Legendary music producer Phil Spector, whose eccentric and revolutionary "Wall of Sound" production technique transformed rock music and who was later convicted of murdering aspiring actress Lana Clarkson inside his Los Angeles mansion, died on Jan. 16 at the California state prison where he was serving a 19-year to life sentence for murder. He was 81. Spector reportedly contracted Covid-19 in December, had been hospitalized but returned to prison in mid-January. On Jan. 16 he was readmitted to the hospital, where he died from complications of Covid. Born in Phillip Harvey Spector in The Bronx on Christmas Day 1940, Spector was taken by his widowed mother to Los Angeles at age 12. Learning the piano and guitar while in high school, Spector was influenced by the emergent R&B songwriting of writer/producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and began hanging out during their L.A. studio sessions. Spector started his own career in 1958 when he formed a singing trio with Annette Bard and Marshall Lieb called The Teddy Bears, and the group enjoyed massive international success with his song "To Know Him Is To Love Him," the title coming from an inscription on his father's tombstone who had died in 1950. When The Teddy Bears failed to consolidate on their initial success, Spector turned to production first on the West Coast (under Duane Eddy's producer Lester Sills), then returning to New York to become an understudy of Leiber and Stoller at Atlantic Records. During this period Spector co-wrote the Ben E. King hit "Spanish Harlem" and played the guitar break on The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk." His first self-produced New York hit was Ray Peterson's "Corinna, Corinna" in 1960, and other Spector-produced hits included Curtis Lee's "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" and Gene Pitney's "Every Breath I Take." Around this time he became known as a bizarre figure on Manhatten boulevards with his long flowing hair, black cloak and wraparound dark glasses, however New York apparently became too overpowering for him and he returned to L.A. to form his own label Philles Records with Lester Sill. His first signing was The Crystals, who he found in New York and intended to groom as his own version of the city's then topselling girl group, The Shirelles ("Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"). The Crystals' first hit was a song Spector had co-written, "There's No Other (Like My Baby)," an international hit in Oct. 1961 and gave the first hints of his "Wall of Sound" production techniques he later employed. Assuming full ownership of Phillies Records in 1962, Spector recorded The Crystals' second smash single, the stunningly innovative teen anthem "He's a Rebel," using studio support from the likes of Leon Russell and Sonny Bono. Also present was Jack Nitzsche, who became the regular Phillies arranger and later became a member of Neil Young's Crazy Horse. Spector then signed another New York girl group, The Ronettes who included two sisters, one of them being Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett whom Spector later married. The Ronettes' first hit was the Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry composition "Be My Baby," and later hits included "Baby I Love You" and "The Best Part of Breakin' Up." 
Meanwhile The Crystals continued to burn up the charts with such pop classics as "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," and other successful acts signed and prodced by Spector included Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans and Darlene Love, helping "The Tycoon of Teen" as he became known to become a millionaire by age 21. In 1963, Spector signed The Righteous Brothers and produced what many have hailed as the ultimate pop record, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," the zenith of his "Wall of Sound" technique that became an international hit in January 1965. The following year Spector pulled off a comparable production classic for Ike and Tina Turner, "River Deep, Mountain High," however this time the American public failed to accord him the attention his new masterpiece deserved after white radio stations declared the record too black, and black stations declared it too white. From that point Spector became ever more the eccentric, returning to L.A. to take up residence in his closely-guarded Hollywood home, drinking heavily and sometimes threatening the artists in his studio with a gun. He made a cameo in the 1969 counterculture movie classic Easy Rider, and lost money on a single by his new find The Checkmates, "Proud Mary," for which he reportedly used some 300 musicians. He finally resurfaced in the company of the Beatles, longtime aficionados of his work, first brought in by John Lennon to produce "Instant Karma," and later to doctor the Beatles' controversial Let It Be album, much to the chagrin of Paul McCartney. However, he stayed to work with other solo Beatles, producing George Harrison's epic All Things Must Pass LP and The Concert for Bangla Desh album, and successive albums for Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band. Rarely giving interviews, Spector's life became shrouded in rumor and mystique. He survived two near-fatal car crashes in early 1975, and continued producing on the West Coast for such acts as Cher, Dion, Darlene Love and Harry Nillson. After 1981, Spector was largely inactive in the music industry, working on projects from time to time. The last record he worked on was Starsailor's "Silence Is Easy" in 2003, but only produced two tracks. He was fired over personal and creative differences. That same year, actress Lana Clarkson was shot dead in Spector's mansion in Alhambra, Calif., two hours after first meeting the producer. 
Spector claimed that Clarkson's death was an "accidental suicide" and that she had "kissed the gun." However, his driver claimed Spector had told him: "I think I've killed someone." Spector's first trial in 2007 ended in a mistrial, but a subsequent retrial in 2009 found him guilty of murder in the second degree. He was given a sentence of 19 years to life in prison, from which he would have been up for parole in 2024. During the prosecution, several women gave testimony that Spector had pointed a gun at them when they had spurned his advances, illustrating his history of domestic abuse. Sharing a photo of herself with her former husband in the studio on Instagram, Spector's ex-wife Ronnie Spector wrote: "It's a sad day for music and a sad day for me. When I was working with Phil Spector, watching him create in the recording studio, I knew I was working with the very best. He was in complete control, directing everyone. So much to love about those days." Ronnie went on to say that meeting and falling in love with him "was like a fairytale" and that the "magical music" they made together was "inspired by our love." "As I said many times while he was alive, he was a brilliant producer, but a lousy husband. Unfortunately Phil was not able to live and function outside of the recording studio. Darkness set in, many lives were damaged," she added. - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock/New Musical Express, 1/17/21.
Bruce Springsteen has been added to the all-star lineup of musicians who will help celebrate the Jan. 20 inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden and VP-elect Sen. Kamala Harris in a 90-minute "Celebrating America" concert set later that evening at 8:30-10:00 p.m. EST which will be aired on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC, as well as on the Biden Inaugural Committee's social media feeds, Amazon Prime Video, Twitch and Fox's NewsNOW. Springsteen, whose participation was announced in a post on his Twitter page on Jan. 15, will join a list previously announced list of artists that includes Foo Fighters, Jon Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Justin Timberlake and Demi Lovato in the Tom Hanks-hosted event. Meanwhile a Jan. 17 "We The People" concert will feature performances and appearances from the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Ben Harper, Will.I.Am and Sophia Bush, among others. Access to that show can be obtained at the BidenInaugural.org website for $5. The two concerts are part of five nights of announced Biden inaugural events that begin on Jan. 16 under the banner of "America United." - Billboard, 1/15/21...... 
