Producer Brian Eno, who once released an album titled Before and After Science, is being recognized for his contribtions to science. The legendary producer, who has helmed hit albums for such artists as David Bowie and U2, is scheduled to receive the Stephen Hawking Medal at the 2019 Starmus science and music festival in Switzerland for his contributions to "science communication." Previous recipients include composers Jean-Michel Jarre and Hans Zimmer, and astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson. The Starmus V event will be held in Zurich, Switzerland from June 24 to 29. Business magnate, investor, and engineer Elon Musk will also be honored. - Billboard/Pitchfork.com, 5/22/19...... 
"Sharp Dressed Man," a musical based on the music of the Texas trio ZZ Top, will open in Las Vegas in 2020, it was announced on May 21. Executive produced by ZZ Top -- vocalist/guitarist Billy Gibbons, vocalist/bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard -- "Sharp Dressed Man" is described as a a rock musical with a wicked sense of humor and a heart as big as Texas" about "a Lone Star auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing hearts -- and car parts -- with the help of his merry band of beer drinkers and hell raisers." Iconic ZZ Top songs including "Legs," "La Grange," "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Cheap Sunglasses" will all be featured. "We're excited about this fantastic project and look forward to hearing our music in a new innovative context," said Billy Gibbons said in a statement. "Fans have often told us that we've provided the soundtrack to their lives, and this is very much in line with that kind of enthusiastic thinking." Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins, who wrote the teleplays for Fox TV's Grease Live! and A Christmas Story Live!, have been tapped to write the musical. - Billboard, 5/21/19...... The Woodstock 50 festival is appealing part of a ruling earlier in May when Japanese financier Dentsu withdrew from the festival in late April and withdrew $18 million from the event's banking account. On May 15, Justice Barry Ostrager ruled Dentsu did not have the right to cancel Woodstock 50, but also decided he would not force Dentsu to return the remainder of the $49 million investment to festival founder Michael Lang and his partner Greg Peck so they could continue to produce the show. Lang responded with a lawsuit and, after a two-day hearing, Ostrager ruled a clause in the contract that allowed Dentsu to take control of the festival did not include the right to cancel it. But the judge stopped short of demanding Dentsu return any money it had previously promised to invest. Woodstock 50 attorney Marc Kasowitz's appeal seeks "a preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration requiring (Dentsu) to return $18 million withdrawn from a dedicated festival account and allowing Petitioner to use those funds for appropriate expenses." - Billboard, 5/22/19...... A trailer for the new Leonard Cohen documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love was released online on May 22. The documentary explores Cohen's relationship with his muse, Marianne Ihlen, who inspired songs like "So Long, Marianne." It documents the pair's initial meeting on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960 and their life in a bohemian community. The trailer also features an excerpt from a letter Cohen wrote to Ihlen just before her death, in which he said: "Dearest Marianne, I'm just a little behind you -- close enough to take your hand." Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in 2019, features unseen footage by legendary rock documentarian D.A. Pennebaker and arrives in US cinemas on July 5. - New Musical Express, 5/22/19...... The official Jerry Lee Lewis Facebook page posted on May 21 that the iconic rock 'n' roll pioneer has been forced to cancel a show at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center set for July 1 as he recovers from a stroke he suffered in late February. "Although Jerry Lee is progressing miraculously in his recovery following the recent stroke, he doesn't feel his performing is yet back to the level that his fans deserve," the post says. In the meantime, Jerry Lee is continuing his rehabilitation and his team expects a full recovery, as well as a return show in Nashville in the very near future." Lewis, 83, suffered what was described as a minor stroke Feb. 28 in Memphis. A statement was later issued saying he would make "a full recovery." - Billboard, 5/21/19...... Dolly Parton, who turned 73 years old in January, took time to wish her friend Cher, who turned the same age on May 20, a happy birthday. "Hi Cher, It's Dolly. Happy birthday to you. We're the same age now," the country icon said in a video uploaded to social media. "Well, I might be a minute or two older than you but what's a minute or two among friends and old bags like us?" Parton continued: "I just want you to know I'm proud of you. I think you're great. I hope you'll be around for 100 more years to hang out with me, if nothing else... Heres to more years of singin', sequins, and swappin' secrets!" - Billboard, 5/20/19...... After legendary Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin passed away in August 2018 it was widely reported that the singer left no will. Now, her neice Sabrina Owens has found her aunt's will wedged under sofa cushions and filed them in court on May 20. "Two handwritten wills from 2010 have been found in a locked cabinet, and another dated 2014 was found in a notebook underneath some couch cushions," the brief states. The validity of the documents will be examined at a hearing set for June 12. A breakdown of the wills by The Detroit Free Press shows that Franklin's 2014 document requests that her son Kecalf Franklin serve as the estate's personal representative. That role is currently held by Owens. Meanwhile, Detroit's Chene Park was officially renamed Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre earlier in May in tribute to the late soul singer. - New Musical Express, 5/22/19...... 
A remix of Van Halen's 1983 hit "Jump" by VH singer David Lee Roth and Dutch trance DJ/producer Armin Van Buuren has been released by Warner Bros. Records. van Burren says he's "always been a fan of the song," which became Van Halen's biggest hit and topped the Billboard Hot 200 pop chart for five weeks. "I was 6 when it came out. I've heard it many times, and years ago, I had a conversation with my publisher saying if there could be one track that I want to get my hands on one day, [it's 'Jump.'] He remembered that, and a couple of months ago, I got the stems from a befriended label. First of all, to have the original stems to such an iconic record [is amazing.] I sent the mix it a label... For about two weeks, I didn't hear anything, then I got a phone call when I was on my way to Israel to do a gig. My publisher couldn't breathe. He was like 'David Lee Roth loves it, and he loves it so much, he wants to come to Miami to perform with you.' That's when I couldn't breathe anymore." The strange musical partners have been performing the "Jump" remix on the road, live for crowds at Ultra Miami and on stage at KAOS day club at the Las Vegas Palms Casino for the recent EDC festivities. "There are places in Texas where you could drive off the road and 20 minutes later I can still see the car," Roth says. "That's like these remixes. You can still kind of see the car and feel the music of the original, but it sure looks different and very far away from what it was originally." - Billboard, 5/20/19...... Sting will be among the headliners at NBC's fifth annual Red Nose Day Special, it was announced on May 20. The two-hour-long special airs on May 22 at 8:00 p.m. EDT in support of this year's Red Nose Day campaign, which raises money and awareness to ensure impoverished children in the U.S. and around the world are "safe, healthy and educated." Also performing at the star-studded charity event, hosted by Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews, will be John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend. In its four years in the U.S., Red Nose Day -- created by Yesterday and Love Actually director Richard Curtis -- has raised almost $150 million. - Billboard, 5/20/19...... Patti Smith was among the headliners at the Museum of Contemporary Art 40th Anniversary Benefit in Los Angeles on May 18. Lenny Kaye performed several of her mainstays, including "In My Blakean Year," "Wing" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love" before closing the evening with a fiery rendition of "Because the Night." "Robert Mapplethorpe and I used to go to museums," Smith told the audience. "We were 20 years old and we had very little money and never had enough money to go into museums together. We would turns -- I would go in the Museum of Modern Art, he would wait for me outside, and then he'd go in the Whitney and I wait for him outside. And it would have meant so much to us to be able to just go into a museum for free and just study and absorb the work within. So good luck with this pursuit. And it's such a beautiful thought." - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/19/19...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Sun, Elton John slammed the haters of his new biopic Rocketman because lead actor Taron Egerton, who is straight, plays a gay man. "That's all bulls---, I'm sorry," John said. "If people don't like it, review-wise, or it doesn't make one dollar, it's the movie I wanted to make and that's all that counts," John continued. "I can look back and say, 'You know what, I love it. I can live with it." Egerton has previously spoken out about his same-sex love scenes. "For me, kissing a man onscreen is no less appealing than kissing a woman onscreen," he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm not in any way repulsed by the male form. It's an uncomfortable thing regardless of who you're with." Rocketman hits US theaters May 31. - Billboard, 5/17/19...... Deep Purple singer Glenn Hughes has announced a new set of UK dates in November alongside ones he recently re-scheduled for his "Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live" tour. The re-scheduled dates include Salisbury (11/17), Norwich (11/20), Holmfirth (11/23) and Birmingham (11/29) with additional dates in Bexhill (11/16), Cambridge (11/19), Cheltenham (11/22), Aberdeen (11/25), Inverness (11/26) and Middlesbrough (11/28). "I'm excited to return to touring "Classic Deep Purple Live" in the UK in November 2019," says Hughes. "I first toured Classic Deep Purple Live in Australia and New Zealand last year and it went down a storm. We are looking forward for a second round in the UK in November." - Noble PR, 5/21/19...... '70s glam rockers Sweet have announced Novatines will be their special guests on their upcoming UK tour this November and December. The 16-city tour kicks off on Nov. 28 in Frome, also hitting venues in Holmfirth, Stockton, Nottingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Islington, Exeter and Southampton before wrapping in Bexhill on Dec. 21. - Noble PR, 5/22/19...... 
