Meat Loaf, the "larger than life" rock superstar loved by millions for his 1977 Bat Out of Hell album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," died on the evening of Jan. 20, according to a statement posted by his family on his official Facebook page the following morning. He was 74. "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf died with his wife Deborah by his side," the statement reads. "Daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends have been with him throughout the last 24 hours... We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man. We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time. From his heart to your souls & don't ever stop rocking!," it continued. A cause of death has not been disclosed, although the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com is reporting that the singer died after being seriously ill with Covid-19. Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Tex., on Sept. 27, 1947, Meat Loaf was the son of a school teacher who raised him on her own after divorcing his alcoholic father, a police officer. He was singing and acting in high school (Mick Jagger was an early favorite, so was Ethel Merman) and attended Lubbock Christian College and what is now the University of North Texas. In November 1963, he saw Pres. John F. Kennedy arrive at Love Field in Dallas, then after learning the president had been assassinated, drove to Parkland Hospital to witness a bloodied Jackie Kennedy step out of a car. He was still a teenager when his mother died and when he acquired the nickname "Meat Loaf," the alleged origins of which range from childhood friends taunting him about his weight to a favorite recipe of his mother's. He left for Los Angeles after college and was soon fronting the band Meat Loaf Soul. They played their debut gig in 1968, opening for Van Morrison's early band Them, as well as the "garage band" Question Mark And The Mysterians. For years, he alternated between music and the stage, recording briefly for Motown, opening for such acts as the Who and the Grateful Dead and appearing in the Broadway production of "Hair." 
By the mid-1970s, he was playing the lobotomized biker Eddie in the theater and film versions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, had served as an understudy for his friend John Belushi for the stage production of "National Lampoon" and had begun working with Jim Steinman, whom he met while auditioning for Steinman's musical production of "More Than You Deserve" (1973). The dense, pounding production by Todd Rundgren was openly influenced by Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen, whose bandmates Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg played on the record. Rundgren initially thought of the album as a parody of Springsteen's grandiose style. After a slow start and mixed reviews, Bat Out of Hell became one of the top-selling albums in history, with worldwide sales of more than 40 million copies, and made him one of the most recognizable performers in rock. Bat Out of Hell spent 82 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, peaking at No. 14, and spawned three top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, with "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" going highest at No. 11. He scored another slew of hits when he reteamed with Steinman for the sequel, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which topped the Billboard 200: that album's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" became his sole Hot 100 No. 1 for five weeks in 1993, also earning him a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo; the album also produced two more top 40 hits in "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" and "Objects In the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are." The hot streak continued in 1995 with the No. 13-peaking "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)," which would be his final appearance on the Hot 100. Meat Loaf wasn't a consistent hit maker, especially after falling out for years with Steinman (who died in Apr. 2021 at age 73), but he maintained close ties with his fans through his manic live shows, social media and his many television, radio and film appearances, including Fight Club and cameos on Glee and South Park. Meat Loaf, or "Meat," had struggled with ill health in recent years and was previously left unable to stand up for longer than five minutes due to a nerve issue in his back -- meaning he was forced to spend most of the time sat down. 
He explained at the time: "I don't do drugs. I don't drink. I have a pinched nerve in my back and it feels like when I stand up to walk, that Norman Bates from Psycho is stabbing me in the back. And it hurts like hell." When asked if he is on medication, he replied: "No, if you get on medication then you can't speak. And my assistant said 'don't talk about this'. But I went to a doctor the other night and he told me my tongue was swollen. And I have no idea why. It's causing me to talk slower than normal." Other health scares include collapsing on stage during performances in 2003, 2011 and 2016. In March 2021, it was reported that Meat was launching a new relationship-based competition reality TV series called I'd Do Anything For Love, But I Won't Do That. He was to serve as the project's executive producer, according to Deadline.com. The singer was also planning to launch a world tour in 2022, and recently said he told his agent: "Let's do five weeks, 16 shows in America, take a little break, do 16 shows in Europe, take a break, do another 16, then see how we like it. I'm ready to get out there." He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday. Among those paying tribute to Meat on social media are Cher, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boy George. - Billboard/New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 1/21/22.
Music publisher Round Hill has acquired a significant share of Heart singer/songwriter Nancy Wilson's aster royalties and has entered a long-term deal to administer her neighboring rights income. Though the exact share of Wilson's master royalties remains undisclosed, Round Hill will own portions of classic Heart songs like "Barracuda," "Magic Man," "Alone," "Crazy on You" and "These Dreams" -- all of which were co-penned by Wilson and her sister Ann Wilson. Round Hill founder and CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement that Nancy "has played a pivotal role in their astonishing success over the last 45 years" and "is an icon and the longevity of her music is a testament to her incredible talent." - Billboard, 1/20/22...... Attorneys for ABBA filed a public notice in federal court on Jan. 20 stating that the iconic Swedish pop group has reached a settlement to end a lawsuit it filed against a British tribute band called Abba Mania that ABBA had labeled "parasitic." The agreement came just six weeks after ABBA filed the lawsuit, which claimed that Abba Mania's use of the word "ABBA" in its name had infringed the band's trademarks and would dupe some fans into thinking the tribute group was officially authorized by the original. Although the notice did not include any specific terms, like whether money changed hands, an attorney for ABBA confirmed to Billboard that Abba Mania had agreed to stop using the name. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... 
