Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on January 7th, 2024

On Jan. 5 a Los Angeles Superior Court judge declined to immediately put Cher's son Elijah Blue Allman into the legal conservatorship that Cher is seeking and Elijah Blue is opposing, but the court will take up the issue again within weeks. Judge Jessica A. Uzcategui ruled that Cher's attorneys had not given Elijah Blue and his lawyers the necessary documents to give them sufficient time to make their case, and scheduled another hearing for Jan. 29. In late December, Cher filed a petition for control of the finances of her 47-year-old son with the late Gregg Allman, claiming his struggles with addiction and mental health have left him unable to manage his money and potentially put his life in danger by making him able to buy drugs. Elijah Blue receives money from a trust left by his late father, and an attorney for Cher said during the hearing that a payment from the trust is pending, and the immediate establishment of a conservatorship is "a life-and-death proposition." However Judge Uzcategui said that she was "not persuaded," citing Cher's unwillingness to share material with Allman's attorneys. Cher's lawyers said they had confidentiality concerns and shared the documents instead with Allman's court-appointed lawyer. Allman acknowledged his struggles with addiction and irresponsible spending, but said he is under the care of a doctor, has been sober for more than three months, is attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and is willing to submit drug tests. "While I understand that my mother, the proposed conservator, believes she is looking out for my best interests and I appreciate her love and support, I do not need her unsolicited help or support at this time," the filing said. Allman attended the hearing but spoke only to briefly answer the judge's questions. His lawyers declined comment after the hearing. Cher did not attend. - Billboard, 1/5/24...... It appears that France will have a street named after David Bowie before the late rock legend's own home country of the UK. On Jan. 8 -- what would have been Bowie's 77th birthday -- a new road near Austerlitz train station in Paris will be named after Bowie, rather than a pre-existing one that has been renamed. According to Paris Mayor Jorme Coumet, the idea for the "rue David Bowie" emerged as the "Space Oddity" singer had "a strong link with the city of lights." Bowie's ties to France not only include his countless shows across the country, but also his time recording music at the legendary Miraval studio -- which is now owned by actor Brad Pitt. An inauguration party is also set to be held at Salle des Fetes that same day to celebrate the launch, and a variety of photographs and paintings related to the singer will be showcased at the Galerie Athna until Jan. 14. While the UK does not yet have a street named after the late music legend, his birthplace of Brixton does have a famous mural of the singer, painted by Australian artist James Cochran. Bowie died in 2016, following a cancer diagnosis. - New Musical Express, 1/5/24...... On Jan. 4 Billy Joel announced several dates at stadiums across the U.S. in 2024, with Stevie Nicks and Sting opening for him on select different dates. The Piano Man will play Tampa, Fla. (2/24), Arlington, Tex. (3/9), San Diego (4/13), Seattle (5/24), Chicago (6/21), Denver (7/12), and St. Louis (9/27). On Aug. 9, he'll play a UK date in Cardiff, Wales. Sting will open for Joel on the Tampa, San Diego and St. Louis dates, while Nicks -- who toured with Billy in 2023 as part of their "Two Icons One Night" outing -- will be the opener for the Arlington and Chicago shows. The gigs will come amid Joel's historic sold-out run at NYC's Madison Square Garden, where he will fire up his keys on Jan. 11, Feb. 9, March 28, April 26, May 9, June 8 and July 25, marking the end of a decade-long, 150-show run. - Billboard, 1/5/24...... Dionne Warwick is denying involvement in a campaign fundraiser for 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. "This is absolutely ridiculous. If you are going to lie on my name, at least lie about something cool," Warwick posted on X/Twitter on Jan. 3. Her response was to an X/Twitter post on DailyMail.com that read: "Superstar tenor @AndreaBocelli will perform at fundraiser for US presidential hopeful @RobertKennedyJr with 'well wisher' guests including Martin Sheen, @MikeTyson and @dionnewarwick." In response, Warwick posted: "I don't know anything about this event. I did not agree to it and I certainly won't be there." When a person in the comments responded "Damn Dionne I almost got my respect back for you," she retorted, "That's okay, baby. Keep it." Sheen has also denied any participation in Kennedy's campaign, requesting a surrogate post that he "wholeheartedly support[s] President Joe Biden and the democratic ticket in 2024." - Billboard, 1/5/24...... The Grammys' Recording Academy announced on Jan. 5 that Donna Summer, Gladys Knight, Laurie Anderson, Tammy Wynette and N.W.A. will be the recipients of the academy's 2024 lifetime achievement award. Also announced were Peter Asher, DJ Kool Herc and Joel Katz as trustees award recipients; Tom Kobayashi and Tom Scott are technical Grammy award honorees; and "Refugee" as the best song for social change award. The Recording Academy's 2024 Special Merit Award honorees, as they are collectively known, will be saluted at a Grammy Week ceremony on Feb. 