Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on February 10th, 2023

Seventies icon John Travolta will be among the stars featured in a new Super Bowl commercial during Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12. The one-minute ad opens with Travolta feeling frustrated over installing home Internet as the opening notes of "Summer Nights," from the Travolta-starred 1978 movie Grease, begin to play. That's when Donald Faison and Zack Braff jump in to help their neighbor out. "Try T-Mobile, it sets up so fast/ It's like WiFi that runs on 5G/ Home internet from T-Mobile?/ Wait 'til you see!" the trio sings, switching up the lyrics to the iconic song. The commercial can be previewed on YouTube, as well as a behind-the-scenes clip of the making of the commercial. Meanwhile, a new comedy Super Bowl ad for Doritos featuring Elton John beating Jack Harlow to "Triangle Player of the Year" has also been shared on YouTube. In the clip Harlow decides to swap his rapping career for the triangle. The sketch then sees a bemused Missy Elliott ask: "You're going to quit rap for a triangle?," to which Harlow responds, "I gotta do me, Missy." His success causes the instrument to sell out in stores and he becomes the face of Triangle cologne. At an awards ceremony at the end, Harlow is convinced he is going to win the prize for "Triangle Player of the Year" before Sir Elton sweeps in to collect the gong. Super Bowl LVII kicks-off on the Fox network on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. - Billboard, 2/9/23...... Bonnie Raitt scored a surprise Song of the Year Grammy win at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 5. Few Grammy watchers expected Raitt to take home the award -- perhaps least of all Raitt herself, as judged by her heavily memed surprised reaction to the announcement -- for the devastating, self-penned title track to her 2022 album Just Like That. "Just Like That" was easily the least commercially visible of the 10 tracks nominated, the other nine of which were all top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. (Raitt has not reached the Hot 100 since 1995.) Boosted by curious listeners, the song absolutely blasted off on streaming services following its victory, spiking from just over 10,000 daily official on-demand U.S. streams two days before the Grammys (Feb. 3) to a whopping 697,000 the Monday after (Feb. 6), according to Luminate. And it isn't the first time a big Grammy moment has given Raitt a major sales boost: after her mid-career breakthrough set Nick of Time took home album of the year at the 1990 awards, it took off on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart -- eventually topping the survey for three weeks that Apr. 1990, and starting a commercial renaissance for the veteran blues-rocker that lasted through the first half of the 1990s. Meanwhile, Raitt, Mick Fleetwood and Sheryl Crow paid tribute to late Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie during the Grammys with a stunning performance of the McVie-penned Fleetwood Mac tune "Songbird." "Songbird" was one of three performances included during the In Memoriam section at the 2023 Grammys. Though never released as a single, "Songbird" is still one of McVie's best-known compositions for its inclusion on the classic Grammy-winning 1977 Rumours album. Mick Fleetwood recently told the Los Angeles Times that he still plans to perform with his band, but "not as Fleetwood Mac" after "the loss of Chris." "I'd say we're done, but then we've all said that before. It's sort of unthinkable right now," he said. - Billboard, 2/8/23...... In other Grammys news, Ozzy Osbourne reacted to winning two 2023 Grammy awards -- for Best Rock Album ("Patient Number 9') and Best Metal Performance ("Degradation Rules" feat. Tony Iommi) -- during the Grammys on Feb. 5 in the exact way you'd expect from heavy metal's legendarily salty king of darkness. "I'm one lucky m-----f-----," Ozzy was quoted on Loudwire's Twitter page the following day. "I was blessed to work with some of the greatest musicians in the world and [producer] Andrew Watt was my producer on this album." Osbourne added that winning Best Metal Performance was "equally gratifying being that the song featured my longtime friend and Black Sabbath bandmate, [guitarist] Tony Iommi." Meanwhile, a ballet featuring music by Black Sabbath is set to open in the band's hometown of Birmingham, UK, in September. It will include eight of the band's tracks plus new music inspired by them, all performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. The ballet will arrive at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Sept. 23 to 30, before moving on to Plymouth's Theatre Royal and Sadler's Wells in London. In a press release, Iommi said of the production: "I'd never imagined pairing Black Sabbath with ballet but it's got a nice ring to it!" - Billboard/New Musical Express, 2/7/23....... Patti LaBelle put rumors of a feud with Diana Ross to rest during a recent appearance on Jennifer Hudson's syndicated daytime talk show. "People think that we had something against each other, but we really never did," LaBelle revealed. "It was just the way people perceived certain things. That's my doll, OK?" LaBelle also recalled an incident in which Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles member Cindy Birdsong