On Jan. 12 Neil Young shared a statement on his Neil Young Archives site about the Jan. 6 armed insurrection at the US Capitol building, saying he feels "empathy for the people who have been so manipulated." In the post entitled "A Message from Neil," Young mentioned the rioter known as "Elizabeth from Knoxville" who was filmed crying, saying she had been maced. Young said he believed "she was crying because she had been attacked and all she was doing was trying to have her voice heard in the Revolution." Young then continued by blaming Pres. Donald Trump for having "exaggerated and amplified the truth to foment hatred." "We need discussion and solutions. Respect for one another's beliefs. Not hatred," he said. In addition to Trump, Young also blamed "internet news" and social media for "crippling our belief system" and added he was "devastated to see the double standard" in the way the insurrectionists were treated compared to the BLM activists earlier in 2020. "There is no place here for White Supremacy. People need each other to be truly free. Hatred will never find Freedom," he wrote. He also said that social media "is crippling our belief system, turning us against one another. We are not enemies. We must find a way home." In other Neil Young news, the musician has announced a new live album and concert film called Way Down In The Rust Bucket culled from a 1990 show he played with Crazy Horse in Santa Cruz, Calif. shortly after the arrival of his 18th studio album Ragged Glory. Set for release on Feb. 26 via Reprise Records, Way Down In The Rust Bucket captures the debut performances of tracks from that album, which came out in Sept. 1990. The release will come in a 4-LP box set, 2-CD set, and Deluxe Edition Box Set including a DVD, four LPs and two CDs. A trailer for the film has been shared on YouTube, as well as an audio live cut of one of the set's songs, "Country Home". - New Musical Express, 1/16/21...... Speaking on a forthcoming installment of The Harry Redknapp Show podcast to be made available beginning Jan. 19, Rod Stewart says he's ended his longtime feud with Elton John after admitting it didn't seem fair for him to tell his eight children to apologize to people without following his own advice. "I say to my kids, 'A man apologizes, go and apologize to your mother'," Stewart said. "We've just made up as friends again, me and Elton. We've always been fierce enemies, as you know, through the years, but it's always been at a playful level. But we had the worst row, like a married couple. It went on forever," he added. The two rock icons had been at loggerheads since Rod criticized his old friend's plans for a retirement tour, branding it "not rock 'n' roll" and insisting he wouldn't do the same. But now Stewart says he regrets lashing out at Elton for his tour. "I was a bit spiteful when he announced his tour. I regret it, I really do regret it. So we're mates again now. I do love him," Rod said. Meanwhile, Elton also recently said he "bears no grudges" toward Rod, as he confirmed the pair are friends again. "Rod and I have always had this kind of rivalry but it's always been very friendly and it's always been funny and I love him to death," he previously stated. "We've had this rivalry for a long time and it's been very, very funny, and I love him dearly, and if I saw him in the street I'd give him the biggest hug. There's no point in carrying on vendettas in this world. Life's too short. You can't erase all those years of great friendship by just one thing that happened, and I'm not going to do that. As far as I'm concerned he's a brilliant artist who's had a great career, and he's such good fun," John said. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/16/21...... 
BMG Music announced on Jan. 14 that it has acquired Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood's interest in the band's recordings. The deal gives the company Fleetwood's royalty interest in over 300 recordings, including Fleetwood Mac hits including "Dreams," "The Chain," "Go Your Own Way" and "Landslide." It excludes the band's recorded work from their first two albums. The deal is particularly lucrative following the recent viral success of "Dreams" on TikTok, where the song racked up 2.8 billion views and led to a streaming and sales bonanza for the 40+-year-old hit and its attendant album Rumours. In the wake of the viral TikTok clip, "Dreams" racked up 182 million streams and sold 126,000 downloads, while Rumours moved over 86,000 albums in the U.S. in 2020 and was propelled back into the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. In the process, the band garnered a legion of new, younger fans. In a statement Fleetwood said the deal was "a wonderfully inspiring marriage between two creative partners that understand all aspects of the business." BMG already owns the rights to the theatrical, record and mediabook release of the 2020 all-star concert event "Mick Fleetwood & Friends," which celebrated Fleetwood Mac founding guitarist Peter Green and the band's early years. In December, Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks struck a wide-ranging partnership with Primary Wave that included a joint venture deal and the sale of a majority stake in her publishing copyrights. Earlier in 2021, Lindsey Buckingham sold 100% of his writer's and publisher's share of his 161-song catalog to Hipgnosis. - Billboard, 1/14/21...... Many fans in the Kiss Army know singer/guitarist Paul Stanley is a huge soul and Motown fan; now the musician has shared the first taste of his debut album Now and Then he recorded with his side project, Soul Station. Stanley's cover of the Five Stairsteps' 1970 hit "O-o-h Child" is available for streaming on YouTube, and appears as one of nine Soul covers of such soul greats as The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, The Stylistics and The Spinners on Now and Then, which hits stores on Mar. 5 via UMe. Stanley's Soul Station is a 15-piece ensemble band led by Stanley on vocals. They've been active on the live circuit since 2015 but haven't yet released an album. "Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly Soul, Motown, and so much more," Stanley recently told Rolling Stone. "The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use," he added. - NME, 1/16/21...... Jimi Hendrix's brother Leon Hendrix and niece Tina Hendrix were found in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction against infringing on the iconic guitarist's protected trademarks in a Jan. 11 ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York. Judge Engelmayer ordered Leon and his daughter Tina, along with their tuition-free Hendrix Music Academy, to recall and destroy all apparel and merchandise bearing any Jimi Hendrix name, to change the name of the school to make it clear it is not affiliated with Jimi Hendrix, and to "cease and desist" infringing on the late rocker's trademark. The contempt ruling against Leon and Tina Hendrix follows a lengthy court battle that began in 2017 when Experience Hendrix LLC and Authentic Hendrix LLC sued Leon Hendrix and a business associate for trademark infringement, deceptive acts and false advertising, among other claims. Tina Hendrix says that her family is "devastated and disappointed about the judge's decision and I strongly feel that it was incorrect and unjust for several reasons." "I only seek to educate kids about Jimi and use his name for non-profit purposes," Tina told Billboard. "My grandfather gave us that right in 1988. Everything that we received from Jimi's fans went to the students and their families. We have proudly served many needy families in honor of Jimi over the past decade. This work has never interfered with Experience Hendrix's business or profits, it only interfered with their lies. We are desperately seeking pro Bono legal advice at this time and we intend to fight this until the end," she added. - Billboard, 1/12/21...... 
