Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 12th, 2016

'70s artists Stevie Wonder and Yoko Ono are among the many celebrities reacting to the largely unexpected election victory of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States on Nov. 8. On Nov. 11, Yoko tweeted an audio clip after Trump's win -- a response that was utterly Ono, singing an emotive shriek of agony with anxious grunting and utter distress. "Dear Friends, I would like to share this message with you as my response to @realDonaldTrump." "That's an awesome quote," you can hear someone saying on the recording afterwards. In an interview with Philly.com published the day of the election, blind R&B legend Wonder asked a reporter: "If you had an emergency situation and needed to go to the hospital, and you had to get there right away, would you want me driving your car?" he asked, to which the reporter replied "no" -- before he added: "Because I'm not an experienced driver, right?" The "Superstition" singer continued his brilliant, hilarious put-down of Trump: "So my belief is that Hillary [Clinton] is an experienced person of the government, and she has spent 30 years with a commitment. Not to mention that her parents taught her in a kinder way, to have respect and love for all people. That's the person I want to govern, to be the leader of this nation. This is not a reality show. This is life in reality. So I'm with her because I believe in where we are, and where we are going to go. I have always believed that America is great. We're just going to make it greater." - New Musical Express/Billboard, 11/8/16...... Def Leppard has premiered a video for their 2015 eponymous Def Leppard LP track "Let's Go," the opening number from their upcoming live album/DVD And There Will Be A Next Time -- Live From Detroit. The concert is from the English rockers' stop at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, and the set is scheduled to hit stores on Feb. 10. There Will Be A Next Time features the group's entire 17-song set, including its medley of "Hysteria" and the late David Bowie's "Heroes." The set also comes with official music videos for "Let's Go," "Dangerous" and "Man Enough," as well as a lyric video for "Let's Go." Def Leppard will launch a pre-order site on PledgeMusic.com on Nov. 15 to give fans early access to select tracks and exclusive merchandise. Frontman Joe Elliott & co. will launch a tour in April 2017 that will last much of the year. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... Fans of David Bowie are seeking funding for a new statue in tribute to the rock icon to be erected in the town of Aylesbury, north of London. In 1971, Bowie debuted songs from his Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust albums at the Friars Club in Aylesbury, and he also referenced the rea's Market Square in the opening lines of the Ziggy track "Five Years." A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to finance the bronze statue designed by sculptor Andrew Sinclair, with organizers seeking £100,000 for the project. Fans have so far donated £26,420 to the cause. The statue would be complemented with a working soundsystem that would play a Bowie song every hour throughout the day and evening. In other Bowie news, a sale of Bowie's art collection conducted by Sotheby's in London smashed expectations, with a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat selling for more than 7 million pounds ($8.8 million). The first part of the two-day Bowie sale on Nov. 10 netted 24.3 million pounds ($30.3 million), more than double its upper pre-sale estimate. The top lot, Basquiat's "Air Power," sold for 7.1 million pounds ($8.8 million). Another, untitled Basquiat sold for 2.4 million pounds ($2.96 million). Bowie played Andy Warhol in Basquiat, director Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic of the American artist. The sale, which includes 400 items in all, also includes pieces of furniture and design from Bowie's collection. - New Musical Express/AP, 11/8/16...... Phil Collins announced on Nov. 8 that he'll be one of the headliners at British Summer Time at Hyde Park in June 2017, part of his recently announced comeback solo tour. Collins had already announced a run of shows throughout Europe as part of his "Not Dead Yet" tour, and the Summer Time gig will be the biggest concert yet. "The reaction from the British public has been overwhelming," Collins said in a statement. "I can't wait to play Hyde Park and see everyone there. I will be playing all of the songs that people love." Collins' previously announced dates include five nights in London at Royal Albert Hall, two dates in Cologne, and two dates in Paris, all set for June 2017. - NME, 11/8/16...... Sting has announced he will headline a concert at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, which takes place on Dec. 2 at the Wynn hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Sting will perform both a classic hit from his catalog as well as a new song from his latest album 57th & 9th, which dropped on Nov. 11. Meanwhile, Sting is scheduled to reopen the Bataclan concert hall, the same Paris concert venue where the tragic terrorist attack took place in 2015, on Nov. 12. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Paul McCartney has taken part in the Mannequin Challenge craze, the latest viral sensation that follows the Ice Bucket Challenge and the Harlem Shake. In it, people film themselves holding poses and staying completely motionless -- like mannequins. There's usually music playing in the background and a lot of the videos so far have been soundtracked by hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd's "Black Beatles." Now McCartney has joined in with his own version, also soundtracked by Sremmurd's track. "Love those Black Beatles," read a caption accompanying Macca's Mannequin Challenge video on Nov. 10. In the clip, Sir Paul stands by his grand piano, one hand tickling the ivories and the other reached out, seemingly in mid-song rapture. As the camera pans around him, you can probably guess which line from Sremmurd's current Top 10 hit blares out: "Black Beatle, bitch/ Me and Paul McCartney related!" - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Over 190 black & white photos from Elton John's personal photo collection have gone on display in "The Radical Eye," an exhibition which has opened at London's Tate Modern gallery. The photos usually adorn John's 18,000 square foot apartment in Atlanta, one of his several homes. John, who began buying photographs after he became sober in 1990, says collecting photos is a "a much healthier addiction," and his collection of 8,000 images is one of the largest troves of 20th-century photography in private hands. The photos on display were taken between 1915 and 1950, and include two dozen photos by surrealist Man Ray, including ones that usually hang above John's bed. The exhibition opened on Nov. 10, and will run through May 7. - AP, 11/10/16...... John Fogerty played an impromptu set that included the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival numbers "Proud Mary" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" after he completed his keynote Q&A session at the Billboard Touring Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Nov. 10. Earlier, Fogerty told the gathering of music execs that he was "scared to death of being a one-hit-wonder" when CCR started out. "After a while I started worrying about what was gonna happen after "Susie Q," Fogerty said of the 1968 cover hit. "It was a novelty and I knew it. I started to get busy staying up late and writing songs. I started strumming on the Rickenbacker and 'Proud Mary' came out." Fogerty, 71, also quipped that he dilegently practices his guitar playing, "because Brad Paisley is still better than me." Previous keynote Q&A's for the global touring business conference, now in its 13th year, have included conversations with Roger Waters, Gene Simmons and Chris Cornell. - Billboard, 11/11/16...... The slew of fellow musicians and celebrity admirers reacting to the recent death of revered singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen included several '70s musicians, including Charlie Daniels, Paul Stanley, Bette Midler and Carole King. "Rest in peace Buddy, I learned a lot about music from you," Charlie Daniels tweeted on Nov. 11, while Paul Stanley posted "RIP Leonard Cohen. A poet, songwriter and rogue till the end. Hallelujah." Bette Midler tweeted "Leonard Cohen has died. Another magical voice stilled," while Carole King simply posted "R.I.P. Leonard Cohen." Cohen, whose "Hallelujah" was one of the most covered songs in modern music history," passed away on Nov. 7 at age 82. - Billboard, 11/10/16...... In a new interview with the Washington Post, Eagles co-founding member Don Henley has slammed the U.S. Copyright Office over the sudden replacement of Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante. In October, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced that Pallante would be removed from her position, a move that was met with dismay from many members of the music industry and creators' rights groups. "She was a champion of copyright and stood up for the creative community, which is one of the things that got her fired," Henley said of Pallante, before turning his attention to Hayden. "The Librarian wants free content, and the copyright office is there to protect creators of content. They are diametrically opposed ideologies... [Hayden] has a long track record of being an activist Librarian who is anti-copyright and a Librarian who worked at places funded by Google." In her position as Register, Pallante was seen as a generally fair and sympathetic figure when it came to expanding creators' rights, and advocated for updating many of the Copyright Office's tech-based policies. "There's a mindset that the digital giants have fostered that everything on the internet should be free," Henley told the Post. "When they say they want free and open access, that's code for, 'We want free content.'" Henley added that "you don't make any money from recording music anymore... The streaming services have wiped out that revenue stream." - Billboard, 11/10/16...... Kraftwerk could be forced to cancel a gig in Buenos Aires later in November due to a ban on electronic music events in the Argentinian city. In April, the city ruled to ban all electronic events after the deaths of six people at Time Warp festival. The local government said they would no longer approve permits for major electronic music festivals until a new law is introduced to prevent drug-related deaths at music events. The German electronic music pioneers had been scheduled to play Buenos Aires' Luna Park Stadium on Nov. 23. Kraftwerk have announced they'll tour the UK in 2017, and the band was also recently nominated for next year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. - NME, 11/10/16...... Actor Robert Redford has announced he will retire from acting once he completes the two movie projects he is working on. Redford, 80, made the announcement in an interview with his grandson Dylan Redford for the Walker Art Center, where he will appear at an event on Nov. 12. "Once they're done then I'm going to say, 'OK, that's goodbye to all that,' and then just focus on directing," he said. Redford has two acting projects in the pipeline including a love story for older people called Our Souls at Night with Jane Fonda and a lighter piece with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek called The Old Man and the Gun. Redford adds he will turn his attention to painting as a creative outlet. "It's just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching - that's sort of where my head is right now... So, I'm thinking of moving in that direction and not acting as much," he said. The veteran actor first directed in 1980 with Ordinary People, which won him a Best Director Oscar, and he is also the founder the Sundance Institute, which helps independent filmmakers and runs the annual Sundance Film Festival. - WENN.com, 11/11/16...... Actor Robert Vaughn, the debonair, Oscar-nominated actor whose many film roles were eclipsed by his hugely popular turn in the iconic '60s TV spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., died on Nov. 11 after a brief battle with acute leukemia, according to his manager, Matthew Sullivan. He was 83. Born Robert Francis Vaughn into a theatrical family Nov. 22, 1932, in New York City, Mr. Vaughn broke into show business "after a two month struggle" in 1956, and starred in his first movie, No Time to Be Young, in 1957 after he was discharged form the Army. He went on to appear in a number of movies and television shows, and earned an Oscar nomination in 1959 for his supporting role in The Young Philadelphians, in which he played a wounded war veteran accused of murder. He eventually landed a lead role as urbane superspy Napoleon Solo in NBC's The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which debuted in 1964. The show was an immediate hit, particularly with young people, and was part of an avalanche of secret agent shows (I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Secret Agent), spoofs (Get Smart), books (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) and even songs (Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man") inspired by the James Bond films. Mr. Vaughn's Napoleon Solo character was teamed with Scottish actor David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin, a soft-spoken, Russian-born agent, and the pair put aside Cold War differences for a greater good, worked together each week for the mysterious U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in combating the international crime syndicate THRUSH. After the show was canceled in early 1968 due to sagging ratings, Mr. Vaughn and McCallum reunited in 1983 for a TV movie, The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. in which the super spies were lured out of retirement to save the world once more. Mr. Vaughn, a liberal Democrat, was also drawn to politics in several of the roles he chose, portraying US presidents Harry S. Truman, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt in various screen and stage projects. Mr. Vaughn also remained active in movies in his later career, usually in character roles in such films as The Venetian Affair, The Bridge at Remagen, Julius Caesar (the 1970 British version starring Charlton Heston), The Towering Inferno, S.O.B., Superman III and Delta Force. Mr. Vaughn is survived by his wife, Linda Staab Vaughn, their son Cassidy and daughter Caitlin. - AP, 11/11/16.