The final days of '70s sex symbol Farrah Fawcett are chronicled in a new ABC special, This Is Farrah Fawcett, which airs on the network on May 23 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The special documents Fawcett's years-long battle with cancer in a series of raw and intimate video diaries. "She was never, ever someone who cried about why she got cancer and someone else didn't," said her oncologist and friend Dr. Lawrence Piro, who is also the chief medical advisor for the Farrah Fawcett Foundation. "She wanted to show everyone that cancer looks the same on one of the most glamorous, beautiful women in the world as it looks on every other woman and every other man." Fawcett passed away on June 25, 2009, in Santa Monica, Calif., with her husband Ryan O'Neal and close friend Alana Stewart by her side. She was 62 years old. "About a week before she died, she was in the hospital and I was sitting by her bed," Stewart remembered. "I remember I was holding her hand and I said, 'You know, you're my sister.' And she said... She looked up at me, and she was very ill at the time and weak, and she looked up at me and she said, 'More than a sister.'" - ABCNews.go.com, 5/22/19...... Geneviève Waïte, an actress, singer and songwriter and the mother of actress Bijou Phillips, died in her sleep Saturday in Los Angeles. She was 71. A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Wate starred as the title character opposite Calvin Lockhart and Donald Sutherland in the London-set racial drama Joanna (1968). She also recorded a 1974 album, Romance Is on the Rise, that was produced by her then-husband, John Phillips, of Mamas and the Papas fame. Waïte also worked as a model and appeared in Myra Breckinridge (1968) and Move (1970), and her song "Love Is Coming Back" from Romance Is on the Rise is heard in the 1976 David Bowie starred The Man Who Fell to Earth. (Phillips did music for the film.) She was married to Phillips from 1972 until their divorce in 1985. Survivors also include her son, Tamerlane, and three stepchildren: actress Mackenzie Phillips, actress-singer Chynna Phillips and Jeffrey Phillips. "She was a beautiful soul and born from another planet," Bijou Phillips said in a statement. "Her ideas, her songs, her voice and her heartbeat [were] to a beautiful African rhythm no one else had, and I am so thankful she was able to share it." - The Hollywood Reporter, 5/21/19...... Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk, best known for writing the WW2 novels The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, died on May 17 at the age of 103. Mr. Wouk (pronounced woke) regarded The Caine Mutiny as his "signature work," and the novel's ringing plausibility springs from its author's personal experience. Set aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper in the Pacific during World War II -- "a pile of junk" modeled on ships Wouk served on -- the novel tells the story of a crew that rebels against its psychotic skipper, Philip F. Queeg. It was later turned into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Mr. Wouk, who was born on May 27, 1915 in the Bronx, followed Caine with another hit, 1955's Marjorie Morningstar, the story of an aspiring Jewish actress who, after a sexual fling, abandons her dreams of the stage and settles into a safe suburban marriage with a man who regards her loss of virginity as a "deformity." The novel, an unabashedly conservative call for conformity and chastity, was made into a film starring Natalie Wood and Gene Kelly. It also landed its author on the cover of Time magazine. Mr. Wouk's The Winds of War and War and Remembrance were turned into a lavish TV miniseries starring Robert Mitchum. In 2008 Mr. Wouk was awarded the first Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction by the Library of Congress. At the awards ceremony, which included a performance by Jimmy Buffett, Mr. Wouk donated more than 100 volumes of his journals to the library.- TheDailyBeast.com, 5/17/19.
The Temptations will be among the headliners at the Apollo Theater's 2019 Spring Gala on June 10. "It is a real honor to take part in the prestigious Apollo Theater Walk of Fame and 85th gala celebration," says co-founding Temptations member Otis Williams. "I'm looking forward to sharing our music and reflecting on the wonderful and vivid memories that Paul (Williams), David (Ruffin), Eddie (Kendricks), Melvin (Franklin) and I spent at the Apollo Theater, a beloved national treasure." The Tempts and the legendary Harlem venue have a long history, it was backstage there that the group, with Smokey Robinson, came up with the lyrics to "My Girl," which became a platinum-seller the following year. The benefit will feature a special performance from The Temptations and Williams, their last living original member, and the group will also be inducted in the Apollo Walk of Fame days prior to the June 7 fundraiser. Other artists set to appear include Estelle, Jose James, Liv Warfield and Morris Day and The Time. - Billboard, 5/17/19...... 
With the premiere of the long-awaited Elton John biopic Rocketman at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, Paramount Pictures becomes the first major studio to depict gay male sex onscreen. Rocketman features multiple scenes between Taron Egerton, who plays John, and Richard Madden (portraying his first gay lover, music manager John Reid) (while Ang Lee's 2005 film Brokeback Mountain also showed a sex scene between two men, it was not aimed at broad audiences like Rocketman and was released by the specialty label Focus Features). "For me, kissing a man onscreen is no less appealing than kissing a woman onscreen," Egerton says in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm not in any way repulsed by the male form. It's an uncomfortable thing regardless of who you're with -- it makes no difference as to your sexual preference." However Rocketman's R-rating and its depiction of gay sex should most certainly disqualify it from being released in China, indeed the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody edited out any suggestion that Freddie Mercury was bisexual for its release in that lucrative market. "Our movie is a different animal," Egerton said during a May 16 press conference at Cannes. "Our movie is a musical. It requires an actor who can sing in the lead role. For a biopic, that's not necessary. I'm very grateful that people compare us (to Bohemian Rhapsody). Hopefully, it shows that there's an appetite for movies [like this]. However, that movie is a unicorn." Meanwhile, Elton John has released new track, "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," from the soundtrack of Rocketman which also features vocals from Egerton. The upbeat track, written by John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, plays out over the film's credits. "It was so important that the music I composed and recorded had to be sung by Taron," Elton says. "I wanted his interpretation of me, through Bernie's lyrics and my music -- not just acting. I left Taron in the hands of [producer and composer] Giles Martin, who I trusted implicitly because he's brilliant." Rocketman hits US theaters on May 31. - The Hollywood Reporter/New Musical Express, 5/17/19...... In related news, Queen guitarist Brian May said during a May 14 appearance on BBC Radio 2's The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show that the band "hasn't earned a penny" from the worldwide smash biopic, which stars Rami Malek as frontman Freddie Mercury. "It was a long labour of love -- about 12 years in development, I guess. We thought it would do well in the end and we felt good about it, but we didn't realise it would do that well. It's incredible around the world -- it's like a billion-dollar movie." But May went on to say that it hadn't had an impact on the band's finances that many fans assume. "I had to laugh the other day because there's a thing in the paper saying that we were getting rich off this movie," he said. "If they only knew. We had an accountant in the other day and we still haven't earned a penny from it. Isn't that funny? How successful does a movie have to be before you make money? There's so many people that people don't realise will take pieces off the top." - NME, 5/14/19...... Cheap Trick will be among the headliners honoring songwriter Linda Perry on June 29 in Los Angeles at The Novo at L.A. Live. "Linda Perry & Friends: A Night at the Grammy Museum" will also feature appearances from Sharon Osbourne and Oscar-nominated actress Juliette Lewis and Perry's wife, actress Sara Gilbert. Perry, one of the most successful songwriters and producers in the music industry, has crafted hits for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys and others. Proceeds from the gala will assist the Grammy Museum Foundation. - AP, 5/16/19...... 