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. Summer, Wynette, Eazy-E of N.W.A, and sound engineer Kobayashi are being honored posthumously. - Billboard, 1/5/24...... Heart played their first live shows together in almost half a decade during on and around the New Years Eve holiday. The first date took place on Dec. 27 at a more intimate venue, the Yaamava Theatre in Highland, Calif. The band then played two other arena shows in California and their hometown of Seattle on Dec. 28 and 31 respectively. These were Heart's first shows since 2019 and featured a career-spanning setlist including hits such as "Barracuda, "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You." Heart then finished the evening with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" reprising their famous performance of the song at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012 which brought former Led Zep frontman Robert Plant to tears. Heart has announed they will continue their reunion in 2024 by supporting Def Leppard and Journey on select dates across their co-headlining run of the U.S. later this year. "We're gonna see how it works with the Heart thing, whether it feels like a level up," remarked singer Ann Wilson of the reunion shows in a recent interview with 96.1 KLPX out of Tucson, Arizona. "If it does feel like a level up, then we'll keep doing it. But that's what it has to be. It can't just slide down into jukebox time. Fan-shot footage of the Seattle reunion show has been shared on YouTube. - NME, 1/2/24...... Michael Jackson's name has surfaced in recently unsealed court documents tied to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein -- though Jackson was not accused of any wrongdoing in the documents. On Jan. 3, the files were unsealed as part of the 2015 lawsuit victim Virginia Giuffre filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, the now deceased financier's girlfriend, who was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage victims. Maxwell is serving a 20 year prison sentence. According to the documents, Jackson's name comes up during the deposition of a witness, which took place May 18, 2016. Epstein accuser Giuffre, when questioned by her lawyer, says that she "met Michael Jackson" when asked if she ever met anybody famous when she was with Epstein. "At his house in Palm Beach. At Jeffrey's house in Palm Beach." McCawley also asked whether the witness had given Jackson a massage, which she denied doing, and for a second time later in the deposition. Epstein, 66, died by apparent suicide in Aug. 2019. He was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York while awaiting trial. He had been charged with sexually abusing multiple underage girls. - Billboard, 1/4/24...... During a recent stay at Scotland's famous Gleneagles Hotel, Rod Stewart gave its stave a tip of £10,000, as well as some advice on how he thinks they should spend it. Stewart was staying at Gleneagles to celebrate Hogmanay (the last day of the year) with his wife Penny Lancaster and their two sons, and caught staff working over the festive period off-guard by offering them the generous tip. Given to them in thanks for working over the holidays, he reportedly suggested they should use the amount to make a bet that Scotland will win the Euros this summer. "I've been lucky enough to stay in some of the top hotels in the world and the service at Gleneagles is second to none," he reportedly said. "The staff do a terrific job at a very hectic time of the year and deserve every penny. It's Scottish hospitality at its very best. I advised the boys and girls at Gleneagles to invest the money wisely," he added. "Stick the lot on Scotland to win the Euros." Stewart also posted a photo of his stay at Gleneages -- which became famous for hosting the first international match between American and British professional golfers -- on his Instagram page, showing him and his sons wearing kilts to welcome in the new year. - NME, 1/4/24...... Elvis Evolution, an immersive Elvis Presley AI hologram show, is being prepped by the U.K. company Layered Reality for an opening date in London in Nov. 2024. In a statement announcing the special event, Layered Reality promised that the mind-blowing "concert finale" featuring the King of Rock will feature a "jaw-dropping" performance and a "personal invite to the After Party." "The show peaks with a concert experience that will recreate the seismic impact of seeing Elvis live for a whole new generation of fans, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy," according to a press release. "A life sized digital Elvis will share his most iconic songs and moves for the very first time on a UK stage," it adds. Elvis Evolution promises to use Layered Reality's patented blend of "technology, augmented reality, theatre, projection and multi-sensory effects" to reproduce the late rock icon for his first-ever