Canadian poet/novelist/singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, a highly influential recording artist whose literate, evocative material was covered by many artists including Judy Collins and Jeff Buckley, died at his home in Los Angeles on Nov. 7. He was 82. Born in Montreal on Sept. 21, 1934, to a middle class family with Judaic roots, Mr. Cohen began studying music and poetry at a young age, taking up the clarinet but later turning his attention to writing as he grew older. After attending McGill University, Mr. Cohen published his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, and his first novel, Beautiful Losers, in 1966, and began to set his poems to music. When Judy Collins recorded his song "Suzanne" that same year, his solo career began to take off, and Columbia Records signed him and released his debut album, The Songs of Leonard Cohen, the following year. Full of haunting compositions which were well suited to his lugubrious, flat vocals, The Songs of Leonard Cohen was well received, as was its follow-up, Songs From a Room, though it didn't have the impact of its predecessor. Mr. Cohen then embarked on a series of live appearances in the U.S. and Europe, and for his first European tour in 1970, he employed a backing group called The Army which included his future producer, Bob Johnston, who also produced Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel. A reserved, slightly academic figure who was reportedly dismayed by the adulation fostered by live appearances, Mr. Cohen lacked the necessary stimulus to be a rock star, and his singles did not chart in the U.S. His 1971 release, Songs of Love and Hate, was a typical sparse and haunting collection that ranks among the most emotionally intense of his 13 studio albums, and perfectly captured his dramatic blend of folk and pop. In the mid-'70s, Mr. Cohen became a practicing Buddhist and spent time between 1994-99 secluded at a monastery in Mount Baldy, Calif. After the monastery years, Mr. Cohen's career was jump-started in 2001 when his backup singer Sharon Robinson released Ten New Songs, which was co-written by Mr. Cohen. In 2012, the masses finally began catching on with the release of his LP Old Ideas, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, and 2014's Popular Problems, which debuted at No. 15. Mr. Cohen began touring in earnest again in 2008, delivering generous, acclaimed shows that were chronicled on a series of concert albums and live videos. Mr. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 by Lou Reed, who lauded him as being mong the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters." Other honors include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, four Juno awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Acheivement Award in 2010. He was also awarded several literary prizes and honorary university degrees, and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award, in 2011. HIs romantic relationships included Marianne C. Stang (the subject of "So Long, Marianne"), artist Suzanne Elrod -- with whom he had son Adam and daughter Lorca but never married -- French photographer Dominque Issermann, and actress Rebecca De Mornay. Mr. Cohen's death was announced by his son and current producer, Adam Cohen, on Facebook on Nov. 10, who stated "We have lost one of music's most revered and prolific visionaries" and that his father "passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records... He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor." A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. - Billboard, 11/10/16.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on November 25th, 2016

Beloved TV and stage actress Florence Henderson, best known as the ever cheerful matriarch of the iconic '70s series The Brady Bunch, died unexpectedly of heart failure on Nov. 24 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 82. Born on Feb. 14, 1934 in Dale, Indiana, Ms. Henderson got her first big break on Broadway when she was just 18 after being cast in a lead role in the seminal musical "Oklahoma!" before moving on to productions of "The Sound of Music," "The King and I" and "South Pacific." But it was her role as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch, the innocent sitcom about a blended family, that made her a household name. The series, which aired from 1969 to 1974, returned to television in various forms again and again, including The Brady Bunch Hour in 1977, The Brady Girls Get Married in 1981 (a pilot to the short-lived Brady Brides series) and The Bradys in 1990. It was also seen endlessly in reruns. Ms. Henderson also joined the cast of the 1995 spoof The Brady Bunch Movie, playing Grandma Brady opposite Cheers star Shelley Long as Carol. Her 50+ year career in show business also included a stint as the first female guest host on The Tonight Show, and the release of a cookbook based on the cooking series Country Kitchen. Throughout her career, Ms. Henderson was also known for her philanthropy work, supporting causes including City of Hope and the House Ear Institute (she experienced sudden hearing loss in 1965, and underwent corrective surgery in both ears). In 2010, she competed on Dancing with Stars and was the fifth competitor to be voted off that season. She made a surprise appearance on the show this September, dressed up in character as Mrs. Brady, and was reportedly backstage when her fellow Brady Bunch actress Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady in the series, competed on Dancing With the Stars on Nov. 21. Ms. Henderson, who is survived by two daughters, two sons and five grandchildren, died surrounded by family and friends, her manager, Kayla Pressman, said in a statement on Nov. 24. "Florence Henderson was a dear friend for so very many years & in my heart forever. Love & hugs to her family. I'll miss u dearly #RIPFlorence," Maureen McCormick tweeted on Nov. 25. - USA Today/AP/Huffington Post, 11/25/16.

Pres. Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, to 21 groundbreaking musicians, actors, athletes, technological professionals, and others including '70s artists Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 22. Prior to the ceremony, the White House appraised Bruce Springsteen's contribution to the nation by describing him as "a singer, songwriter, and bandleader (who) more than five decades ago... bought a guitar and learned how to make it talk." "Since then," the statement continued, "the stories he has told, in lyrics and epic live concert performances, have helped shape American music and have challenged us to realize the American dream." Other honorees include actors Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks and Cicily Tyson, basketball greats Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Michael Jordon, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, comedian Ellen DeGeneres, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, broadcaster Vin Scully, and various scientists, educators and architects. Obama said the people receiving the medal all influenced him and his presidency in some way and "helped push America forward and inspired millions around the world." The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes especially meritorious contributions to the national interests of the United States, to its culture, or to other significant endeavors. - AP, 11/22/16...... "Hallelujah," perhaps the most well known song by late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Leonard Cohen, has debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the first time, at No. 59, following Cohen's death on Nov. 7. "Hallelujah" also entered Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart at No. 12 with 33,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Nielsen Music. It also drew 3.8 million U.S. streams in that period, a 279 percent increase. Cohen originally released the enduring anthem "Hallelujah" on his 1984 album Various Positions, and Jeff Buckley's 1994 cover of the song (itself inspired by a piano-led version by John Cale three years prior) and now considered by many to be the definitive take on the song, although it, too, wasn't a chart hit at the time and has yet to hit the Hot 100, although it has now appeared on the Digital Song Sales chart at No. 29. Cohen's most recent studio album, You Want It Darker, has also jumped from No. 48 to No. 7 on the Hot 200 albums chart, and his greatest hits album The Essential Leonard Cohen, has also debuted on the chart at No. 13 with 20,000 units and 11,000 albums sold. - Billboard, 11/21/16...... Released on Nov. 11, Pink Floyd's new massive 27-disc box set The Early Years 1965-1972 features unreleased outtakes and demos, TV appearances, seven hours of concert recordings, performances, interviews, over 20 unreleased songs, an updated version of their Zabriskie Point soundtrack and more. Fans have also discovered hidden tracks in the form of alternate mixes of the band's 1972 LP Meddle, inside the set's Blu-ray discs, although specialized software is needed in able to pull both the new stereo and 5.1 mixes of the album from the disc. The set charts the band's first seven years before their The Dark Side of the Moon commercial breakthrough, and also includes the song "Green Is The Colour," which was originally on their 1969 album Soundtrack From The Film More and recorded just after founding member Syd Barrett left the group. - NME, 11/19/16...... Sting was honored with an acheivement award during the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Nov. 20. The former Police frontman also performed a medley of his hits during the show, starting with his recent single "Can't Stop Thinking About You" from his new album 57th and 9th and running through his Police-era classics "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take." "American music lit the musical spark in my young mind," the 65-year-old Sting said while accepting his award. "This uniquely American experiment -- perhaps America's greatest and most influential export -- rock and roll." Sting has also notched his 11th solo Top 10 entry in the Billboard Hot 200 LP chart with 57th & 9th, at No. 9 with 28,000 units sold. Sting last hit the Hot 200 Top 10 with his 2010 album, Symphonicities. Meanwhile, Sting and Bruce Springsteen are slated to perform at the 2016 Rainforest Fund gala on Dec. 14 at New York's Carnegie Hall. - Billboard, 11/20/16...... Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, the Boss has announced he'll be hitting the road for another round of book signings for his just released memoir, Born to Run. The New Jersey rocker will launch a one-week tour beginning Nov. 28 at Books-A-Million in Chicago for a book tour that will stretch through Ohio (Cincinatti, 11/29), continue to Denver (11/30) and Austin, Tex. (12/1), and wind down at 2nd & Charles in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Dec. 2. All books will be pre-signed, and fans will be able to snap a photo with the 67-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. Tickets for all shows went on sale on Nov. 22 on the artist's Facebook Events page. Meanwhile, Springsteen has weighed in on the "Hamilton" Broadway show controversy in which the cast of show took to the stage after their Nov. 18 curtain call to address Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who attended the show. "We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us," cast member Brandon Victor Dixon. Springsteen and his wife Pattie Scialfa posed for a selfie on Nov. 20 in front of the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City where "Hamilton" is being presented, with Scialfa writing "looking for VP elect Pence #freedomofspeech." E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt -- while not disagreeing with the statement -- took to Twitter the next day to say the cast chose an "inappropriate" time to make their stand, and instead was "bullying" the politician. "You don't single out an audience member and embarrass him from the stage. A terrible precedent to set," Van Zandt posted. - Billboard, 11/20/16...... A terse letter written by John Lennon to Paul and Linda McCartney shortly after the breakup of the Beatles sold at auction for nearly $30,000 during a sale on Nov. 17 conducted by Boston-based RR Auction. RR says the letter is believed to have been written in 1971 in response to criticism Lennon received from Linda McCartney about his decision to not publicly announce his departure from the band. Filled with profanity and sometimes rambling, the letter reads "Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles? I don't believe you're that insane -- Paul -- do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up!" - AP, 11/21/16...... Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature on Oct. 13 but won't be attending the prize ceremony, will likely travel to Stockholm next year and might give his Nobel Lecture then, the Nobel Prize's Swedish Academy announced on Nov. 18. Dylan likely will give a concert in the Swedish capital, offering "a perfect opportunity to deliver his lecture," according to the academy. Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the academy, told a Swedish radio station that the Nobel Foundation's rules for laureate lectures are "flexible." Dylan can deliver his as "a written speech, a spontaneous discourse, a film" or another format of his choosing, said Danius. Dylan, 75, has said he cannot attend the Dec. 10 prize ceremony due to pre-existing commitments that, according to his Facebook page, are of a personal nature. Details about who will accept the award on Dylan's behalf are still unclear. - AP, 11/18/16...... Queen guitarist Brian May announced on his Facebook page that the mother of late Queen frontman, Jer Bulsara, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Nov. 13 at age 94. May called Mrs. Bulsera, who he says he had known for 50 years, "a warm and devoted mum to Freddie and, like Freddie, always had a strong twinkle in the eye." Bulsara and Mercury had a close relationship until his untimely death aged 45 from complications arising from AIDS. Speaking of her relationship with her "dear boy," she once told the UK paper The Telegraph: "I often told him I didn't like his clothes and dresses, and tried to get him to cut his hair, but he would explain it was something you have to do when you are in the pop world and gradually I learnt to accept it." Meanwhile, a new Freddie Mercury documentary, Who Wants to Live Forever, debuted on UK TV on the fourth weekend of November on Channel 5. The in-depth film explores Mercury's life from the summer of 1985 at the Live AID concert to the spring of 1987, when he was diagnosed with HIV. 