Dionne Warwick has just released She's Back, the pop songstress's first new studio album in five years. The 15-song set features new recordings of her hits "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and 1979's "Deja Vu" -- the latter featuring a guest appearance by Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Warwick says the inclusion of her signature 1965 hit "What the World Needs Now Is Love" has special meaning for her. "That's something I feel everyone should be singing at this point in time," she explains. "We're living in a chaotic time and we need love -- we desperately need it. I don't like what's going on with my country or what's going on around the world; Nobody cares about anybody anymore or seems to want a care. It's like the '60s; It doesn't make sense, so we've got to get a grip. So I hope people start paying attention to those words again, because we need it." Other guests on She's Back include Kenny Lattimore ("What Color Is Love"), Brian McKnight ("Forever In My Heart") and Musiq Soulchild. - Billboard, 5/17/19...... On May 17, Bruce Springsteen released "There Goes My Miracle," the second song from his upcoming studio album Western Stars. Singing in a higher register than we're used to hearing from the Boss, he trades his gravely tone for a clear tenor in the vein of one of his musical heros, the late Roy Orbison, on the track. "There goes my miracle/ Walkin' away, walkin' away," Springsteen croons on the song's swaying chorus, backed by lush Burt Bacharach-style strings. Primarily recorded at Springsteen's home studio in New Jersey, with additional recording in California and New York, Western Stars is due on June 14 from Columbia Records. It's his first new studio album in more than five years, and his 19th overall. - Billboard, 5/17/19...... The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has reacted to his decision to call out some audience members who were smoking pot directly in front of him at The Who's May 13 concert at New York's Madison Square Garden. "I'd just like to make it clear that it is quite well known amongst real Who fans that I have an extreme allergic reaction to pot and cigarette smoke," Daltrey told Billboard on May 16. "I have a sensitive issue on my vocal cords and the smoke has the effect of shutting down my voice making singing really hard work. I really don't want to spoil anyone's enjoyment, all I ask for is a little respect for someone doing their best to deliver a good night out for everyone. If you have to smoke it, get off your ass and go to the bog (bathroom) or eat it, please refrain from blowing clouds of it at me. I probably end up smoking more of your pot than you do and it becomes a singer's nightmare. You are putting the whole show in jeopardy by your selfish behavior, give it some thought." Daltrey was responding to a report about the incident in Britain's The Daily Mail, which described the 75-year-old musician as a "geriatric rocker." During the MSG concert Daltrey called out some smokers, saying "All the ones smoking grass down in the front there, I'm totally allergic to it. I'm not kidding, whoever it is down there, you f---ed my night and you made me really.. .I'm allergic to that shit and my voice just goes...It sucks up. So f---- you!" Daltrey has made similar comments at other shows -- including a particularly well-chronicled threat to stop the show during a May 2015 concert at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. The Who's "Moving On!" tour has two North American legs, the second starting on Sept. 3 in Toronto. On May 15, Daltrey Who guitarist Pete Townshend played their iconic song "Won't Get Fooled Again" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon using classroom instruments, including a plastic toy ukulele and a child's tambourine. Townshend even ended the segment with his signature guitar smashing bit, breaking the colorful ukulele in half as Daltrey joked that he was leaving the band. - Billboard, 5/16/19...... The Allman Brothes Band spinoff The Allman Betts Band will release its debut album, Down To The River, on June 28 via BMG Records. Featuring ABB progeny Devon Allman, Duane Betts and Berry Duane Oakley, Jr., the band is embracing their inevitable comparison to the legendary ABB. "There was hesitation for 30 years, but there's no more hesitation because it's the right timing," says Allman, the son of the late Gregg Allman. "We've all done our thing. I've been in three, four, five different bands. Duane has. Berry has. It wasn't like we had to do this, but we ended up having real chemistry -- unforced, organic -- and we wanted to make music together." Friends and, in their words, "family" since they were children, Allman and Betts began touring together in 2018, after Allman invited Betts to take part in a December 2017 tribute concert for Gregg Allman in San Francisco. While on the road, writing together seemed like a natural progression. Oakley was recruited, according to Allman, "because he was a bad-ass bass player, not just because of who he was or what his name was." Allman says his band has "a fine, fine, fine line" to walk, even as they play some Allman Brothers Band material in its shows. "Y'know, if we hit the stage and did a two-hour show and played all Allman Brothers, that would just be weird. It would be a tribute band, and that's not what we're into," Allman says. "We have our own songs, our own show, our own album. But if we also go on that stage and didn't play one (Allmans song), that would be weird, too. So we need to tip our hats. It's appropriate." The band a full slate of concerts and festivals that will take the group into 2020, and is also already working on its next album. - Billboard, 5/16/19...... 
David Byrne has announced he's taking his "American Utopia" show to a residency at Broadway's Theatreland this fall, following the likes of such artists as Bruce Springsteen and Morrisey. The former Talking Heads frontman's stint will take place at the Hudson Theatre and will open for previews on October 4, 2019, with an official opening taking place on Oct. 20. The residency will run until January 20, 2020. In a statement, Byrne explained why he was taking the show to Broadway. "Because of how theatrical the show is, others started telling me 'this needs to go to Broadway,'" he said. "Why not? But what did that mean? Parked in a beautiful Broadway theatre we can perfect the sound, the lights, the movement. I thought to myself that this new context might be good -- it might bring out the narrative arc a little bit more, to make it just a little more explicit... People ask me will I be darting into a town car after these shows or taking a flying leap onto my bicycle -- take a wild guess." Byrne's 2018 "American Utopia" tour was acclaimed by critics, with one describing it as "maybe just the best live show of all-time," and the musician later released a six-song live EP from the theatrical performance and named it after that quote. - NME, 5/17/19......The Rolling Stones have announced their itinerary of rescheduled "No Filter" tour dates, after the tour was postponed earlier to allow frontman Mick Jagger to heal after undergoing heart surgery in April. All 17 previously announced dates have been rescheduled, with the band now gearing up to launch the tour with a two-night stand at Chicago's Soldier Field on June 21 and June 25. They will then visit such markets as Ontario (6/29), Washington, D.C. (7/3), Foxboro, Mass. (7/7), New Orleans (7/14) and Philadelphia (7/23) before wrapping up with an Aug. 31 show at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Mick Jagger proved he was ready to rock the stage again on May 15 when he posted a video in which he's doing one of his signature vigorous dance routines before a mirror in a studio. Jagger was told by doctors in late March he could not go on tour "at this time." Jagger tweeted he was "devastated" the band couldn't tour, but said he hoped to be "back on stage as soon I can." - Billboard/AP, 5/16/19...... Dana York Petty, the widow of late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tom Petty, is being sued for $5 million by Petty's daughters Adria and Annakim Petty. In a suit filed in Los Angeles County court on May 15, Dana and several other defendants are bing accused of breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, unjust enrichment and more. Filed on behalf of plaintiff Petty Unlimited -- an LLC established in Petty's will that allocated one-third of Petty's assets to each of the three women -- the suit alleges "self-dealing, theft, and gross mismanagement of company assets" on Dana's part by failing to fund the LLC with assets from Petty's trust, for which she was previously named as "directing trustee." "Tom Petty wanted his music and his legacy to be controlled equally by his daughters, Adria and Annakim, and his wife, Dana," said Petty Unlimited's attorney Alex Weingarten says that Tom "wanted his music and his legacy to be controlled equally by his daughters, Adria and Annakim, and his wife, Dana. Dana has refused Tom's express wishes and insisted instead upon misappropriating Tom's life's work for her own selfish interests. After countless efforts to resolve this matter amicably and out of court, we could no longer stand idly by and watch Dana disrespect Tom's wishes, his music, and his legacy." In response, Dana Petty's lawyer Adam Streisand said: "This misguided and meritless lawsuit sadly demonstrates exactly why Tom Petty designated his wife to be the sole trustee with authority to manage his estate. Dana will not allow destructive nonsense like this to distract her from protecting her husband's legacy." Petty died on Oct. 2, 2017, of an accidental drug overdose at age 66. - Billboard, 5/15/19...... The Alice Cooper-led supergroup Hollywood Vampires shared their new single, "The Boogieman Surprise," and posted a live performance of the track online on May 17. Hollywood Vampires debuted the new track recently at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and were joined on stage at separate points by Marilyn Manson and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. The band, comprised of Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry, are prepping for the release of their second album, Rise, on June 21. Unlike their debut album, the band's new project is mostly made up of original material, written by them. "[It's] not only a totally different animal than the first Vampires album, it is unique to anything I've ever been a part of," Cooper says. "I think that with this album, we are establishing what the Vampires' sound really is, whereas with the first album we were more tipping our hats to our fallen rock n roll brothers." - New Musical Express, 5/17/19...... 
Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder released his third solo album, American Rock 'n' Roll, in April. Felder says he's currently writing for another record "that I'd like to try to get out in the next two, two and a half years," adding that a busy touring schedule, including both regular concerts and private charitable and corporate events, has long been the speed bump for getting more material out. "I wish I had the time to actually spend more time every month at home in the studio, writing and recording... Unless I stop touring for a year, it takes me years to write and record and produce a record. With my touring schedule the only way I can write is sitting backstage on a little iPhone or on a plane writing lyrics or driving down the 405 singing something into my phone...It's really not until I can be home and settled that I can do anything with any of that. And I promise you that when I'm home I'm not lying out by my pool; I'm actually in the studio working. So I try, I really do." Felder's new 11-track set features guest appearances by musical pals such as Sammy Hagar, Peter Frampton, Slash, Joe Satriani, Bob Weir, Alex Lifeson, Richie Sambora, Mick Fleetwood and Toto members David Paich and Steve Porcaro. - Billboard, 5/14/19...... It appears the beleagured Woodstock 50 festival will go ahead after its organizers have secured new financial backing for the festival. On May 16, organizer and Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang confirmed that a new investor has been found. Investment bank and financial services company Oppenheimer & Co. will act "as a financial advisor to complete the financing for the festival," according to a statement issued by the festival. "Event preparations will continue as planned as Oppenheimer joins the list of strong institutions producing the festival," the statement continued. The news comes after the New York Supreme Court ruled on May 15 that Woodstock's former investor, Dentsu Aegis Network, could not cancel the festival. When Dentsu pulled out of funding the event, they issued a statement saying Woodstock 50 would no longer be going ahead. The court also ruled the Japanese conglamerate didn't have to return the $18 million it withdrew from a bank account it shared with backers of the anniversary concert. The festival has suffered several setbacks since Denstu's withdrawal, including The Black Keys dropping out, ticket sales being postponed, and the previous investors taking back their money. The event, which is due to take place in Watkins Glen, upstate New York, in August, will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival. - New Musical Express, 5/17/19...... After 43 shows throughout the U.S. and Canada, Kiss wrapped the first leg of its "End of the Road" world tour on April 13 in Birmingham, Ala. In total, the band's North American leg grossed $58.7 million and sold 518,395 tickets, and the 2019 grosses lift the band's career total past the $300 million mark. The tour's biggest showing was at New York's Madison Square Garden on Mar. 27, where they grossed $1.947 million and sold 13,359 tickets. Of course, this isn't the first time Kiss has said goodbye. Almost 20 years ago, the "Kiss Farewell Tour" ran from Mar. 11, 2000, through Apr. 13, 2001. That trek had reported grosses of $55.6 million. Kiss will continue along the "End of the Road" tour throughout 2019, with 26 dates in Europe, an additional 26 in North America, and eight final shows in Australia and New Zealand. - Billboard, 5/14/19...... 
Though the cast of the ABC special Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons is new, everything else is a blast from the past -- including the sets, which replicate the originals down to their precise measurements, and 1970s-inspired costumes. "These two scripts will be done word for word. We're not updating anything," says producer Norman Lear. "The lesson is human nature doesn't change. All of the problems that Archie and the Jeffersons face are clearly here today. Nothing has been totally resolved. There isn't any subject we did through all those years that we couldn't do again today." The 90-minute trip down memory lane airs live on ABC on May 22 at 8:00 PM EDT. - Entertainment Weekly, 5/17/19...... Michael Jackson's two sons Prince Jackson and Bigi (formerly "Blanket) Jackson have just launched a new film review show on YouTube. The show, which is hosted on Prince Jackson's Life On 2 channel, also features Taj Jackson, the nephew of Michael. The trio launched their show with a review of Avengers: Endgame, which was uploaded on May 15 and features James Sutherland as a special guest. - NME, 5/16/19...... Rock vocalist Glenn Hughes has rescheduled the four dates of his upcoming UK "Classic Deep Purple Live" tour due to illness. The rescheduled dates are Salisbury City Hall (11/17), Norwich Waterfront (venue change from Norwich UEA) (11/20), Holmfirth Picturedome (11/23) and Birmingham O2 Institute (11/29). The rescheduled concerts follow the news of Hughes needing to cancel his May 2019 UK tour dates due to illness. He needs to be treated for an illness that while not life threatening, must be dealt with immediately so that does not become a serious problem. Hughes is expected to make a full recovery. The shows for Edinburgh, St Albans, Liverpool and Nottingham had to be cancelled. Customers for the cancelled shows have been asked to return to their original point of purchase to request refunds. The former bassist and singer of Deep Purple is the current front man for rock super group Black Country Communion and had been scheduled to kick off the second leg of his tour at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on May 14. - Noble PR, 5/15/19...... Former Thin Lizzy member Brian Downey's "Alive and Dangerous" tour will return to the Camden Underworld for a one off concert on Nov. 7. Downey's band also features guitarist Brian Grace and former Low Rider band members Matt Wilson (lead vocals, bass), and Phil Edgar (lead guitar). 2018 marked the 40th Anniversary of Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous album. Although the album was recorded live in 1977 at London's Hammersmith Apollo and Toronto's Seneca College, it wasn't officially released until a year later in 1978. - Noble PR, 5/14/19.