shows outside of North America nearly half a century after Presley's 1977 death. The Elvis AI show will follow on the heels of the hit London show ABBA Voyage, which digitally recreated the beloved Swedish pop band via digital avatars. A preview clip of Elvis Evolution can be viewed on Vimeo.com. - Billboard, 1/4/24...... Speaking on the latest edition of The Osbournes Podcast, Sharon Osbourne said she is open to reviving the Ozzfest as a heavy metal touring festival. Ozzy Osbourne asked the the Osbournes matriarch about bringing the festival back, asking "Not just one [at] the f---ing Forum, but a whole Ozzfest [tour]?" Sharon replied: "Yeah, sure. Of course." Their daughter Kelly Osbourne then commented that artist managers need to be "realistic" when it comes to booking fees. In response Sharon said: "Why is it when it comes to us that everybody thinks that we are trillionaires, and so that every manager who wants their band on our festival wants one of the f---ing trillions they think we've got to put on the festival?" The last Ozzfest took place in 2018 and was headlined Ozzy, alongside Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis of Korn and Body Count. - NME, 1/3/24...... Co-founding former KISS member Ace Frehley has told Guitar World magazine that his forthcoming album, 10,000 Volts, will make his former KISS bandmates "look like imbeciles." Drama between the guitarist and his former bandmates began in 2023, after Paul Stanley explained why the band didn't perform when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame back in 2014. Among the reasons was the "demanding" nature of the Rock Hall, which wanted KISS to take to the stage with its original members -- Frehley, Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss. Stanley said the move would be "demeaning" to the band, adding: "'Cause if you saw people onstage who looked like KISS but sounded like that, maybe we should be called PISS." Frehley subsequently threatened to release "dirt" on KISS if Stanley didn't apologize, later sharing that he didn't apologize, but called to say "f--- you." "Paul and Gene have tried to destroy my reputation over the years -- we know that," Frehley told Guitar World. And unfortunately for them, '10,000 Volts' is going to make them look like imbeciles. KISS hasn't put out a record since 2012 [Monster], and here I am, 17 years sober, and it's my sixth record since leaving KISS. I keep chugging along, and nobody can stop me. Creating amazing music is the best way to combat someone putting you down. That's how I shut them up." 10,000 Volts will drop on Feb. 23. - NME, 1/4/24...... In a new interview with Record Collector magazine, '60s pop singing-songwriting legend Donovan revealed he used to hang out with the Beatles and pulled guitarist George Harrison to one side to teach him "a few tricks" so he could pen his own tunes after being "in the shadow" of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. "I became George's mentor for songwriting," the Scottish musician said. "He was in the shadow of John and Paul for so many years and I said, 'Look, I'll show you a few tricks, how to encourage the songs.' There's a way to encourage the song to come. You can tease it, like fishing. I told him how to play a chord then put your ear on the guitar, listen to the open chord and try a tempo. You can hear melodies, believe it or not. Melodies appear, but you've got to be quick to catch them." The "Sunshine Superman" hitmaker -- who was a prominent figure of the Flower Power era of the late '60s -- also recalled how "dangerous" it was playing shows with little security to stop fans ramming toward him or The Fab Four. "As soon as the last song was over, they'd turn the lights on, say goodnight, and get in their cars. And what would happen? The whole audience would swarm towards the stage. That became a big problem." - Music-News.com, 1/6/24...... Elton John has allegedly completed a new album with American singer Brandi Carlile. During a recent roundtable conversation with the UK's Clash Music magazine, Elton's good friend Pete Townshend of The Who shared that John has been at a loss following the end of his farewell tour, and ended up reaching out to Carlile to begin working on a project. "Elton is so fraught with loss at not knowing what to do next. He's just gone over to LA to make an album with Brandi Carlile. They made an album together in two weeks. He says it's one of the best things they've ever done," Townshend told the publication. Speaking about her relationship with John, Carlile told People magazine in 2023: "I think we find ourselves in a position of being soulmates. Our friendship is an amazing one." The two musicians appeared onstage together back in 2022 at the Dodgers Stadium for a rendition of Elton's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (available on YouTube), and have remained incredibly close. Elsewhere in the interview, Townshend also reflected on his friendship with the Rocket Man and said: "He's great company. And he's very smart. But he's also a wonderful musicologist, you really keep some with what's new." - NME, 1/2/24...... David Leland, a writer, director and actor who worked