Thứ Bảy, 9 tháng 3, 2013

RELATED CONTENT View Photo Hear Readers' Favorite Billy Joel Songs Billy Joel hasn't released a new album in nearly 20 yea rs, but he hasn't been inactive. Few men alive have written more famous songs, and when we asked our readers for their favorite Billy Joel songs of all time, over seventy separate songs got votes. Listen to your picks. This article originally appeared on Rolling Stone: Hear Readers' Favorite Billy Joel Songs


LONDON (Reuters) - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber was filmed lunging and shouting abuse at a photographer on Friday during an ill-fated stay in London which has gone from bad to worse after he collapsed on stage the day before.
The altercation, caught on camera and featured on popular celebrity news websites including TMZ, showed the 19-year-old get out of a van, try to move towards the unnamed member of the paparazzi and threaten him using several swear words.
He was reacting to the man's foul-mouthed criticism of him and his security team after the singer appeared to have made contact with the photographer as they moved towards the vehicle.
The bouncers held Bieber back, but the incident is likely to create yet more negative headlines for one of the world's biggest pop stars.
Bieber said he would go ahead with a scheduled Friday concert, the final of four gigs at London's O2 Arena, which had been in doubt after he collapsed on stage on Thursday after suffering from shortness of breath.
After a 20-minute break during which he was given oxygen by doctors, he completed his set but was later taken to hospital as a precaution.
"Justin has been released from the hospital after a check-up and while he's feeling a little under the weather, he's planning on going ahead with tonight's show," his spokesman said.
"ROUGH WEEK"
Since being discovered on YouTube in 2008, Bieber quickly built a huge following of mainly teenaged girls attracted to his clean-cut image, slick videos and catchy pop songs.
But the intense media spotlight which follows him around the world has clearly unnerved the "Boyfriend" singer.
Bieber has had several run-ins with paparazzi in recent years and took to Twitter this week to criticize the media for what he called fabricated stories about him during his stay in London, where he is performing his sold out "Believe" tour.
After the latest altercation, he returned to the micro-blogging site, where he has more than 35 million followers.
"Ahhhhh! Rough morning. Trying to feel better for this show tonight but let the paps get the best of me..." he wrote.
"Sometimes when people r shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at u ... well I'm human. Rough week.
"Not gonna let them get the best of me again. Gonna get focused on this show tonight. Adrenaline is high now. Gonna put it on the stage."
"POP BRAT"
Thursday's onstage collapse was not the first for Bieber.
He suffered concussion during a concert in Paris last June after falling into a glass wall.
Bieber's illness came just days after he angered many fans by appearing for his first night at the O2 nearly two hours later than the advertised time.
The singer blamed technical issues for the delay, and said he was only 40 minutes behind schedule, but the media jumped on the story and the popular Sun tabloid referred to him in a March 7 story as "Pop brat Justin".
The tabloid attention has not been limited to the late show.
Newspapers described as "bizarre" his decision to wear a gas mask on a night out.
They also reported that Bieber, who celebrated his 19th birthday in London last week, tried to take 14-year-old Jaden Smith, son of actor Will Smith, to a club, where he was turned away, along with Bieber and his entourage.
Bieber took to Twitter and Instagram to vehemently deny the reports he tried to take underage Smith to a club, saying instead he was forced to leave the venue when the club's security guards behaved aggressively towards his fans who were lined up outside.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Sophie Hares)
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Thứ Sáu, 8 tháng 3, 2013

Hear Readers' Favorite Billy Joel Songs


Billy Joel hasn't released a new album in nearly 20 yea rs, but he hasn't been inactive. Few men alive have written more famous songs, and when we asked our readers for their favorite Billy Joel songs of all time, over seventy separate songs got votes. Listen to your picks.
This article originally appeared on Rolling Stone: Hear Readers' Favorite Billy Joel Songs
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Costello, D'Angelo, more perform at Prince tribute