Seventies artists Stevie Nicks, The Who, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello & the Imposters and Lionel Richie have been announced as among the headliners for the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which is back after two years of cancellations and postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic. Set for the Big Easy this spring, the first weekend of the festival will take place from Apr. 29 through Sunday, May 1, while the second will begin on May 5 through May 8 at the festival's longtime home at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La. An announcement and miniaturized poster listing all performers can be viewed on the NOJ&HF's Twitter page. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... In related news, Elton John resumed his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour in New Orleans on Jan. 19 after ongoing Covid-19-related restrictions prevented the star from making his live comeback for two years. After multiple delays, the legendary artist played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans where he treated the sold-out crowd to a career-spanning, 21-song set of hits. The Rocket man kicked off the kicked off the concert by performing "Bennie And The Jets" from his 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, then went on to dust off favourites such as "Tiny Dancer," "Rocket Man," "I'm Still Standing," "Crocodile Rock" and "Your Song." "It's good to be back!!," Sir Elton posted to his Twitter account. "New Orleans, I've loved you since I first visited in 1971! You've got funk and you've got electricity and I couldn't have asked for a better welcome back after so long off the road....Texas, I'll see you soon!," he added. Clips of the superstar performing "The Bitch Is Back" and the first live airing of his current hit "Cold Heart" can also be viewed on YouTube. The show marked John's first "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" gig since he performed in Australia in early March 2020. "This is a new experience for us," he told the crowd at the start of yesterday's concert. "I've never had this amount of time off in my life, as far as playing music. Well, at least since I was 17 years of age.... I can't thank you enough for being so patient. We live in funny times, but we're gonna have a great time!," he added. - NME, 1/20/22...... Two new clips from the new Brian Wilson documentary Long Promised Road, about the Beach Boys co-founder, have been shared on YouTube. In the first clip, Elton John discusses Wilson's commitment to touring: "Brian will always wanna go out and perform. He will always wanna make records. It's because music runs through his veins." In the second clip, Wilson hails his Holland track "Sail On, Sailor" as "probably one of the best songs I ever wrote." Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road also features contributions from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Al Jardine, Nick Jonas, Don Was, Blondie Chaplin, Jakob Dylan and Taylor Hawkins, among others. Directed by Brent Wilson (unrelated to Brian), the documentary charts Wilson's life and career through "a literal and metaphorical trip exploring Brian's hometown." Featuring over 50 of Wilson's most iconic songs, the documentary originally premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the US in June to positive reviews. - New Musical Express, 1/21/22...... Tina Turner and her husband Erwin Bach have reportedly purchased a 70-million-Swiss-franc (USD $76 million) estate on Lake Zurich in the village of Staefa. Turner, 82, and Bach acquired the century-old, 24,000-square-meter (260,000-square-foot) property last September because the both have Swiss nationality now and "feel very comfortable in Switzerland," according to an interview with Bach in the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung. He added that "due to the pandemic and its consequences we -- like many other Swiss -- unfortunately are refraining from travel." The couple will be nearby neighbors to Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer, who reportedly also looked at the property before settling on a different one further east along the lake. Turner married German music executive Bach in 2013 after a long relationship, and has lived in Switzerland with him since 1994. The couple have rented a home in the town of Kuesnacht, closer to the city of Zurich, for years. - Billboard, 1/20/22...... The estate of Jimi Hendrix and Sony Music filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Jan. 18 against the heirs of Hendrix's former bandmates after they allegedly threatened to bring a lawsuit in British court for "millions of pounds in unpaid royalties dating back decades." The plaintiffs are asking for a legal declaration that they owe nothing to the estates of Noel Redding and John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell -- Hendrix's bandmates in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Entities representing the families of Redding and Mitchell sent a cease-and-desist in December claiming to own a stake in Hendrix's music and threatening to sue for infringement, but the plaintiff's lawsuit said those claims were bogus because the pair had signed away any rights immediately after Hendrix died in 1970. The duo signed "broad general releases and agreements not to sue in exchange for significant monetary consideration that was paid at the time," the Hendrix estate and Sony maintain, adding that the settlements "specifically dealt with the band's recordings." Sony is involved in the dispute because it's the exclusive licensee of Hendrix's music, which is owned by Hendrix Experience LLC and Authentic Hendrix LLC. Hendrix died Sept. 18, 1970, at the age of 27 and, according to this week's lawsuit, both Redding and Mitchell participated in the "protracted proceedings required to settle his estate. As part of that legal process, they allegedly signed the releases. Redding died in 2003 and Mitchell died in 2008. The lawsuit is a so-called declaratory judgment action, meaning the Hendrix estate and Sony aren't suing for damages, but simply for a ruling that they've done nothing wrong. Such cases are often filed preemptively when a company believes it has wrongly been threatened with a copyright lawsuit. - Billboard, 1/19/22...... 
Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood will serve as an executive producer and contribute creative ideas and music for a new musical drama called 13 Songs for the Fox television network. From writers Will Reiser (50/50) and Jonathan Prince (Four Weddings and a Funeral), 13 Songs revolves around rock legend Jasper Jones, who with his band, The Grift, once made music that spoke to a generation of Americans. Decades later, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Jasper is given only a few months to live. As a final love letter to his fans, Jasper reconnects with his band to write and record 13 final songs and leave his mark on the world forever. 13 Songs arrives as Fox continues to look to musical-driven scripted originals for its primetime roster. Previously, Fox's Glee became a massive franchise thanks in part to global tours, downloads and merchandising. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/22...... A digitally restored 4K Ultra HD edition of the iconic 1964 Beatles film A Hard Day's Night (Criterion Collection) was released on Blu-ray + DVD on Jan. 18. Showcasing the start of Beatlemania in the States, the Richard Lester-directed A Hard Day's Night takes place one month after the Fab Four's first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The film captures just 36 hours in the lives of the British band that became music idols of a generation. Beatles pop anthems like "Can't Buy Me Love," "If I Fell" and the title track are featured in the film, which is available on Blu-ray ($35) and DVD ($14), and as a three-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The Lester-approved, digital restoration of A Hard Day's Night comes with three audio options: a monaural soundtrack, stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes supervised by Giles Martin, sound producer at the famed Abbey Road Studios. Other bonus features include Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about A Hard Day's Night featuring Lester and producer George Martin; the 1994 documentary You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night and In Their Own Voices, a special-edition program consisting of behind-the-scenes footage, photos and interviews with The Beatles during their 1964 American tour. - Billboard, 1/18/22...... Speaking of George Martin, the famed late Beatles producer can be seen in a sweet new clip shared by his son Giles Martin on Twitter. In the footage, the producer discusses with Giles's daughter how he initially met The Beatles and what he thought of the quartet when they travelled from Liverpool to London to meet him: "Well, that's a silly name for a start... I met them in London and when I listened and it was ok but it wasn't brilliant. But the magic bit came when I started to get to know them because they were terribly good people. They were funny, they were very clever -- and they were the kind of people that you liked to be with. So I thought, 'if I feel this way about them, other people will feel this way about them'. So therefore, they should be very popular." "I don't normally share anything personal but this my dad from a while back explaining to my daughter he signed the Beatles," Giles Martin posted ."Ordinary people do extraordinary things. Great decisions are made for the simplest reasons. "I figured if I like them this much other people might too," he added. - NME, 1/19/22...... David Bowie has been declared the 21st Century's best-selling vinyl artist by the UK publication Music Week's chart analyst Alan Jones. Bowie's vinyl sales for the 2000s of 582,704 (calculated up until Jan. 6) place the late musician ahead of the only other act to top half a million units on the format -- The Beatles (535,596 sales). In the 2020s the same two acts lead the way with Bowie on 134,237 sales and The Beatles on 113,613. Based on the Top 10,000 vinyl sellers of 2021, Bowie placed third (53,181) behind The Beatles (58,567) and Taylor Swift (56,917). However, Bowie is ahead on vinyl for the two years of the decade so far due to a successful reissues campaign. Most recently, his "lost" 2000 album Toy has landed in the UK Top 5 with strong physical sales (based on Official Charts Company data). Meanwhile in the US, vinyl has overtaken CD in unit sales for the first time in decades. According to data from the MRC and Billboard, 38.3% of all album sales in the country in 2021 were in vinyl format, while it accounted over 50% of all physical album sales (41.72 million sales out of a total of 82.79 million). - NME, 1/17/22...... Bruce Springsteen has been named the highest-paid musician of 2021 by a former Forbes editor for Rolling Stone magazine, bringing in a reported sum of $590 million (£431.3 million) -- most of which he earned via the landmark sale of his masters and publishing rights in December of 2021. Springsteen's record-breaking deal with Sony Music, valued at $550 million (£402.1 million), marked the biggest sale a musician had ever made for their discography. It gave the company ownership of The Boss' entire back catalogue, which spans 20 studio albums, 300 songs, seven EPs, 23 live records and more. Word of the sale first came last November, when it was said the New Jersey rocker had set his sights on upwards of $350 million (£256.5 million) for both the publishing rights and recorded masters to his expansive catalogue. - NME, 1/17/22...... In related news, Ted Nugent recently praised "dirtbag" Springsteen for surrounding himself with "the best musicians." Appearing on That Jamieson Show, the outspoken and politically conservative musician admitted that "you couldn't get further apart ideologically, politically or truth, logic and common sense-wise than me and Bruce Springsteen, but here I'll show a little love for Bruce." He continued: "I've been able to perform on the Conan show with [Bruce's] E Street Band, which is one of the greatest joys of my life. I've always been surrounded by the best musicians, and that's the perfect example. We played 'Jenny Take A Ride' by Mitch Ryder, and Max [Weinberg] and the guys performed it with unbelievable accuracy and perfection and soulfulness. So I give him that salute for having that quality of virtuosos that deliver his music." However The Nuge till branded The Boss as a "dirtbag," but insisted he wouldn't want to "punch the "Born To Run" musician, despite their differences. "If nothing else, if I met Bruce, I wouldn't punch him. I always have Mike Tyson with me, and I give him a hundred bucks to punch a--holes." - Music-News.com, 1/20/22...... 