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Mercury, who passed on Nov. 24, 1991. - New Musical Express, 11/19/16...... As the Rolling Stones prepare to release a new album of blues classics and deep cuts covers, Blue & Lonesone, on Dec. 2, frontman Mick Jagger says an album of new, original material that the band was originally working on when they veered off toward a blues album is still on the docket, but it could take a while. "I was working on it quite recently," Jagger told Billboard/ "We've got a long way to go, but I think it sounds really great and I'm looking forward to carrying on with that." Jagger says he hopes they might return to the new songs in 2017, and guitarist Ronnie Wood has also predicted they'll be back in the studio "next year." Keith Richards, however, was less definitive: "Well, man, you know, I'm not Nostradamus," he quipped. Blue & Lonesone will be the British rockers' first studio LP since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Meanwhile, Jagger reportedly left a huge tip for the staff at the upscale New York Chinese restaurant Philippe Chow when he and his entourage recently visited the eatery. According to TMZ.com, Jagger reportedly left a $500 tip for a $478 bill, as he and his friends ordered a hardy meal -- including lettuce wraps, tuna tartare, chicken satays and green prawns -- for starters. The party then moved onto an order of Mr. Cheng's Noodles and Peking duck, before finishing with Baked Alaska for dessert. Eyewitnesses say Jagger ate his meal quickly and was very polite to staff. - Billboard/WENN.com 11/17/16...... The Ford Motor Company and UAW-Ford have announced a $6 million investment towards a planned expansion of the Motown Museum in Detroit. "We are thrilled to play a role in the next chapter of a global music icon," said Joe Hinrichs, president, The Americas, Ford Motor Company. "The enhanced museum will not only upgrade the visitor experience, it also fits with our commitment to investing in the cultural heritage of Detroit and southeast Michigan." The Motown Museum is located in the Hitsville U.S.A. house where record company founder Berry Gordy launched his music empire in 1959. Scores of classic hits were created there before the label moved to California in 1972. Ford's donation is part of a $50 million upgrade that will create a new Ford-branded theater, space for interactive exhibits and a recording studio at the tourist attraction. - Billboard/AP, 11/18/16...... In related news, Motown icon Smokey Robinson was honored with the prestigious Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16. "Gershwin music was always on in our house. So for me to be even mentioned in the same breath as the Gershwins is just unbelievable," Robinson said. Robinson also performed a soul-stirring concert at the DAR Constitution Hall, which was packed with some of the U.S.'s most powerful politicians. The event was taped and will air on PBS stations across the US on Feb. 10. - Billboard, 11/17/16...... Country songwriter Mentor Williams, best known for penning Dobie Gray's 1973 No. 5 smash "Drift Away," passed away from undisclosed causes on Nov. 16. He was 70. The brother of singer/songwriter/actor and ASCAP President Paul Williams, Mentor was also known for co-writing such tunes as Randy Travis and George Jones' "A Few Ole Country Boys" in 1990, and Alabama's 1984 hit "When We Make Love." His best-known song by far, however, was Gray's "Drift Away," which has been covered by everyone from Waylon Jennings to Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Ray Charles and Roy Orbison -- as well as Uncle Kracker, who returned the song to the Billboard Top 10 in 2003 with his No. 9-peaking, Gray-assisted cover. Williams, a longtime resident of Taos, NM, also worked with, recorded and produced a number of other artists, including Paul McCartney, Kim Carnes and his brother Paul, and served as a staff writer at Almo-Irving in the 1960s. He was also a producer for the A&M, MCA and Columbia Records labels, and had a romantic relationship with country singer Lynn Anderson from the 1980s until her death in 2015. "Mentor was a proud and grateful member (of ASCAP). He will be so missed," Paul Williams tweeted on Nov. 16. - Billboard, 11/17/16...... Canadian guitarist/songwriter Doug Edwards, a former guitarist with the bands Skylark and Chilliwak who penned Skylark's mega-hit "Wildflower," has died at his home in Vancouver after a long illness. He was 71. Born in Edmonton in 1946, Edwards moved to Victoria at age 15 and took up guitar and electric bass. He then moved to Vancouver and, within 18 months or so, was touring with the Fifth Dimension as their guitarist, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and opening for Frank Sinatra. In 1970, Edwards teamed with Dave Richardson, a Saanich police officer, to write "Wildflower," which became a gold record in Canada, went to No. 9 on the U.S. Billboard chart, and was covered by more than 75 artists from crooner Johnny Mathis to rapper Drake. "'Wildflower' is one of the most performed songs in the history of Canadian popular music," notes the website of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. "Wildflower" has also been used to treat female military personnel suffering from PTSD and sexual assault, and has been used to help suicidal addicts recover. Edwards, a session musician for six decades who underwent triple bypass heart surgery on Feb. 1 and then went into cancer treatment, also recorded or performed with Ann Mortifee and Olivia Newton-John, and on TV shows with Tom Jones, Paul Anka and Wolfman Jack.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on July 30th, 2022

The unnamed woman who in 2021 accused Bob Dylan of sexually abused her as a child in 1965 permanently dropped her case on July 28, a day after Dylan's attorneys accused her of destroying key evidence and "irretrievably compromising the integrity of the case." The woman had claimed Dylan abused her over a six-week period in 1965, leaving her "emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged. Dylan's lawyers quickly called the case "false, malicious, reckless and defamatory and a "brazen shakedown masquerading as a lawsuit." At the July 28 hearing, the plaintiff -- identified only as J.C. -- suddenly asked the federal judge overseeing the case to dismiss it "with prejudice, meaning it will be permanently closed and cannot be refiled." The move came after "J.C." was accused of deleting key messages and threatened with monetary sanctions. "This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place," said Dylan's lead attorney Orin Snyder of the law firm Gibson Dunn. "We are pleased that the plaintiff has dropped this lawyer-driven sham and that the case has been dismissed with prejudice," he added. J.C.'s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment. - Billboard, 7/28/22...... "Silver Bird," a solo effort by Paul Revere & The Raiders' frontman Mark Lindsay in 1970, has returned to the Billboard charts after being featured in the new Netflix film The Gray Man. According to LyricFind.com, "Silver Bird" saw lyric usage and search boosts of 16,186% and 16,071% globally and in the U.S., respectively, following the movie's July 22 premiere. The song, which is available for streaming on Spotify.com, is expected to make multiple Billboard charts dated Aug. 6 following sales gains for the song in the July 22-28 tracking period following The Gray Man's premiere. "Silver Bird" was originally released in 1970, peaking at No. 25 in Aug. 1970 and becoming Lindsay's second top 40 hit as a soloist, His best, "Arizona," peaked at No. 10 in Feb. 1970, and he achieved five top 10s and one No. 1 -- "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" -- as part of Paul Revere & the Raiders. - Billboard, 7/28/22...... Former Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth has shared a new VH tribute song, "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway," on YouTube. The track is the latest in a series of songs that Roth recorded with Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 several years back but only began releasing in 2020. "We laughed, we cried, we threw the television off that balcony," Roth sings on the song, seemingly in reference to his band's antics that mirror Led Zeppelin's and the Rolling Stones' infamous rock star stories. Roth had several stints as singer in Van Halen from 1974-2020. Posting on Instagram, John 5 said: "I remember being in the studio with Dave cutting this track -- it was magic, one of my fondest memories. I've loved Van Halen my whole life and that will never change @davidleeroth." "Nothing Could Have Stopped Us Back Then Anyway" follows another track, "Pointing At The Moon," from the same sessions which was released earlier this summer. In 2020, Roth shared "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar & Grill" in tribute to Eddie Van Halen after he died. - New Musical Express, 7/28/22...... As the credited featured guitarist on Ozzy Osbourne's new single "Patient Number 9," Jeff Beck has garnered his first ever No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. His logged his previous best when "People Get Ready," with Rod Stewart, reached No. 5 in 1985. With 37 years, one month and two weeks between his first week on Mainstream Rock Airplay and his first No. 1, Beck also has the record for the longest wait between a first appearance and first ruler. "Patient Number" is in its fifth week at No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, which began in 1981. Ozzy's new studio album Patient Number 9 will drop on Sept. 9. In other Ozzy-related news, his son Jack Osbourne and his fiance, Aree Gearhart, announced the birth of their first child on July 27 in an Instagram post. "I'm very happy to announce Maple Artemis Osbourne!," Jack wrote, noting that his daughter was born on July 9 and weighed just over 7 pounds. "Aree and Maple are doing great and are happy and healthy." While it's Gearhart's first child, little Maple is Jack Osbourne's fourth, joining his three daughters -- Pearl, 10, Andy, 6 and Minnie, 4 -- with ex-wife Lisa Stelly. - Billboard, 7/28/22...... The Kinks have announced a 50th anniversary twin deluxe reissue of their 1971 and 1972 LP's, Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody's In Showbiz. Muswell Hillbillies, the band's 10th album, was released in 1971 and marked a new chapter for the English rockers. They signed a new record deal with RCA, looked back on their London upbringing, and began to turn their attention to US audiences. Its 1972 follow-up, Everybody's In Show-Biz, explored band's long months on tour in the U.S. The double album's second half showcased live recordings from a show at the iconic New York venue Carnegie Hall. With Everybody's In Show-Biz approaching its 50th birthday in August, the band have celebrated the occasion with a dual reissue box set, Muswell Hillbillies / Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star, that's set for release on Sept. 9. The announcement comes alongside the release of "Celluloid Heroes (US Single Version 2022 Edit)" on Spotify.com. - New Musical Express, 7/28/22...... In other Kinks-related news, guitarist Dave Davies has revealed he is "optimistic" about a Kinks reunion in the near future. Speaking to Britain's The Independent paper, Davies said he is hopeful the band may get back together in time for the 60th anniversary of their breakthrough hit "You Really Got Me" (1964) in two years time. While the group have never formally split, brothers Dave and Ray Davies have had a difficult relationship over the years. When asked about the possibility of a reunion for that with brother Ray, he said: "I hope so! I do. Ray and I have spoken about it - it's possible!" He went on to say that after years of difficult sibling rivalry, their relationship was healing. "We get on okay," he told the publication. "We talk about football! We're born-and-bred Arsenal fans... So, yeah, I'm optimistic about the future." The brothers performed together for the first time in almost 20 years in 2015, when Ray joined Dave on stage in London for a rendition of "You Really Got Me." Dave released his new autobiography, Living on a Thin Line, on July 7. - NME, 7/26/22...... A new Leonard Cohen tribute album, Here It Is, is slated for an Oct. 14 release with contributions from the likes of Iggy Pop, Norah Jones, Peter Gabriel, Mavis Staples, Sarah McLachlan and James Taylor, whose hushed version of Cohen's 1984 track "Coming Back to You" is out now. "When Larry Klein invited me to participate in a Leonard Cohen tribute album, I accepted immediately," said Taylor in a statement in reference to the album's producer. "For the project, I was drawn to a relatively obscure piece that was new to me, 'Coming Back To You'.... Like so much of Leonard Cohen's writing, this lyric resonates deeply with his forlorn and hopeless take on the bleak landscape of love and attachment," he added. The 12 songs on the album cover the contemplative crooner Cohen's romantically fraught tone poems about love, death and everything in between, from his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen through is final effort, You Want It Darker, released just days before his death in 2016 at age 82. - Billboard, 7/28/22...... Brian Eno previewed his 22nd studio album, FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE, on July 28 by sharing its first single, "There Were Bells," on YouTube. The 10 track record was made at Eno's studio in West London and, according to a press release, he sings vocals on the majority of tracks for the first time on an album since 2005's Another Day On Earth. "There Were Bells" was written by Eno for a performance by him and his brother Roger at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Acropolis, in Aug. 2021. Eno recalled how it was 45 degrees in Athens on the day of the concert with wildfires raging just outside the city -- something that prompted his introductory comment. "I thought, here we are at the birthplace of Western civilisation, probably witnessing the end of it," he noted. "There Were Bells" is described as proving "a poignant reminder of the current climate emergency, a theme that is explored throughout the album." Earlier in 2022, Eno also released an exclusive collaboration with former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe on Earth Day to help raise awareness of climate change. - NME, 7/28/22...... Jackson Browne made a joyous return to New York's Beacon Theatre on July 26 -- the first of a four-night stand at the New York venue. Dressed in black and sporting a gray beard that he has grown in recent years, Browne introduced his environmentally themed song "Downhill From Everywhere" by saying, "So, we've been having some strange weather.... I mean, the entire world is having strange weather." It is the title track of his 2021 album from the beloved singer/songwriter who, among many other things, has been on the front lines of climate activism for decades. Further on in his set, Browne brought forth his 1974 classic "Before the Deluge," singing of dreamers on "the brave and crazy wings of youth" who were "angry at the way the earth was abused" -- who nonetheless responded with the call: "Let the music keep our spirits high." These songs, recorded decades apart, were just two highlights of the California born musician's joyous return to one to one his favorite venues, in a year that marks the 50th anniversary of his debut album. "I love the Beacon," said Browne -- despite contracting COVID-19 previously at the hall, he acknowledged. His affection extended to the city outside. "I just dig how resilient New York is," he added. For the show's penultimate encore, Browne beautifully reclaimed the Eagles hit "Take It Easy," which he co-wrote with late Eagles member Glenn Frey, noting he "didn't sing this song for many years" after his friend Frey's death. Browne and his 8-piece band looked back with reflection and ahead with optimism with the closing encore of "Load Out" and "Stay" (the latter a fitting tribute to the resilience of touring musicians at this stage in the pandemic). - Billboard, 7/27/22...... Bruce Springsteen's manager Jon Landau responded to criticism about high ticket prices for Springsteen's upcoming 2023 world tour in a statement to the New York Times. "In pricing tickets for this tour, we looked carefully at what our peers have been doing. We chose prices that are lower than some and on par with others. Regardless of the commentary about a modest number of tickets costing $1,000 (£828) or more, our true average ticket price has been in the mid-$200 (£165) range. I believe that in today's environment, that is a fair price to see someone universally regarded as among the very greatest artists of his generation," Landau said. Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing" model responds to demand and so increases or decreases prices in line with what "scalpers" -- a person who re-sells a ticket for profit -- would sell them for, keeping the money in-house for the seller and artist. The system also sees increase with demand for certain "platinum tickets," which are placed throughout each venue. Ticketmaster had previously defended the model saying that only 11.2% of the Springsteen tickets sold were platinum, and only 1.3% were $1000 (£830) or more. They also said the average price for a Springsteen ticket was $262 (£217). - New Musical Express, 7/27/22...... The trailer for director Brett Morgen's upcoming David Bowie biopic, Moonage Daydream, has been shared on YouTube and promises a technicolor, career-spanning look at the life of the late rock and roll innovator. Narrated by Bowie, the 2-minute trailer opens with the singer intoning, "you're aware of a deeper existence, over an image of a far-away galaxy while a ghostly voice asks, "Are you there David? As the acoustic strumming of his iconic 1969 classic "Space Oddity" swells up, Bowie adds, "maybe a temporary reassurance that indeed there is no beginning, no end... and you find yourself struggling to comprehend a deep mystery." Moonage Daydream, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May is slated to hit theaters around the world on Sept. 16. In other Bowie-related news, the dates for the second international David Bowie fan convention have been announced. Held in New York City, the event will take place from June 17-June 18, 2023 at the venue Terminal 5, and coincides with both the 40th anniversary of the release of Bowie's album Let's Dance and the 50th anniversary of the release of Aladdin Sane. It follows the inaugural David Bowie fan convention held in Liverpool in June. More than 1,500 fans from across the globe gathered to listen to talks by the late musician's collaborators as well as to watch performances and get dressed up for the "Bowie Ball." - Billboard/NME, 7/27/22...... Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks fans can now be the proud owner of a new Stevie Nicks-themed comic book. TidalWave Comics announced on July 26 that it is adding Nicks to its popular "Female Force" series, which focuses on impactful women around the world. Female Force: Stevie Nicks is a 22-page comic book that details the animated life and career of Nicks, as told by author Michael Frizell and artist Ramon Salas. The book is available in print and digital formats. The hardcover design was created by famed comic book artist Yonami and the paperback cover was drawn by Salas. Previous "Female Force" titles have profiled other megastars including Dolly Parton, Donna Summer, Tina Turner, Betty White, Michelle Obama, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Gloria Steinem. - Billboard, 7/26/22...... Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford says he's a "bit pissed" about getting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's "Musical Excellence Award" as opposed to just going "Welcome. You're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame' and leave it at that." Judas Priest is the second band to receive the award for musical excellence; the E Street Band was the first. Priest are not among the 2022 class of Hall Of Fame performer inductees, which include Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie and Carly Simon. In a recent interview with AZ Central, Halford admitted to his mixed feelings about not getting honored in the performers category. "I was a bit pissed. At the end of the day, does it matter?" he shared. "Some days, I go, 'No, it doesn't matter. We're in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Be grateful. Shut the hell up.'" Halford continued: "It's as though we got this far. We're, like, one step away, you know? I know it's silly, but it's just frustrating. Judas Priest are still the Rodney Dangerfield of heavy metal. They can't get no respect." The 37th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place on Nov. 5 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, with a radio simulcast on SiriusXM's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame radio channel. The event will also air a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max. - Billboard, 7/26/22...... Reprise Records has announced a new Joni Mitchell box set featuring four of her '70s albums recorded for the Asylum Records label will drop on Sept. 23. The Asylum Albums 1972-1975 is the latest installment in Mitchell's archive series and features versions of For The Roses (1972), Court And Spark (1974), as well as the double live album Miles Of Aisles (1974) and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (1975). It is the third installment of the Mitchell archival series, following Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) and Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971). On July 24, Mitchell surprised the crowd at Newport Folk Festival when she joined Brandi Carlile on stage for two songs. The pair sang Mitchell's classics "Both Sides Now" and "A Case Of You," released in 1966 and 1971, respectively. She also played the guitar solo from her 1974 song "Just Like This Train." - NME, 7/29/22...... According to the New York Post's Page Six column, Elton John and Britney Spears have recorded Elton's classic 1972 track "Tiny Dancer" together as a duet, sending a shockwave of excitement through the Britney Army at the prospect of new music from their queen in more than six years. "The way I'm praying to the Gods above that #tinydancer is true, that @eltonofficial and @britneyspears are duetting," one fan tweeted, while another commented, "Tiny Dancer is the perfect song for Britney, cause she's tiny and a dancer." If the report is, in fact, true, the collaboration would be the pop princess' first new music since the release of her 2016 studio album Glory. The duet would also mark Spears' official return to music since the end of the 13-year legal conservatorship that controlled every aspect of her life from 2008 to late 2021. While Spears returned from her honeymoon earlier in July with husband Sam Asghari following their exclusive, star-studded wedding, she also recently treated fans to a grown up, a cappella rendition of "Baby One More Time" on Instagram. Meanwhile, Sir Elton earned his biggest hit in decades in 2021 by teaming up with Dua Lipa for "Cold Heart (PNAU Remix), which ultimately peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 36 weeks atop the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. "Tiny Dancer, originally included on John's 1971 album Madman Across the Water, was released as a single in 1972 and peaked at No. 41 on the Hot 100. - Billboard, 7/25/22...... Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse announced on July 23 he has officially quit the band to care for his wife, Janine, who has aggressive cancer. "I wish to thank the listeners who so strongly supported live music and turned every show from a dress rehearsal to a thundering, exciting experience. I'll miss everybody in the band and crew but being Janine's helper and advocate has made a real difference at many key points," Morse posted to Twitter. "As Janine adjusts to her limitations, she is able to do many things on her own, so we will try to play some shorter nearby concert tours with friends to, hopefully, get both of us out of the house!," he added. Morse confirmed in March that he'd be temporarily stepping away from live duties, claiming at the time he was "not leaving the band" and told fans he hoped to "re-join the tour" at some point. Simon McBride replaced Morse in Deep Purple's live line-up. In his tweet, Morse said, "I know Simon has the gig nailed already, but I'm now handing over the keys to the vault which holds the secret of how Ritchie [Blackmore]'s 'Smoke on the Water' intro was recorded. I guess you have to jiggle the key just right because I never got it open." Morse joined Deep Purple back in 1994. He has written and recorded eight studio albums with the band including their latest and 21st full-length effort, 2021's Turning To Crime. - NME, 7/23/22...... In a new interview with Deadline.com, director Peter Jackson revealed that he's working on a "very different" Beatles project with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Jackson last worked with the pair on the Emmy-nominated documentary series The Beatles: Get Back, which was released in November of 2021. "I'm talking to The Beatles about another project, something very, very different than Get Back," Jackson said. "We're seeing what the possibilities are, but it's another project with them. It's not really a documentary... and that's all I can really say... We are never in a position where we have to do anything, but we've got a few things percolating." While Jackson wasn't able to share too many details, he did suggest that his vision for the project will require technology to improve. "It's so technically complicated I'm trying to work how exactly I'll do it," he said. "It's a live-action movie, but it needs technology that doesn't quite exist at the moment, so we're in the middle of developing the technology to allow it to happen." - NME, 7/22/22...... '70s reggae icon Jimmy Cliff is returning to music with a new single and album. Cliff teamed up with Wyclef Jean for the new track "Refugees", which was released on July 22. It is the title track for Cliff's first album in over a decade, which will be released on Aug. 12. With both a Dance Version and Rap Version, "Refugees" captures the spirit of Jimmy's classic output with a hip-hop twist courtesy of Fugees co-founder Jean. The son continues the creative connection between the pair after Wyclef inducted Jimmy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Jimmy, 77, said of the new track: "I'm very proud of this, because it sees Jimmy Cliff in a new musical direction. I'll always go into something new. Even though 'Refugees' is a heavy title, you're going to be moving your feet, because it's on the dancefloor. There we go. I love it." Wyclef commented: "For me, coming to America wasn't easy when I first got here. Having family members who suffered political torment, it wasn't easy for us. When I say 'Fugees', 'Fugees' is short for 'Refugees'." - Music-News.com, 7/29/22...... Actor/director Tony Dow, best known for portraying Wally Cleaver on the 1950s and 1960s sitcom Leave It To Beaver died on July 27 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 77. Dow had been in hospice care and announced in May that he had been diagnosed with prostate and gall bladder cancer, and his death was confirmed by Frank Bilotta, who represented Dow in his work as a sculptor. A post on Dow's Facebook page on July 26 prematurely reported that he had died, but his wife and management team later took down the post and explained that it was announced in error. Dow's Wally was an often annoyed but essentially loving big brother who was constantly bailing out the title character, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, played by Jerry Mathers, on the show that was synonymous with the sometimes hokey, wholesome image of the 1950s American family. Dow was born and raised in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles -- his mother was a stuntwoman who acted as a double for silent film star Clara Bow -- but his parents did not push him into show business. He had done just a little stage acting and appeared in a pair of pilots. After attending an open casting call, he landed his career-defining role as Wally. Dow would play the part for six seasons and more than 200 episodes from 1957 to 1963 on primetime on CBS and ABC, then for more than 100 episodes in the 1980s on a syndicated sequel series. "Tony was not only my brother on TV, but in many ways in life as well. He leaves an empty place in my heart that won't be filled," Mathers said in a Facebook post upon learning of Dow's passing. "Tony was always the kindest, most generous, gentle, loving, sincere, and humble man, and it was my honour and privilege to be able to share memories together with him for 65 years," he added. Dow would appear as a guest star on other TV series throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, including My Three Sons, Dr. Kildare, Adam-12, Emergency, Square Pegs and Knight Rider. He took a break from acting to serve three years in the U.S. National Guard in the late 1960s. From 1983 to 1989, amid a cultural craze for nostalgia television, Dow reprised the role of Wally in The New Leave it to Beaver. Along with appearances in later years at pop culture conventions, often alongside Mather, Dow worked as an artist, gaining a sterling reputation as a sculptor. He began writing and directing episodes of that series, and would work as a director in television throughout the 1990s on shows including Coach, The New Lassie, Babylon 5, Harry and the Hendersons and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dow's death leaves Mathers and Rusty Stevens, who played Beaver's friend Larry Mondello, as the only surviving members of the show's core cast. Cleaver patriarch Hugh Beaumont died in 1982, and Barbara Billingsley, who played mother June Cleaver, died in 2010. Ken Osmond, who played Wally's best friend Eddie Haskell, died in 2020. Dow is survived by his wife Lauren and two children. - AP, 7/27/22...... Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, died on July 27 in Los Angeles of natural causes. He was 87. Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Mr. Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride. Mr. Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H's 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He also directed 31 installments of the acclaimed CBS comedy, wrote three and acted in one. Seven of his Emmy noms came for outstanding comedy series; incredibly, he never won once. M*A*S*H, he once said, "is not your typical military sitcom, and I think there has always been that dedication and that kind of aspiration to doing something above the norm. And fortunately, the chemistry of the people involved, the writers, actors, producers, directors, has been of the caliber that has allowed this to happen, where everybody just had a pride in what they were doing." Mr. Metcalfe also was an executive producer on the 1983-85 follow-up AfterMASH, starring Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr and William Christopher. He segued to Warner Bros. Television in the mid-1980s before joining MTM Enterprises in 1986. - The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Metcalfe is survived by his wife of 43, actress Jan Jorden, who had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on M*A*S*H. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/29/22...... Acclaimed thespian Paul Sorvino, the burly character actor who made a career out of playing forceful types, most notably the coldhearted mobster Paulie Cicero in Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas, died at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., on July 25 of natural causes. He was 83. During a solid career that spanned a half-century, Mr. Sorvino portrayed James Caan's bookie in The Gambler (1974), Claire Danes' pushy father in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet (1996), Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995) and a strung-out heroin addict in The Cooler (2003). He played a founder of the American Communist Party in Warren Beatty's Reds (1981) and worked alongside the actor-director again in Dick Tracy (1990), Bulworth (1998) and Rules Don't Apply (2016). A respected tenor who realized a dream when he performed for the New York Opera at Lincoln Center in 2006, the Brooklyn native also starred for a season as Det. Phil Cerretta, the partner of Chris Noth's Det. Mike Logan, on NBC's Law & Order. In 1973, Mr. Sorvino received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as the unscrupulous Phil Romano -- one of the four former high school basketball players who reunite to visit their old coach -- in the original Broadway production of "That Championship Season." Still, Mr. Sorvino is probably best known for his turn as Cicero, who loved a good meal and sliced his garlic with a razor blade, in the ultra-violent GoodFellas (1990), which Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese adapted from Pileggi's 1986 nonfiction book. A commanding 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds in his prime, Mr. Sorvino also played men on the wrong side of the law in The Panic in Needle Park (1971), William Friedkin's The Brink's Job (1978), The Rocketeer (1991) and The Firm (1993). "There are many people who think I'm actually a gangster or a mafioso, largely because of Goodfellas, he once said. "I suppose that's the price you pay for being effective in a role. Sorvino married his third wife, Dee Dee Benkie, a GOP strategist and former aide to Pres. George W. Bush, in 2014. They had met on Fox News Channel's Your World With Neil Cavuto. He had dealt with health issues the past few years, she said, and will be interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. "Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage," Mr. Sorvino's Oscar-winning actress daughter Mira Sorvino posted on her Twitter account. Survivors include his other children, Amanda and Michael, and five grandchildren. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/25/22.

