Chick Corea, the virtuosic keyboardist who broadened the scope of jazz during a career spanning more than five decades, died on Tuesday from a rare form of cancer. A post on his Facebook page confirmed the news. Corea was 79.
“Throughout his life and career, Chick relished in the freedom and the fun to be had in creating something new, and in playing the games that artists do,” his family wrote in a statement. “Through his body of work and the decades he spent touring the world, he touched and inspired the lives of millions.”
“Chick Corea was the single greatest improvisational musician I have ever played with,” John Mayer, who had appeared with Corea onstage, wrote on Instagram. “Nobody was more open, more finely tuned to the moment, changing his approach with every new offering by the musicians around him. If you hit a wrong note, he’d immediately pick it up and play it as a motif so as to say ‘all of this has value, whether you see it or not.’ What an immeasurable loss in so many ways.”
In the early Sixties, Corea established himself as an A-list pianist, working with Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, and others. Later in the decade, he joined Miles Davis’ band and played a key role in helping the trumpeter make the transition to a more contemporary, plugged-in sound on albums like Bitches Brew. Following his work with Davis, he formed his own groundbreaking electric band, Return to Forever, which played some of the most vibrant and dynamic music of the fusion era. In the ensuing decades, Corea threw himself into countless projects, showing off his limitless range — from a refined duo with vibraphonist Gary Burton to his trendsetting Elektric Band. His most recent album, the 2020 live solo disc Plays, showed off his wildly diverse skill set and body of influences, touching on classical pieces, bebop, and more.
In a statement to Fox News on Tuesday, Clark, 88, said she is in “shock and disbelief” at the despair seen across the world on Dec. 25.”I feel the need to express my shock and disbelief at the Christmas Day explosion in our beloved Music City,” Clark wrote, adding, “I love Nashville and its people.””Why this violent act – leaving behind it such devastation?” Clark pressed.
The singer, who saw her song soar to the top of the Billboard charts in 1965, said that after she was told about “Downtown” being used “in the background of that strange announcement” Clark said she wondered, “Of all the thousands of songs – why this one?”
Petula Clark responded after her 1964 record “Downtown” was used during the “intentional” explosion in Nashville, Tenn., on Christmas Day, which left a number of businesses destroyed and injured three people in its wake on Second Avenue.
Releasing two surprise albums this year, Taylor Swift has had one of the most successful campaigns in her career to date, which is saying a lot. Her most recent album, evermore, debuted at the #1 position on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the song “willow” also started off at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, her song’s stay at the top was short-lived, only staying there for a week and breaking records with the manner in which it fell from grace, even passing Tekashi 6ix9ine’s record for the most disastrous fall for a #1 debut in chart history.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.
Plus, Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” hits the top 10 for the first time, 50 years after its original release.
Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, rising from No. 2. The song, first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and which first reigned for three weeks last holiday season, adds its fourth total week atop the Hot 100, tying for the most time at No. 1 among holiday hits in the chart’s 62-year history.
The carol is one of a record-tying five Yuletide songs in the Hot 100’s top 10, joined by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and, in the top 10 for the first time, 50 years after its original release, Jose Feliciano‘s “Feliz Navidad.”
A researcher claims he can put to rest decades of conjecture surrounding the mysterious disappearance of big band leader Glenn Miller during World War II.
Long overlooked military documents indicate the small plane in which Miller was likely traveling when he disappeared in 1944 probably crashed in the English Channel after fuel intakes froze, according to Dennis Spragg, a senior consultant to the Glenn Miller Archive at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“The icing took three forms: engine icing, carburetor icing and induction ice,” Spragg says. “And that’s the kind of ice that forms on the fuel tanks and fuel lines, feeding fuel to the engine.”
Miller was born in Iowa and spent the latter part of his boyhood in Fort Morgan on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. There, he played high school football and honed his skills on the trombone. He attended the University of Colorado Boulder briefly before dropping out to pursue his music career.
On the day he went missing, Dec. 15, 1944, Miller, an Army major, is believed to have boarded a UC-64A Norseman in Bedfordshire, England, as a passenger. The plane was bound for France, where Miller was planning a performance for Allied troops.
Spragg has penned a book on the subject of Miller’s disappearance, called “Resolved.”
Spragg says the plane was flying low because of poor visibility. When fuel lines froze the engine stopped, giving the plane’s pilot about eight seconds to react before it plunged into the water. Because the plane was constructed of mostly lightweight materials, it probably disintegrated on impact, killing those aboard instantly, Spragg says.