Stevie Wonder took to YouTube on Jan. 19 to express his support for proposed voting rights legislation in the U.S. Congress. "Any Senator who cannot support the protection of voting rights in the United States Of America cannot say that they support the Constitution," the Motown legend says in the video. "Stop the hypocrisy, cut the bull-tish. If you care and support our rights, do the hard work. You can't please everybody, but you can protect all of us. And to keep it all the way real? The filibuster is not working for democracy. Why won't you?," he adds. The video arrives as politicians take the debate over new voting rights legislation to the Senate floor. The bill, known as the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, would represent a change in how America's elections are carried out, including how votes are cast and tallied and how House districts are drawn. Republicans have long opposed the bill and two Democratic Senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who are needed to push the bill forward, continue to be reluctant to support it because of their opposition to changing filibuster rules. - Billboard, 1/19/22...... Queen guitarist Brian May will make his acting debut in an upcoming episode of the CBBC show Andy and the Band. According to May, he was offered the chance to star in the children's TV show as the "Godfather of Rock," but initially turned them down. However, May says he changed his mind after reading the script. "It was very moving because it's a great story, it's such a lovely look into what happens to kids and how they lose their confidence and what can be done," he said. In the episode, May will perform alongside The Odd Socks. "It is a good song, I didn't write it, I did contribute. I'm a person who can't help sticking my oar in so we did collaborate on it. He went on to explain how The Odd Socks speak to children who "feel like they're an outcast -- it's an antibullying campaign built into what they do, which I think is wonderful. It must give so many kids confidence who have lost their belief because they're regarded as something different, a bit odd, and they get bullied." He continued: "These things are very serious, I have grandchildren now and I know, all over again, what happens in schools, and it's so easy for a kid to be marginalized," May said of the program's anti-bullying theme. "You don't realize how much damage that can do to kids. So it's grown ups that need to be educated, not just the kids," he added. - NME, 1/20/22...... A video of a Michael Jackson impersonator who goes by the name of Santana Jackson has gone viral after footage emerged of him in a fight with a man in Las Vegas. Santana is also said to be a "professional wrestler," a skill that no doubt came in useful when an unidentified man "came out of nowhere and began to attack him in the street." Captured by a passer-by, a clip of the encounter has gone viral on Twitter. The one-minute-13-second video has so far registered over 2.2 million views on the social media platform, as well as clocking up 13,000 "likes" and 6000 retweets. "I was performing and this guy came out of nowhere and started hitting me so I have to put him down for his own good. Please know I don't think fighting is the answer so try to avoid a fight if u can. Stay safe," Santana posted on Instagram. He describes himself as a "nationally famous Michael Jackson impersonator" on his official Facebook page, adding that he performs in a bid to "keep the King of Pop's legacy alive." - NME, 1/18/22...... 
Comedian Louie Anderson, an Emmy-winning actor, author and stand-up comic, died on the morning of Jan. 21 of complications from cancer, according to his publicist. He was 68. Anderson was being treated in a Las Vegas hospital after being diagnosed with a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mentored by legendary stand-up Henny Youngman, the gap-toothed Minnesota native was named one of "100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time" by Comedy Central in 2004. He also co-created Life With Louie, the Saturday morning animated series in which he played a version of his 8-year-old self, and hosted a revival of the game show Family Feud. For his first big movie part, Saturday Night Live cast member Eddie Murphy picked Anderson to portray Maurice, a upward-striving employee at McDowell's, in Coming to America (1988), and he returned for the 2021 sequel. Born on March 24, 1953, in St. Paul, Minn., Anderson, who said he had a "lifelong food addiction," claimed his weight problem was the result of the turmoil at home, and he told People magazine in 1987 that he "ate to escape." In 1981, he took first place in the Midwest Comedy Competition, hosted that year by Youngman, who hired him as a writer and helped shape him as a performer. His breakthrough came in Nov. 1984 when he made his national TV debut on The Tonight Show. True to form, his 5 1/2-minute routine was mostly made up of fat jokes, starting with, "I can't stay long, I'm in between meals, so bear with me." A few months later, he was featured alongside Bob Saget, Rita Rudner and Sam Kinison on HBO's ninth annual Young Comedians special. He made his film debut as a taxi driver in Cloak & Dagger (1984), then showed up in the 1986 films Quicksilver, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Ratboy. In 1988, he starred with Richard Lewis and Richard Belzer in The Wrong Guys and had his memorable cameo in Coming to America. His portrayal of Christine in Baskets earned him his Primetime Emmy in 2016, the first of three straight years with a nomination. He also once had a stint as the host of the game show Family Feud. - Billboard, 1/21/22...... Songwriter and music exec Jon Lind, who co-wrote such hits as Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland, Madonna's "Crazy For You and Vanessa Williams" 'save the Best for Last, died on Jan. 15 following a two-year cancer battle. He was 73. While still a teenager, the Brooklyn native started as a folk singer, sharing stages with Judy Collins, Harry Chapin, Tom Paxton and other legendary artists. While at New York City's Mannes College of Music, he formed the Fifth Avenue Band, which was managed by Bob Cavallo and signed with Warner Reprise in 1969, according to an interview Lind gave Songwriter Universe in 2012. He was subsequently in bands that signed with A&M and Capitol before switching to full-time songwriting. Among the other artists who recorded his songs include Cher, Cheap Trick, Aaron Neville, Jennifer Holliday, Rick Astley and Pete Townshend. Lind received a Grammy nomination for song of the year in 1992 for "Save the Best for Last," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was ASCAP's Song of the Year. He was equally successful as a label executive, serving as head of A&R at Hollywood Records from 1998-2011. Among the artists he worked with were Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Jesse McCartney. He is survived by his wife, Kobalt executive Sue Drew, and the couple's two daughters. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... Rosa Lee Hawkins, a member of the 1960s girl group trio The Dixie Cups, died on Jan. 11 at age 76. The Dixie Cups, a New Orleans girl group, did not want to sing "Chapel of Love." "It sounded like a country song, OK?" the trio told the Brill Building professionals who'd written the tune. "Chapel of Love," written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (with a songwriting credit to the late producer Phil Spector), hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, displacing The Beatles' "Love Me Do." It became a foundational song for '60s girl groups, rock 'n' roll and pop music. In addition to soundtracking countless weddings, The Dixie Cups classic has been covered by Elton John and Bette Midler, and appeared in movies from Father of the Bride to Full Metal Jacket. After "Chapel of Love," The Dixie Cups recorded many other tracks, including "People Say" and a version of the Mardi Gras standard "Iko Iko." The group was doing shows in Las Vegas when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and they lost many of their belongings in the flood. Rosa and Barbara later moved to Tampa, Fla., where Rosa Hawkins died during surgery at Tampa General Hospital. - Billboard, 1/17/22...... 