left the group to join Ross's group The Supremes. "That's why we had issues," she explained. However, LaBelle said the duo thankfully made up at an event thrown by Oprah Winfrey. LaBelle's interview can be viewed on YouTube. - Billboard, 2/8/23...... Also during the Grammys, Stevie Wonder paid tribute to Motown Records icons Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy with a rollicking, Motown-inspired medley. Kicking it off with The Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do," Wonder grooved his way through a slick performance of the classic track while backed up by a full four-man ensemble singing backing vocals. The legend then decided that the best way to pay tribute to Robinson was to let him get on stage and sing it himself. Performing his iconic single "Tears of a Clown," Robinson got the crowd to its feet as he duetted alongside Wonder to his soulful hit. To close out his tour of Motown, Wonder invited country superstar Chris Stapleton to the stage for a duet to Wonder's own funk-driven 1972 anthem "Higher Ground." The day before the Grammys, Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson were honored with the Recording Academy's Special Merit Award at the Wilshire Ebell Theater on Feb. 4. Nancy Wilson, who received a lifetime achievement award along with her absent sister Ann Wilson, recalled that when they formed Heart in 1974, they wanted to be The Beatles. "Not to be married to them, or to be the girlfriend of one of them, but to be The Beatles." - Billboard, 2/5/23...... ABKCO Films launched the new Rolling Stones mini-documentary series The Rolling Stones Chronicles on Feb. 9. Co-produced by BBC Motion Gallery and ABKCO, the series consists of six documentary shorts, each featuring a different '60s-era hit song by the Stones as its soundtrack. The music is combined with thematically relevant interview clips from the band and contemporaneous historical figures, interspersed with historical documentary footage of related world events. Each episode will be released one week apart, every Thursday between Feb. 9 and Mar. 16, starting with Episode 1 - The Last Time. That episode, which explains the influence of early rock and roll and Chicago blues on the band, has been shared on YouTube. Further episodes will be released on Feb. 16 and 23, and March 2, 9 and 16. - Music-News, 2/9/23...... Barbra Streisand announced on Feb. 7 that her highly anticipated memoir, titled My Name Is Barbra, has finally been given a release date of Nov. 7. The news arrived via a simple, elegant announcement on the 80-year-old diva's Instagram account, along with a glamorous black and white photo of a younger Babs that may or may not be the book's cover. "Barbra's memoir 'My Name Is Barbra' coming November 7th," the announcement reads. "The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming," adds the description, noting that Streisand will recount her early career struggles, film work and the recording processes behind her extensive discography. She'll also divulge details about her friendships with VIPs such as Marlon Brando and Madeleine Albright, along with the "fulfillment she's found in her marriage to James Brolin." - Billboard, 2/7/23...... Speaking to AARP magazine, Graham Nash said that his late former bandmate David Crosby reached out to him in an attempt to make peace before his Jan. 19 death at age 81. "The fact is that we were getting a little closer at the end. He had sent me a voicemail saying that he wanted to talk to apologize, and could we set up a time to talk," Nash told the magazine. "I emailed him back and said, 'Okay, call me at eleven o'clock tomorrow your time, which is two o'clock on the East Coast.' He never called, and then he was gone." Although Crosby's death was a painful ending to a half century friendship and musical partnership that produced some of the most enduring folk rock of the 20th century, Nash said he is trying to focus on the love, and music, they shared. "I think one of the only things that we can do, particularly me, is only try to remember the good times," Nash said. "Try to remember the great music that we made. I'm only going to be interested in the good times, because if I concentrate on the bad times, it gets too weird for me." Comparing his friend's passing to an "earthquake," Nash described the death setting off a series of smaller temblors, saying it took several days for the reality to really set in. "Crosby was my dear friend, my best friend for over 50 years. I can only concentrate on the good stuff," he said, due to Crosby's sometimes pointed comments about his former CSN (and CSN&Y) bandmates. - Billboard, 2/9/23...... The running bitter feud between former Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters and David Gilmour has been reignited after Gilmour's wife, songwriter Polly Samson, issued a scathing rebuke of the former Floyd bassist-lyricist-singer in a tweet accusing him of antisemitism and misogyny, among other things. "Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core," Samson tweeted on Feb. 6. "Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense." Husband Dave liked the post and then added, "Every word demonstrably true." Rogers was quick to respond, tweeting later that afternoon that he is "aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter which he refutes entirely... He