Actress Peggy Lipton, who rose to stardom in the late 1960s as a co-star of the counterculture police series 
Screen legend and singing star Doris Day, whose wholesome, all-American image guaranteed box-office and record-chart hits in the '40s, '50s and '60s, died in the early hours of May 13 at her Carmel Valley, Calif., home, nearly two months after celebrating her 97th birthday, her Doris Day Animal Foundation announced shortly later. Born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Oh., on Apr. 3, 1922, the daughter of a music teacher and a homemaker, the crystal-voiced pop soprano changed her surname to Day when, as a teen, she began singing on the radio. After appearances with the Big Bands of Barney Rapp and Bob Crosby, she joined Les Brown's Band of Renown and had her first hit with "Sentimental Journey." Going solo in 1947, she successfully auditioned for Warner Bros. the following year and was cast in the studio's attempts to compete with the romantic musicals that were the specialty of rival MGM. By the mid-'50s came better roles at other studios including 1954's Love Me or Leave Me, a fictionalized biopic of '20s singer Ruth Etting, which she considered her best film. In 1956, she costarred with James Stewart in The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which she introduced the Oscar-winning song that became her signature, "Que Sera Sera." In 1959, she was paired for the first time with leading man Rock Hudson in the racy (for its time) romantic comedy Pillow Talk, which resulted in her one and only Best Actress Oscar nomination, and also in her greatest box-office success. Two more vehicles with Hudson (and sidekick Tony Randall) followed, as did similar comedies in which Ms. Day -- sometimes as a career woman, but always squeaky clean -- costarred with the likes of Cary Grant, James Garner and Rod Taylor, prompting Hollywood musician and resident Oscar Levant to famously quip, "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." In 1967, she was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson in the box office smash The Graduate by director Mike Nichols, however Ms. Day wasn't interested. "I could not see myself rolling around in the sheets with a young man half my age whom I'd seduced," she recalled later. "I realized it was an effective part... but it offended my sense of values." As the '60s wound down and her wholesome image went out of fashion onscreen, Ms. Day turned to TV, having been forced there by a contract signed by her third husband and manager Martin Melcher without her knowledge. CBS's 1968-73 
Beloved comedian Tim Conway, a five-time Emmy winner who reveled in cracking up straight man Harvey Korman on CBS's variety series 
Acclaimed '70s/'80s singer Rickie Lee Jones will release a new album of covers, 
Billy Joel celebrated his 70th birthday with a blowout concert at New York's Madison Square Garden on May 9. "Welcome to my birthday. This is kind of a weird night," Joel said, as he looked out at the 18,000-plus crowd packing the venue. "But what else am I gonna do?" he deadpanned. Joel's birthday bash included video happy birthday wishes from the likes of Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Garth Brooks, Pink and Brian Johnson of AC/DC. Peter Frampton showed up in person to jam on "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way" with the Piano Man, and Joel's daughters Alexa Ray, 34, and 3-year-old Della Rose appeared onstage to sing "Happy Birthday" to their dad. Joel wrapped the show with four high-energy hits: "We Didn't Start the Fire," "Uptown Girl," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" and "You May Be Right," and encored with his signature tune, "Piano Man." The show was Joel's 64th consecutive sell-out at the Garden, a continuation of the record-setting residency he launched in December 2013. The Garden has already announced the 70th show in the MSG residency for Nov. 15, which will be Joel's 116th all-time performance at the arena. In January, Joel announced his sixth consecutive year of playing stadium shows, including a concert June 22 at Wembley Stadium in London. - Billboard, 5/10/19...... Speaking of Peter Frampton, the '70s rocker will release a new album of blues covers, 
Sammy Hagar released a new album with his all-star band The Circle, 
Marie Osmond announced on May 7 that she will join the panel of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk, replacing Sara Gilbert one month after the Roseanne star announced her departure. Osmond -- who last appeared on the small screen in her short-lived Marie daytime talk show on the Hallmark Channel in 2013 -- has been a regular guest host on The Talk over the years. The singer/actress will join the current panel of rapper/actress Eve, Carrie Ann Inaba, Sharon Osbourne and Sheryl Underwood when The Talk kicks off its 10th season on Sept. 6. I could not be more thrilled," Osmond said in video to fans. Osmond recently announced that she and brother Donny Osmond -- her co-star in the 1970s 
The Who kicked off their "Moving On!" North American tour on May 7 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and company were accompanied by a 49-piece orchestra on 18 of the night's 22 songs, tastefully blending rock and richness in material from Tommy and Quadrophenia. The latter's instrumental "The Rock," in fact, was the show's best moment, replicating the original album version with genuinely exciting precision. Songs from the rest of the Who's catalog varied, meanwhile, with some faring better (the rare "Imagine a Man," "Emminence Front") than others ("Who Are You"). After a particularly messy "Join Together," Townshend -- who also poked fun at the sheet music on a music stand in front of him -- even told the crowd, "It's all a bit too much, I think." The band delivered a roaring show-closing rendition of "Baba O' Riley," spotlighting touring violinist Katie Jacoby. But 28 more North American shows across two legs gives Townshend and Daltrey plenty of time to build it up to its promise, and the duo could still be credited with trying on a new challenge when it could have easily played the age-old favorites in a traditional manner yet again. - Billboard, 5/8/19...... J. R. Cobb Jr., a founding member of the '60s band Classics IV and later the '70s group Atlanta Rhythm Section, died on May 4 of a heart attack. He was 75. Born James Barney Cobb Jr. in Birmingham, Ala., and raised in Jacksonville, Fla., Cobb was a co-founder of Classics IV, which formed in Jacksonville in 1965, and co-wrote such hits as "Spooky," "Stormy" and "Traces" with Buddy Buie, the band's manager and producer. "Spooky" reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 1968 and was later re-recorded by ARS on their 1979 Underdog album. In the spring of 1970, Cobb, who had already moved to Atlanta, worked as a session guitarist at Doraville's Studio One, where he played in a session band with members of Classics IV and The Candymen. Two years later, Cobb, along with three former members of the Candymen -- Rodney Justo, Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix -- formed ARS with Justo on vocals, Daughtry on keyboards, Nix on drums, Cobb on guitar, Barry Bailey on guitar and Paul Goddard on bass. ARS charted seven Top 40 singles on the pop chart from 1974 through 1981, their biggest hits being "So Into You" (1977) and "Imaginary Lover" (1978), which both reached No. 7. Cobb left ARS in 1986, and in 1993 he was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His death was shared by his family and bandmates on the ARS Facebook page. - 5/6/19....... Zoologist Jim Fowler, best known as the longtime host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, has died at the age of 89. Mr. Fowler first co-hosted Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins beginning in 1963, then became its main host starting in 1986. Fowler, who helped preserve and protect endangered species through his educational and outreach work, made hundreds of appearances on television, including Omaha's KETV NewsWatch 7, and he would visit schools whenever he visited the city. Dennis Pate, the director of Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium praised Mr. Fowler's service. "Jim Fowler was an early ambassador of wildlife conservation along with Marlin Perkins. He continued that wildlife stewardship late into his career and throughout his life. Jim set the stage for many others to follow in advancing wildlife conservation." In 2003, Mr. Fowler was honored with the Lindbergh Award for his 40 years of dedication to wildlife preservation and education. He was president of the Fowler Center for Wildlife Education, with a mission of educating the public about wildlife so they may help protect habitats and influence government policy. - AP, 5/9/19.