NEW YORK (AP) — They partied like it was 1999 — the audience and the musicians — at a Prince tribute concert at Carnegie Hall.
More than 20 performers including Elvis Costello, The Roots and the Waterboys paid tribute to the pop icon in a two-hour-plus concert Thursday night. They all joined together onstage to close the show with "1999."
Singer D'Angelo took the lead while putting his arm around Bettye LaVette, Chris Rock and Costello clapped hands side-by-side, and comedians-actresses-singers Maya Rudolph and Sandra Bernhard danced in a silly manner — all while the crowd cheered on.
Many of the performers got into character as they sang signature Prince tunes. Soul singer Bilal was wild on "Sister," singing in various tones like a mad man and thrilling the crowd. Bernhard, in her leather pants, shimmery shirt and shiny shoes, impressed on "Little Red Corvette" as she skipped around onstage and belted high notes. And singer-songwriter Kat Edmonson captured the audience with "The Beautiful Ones," standing still and singing with only a pianist onstage.
It was one of the only times The Roots weren't backing up other performers throughout the concert, which raised $100,000 for music education programs.
Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson jammed on the drums and even took photos of a pregnant Rudolph when she danced with one hand on her belly and the other stroking her hair. Rudolph, who sings Prince covers under the moniker PRINCEss with Gretchen Lieberum, screeched on "Darling Nikki" and didn't slow down while performing choreography in heels.
Few words were said to the audience, though Rock thanked the crowd "for coming" toward the end of the show.
He impersonated Prince, too, when reciting the lyrics to "If I Was Your Girlfriend" with sass. Comedian-actor Fred Armisen took on many roles: He recited lyrics from "Let's Go Crazy," played the drums while the Blind Boys of Alabama sang "The Cross" and offered light vocals during "It's Going to Be a Beautiful Night" alongside D'Angelo.
Most of the musicians wore black onstage, though LaVette rocked a purple blazer while singing "Kiss." Other performers included Eric Leeds, Nina Perrson and Talib Kweli. Husband-and-wife Citizen Cope and Alice Smith sang a duet version of "Pop Life" and Booker T. Jones was joined by singer Diane Birch and members of the Young Audiences New York Youth Choir for "Raspberry Beret."
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Online:
http://www.carnegieprince.com/
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Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at h
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Bieber concert is a go for Friday after he fainted


LONDON (AP) — A spokesman for London's O2 arena says Justin Bieber's show is scheduled to go ahead as planned after the teenage pop star fainted backstage at his concert.
Jeremy King says, "as far as we are concerned everything is on, on, on" for Friday's show.
He says the 19-year-old Canadian star was treated backstage after becoming short of breath, but recovered and finished his set.
"He was treated by our team of medics and after further examination they didn't find anything more serious or worrying."
A spokeswoman for Bieber said he was given oxygen and took a 20-m
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Thứ Tư, 6 tháng 3, 2013

Canadian singer Stompin' Tom Connors dies at 77


PETERBOROUGH, Ontario (AP) — Canadian country-folk singer Stompin' Tom Connors, whose toe-tapping musical spirit and fierce patriotism established him as one of Canada's biggest cultural icons, has died, his promoter said Wednesday night. He was 77.
Connors passed away from natural causes at his home Wednesday evening, Brian Edwards said. The musician, rarely seen without his signature black cowboy hat and stomping cowboy boots, was best known for songs "Sudbury Saturday Night," ''Bud the Spud" and especially "The Hockey Song," a fan favorite played at hockey arenas around North America.
Those three songs are played at every Toronto Maple Leafs home game. At Toronto's Air Canada Centre Wednesday night, many fans took to their feet as "The Hockey Song" was played after Connors' death was announced.
Although wide commercial appeal eluded Connors for much of his four-decade career, his songs are regarded as veritable national anthems thanks to their unabashed embrace of all things Canadiana.
"The hockey song was the biggest one," Edwards said. "Domestically he was known everywhere."
On Twitter, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said "we have lost a true Canadian original. R.I.P. Stompin' Tom Connors. You played the best game that could be played."
The National Hockey League tweeted: "Sad to hear that legendary Canadian Stompin' Tom Connors has passed. His legacy lives on in arenas every time 'The Hockey Song' is played."
Connors knew his health was declining and had posted a message on his website a few days ago, saying Canada kept him "inspired with its beauty, character, and spirit."
Dubbed Stompin' Tom for his habit of pounding the floor with his left foot during performances, Connors garnered a devoted following through straight-ahead country-folk tunes that drew inspiration from his extensive travels around Canada, dating back to his itinerant teenage years when he roamed the country working one job or another.
The country that Connors celebrated in song was strangely ignored by other Canadian songwriters, he often said.
"I don't know why I seem to be the only one, or almost the only one, writing about this country," Connors said in 2008. "This country is the most underwritten country in the world as far as songs are concerned. We starve. The people in this country are starving for songs about their homeland."
He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on Feb. 9, 1936, to an unwed teenage mother. According to his autobiography, "Before the Fame," he often lived hand-to-mouth as a youngster, hitchhiking with his mother from the age of three, begging on the street by the age of four. At age eight, he was placed in the care of the charity Children's Aid and adopted a year later by a family in Skinner's Pond, Prince Edward Island. He ran away four years later to hitchhike across Canada.
Connors bought his first guitar at age 14 and picked up odd jobs as he wandered from town to town, at times working on fishing boats, as a grave digger, tobacco picker and fry cook.
Connors is said to have begun his musical career when he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ontario, in 1964 at age 28. The bartender agreed to give him a drink if he would play a few songs, and that turned into a 14-month contract to play at the hotel. Three years later, Connors made his first album and garnered his first hit in 1970 with "Bud The Spud."
Hundreds more songs followed, many based on actual events, people and towns he had visited.
He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1996, one of the country's highest honors. He also had his own postage stamp.
Connors is survived by his wife Lena, two sons, two daughters and several grandchildren.
A celebration of Stompin Tom's life is being planned for next Wednesday at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
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Rock guitarist Alvin Lee dies at 68


