MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017

KENNY ROGERS - DOLLY PARTON - LAST SHOW

In 1983, Kenny Rogers had sung ``Islands in the Stream'' for four days in the studio before he turned to producer Barry Gibb and said, ``I don't even like this song anymore.'' Gibb's response was, ``We need Dolly Parton.'' Coincidentally, she was downstairs at the time. Rogers says she marched in that room and changed that song forever. Rogers and Parton will perform that song for the last time live at his farewell concert Oct. 25th in Nashville. Little Big Town, Idina Menzel, Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss and Flaming Lips also are on the bill. 

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ZAC BROWN - INJURED FAN

Zac Brown paid a visit to an injured fan who missed his Philadelphia concert over the weekend. Seventeen-year-old Thomas Shoettle (SHET'-el) suffered a neck injury that left him paralyzed after he dove into a pool last month. A family friend wrote about Shoettle's accident on Facebook, and Brown heard about it. Brown visited Schoettle at a rehab facility outside Philadelphia Sunday and gave him tickets to next year's show. Schoettle says they just talked. Brown autographed several items for Schoettle and visited with hospital staff. 

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ED SHEERAN - TWITTER

Ed Sheeran appears to be cleaning house on Twitter. He took his account offline this week, but now it's online again. However, all his tweets since April 2015 have been removed.

He used to have 19-million followers but now he's got a few thousand. Sheeran had told Britain's Sun tabloid earlier this month he was not using Twitter aside from using it to point to his Instagram account because Twitter was a platform for ``saying mean things.'' 

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ED SHEERAN - ``THE SIMPSONS''

Ed Sheeran will be a guest voice on ``The Simpsons'' in an episode inspired by ``La La Land.'' Entertainment Weekly reports Sheeran will play a musician named Brendan who catches Lisa's attention. Producer Mike Scully says they heard Sheeran is a fan of the show and they recorded his part over the phone from England. ``A fan of the show'' is an understatement.

Sheeran has a tattoo of one of ``The Simpsons''' infamous three-eyed fish. His episode will air in late fall. 

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JOHN MAYER - INSPIRATION

John Mayer's first thought after seeing Toronto rapper Drake in concert was ``wow,'' then an expletive. Mayer says that gave him the kick to step up his live show. Mayer began his tour last night in Albuquerque and is touring with an L.E.D. wall and floor. He's touring in support of his ``The Search For Everything'' album and the album would have come out sooner if Dead and Company had not come knocking. Mayer says he never thought about pressing pause on his solo career before, but now he's getting a ``degree from Grateful Dead University.'' 

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JOE WALSH - HELPING VETERANS

Joe Walsh has created a charity to help military veterans and he's scheduled the first benefit concert. Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban and Gary Clark Junior will join Walsh outside Washington on September 20th for a show to benefit his charity, VetsAid. Walsh was not even two years old when his father died on active duty while stationed at Okinawa. Walsh says he lost his father before he could even form a memory of him. He says he stopped counting the number of friends he lost in the Vietnam War or who came home physically or emotionally scarred. Walsh says he wants to do something to help vets and rock and roll is what he does best. 

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THE BEACH BOYS - SONG REMAKE

Mike Love, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and John Stamos did more than just perform on the National Mall in Washington on July 4th. They also filmed a video for their remake of The Beach Boys song ``Do It Again.'' Love tells Billboard magazine calls the song a ``reincarnation'' and says they had such a good time doing it that he'd consider remaking some other Beach Boys songs. The video includes classic footage of Love performing that song, which he finds both historical and embarrassing. Love says he thinks the vintage film adds breadth to the song, but he also cringes to see himself running around without a shirt or ``with a beard as long as Z-Z Top's.'' 

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(The Associated Press)