Spotted at the famous San Diego Comic-Con event on July 22, Ozzy Osbourne appeared to be in good spirits as he promoted his new Patient Number 9 comic book with comics mogul and filmmaker Todd McFarlane. "It's great. I love to see people, you know," Osbourne told Entertainment Tonight in a short interview which has been shared on YouTube. "I've been trying to recover from my surgery," said the shock rocker, who acknowledged that his recovery has been going well. "I'm getting there. It's a slow climb back," he added. In a statement in June, the former Black Sabbath frontman said he was "now home from the hospital recuperating comfortably... definitely feeling the love and support from all my fans and send everyone a big thank you for their thoughts, prayers and well-wishes during my recovery." Ozzy's upcoming studio album Patient Number 9 will drop on Sept. 9. Its title track recently debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Hard Rock Songs Chart. - Billboard, 7/23/22...... Despite being recently announced as one of the headline performers of the annual Farm Aid concert, Neil Young says he's not yet ready to play concerts yet because he doesn't think it's safe in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Young recently responded to a fan's excitement of the news that he'll be joining Farm Aid co-founders Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and others for the 2022 edition of Farm Aid on his website. "I will not be at Farmaid this year," Young replied. "I am not ready for that yet. I don't think it is safe in the pandemic. I miss it very much." Young, who has not performed in public since 2019, doubled down on comments he made in Dec. 2021 when he said he wouldn't be returning to touring until Covid-19 was "beat" and the pandemic was over. "I don't care if I'm the only one who doesn't do it," he said during an interview with Howard Stern. In 2021 he also called on promoters to cancel "super-spreader" gigs during the pandemic. "The big promoters, if they had the awareness, could stop these shows," he wrote in a blog post on his site. "Live Nation, AEG, and the other big promoters could shut this down if they could just forget about making money for a while." - New Musical Express, 7/25/22...... Meanwhile, Young's former Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate David Crosby has been called an "unkind schmuck" for criticizing a fan's artwork depiction of him on Twitter. Crosby tweeted a blunt response to fan DJB Sackett's artwork which depicts a profile of Crosby: "That is the weirdest painting of me I have ever seen. Don't quit your day job," he wrote earlier in July. Crosby has since received backlash from people supporting Sackett and his art, with one Twitter user posting: "This is the weirdest reaction to a fan trying to do something nice I have ever seen. Don't quit your day job, David Crosby but maybe stop being an unkind schmuck on Twitter." Another twitter user wrote: "David Crosby's shitty attitude towards a fan who took time to create a piece of fan art highlights a very real issue, that many people in similar positions as him don't care about hurting others. Don't let a decrepit voice like his stop you from sharing your authentic selves." Sackett then tweeted a thank you to "all the new followers and those who took the time to leave comments" and shared other examples of his artwork. This is not the first time Crosby has been embroiled in online controversy -- in 2021 the musician criticized Phoebe Bridgers' decision to wreck her Danelectro guitar during her debut SNL performance: "Guitars are for playing ..making music," adding that he "really does NOT give a flying F if others have done it before ..It's still STUPID." In response, Bridgers labelled Crosby "a little bitch." - NME, 7/19/22...... Joni Mitchell treated fans to a rare live performance during Brandi Carlile's set at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island on July 24. The music legend surprised fans when she joined Carlile for a rendition of Mitchell classics "Both Sides Now," which has been shared on YouTube, as well as "A Case of You," which can also be streamed on YouTube. Mitchell, 78, also played the guitar solo from her 1974 song "Just Like This Train" as a visibly emotional Carlile was seated beside her. It was her second time appearing at the legendary three-day festival since 1968, and marked her second public performance of 2022. In April, she appeared at the MusiCares' 2022 Person of the Year gala to accept the titular honour at the event, and celebrated with renditions of her 1970 classics "Big Yellow Taxi" and "The Circle Game," joined by Carlile, Beck, Cyndi Lauper, Stephen Stills, Jon Batiste and more. That was her first live performance since 2013 when she'd given two impromptu performances at events where she'd been invited to recite poetry. Prior to that, her last live shows were in 2002, two years after she retired from touring. - NME, 7/25/22...... Bruce Springsteen fans had a rough introduction to the world of Ticketmaster's new Verified Fan platform to buy tickets for his upcoming tour with the E Street Band, experiencing sticker shock at the cost of the best seats. Those prices -- which climbed into the thousands of dollars --- represented about 1% of the tickets listed on the Ticketmaster Verified Fan sale, but they became a sore point for fans who felt that they no longer had a shot at great seats after years of loyalty to the Boss. By selling high-priced platinum tickets, Ticketmaster argues, the company can prevent the best seats from being bought and resold by scalpers. That money can instead go to Springsteen. However, this only works when the tickets cost enough to prevent scalpers from making a profit. Early numbers for the ticket sales reportedly show that less than 10% of tickets sold for the five concerts that went on sale that ended up on the secondary market -- lower than average -- and that despite complaints about four-figure prices, only 1% of tickets were above $1,000. For Springsteen's 2023 U.S. tour, the mean average price for most tickets was $213, a 33% increase from Springsteen's 2016 tour, where tickets were an average of $159 a piece when factoring in inflation. Despite some outrage over prices, fans bought up the 75,000 to 80,000 tickets on sale on July 20 for concerts in Florida, Oklahoma and Colorado. Based on the ticket price, Springsteen stands to earn about $4 million per show and as much as $120 million for the U.S. leg of the tour. For years Springsteen fans have said they felt that they always had a shot at buying front-row tickets for less than $200, but over the years it became almost impossible to compete with the increasingly sophisticated operations of scalpers, which deploy bots and code to buy up the best tickets in seconds. As a result, Ticketmaster, which itself operates one of the world's largest resale marketplaces, has advised artists to raise the price of seats that would be most appealing to the secondary market. Springsteen has yet to publicly address the controversy. - Billboard, 7/22/22...... '70s R&B legend Gladys Knight and the mega-selling Irish band U2 are among the recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honorees in 2022. Knight is the fifth Motown Records alumnus to receive the honor, following Stevie Wonder (1999), Smokey Robinson (2006), Diana Ross (2007) and Lionel Richie (2017). In 2021, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. was saluted. Knight's vocal group Gladys Knight & the Pips had a long string of hits on Motown, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)." U2 is the fifth band to receive the honor, following The Who (2008), Led Zeppelin (2012), Eagles (2016) and Earth, Wind & Fire (2019). Before 2008, the Kennedy Center Honors focused entirely on individuals. Brian Wilson was honored rather The Beach Boys, for example. U2 consists of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. The 45th edition of the prestigious awards, presented for lifetime artistic achievements, will be held on Dec. 4, on the Opera House stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on CBS at a later date as a two-hour prime-time special and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. Also being honored that night will be actor-director George Clooney and Cuban-born composer, conductor and educator Tania Len. - Billboard, 7/21/22...... John Lennon's son Julian Lennon has revealed the important reason why he changed -- or at least rearranged -- his legal name from "John Charles Julian Lennon" to "Julian Charles John Lennon." "It was in 2020, just before we all got locked in a cage that I finally actually decided to legally change my name... the crap that I had to deal with when traveling and security companies and this and that and the other," the 59-year-old singer-songwriter explained in an appearance on the Word in Your Ear podcast. "It became really uncomfortable over the years because I've always been known as Julian and so it [being called John] never felt like it was me," he said. Lennon added that the name change has opened up "a whole other world for him." "Not that I'm ashamed or have disrespect. I needed to be me. I needed to finally be heard as Julian. This is what Julian does, not 'John's son', so that has been a part of the path and... it just made sense for me," he mused. In addition to simply rearranging his name to " respect the legacy and the wishes of his parents," Lennon has become a successful singer and songwriter in his own right. Over the course of his career thus far, he has released six studio albums, four of which charted on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart including 1984's Valotte (No. 17). On the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, he's notched several hits including the top 10 hits "Valotte" (No. 9) and "Too Late for Goodbyes" (No. 5). - Billboard, 7/21/22...... Lennon's fellow '80s hitmaker Pat Benatar says she is still refusing to sing her signature hit "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" amid the endless gun violence in the U.S. despite negative reaction from fans. "We're not doing 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' and fans are having a heart attack and I'm like, I'm sorry, in deference to the victims of the families of these mass shootings, I'm not singing it," she said in a new interview with USA Today. "I tell them, if you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it. [The title] is tongue in cheek, but you have to draw the line. I can't say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can't. I'm not going to go on stage and soap box -- I go to my legislators -- but that's my small contribution to protesting. I'm not going to sing it. Tough," she added. Benatar is, however, performing a cover of the Beatles "Helter Skelter" on the tour. When asked why, she replied, "Because I want to have some fun! We're doing a lot of songs we don't always play like 'In the Heat of the Night' and 'I Need a Lover.'" The Gun Violence Archive has counted at least 356 mass shootings in 2022. 692 mass shootings were recorded in 2021, with 28 involving four or more fatalities. - Billboard, 7/21/22...... The cause of the recent death of actor James Caan on July 6 at age 82 has been revealed. According to documents obtained by TMZ.com on July 23, he suffered a fatal "heart attack" as well as from "coronary artery disease." The site went on to claim that the Hollywood star also suffered from "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" -- which is also known as COPD -- as well as congestive heart failure. Caan has since been laid to rest at Eden Memorial Park in California and is survived by his five children Tara, 57, Scott, 45, Alexander, 31, James, 26, and Jacob, 23 -- who he has from various relationships -- but his second and last wife Sheila passed away back in 2012 after a battle with cancer at age 59. Caan made his final movie appearance in the upcoming action thriller Fast Charlie alongside former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. It is due to be released in March 2023. - Bang Showbiz, 7/23/22...... In a new interview with Britain's MOJO magazine, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Joan Jett said she was "disappointed" that her '70s band The Runaways had so many male fans. Jett, now 63, was joined in the band by Sandy West, Micki Steele, Cherie Currie and Jackie Fox, says she wanted to appeal to women equally but could understand why their female followers would be hesitant to mix with "leering" guys in the crowd. "I was disappointed to a degree that the audience was full of guys leering -- but I also understood why. I guess that had to be kind of scary for girls to go in there and watch to a degree -- I wasn't in the audience but I can only imagine the guys had quite an... energy about them out there," she said. Joan felt it was important for her group to "give a voice" to unrepresented young women and got frustrated by the double standards that she faced. "Teenage girls think about sex, teenage girls talk about sex and just because it makes society uncomfortable doesn't mean they're going to stop. So you need to give voice to that because boys have a voice, being able to sing about their puberty, growing up, all that stuff. Mick Jagger can ride out on an inflatable penis... Not that I need to come out on an inflatable vagina -- but I'm just saying I should be able to do it. As a kid, that's what bugged me the most - the unfairness of it. It's the principle. It's the f------ principle." - Music-News.com, 7/24/22...... Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla Presley has responded to criticism by a number of Black artists in the past that Elvis had racist tendencies. "He was not a racist - he's never been a racist," Priscilla told host Piers Morgan on his TalkTV's Piers Morgan Uncensored show. "Elvis had friends, Black friends, friends from all over. He loved their music. He loved their style. He loved being around, you know, Black musicians." She cited Elvis' friendships with Fats Domino and Sammy Davis Jr, saying that they would "always come into the dressing room" when Elvis was performing in Las Vegas. "He was just not prejudiced in any way, and not racist in any way. So I don't know [how he would fare against 'cancel culture']. This is a very frightening time... it's almost like we're looking for something from everyone." In 2021, Quincy Jones, who has made some controversial statements of his own, said that he wouldn't have worked with Presley, claiming he "was a racist." Priscilla also explained that Elvis "wouldn't believe" what's going on in the US currently: "It's truly baffling. For the first time, I'm worried about my future -- for not only my children, [but for] my grandchildren as well. I don't know what happened to freedom. I don't know if there is freedom here [in the US] anymore. No one says what side they're on, Republican or whatever you want to be... being very careful what you say, how you say it. I think we're in a very dangerous time. He [Elvis] wouldn't believe it. He was a die-hard American; he was America." - NME, 7/21/22...... In other Elvis-related news, actress and performer Shonka Dukureh, who played Big Mama Thornton in the new Presley biopic Elvis, was found dead on July 21 in a bedroom at her home in Nashville, Tenn., police said. She was 44. Dukureh, a Fisk University graduate and Nashville singer, shared the apartment with her two young children, police said. One of the children found her unresponsive and went to the apartment of a neighbor, who called 911 shortly before 9:30 a.m., police said. The actor, who also shared the stage at Coachella this year with Doja Cat, had a theater degree from Fisk and graduated from Trevecca Nazarene with an education degree. In a recent interview, Dukureh said she taught second grade for a while and then worked with inner city youth through after-school and summer programs. She said those students reached out after seeing her in Elvis. - Billboard, 7/21/22...... Michael Henderson, bassist for such music legends as Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder and later as a hit R&B singer/songwriter/producer in his own right, died on July 19 at his his Atlanta home following an undisclosed illness. He was 71. Born on July 7, 1951 in Yazoo City, Miss., Henderson first staked his claim as a teen wunderkind/session musician in Detroit in the '60s. In addition to touring with Wonder, Henderson played for many of the biggest Motown acts in the late '60s, including The Four Tops, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas and Gladys Knight & the Pips -- as well as Aretha Franklin The Dramatics. In 2018's Take Me I'm Yours: Michael Henderson - The Buddah Years Anthology, Henderson noted that he took up the bass guitar because of legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson. He also recalled meeting Miles Davis following a Wonder show at New York City's Copacabana club in 1970. And that's when Davis told Wonder, "I'm taking your f----- bassist." Said Henderson in the liner notes, "I was shocked that he said that to Stevie." In the years since then, Henderson remained a concert draw. Of his storied 50-year career, the bassist noted in his anthology: "This is what I do. I signed up for this some 50 years ago, but I'm a youngster compared to a lot of these guys who are still out there. Basically, we're just big kids. And that thing that was in your eye then -- that spirit -- never leaves you." - Billboard, 7/20/22...... Maverick filmmaker Bob Rafelson, who worked with Jack Nicholson on seven feature films, produced the classic movie The Last Picture Show, and was the co-creator of the hugely successful '60s group The Monkees, died on July 23 of natural causes at his home in Aspen, Col. He was 89. Mr. Rafelson directed Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces in 1970, which earned him Oscar nominations for co-writing and producing, and then, for an encore, produced director Peter Bogdonavich's acclaimed breakthrough hit The Last Picture Show in 1971. Along with his late partner Bert Schneider, Rafelson created The Monkees, the touchstone NBC show that debuted in 1966. He conceived the idea of a program that mimicked the exuberance of The Beatles, specifically the freewheeling energy of their 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. Though it lasted only two seasons and 58 episodes, it became a pop-culture phenomenon (and brought Rafelson and Schneider an Emmy in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series). In addition to guiding the sitcom as a producer and then executive producer, Mr. Rafelson directed several episodes. He also is credited with writing two of the shows that revolved around the group performing on tour. After Mr. Rafelson and Schneider's production company Raybert Productions produced the disappointing Monkees movie Head, their second film was 1969's Easy Rider, which rocked Hollywood and American pop culture when it hit theaters in summer 1969. Celebrating the free-spirited, drug-loving morés of the '60s generation and also starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as drug-dealing hippies, Easy Rider was embraced by young filmgoers. Produced for less than a half-million dollars, it became the No. 3 grossing film of the year and made a star of Nicholson. Other films directed and/or produced by Mr. Rafelson include the Oscar-winning antiwar documentary Hearts and Minds; Drive, He Said (1971); The King of Marvin Gardens (1972); Stay Hungry (1976) and a remake of the 1942 MGM melodrama The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), which starred Nicholson and Jessica Lange. Later directing efforts included Black Widow (1987), starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell; the adventure tale Mountains of the Moon (1990); two more films starring Nicholson, Man Trouble (1992) and Blood and Wine (1997); and No Good Deed (2002). In 1983, he helmed the music video for Lionel Richie's mega-hit "All Night Long (All Night)." He is survived by his son, songwriter Peter Rafelson, who penned the 1986 Madonna hit "Open Your Heart," sons Ethan and Harper, daughter-in-law Karen, and a nephew. - The Hollywood Reporter, 7/24/22.