with George Harrison, Paul McCartney and the Travelling Wilburys over his five-decade career, passed away on Christmas Eve surrounded by his family, according to a press release. He was 82. Initially trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama and later moving into stage management and direction at the Crucible Theatre, Mr. Leland collaborated with British actors including Michael Palin and Terry Jones early in their careers, as well as an as-yet-undiscovered Victoria Wood, who wrote her first play, "Talent," for him to direct. He also gave Pierce Brosnan his first opportunity to act on stage in the British premiere of Tennessee Williams' "The Red Devil Battery Sign," which Mr. Leland directed. Mr. Leland was a close friend of George Harrison's and worked with him on several occasions, directing several Traveling Wilburys videos including "Handle With Care" and the 1988 film Checking Out, on which Harrison served as a producer. His other music video work included Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (which also featured Harrison and Ringo Starr), and McCartney's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." He also directed the documentary Concert For George (2003) following Harrison's own death, which was a concert film of a memorial concert event which took place at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the remaining Beatles, Petty and Eric Clapton. Mr. Leland won a Grammy Award for his work, while the DVD was certified platinum eight times over. He also worked extensively as a screenwriter for both TV and film, with his film credits including Made In Britain (1982), Birth Of A Nation (1983) and Wish You Were Here (1987). The UK's BAFTA Awards posted a tribute to Mr. Leland on X/Twitter, saying they were "saddened" to hear of his death. Other tributes came from Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson and Monty Python's Terry Gillam. - NME, 1/2/24...... English actress Glynis Johns, best known for playing the daffy suffragette mother Mrs. Banks opposite Julie Andrews in the classic film Mary Poppins, died on Jan. 4 at an assisted living home in Los Angeles. She was 100 years old. Ms. Johns' greatest triumph was playing Desiree Armfeldt in the play "A Little Night Music," for which she won a Tony in 1973. Stephen Sondheim wrote the show's hit song "Send in the Clowns" to suit Ms. Johns' distinctive husky voice, but she lost the part in the 1977 film version to Elizabeth Taylor. "I've had other songs written for me, but nothing like that," Ms. Johns told the AP in 1990. "It's the greatest gift I've ever been given in the theater." "Send in the Clowns" brought Sondheim a Grammy Award for song of the year in 1976, and is the most recent song from a Broadway musical to win in that marquee category. The fourth generation of an English theatrical family, Ms. Johns was a dancer at 12 and an actor at 14 in London's West End. Her breakthrough role was as the amorous mermaid in the title of the 1948 hit comedy "Miranda." She also starred in the 1989 Broadway revival of "The Circle," W. Somerset Maugham's romantic comedy about love, marriage and fidelity, opposite Rex Harrison and Stewart Granger. In 1960's The Sundowners, with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum, she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar, losing out to Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry. Ms. Johns lived all around the world and had four husbands. The first was the father of her only child, the late Gareth Forwood, an actor who died in 2007. "Today's a sad day for Hollywood," Ms. Johns' manager Mitch Clem said of her passing. "She is the last of the last of old Hollywood." - Billboard, 1/4/24...... Actor-singer David Soul, who rose to fame as Sergeant Kenneth Richard "Hutch" Hutchinson in the 1970s TV detective series Starsky & Hutch, died on Jan. 4, his wife Helen Snell announced on his website. He was 80. "David Soul -- beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother -- died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family," she wrote. "He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist, and dear friend. His smile, laughter, and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched." Born in Chicago on Aug. 28, 1943, Mr. Soul started acting on stage in the '60s and began pursuing his passion for music. In 1967, he sang on The Merv Griffin Show, receiving major attention, and landed his first TV role on Flipper. That led to signing a contract with Columbia Pictures and playing Joshua Bolt, a lumberjack and brother of lead character Jason Bolt (Roger Brown), on Here Comes the Brides. The show ran from 1968 to 1970 and made Soul a major star. In 1971, he made his film debut in Johnny Got His Gun and then appeared opposite Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force (1972), the second in Eastwood's Dirty Harry franchise. After more guest roles, the actor landed the biggest role of his career on Starsky & Hutch, alongside Paul Michael Glaser as Sergeant David Michael Starsky. The two played Southern California police detectives, originally in a 1975 pilot movie and then in a weekly TV series that