of items from the Led Zeppelin guitarist's personal collection of instruments, outfits and memorabilia from throughout his career. In a trailer for The Anthology, which has been posted on YouTube, the musician explains: "The reason for doing this book and behind the detail of everything is just basically because I did have the material to be able to do it, I actually had the idea to be able to do it and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to make the book really fascinating so people could just really get right into what is being shown. With the guitars, I really wanted to get close up and personal with them, with the angles that were taken." In The Anthology, Page guides the reader through hundreds of rare items, many of which are previously unseen, and others of mythic status, such as his Gibson double-neck guitar, dragon-emblazoned suit, white embroidered poppy suit, and the outfit worn in the concert film The Song Remains The Same. The Anthology also features hand-written diaries, rare vinyl pressings, previously unpublished photographs and more. - NME, 10/23/20...... In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning on Oct. 25, Stevie Nicks said she couldn't be happier about the newfound popularity of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 classic "Dreams" after the song was featured in a viral TikTok video. "This TikTok thing has kind of blown my mind," Nicks said. "I'm happy about it because it seems to have made so many people happy." "Dreams" has surged thanks to the viral TikTok video featuring the track, in which Idaho native Nathan Apodaca rides his longboard while drinking a large bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice. Nicks and Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood has since created their own tributes to Apodaca's viral hit. Nicks is currently promoting her new song "Show Them the Way," a call for action ahead of the November presidential election. The track features Dave Grohl on drums and Dave Stewart on guitar. Nicks said she's also excited about her new concert film, 24 Karat Gold, which recently hit select theaters, drive-ins and exhibition spaces. The film features a set of fan favorites from Nicks' solo career and as a member of Fleetwood Mac. "It's as close to a really big rock 'n' roll concert in a big venue as you're gonna get," she said. The companion album of the concert will arrive Oct. 30. Her full CBS Sunday Morning can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 10/25/20...... Alternative rock musicians Trent Reznor and Billy Corgan are among those who will mark what would have been David Bowie's 74th birthday on Jan. 8 with a special tribute livestream. "A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day!" has been organized by long-time Bowie pianist Mike Garson, and is set to see Bowie's collaborators from across his career cover and interpret his songs. Garson said of the event: "What we're planning is an amazing show with the most talented musicians from every period of David's career, as well as phenomenal artists from many different genres. Also set to star in the livestream are Bowie's producer Tony Visconti and his final touring band, along with such stars as Gary Oldman, Macy Gray and Perry Farrell. - NME, 10/27/20...... AC/DC have shared the official video for "Shot in the Dark," the first single from their new album Power Up, on YouTube. The clip features the band performing live and was shot by longtime AC/DC video director David Mallet. Describing "Shot In The Dark," AC/DC guitarist Angus Young said: "It's a strong single from a powerful rock album. You'll be able to hear it and know straight away that it's AC/DC. That's what we've always strived for." Power Up will drop on Nov. 13. It sees frontman Brian Johnson returning to the group after Axl Rose's stint as singer, with drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams also returning to the fold. Williams has warned fans he won't be with the band for long, because he isn't healthy enough for a gruelling world tour. "For my health (I'll do a few shows)," Williams recently said on the band's "Let Their Be Talk" podcast. "I definitely have some physical issues... it's tough. I'm very grateful for everything. It's been fantastic. But I just don't wanna do that (tour) anymore." Williams said he'll only be around for a few gigs after recording the new album with his bandmates. He recently revealed that a bout with vertigo contributed to his decision to leave the band in 2016. - NME/WENN/Canoe.com, 10/26/20...... A recently reunited Genesis have begun rehearsals in London for their massive 2021 UK reunion tour. Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks will head out on "The Last Domino? Tour" in April 2021, with dates having been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The trio, playing together for the first time since 2017, are set to be joined on the tour by Collins' son Nic Collins on drums, and guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer. Genesis recently announced the 19-date UK tour will kick off on Apr. 1 in Glasgow and wrap over three nights at London's O2 arena on Apr. 27, 29 and 30. Meanwhile, Phil Collins has issued a second cease and desist letter to Pres. Donald Trump's re-election campaign over the use of his hit "In the Air Tonight" at Trump rallies. Trump's campaign apparently ignored a previous legal letter over the use of the song, and again blasted the 1981 hit over the speakers at a gathering in Des Moines, Iowa on Oct. 14. At the time, Collins' representatives noted that Trump's aides had already been warned against violating the musician's copyright, and now his lawyers at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP are demanding an assurance it won't happen again, because Collins, 69, says he doesn't support Trump at all. Collins' lawyers state in the letter than their client takes particular offense that the song "was apparently intended as a satirical reference to COVID-19." "That reference was made at a time when Iowa was suffering from an acceleration of COVID-19 infection. Mr. Collins does not condone the apparent trivialization of COVID-19," the missive states. In other Phil Collins news, the singer may have to wait up to three years to have his ex-wife Orianne Cevey evicted from his mansion because of a backlog of trials due to COVID-19. Collins recently sought an injunction to have Cevey and her husband kicked out of his palatial waterfront home in Miami Beach, Fla., but suffered a major setback when Cevey made a counterclaim for $20 million. A county judge decided the explosive case should be heard in circuit court because of the huge sums at stake. It puts Collins' filling at the back of a long line of pending cases with court closures and pandemic restrictions expected to delay trials by a year or longer. Collins -- worth an estimated $300 million -- will now have to choose between paying his ex-wife off for the second time or facing off in court. - NME/WENN/DailyMail.co.uk, 10/27/20...... Music publishers Primary Wave announced on Oct. 23 that they've struck a 10-year strategic partnership with The Four Seasons. The marketing and administration deal is with the band's lead singer Frankie Valli and keyboardist Bob Gaudio, the two surviving members of the band's founding four; which also included bassist Nick Massi, who died of cancer in 2000, and guitarist Tommy DeVito, who died in Sept. 2020 from the coronavirus. Under the agreement, Primary Wave will work Valli and Gaudio to market the band's name and likeness, manage all daily digital marketing activities and administer their iconic catalog, which includes hits like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "December 1963 (O What A Night)", "Workin' My Way Back To You" and "Can't Take Me Eyes Off Of You," the oft-covered track that made Valli a solo superstar. The deal also gives Primary Wave an option to acquire a partnership interest in the band's works. The Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and their story is chronicled in Tony-winning Broadway musical favorite "Jersey Boys," which opened in 2005 and was later made into a feature film. - Billboard, 10/23/20...... Speaking to the UK paper The Guardian, Joni Mitchell says she's "still struggling to walk" following her 2015 brain aneurysm in a rare new interview. "I haven't been writing recently. I haven't been playing my guitar or the piano or anything," said Mitchell. Instead, she's "just concentrating on getting my health back... You know what? I came back from polio, so here I am again, and struggling back." Mitchell was hospitalised in Los Angeles in March 2015, after being found unconscious at her home. Later that year she was said to be "making good progress." Mitchell also described to the paper that the five years since her aneurysm as "inching my way along," adding: "I'm showing slow improvement but moving forward." "Once again I couldn't walk. I had to learn how again. I couldn't talk," she added. "Polio didn't grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really. Took away my speech and my ability to walk. And, you know, I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I'm still struggling with. But I mean, I'm a fighter. I've got Irish blood! So you know, I knew, 'Here I go again, another battle.'" Mitchell is set to release a new archival album, Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963 -- 1967), on Oct. 30. - NME, 10/27/20...... In an interview on the UK talk show Good Morning Britain, Queen guitarist Brian May said he feels "grateful to be alive" after a number of health issues including a heart attack and exploding stomach. "I had a wonderful, wonderful surgeon, and I'm so grateful to be alive. I had three stents in me, which are working just fine, and I feel good," May said. In May 2020, Brian revealed that he had been "very near death" when he was hospitalised after doctors discovered that three arteries in his heart "were congested and in danger of blocking the supply of blood" to his heart. In September, he also revealed that the drugs he was on to aid his recovery had caused "a stomach explosion that nearly killed me." Calling the stomach explosion "shocking," he added: "That was the point where I nearly lost my life, not the heart attack, strangely enough. You have to be so careful with the medication that they give you, because it's great for the stents, it's great for the heart, but it's not very good for the rest of your body and you can really go down. It's a tightrope." In other Queen-related news, the art-rockers' classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been voted "the best song of all time" in a poll completed by 2,000 Brits to mark the launch of the new Sony Walkman player. The 1975 hit was named as the nation's favourite song by 43%, followed closely behind in second place by Queen's 1978 hit "Don't Stop Me Now" (37%). Behind those two songs were the Beatles' "Hey Jude" (31%), John Lennon's "Imagine" (30%), Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" (28%), and Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" (27%). - NME/Music-News.com, 10/28/20...