Actress Yvette Mimieux, who created a stir in the 1960s with performances in such films as Where the Boys Are, Light in the Piazza, Toys in the Attic and, in a history-making turn, Dr. Kildare, died overnight in her sleep on Jan. 18 at her home in Bel Air, Calif. She was 80. The enigmatic Ms. Mimieux, discovered while horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills, appeared in eight movies before she turned 21 -- lots of them in swimsuits -- and often was cast as a wounded or sensitive woman early on. In 1964, she became what is believed to be the first actress to show her navel on an America TV show when she guest-starred in a two-part episode of NBC's Dr. Kildare in which her surfer character has an ill-fated romance with Richard Chamberlain. A year later, she played a struggling law student in a reunion with Chamberlain in the big-screen melodrama Joy in the Morning (1965). In the 1970s, Ms. Mimieux wrote and starred as a remorseless assassin in the 1974 ABC telefilm The Hit Lady, portrayed a falsely accused woman victimized by a sadistic guard in Jackson County Jail (1975) and appeared in the sci-fi drama The Black Hole (1979), the first PG-rated film from Disney. She also co-wrote, produced and starred as a psychotic soap opera fan in the 1984 CBS telefilm Obsessive Love. Her resume also included the films Skyjacked (1972), The Neptune Factor (1973), Journey Into Fear (1975) and Circle of Power (1981) and the 1985 NBC primetime soap Berrenger's, revolving around a family who owns a glamorous New York department store. She was married to Singin' in the Rain director Stanley Donen from 1972 until their divorce in 1985 and to Howard Ruby, founder of Oakwood Worldwide, a provider of furnished corporate housing, since December 1986. He survives her. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/22.
In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Steely Dan producer Gary Katz revealed that Eagles principle Don Henley was once fired from contributing backing vocals to Steely Dan's 1977 hit "Peg" because Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen decided his contributions were "no good." As Steely Dan were putting the track together, Katz says he and Fagen discussed how they "both liked Henley's singing" and decided to bring him in with Linda Ronstadt to track some vocals for the song. Since Ronstadt wasn't feeling well, Nicolette Larson came in her place to sing background with Henley. Not long after Henley and Larson added vocals for a second time, Fagen signaled for bandmate Walter Becker to "go get a sandwich" with him, and as the pair left the studio, Katz said Fagen told him to fire Henley and Larson. "It left me with my finger up my ass having to fire Henley. Which I did -- and have heard about for 35 years since, in various ways," Katz said. "It was a difficult day at the office, because, like [Fagen and Becker], I was part of that inner-circle crowd. We were all in the same little area. We lived in the same place and had the same manager. It was always Eagles and Steely Dan for a long time in L.A.," he added. - Billboard, 1/14/22...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Elvis Costello revealed that he doesn't like much modern rock music because "the beat is so square." "I don't like much rock music," the 67-year-old Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame member said. "I like rock & roll. I think if you lose the roll part, a lot of the fun goes out of it." He then went on to say that "when people ask me, 'What's your favourite record?', I usually don't name any electric-guitar records made in the last 30 years because the beat is so square. I like things that float a bit or swing a bit, whether it's rock & roll or actual jazz that swings. You listen to these records out of Nashville, they couldn't float if you filled them full of water. They just don't; they're square and they sound like bad rock records from the nineties. To my ear, they just do. But somebody likes them." Elvis added that his grandfather "was a trumpet player [who] never used to criticize other musicians... I'm trying to live by his example a little better these times and not be so critical of everybody else. But you can't like everything." Costello and his backing band The Imposters released their new album, 
The 2021 Beatles documentary The Beatles: Get Back is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 8, and is currently available for pre-order at 
The music publishing and talent management company Primary Wave has acquired the song publishing catalog of Seventies popsters America, as well as a stake in the publishing royalties of former Free and Bad Company singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers, along with Rodgers' master recording income streams from both bands. Terms of the deals, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, were not announced but were described as multi-million dollar acquisitions. America, a soft-rock band with a penchant for naming their albums with words that begin with the letter "H," scored a string of top 10 hits in the 1970s including "Horse With No Name," "Sister Golden Hair," "Venture Highway" and "Tin Man." All three original America members wrote the band's songs, but Primary Wave is buying the publishing of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, not the songs owned by the late Dan Peek, nor his share of co-written songs. "We are pleased that our catalogue is now in the able hands of the good folks at Primary Wave, where the music we have created over the last 50 years