In more Neil Young news, the singer/songwriter is among a slew of Canadian musicians including Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang and members of Arcade Fire who have signed the "Pact for a Green New Deal," asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal federal government to devise "an ambitious policy platform that re-tools our economy to respond to the multiple crises we are faced with today," including global climate change, decent jobs, tackling hate crimes and racism, and fulfilling outstanding promises to Indigenous peoples. "A bold and far reaching plan to cut emissions in half in 11 years in line with Indigenous knowledge and climate science, create more than a million good jobs you can support a family with, and build inclusive communities in the process," the petition states. "We need a Green New Deal -- for everyone. And we need everyone to be a part of building it." Open to the public, the petition was created by "a coalition of workers, artists, Indigenous leaders, scientists, youth, and people directly impacted by climate catastrophe." - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In related news, Queen's Brian May is calling for another concert on the epic scale of the 1985 Live Aid event will take place to tackle climate change. "It probably would take the younger generation to take that bull by the horns," May told the UK paper Daily Mirror on May 7. "We'd help in any way we can but I think that's what it would require." May and Queen played an integral role at the original Live Aid, playing what was arguably the most famous gig of their entire career, but May admits another in a long string of benefit concerts might not have the desired effect. "People have seen so many concerts since Live Aid purporting to be solving the problems of the world so it's not quite as easy as it seems," May noted. - NME, 5/7/19...... Cher performed her big hits "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" along with ABBA's "Waterloo" at the "2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art" on May 6 in New York City. Showing off blue hair and a skin-tight glittery body suit, Cher shone on a high-camp night first with "If I Could Turn Back Time," and later transformed herself with an outfit change, appearing on stage with blonde locks, a black puffer jacket over a pink slip and jeans for a performance of "Believe" and "Waterloo." Among the attendees were Kayne West and various members of the Kardashian clan, Travis Scott and Corey Gamble. - Billboard, 5/7/19...... In a new interview with the UK paper The Sun, Elton John laments about being "too old" to have more children because he and husband David Furnish already have too much on their hands. John, 72, is already father to two sons, Zachary, eight, and Elijah, six, and gushed that being a parent is "fantastic" though, even if he never expected his lifte to take this turn of events. "Ten years ago if you'd have told me that, I'd have said you're crazy," Elton said. John, who is currently on his goodbye "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, explained that as a dad he has "other things to do" with his time than taking on more parenting responsibilties, as he prepares to close the door on his touring career. He adds that he feels like now is the right time to stop performing after almost 50 years on and off the road, and his main focus will be raising his two sons, who he revealed are "girl mad," after the tour finishes. Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes featurette of the upcoming Elton biopic Rocketman was released on May 6. In the film, fans get a look at how the superstar's wardrobe was treated for the film. Actor Taron Egerton, who plays John in the new film, said settling into the star's iconic clothing was one of the most fun parts of filming. "I have found the process of inhabiting Elton John and his wardrobe incredibly liberating," he said. The clip also introduces Julian Day, the film's costume designer, who says "What we talked about was using the basis of Elton's clothes to create our own look for him." Rocketman premiered in the UK on May 2 and will hit US theaters on May 31. TheDailyMail.co.uk/Billboard, 5/3/19...... A George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award that was to be presented to Don McLean by the Student Alumni Association of University of California, Los Angeles, has been rescinded after the association learned that McLean was involved in a domestic violence assault incident in 2016. McLean, 73, pleaded guilty to domestic violence assault against his then wife Patrisha McLean, and the case was dismissed after he met the terms of a plea agreement. The couple are now divorced. A spokesman for McLean called it "disrespectful" for an award to be rescinded over failure to conduct due diligence on a widely reported incident. Past recipients of the award include Julie Andrews, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. - AP, 5/7/19...... Woodstock 50 organizer Michael Lang has announced he plans on raising $30 million by May 10 in a last ditch attempt to save his floundering Woodstock 50th anniversary concert, set for Aug. 16-18 at Watkins Glen International speedway, 150 miles east of the original 1969 Woodstock festival site. Lang estimates that he will need $30 million to stage the three-day concert, in addition to the $30 million Japanese firm Dentsu already spent on headliners for the festival including Jay-Z, Dead & Company, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Miley Cyrus and Chance the Rapper. Officials with Dentsu previously said that their announcement on Apr. 28 to withdraw from Woodstock 50 meant the anniversary festival would be canceled, but Lang disagreed and said he would continue to produce the festival without Dentsu or producer Rick Farman from Superfly, which issued a statement on May 1 saying New York City-based promoter "will no longer be participating" in Woodstock 50. It is unclear if Lang will be able to raise the $30 million he needs, with promoters Live Nation and AEG already passing on offers to invest in the event, or if the artists announced to perform at the festival are still obligated to perform. - Billboard, 5/6/19...... 
The final two days of the 8-day 2019 New Orleans Jazz Fest were closed out in style with headlining sets from Diana Ross on May 4 and Chaka Khan on May 5. On May 4, Ross hit the stage with, appropriately, a gangbusters rendition of "I'm Coming Out" as her first song. She followed that with "More Today Than Yesterday" and her first words to the crowd: "If you know these songs, you gotta join in and sing with me, okay?" "This is my Diamond Jubilee!" Ross later told the crowd. "So if I'm 75, you can do it too, come on!" Ross finished her performance with such nuggets as "Love Hangover," "Ease on Down the Road" from The Wiz, and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." She went beyond her time with an encore of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and reprised the song for a second encore. Ross also made headlines as she traveled home after the festival, blaming the Transportation Security Administration for an "over the top!!" screening at the New Orleans airport that "made her want to cry." The Motown legend posted on Twitter that she felt "violated" by an airport screener who touched her between her legs. "On one hand I'm treated like royalty in New Orleans and at the airport I was treated like shit," she wrote. The TSA responded in a statement: "TSA is aware of concerns presented by Diana Ross about her screening experience at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport this morning. Initial review of CCTV indicates that the officers involved with Ms. Ross's screening correctly followed all protocols, however, TSA leadership will continue to investigate the matter further. We encourage Ms. Ross to reach out to TSA so we can work with her directly to address her concerns." The following afternoon, Chaka Khan played the crowd-pleasing funk she's known for playing to an absolutely packed and scorching Congo Square Stage. Khan opened with "This Is My Night," with its bright synth horns, and "Do You Love What You Feel" and "Tell Me Something Good," two more Rufus jams. She followed them with "What Cha' Gonna Do For Me?" a "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" for the '80s, with her soaring vocal runs on the outro. She then performed a medley of Rufus songs, including "Stay" and "Sweet Thang." Attendance estimates for 2019 NOJF are expected to surpass the 2018 festival, which drew upwards of 60,000 or so attendees daily. - Billboard/AP, 5/6/19...... Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was a surprise guest at the fifth annual "Ride For Ronnie" Ronnie James Dio charity event in Encino, Calif., on May 5. Grohl was part of a special live band who covered Motörhead and Thin Lizzy during the charity show. Grohl played drums during the gig in a band which was comprised of the Black Star Riders' Ricky Warwick and Robbie Crane, as well as the former Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson. Together, the quartet performed covers of Motörhead's "Bomber" and Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak." "I am here on this beautiful day in Encino [because] everybody loves Ronnie James Dio," Grohl told those who attended the event. "He was my neighbor actually; we lived down the street from each other. "I encourage everybody to come out and support the cause, because it's a beautiful day with a bunch of beautiful people and we hope to see you next year." - New Musical Express, 5/7/19...... Bruce Springsteen showed up at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood at the opening night of the Netflix FYSEE "Springsteen On Broadway" event on May 5 to, by his own admission complete strangers for their vote." During the event, which promoted The Boss's Broadway special before Emmy voters, Springsteen and director Martin Scorsese discussed the film of "Springsteen on Broadway" in an often humorous and personal chat. Springsteen and Scorsese first met in 1975 when the legendary director and Robert DeNiro went to a Springsteen concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles. But it was about 30 minutes into the 40-minute talk that Springsteen said what any Bruce fan wanted to hear: "There will be another tour with the E Street Band. "I've spent about seven years not writing anything for the band. I couldn't write anything for the band," confessed Springsteen, whose new solo album, 