is currently taking advice on his position." Samson appeared to be responding to an interview Waters did with Germany's Berliner Zeigtung publication in which he wondered "is [Vladimir] Putin a bigger gangster than Joe Biden and all those in charge of American politics since World War II? I am not so sure. Putin didn't invade Vietnam or Iraq? Did he?" The interview also found Waters doubling down on his long-standing view that the Israeli government is committing "genocide" against the Palestinian people and included him once again comparing the state of Israel to Nazi Germany and questioning Israel's right to exist. Meanwhile, on Feb. 8 Russia extended an invitation to Waters to speak to the United Nations Security Council about the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. According to Reuters, the invitation was met with mockery by UN diplomats, with an anonymous Security Council member saying: "Russian diplomacy used to be serious. What next? Mr. Bean?" Ever since Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, he has been involved in an ongoing legal dispute with guitarist/vocalist Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason about the use of the band's name, failing in his bid to block the Gilmour-fronted version of the band from releasing albums and touring in the 1990s. - Billboard/NME, 2/7/23...... The director of Leaving Neverland, the Michael Jackson documentary that chronicled two accusers' sexual abuse claims against Jackson, is criticizing a planned biopic about the late singer. In a guest column for the U.K. paper The Guardian published on Feb. 5, Dan Reed criticized the decision to release a biopic about the music icon, questioning why "no one is talking about 'canceling' this movie, which will glorify a man who raped children." "It seems that the press, his fans and the vast older demographic who grew up loving Jackson are willing to set aside his unhealthy relationship with children and just go along with the music," Reed wrote. He went on to directly address the filmmaking team, which includes director Antoine Fuqua, writer John Logan, as well as producers Graham King, John Branca and John McClain, the latter of whom are co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate. Reed challenged whether the film would be able to represent alleged moments of abuse. "How will you represent the moment when Jackson, a grown man in his 30s, takes a child by the hand and leads him into that bedroom?" the Emmy-winning Leaving Neverland director asked. "How will you depict what happens next?" He adds that the film "sidestepping the question of Jackson's predilection for sleeping with young boys" is broadcasting a specific message to survivors of child sexual abuse. "That message is: if a [pedophile] is rich and popular enough, society will forgive him," he said. The biopic about the Grammy-winning, record-setting King of Pop was announced earlier in February and will address all aspects of Jackson's life, according to Lionsgate, though it remains unclear how the film will tackle the various controversies around the late musician. Meanwhile, the Jackson estate could be nearing a deal to sell half of its ownership in the Jackson catalog. As reported by Variety, the prospective deal would see the buyer acquire 50% of the estate's interest in Jackson's publishing catalog, revenue streams generated by his recorded music, the upcoming Michael biopic, the Broadway production "MJ: The Musical," and potentially even more. Should the new deal go ahead, three independent sources said that it will carry a precedent-setting price tag of $800-900 million (£664-747 million), making it the most expensive rights acquisition in modern music history. - The Hollywood Reporter, 2/5/23...... Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville announced on Feb. 4 that he's giving Paul McCartney's post-Beatles life the documentary treatment. The project is titled Man on the Run and comes from MPL Communications (the umbrella company for McCartney's business interests) and Polygram Entertainment (the film and TV division of UMG). The film will focus on the period of Paul's life after the breakup of the Beatles and feature never-before-seen archive material and new interviews. It will begin as the iconic rocker navigates the aftermath of the breakup, his life with beloved first wife Linda McCartney and the epic creative surge that followed. Neville says Man on the Run will serve as "the definitive document of Paul's emergence from the dissolution of the world's biggest band and his triumphant creation of a second decade of musical milestones -- a brilliant and prolific stretch." In other Fab Four-related news, the Beatles, David Bowie and Kate Bush are among the acts featured on the official U.K. Coronation playlist when King Charles III is crowned monarch in May alongside his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort. Opening the playlist is the Fab Four's 1969 classic "Come Together," with Bowie's 1983 hit "Let's Dance" making an appearance later. Bush's "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" was also one of the chosen tracks. Additionally, there are various songs from the likes of Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Queen, Madness, Spice Girls, Spandau Ballet, The Kinks and The Who. - The Hollywood Reporter/NME, 