Favorite Seventies Artists In The News

Posted by Administrator on December 22nd, 2022

Documentaries produced in 2022 on '70s artists David Bowie and Leonard Cohen are among the 15 documentaries that were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Documentary Film on Dec. 21. Moonage Daydream explore's the creative and musical journey of David Bowie, while Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, A Song looks at the life of Leonard Cohen through the prism of "Hallelujah," one of the most beloved songs of modern times. Although among the 144 films eligible, a film about Don McLean's "American Pie" failed to make the shortlist. Members of the documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Meanwhile, Star Wars composer John Williams made the shortlist of 15 original scores that are vying for Best Film Score. If nominated, Williams' score for the Steven Spielberg-directed The Fabelmans would be his record-extending 48th nomination in an Oscar scoring category, and should he win, the 90-year-old Williams would become the oldest winner in any competitive category. Nominations for the 95th Oscars will be announced on Tuesday Jan. 24, 2023. The telecast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will take place on March 12, 2023, airing live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. - Billboard, 12/21/22...... Ozzy Osbourne has earned four Grammy nominations for his 2022 album Patient Number 9, and tells Billboard that the nods were an unexpected, yet welcome, surprise. "The whole thing shocked me," Ozzy says. "I mean, if I won anything for the album I'll be floored. That's what I like about the business. It's never short of -- I love surprise." Osbourne has been nominated for Best Rock Album for Patient, which topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart in September. He's also nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, for the LP's title track which features Jeff Beck, as well as Best Metal Performance for "Degradation Rules" with his former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi. Although Ozzy admits he "isn't good at making speeches," he's "sure my wife (Sharon Osbourne) will have it worked out. Behind me is my wife. My wife pulls my strings." Speaking of Sharon, the 70-year-old music manager and TV personality has returned home after being hospitalized in Ventura, Calif. on Dec. 16. Sharon experienced an unspecified medical emergency while filming the family's Travel channel series The Osbournes: Night of Terror, according to an Instagram post by her son Jack Osbourne. "She has been given the all clear from her medical team and is now home," Jack wrote. "As to what happened to my mum -- I'm gonna leave it to her to share about when she is ready." Sharon revealed in Nov. 2012 that she had undergone a double mastectomy due to her predisposed risk for breast cancer. In 2002, she underwent surgery for colon cancer, and her health journey was featured on the family's MTV unscripted series, The Osbournes. - Billboard/The Hollywood Reporter, 12/21/22......Theodora Richards, the daughter of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and his wife, Patti Hansen, celebrated the 39th anniversary of her parents on Dec. 19 with a photo posted on Instagram from Keith and Patti's 1983 wedding alongside a photo taken in the present day in which they recreated a kiss from their nuptials. "My parents had a party where we celebrated my dad being another year older and that my parents have been married for 39 years," Theodora posted. "We've been through a lot but the love is so strong and powerful that it carries us forever forward on a cloud of compassion and courage. I love you mom and dad. You guys are my inspiration," she added, also wishing her dad, who turned 79 on Dec. 18, a happy birthday. Richards also took to Instagram to share a photo from his wedding to Hansen, which featured him serenading her with a guitar while she was in her gown. "Happy Anniversary, Patricia. Love, Keith. @pattihansen," the rocker captioned the sweet black-and-white picture. Richards and Hansen met in 1979 and tied the knot on his 40th birthday in 1983; they welcomed daughters Theodora and Alexandra Nicole in 1985 and 1986, respectively. In related news, Shirley Watts, the wife of late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, died on Dec. 16 at her home in Devon, UK, after a short illness. She was 84. "We will miss you so much, but take comfort that you are reunited with your beloved Charlie," Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood wrote on Facebook. While Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards all have had multiple wives and girlfriends, Charlie and Shirley Watts remained together for more than 50 years, until Charlie died in 2021. Their only known crisis happened in the mid-1980s, when Charlie struggled with heroin addiction, a time he would later say nearly cost him his marriage. He was otherwise regarded as so devoted to his wife, and daughter Seraphina, that journalists essentially left him alone. The London-born Shirley Ann Watts, a former art student and prominent breeder of Arabian horses who met drummer Charlie Watts well before he joined the Rolling Stones, reportedly "died peacefully surrounded by her family." - Billboard/AP, 12/19/22...... In a new rare interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bob Dylan hit out against modern TV, saying he only watches the British soap opera Coronation Street, the BBC One detective series Father Brown, and the classic TV series The Twilight Zone. When asked what form of technology he uses to relax, and whether he enjoys streaming on Netflix, Dylan said that even "two or three hours" of binge watching is too much for him. "Coronation Street, Father Brown, and some early Twilight Zones," Dylan named as shows he has enjoyed bingeing. "I know they're old-fashioned, but they make me feel at home. I'm no fan of packaged programs or news shows. I never watch anything foul-smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting, nothing dog ass." In the same interview, Dylan said he was a fan of fellow musicians Eminem and Wu-Tang Clan, as well as Royal Blood, Celeste, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. Although he says he does listen to some music via online platforms, he much prefers vinyl, CDs, and radio. "Everything's too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that's all it takes. We've dropped the coin right into the slot," he said. "It's all too easy, too democratic. You need a solar X-ray detector just to find somebody's heart, see if they still have one." Dylan is currently promoting his new book The Philosophy Of Modern Song, which contains commentary on 66 songs by other artists. - New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 12/20/22...... Paul McCartney has shared new reflections on the "magical" experience of headlining the Saturday night edition of the UK's Glastonbury 2022 festival on the BBC's website. Sir Paul reflected on the experience and shared new backstage photos from the night, alongside footage of his band rehearsing ahead of the set. He wrote: "Festivals are special, but Glastonbury is particularly so and it's a big event in lots of people's year. Because it had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, it became more important to pull it off. I'd asked Bruce Springsteen in 2020 if he'd be happy to come onboard and he said yes, and he kept his promise two years later. So that was very exciting, having him and Dave Grohl up on the stage." Of the Glastonbury atmosphere, he added: "It's a pretty impressive scene for people in the audience, but we get the whole view up on the stage with the flags and the hills going back forever, so it was quite a big deal that they said yes to joining me in that experience. Of course, up on stage I can't really see people's reactions but I love to hear them because I've found myself doing that at concerts. I went to see James Taylor once and started blubbing because it was just so lovely! I was thinking, 'Oh, I love this guy' -- I'm getting emotional even now! It's a magical thing, knowing music can do that to people." Macca continued, "We're the only animal on the planet that does that. Then you've got the spirituality of the place, knowing about the ley lines and everything else. When you have an event like Glastonbury and everyone comes together with good vibes and energy, I'm very happy to be part of that." Meanwhile, authors Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair have discovered unpublished contracts in the archives of a university in the United States which appear to show that the producers of the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die wanted McCartney to sing the movie's theme song (which he also composed), despite McCartney and producer George Martin both telling the story that the film's producers wanted to replace Paul with a female singer on the track, assuming that the version presented to them was just a demo. "Martin wouldn't have been familiar with the terms of that contract, but Paul certainly would have," Kozinn says. "One of the things we discovered is that, if it's a good story, Paul will go with it. He didn't have any reason to assume that anybody would see that contract." - NME, 12/20/22...... While a number of musicians including Elton John, Trent Reznor, Moby, Jack White, Liz Phair and Toni Braxton have stepped away from Twitter since its takeover by controversial billionaire Elon Musk, Dionne Warwick says she wants to have a conversation with the new Twitter CEO to get an understanding of his intentions for the popular social media platform. "I have to meet him," Warwick, a beloved figure on Twitter who just celebrated her 82nd birthday, recently told People magazine. "I know a lot of people have walked away from Twitter. That's prior to knowing exactly what he's going to do. He's new to the game. His attitude is freedom of speech, which is mine as well. However, there's a way to do it," she added. "That's one of the conversations I'm going to have with him," said Warwick, whose documentary Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over will be aired on CNN on New Year's Day (and will be available on streamer HBO Max after that). "What is your true intent? I understand your freedom of speech attitude but how are you going to contain it, so it does not get out of hand?," Warwick added. On Dec. 18, Musk tweeted a poll, asking users to decide if he should step down as head of Twitter. "I will abide by the results of this poll," he wrote. The results: More than half (57.5%) of the 17.5 million people to respond voted that he should step down. In a back-and-forth with followers on Sunday, Musk commented that any prospective new CEO "must like pain a lot" to run Twitter, which "has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy." Rapper Snoop Dogg also polled Twitter on Dec. 18, musing whether he should be the one to take over the job of CEO. Over 2.3 million users responsed, with 81% -- or approximately 1.7 million users -- voting that the rap giant should be the new Twitter CEO. - Billboard, 12/19/22...... The musical stage adaptation of director Cameron Crowe's '70s-themed film Almost Famous will play its final Broadway performance on Jan. 8, the production announced on Dec. 19. The musical began previews at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Oct. 3 and opened on Nov. 3. The closing notices of "Almost Famous" as well as other productions including "KPOP" and "Ain't No Mo" come as tourism remains down in New York and as Broadway shows grapple with higher running costs and changing audience behavior. "Almost Famous" also received mixed to poor reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney highlighting its "infectious energy" while asking, "Did it need to become a stage musical? Debatable." Grosses have been fairly average, with the musical bringing in $765,060 in the week ended Dec. 11, but while playing to theaters at 74% capacity. "'Almost Famous', like the music it celebrates, will endure," said producers Lia Vollack and Michael Cassel. "We look forward to the release of the cast recording on March 17, and to the many productions in communities across the country and world, for years to come," they added. The musical features a story based on a book by Crowe, a score by Tom Kitt, direction by Jeremy Herrin and choreography by Sarah O'Gleby. - The Hollywood Reporter, 12/19/22...... Stevie Wonder presented his annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater on Dec. 17 to a sold-out audience with special guests Trombone Shorty, Gregory Porter and Jody Watley. Now in its 24th year, the event featured Trombone Shorty who had attendees second-lining a la his native New Orleans when he joined Wonder onstage for an exuberant romp through Stevie's 1976 hit "Sir Duke." Prior to that, Jody Watley took fans on her own nostalgia tour, performing her 1989 R&B/pop hit "Real Love" before segueing into a classic from the traditional holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas, "Christmas Time Is Here." However the night belonged to Wonder, as the Motown legend gave as good as he got from an already enthusiastic audience that became more ecstatic each time he sat down at the keyboards or piano and simply sang. Early in the show, he boosted the festive spirit already resonating around the venue when he performed "What Christmas Means to Me," singing to the original instrumental track recorded back in the '60s. Wonder also celebrated the 50th anniversary of his 1972 album Talking Book. Beginning with "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," he then saluted his late ex-wife and co-writer Syreeta Wright ("Such a wonderful spirit") with the moving "Blame It on the Sun" before closing the Book suite with an emotional turn on "You and I (We Can Conquer the World)." Before walking offstage to "Another Star," a smiling Wonder said, "I wanted to give you all everything I could give you ... I love you; God bless you -- and we are done!" House Full of Toys, presented through Wonder's nonprofit We Are You Foundation, benefits children, people with disabilities and families in need with concertgoers donating an unwrapped toy. - Billboard, 12/18/22...... Billy Joel informed his fans on Twitter on Dec. 18 that he's been forced to cancel his last concert of 2022 due to sickness and has been advised to rest his voice. "I'm disappointed to share that I'm under doctor's orders for vocal rest due to a viral infection so unfortunately, I must postpone my Monday, December 19th concert at Madison Square Garden to June," Joel wrote on his Twitter and Instagram pages. "I'm so sorry to let you know so close to show day, but I was hoping to be closer to a full recovery by now," he added. "Sadly, that hasn't happened. I look forward to seeing you in the New Year." An additional update from a spokesperson for Joel that was posted on his official website confirms that the Dec. 19 concert is currently rescheduled for June 2, 2023, and is "subject to change if it conflicts with a playoff game." Joel's upcoming list of tour dates can also be viewed on his Twitter post. - Billboard, 12/18/22...... Pink Floyd have quietly uploaded 18 archival live albums from before the band's Dark Side Of The Moon era -- as well as a five-song EP of "alternative tracks" from 1972 -- to streaming services. All 18 of the live albums are pulled from concert recordings over the year of 1972, when the prog-rockers were touring in support of their sixth and seventh albums -- Meddle (1971) and Obscured By Clouds (1972), respectively -- and, most notably, road-testing and refining songs from the following year's seminal Dark Side Of The Moon album. Six of the concerts were performed in the UK -- the first at the Southampton Guildhall on January 23, 1972, then four back-to-back shows at London's Rainbow Theatre over Feb. 17-20, and finally another London show (this time at Empire Pool in Wembley) on Oct. 21. Elsewhere, three of the albums were tracked at shows that Pink Floyd played in the US (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles), another three come from shows in Japan, two each come from shows in France and Germany, and the last two come from the band's respective shows in Belgium and Switzerland. Meanwhile, the compilation EP -- titled simply Alternative Tracks 1972 -- comprises trance remixes of "Any Colour You Like" and a mash-up of"'Speak To Me" and "Breathe (In The Air)," a demo version of "On The Run," and "ultra rare alternative versions" of "Us And Them" and a reprisal mash-up of "Time" and "Breathe (In The Air)." Pink Floyd made a similar move exactly a year ago, uploading 12 rare concert recordings -- spanning January of 1970 to November of 1971 - to streaming services on Dec. 16, 2021. With these new 18 album going live recently, last year's batch were deleted from the band's streaming catalogue. It's unknown if they plan to have these be similarly limited -- none of the band's members have spoken publicly about the release. 