(Photo: Courtesy University of Colorado Boulder Glenn Miller Archive)Spragg cites military documents to back his claims, some of which have been in the public realm for decades, but were previously uninspected by Glenn Miller researchers, he says.
In the late 1930s, Miller experienced widespread fame with hits like “Tuxedo Junction” and “Chatanooga Choo-Choo.” Even though Miller was in his late 30s and it was unlikely he would have been drafted for World War II, the band leader joined the Army. Spragg says Miller signed up partly out of patriotism and partly for practical reasons, including that Miller may have had a hard time keeping young musicians in the band because of the draft.
As a major in the U.S. Army Air Forces Band, Miller led musical shows broadcast from England and meant to boost troop morale.
He also participated in counter-propaganda campaigns against the Nazis. In some recordings Miller speaks German, phonetically pronouncing words for a German audience. Such broadcasts, combined with Miller’s work alongside British actor David Niven, Spragg says, emboldened theorists to assert that Miller had been a spy for the Allies and perhaps assassinated.
Some other entertainers, including dancer Josephine Baker, did covert work.
Yet there’s no substantial proof that Niven, who served for a short time in an elite British military unit, worked as a spy with Miller, Spragg says.
“There is a difference between broadcasting music or information to the enemy from England as opposed to being clandestine agents in the field running around the continent putting yourself at risk,” Spragg says.
Another theory — one that’s more widely accepted — is that the plane Miller was flying in was destroyed by friendly fire. That theory was first proposed in the 1980s as intriguing evidence about the Norseman plane came to light. It was discovered that 138 planes returning from an aborted Allies bombing raid disposed of their bombs over the English Channel, and the theory is that one hit Miller’s plane, causing it to crash.
Citing U.S. Army Air Force records, Spragg says the timing of when the planes were over the channel rules out that theory.
More likely, he says, is that another plane was journeying across the channel at the time the bombers were returning. It appears to be a “case of mistaken identity” that the Norseman was in the area at the time.
Stage Right Theatre Company will stage “The Rocky Horror Show Live” under a big top tent on Oct. 23-24 and 30-31.
There will be a few pandemic-driven changes to the company’s long-running Halloween season production, including the outdoor venue, said director and Stage Right founder Tony Marino.
“What won’t change is the blast people are going to have,” he said.
The 40-by-80-foot “glorious, giant circus tent” sheltering the production will be set up in Stage Right’s parking lot at 105 W. Fourth St., Greensburg.“It was really important to us that if we were going to do this (that) we did it safely,” Marino said. “So the tent is huge and will have sides rolled up to provide airflow, (and) we are only selling 200 tickets per show.”And where there’s a circus tent, there should be a circus atmosphere, he said.Members of the show’s ensemble will be costumed as iconic sideshow and circus freak characters.“That seems to fit 2020 more than anything,” Marino said. “More than being a Halloween staple, that seems to fit the intersection of where we are now.”
Eddie Van Halen — the legendary guitarist and co-founder of Van Halen — has died after a long battle with cancer … TMZ has learned.
Sources directly connected to the rock star tell us … he died at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica Tuesday. His wife, Janie, was by his side, along with his son, Wolfgang, his ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli, and Alex, Eddie’s brother and drummer.
We’re told in the last 72 hours, Eddie’s ongoing health battle went massively downhill — doctors discovered his lung cancer had moved to his brain as well as other organs.
As you know, Eddie has been battling cancer for well over a decade. Our sources say he’s been in and out of the hospital over the past year — including last November for intestinal issues — and recently underwent a round of chemo.
Last year we reported … Eddie was flying between the US and Germany for 5 years to get radiation treatment. Though he was a heavy smoker for years, he believes he developed throat cancer from a metal guitar pick he used to frequently hold in his mouth more than 20 years ago
Country musician Mac Davis, known for writing enduring Elvis hits like “A Little Less Conversation” and “In the Ghetto,” has died at age 78.
His longtime manager Jim Morey said in a statement on Facebook that Davis died on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn., after heart surgery and was surrounded by family and friends.
Davis had a long and varied career in music for decades as a writer, singer, actor and TV host and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. In addition to penning Presley hits, he was responsible for his own track “Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me.” He was named 1974’s entertainer of the year by the Academy of Country Music and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“Thank you, dear Lord Jesus, for letting us know the man to whom you gave the most incredible talent,” said Reba McEntire in a statement. “He entertained and spread joy to so many people. What a wonderful legacy he left all of us with his music. Mac was one of a kind. I’m so blessed to have been one of his many friends.”