will be given new attention and exposure," America's Bunnell said in a statement. "We are proud of the music we produced across these decades, and look forward to watching the catalogue continue to enhance listeners' lives for generations to come through the vision and actions of Primary Wave. Meanwhile, we continue to actively pursue our careers as songwriters and performers into the 21st Century," he added. Meanwhile, Paul Rodgers fronted a string of blues rock/hard rock bands but had his biggest commercial success with Bad Company and Free. The latter band's biggest hit was "All Right Now," but a share in that song's publishing was already purchased through Primary Wave's acquisition of a stake in Chris Blackwell's Blue Mountain publishing company back in 2018. The current deal brings in another share of that song's publishing and other Free songs, as well as hit Bad Company singles like "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love," "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy." Other well-known songs by the band, like "Bad Company" and "Shooting Star," were not released as singles but have garnered plenty of FM airplay. Rodgers will also head a new label imprint for Primary Wave distributed by Sun Records, which Primary Wave acquired in Jan. 2021. Besides having the ability to co-sign new artists, Rodgers will also curate compilations for Sun Records. The WSJ reported that sources placed the America deal at about $40 million, and the Rodgers deal at about $20 million. - Billboard, 1/12/22..... In related news, The Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has acquired a bundle of music rights from David Coverdale, the Whitesnake frontman and former lead singer of Deep Purple. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the announcement, the acquisition includes his music publishing and master recording royalties and from Coverdale's three-album stint in the mid-1970s with Deep Purple -- Burn, Come Taste The Band, and Stormbringer - and from his entire Whitesnake catalog including the band s multi-platinum 1987 self-titled album. Also, as part of the deal Round Hill apparently has acquired some Whitesnake master recordings that Coverdale owned. Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement that Coverdale "has blazed a trail since the early '70s, and his legacy and influence on the generations of artist that followed him cannot be understated. To have been entrusted with David"s work is a proud day for Round Hill." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Doo-wop singer Fred Parris, the frontman of The Five Satins whose smash 1956 ballad "In the Still of the Night" became an enduring standard and was prominently used in movies including Dirty Dancing and The Irishman, died on Jan. 13 after a brief illness. He was 85. Born in New Haven, Conn., Parris grew up listening to big-band star Glenn Miller on the radio before discovering R&B music through family members' records. He delivered newspapers as a teenager and, in high school, joined a group called the Scarlets, for which he wrote a regional hit called "Dear One." On Feb. 19, 1956, Parris and one of his bandmates, Al Denby, were at home on military leave in New Haven when they recorded "In the Still of the Night," produced by Marty Kugell, in the St. Bernadette Catholic Church basement. "Doo-wop was what you had back then when young kids were singing on street corners... it was just honest street music," Jim Freeman, a former Parris bandmate, said in 2019 after The Irishman movie came out. The song was interpolated in Ronnie Milsap's "Lost In The Fifties Tonight (In The Still Of The Night)," a No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1985. That genre-crossing update brought Parris and co-writers Mike Reid and Troy Seals a 1985 Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. Later, Parris sang in other groups, including Fred Parris and the Restless Hearts ("Bring It Home to Daddy") in the '60s and Black Satin in the '70s. Of "In the Still of the Night," Parris said in a 2013 interview with WJCT of Jacksonville, Fla.: "Because we did it at the church, I think the song was blessed. And so was I. It lasted a long, long time." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Ralph Emery, a longtime country music broadcaster and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died on Nov. 15 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 88. Born in 1933 in McEwen, Tenn., Mr. Emery a successful career in the country music industry for more than 50 years, working in radio before shifting to television. Known as the dean of country music broadcasters, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1989. He notably interviewed a number of country music stars as the host of the Nashville Network talk show Nashville Now over the course of a decade, from 1983 to 1993. Throughout the years, he also hosted the syndicated TV series Pop Goes the Country (1974-1980) and the live show Nashville Alive on WTBS (1981-1983). From 2007 to 2015, he hosted the weekly program Ralph Emery Live on satellite and cable television channel RFD-TV. In 1961, he charted with a song that he recorded. "Hello Fool" peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It was an answer song to Faron Young's country classic "Hello Walls" (an early hit for songwriter Willie Nelson). Loretta Lynn, T. Graham Brown, The Bellamy Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys are among the country stars who paid tribute to Mr. Emery on social media. - Billboard, 1/15/22...... 