He's "on the road again," this time to receive his first dose of coronavirus vaccine. Willie Nelson was given a jab of the Moderna variety vaccine at a drive-through clinic in Cedar Park, Tex. on Jan. 13, according to his his wife Annie. "We're lucky," Annie says. "We made sure that [he] wasn't cutting anybody -- in fact, the healthcare workers were kind of angry that we had waited so long because he is 87 years old and has COPD." A series of photos posted to Family Hospital Systems' official Facebook page shows a masked Willie being administered the vaccine in his car at the drive-through center. "Getting your COVID vaccine is Willie cool!" an accompanying message reads. "Thank you Willie Nelson for helping Family Hospital Systems slow the spread of COVID-19!" Annie said her octogenarian husband "was bragging yesterday after he got it that he didn't even have a sore arm," adding: "Now, today, of course his arm is sore." Meanwhile Nelson is set to release his second album of Frank Sinatra covers, That's Life, on Feb. 26. - NME, 1/16/21...... Tom Jones has announced a new album of covers entitled Surrounded By Time, the follow-up to his 2015 album Long Lost Suitcase. Jones' Radiohead-style cover of Todd Snider's "Talking Reality Blues" will be the first single from the new LP, which also features reimagined versions of songs written by Cat Stevens/Yusuf, Bob Dylan, Bobby Cole and Tony Jo White, among others. Surrounded By Time will drop on Apr. 23. - NME, 1/15/21...... AC/DC have shared the innovative new video for "Realize," the latest single from their 2020 comeback album Power Up. In the black-and-white video which has been posted on YouTube, directors Clemens Habicht and Josh Cheuse (who serves as the band's creative director) were able to present the impression of the five members of the band performing the song in the same room together despite the fact that each member filmed their part individually in five separate locations, presumably due to the pandemic. The "Realize" video follows on from the band's recently released clips for their songs "Demon Fire" and "Shot In The Dark." Meanwhile AC/DC guitarist Angus Young has confirmed that Axl Rose didn't write any music with the band while serving as Brian Johnson's live stand-in. "Nothing really came out solid," Young recently told Rolling Stone. "I know that he has a lot of things he's involved in. I don't even know if you would say it was music. But he had a lot of things that he was involved in." When asked if they worked on any songs, Young replied: "No, no. That never happened." This clarification comes after Rose seemingly hinted that they were recording together at the time. "I feel protective; I feel I do not want to let this guy down -- more than almost anybody I've ever known -- and I don't know why," he said. - NME, 1/13/21...... 
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and his wife Toyah Willcox delivered a cover of Metallica's classic "Enter Sandman" during a recent lockdown performance, and posted the performance on YouTube. The couple launched their "Sunday Lockdown Lunch" video series in 2020 via Willcox's official YouTube channel, sharing renditions of tracks by the likes of Nirvana, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols recorded at their home. The Jan. 10 performance of "Enter Sandman" sees Fripp playing the iconic song's riff as Wilcox provides vocals while riding an exercise bike. At the end of the video, Fripp laughs as he wishes his fans a happy new year. "Happy lockdown lunch, everybody!" Willcox shouts. Fripp and Wilcox performed Led Zeppelin's 1971 classic "Black Dog" for the Jan. 3 edition of Sunday Lockdown Lunch. - NME, 1/12/21...... Paul McCartney's photographer/filmmaker daughter Mary McCartney has been tapped to direct If These Walls Could Sing, the first feature-length documentary about London's iconic Abbey Road Studios. Mary speaks of her "personal perspective" in a press release describing the film, set to be produced by John Battsek (Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars). "Some of my earliest memories as a young child come from time spent at Abbey Road," she said. "I've long wanted to tell the story of this historic place and I couldn't be collaborating with a better team than John and Mercury Studios to make this creative ambition a reality." If These Walls Could Sing is set to be part of the 90th anniversary celebrations of Abbey Road Studios, beginning in November 2021. - NME, 1/12/21...... Late guitar god Eddie Van Halen will be honored with a new range of nine guitars made by the company he helped found and hame, EVH. The reimagined "5150" series, set to be released in early 2021, comprises guitars that have been designed for speed and comfort, supporting Eddie's signature "tapping" technique. They'll arrive in a bright set of colors, including neon pink, and at a range of prices. In a statement announcing the new guitars, EVH spoke of Van Halen's influence: "The industry saw record guitar-playing interest in 2020 but also sadly said goodbye to one of the most innovative and influential players of its time. Eddie Van Halen's singularly inventive style inspired an entire generation of players. He innovated not only in how he played but what he played and what he played through by creating some of the greatest guitars and amps the world has seen and heard." The nine guitars have Stratocaster-style basswood bodies with a deeper upper body curve, featuring specifications made by Van Halen himself: bolt-on quarter-sawn carved maple necks, and a 12- to 16-inch compound radius fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets. All are powered by direct-mount EVH Wolfgang bridge and neck humbucking pickups. Two "Wolfgang Special" guitar models and four Wolf WG Standard variants will also be released as part of the 2021 EVH range. - NME, 1/12/21...... The "Page Six" gossip column in The New York Post is reporting that Phil Collins' ex-wife Orianne Cevey is being lined up for a potential reboot of TV's Bravo channel series Real Housewives of Miami. Bravo is reportedly considering bringing back some former cast members for the show which initially ran from 2011-2013, as well as adding some new faces -- with Cevey among those in the running. Cevey has hit headlines in recent months due to her and Collins' split turning increasingly bitter. The former couple originally parted ways in 2006 after seven years of marriage but reconciled in 2015, until parting ways again in 2020. The former Genesis frontman is suing Cevey, his third wife, and her current husband Thomas Bates to try and evict them from the Miami property he claims he still owns. - Music-News.com, 1/14/21...... 