2/5/23...... Speaking of David Bowie, the late rock legend's handwritten lyrics to his 1973 hit "Jean Genie" from his Aladdin Sane LP have fetched £46,000 at auction. Bowie had originally given the lyric sheet for the song to David Bowie fan club founder Neal Peters. The lyrics went under the hammer at Omega Auctions in Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside. Auctioneer Paul Fairweather said: "We're well pleased with the price achieved for this historic set of lyrics." The A4 sheet is signed and dated by the 'Life on Mars' hitmaker. Bowie died aged 69 on Jan. 10, 2016. - Music-News.com, 2/9/23...... Peter Gabriel has released new song "The Court (Dark-Side Mix)" to coincide with February 2023's full moon. According to a press release, the track was written and produced by Gabriel, and features contributions from Brian Eno as well as backing vocals from his daughter, Melanie Gabriel. "I had this idea for 'the court will rise' chorus, so it became a free-form, impressionistic lyric that connected to justice, but there's a sense of urgency there," said the former Genesis singer about the track. "The Court (Dark-Side Mix)" is the second single to be taken from Gabriel's upcoming album i/o. "The Court (Dark-Side Mix)" can be heard on YouTube. i/o is the first new music from Gabriel in seven years, and it released on the day of the full moon. "A simple way of thinking about where we fit in to all of this is looking up at the sky... and the moon has always drawn me to it," Gabriel said. Gabriel will play five dates in the U.K. and Ireland -- in Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Dublin -- on June 17, 19, 22, 23 and 25, respectively. - NME, 2/5/23...... Charlie Thomas, a singer for the '50s group The Drifters, died on Jan. 31 after a battle with liver cancer. He was 85. Led by Ben E. King, The Drifters experienced success from several singles. "There Goes My Baby," "Under The Boardwalk," and "Up on the Roof" became beloved R&B classics, though The Drifters wouldn't top the pop charts until 1960 with "Save the Last Dance For Me," which topped the Billboard Hot 100. The song has since been covered by Dolly Parton, Michael Bublé and more. Mr. Thomas and six other members of The Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Despite the group's many iterations throughout the years, Mr. Thomas continued performing with The Drifters throughout to the pandemic. He is survived by his wife, Rita Thomas, two daughters and three sons. - Billboard, 2/7/23...... Eugene Lee, the longest-serving Saturday Night Live staffer, has died at age 83. An awarded production designer, Mr. Lee was one of the longest-tenured members of the SNL production team, beginning with the premiere in 1975, and the Emmy & Tony-award winning designer was responsible for some of greatest set designs in SNL history. - Reddit.com, 2/8/23...... It has been revealed that Melinda Dillon, an actress with honey-blonde hair and hard-earned emotional depth, died of undisclosed causes on Jan. 9 in L.A. She was 83. Ms. Dillon played a range of challenging parts -- the devastated source of a newspaper scoop in Absence of Malice (1981), a troubled poet in The Prince of Tides (1991) -- but audiences remember her best as two iconic moms. In 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, she was Oscar-nominated as a woman whose son is abducted by aliens (she admitted feeling "petrified" while filming the famously harrowing scene). Then she played Mrs. Parker, 1940s housewife whose son desperately wants a BB gun, in the holiday staple A Christmas Story (1983) (the role offered her an immortal line: "You'll shoot your eye out!") The Hope, Ark., native struggled with with mental health issues early on -- she was hospitalized in her 20s while on Broadway with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" -- but eventually found her footing in Hollywood, earning a second Oscar nod for Absence of Malice. She is survived by Richard, her son with the late actor Richard Libertini. - People, 2/20/23.

As the funeral for Jeff Beck took place in Beck's hometown of Wallington, Surrey, on Feb. 3, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page described him in the eulogy he gave as "the quiet chief." Posting an old black-and-white photo of himself with Beck on Instagram, comedian Jim Moir, otherwise known as Vic Reeves wrote: "Just came back from Jeff Becks funeral. The greatest eulogy was from Jimmy Page. He said 'Jeff was the quiet chief', he was talking about all the guitarists. And he was right. Jeff was the future as far as guitarists go. We will miss you Jeff and your music will love forever., Goodbye my good friend x." Johnny Depp, who Beck recorded an album, 18, with in 2022, was in attendance, with Ronnie Wood, Sir Tom Jones, Sir Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof and Chrissie Hynde all reportedly among the mourners. Beck died suddenly on January 10 at the age of 78, after contracting bacterial meningitis. - New Musical Express, 2/4/23...... The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame revealed the nominees for the Rock Hall's Class of 2023 on Feb. 1, announcing the 14 (or 15, depending on how you look at it) acts eligible for induction into the Rock Hall this year. Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, The Spinners, A Tribe Called Quest, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon all received nods, with eight (or arguably nine) are first timers (Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon), and two acts receive the nom within their first year of eligibility (The White Stripes and Missy Elliott). As for the aforementioned issue over the number of artists nominated for Rock Hall induction in 2023, it comes down to the singular entry for two bands, Joy Division and New Order. While some might quibble over inducting both bands as one, there is precedent: The Rock Hall previously inducted Parliament/Funkadelic together in 1997; the (Young) Rascals, also in 1997; and Small Faces/Faces as one entity in 2012. Inductees will be revealed in May, with the induction ceremony taking place this fall. The top five artists selected through fan voting will be tallied along with the ballots from the Rock Hall's international voting body to determine the Class of 2023. "This remarkable list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates," said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "These artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps." Fans can vote online every day through Apr. 28 at vote.rockhall.com or IRL at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. Some experts have predicted those most likely to gain entry in 2023 include The White Stripes, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson and Kate Bush, with The Spinners, Iron Maiden, Joy Division/New Order and Cyndi Lauper the least likely to enter the Rock Hall this time. - Billboard, 2/1/23...... Former The Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) has failed in his attempt to become Ireland's entry for the pop music competition the Eurovision Song Contest. Lydon, who was born in London to Irish parents, entered the song "Hawaii," a tribute to his wife, Nora, who is living with Alzheimer's disease, with his post-punk band Public Image Ltd. in the national runoff for May's continent-wide contest. Jurors and viewers of a televised final on Friday (Feb. 3) chose the song "We Are One" by the band Wild Youth to represent Ireland at the contest in May. "Hawaii" came fourth of six finalists. Founded in 1956 to help unite a continent scarred by World War II, Eurovision sees more than 40 countries compete for the continent's pop music crown. The 2023 contest will be staged in the English city of Liverpool after Britain was asked to hold the event on behalf of Ukraine. Ukraine won the right to host the pop extravaganza when its entry, folk-rap ensemble Kalush Orchestra, won the 2022 contest. Britain's Sam Ryder came second. British organizers say the event will be a celebration of Ukrainian culture and creativity as well as Liverpool's musical heritage. - AP, 2/4/23...... In an interview with Total Guitar magazine, Queen's Brian May said his band used to get "irritated" by crowds singing every line to their songs during their earliest days as a band. May said initially, they just wanted fans to listen to the lyrics they'd spent hours coming up with "because we thought: 'People, just listen. We're working really hard, so bloody well listen!' But they were unstoppable." May went on to say after the performed 'We Will Rock You' at Bingley Hall in the Midlands, England, in the late 1970s, May told late frontman Freddie Mercury they should encourage the crowd to sing because it helps the "energy" of their performance. "I said to Freddie, 'Maybe, instead of fighting this, we should be encouraging it. Maybe we should be harnessing this kind of energy which seems to be happening.'" Meanwhile, English motoring broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Clarkson has spoken out against May's defense of what the former calls "bastard" badgers. Clarkson has documented his struggles with badgers on his Amazon Prime Video series Clarkson's Farm, highlighting how the animals can damage property and also spread bovine tuberculosis to cattle. May has long supported the protection of the animal and has lead campaigns against their culling. Speaking to The Daily Mail ahead the launch of the second series, Clarkson explained how tackling the subject proved to be challenging. "We thought, 'What do we do?' because if you want to make a popular show you have to say, 'Oh, look at the little cuddly-wuddly badgers,'" he said. He continued: "These are not nice animals. Do not be fooled by Brian May. This is what badgers do. This is how much heartache they're causing to people who've worked for generations to build up a farm that's been wiped out by badgers." - NME, 2/4/23...... Seventies glam-rocker Gary Glitter was freed from a UK prison on Feb. 3 after serving half of a 16-year prison sentence for sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s. Glitter, now 79 and whose real name is Paul Gadd, was freed from a prison in Dorset, in southwest England. It is common for offenders in the U.K. to be freed halfway through their sentences and then be placed on probation. "Sex offenders like Paul Gadd are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service and face some of the strictest license conditions, including being fitted with a GPS tag," the U.K. Ministry of Justice said in a statement. "If the offender breaches these conditions at any point, they can go back behind bars." Glitter was found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, and arrested in Oct. 2012 under Operation Yewtree, the national investigation launched in the wake of the child abuse scandal surrounding the late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile. At the time of sentencing in 2015, Judge Alistair McCreath said he could find "no real evidence that" Gadd had atoned for his crimes and described Gadd's abuse of a girl under 10 as "appalling." "It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behaviour," McCreath said. Glitter is best known for the hit "Rock & Roll (Part 2)," released in 1972, and had three U.K. number ones, including I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am!)