Legendary '60s girl group singer Ronnie Spector, the leader of The Ronettes, died on Jan. 12 after a brief battle with cancer according to a statement on her 
Spector went on to launch her own solo career, releasing four solo albums between 1980 and 2016, plus three EPs. Prior to making full-length records, she also put out seven singles, including 1964's "So Young" and 1976's "Paradise." On her 2006 solo record Last Of The Rock Stars she collaborated with the likes of Patti Smith, The Raconteurs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Nick Zinner and more, while in 2017 she shared a track called "Love Power" under the name Ronnie Spector And The Ronettes. With The Ronettes, Spector has been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999 for "Be My Baby," the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2004 and the People s Hall Of Rock And Roll Legends in 2010. In 1986, AOR rocker Eddie Money invited Spector to feature on a new single, "Take Me Home Tonight," which allowed Spector to recreate her epochal"Be My Baby" hook on the chorus (following Money's vocal lead-in, "Listen, honey, just like Ronnie sang... ). The song was an enormous hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Hot 100 the highest-charting single of Money's career, and Spector's highest since the original "Be My Baby" and giving her career a second wind. Spector would never have another hit single, however, she continued to record and perform, with future generations of rock and pop stars citing her as a key inspiration -- including Joey Ramone, who co-produced her 1999 EP "She Talks to Rainbows," and Amy Winehouse, whose throwback image and sound in the mid-2000s suggested nothing so much as a more streetwise and tougher-luck Ronnie Spector. "Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humour and a smile on her face," according to the statement by Spector's family. "She was filled with love and gratitude. Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her." Ronnie was married to Phil Spector from 1968 until 1974 and shared three adopted sons with him, and in 1982 she married manager Jonathan Greenfield, with whom she shared two sons, in 1982. Tributes to Spector that began to flow in after news of her death broke include those by 
Britain's Royal Mail has honored The Rolling Stones with a set of 12 special stamps. Available on the 
David Bowie fans flocked to social media on Jan. 8, what would have been the late rock icon's 75th birthday, to pay tribute to the highly influential musician who died following an 18-month battle with cancer in 2016. Bowie's widow Iman Abdulmajid paid tribute to her late husband by sharing a quote from Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood: "I exist in two places, here and where you are," while Lenny Kravitz posted a photo of he and Bowie, accompanied by the caption: "Happy Birthday to The Thin White Duke." The official John Lennon Twitter account posted Bowie's performance of "Fame" with the Beatles legend on the Cher show in 1975, writing: "Happy Birthday David Bowie." Meanwhile, the Madame Tussauds exhibit in London announced they will celebrate Bowie's 75th birthday by unveiling a new figure of David -- their second to feature at the Baker Street attraction -- later in 2022. Madame Tussauds have also released new images taken during Bowie's 1983 sitting with their artists for his original figure. Also, a 
In a new interview with the UK paper The Telegraph, Elvis Costello called on radio stations to stop playing his controversial 1979 single "Oliver's Army." The track, which is taken from his third studio album 
Michael Lang, the legendary co-creater of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, died on Jan. 8 from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. He was 77. Lang worked alongside partners Joel Rosenman, Capitol Records' Artie Kornfeld and John P. Roberts for the 1969 festival held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY. The three-day lineup included icons such as Richie Havens, Santana, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone and The Who, among others. After Woodstock, he started a record company in 1971 called Just Sunshine Records, which first signed Karen Dalton followed by Billy Joel. He later went into management, primarily working with Joe Cocker for about 15 years. In 1994, he helped promote Woodstock's 25th anniversary with Woodstock '94. In 2019, Lang planned to host "Woodstock 50," with a lineup including Miley Cyrus, Dead & Company, Jay-Z and others. The event was ultimately cancelled following a variety of permit and production issues, venue relocations and artists backing out. Lang is survived by his wife Tamara, their sons, Harry and Laszlo, and his daughters, LariAnn, Shala and Molly. - Billboard, 1/9/22...... Calvin Simon, a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, died on Jan. 8 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 79. Born in 1942 in West Virginia, where he sang with his church choir, Simon relocated to New Jersey with his family as a teen. He worked as a barber, and by the late 1950s, Simon joined the group originally known as the Parliaments, first formed as a doo-wop quintet with fellow barbers George Clinton and Grady Thomas and customers Ray Davis and Fuzzy Haskins. Simon, who was drafted in 1967 to serve in Vietman, went on to sing with the group that later became known as Parliament-Funkadelic. He eventually parted ways with the group due to financial disputes.A long with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, Simon was inducted by Prince into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Simon later released several gospel projects, and in 2019, he, Clinton, and the other members of Parliament-Funkadelic received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who teamed with her husband, Alan Bergman, to win three Academy Awards as one of the most revered writing tandems in the annals of movie music history, died on Jan. 8 in her Los Angeles home, according to family rep Ken Sunshine. She was 93. The cause of death was respiratory failure (non-COVID related). Her husband, 96, survives her. Bergman, whose work includes such classics as "The Windmills of Your Mind," "Nice 'n' Easy," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" and "The Way We Were," and her husband worked extensively for the movies, writing the lyrics for three of the five songs nominated for the best song Academy Award in 1983 -- "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (from Best Friends), "If We Were in Love" (from Yes, Giorgio), and "It Might Be You" (from Tootsie). In all, the Bergmans received 16 Oscar nominations. During the period from 1969-74, they couple received one Academy Award nom each year, which they shared with their composing partners: "Windmills of Your Mind," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" "Pieces of Dreams," "All His Children," "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" and "The Way We Were." The Bergmans were voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Burke Shelley, singer and bassist of the Welsh hard rock band Budgie, has died at the age of 71 of as yet undisclosed causes. Born in Canton, Cardiff, UK, in 1950, Shelley co-founded Budgie in 1967 with Tony Bourge (guitar/vocals) and Ray Phillips (drums). The group released 10 studio albums between 1971 and 1982. Budgie stopped touring in 1987 before reforming in the mid-1990s and 2000s. The band's 11th and final full-length record, You're All Living in Cuckooland, came out in 2006. The group influenced hard rock and metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth, all of whom have covered Budgie previously. Lars Ulrich and co. offered up a live take on "Breadfan" at one of Metallica's 40th anniversary shows in San Francisco in December. Shelley had battled Stickler syndrome -- a genetic disorder -- in recent years, as well as suffering two aortic aneurysms. - NME, 1/11/22...... 