As The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls star Betty White prepares to turn 99 years old on Jan. 17, the actress has revealed her birthday plans involve another one of her iconic shows, The Pet Set. "What am I doing for my birthday? Running a mile each morning has been curtailed by COVID, so I am working on getting The Pet Set re-released," she revealed, referencing the 1970s pet-themed series she hosted. "And feeding the two ducks who come to visit me every day," Betty also shared, adding "The Pet Set is one of my favorite shows. I'm thrilled it's going to be seen again after all these years." The Pet Set focused on White's life long love for animals and included many memorable celebrity guests of the day including legends Mary Tyler Moore, Doris Day, Burt Reynolds and more. While there were plenty of dogs and cats, more exotic animals like tigers, elephants, lions, gorillas, cougars, zebras and bears also would appear in-studio. The Pet Set is being released on streaming platforms and DVD on Feb. 23 to mark its 50th anniversary. The actress regularly posts about her love of animals on her social media accounts -- including a snuggle with a bear in 2018. Betty -- who is a Guinness World Record holder for the longest running career television career for any woman in history -- has previously shared her tips for living into your 90s. While she confessed to still indulging in hot dogs and vodka (her drink of choice is a vodka tonic), she cites a positive attitude as the most important. "I know it sounds corny, but I try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside," she told Parade magazine in 2017, ahead of turning 96. "I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It's such a waste of time... Accentuate the positive, not the negative," she added. - HollywoodLife.com, 1/14/21...... Rock bassist Tim Bogert, known for his stints in such bands as Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, The Jeff Beck Group and the super-group Beck, Bogert & Appice, passed away on Jan. 13 of what has been described as a "serious illness." He was 76. Bogert's passing was announced on the official Facebook page of Carmine Appice. "Tim was a one of a kind bass player. He inspired many, many bass players worldwide. He was as masterful at shredding as he was holding down a groove, and Tim introduced a new level of virtuosity into rock bass playing," Appice wrote. "No one played like Tim... I loved Tim like a brother. He will be missed very much in my life. I will miss calling him, cracking jokes together, talking music and remembering the great times we had together, and how we created kick-ass music together." At the time of his death, Bogert had been working on a forthcoming live Beck, Bogert & Appice album. He was recognized by the Hollywood Rock Hall of Fame in 1999. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/14/21...... 
Sylvain Sylvain, the founding guitarist and songwriter with the 1970s punk band New York Dolls, died on Jan. 13 following a battle with cancer. He was 69. The New York Dolls formed in 1971, years before the punk movement and glam-rock set charts alight on both sides of the Atlantic. Born Sylvain Mizrahi in Cairo, Egypt, Sylvain and his family moved to France then settled in New York. It was in the Big Apple where the guitarist would join forces with David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and Arthur Kane to form the New York Dolls, and set the standard for punk rock swagger and style. The band flirted with mass-scale commercial success, but such albums as The New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon were critically acclaimed, and their influence runs deep, with bands from Sex Pistols to the Ramones, Guns N' Roses, the Damned and the Smiths all said to take inspiration from the NY outfit. Sylvain and the Dolls cut five studio sets, the final Dancing Backward in High Heels dropping in 2011. To this day, they're regarded by rock music aficionados and historians as one of the great snubs of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. A statement at Sylvain's official Facebook page reads, "As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and 1/2 years. Though he fought it valiantly, yesterday he passed away from this disease. While we grieve his loss, we know that he is finally at peace and out of pain. Please crank up his music, light a candle, say a prayer and let's send this beautiful doll on his way." In an Instagram post on Jan. 15, David Johansen who is now the sole surviving member of the original NY Dolls lineup, said: "My best friend for so many years, I can still remember the first time I saw him bop into the rehearsal space/bicycle shop with his carpetbag and guitar straight from the plane after having been deported from Amsterdam, I instantly loved him. I'm gonna miss you old pal. I'll keep the home fires burning." - Billboard, 1/14/21...... TV and stage actor Peter Mark Richman, perhaps best known as the reverend father of Suzanne Somers' character Chrissy Snow on the hit '70s series Three's Company, died on Jan. 14 of natural causes. He was 93. "Comedy is musical," Somers said in an interview with Fox News. "Peter Mark Richman and I understood the music from the very first time we appeared together on Three's Company. He knew his 'stuff.' We lost a good one. Rest In Peace Peter Mark Richman." As well as starring in Three's Company, Mr. Richman appeared in shows such as Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote, Cain's Hundred, Agent for H.A.R.M. and the film Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 1989. In total, he had 159 acting roles on screen. Mr. Richman also appeared on Broadway, in the plays "A Hatful of Rain" and "Masquerade," as well as writing his own play "4 Faces" -- which was adapted for the screen in 1999. He is survived by Helen Richman, his wife of 67 years, five children, and six grandchildren. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/15/21...... Siegfried And Roy magician, Siegfried Fischbacher, died at his Las Vegas home on Jan. 13 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81. Mr. Fischbacher was suffering from a malignant tumour that was initially removed during a 12-hour operation. However, it was later found that it had already spread through his body. Following the operation and diagnosis, Siegfried left the hospital and returned home where he was cared for by two nurses up until his death. His partner, Roy, died from complications following a COVID-19 battle in 2020. At the time, Siegfried said: "I have lost my best friend. From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried." Siegfried and Roy, real name Uwe Ludwig Horn, met while working on a cruise ship in 1957. - WENN/Canoe.com, 1/14/21.
In a new interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Steely Dan producer Gary Katz revealed that Eagles principle Don Henley was once fired from contributing backing vocals to Steely Dan's 1977 hit "Peg" because Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen decided his contributions were "no good." As Steely Dan were putting the track together, Katz says he and Fagen discussed how they "both liked Henley's singing" and decided to bring him in with Linda Ronstadt to track some vocals for the song. Since Ronstadt wasn't feeling well, Nicolette Larson came in her place to sing background with Henley. Not long after Henley and Larson added vocals for a second time, Fagen signaled for bandmate Walter Becker to "go get a sandwich" with him, and as the pair left the studio, Katz said Fagen told him to fire Henley and Larson. "It left me with my finger up my ass having to fire Henley. Which I did -- and have heard about for 35 years since, in various ways," Katz said. "It was a difficult day at the office, because, like [Fagen and Becker], I was part of that inner-circle crowd. We were all in the same little area. We lived in the same place and had the same manager. It was always Eagles and Steely Dan