LONDON (AP) — British rock guitarist Alvin Lee, founder of the band Ten Years After who burst to stardom with a memorable Woodstock performance, has died. He was 68.
A statement posted on Lee's official website said he died Wednesday unexpectedly from complications following a routine surgical procedure. Lee's manager, Ron Rainey, said the guitarist died in Spain.
"We have lost a wonderful, much loved father and companion," said the statement signed by his daughter Jasmin, wife Evi and former companion Suzanne. "The world has lost a truly great and gifted musician."
The Nottingham, England-born Lee founded the band Ten Years After in 1967. The group first toured the U.S. in 1967, but its popularity exploded following Lee's rousing performance of the song "I'm Going Home" at Woodstock in 1969. Lee's epic and electrifying solos on his Gibson guitar for the 11-minute performance were immortalized in the documentary film about the legendary festival.
Ten Years After released ten albums together featuring the group's mix of blues, swing jazz and rock and toured the U.S. 28 times in seven years.
Lee left the band in 1975 to embark on a successful solo career that saw him recording with the likes of George Harrison, Steve Winwood and Mick Fleetwood and experimenting with different styles of country rock, rhythm and blues.
In total, Lee released more than 20 albums over a 45-year career. His most recent, "Still On the Road to Freedom," was released in August 2012 and incorporated a range of styles from rock to blues to jazz to funk.
Rainey said he had developed a great friendship over the past 25 years with his client, who he recalled would "always end our conversations and his emails with 'Keep Rockin' Ron.'
"He was a great musician, writer, producer, performer, and a gentleman, truly one of a kind," Rainey said in an email.
Former Ten Years After bandmate Leo Lyons called Lee "the closet thing" he had to a brother, recalling "so many great experiences" shared together.
"He was an inspiration for a generation of guitar players," Lyons said in an email expressing shock and sadness over Lee's death.
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AP writers Mesfin Fekadu in New York and Gregory Katz in London contributed to this report.
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Old friends turn out for Mindy McCready memorial


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mindy McCready's time in Nashville was filled with music, and her memorial service in Music City reflected that.
Old friends Bryan White, Lorrie Morgan and Bekka Bramlett sang for McCready and family members spoke about her difficulties and triumphs during the hour-long remembrance Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.
"She achieved many of her dreams with No. 1 records and fame," said singer Lorrie Morgan, a former label mate of McCready's. "But we all know fame and fortune do not ensure happiness."
The Nashville memorial attended by about 200 comes two weeks after her funeral in her hometown of Fort Myers, Fla.
McCready shot herself last month on the front porch of the home she once shared with her fiance, David Wilson, in Heber Springs, Ark., authorities have said. That's the same spot where Wilson, the father of her second son, committed suicide a month earlier.
Authorities continue to investigate both deaths.
The 37-year-old, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and endured a series of failed and sometimes abusive relationships, had suffered a series of recent setbacks as well. She'd lost custody of her sons and checked out of a court-ordered substance abuse rehabilitation program in the days before her death.
A pair of McCready's cousins spoke for the singer's family. Ashley Webb read a letter from McCready's father, Tim, who said he watched his daughter deteriorate every day in the weeks after Wilson's death. Another cousin, Tristan White, said McCready "was passionate in everything she did. Sometimes that passion got her in trouble."
White also thanked a list of friends who went "above and beyond" for McCready, including Dr. Drew Pinsky, the "Celeb Rehab" host who attempted to help McCready and reached out to her in the days after Wilson's death. Pinsky has been criticized because five "Celeb Rehab" alumni have died since appearing on the show.
"All these people are people who made a huge impact on Mindy's life," White said.
McCready's former producer Jimmy Nichols, who helped guide her to the biggest successes of her singing career in the mid-to late-1990s, said he'd heard from McCready in the days before her death. She was seeking help with a song she wanted to put out in an attempt to restart her career. She sadly told him all she really wanted was her children back.
"I love you, Mindy. Rest well," he said. "You have so many angels guarding your soul tonight."
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