ran on ABC until 1979. Starsky and Hutch drove around in their iconic red-and-white-striped Ford Gran Torino and had a brotherly love, us-against-the-world attitude that was different than typical cop shows. The overly affectionate buddy cops became a staple of the '70s and oftentimes the punchline to erotic jokes, with Glaser even later admittiing that Starsky and Hutch had some "homoerotic elements." Amid rising concerns about TV violence, Starsky & Hutch toned down the blood and played up the social themes and friendship in Season 3. Ratings declined soon after, and Glaser often publicly discussed leaving the show, which finished its run with Season 4. It wasn't the last time fans would see the two cops, however. Director Todd Phillips made a prequel film, starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch, in 2004, with Mr. Soul and Glaser making cameo appearances. Mr. Soul returned to his singing roots in the '70s with the popular songs "Don't Give Up on Us," which reached No. 1 on the hit parade in Apr. 1977, and "Silver Lady." He released five studio albums beginning in 1976 and seven compilations during his career. He also starred in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" in 1979, playing Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his small hometown of Salem's Lot, Maine, only to discover it's become infested by vampires. In the '90s, Mr. Soul moved to the United Kingdom and began a career in West End theatre and British TV. He obtained citizenship in 2004, and his later credits included the films Farewell and Filth and shows like Poirot, Dalziel and Pascoe and Lewis. "David was a brother, a friend, a caring man. We shall never see his like again," Paul Michael Glaser told People magazine. I find it difficult to comprehend David's passing... saying goodbye to such a dear friend and important part of my life I suspect that I will let myself feel his loss, our loss, only gradually." Mr. Soul is survived by his wife Helen Snell and his six children. - Variety, 1/5/24...... Veteran music exec Bob Fead, who held key positions with such powerhouse labels as Liberty Records and A&M Records from the 1960s into the 2000s, died on Jan. 2 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 89. Mr. Fead thrived at Liberty Records in the 1950s and 1960s and helped drive radio airplay for such artists as Bobby Vee, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Willie Nelson, Jan and Dean, Del Shannon and Vikki Carr. He worked alongside famed producer (and longtime friend) Snuff Garrett. After five years at Liberty, Mr. Fead was recruited by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss to join them at their fledgling A&M Records, where he eventually rose to senior vp of sales and marketing. While there, Fead worked with such legendary acts as Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, Quincy Jones, the Carpenters, Cat Stevens and Peter Frampton. "Bob Fead was a gentleman and the key person who organized a national sales team for A&M's huge sales success in the late 1960's/early 1970's," Alpert said in a statement. "His personality and kindness is a huge part of the A&M legacy." He is survived by his wife, Beverlye, and their two children. - Billboard, 1/4/24.

Elvis Presley's record of 67 weeks for a solo artist topping the Billboard Hot 200 album chart has been broken by -- you guessed it -- Taylor Swift. The "Cruel Summer" singer's re-release of her early LP 1989, 1989 (Taylor's Version), returned to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart for a fifth time in the last week of 2023, putting her ahead of Presley's record of 67 weeks at the top spot. With 68 weeks, the 34-year-old superstar now holds the record as a solo artist, but she is second overall behind the Beatles. The Fab Four are significantly ahead of her with 132 weeks atop the Hot 200 chart. Presley and Swift are currently tied for the most No. 1's in a calendar year, with them both having three in a year twice. The "Shake It Off" singer is currently third for the record of the most chart-topping albums overall. The Beatles are first with 19, followed by Jay-Z with 14 and Swift with 13. Thanks in part to her album re-releasing project, Swift also holds the record for the most albums to debut consecutively at No. 1 with 13. - Music-News.com, 1/1/24...... Elton John has shared the favorite songs on his Christmas listening list for 2023 as part of a Christmas edition of his Rocket Hour show on Apple Music. The 17 songs on the list include his own 1973 festive hit "Step Into Christmas" along with seasonal songs and covers by Elvis Presley ("Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me"), Greg Lake ("I Believe in Father Christmas"), James Brown ("Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"), The Ronettes ("I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus") and the Pretenders ("2000 Miles"). John took to his Instagram account ahead of the show to write: "It's the Rocket Hour Christmas Special! This year I have selected an eclectic mix of old and new, ranging festive classics from The Ronettes, Elvis Presley and Greg Lake, to some of my favourite new Christmas songs and