." His fall from grace occurred decades later, after he admitted possessing thousands of images that showed child sex abuse and was jailed for four months in 1999. After being freed he went abroad, and in 2002 was expelled from Cambodia amid reports of sex crime allegations. In Mar. 2006 he was convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in neighbouring Vietnam and spent two-and-a-half years in jail. - Billboard, 2/4/23...... Motown Records icons Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy were honored as MusiCares Persons of the Year during the 32nd annual MusiCares benefit gala at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Feb. 03. Standing ovations for dynamic performances from a lineup of current/past Grammy nominees that included Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, John Legend, Dionne Warwick, Sheryl Crow, Chloe x Halle and Jimmie Allen, among others, were plentiful. Early on The Temptations took over the stage with their signature dance routines and a rousing medley of several classics: "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "I Can't Get Next to You" and "My Girl." Their performance drew the first of the evening's multiple standing ovations from a star-studded audience that included Elton John, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul, Tom Hanks, Gayle King, Nile Rodgers and Richie Sambora, among others. Also lighting up the stage were performances by former Motown acts The Four Tops ("Baby I Need Your Loving," "It's the Same Old Song," "Reach Out [I'll Be There]," "I Can't Help Myself [Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch]"), The Isley Brothers ("This Old Heart of Mine"), Richie and Wonder. Before segueing into fan fave "Easy," Richie noted, "I don't know which means more... To be part of the Motown family or having Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson as my very dear friends." Wonder soloed on an early Miracles song co-produced by Robinson and Gordy, "I'll Try Something New." Then he teamed with the band for a reggae-vibed take on a hit song he co-wrote with Robinson, "The Tears of a Clown." The most emotional moment arrived when Robinson walked onstage to pay tribute to his longtime mentor and best friend Gordy. "He took me under his wing ... I love you man; you are so precious," Robinson ended his speech. The spry, 93-old Gordy -- who could be seen dancing to "Get Ready" as all the performers returned for the finale, said simply, "I'm happy to be here with my best friend." As the charity arm of The Recording Academy, MusiCares' annual benefit gala salutes musicians for their artistic achievements in music and dedication to philanthropy. Proceeds from the gala, which included a silent auction of various music memorabilia and other items, will provide essential support for MusicCares as it provides music professionals with health and human services across a spectrum of needs. In related news, Stevie Wonder is set to perform at the 2023 Grammys on Feb. 5 in a spot that will feature two other famous artists -- Smokey Robinson and in a spot that will feature two other famous artists -- Smokey Robinson and Chris Stapleton. The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will air live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will be hosted for the third year in a row by Emmy-winning comedian Trevor Noah. The show will be broadcast live on Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. - Billboard, 2/4/23...... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their first tour in six years with a marathon 28-song set in Tampa, Fla. on Feb. 1. Opening with "No Surrender," The Boss and his band ran through some of their greatest hits alongside newer material from their 2020 album Letter To You over the course of almost three hours. The set included a seven-song encore where they wheeled out tracks including "Born To Run," "Rosalita," "Dancing In The Dark" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" before Springsteen gave an acoustic solo performance of "I'll See You In My Dreams." Fan shot footage of the gig has been shared on Twitter. The US leg of the tour will continue until April before Springsteen and the band move on to Europe. They will be playing four UK dates in total, in Edinburgh, Birmingham and two shows in London as part of the BST Hyde Park series. In other Springsteen-related news, the fanzine Backstreets is set to close after covering Springsteen's music for 43 years. In an editorial, Backstreets publisher and editor-in-chief Christopher Phillips said he's shutting down the periodic magazine over his disillusionment with the "dynamic