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards hit out at the use of synths in rock music, calling them "cheap and corny." "There's great musicians and some great singers and stuff. Unfortunately, to me, in music, it's been synthesised to death. Once you start synthesising things, you're not getting the real thing," said Richards, who complained that "there is no new rock 'n' roll. It's pointless." He added: "I don't want to go into a long discourse on what's wrong with synthesisers and music these days, except to say they're cheap and corny." Keith also backed the recent Black Lives Matter protests and said "it's about bloody time" and that "black music is the reason I'm here." The Stones are now believed to be back in the studio recording their next album. - NME, 10/28/20...... Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry is labelling Van Morrison "insane" for his stance on the COVID-19 crisis. While Harry says she thinks Morrison, who has recently slammed safety measures designed to stop the spread of the virus at concerts and other venues, is a "creative genius," but also noted he is "completely mad." "I mean, he has a history of very strange behaviour so it doesn't really surprise me. And after all, everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Harry recently told New Musical Express. "As far as conspiracy goes... huh! If this is a conspiracy, then the biggest f---ing genius in the world has created it! I mean, that is insane. Totally insane!," Harry exclaimed. She then went on to attack Pres. Donald Trump, insisting: "When it comes to our president, white supremacists respect him not necessarily for himself but because he's achieved the presidency. There's a lot of kudos that hangs on the word 'president'... A lot of people fall for him, but this is not a good guy." - Music-News.com, 10/25/20...... Paul McCartney recently told the BBC that his new album McCartney III is "just me having fun during lockdown." The rock icon explained that most of the LP is "new stuff" that he worked on during lockdown, but some of the tracks had been set aside because they "just didn't cut it" in their original form. "I thought 'OK, wait a minute, what about that one?'," he pondered. "So I'd get it out and think, 'Ugh, oh dear.' And you'd try to figure out what was wrong with it, or why you didn't like it," he went on. Sir Paul said his creative process sometimes involved rebuilding a track entirely. "In some cases the vocal or the words just didn't cut it, so you'd strip it all down and go 'OK, let's just make it completely different'," he recalled. McCartney III, slated for release on Dec. 11, comes 50 years after the debut of his self-titled first solo venture, and 40 years after the follow-up. Meanwhile, Macca says that director Peter Jackson's upcoming Beatles documentary Get Back is an authentic portrait of the band's final years together. "I love it," he said of the new film from the Lord of the Rings director which captures the making of the band's final album, 1970's Let It Be. Get Back is set to challenge the popular narrative that the group constantly clashed during their later years. "Even though we had arguments, like any family -- we loved each other, you know, and it shows in the film," McCartney said. "It's a very warm feeling, And it's amazing just being backstage with these people, making this music that turned out to be good." - Music-News.com/NME, 10/27/20...... '70s musicians Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor and Lionel Richie will be among the headliners for the 2021 UK Lytham Festival, which will take place at Lytham Green on the Lancashire Coast from June 30 - July 4, 2021. The five-day event, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019, was cancelled in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets are on sale now and day tickets will go on sale on Oct. 30. - NME, 10/26/20...... Olivia Newton-John recently told the UK paper The Guardian that she sees cancer as a "gift" rather than a disease she has to fight. Newton-John, 72, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992 and has twice received the news the disease has metastasised to other organs in her body, most recently in 2017. However, the Grease star, who has used plant-based remedies including medicinal cannabis alongside traditional treatments like surgery, chemo, and radiotherapy, to keep her cancer at bay, views her illness as an experience that his improved her as a person. "I don't know what I would be without it now. I see it as my life's journey. It gave me purpose and intention and taught me a lot about compassion. It has been a gift. I don't wish it on anyone else. But for me, it's been important in my life," she explained. The "Physical" singer also says she resists talking about fighting her cancer, as she's averse to combative metaphors. "I don't think of myself as sick with cancer. I choose not to see it as a fight either because I don't like war. I don't like fighting wherever it is -- whether it's outside