covers from contemporary artists including RAYE, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens, as well as some lesser-known deep cuts. Hope some of these make it onto your Christmas playlist these holidays. Wishing all my Rocket Hour listeners Happy Holidays and I look forward to bringing you more shows and the latest new music in the New Year!" It comes after Elton previously shared his favorite 15 songs of 2023 which included songs from The Last Dinner Party, Gabriels, boygenius, Romy and The Chemical Brothers. John, who wrapped his years-long "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour earlier in 2023 with a final headline slot at the UK's Glastonbury festival, will appear in an upcoming sequel to the classic rock "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap, along with Paul McCartney. - New Musical Express, 12/30/23...... Dolly Parton recently made a deserving fan's bucket list wish come true by serenading him with her classic song "I Will Always Love You" as he struggles with stage four colorectal cancer. In 2021, a Utah man named LeGrand Gold made a bucket list of final wishes that included meeting and talking with the country superstar. A video of Dolly, 77, was posted to YouTube showing Gold lying in bed as the star chats with him over speakerphone. "I'm just happy to know I've got a fan that devoted and that I've had a chance to walk that journey all these years," Parton tells Gold. "I heard you've been a fan of mine for many years, and I just want to thank you for that." Dolly continued: "I'm just happy that we got to kind of have our journey together in this lifetime. I always want to make people happy with my music and with the things I do and the things I say and I'm just happy to know that I've touched your life in some way. So thank you for honoring me with that." To close out her conversation, she sang a snippet of one of her most famous compositions, adding in his nickname at the end. "I will always love you, I always love LG," she crooned. Gold explained to local media that after receiving his cancer diagnosis in 2021, he and his wife, Alice, took a pen to a napkin to list out his biggest dreams as a way of keeping hopes high. The No. 7 item was to meet the "9 to 53 singer -- "I thought, 'Well, it's never going to happen,'" he told KSL, a local NBC affiliate. "She sang me a song, put my name in the song," he added. "I feel like I'm immortal now." - Billboard, 12/27/23...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Chaka Khan says she "will not do another tour" because "I got this rich-ass life." Khan, who charted 10 Top 40 Billboard hits from 1974 to 1983 as part of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan including the No. 3 "Tell Me Something Good," said that she wasn't planning on completely retiring from performing live, but intends on stopping touring because she now had more going on in her life than just music. "Some people, that's all they have, you know? I got this rich-ass life. I've got great-grandchildren I want to get to know better. So I will not do another tour. I'll do dates, but it won't look like a tour. They'll be far enough apart that I can have time to sleep in between." When asked if she'd ever retire entirely, the 70-year-old said: "Well, I might do that three or four times, like other bitches do." Khan added that as far as her legacy goes, she doesn't really care about that but would hope some of her material has some longevity. "I just hope that the art form doesn't get so screwed up with stupid shit -- kids today think that every instrument can be played on a keyboard," she said. "Instruments have to be introduced once again to these kids." Khan recently teamed up with Bombay Bicycle Club for the track "Tekken 2," which frontman Jack Steadman said he initially felt "embarrassed" about recording at an upmarket sound studio near Chaka's home but she was "really down to earth.... I immediately felt relaxed." She is next scheduled to perform in Los Angeles in January and she has several shows lined up in the U.K. in June and July. - NME, 12/28/23...... Micky Dolenz, the sole surviving member of The Monkees, has told Record Collector magazine that he doesn't remember having any control over The Monkees' musical output in the mid-1960s, nor does he remember wanting much. Dolenz, 78, admitted some of his bandmates -- which included Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones -- were frustrated over the lack of input they were allowed into their careers, he was happy to just do what was asked of him. "They put everything together. I don't remember having any control, nor do I remember wanting much," Dolenz told the magazine. "I mean, that was the big bugbear especially for Nesmith. I can only speak for myself. I was cast into this as a singer, a guitar player -- they made me the drummer. We had no control over the song selection, the musicians, who was going to sing what. Who knows why they made the choices they did? We had very little, if any control over the first two albums." He continued: "Nez managed to write and play on a couple of things. Sometimes after 12 hours of filming, I would do a couple of lead vocals