The new Beatles tribute film Yesterday from director Danny Boyle premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on May 4. Right before Boyle unveiled his new film, he shared a quick anecdote about filming inside the Mersey Tunnel in the Fab Four's native Liverpool. A local construction worker stopped him, he said, and gave him a stern warning about the project: "Don't f---k it Up." From all indications, he didn't. Oscar-winning Boyle and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love, Actually) have crafted a crowd-pleaser that aims to delight, and when the musical rom-com fantasy is released to the masses on June 28, it will certainly be anointed as the "feel-good picture of the summer." In Yesterday, Boyle allows fans to re-experience the Beatles' songs as if they're brand-new. After a freak 12-second global blackout and a bus accident that landed main character Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) in the hospital and wrecked his guitar, he's gifted a new instrument by his friends once he's on the mend. Turns out Jack is the only human on Earth to have heard of the Beatles or their unparalleled repertoire following that unexpected, dimension-shifting blink. When Jack straps on an electric guitar and performs a sizzling rendition of "Help!" the feeling is exhilarating. As his popularity grows into "Hard Day's Night"-levels, there's a sense that sooner rather than later someone will and should figure out that "The Long and Winding Road" is not an original and Jack must face a serious reckoning. - Billboard, 5/5/19...... A federal judge in Mississippi has dismissed most of a lawsuit in which rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis alleged a daughter had stolen money from him. U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers ruled on Apr. 25 that most claims were barred by a three-year statute of limitations. Judge Biggers left alive only claims by Lewis' son and current wife that they were defamed by online comments from the daughter's husband. The lawsuit is another fracture in the often difficult personal life of the 83-year-old pianist and singer known as "The Killer." The Louisiana native and survivor from the dawn of rock now lives in Nesbit, Miss. Lewis suffered a stroke in February and canceled upcoming performances. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... A former accountant for Deep Purple has been sentenced to six years and four months in a UK prison for stealing £2.2million from the band. Dipak Rao was sentenced on Apr. 30 after it was revealed that he transferred large sums of money from the accounts of Deep Purple Overseas Ltd and HEC Enterprises Ltd -- both of which he was a director of -- into his own account. Rao then invested the cash into a number of money-making schemes that all turned out to be scams, resulting in Rao losing the money. Discovering Rao's wrongdoings in 2014, he was sued by the surviving founding members of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice) and the estates of the late Jon Lord and their former manager Tony Edwards in early 2017. Edwards' children were said to have become suspicious when they inherited some of the band's business following their father's death in 2010. "The stress that we have been under during this time is immeasurable," said a statement from Tony Edwards' daughter, read out in court. "He has devastated the legacy that my father spent his life building. This devastation was brought about by a man that we had known for years and trusted." Pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position and transferring criminal property, Rao is due to serve at least half of his prison sentence and has been disqualified from being the director of any business until 2028. - New Musical Express, 5/2/19...... Stevie Wonder was among the family and friends of recently deceased director John Singleton at his Los Angeles funeral on May 6. The private service was held at Angelus Funeral Home in South Los Angeles, the neighborhood formerly known as South Central, where Singleton spent part of his childhood and where his career-defining film, Boyz N the Hood, was set. Also paying their respects were Rep. Maxine Waters, Ice Cube, Ludacris and actors Ving Rhames and Taraji P. Henson. The service came a week after Singleton s family announced that he had died at age 51, days after he suffered a stroke. - AP, 5/7/19...... 
Songs by Frank Sinatra, Ed Sheeran, Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf and Robbie Williams are the most popular songs played at funerals in the UK, according to a new poll by Co-op Funeralcare. Sinatra's "My Way"' topped the latest chart drawn up by the UK's biggest chain of funeral directors, but for the first time since the biennial exercise began in 2002 not a single traditional hymn made it into the top ten. "Supermarket Flowers" -- Sheeran's tribute to his late grandmother, written from the perspective of his mother -- has entered the roundup at No. 6. Other popular choices included Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" and Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell," while "Angels" by Robbie Williams is the most requested pop tune, said the Co-op. "What people want more than anything at a funeral is a combination of the personal and the familiar," Rev. Dr. Jeremy Brooks, a member of a Church of England focus group working on funerals, told The Guardian. "Contemporary lyrics, classical music and songs that have been the soundtrack of our lives are all valuable in helping people remember and grieve. For a family to be able to choose particular songs for a funeral led by a church minister -- whether the music is expressly religious or not -- is an important part of any service," he added. - NME, 5/3/19...... Stephen I. Diener, a music and entertainment executive who served as president of ABC Records in the late '70s where he worked with such artists as Steely Dan, Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett and the Commodores, died on Apr. 30 at his home in Coral Gables, Florida. He was 80. After graduating from Tulane University, Mr. Diener began his professional career in New York at the firms Young & Rubicam and Revlon. Pursuing a love for the arts and entertainment, he entered the music industry and held various executive positions at CBS Records International before departing to Paris to head CBS Records France. Mr. Diener then moved to Los Angeles where he was named president of ABC Records in 1977. In the early '80s, Mr. Diener relocated to Miami and returned to CBS International, where he helmed the marketing operations of the European and Latin American divisions. Later, as a pioneer in the home video business, he was named president of 20th Century Fox Video. - Billboard, 5/3/19...... Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the iconic 
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's "Bladerunner" guitar, which he famously played in the "Walk This Way" video with Run-D.M.C., is part of the new "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll" exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "I was really honored to think a guitar I played would have enough gravitas to make it into the Met," Perry told Billboard during a break at Aerosmith's current "Deuces Are Wild" residency at Las Vegas' Park MGM. "There's a thousand great guitar players out there who have contributed to the last 50, 70 years of rock n' roll. To be asked to have even one guitar in that display is a real honor. The guitar I picked -- I'm sure there are plenty of Les Pauls and Stratocasters and those guitars that have played a big part in my career in the studio and on the stage -- but that guitar was in a video that was pretty pivotal," Perry added. Perry says his Bladerunner has "a little different sound than what I usually like, but it's got a good neck on it, it's a well-built guitar." "I actually went online and I couldn't find one," he noted. " don't know how many they made; the guy who gave it to me from the Guild said it was a prototype. I had another one duplicated from a guitar-maker friend of mine, so I have two, just in case something happens to the original. They're very rare, I don't know how many they made actually." Aerosmith began their Las Vegas residency on Apr. 6, with many of the scheduled 18 shows already sold out. Beginning Aug. 8, they'll play 9 shows at the The Theater at MGM Grand Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland. - Billboard, 4/30/19...... On Apr. 29 Ozzy Osbourne released a list of rescheduled dates for his "No More Tours 2" tour, which the heavy metal had been forced to postpone after being laid up with a variety of health issues for much of the new year. Ozzy will kick off the European leg of his 19-city tour in his native country on Jan. 31 with a show at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. He'll also be visiting Dublin, Manchester, Newcastle, London, Glasgow and and Birmingham in the next two weeks, before playing several cities on the continent through a Mar. 16 gig in Zurich. Osbourne also rescheduled 27 North American dates, which starts with a show in Atlanta on May 27 and runs through a July 31 concert in Las Vegas. "I'm really looking forward to getting back to Europe for these shows," Osbourne said in a statement. "Thank you to all the fans for sticking with me and waiting for the new dates to be announced. I can't wait to see you all next year." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... Meanwhile, Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne and Gene Simmons of KISS are among the names speaking out against a suggested boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. Set for Tel Aviv in May with headliner Madonna confirmed to perform, the annual competition has sparked much controversy due to its location. Earlier in 2019, Peter Gabriel, Vivienne Westwood and Wolf Alice were among the signatories of an open letter calling for the BBC to boycott the contest in solidarity with Palestine -- arguing that taking part would be "a dubious honour" for "any artist of conscience." Now, Simmons, Osbourne and over 100 other public figures have signed a letter arguing against a boycott, claiming that it would only work against the show's "spirit of togetherness" and ultimately "subverting the spirit of the contest and turning it from a tool of unity into a weapon of division." Meanwhile, the BBC is denying that Eurovision had any political associations. "The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBC's participation for political reasons," the UK broadcaster said. "Because of this, we will be taking part in this year's event. The host country is determined by the rules of the competition, not the BBC." The first run of semi-finals for Eurovision 2019 begin on May 14, before the final takes place on May 18. - New Musical Express, 4/30/19...... Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung is working on his first solo album since his 2009 effort One Hundred Years From Now, despite his feeling that the current music business "is as crass and as unrewarding as it has ever been." "It's a lot of work, and there's no radio to play it... I couldn't see any reason to do it," DeYoung recently told Billboard. DeYoung has written eight new songs with his neighbor in Chicago and former Survivor/Ides of March principal Jim Peterik for the new album, and one of the songs, the proggy and soul-searching "Proof of Heaven," is out now, with a video, and will appear on solo albums by both men. DeYoung is currently touring his "The Grand Illusion 40th Anniversary Album Tour" as well as his "The Music of Styx" shows, and acknowledges it is interfering with his as-yet-untitled solo album's completion. "I just tell people the party's going on... it's gonna go on just as long as they want to come and see it," he says. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... 