2022 has been a busy year for Pink Floyd, starting with the release of their Ukraine benefit single, "Hey Hey Rise Up," back in April (with a subsequent CD and vinyl release). September then saw the long-awaited release of Pink Floyd's Animals remaster, four years after it was first announced. A month prior, it was reported that Pink Floyd would be selling their back-catalogue for £400 million. - NME, 12/18/22...... A private jet owned by Elvis Presley will be auctioned off in January. The King bought the 1962 Lockheed JetStar in 1976 for $840,000 -- the equivalent of $4.4 million in today's dollars. It seats nine and has a Kenmore microwave and a TV with a VCR on board. - People, 12/19/22...... Kim Simmonds, founder of the British blues-rock band Savoy Brown died on Dec. 13, according to a statement released by the band on Twitter. He was 75 years old. "Kim Simmonds passed away peacefully in the evening of December 13th -- may he rest in peace. You've gone away/ We'll get by somehow/ Just right now/ All we can do is cry," the group shared. "Please note one of Kim's last requests was to thank the fans of Savoy Brown -- your support was and shall always be immensely appreciated." While Simmonds initially formed The Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 with singer Brice Portius, bassist Ray Chappell, drummer Leo Mannings, keyboard player Trevor Jeavons and harmonica player John O'Leary, he remained the sole constant member of the band throughout nearly six decades of lineup changes. Throughout their career, the band released more than 40 studio albums -- with 1972's Hellbound Train their best seller in the US at No. 34 -- and their two most recent -- Ain't Done Yet and Taking the Blues Back Home: Live in America -- arrived in 2020. In August, Simmonds announced that he had been fighting stage 4 colon cancer -- specifically, a a rare form called signet cell colon cancer -- for more than a year. He noted that the chemotherapy he was receiving had made it difficult for him to play his instrument due to the side effect of "peripheral neuropathy which has now deadened the nerves in my fingers and hands (feet too)." At the time, Simmonds explained that his type of cancer "is rarely found early enough to provide a chance for cure, and occurs in less than one percent of cases." - Billboard, 12/19/22...... Rick Anderson, bassist and founding member of the San Francisco-based rock band The Tubes, died on Dec. 16, according to a statement shared by the band on Instagram. He was 75. "We lost our brother on 12/16/22," the band captioned a series of photos on Dec. 18. "Rick brought a steady and kind presence to the band for 50 years. His love came through his bass. RIP." The statement did not offer any additional details regarding Anderson's death, which comes eight months after the April passing of Tubes member Re Styles, who sang with the group. The Tubes formed on March 22, 1972, in San Francisco, and was the combined forces of two Phoenix bands that came from the city to California in 1969. The first band, called The Beans, included Anderson as well as other members Bill Spooner, Vince Welnick and Bob McIntosh. The second band, the Red White and Blues Band, featured members Prairie Prince, Roger Steen, and David Killingsworth. With The Tubes, Anderson opened for Led Zeppelin in 1973. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman was instrumental in helping the band get signed, suggesting to the group's A&R to pitch to his own solo label, A&M Records. After getting signed, The Tubes released its self-titled debut album in 1975. Tracks "White Punks on Dope" and "What Do You Want From Life?" became staples in the band's catalogue, with the former being covered by Mötley Crüe in 2000. - Billboard, 12/20/22...... Terry Hall, the charismatic lead vocalist of British ska revivalists The Specials, has died at 63. The band announced Hall's death on Instagram on Dec. 19, revealing that the singer died after an undisclosed "brief illness." "It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced, the band said in a statement. "Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life & the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity." One of the leading lights of the late '70s British ska revival, The Specials (originally billed as Special AKA) formed in Coventry, England, in 1977, with Hall replacing original singer Tim Strickland in the group notable for its multiracial makeup. Coinciding with the burgeoning "Rock Against Racism" movement in the U.K. at the time, the band members made a statement in their rude boy two-tone suits and porkpie hats and blasted out of the gate on their Elvis Costello-produced self-titled debut on their 2 Tone label, which featured their signature cover of Dandy Livingstone's 1967 single "A Message to You Rudy." Terence Edward Hall was born on March 19, 1959, in Coventry and began his singing career in local punk bands as a teenager before joining The Specials and splitting vocal duties with the excitable Neville Staple. Among those paying tribute to Hall on social media include Staple, Costello, Billy Bragg, Boy George, Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin. - Billboard, 12/20/22...... Charlie Gracie, an early rockabilly singer and guitarist best known for his 1957 No. 1 pop hit "Butterfly" and who influenced a generation of 1960s rock stars, died of as yet undisclosed causes on Dec. 16. He was 86. Mr. Gracie's death was confirmed by ABKCO Records, which is home to the catalog of Cameo Records, the Philadelphia label that Gracie recorded his biggest hits for. The South Philadelphia native, born Charles Antony Graci on May 14, 1936, was discovered by Cadillac Records owner Graham Prince after the then 15-year-old singer performed on a local radio show, leading to a series of early singles ("Rockin' n' Rollin'," "Boogie Woogie Blues," "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" and a deal with Cameo, which released his breakthrough 1957 Billboard No. 1 pop chart hit and signature tune, the rockabilly burner "Butterfly." The song led to tours with Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley and Eddie Cochran, as well as a starring role in the 1957 musical romance Jamboree as himself. The hits continued apace, with late 1950s charting tracks including "Fabulous," "Ninety-Nine Ways" and "Cool Baby" charting in the U.S. and England, where Mr. Gracie would take his place as an early influence on a generation of soon-to-be global superstars. Following his run on Cameo, Mr. Gracie cycled through a series of smaller label homes and kept touring for the next 50+ years, including opening a handful of dates for Van Morrison on his 2000 U.S. West coast tour and releasing his last album, Angel on My Shoulder, in 2015. He was also the subject of a PBS documentary, Fabulous!, in 2007. - Billboard, 12/19/22...... NFL legend Franco Harris, the Pittsburgh Steeler eternally known for his "Immaculate Reception" during an AFC Divisional NFL football playoff game in Pittsburgh on Dec. 23, 1972, died on the morning of Dec. 21. He was 72, just two days before the 50th anniversary of his legendary catch. Harris' son, Dok, told the AP that his father died overnight, and no cause of death was given. Harris ran for 12,120 yards and won four Super Bowl rings with the Steelers in the 1970s, a dynasty that began in earnest when Harris decided to keep running during a last-second heave by Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw in a playoff game against Oakland in 1972. "That play really represents our teams of the '70s," Harris said after the "Immaculate Reception" was voted the greatest play in the league's first 100 years in 2020. While the Steelers fell the next week to Miami in the AFC championship, Pittsburgh was on its way to becoming the dominant team of the 1970s, twice winning back-to-back Super Bowls, first after the 1974 and 1975 seasons and again after the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Born in Fort Dix, N.J., on March 7, 1950, Harris played collegiately at Penn State, where his primary job was to open holes for backfield mate Lydell Mitchell. The Steelers, in the final stages of a rebuild led by Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll, saw enough in Harris to make him the 13th overall pick in the 1972 draft. Despite all of his success, his time in Pittsburgh ended acrimoniously when the Steelers cut him after he held out during training camp before the 1984 season. Noll, who leaned on Harris so heavily for so long, famously answered "Franco who?" when asked about Harris' absence from the team's camp. Harris signed with Seattle, running for just 170 yards in eight games before being released in midseason. He retired as the NFL's third all-time leading rusher behind Walter Payton and Jim Brown. "I don't even think about that (anymore)," Harris said in 2006. "I'm still black and gold." Harris remained in Pittsburgh following his retirement, opening a bakery and becoming heavily involved in several charities, including serving as the chairman of "Pittsburgh Promise," which provides college scholarship opportunities for Pittsburgh Public School students. "From his rookie season, which included the Immaculate Reception, through the next 50 years, Franco brought joy to people on and off the field. He never stopped giving back in so many ways. He touched so many, and he was loved by so many," team President Art Rooney II said in a statement. - AP, 12/20/22.

Elton John has shared his favorite music from 2022 on his Apple Music 1 Rocket Hour radio show, which airs live on Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. GMT. Sir Elton included his best-of-the-year picks in a playlist as a way to round off the year, with tracks by Burna Boy, Let's Eat Grandma, Marcus Mumford, Stormzy, Oliver Slim, Cat Burns and The Linda Lindas making the list. "With the Rocket Hour we just try and give people exposure by playing and interviewing them. It's something I've been doing now for over six years. I haven't grown tired of it. I love it," John said. "The new music makes me feel fantastic. It inspires me. So I have to thank all the new artists, and all the old artists that we play on the show, because we don't just play new artists. But every week that I do the show is such a pleasure for me, so thank you," he added. Meanwhile, as the 75-year-old musician seeks new ways to connect with fans as he looks ahead to the end of his touring life in Sept. 2023, he has announced he's teamed up with Roblox for a 10-minute virtual live experience called "Elton John Presents: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road." Elton says he thinks the metaverse is "perfect" for the next stage of his career: "Throughout my career, I've always been interested in finding new ways to connect with my fans worldwide. As I finish touring, Roblox and the metaverse are perfect for this next stage of my life; it's a new, innovative way for me to express my love of music, fashion, and the limitless creativity that comes from both." Elton added he was introduced to the platform by his and husband David Furnish's young sons, Zachary, 11, and Elijah, nine, and he's very excited about what he can do with it. He told Hype Beast: "I was first introduced to the platform through my two sons and thought it was incredibly inspiring; I had never seen anything like it!" - New Musical Express/Music-News.com, 12/16/22...... Actress Daisy-Edgar Jones, who gained notoriety starring in the 2020 Irish romantic psychological drama Normal People, is set to play legendary singer-songwriter Carole King in a new King biopic titled Beautiful. "Daisy has a spirit and energy that I recognised as myself when I was younger," King told Variety of Edgar-Jones' casting in the film. "She's a tremendous talent and I know she's going to give a great performance." Beautiful features many of King's hits, including "One Fine Day," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "I Feel The Earth Move," "You've Got A Friend And More" among many others, and producer Sony has obtained rights to use both King's songs and life rights for the artist and others featured in the show. The film is set to be directed by Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are Alright, Laurel Canyon, Cavedweller), from a script by Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg. Edgar-Jones most recently starred in Sony's Where The Crawdads Sing, based on the 2018 book by Delia Owens. - NME, 12/16/22...... Ozzy Osbourne has narrated the opening to a new holiday charity single by Evamore called "The Christmas Time." Ozzy speaks for the nearly three-minute long intro to the song, which features musical accompaniment from Pink Floyd and ex-Duran Duran members and has been shared on YouTube. Evamore is a concept band created by The Evamore Project "to record unique, atmospheric songs utilising narrative, lyrics and musicianship to convey true stories," and "The Christmas Time" is its latest work for the UK's Cancer Awareness Trust. The organization premiered the song on its website ahead of the song's release, and it has since been shared on the organisation's cancer resource website and app The Cancer Platform alongside information on how to show your support. "This Christmas Time" was recorded at Abbey Road, and features Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Andy Taylor (ex-Duran Duran), and Noddy Holder (Slade), among others. The Cancer Platform is a free-to-use global website and app for everyone affected by cancer that puts trusted information, services and products all in one place. The full platform will launch in 2023. - NME, 12/16/22...... The Rolling Stones announced on Dec. 16 that they'll be livestreaming a star-studded 2012 gig to celebrate the release of their forthcoming GRRR Live! concert album. The show, which took place in December 2012 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., was originally broadcast as the pay-per-view event The Rolling Stones: One More Shot. It has now been re-mixed and re-edited for a new release, which will be released as a double-album CD and a triple-album vinyl on Feb. 10. GRRR Live! will also be released on DVD and Blu-Ray. The show was notable for its long list of special guests, including Lady Gaga, The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and Gary Clark, and on Feb. 2, 2023 the entire show will be broadcast online via live stream company Kiswe, marking the first time that it'll be available to watch in more than a decade. A trailer for GRRR Live! has been shared on YouTube. - NME, 12/16/22...... Rod Stewart, who was previously married to actress Alana Collins from 1979 to 1984 and to model Rachel Hunter between 1990 and 2006, has revealed his current wife, model and TV star Penny Lancaster, is his first spouse to go through menopause while still married to him. Stewart, who married Lancaster in 2007, told Reader's Digest that "I hadn't seen (the menopause) before because my marriages didn't last that long. So Penny was the first." Stewart, now 77, recalled how his 51-year-old current wife would get into "blinding fits of rage" while battling her symptoms. "One night she threw utensils, so me and the boys (Alastair, 17, and Aiden, 11) gave her a hug -- and since then she has worked to let people know what it is," he revealed. Rod, who supports Penny's Let's #ChatMenopause campaign to raise awareness of menopausal symptoms, went on to encourage other men to help their partners who are going through those hormonal changes. "Men have to understand, and not just go down the pub," he said. - Music-News.com, 12/14/22...... The Pretenders have announced a short, intimate UK tour for Independent Venues Week in early 2023. Chrissie Hynde & Co.'s run of gigs kicks off at The Deaf Institute in Manchester on Feb. 5, 2023 before stops in Newcastle (Feb. 6), London (Feb. 7), Brighton (Feb. 9) and Bristol (Feb. 10). On May 25, they'll play Stornoway's Lewis Castle. The Pretenders are due to release their 12th album, Relentless, also in 2023. No release date has been given for the follow-up to 2020's Hate For Sale. Hynde last released her own work in 2021 with Pretenders' lead guitarist James Walbourne. Standing In The Doorway is a cover album of Bob Dylan songs. - NME, 12/15/22...... Cher has provided more info on the death of her actress/singer mother, Georgia Holt, on Dec. 10. After posting that her mom wasn't able to "sleep very well," Cher tweeted that she had "The truth.... She's been Sick & rallying, she then got bad, She was in so much pain. Finally she coded on way to [the hospital]. By time we Got to Hosp....The Woman who Who Was MY KICK A- MOM was No [longer] Here." Cher, 76, did not reveal any additional details surrounding her mother's illness. Cher added that she isn't sad about mother's passing because it "set her free" from her pain. "I'm not sad.... We set her free. She is no longer crying out in Pain 24/7. She is her happy,funny, Insane, beautiful Self (sic)." Born Jackie Jean Crouch in 1926, Ms. Holt appeared in several TV shows and films in the 1950s, including an episode of I Love Lucy in 1956. Cher is the daughter of Holt and John Sarkisian, who died in 1985. - Billboard/Music-News.com, 12/14/22...... Speaking of Cher, the "Believe" singer and Bee Gee Barry Gibb are among those intrigued by ABBA's Voyage hologram show, currently showing at a purpose-built arena in Stratford, east London. The younger selves of Bjorn Ulvaeus and his bandmates, Agnetha Flatskog, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, have been turned into "Abba-tar"s (holograms) for the experience and some of their contemporaries including Cher and Gibb are now said to be considering having their own hologram show. "I know Barry Gibb has been to see it," Ulvaeus told Radio Times magazine. "I hear rumours about Metallica. I don't think Mick Jagger has been yet, but he has said something about it. Cher was going. So many of my contemporaries are now thinking, 'Is there a way we can do it?'" The 90-minute show features pre-recorded ABBA classics mixed with the band's new numbers such as "Don't Shut Me Down." ABBA played their last concert just over 41 years ago. - Music-News.com, 12/13/22...... Sting, Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, Dave Matthews, Brad Paisley, Susanna Hoffs and the Jonas Brothers are among the performers in an upcoming televised tribute to Paul Simon. The 81-year-old music legend and songwriting genius will be saluted by the Grammys and a star-studded bill of artists, who performed at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles back in April for the pre-recorded Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon. Special appearances included Simon himself, Sofia Carson, Herbie Hancock, Woody Harrelson, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John and Oprah Winfrey. The special will air on CBS on Dec. 21 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT and will also be available for live stream and on demand on Paramount+. - Music-News, 12/14/22...... '70s glam rocker Gary Glitter will reportedly be released from jail within the next few months after serving half of his 16-year sentence. Glitter, real name Paul Gadd and now 78 years old, who was imprisoned in England in 2015 for sex offences on three girls between the ages of eight and 13, is also set to be electronically tagged as part of his release conditions, according to Britain's The Sun newspaper. The Sun reported on Dec. 16 that Glitter may move back into his London apartment as he still has a fortune in the bank from his '70s glam rock hits. "[He] has kept his nose clean in prison and toed the line and now his sentence is almost over," a source told the paper. "The nature of his determinate sentence means the case won't go to the Parole Board. It simply means that as soon as his sentence is over, he is free to walk out of the prison gates," the source added. It is thought Glitter could be freed as early as February. "Sex offenders released from prison are closely monitored by the police and Probation Service and may be recalled to jail if they breach strict licence conditions," the UK Ministry of Justice was quoted in the paper. The publication said the Parole Board confirmed it would not be considering his case, but added Glitter will be forced to wear a tag on release. Glitter's offences range from 1975 to 1980 and included sex with a girl under 13, attempted rape of an eight-year-old, and repeatedly molesting a third girl. In 1999, he was jailed for four months for possessing 4,000 indecent images of children and in 2006 was put behind bars in Vietnam for three years after sex attacks in the country before being released in 2008. - Bang Showbiz/Canoe.com, 12/16/22...... Appearing on comedian Kevin Nealon's podcast Hiking With Kevin, John Lennon's eldest son Julian Lennon said while he loved the Beatles-themed film Yesterday, he thought the "weird" scene which showed John as an old man ruined the film for him. In the film, Lennon is played by Robert Carlyle and meets Himesh Patel's Jack in the remote countryside after he's taken a road trip. "I actually loved that film Yesterday, until they put that weird bit of an impression of what Dad would look like in his seventies and eighties or whatever, up on a Scottish or Irish island," Julian told Nealon. "It kind of threw the whole film off for me," he continued. "I didn't get [it]. It wasn't necessary for me, I don't think. And it was just weird." The entire interview can be viewed on YouTube. - NME, 12/13/22...... Peter Frampton and Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company will be among those celebrating A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss set for The Music Center's Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2023. The show will feature performances by Rodgers, whose rock anthem "All Right Now" was a top five hit for Free on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, and Peter Frampton, whose double-live album Frampton Comes Alive! topped the Billboard 200 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks in 1976. "Jerry Moss has always been a music lover first," Frampton said in a statement. "If it weren't for him, Humble Pie and my own solo career might never have happened. Jerry has been a champion of mine my entire life and I treasure our friendship." The show will also feature performances by Dionne Warwick, who never recorded for A&M, but is forever linked to Burt Bacharach, who did; and Amy Grant, whose poppy smash "Baby Baby" topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1991. 2022 marks the 60th anniversary of A&M Records, the legendary label that Moss and Herb Alpert co-founded on a handshake and an investment of $200 from both men. Over 25 years, A&M grew into the world's largest independent record label, signing such iconic stars as The Police, Carpenters, Janet Jackson and Joe Cocker. The Moss tribute was originally scheduled for February 2022 but postponed due to rising Covid-19 cases at that time. - Billboard, 12/12/22...... Iggy Pop has shared "Strung Out Johnny," the second single from his upcoming 19th solo album Every Loser, on YouTube. "Strung Out Johnny" paints an unflinching picture of life with addiction, detailing how seemingly innocent experiments turn into something more dangerous. "First time you do it with a friend, second time you do it in a bed, third time you can't get enough and a life gets all f---ed up," Pop sings. 'Every Loser' is due for release on January 6 and features contributions from a variety of big names, including members of Guns N' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Iggy will be supporting Red Hot Chilli Peppers on select dates of their 2023 stadium tour. Meanwhile, Pop has recalled the time he was pranked by Elton John who donned a "huge" gorilla costume while he was "really out of it" and gave him a shock. "I was really out of it. I'd done too much on the downside the night before, so I had to be injected madly to get to the point where I could just barely stand up straight and hold the mike. And then I saw this gorilla. I realised it wasn't a real gorilla, but anyone who puts on a gorilla suit looks huge," Pop recently told Mojo magazine. He then went on to admit that he felt as if the "gorilla" could "kill" him as he had no clue that it was Elton. "You don't know who's in there. It could be Billy Bob and he's going to kill me." However, Iggy said he realised it was the Rocket Man himself playing a trick on him. "He just picked me up for a little bit and gave me a little carry around. It was very funny," Pop added. - NME/Music-News.com, 12/12/22...... Rare footage of a live-action Sega game featuring Michael Jackson that was believed to be lost has been rediscovered at a car boot sale. The 1993 game, called Scramble Training -- a mix between an arcade shooter and interactive ride created for Sega World theme parks -- featured Jackson as a narrator who guided players. Jackson had a long relationship with the Japanese game company, including his inspiration for the Moonwalker franchise created by Sega based on the singer's film of the same name. Now, footage from Scramble Training is available to watch on YouTube after a tape recording was discovered at a car boot sale in the UK, according to gaming blog Gaming Alexandria. It is reportedly the first-known copy of Scramble Training's game play, with the actual game itself still shrouded in mystery. Earlier in 2022, former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka also confirmed that Jackson created music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3. - NME, 12/13/22...... Shirley Eikhard, songwriter of Bonnie Raitt's 1991 hit "Something to Talk About," has died at 67, her publicist announced on Dec. 15. The musician passed away at the Orangeville Hospital in Ontario, Canada, surrounded by family. The New Brunswick born singer-songwriter first rose to prominence during the '70s. At age 15, Eikhard's song "It Takes Time" was recorded by country/pop singer Anne Murray in 1971, and later became a hit in her native Canada. Eikhard released her self-titled debut album the following year in 1972. Several songs of Eikhard's would go on to be covered by popular musicians, most notably Bonnie Raitt and Cher, and she struck gold after penning "Something to Talk About" in the '80s. Raitt released the song as the first single from her 1991 album, Luck of the Draw. The track was a hit and spent a total of 20 weeks on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 5 on the tally. The tune would ultimately win Raitt the best pop vocal performance, female award at the 1991 Grammy Awards, and was also nominated in the record of the year category. For Cher, Eikhard's track "Born With the Hunger" would be rerecorded and released for the singer's 2000 album Not Commercial. Eikhard also wrote "Lovers Forever" with Cher for the 1994 film Interview With the Vampire; the track is featured on Cher's 2013 studio album Closer to the Truth. Eikhard's songwriting ability earned her two JUNO Awards for best country female artist in 1973 and 1974. "Something to Talk About" led to her induction into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in Oct. 2020. - Billboard, 12/15/22...... Drummer Dino Danelli, an original member of 1960s New Jersey rock group The Rascals, has died at 78. His death was confirmed by Rascals archivist and friend Joe Russo on Danelli's Facebook page. "To know Dino, you must understand that art was his life. Art, music and film consumed his mind and his heart," Russo wrote. "He was an insomniac, sometimes staying awake for days, because he was always writing, reading, painting, drawing, watching films. He was beyond private and for someone who many consider one of the greatest drummers of all time, humble to a fault," Russo added. Russo said the drummer who manned the kit for the Rascals from 1965-1971 -- and also performed with E Street Band member and solo rocker "Little" Steven Van Zandt's Disciples of Soul from 1982-1984 -- was the "most private person I knew." While he did not disclose a cause of death, Russo wrote that Danelli was "acutely disappointed" about the "abrupt" conclusion of the Rascals' 2013 "Once Upon a Dream" reunion tour and he noted that after it fell apart the drummer was "almost obsessed" with trying to find a way to "keep the ball rolling" as his health began to decline. Born in Jersey City on July 23, 1944 and formed the Young Rascals (as they were originally known) with singer Eddie Brigati, keyboardist Felix Cavaliere and guitarist Gene Cornish in 1964. Driven by Danelli's swinging, high-energy drum sound, the band scored nine Billboard Hot 100 singles, including their signature No. 1 1966 hit "Good Lovin'," as well as the 1967 No. 1 "Groovin'," and 1968's chart-topping civil rights anthem "People Got to Be Free," written by Brigati and Cavaliere, which touched a nerve in the wake of the assassinations that spring of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. The band -- who shortened their name to just The Rascals in 1968 as they moved away from their more eclectic garage soul vibe to a more psychedelic sound -- was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. After the departure of Brigati and Cornish in the early 1970s, Danelli and Cavaliere carried on and released two more albums to diminishing returns before breaking up in 1971. Danelli formed the group Bulldog with Cornish that year and the duo released a pair of albums before breaking up three years later. Danelli then bounced around, playing with Mountain's Leslie West and the short-lived power pop act Fotomaker before joining Van Zandt's band in the early 1980s and playing on the groups first two records, 1982's Men Without Women and 1984's Voice of America. The Rascals reformed in 1988 briefly, with all four original members on hand for their Rock Hall induction in 1997 and then again for a run of shows entitled "One Upon a Dream" in 2012-2013 -- which was co-produced and co-written by Van Zandt -- before taking that show on the road for a North American run. In a Facebook message, Cornish wrote, "It is with a broken heart that I must tell you of the passing of Dino Danelli. He was my brother and the greatest drummer I've ever seen. I am devastated at this moment. Rest In Peace Dino I love you brother." - Billboard, 12/16/22...... Actor Stuart Margolin, who won back-to-back Emmys for his recurring role as Evelyn "Angel" Martin in The Rockford Files and racked up more than 120 career screen credits, died on Dec. 12, his stepson Max Martini said on social media. He was 82. In an Instagram post, Martini said Mr. Margolin was a "profoundly gifted step-father that was always there with love and support for his family. RIP Pappy. Keep 'em cold." He did not provide a cause of death or other details, however it has been reported by other sources Mr. Margolin died of complications from pancreatic cancer. Mr. Margolin won Emmys in 1979 and 1980 for the respective fifth and sixth seasons of NBC's The Rockford Files, playing the former cellmate of Jim Rockford (James Garner). Appeared in more than three dozen episodes, including the series' first and last, his shady-but-endearing character constantly sought Rockford's help after getting mixed up with former criminal associates. He also appeared with Garner on the short-lived Western Nichols, which last one season on NBC in 1971-72. Mr. Margolin and Garner would also reteam for another NBC Western after Rockford, ended. Bret Maverick was based on Maverick, the 1957-62 series starring Garner -- who left in 1960 -- as a wisecracking, dapper ladies man and cardsharp. Mr. Margolin co-starred as Philo Sandine, an Indian scout-slash-con man that wasn't too far removed from his later Angel character. The series lasted one season in 1981-82 and aired in reruns on NBC in 1990. Mr. Margolin began his career in the early 1960s, doing guest shots on such popular series as The Fugitive, Ben Casey and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He continued to appear on TV throughout that decade in memorable and enduring shows including Ironside, The Virginian, The Monkees, Bewitched, The F.B.I. and The Partridge Family. He also became a familiar face on the randy anthology comedy Love, American Style, appearing in more than two dozen episodes from 1966-73. Mr. Margolin landed another 1980s series-regular role in the NBC sitcom Mr. Smith, playing the boss of a character who was charged with keeping track of the title character -- a talking orangutan who is America s latest secret weapon. The high-concept but low-rated show lasted a handful of episodes in fall 1983. After that, Mr. Margolin settled into mostly character-actor mode, guesting on such series as Hill Street Blues, Crazy Like a Fox and The Tracey Ullman Show. He did land one more regular role, on the Canadian dramedy Mom, P.I., playing a cynical private investigator who hires a widowed waitress (Rosemary Dunsmore) as an assistant. It aired two seasons from 1990-92. Mr. Margolin continued to work in TV for the next three decades, with guest credits on popular shows including Touched by an Angel, 30 Rock and NCIS, along with a recurring role on Beggars and Choosers. He also did some film work, mostly during the 2000s and 2010s. Among his final credits was a role in 2018 -- the revived Fox sci-fi drama The X Files. - Deadline.com, 12/12/22.