“I Am Woman” became the unofficial anthem of the Women’s Liberation Movement, and Reddy said in a 2013 interview that she was just trying to represent the women in her life with the empowering song. “There were a lot of songs on the radio about being weak and being dainty and all those sort of things,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “All the women in my family, they were strong women. They worked. They lived through the Depression and a world war, and they were just strong women. I certainly didn’t see myself as being dainty.”
A biopic about Reddy titled after her signature hit debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, and I Am Woman star Tilda Cobham-Hervey spoke with Billboard at the time about the song’s staying power. “As much as this song is so relevant today, I think it will always be relevant to women,” the actress said. “It’s a really empowering song. It talks about the future and it’s really about bringing people together. I hope it’s a song that’s really inclusive of all people, of all gender identities. I also think that as much as there’s still a long way to go, it’s amazing to look back and see how far we’ve come too. She had to live through a lot of things that I know today I don’t have this struggle with.
Jamie Lee Curtis took to Twitter to remember introducing Reddy at the Women’s March back in January 2017, calling the moment “the honor of my life.
When Na’Chelle Simone submitted a song to WYEP’s Reimagination Project, she hoped it was good enough to be released on the compilation album featuring young musicians from the area.
Na’Chelle, an 18-year-old from Homewood, had no idea “Rise Up” would earn national attention through a story featured on National Public Radio. But the most significant benefit was how the song ameliorated a family issue: “Rise Up” became a bridge back to her mother, with whom Na’Chelle had been having difficulties.
“It was just a misunderstanding between me and my mom,” Na’Chelle says. “But once she heard the song and liked it, we talked about it. I feel like it helped us.” (Listen to it here, along with other Reimagination Project songs.)
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Pittsburgh area DJs had a change of tempo on Saturday.
Truck beds became DJ booths with generators, laptops, and turntables strapped to the back.
Almost 40 local DJs hit the streets laying beats down in about 50 neighborhoods for a mobile DJ dance party.
“We host parties we host events and help people have the most amazing time with their families but we haven’t been able to do that,” said DJ Willie T, who was participating in the parade in the Elizabeth Township neighborhood.
By the looks of it, the message was well-received.
Residents emerged from their homes and onto their porches. They danced along from their stoops and lawns while maintaining social distancing.
The parade came as a total surprise for the family of little Finnegan Connors of Elizabeth Township, who was celebrating his 4th birthday with a block party when the mobile DJ booth rolled passed his house.
“We had a DJ and it turned into a dance party and it was amazing,” said Courtney Connors, Finnegan’s mom.
Shyheed Hatch was one of the DJs mixing it up on Saturday.
He told KDKA, music has helped him get through some tough times. He’s hopeful the community had the same reaction.
“I love music. Music is everything to me. It saved me a lot but today it’s for the community. It’s bigger than ourselves. That’s what we’re here to do,” said Hatch.
A very talented, promising young musician just earned his first No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and he goes by the name of [checks notes] Bob Dylan? Yes, Nobel Prize in Literature holder, Oscar winner, and ten-time Grammy award-winning folk legend Bob Dylan has climbed to the top of the charts for the first time in his career at the tender age of 78. Pitchforkreports that Dylan’s 17-minute song “Murder Most Foul” about the assassination of JFK, which he surprise released last month, now sits atop the Rock Digital Song Sales chart after selling 10,000 downloads within its first week of release.
The Dentsu Aegis Network, which had been funding the ambitious, three-day 50th-anniversary music festival with headliners including Jay-Z and Santana, says that the August event will not happen.
“We are committed to ensuring that the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock is marked with a festival deserving of its iconic name and place in American history and culture,” Woodstock 50 LLC said in a statement. “Although our financial partner is withdrawing, we will of course be continuing with the planning of the festival and intend to bring on new partners. We would like to acknowledge the State of New York and Schuyler County for all of their hard work and support. The bottom line is, there is going to be a Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival, as there must be, and it’s going to be a blast.”
The company has launched in regions like India, Middle East and North Africa in recent months as it looks to hold off Apple’s streaming music competitor.
CLEVELAND — Bon Jovi reunited with former members Richie Sambora and Alec John Such for a powerful performance on Saturday night as the band earned a spot in the prestigious Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Jon Bon Jovi, Sambora and Such were joined by current bandmates David Bryan, Tico Torres and Hugh McDonald at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, where the Rock Hall is based.
They performed crowd favorites like “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “It’s My Life.”