As the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival continues in the Crescent City, Van Morrison and Bonnie Raitt brought down the house on Day 4 on Apr. 28 at the Fair Grounds Race Course. "This is the greatest festival in the world for artists of all stripes," Bonnie Raitt told the crowd as she performed on the Acura Stage at 3:40 p.m., adding that the NOJF was "an endangered species." Raitt had kind words for singer/songwriter John Prine, who she noted was "having a helluva year," by way of introducing "Angel From Montgomery," which Prine penned but she popularized. She remarked on the 30th anniversary of her classic Nick of Time LP before playing "Something to Talk About." After performing a funked-up version of that album's "Love Letter" that she dedicated to "all the New Orleans funk greats," Raitt wound down her set with the maudlin "I Can't Make You Love Me." At 5:35 p.m., Van Morrison took the stage, starting out his set with Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go" (as in, "down to New Orleans," in an offering to locals) with a vocal effects mic as well as Waters' "Got My Mojo Working." The Celtic crooner also treated fans to a beloved romantic ballad of his from his 1989 Avalon Sunset album, "Have I Told You Lately," with Morrison on sax, soloing alongside his bandmates. Later on in his set, Morrison performed the light-as-air "Moondance," and ended his set with a trio of killers: "Wild Night," "Real Real Gone" and, of course, "Brown Eyed Girl." - Billboard, 4/29/19...... The Rolling Stones announced on Apr. 30 that they'll reissue their classic 1968 The Rock and Roll Circus film on June 7 in the US and June 28 in the UK. Originally conceived as a BBC-TV special, The Rock and Roll Circus was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg (the Beatles' Let It Be) and recorded in front of a live audience in London in 1968. It also featured performances from The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, as well as "supergroup" The Dirty Mac - consisting of Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and John Lennon. Unheard tracks by the collective will be available on the new release for the first time ever. The film has received a 4K Dolby Vision restoration for Blu-ray and DVD, with the soundtrack also remixed and expanded to 28 songs and set to be released on 
The Sound of My Voice, a new Linda Ronstadt documentary that traces the singer's rise in Los Angeles clubs to opening for Neil Young and eventually packing many of those arenas herself in the years that followed, made its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Apr. 26. Such Ronstadt collaborators as David Geffen, Ry Cooder, J.D. Souther, Don Henley and Cameron Crowe all weigh in with their recollections, but present-day Linda, who retired from music in 2011 just before being diagnosed with Parkinson's, only plays a minor role in the film, appearing briefly at the beginning and end of the picture and in voiceovers. The bulk of the narration is stitched together from more than 50 years' worth of interviews, a triumph of both research and clever storytelling. Sheryl Crow was on hand to close the premiere with a short set of Ronstadt nuggets, including "When Will I Be Loved," "Tumbling Dice" and "You're No Good" -- before introducing her own "My Favorite Mistake" and gushing about Ronstadt's influence on her own career. The Sound of My Voice is based on Ronstadt's 2013 autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, and comes from filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. - Billboard, 4/29/19...... A Los Angeles man who claims he was the victim of a gay hate crime perpetrated by Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal's son Redmond O'Neal is suing O'Neal for over $100 million in damages. Ken Fox claims he was walking down the street while singing opera on May 2, 2018. Fox says he passed by O'Neal, who then looked at him and said, "What are you looking at, f----t?" Before he could react, Fox claims O'Neal then struck him in the head with a bottle (or another hard object), breaking his nose. Fox says he then fell to the ground and O'Neal began punching him as he hurled more expletives. O'Neal eventually fled the scene and ended up getting arrested several days later after he allegedly committed several other crimes. He was eventually charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, brandishing a knife and battery. Fox has now filed a statement of damages with the court, saying he is going after O'Neal for $15 million for pain and suffering and another $15 million for emotional distress. After the addition of medical expenses, past and future lost earnings, attorneys fees and punitive damages, it adds up to over $100 million in damages. O'Neal is still behind bars awaiting trial on a slew of charges stemming from his latest crime spree. - TheBlast.com, 4/30/19...... Detroit rock concert promoter Russ Gibb, who promoted hundreds of concerts by the likes of The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa as well as being responsible for the infamous "Paul (McCartney) Is Dead" rumors that began in 1969, died on Apr. 30 in Garden City, Mich., after years of declining health. He was 87. First working as a teacher, Mr. Gibb moved into music by working part-time at WKNR in Dearborn, Mich., and DJing at local sock hops -- where he "made more money in one night than in about three weeks of teaching." He was already operating the Grande when he made international news via the "Paul is Dead" rumor. It began on Oct. 12, 1969, during his radio shift at Detroit's WKNR when Gibb took a call from a listener claiming that the Beatles bassist had died in 1966 and been replaced by a cosmetically altered look-alike. The caller encouraged Gibb to play the group's "Revolution 9" backwards, with its purported message of "turn me on dead man," setting off a firestorm of speculation that spread around the world. "The whole thing just exploded," Gibb recalled. "The phones were ringing off the hook. People were calling with their own clues. It was non-stop." Gibb laughed as he remembered the station's owner telling him, "Whatever you're doing, just keep doing it." He even called Eric Clapton, a friend in England, to ask if he knew anything about it. "He told me, 'Come to think of it, I haven't seen Paul for awhile...' "It was really a phenomenon. For a while, it seemed like it might really be true." McCartney called the rumor "bloody stupid" when Life magazine reporters found him in Scotland shortly after, but in 2009 he told David Letterman that, "I just laughed it off but it was a little strange because people did start looking at me like...'Is it him or a very good double?'" Mr. Gibb also owned the Grande Ballroom in Detroit -- one of the key theaters on the early U.S. rock n' roll circuit during the late '60s and early '70s -- and made it one of the country's premier rock venues during its six-year run. The Grande was defined by extravagant light shows -- including the first strobe light in the U.S., Gibb claimed -- and psychedelic poster art as well as often mixed-genre bills. Roger Daltrey of The Who -- which gave the rock opera "Tommy" its U.S. premiere on May 9, 1969 at the Grande -- noted that the venue "was one of THOSE places, the ones you had to play when you came to America. If you played there it was a sign that you were important." Mr. Gibb closed the Grande during 1972, after a six-year run, over financial concerts and when national acts "started using their own (opening) bands and Detroit bands were being squeezed out." He went on to his career as an educator and, until 2016, maintained an active website that included an outspoken blog called At Random. Tributes to Mr. Gibb were posted by Wayne Kramer of the Detroit band The MC5 ("he was one of a kind") and Alice Cooper ("when nobody else would book us, Uncle Russ would"). - Billboard, 5/1/19...... 
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