pricing" system, which has led to hugely inflated ticket prices and what the creators of the fanzine have previously deemed a fan "freeze out." Last summer, when tickets for Springsteen's 2023 world tour dates went on sale, fans were asked to pay up to $5000 (£4152) for some tickets. The dynamic pricing model allowed Ticketmaster to charge more for tickets when they first go on sale. The dynamic pricing system responds to demand and so increases or decreases prices in line with what "scalpers" -- a person who re-sells a ticket for profit -- would sell them for, keeping the money in-house for the seller and artist. "After 43 years of publishing in one form or another, by fans for fans of Bruce Springsteen, it's with mixed emotions that we announce Backstreets has reached the end of the road," he wrote. "We are immensely proud of the work Backstreets has done, and we are forever grateful to the worldwide community of fellow fans who have contributed to and supported our efforts all these years, but we know our time has come." Springsteen defended the price hikes in 2022 in an interview with Rolling Stone. "What I do is a very simple thing. I tell my guys, 'Go out and see what everybody else is doing. Let's charge a little less.' That's generally the directions," he said. "This time I told them, 'Hey, we're 73 years old. The guys are there. I want to do what everybody else is doing, my peers.' So that's what happened. That's what they did," he added. - NME, 2/2/23...... Authorities in Australia have announced the life and career of Olivia Newton-John will be celebrated on Feb. 26 with a state memorial service at Melbourne's Hamer Hall at Arts Centre. The service is being planned in close consultation with representatives of the late artist, with special tributes from family and friends, according to a press release. "Dame Olivia Newton-John was an inspiration to many around the world -- her work in cancer research and treatment saved lives and changed lives and her music was the soundtrack to a generation," state premier Daniel Andrews said. "We know Victorians are eager to celebrate the life of a driving force in medical research and an icon of film and music, with a service befitting her international acclaim," he added. Delta Goodrem, the Sydney pop singer who portrayed Newton-John in the 2018 TV mini-series Hopelessly Devoted to You, will perform at the free, ticketed event. Born in Cambridge, England, Newton-John moved to Melbourne with her family at a young age. For lengthy stints in the 1970s and 1980s, ONJ was Australia's flag-bearer in pop culture with a string of hits and starring roles in such Hollywood films as Grease and Xanadu. She died Aug. 8, 2022 after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 73. More info can be found at www.vic.gov.au/olivia-newton-john. - Billboard, 2/3/23...... Former Talking Heads frontman has released the latest installment of his monthly playlist, and February's has a Valentines theme featuring the likes of Billie Eilish, The 1975, SZA, Rosalia, Arcade Fire, Selena Gomez and FINNEAS. "Who was Saint Valentine? Well, he was a martyr in 3rd century Rome," Byrne wrote. "He is now the patron saint of asthma sufferers and beekeepers... and lovers! He was an avid christian proselytizer, and was arrested by roman authorities on more than one occasion. One judge asked him to perform a miracle and restore his daughter's sight -- which he did, and in return the judge and his entire family converted and smashed all of their lovely statues- per Valentine's suggestion. Later, Valentine was arrested again -- this time he wasn't so lucky. His sentence was to be beaten by clubs and then beheaded. Before his execution, he wrote to the formerly blind daughter a note signed 'from your Valentine'," he added. Byrne's playlist can be found on Spotify or on his official website. - NME, 2/2/23...... Tom Jones' 1968 hit "Delilah" has been banned at a Welsh rugby stadium in Cardiff due to its song lyrics causing controversy over the years. The track will no longer be sung at Wales national ground by choirs employed for entertainment at matches and has been struck off the Welsh Rugby Union's (WRU) official playlists. The lyrics of Sir Tom's ballad are the reason why it's been pulled. In the song: "Delilah" is stabbed after her jealous husband discovers her flirting with another man, and the husband later pleads for forgiveness of her dead corpse. The Principality Stadium's spokesperson said: "The WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind. We have previously sought advice from subject matter experts on the issue of censoring the song and we are respectfully aware that it is problematic and upsetting to some supporters because of its subject matter." Welsh singing legend Jones has responded to controversy over the lyrics, Sky News reported, saying that people have taken the song too literally. He rejecting claims that it trivialised violence towards women. In 2016, MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant defended the song ban: "It is a simple fact that when there are big international rugby matches on, and sometimes football matches as well, the number of domestic violence incidents rises dramatically," he said. "I know that some people will say, 'Oh, here we go, he's a terrible spoilsport,' but the truth is that that song is about the murder