at night. I don't remember having any control over the artwork, the liner notes, the sequencing, the song selection, nothing. Having said that, I'm very, very proud of those first two albums. I put an enormous amount of that material in my shows because they were the big hits." Despite their frustrations, Micky said the group loved to play live. "Nez used to say, when we hit the stage live playing this music, that it was like Pinocchio becoming a real little boy and it was," Dolenz explained. "There's a wonderful CD out, 'Monkees Live in 67' that was not recorded to be an album. Somebody found the tape and it's really raw. We were a garage band. But funnily enough, that's what 'The Monkees' was about -- the TV show was about a garage band, before the term even existed." - Music-News.com, 12/27/23...... Jazz pianist/vocalist/composer Leslie "Les" McCann, the musician credited for discovering a young Roberta Flack and whose own works have been sampled by countless hip-hop artists, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 88. A self-taught pianist, Mr. McCann was an innovator in the soul jazz style, fusing jazz with funk, soul and world rhythms. He mastered all instruments before him, and enjoyed an unusual breakthrough, by winning a Navy talent contest, opening the door to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. An early hit came with "The Shampoo," the 1963 instrumental cut with his trio for Pacific Jazz Records. Later he would enjoy a fruitful relationship with Atlantic Records, releasing a dozen albums on the label from the late-'60s through to the mid-'70s. Swiss Movement, his album featuring frequent collaborator, saxophonist and labelmate Eddie Harris, and trumpeter Benny Bailey, earned a Grammy nomination for best jazz performance -- small group or soloist with small group, and included the protest song, "Compared to What," which Mr. McCann and Co. performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969. Another career highlight came 1971, when he appeared with a cast of famous artists, including Wilson Pickett, The Staple Singers, Santana and Ike & Tina Turner, for an historic 14-hour concert in Accra, Ghana. The event was captured for the concert film Soul To Soul. After a stroke in the 1990s slowed his musical output, the Lexington, Ky. native channeled his energies into painting and photography, and he recovered for a string of music releases, including Pump It Up from 2002. "Les McCann was one of jazz music's most gifted and influential artists," Warner Music Group exec Kevin Gore said in a statement. "While we deeply mourn his passing, his music will live on in the hearts of millions of music fans across the globe." - Billboard, 1/2/24...... Shecky Greene, the legendary Las Vegas comedian who became the consummate Vegas lounge headliner and who was revered by his peers and live audiences as one of the greatest standup acts of his generation, died on Dec. 31 of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas. He was 97 years old. Those who saw Mr. Greene in his decades of comedy dominance on the Vegas Strip in the 1950s, '60s and '70s said that with a mic in his hand he could roam a room and work a crowd like no other, abandoning written jokes for the shared thrill of improv. "I've never had an act," Mr. Greene told the Las Vegas Sun in 2009. "I make it up as I go along." With a body like a linebacker's, a wit as quick as lightning and a voice that suggested he could've been a lounge singer instead of a lounge comic, Mr. Greene in the course of a night would plow through dozens of impressions, do extended riffs at audience members' tables and turn musical standards into parody songs on the spot. He made appearances in films including 1967's Tony Rome with Frank Sinatra, 1981's History of the World Part I with Mel Brooks, and 1984's Splash with Tom Hanks, and showed-up on network sitcoms including Laverne & Shirley and Mad About You, and was a constant guest on talk and variety shows. He did his first show in Las Vegas in 1953, and places like the Riviera and the Tropicana became his regular haunts for the next 30 years. Mr. Greene could also fill Carnegie Hall, and guest-hosted both Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and The Merv Griffin Show. He grappled with addictions to both drinking and gambling -- neither ideal for a man who spent most of his time in Las Vegas -- and also struggled with what were later diagnosed as severe depression and panic attacks, both of which made it increasingly difficult to perform as he got older. Mr. Greene moved to Palm Springs in an attempt at retirement in his late 70s in 2004, but the stage still had appeal, and he returned for a stint in Las Vegas at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in 2009. Returning to a city now dominated by the likes of Celine Dion and Cirque du Soleil, Mr. Greene found he could stroll through casinos anonymously. "I'm a legend," he told the Sun in 2009, "but nobody knows me in Vegas anymore." Mr. Greene was married to nightclub dancer Nalani Kele from 1972 to 1982, and is survived by his wife of 41 years, Marie Musso, daughter of jazz saxophonist Vido Musso. - Billboard, 12/31/23.