Actor Dwayne Hickman, who starred as the hopelessly in love high school kid on the popular CBS comedy series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died on Jan. 9 at his Los Angeles home of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 87. Dobie Gillis, which ran for 147 episodes from 1959-63, starred the fresh-faced, crew-cut Mr. Hickman (25 years old when the series began) as a student always looking to date the most beautiful, unattainable girls. Future Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver played his pal, beatnik Maynard G. Krebs. Dobie's quest for love often was capsized by his grocer father (played by Frank Faylen) or something goofy that Maynard had done. The show began with a Dobie monologue such as this: "My name is Dobie Gillis and I love girls. I'm not a wolf, mind you. A wolf wants lots of girls, I just want one." Mr. Hickman also performed in films, most notably as a con man in Cat Ballou (1965) opposite best actor Oscar winner Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda and in the 1965 beach party movies How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. During the rebellious 1960s and early '70s however, with the Vietnam protests and hippie movement in full force, Mr. Hickman's clean-cut persona was out of vogue, and his acting career faltered. Born on May 18, 1934, in Los Angeles, Mr. Hickman began his acting career at age 6, appearing as a youngster in such films as Heaven Only Knows (1947), The Boy With the Green Hair (1948) and Mighty Joe Young (1948). He earned a degree from Loyola Marymount University (Denver was a fellow classmate) and during college turned down a job at a utility company to play Cummings' nephew Chuck MacDonald in 150 episodes of The Bob Cummings Show, which ran for five seasons on NBC and CBS. It all led to Mr. Hickman's gig on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which was based on a 1951 collection of short stories written by Max Shulman. His other TV credits include The Lone Ranger, The Loretta Young Show, Wagon Train, Ironside, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Combat, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and Clueless. He had a role as a lighting emporium owner in the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury. He wrote a 1994 autobiography, Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman, and developed another talent, painting. He had a penchant for picturesque buildings and vibrant flowers. Mr. Hickman married to actress Joan Roberts, whom he met while she was co-starring in TV's Private Benjamin, in 1983. The couple had a son, Albert. He had another son, John, from a previous marriage to actress Carol Christensen. His older brother is Darryl Hickman, a former child actor who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and later became a program executive at CBS. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/9/22.
Pioneering African-American actor Sidney Poitier, who broke through racial barriers to become the first Black winner of the Oscar and inspired a generation during the civil rights movement, died on Jan. 7. He was 94. Born in Miami on Feb. 20, 1927, and raised on a tomato farm in the Bahamas, Mr. Poitier had just one year of formal schooling. He moved to New York at 16, lying about his age to sign up for a short stint in the Army and then working at odd jobs, including dishwasher, while taking acting lessons. He got his first break when he met the casting director of the American Negro Theater and became the understudy of Harry Belafonte, taking over when Belafonte fell ill. Mr. Poitier went on to success on Broadway in "Anna Lucasta" in 1948 and, two years later, got his first movie role in No Way Out with Richard Widmark. Mr. Poitier won a Best Actor Oscar in 1963 for his role in Lilies of the Field, and created a distinguished film legacy four years later when segregation prevailed in much of the United States. In Lilies of the Field, he played a handyman who helps German nuns build a chapel in the desert. Five years before that the actor had been the first Black man nominated for a lead actor Oscar for his role in The Defiant Ones. In 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner he played a Black man with a white fianceé and In the Heat of the Night he was Virgil Tibbs, a Black police officer confronting racism during a murder investigation. He also played a teacher in a tough London school that year in To Sir, With Love. His Virgil Tibbs character from In the Heat of the Night was immortalized in two sequels -- 
Oscar-nominated director Peter Bogdanovich, the director and screenwriter of the acclaimed 1971 film 
Although she's been writing her own songs since 1967, folk-rock icon Judy Collins has never put out an album comprised solely of her own compositions -- until now. 
An infectious pop ditty by the early '70s one-hit wonder group Edison Lighthouse has become the latest song to explode on the TikTok social media platform. 
Eddie Van Halen's ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli has shared the late iconic guitarist and bandleader's final words to her and their song Wolfgang Van Halen in her new memoir, 
Speaking to People magazine as she discussed beauty risks, tips and tricks on the heels of her M.A.C. Cosmetics' "Challenge Accepted" campaign with Saweetie, Cher revealed that she'll "never go gray." Though many stars have been rocking a more natural style due to the pandemic, Cher says she's not into the gray-haired trend. "[Going gray] is fine for other girls. I'm just not doing it!," she said. Something she is into, however, is being unapologetically creative. That's why M.A.C. Cosmetics chose the 75-year-old diva for their new beauty campaign, which encourages fans to share their best M.A.C. makeup looks with the hashtag #macchallengeaccepted. "It's all about having fun," Cher added about beauty. "I just think that people who worry about the way someone puts on their makeup should get a life." A video of Cher accepting the M.A.C. challenge has been shared on