for a long time in L.A.," he added. - Billboard, 1/14/22...... In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Elvis Costello revealed that he doesn't like much modern rock music because "the beat is so square." "I don't like much rock music," the 67-year-old Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame member said. "I like rock & roll. I think if you lose the roll part, a lot of the fun goes out of it." He then went on to say that "when people ask me, 'What's your favourite record?', I usually don't name any electric-guitar records made in the last 30 years because the beat is so square. I like things that float a bit or swing a bit, whether it's rock & roll or actual jazz that swings. You listen to these records out of Nashville, they couldn't float if you filled them full of water. They just don't; they're square and they sound like bad rock records from the nineties. To my ear, they just do. But somebody likes them." Elvis added that his grandfather "was a trumpet player [who] never used to criticize other musicians... I'm trying to live by his example a little better these times and not be so critical of everybody else. But you can't like everything." Costello and his backing band The Imposters released their new album, 
The 2021 Beatles documentary The Beatles: Get Back is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 8, and is currently available for pre-order at 
The music publishing and talent management company Primary Wave has acquired the song publishing catalog of Seventies popsters America, as well as a stake in the publishing royalties of former Free and Bad Company singer/songwriter Paul Rodgers, along with Rodgers' master recording income streams from both bands. Terms of the deals, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, were not announced but were described as multi-million dollar acquisitions. America, a soft-rock band with a penchant for naming their albums with words that begin with the letter "H," scored a string of top 10 hits in the 1970s including "Horse With No Name," "Sister Golden Hair," "Venture Highway" and "Tin Man." All three original America members wrote the band's songs, but Primary Wave is buying the publishing of Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, not the songs owned by the late Dan Peek, nor his share of co-written songs. "We are pleased that our catalogue is now in the able hands of the good folks at Primary Wave, where the music we have created over the last 50 years will be given new attention and exposure," America's Bunnell said in a statement. "We are proud of the music we produced across these decades, and look forward to watching the catalogue continue to enhance listeners' lives for generations to come through the vision and actions of Primary Wave. Meanwhile, we continue to actively pursue our careers as songwriters and performers into the 21st Century," he added. Meanwhile, Paul Rodgers fronted a string of blues rock/hard rock bands but had his biggest commercial success with Bad Company and Free. The latter band's biggest hit was "All Right Now," but a share in that song's publishing was already purchased through Primary Wave's acquisition of a stake in Chris Blackwell's Blue Mountain publishing company back in 2018. The current deal brings in another share of that song's publishing and other Free songs, as well as hit Bad Company singles like "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love," "Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy." Other well-known songs by the band, like "Bad Company" and "Shooting Star," were not released as singles but have garnered plenty of FM airplay. Rodgers will also head a new label imprint for Primary Wave distributed by Sun Records, which Primary Wave acquired in Jan. 2021. Besides having the ability to co-sign new artists, Rodgers will also curate compilations for Sun Records. The WSJ reported that sources placed the America deal at about $40 million, and the Rodgers deal at about $20 million. - Billboard, 1/12/22..... In related news, The Round Hill Music Royalty Fund has acquired a bundle of music rights from David Coverdale, the Whitesnake frontman and former lead singer of Deep Purple. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the announcement, the acquisition includes his music publishing and master recording royalties and from Coverdale's three-album stint in the mid-1970s with Deep Purple -- Burn, Come Taste The Band, and Stormbringer - and from his entire Whitesnake catalog including the band s multi-platinum 1987 self-titled album. Also, as part of the deal Round Hill apparently has acquired some Whitesnake master recordings that Coverdale owned. Round Hill CEO Josh Gruss said in a statement that Coverdale "has blazed a trail since the early '70s, and his legacy and influence on the generations of artist that followed him cannot be understated. To have been entrusted with David"s work is a proud day for Round Hill." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Doo-wop singer Fred Parris, the frontman of The Five Satins whose smash 1956 ballad "In the Still of the Night" became an enduring standard and was prominently used in movies including Dirty Dancing and The Irishman, died on Jan. 13 after a brief illness. He was 85. Born in New Haven, Conn., Parris grew up listening to big-band star Glenn Miller on the radio before discovering R&B music through family members' records. He delivered newspapers as a teenager and, in high school, joined a group called the Scarlets, for which he wrote a regional hit called "Dear One." On Feb. 19, 1956, Parris and one of his bandmates, Al Denby, were at home on military leave in New Haven when they recorded "In the Still of the Night," produced by Marty Kugell, in the St. Bernadette Catholic Church basement. "Doo-wop was what you had back then when young kids were singing on street corners... it was just honest street music," Jim Freeman, a former Parris bandmate, said in 2019 after The Irishman movie came out. The song was interpolated in Ronnie Milsap's "Lost In The Fifties Tonight (In The Still Of The Night)," a No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1985. That genre-crossing update brought Parris and co-writers Mike Reid and Troy Seals a 1985 Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. Later, Parris sang in other groups, including Fred Parris and the Restless Hearts ("Bring It Home to Daddy") in the '60s and Black Satin in the '70s. Of "In the Still of the Night," Parris said in a 2013 interview with WJCT of Jacksonville, Fla.: "Because we did it at the church, I think the song was blessed. And so was I. It lasted a long, long time." - Billboard, 1/14/22...... Ralph Emery, a longtime country music broadcaster and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died on Nov. 15 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 88. Born in 1933 in McEwen, Tenn., Mr. Emery a successful career in the country music industry for more than 50 years, working in radio before shifting to television. Known as the dean of country music broadcasters, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1989. He notably interviewed a number of country music stars as the host of the Nashville Network talk show Nashville Now over the course of a decade, from 1983 to 1993. Throughout the years, he also hosted the syndicated TV series Pop Goes the Country (1974-1980) and the live show Nashville Alive on WTBS (1981-1983). From 2007 to 2015, he hosted the weekly program Ralph Emery Live on satellite and cable television channel RFD-TV. In 1961, he charted with a song that he recorded. "Hello Fool" peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It was an answer song to Faron Young's country classic "Hello Walls" (an early hit for songwriter Willie Nelson). Loretta Lynn, T. Graham Brown, The Bellamy Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys are among the country stars who paid tribute to Mr. Emery on social media. - Billboard, 1/15/22...... 