of a prostitute." Jones' last album was 2021's Surrounded By Time, a collection of covers by such acts as Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Bobby Cole. - NME, 2/2/23...... In a recent post on Instagram, Ozzy Osbourne said he can no longer tour due to crippling injuries which, despite several surgeries, have rendered him "physically weak." "This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to share with my loyal fans," he wrote. "As you may all know, four years ago, this month, I had a major accident, where I damaged my spine." After three operations, stem cell surgeries, cutting-edge procedures and grueling therapy sessions, Ozzy admits he's "not physically capable" of completing his upcoming European/U.K. tour dates, "as I know I couldn't deal with the travel required." He continues: "Never would I have imagined that my touring days would have ended this way. My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country." With his concession, Ozzy has once again canceled his No More Tours 2 final tour of the U.K. and Europe, which had been pushed back due to his health issues and Covid. Though it's the end of the road for the legendary British rocker, he hasn't ruled out performing, so long as travel isn't required. "My team is currently coming up with ideas for where I will be able to perform without having to travel from city to city and country to country." Judas Priest, which had been due to support Ozzy on his European tour, sent well-wished to the rocker, as well as a message to fans, reassuring them they will be back on stage as soon as possible. "We send all our love and support for Ozzy and thank our fans in the UK and Ireland especially for your loyalty by standing with us... Right now we're looking at feasible opportunities to see each other again and will post update's accordingly," they said in a statement. - Billboard, 2/1/23...... Streams and sales of Linda Ronstadt's "Long, Long Time" have skyrocketed after the heartbreaking 1970 ballad was featured multiple times in the acclaimed third episode of the HBO series Last of Us. "Long, Long Time", which served as the singer's breakout solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when it reached No. 25 in Oct. 1970, is showcased multiple times in the episode (also titled "Long, Long Time"). It appears first in renditions by actors Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman, when they find the sheet music with an old piano owned by Offerman's character, then as Ronstadt's original version at the end of the episode, when the show's main characters (played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) find a cassette with the song in a car formerly belonging to Offerman's character. - Billboard, 2/2/23...... In more chart news, music by late folk-rock legend David Crosby have vaulted to the top of Billboard's Americana/Folk Albums survey (dated Feb. 4) among other moves for his catalog. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu has re-entered Americana/Folk Albums at No. 5 (after reaching No. 4 in 2021) with 9,000 equivalent album units, up 238%, in the Jan. 20-26 tracking week, according to Luminate. Plus, Crosby, Stills & Nash's Greatest Hits has returned to the tally at a new No. 7 best, with 8,000 units, a 287% surge. Meanwhile, six songs featuring Crosby's contributions, including one by The Byrds, which he co-founded, infuse the 25-position Rock Digital Song Sales chart: "Southern Cross," "Teach Your Children," "Our House," "Carry On," "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!." Crosby's death, at age 81, was announced Jan. 19. - Billboard, 1/31/23...... Charles "Chip" Rachlin, a pioneering agent for such iconic acts as Billy Joel and The Beach Boys, died on Jan. 25 following a short illness. He was 73. Blown away after watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Rachlin started a short lived band, The Gremlins in the 1960s, but soon found his calling in presenting and showcasing talent. The New Jersey native learned the ropes as an agent working for the legendary promoter Bill Graham at the Fillmore East, and later, as a junior agent with the Millard Agency. Rachlin and his Fillmore friend Michael Klenfner showed their entrepreneurial chops when, in Feb. 1971, they booked the Beach Boys to headline Carnegie Hall, and Rachlin soon found himself representing the group and later Carl Wilson as a solo artist. Once Graham closed the Filllmore, Millard went "uptown," according to a timeline on the Rachlin Entertainment website. "We built an All Star Team... with a roster that swelled to include Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, America, Seals & Crofts, Loggins & Messina, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, CSN and the Eagles. By the mid-'70s, Rachlin was a major figure in ICM's music department, where he repped the future Rock And Roll Hall of Famers the Beach Boys and a young Billy Joel. He also toured with the Rolling Stones, and rode the fantastic rocket ship ride that was the launch of MTV. "Thanks to Chip being my agent in the early days, the band and I were able to make a living as performing musicians before I became more widely known as Billy Joel," Joel posted on his Twitter account. Rachlin is survived by his wife Wendy, his sons Josh and Alex, and their extended family. - Billboard, 2/1/23.