or an actual war inside my body," she elaborated. Olivia added she doesn't want to know if doctors believe the cancer is terminal: "I don't believe them anyway. I mean, no one can tell you that." - Music-News.com, 10/27/20...... In a new interview with the Irish Times, Don McLean branded his ex-wife of 30 years Patrisha McLean "the worst person I ever know" despite pleading guilty to domestic violence against his spouse. The 75-year-old "American Pie" singer, who is now based in Palm Desert, Calif., said it took him four years to get over his relationship with Patrisha, who he was married to for 29 years and shares two children with. McLean that the love letters she sent every month for 30 years "immediately turned to salt" when their relationship crumbled, following the accusations of domestic violence made against him. Having divorced in 2016, McLean said he hasn't met anyone who compares to Patrisha, and added: "I can truly say that my ex-wife is the worst person I ever knew." He added it's only now that their 2016 split is sinking in, despite the fact he moved on with Playboy model Paris Dylan, 25, months after his divorce finalized. Since the breakdown of their marriage, Patrisha has spoken about her relationship with Don in a travelling exhibit called "Finding Our Voices," and has established a domestic violence non-profit organization of the same name. She filed for divorce two months after Don was arrested for domestic violence on the grounds of "adultery, cruel and abusive treatment, and irreconcilable differences." She filed for a protection order after her husband's arrest, but withdrew the request only days later. In a statement supporting her request for the restraining order, she alleged that her husband had "terrorized" her "for four hours" on the night before he was arrested. His relationship with Paris Dylan quickly flourished when she was hired to manage his social media accounts in 2016. He revealed that he doesn't read any media coverage about him regardless if it's good or bad, describing it as "all a bunch of bull---." McLean said he plans to auction most of his possessions before he dies -- including song lyrics, weapons and guitars -- because he doesn't want to leave them for someone else to "figure out what to do" with them. McLean is set to mark the anniversary of his hit song with new documentary The Day the Music Died, and a Broadway show has also been planned for 2022, alongside a children's book. He describes "American Pie" as "a fusion of folk, rock 'n' roll and old-fashioned popular music," and refuses to elaborate on the mysteries of the 1972 song. "I've never said that to anybody in 50 years," he said. - DailyMail.co.uk, 10/27/20...... Lawyers representing both parties in Rod Stewart's 2019 New Year's Eve assault case have told the court that the case is unlikely to go to trial. The incident took place at the on New Year's Eve in Dec. 2019, with Stewart charged with simple battery after allegedly punching security guard Jesse Dixon in the chest. Stewart's son Sean faces the same charge for his involvement in the confrontation at the Breaker's Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla. Both have pleaded not guilty. Dixon brought a civil suit against them in January, however a pre-trial hearing has only just taken place via Zoom, having been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Neither Stewart or his son were present. Stewart's lawyer Guy Fronstin, who is representing both defendants, told Judge August Bonavita at the hearing that he has been in touch with prosecutors and the case is likely to be resolved before it reaches the trial stage. "We have been in communication with the state. We are asking for one more rollover for pre-trial," he said. "All indications are this is going to resolve without a trial but there's still some work to be done on it." A second pre-trial hearing is now scheduled for Dec. 4. - NME, 10/23/20...... Country singer/songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, best known for penning the 1971 hit "Mr. Bojangles" for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 78. Growing up and beginning his music career in New York in the 1960s, Walker moved to Austin, Tex. the following decade and is considered to be a pivotal figure in the development of the now-world-famous music scene in the city. In addition to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, his 1968 composition "Mr. Bojangles" has been covered by some of the biggest artists on earth, including Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Nina Simone, King Curtis, Sammy Davis Jr. and more. Walker was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017 and released his final album, About Time, the following year. A host of musicians have taken to social media to pay tribute to Walker following news of his death including Jason Isbell, who wrote: "One day I'd like to be an old man who dances onstage like John Prine and Jerry Jeff Walker." Prine, another country legend, died in April from coronavirus complications. American showrunner Brian Koppelman added: "I know that 90% of the people reading this never heard of Guy Clark or Jerry Jeff Walker. Go listen to JJW's version of LA Freeway to get why they matter so much to the other 10%. Then dive deep into their cataloged. Rip JJW." Walker is survived by his wife Susan Streit and their two children. - NME, 10/24/20.