Legendary '60s girl group singer Ronnie Spector, the leader of The Ronettes, died on Jan. 12 after a brief battle with cancer according to a statement on her 
Spector went on to launch her own solo career, releasing four solo albums between 1980 and 2016, plus three EPs. Prior to making full-length records, she also put out seven singles, including 1964's "So Young" and 1976's "Paradise." On her 2006 solo record Last Of The Rock Stars she collaborated with the likes of Patti Smith, The Raconteurs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Nick Zinner and more, while in 2017 she shared a track called "Love Power" under the name Ronnie Spector And The Ronettes. With The Ronettes, Spector has been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999 for "Be My Baby," the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2004 and the People s Hall Of Rock And Roll Legends in 2010. In 1986, AOR rocker Eddie Money invited Spector to feature on a new single, "Take Me Home Tonight," which allowed Spector to recreate her epochal"Be My Baby" hook on the chorus (following Money's vocal lead-in, "Listen, honey, just like Ronnie sang... ). The song was an enormous hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Hot 100 the highest-charting single of Money's career, and Spector's highest since the original "Be My Baby" and giving her career a second wind. Spector would never have another hit single, however, she continued to record and perform, with future generations of rock and pop stars citing her as a key inspiration -- including Joey Ramone, who co-produced her 1999 EP "She Talks to Rainbows," and Amy Winehouse, whose throwback image and sound in the mid-2000s suggested nothing so much as a more streetwise and tougher-luck Ronnie Spector. "Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humour and a smile on her face," according to the statement by Spector's family. "She was filled with love and gratitude. Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her." Ronnie was married to Phil Spector from 1968 until 1974 and shared three adopted sons with him, and in 1982 she married manager Jonathan Greenfield, with whom she shared two sons, in 1982. Tributes to Spector that began to flow in after news of her death broke include those by 
Britain's Royal Mail has honored The Rolling Stones with a set of 12 special stamps. Available on the 
David Bowie fans flocked to social media on Jan. 8, what would have been the late rock icon's 75th birthday, to pay tribute to the highly influential musician who died following an 18-month battle with cancer in 2016. Bowie's widow Iman Abdulmajid paid tribute to her late husband by sharing a quote from Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood: "I exist in two places, here and where you are," while Lenny Kravitz posted a photo of he and Bowie, accompanied by the caption: "Happy Birthday to The Thin White Duke." The official John Lennon Twitter account posted Bowie's performance of "Fame" with the Beatles legend on the Cher show in 1975, writing: "Happy Birthday David Bowie." Meanwhile, the Madame Tussauds exhibit in London announced they will celebrate Bowie's 75th birthday by unveiling a new figure of David -- their second to feature at the Baker Street attraction -- later in 2022. Madame Tussauds have also released new images taken during Bowie's 1983 sitting with their artists for his original figure. Also, a 
In a new interview with the UK paper The Telegraph, Elvis Costello called on radio stations to stop playing his controversial 1979 single "Oliver's Army." The track, which is taken from his third studio album 
Michael Lang, the legendary co-creater of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair, died on Jan. 8 from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City. He was 77. Lang worked alongside partners Joel Rosenman, Capitol Records' Artie Kornfeld and John P. Roberts for the 1969 festival held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, NY. The three-day lineup included icons such as Richie Havens, Santana, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone and The Who, among others. After Woodstock, he started a record company in 1971 called Just Sunshine Records, which first signed Karen Dalton followed by Billy Joel. He later went into management, primarily working with Joe Cocker for about 15 years. In 1994, he helped promote Woodstock's 25th anniversary with Woodstock '94. In 2019, Lang planned to host "Woodstock 50," with a lineup including Miley Cyrus, Dead & Company, Jay-Z and others. The event was ultimately cancelled following a variety of permit and production issues, venue relocations and artists backing out. Lang is survived by his wife Tamara, their sons, Harry and Laszlo, and his daughters, LariAnn, Shala and Molly. - Billboard, 1/9/22...... Calvin Simon, a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, died on Jan. 8 of as yet undisclosed causes. He was 79. Born in 1942 in West Virginia, where he sang with his church choir, Simon relocated to New Jersey with his family as a teen. He worked as a barber, and by the late 1950s, Simon joined the group originally known as the Parliaments, first formed as a doo-wop quintet with fellow barbers George Clinton and Grady Thomas and customers Ray Davis and Fuzzy Haskins. Simon, who was drafted in 1967 to serve in Vietman, went on to sing with the group that later became known as Parliament-Funkadelic. He eventually parted ways with the group due to financial disputes.A long with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, Simon was inducted by Prince into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Simon later released several gospel projects, and in 2019, he, Clinton, and the other members of Parliament-Funkadelic received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Lyricist Marilyn Bergman, who teamed with her husband, Alan Bergman, to win three Academy Awards as one of the most revered writing tandems in the annals of movie music history, died on Jan. 8 in her Los Angeles home, according to family rep Ken Sunshine. She was 93. The cause of death was respiratory failure (non-COVID related). Her husband, 96, survives her. Bergman, whose work includes such classics as "The Windmills of Your Mind," "Nice 'n' Easy," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" and "The Way We Were," and her husband worked extensively for the movies, writing the lyrics for three of the five songs nominated for the best song Academy Award in 1983 -- "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (from Best Friends), "If We Were in Love" (from Yes, Giorgio), and "It Might Be You" (from Tootsie). In all, the Bergmans received 16 Oscar nominations. During the period from 1969-74, they couple received one Academy Award nom each year, which they shared with their composing partners: "Windmills of Your Mind," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" "Pieces of Dreams," "All His Children," "Marmalade, Molasses and Honey" and "The Way We Were." The Bergmans were voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980. - Billboard, 1/8/22...... Burke Shelley, singer and bassist of the Welsh hard rock band Budgie, has died at the age of 71 of as yet undisclosed causes. Born in Canton, Cardiff, UK, in 1950, Shelley co-founded Budgie in 1967 with Tony Bourge (guitar/vocals) and Ray Phillips (drums). The group released 10 studio albums between 1971 and 1982. Budgie stopped touring in 1987 before reforming in the mid-1990s and 2000s. The band's 11th and final full-length record, You're All Living in Cuckooland, came out in 2006. The group influenced hard rock and metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth, all of whom have covered Budgie previously. Lars Ulrich and co. offered up a live take on "Breadfan" at one of Metallica's 40th anniversary shows in San Francisco in December. Shelley had battled Stickler syndrome -- a genetic disorder -- in recent years, as well as suffering two aortic aneurysms. - NME, 1/11/22...... 
Actor Dwayne Hickman, who starred as the hopelessly in love high school kid on the popular CBS comedy series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died on Jan. 9 at his Los Angeles home of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 87. Dobie Gillis, which ran for 147 episodes from 1959-63, starred the fresh-faced, crew-cut Mr. Hickman (25 years old when the series began) as a student always looking to date the most beautiful, unattainable girls. Future Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver played his pal, beatnik Maynard G. Krebs. Dobie's quest for love often was capsized by his grocer father (played by Frank Faylen) or something goofy that Maynard had done. The show began with a Dobie monologue such as this: "My name is Dobie Gillis and I love girls. I'm not a wolf, mind you. A wolf wants lots of girls, I just want one." Mr. Hickman also performed in films, most notably as a con man in Cat Ballou (1965) opposite best actor Oscar winner Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda and in the 1965 beach party movies How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. During the rebellious 1960s and early '70s however, with the Vietnam protests and hippie movement in full force, Mr. Hickman's clean-cut persona was out of vogue, and his acting career faltered. Born on May 18, 1934, in Los Angeles, Mr. Hickman began his acting career at age 6, appearing as a youngster in such films as Heaven Only Knows (1947), The Boy With the Green Hair (1948) and Mighty Joe Young (1948). He earned a degree from Loyola Marymount University (Denver was a fellow classmate) and during college turned down a job at a utility company to play Cummings' nephew Chuck MacDonald in 150 episodes of The Bob Cummings Show, which ran for five seasons on NBC and CBS. It all led to Mr. Hickman's gig on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which was based on a 1951 collection of short stories written by Max Shulman. His other TV credits include The Lone Ranger, The Loretta Young Show, Wagon Train, Ironside, The Flying Nun, The Mod Squad, Combat, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and Clueless. He had a role as a lighting emporium owner in the 1998 film A Night at the Roxbury. He wrote a 1994 autobiography, Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman, and developed another talent, painting. He had a penchant for picturesque buildings and vibrant flowers. Mr. Hickman married to actress Joan Roberts, whom he met while she was co-starring in TV's Private Benjamin, in 1983. The couple had a son, Albert. He had another son, John, from a previous marriage to actress Carol Christensen. His older brother is Darryl Hickman, a former child actor who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and later became a program executive at CBS. - The Hollywood Reporter, 1/9/22.
Bruce Springsteen, who earlier in 2018 told fans he hopes to release a new solo album in 2019, has made recordings of his "No Nukes 1979" two-night stand concert at New York's Madison Square Garden available for the first time on the live music archive site Nugs.net. Held on Sept. 21 and 22 of 1979, the shows found Springsteen in between his fourth and fifth studio albums, Darkness on the Edge of Town and The River. Both nights open with a trio of songs from the former and feature then-unreleased songs from the latter, like "Sherry Darling" and "The River," which got its live debut at his No Nukes shows. Both concerts feature Springsteen and the E Street Band covering Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay," a '60s doo-wop song that had been reworked by Jackson Browne in 1978 for his classic Running On Empty album. Browne (who helped organize the No Nukes benefit) joins alongside Rosemary Butler both nights, while Tom Petty comes along for the second show. Complete recordings of both nights are available in a variety of formats. $2 from every purchase will benefit MUSE (Musicians United For Safe Energy), the coalition formed by Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall and Harvey Wasserman in response to 1979's Three Mile Island nuclear disaster. Earlier in December, Nugs.net also shared Springsteen's 1975 Roxy concerts. - Billboard, 12/27/18...... Record producer Phil Spector, who is currently serving his sentence for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, settled his divorce with his third wife, Rachelle Short, on Dec. 4 and secured several items of his celebrity memorabilia in the settlement. According to court documents, the many priceless celebrity treasures Spector was awarded include a John Lennon electric guitar with an accomanying handwritten note by Yoko Ono; Grammy Awards, including an "Album of the Year" award for 1972's The Concert for Bangladesh with George Harrison; a Best Original Song Score Oscar statue for the 1970 Beatles film Let It Be; and diamond cufflinks gifted to him by Elvis Presley. Spector's ex-wife Rachelle meanwhile got to keep many of her vehicles, including a 2009 Vespa GTS 250 and 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish, and a 2007 Columbia 400 airplane. The documents also state that Spector and Rachelle must sell his infamous residence, Pyrenees Castle, in Alhambra, Calif., where Clarkson was killed for a 50/50 split. The house will be listed for $5.5 million. Short and the "Wall of Sound" creator wed on Sept. 1, 2006, as Spector was awaiting trial. They split in 2016, with Spector claiming Rachelle was bleeding him dry by spending money on lavish items like planes and homes. - TheBlast.com, 12/24/18...... 
The federal judge presiding over pop singer Dionne Warwick years-long legal battle with the IRS has set a court date for Mar. 6, 2019 in New Jersey, it was revealed on Dec. 27. Warwick filed for bankruptcy in 2013, with assets totaling only $25,500 but liabilities in the amount of $10,727,429, which includes an almost $7 million tax debt to Uncle Sam. At the time she blamed a business manager for her finances being in a mess. The case has dragged on for years due to the singer suing the government over her issues with the tax division. Warwick was seeking a court order discharging her $7 million tax debt from 1990-2008 and for a judge to order the IRS not be allowed to seize her assets over the debts. The debt was discharged in her bankruptcy, but the feds maintain the wiping clean of her debt was not valid. The judge has reportedly cleared four days off the calendar when the two sides face off in March, in case it takes that long for both sides to present their case. - TheBlast.com, 12/27/18...... In related news, the attorney for Aretha Franklin's estate said on Dec. 27 that the estate has paid at least $3 million in back taxes to the IRS since the Queen of Soul's death in August. Franklin's estate is being audited by the IRS, which filed a claim earlier in December in a county probate court north of Franklin's hometown of Detroit. TMZ.com reported on Dec. 20 that legal documents it obtained showed the IRS claimed Franklin owes more than $6.3 million in back taxes from 2012 to 2018 and $1.5 million in penalties. "We have a tax attorney. All of her returns have been filed," the estate lawyer, David Bennett, told the AP. "We have disputes with the IRS regarding what they claim was income. We claim its double-dipping income because they don't understand how the business works." Bennett added that Franklin had a lot of expenses whenever she toured. Documents filed in an Oakland County court after Franklin's death did not mention the value of her estate, which could run into the tens of millions. Franklin's estate also has paid money to the state of Michigan and other jurisdictions "where she would have had some income," Bennett said. Franklin had been the target of a number of lawsuits by creditors during the late 1980s and 1990s, and The Detroit Free Press reported in 2008 that Franklin owed a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. - AP, 12/28/18...... Meanwhile in other Aretha Franklin news, The Grammy Awards' Recording Academy will pay tribute to the 18-time Grammy winner with an "Aretha! A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul" tribute concert on Jan. 13. Among the artists performing songs from Franklin's legendary repertoire will be Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Patti LaBelle and John Legend. The live concert, hosted by actor/filmmaker Tyler Perry, will tape on Jan. 13, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. PT at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The special will be broadcast later in 2019 on the CBS Television Network. - AP, 12/27/18...... 
Drummer Jason Bonham, son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, says he's hatching plans for his own Led Zep golden anniversary celebration during 2019. "Next year I feel is an even bigger year because [1969] was the first two albums, the first concerts, all of that," Bonham says. "So I've got a few more plans with how I'd like to do things. I'd love to play the Royal Albert Hall and do the set they played back in '69. That would be something I'd love to achieve. Bonham, who has been carrying the torch for Zep and his father with a tribute live show that he started during 2009 as Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience, continued: "And all of this, I think, will continue as the years go on, because each year coming up will be 50 years since Led Zeppelin III, whatever. I can imagine the celebrating of Led Zeppelin IV will be a big one. I just can't believe it was that long ago, and it still sounds so good and so timeless. People still love to hear this [music], and I'm happy to be able to go out and play it for them with some authenticity and a real connection to it all." Bonham -- who also plays in the all-star Black Country Communion and in Sammy Hagar's band The Circle -- took his "Led Zeppelin Evening" show on the road with Foreigner and Whitesnake this past summer, and played his own shows in the fall. - Billboard, 12/21/18...... Britain's Prince Charles has revealed some of his favourite music artists in a new interview with Radio 3's "Private Passions" program to mark the prince's 70th birthday. On the show, Prince Charles chose to play Leonard Cohen's "Take This Waltz," saying: "I've always loved Leonard Cohen's voice and his whole approach to the way he sang. He was obviously incredibly sophisticated in the way he sang, but also wrote." The prince continued: "I find it very moving, the words are so extraordinary, sort of Salvador Dali-like - they lead you into this remarkable Dali-like world." Charles' appearance on "Private Passions "is not the first time the prince has praised Cohen. He previously described him as a "remarkable man" and hailed his orchestration and lyrics as "fantastic." Elsewhere in the programme, he talked about 'Scylla et Glaucus', a rare 18th-century opera by Jean-Marie Leclair, the final movement of Beethoven's fifth symphony, and more. - New Musical Express, 12/27/18.
Drummer Carl Palmer, the sole surviving member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, is hatching plans to commemorate the legendary prog-rock trio's 50th anniversary in 2020 with more catalog re-releases and a special live ELP tribute concert. "I'm looking right now at putting a show together, probably in America, with some A-listers," Palmer says. "I can't tell you who they are, but in principle as a project it looks like it's going to go through." Palmer also hopes to revisit a lengthy ELP documentary film that's been sitting on the sideline for some years. "When we were signed to Sanctuary, ELP released a documentary that was six hours long. That got lost in the wash, so we're going back and re-editing that and putting together another couple hours of documentary stuff that hasn't been seen," Palmer adds. ELP, which formed in 1970, played its first concert in August of that year, followed by a slot at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival six days later. The group released 10 studio albums during its two tenures (1970-79 and 1991-98) and last performed together to commemorate its 40th anniversary at the 2010 High Voltage Festival in London. Keith Emerson and Greg Lake both passed away during 2016. Palmer, who says he "wakes up every morning and says to myself, 'Thank God I'm here and I'm still playing'," noted that "you don't really live it as it's happening 'cause things are moving so fast... You only appreciate it afterwards. So now I'm appreciating what we did way back then." Meanwhile, Palmer has been carrying the ELP torch since 2001 with his Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy shows, leading a trio that substitutes guitar for Emerson's keyboards in order to pay tribute to the group's songs. Palmer was also a member of the 1980's prog-rock supergroup Asia, and says "there's nothing planned at the moment" for the band, which is curently on hiatus. "Depending on how meetings go, Asia might even be touring next summer," Palmer says. I'm going to link it and Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy into the same tour; I'm not sure how it's going to happen yet, but we'll make some proposals and see. I like the idea of doing some double-dipping." - Billboard, 12/21/18...... Neil Young announced on Dec. 20 that he'll launch a new paid subscription service and app for his vast, years-in-the-making Neil Young Archives (NYA). Young, in partnership with Warner Bros. Records, launched the NYA site in beta in 2017 for completists and hardcore fans. "If you want to hear my music and would like to have the option to listen to it with all the depth and glory of high resolution, it will be there," Young says. "All my new records can be heard there first, before they get released anywhere else. New, unreleased albums from the archives and old, unreleased albums from the archives will always be heard there first. Our machine is a monster." The NYA subscription service will cost $1.99 per month or $19.99 for a full year and includes unlimited access to Young's ever-expanding archives, including hi-resolution streams of all available recordings, plus a timeline filled materials related to his music, movies, videos, books, photographs, manuscripts and press notes. The new paid subscription service, accessible via his website and an iOS app (Android soon), includes other perks like first dibs on concert tickets, livestreams of other live shows, early access to new and unreleased music, and full access to Young's personal news outlet, the "NYA Times Contrarian." A free version of the subscription will let users peruse the timeline and includes access to a featured album and song of the day, both using Xstream by NYA. - Billboard, 12/20/18...... 
Speaking to the New York Times on Dec. 19 in his first full-length interview in nearly 10 years, Van Halen's David Lee Roth revealed he's moving into the celebrity skincare game with his surprising new line "Ink the Original," which is designed specifically for people with tattoos. Roth says the line includes products like an SPF stick, SPF spray, and a "tattoo-brightening balm," and was inspired by Roth's own tattoos, which he says he spent over 300 hours getting for $300 an hour. Diamond Dave says he wasn't only thinking of himself with his new cosmetics line though but also "power women": "Tina Fey can take this out of her bag at a full table of the most stellar, dynamic wits in the business. She takes this out of her bag, and the guys will want to borrow it." (Tina Fey has no visible tattoos.) - The New York Times/Jezebel.com, 12/19/18...... Despite naming his "farewell tour" the "No More Tours 2" tour, Ozzy Osbourne is assuring fans that he still plans to tour in the future -- just not as much. Osbourne, who turned 70 on Dec. 3, told the Pasedena Star-News on Dec. 22 that his upcoming shows aren't actually a farewell tour at all. "People have gotten that all wrong," he said. "The tour should have been the Ozzy Osbourne 'Slowing Down Tour'. What I'm actually doing is not going out on January 1 and coming back on December 31. I'll still tour, but not as extensively like I have been for the last 50 years. I mean, I have grandchildren now and I'm 70 years old and I don't want to be found dead in a hotel room somewhere. I'm going to do it at a more leisurely pace and do some shows in Vegas -- but I'll never stop. The whole lifestyle I have lived, it has all come down to the fact that there are people who want to hear me and as long as they want to hear me, I'm there." Meanwhile, Ozzy's former band Black Sabbath and '70s funk rockers George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic are among the artists set to receive the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2019 Grammys awards show. Dionne Warwick, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, soul duo Sam & Dave and late jazz singer Billy Eckstine will also be receiving the award during the ceremony set for May 11 in Los Angeles. The Grammys' non-performance Trustees Award will be presented to Lou Adler, Ashford & Simpson and Johnny Mandel. - New Musical Express, 12/22/18...... The first leg of Elton John's "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" has earned a total of $42 million, enough to handily top the Billboard Hot Tours recap for the week ending Dec. 22, 2018. John began the trek playing to 8,983 fans at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 8, 2018, and has played 41 arena dates across North America. In the new year, Elton will resume the FYBR tour in Boise, Idaho, on Jan. 11 and continue in North America through March 18 in Orlando. More European and North American dates are scheduled through the end of 2020, with even more to potentially be added. John has grossed $1.2 billion since Billboard Boxscore began tracking touring data in 1990. With approximately 250 dates left before the curtain closes, his final gross could climb past the $1.5 billion mark. - Billboard, 12/18/18...... 
The Beach Boys singer Mike Love has teamed up with teen pop idols Hanson for a new Christmas video entitled "Finally It's Christmas," a track from his new yuletide LP 
Actress/director Penny Marshall, the nasally and good-natured Bronx native who starred on the popular ABC sitcom