MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, MAY 4, 2018
HUMBOLDT-TRIBUTE
Organizers behind the Humboldt Broncos tribute concert say they've raised nearly half-a-million dollars for families affected by the tragic bus crash. The Country Thunder Music Festival in Saskatoon last week brought in more than 588-thousand dollars from tickets, raffles and other fundraising efforts. About 428-thouand will be divided between the 29 families affected by the collision after covering expenses related to venue staff and production. The tribute featured country singers Dallas Smith, Brett Kissel, Chad Brownlee, Gord Bamford, Jess Moskaluke and the Hunter Brothers. The show drew some controversy over racial jokes made by its American comedy hosts Bruce Williams and Terry Ree, who later apologized for offending some audience members.
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JAY-Z ORDERED TO ANSWER SUBPOENA
A judge has ordered Jay-Z to explain why he's avoiding a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The federal judge says Jay-Z must show up to court on Tuesday to say why he's ignoring the subpoena issued in February regarding the sale of his Rocawear clothing line to Iconix for 204-million dollars a decade ago. If he doesn't have a reasonable excuse, he must appear before the S-E-C in Washington next Friday. The S-E-C says in court papers it's investigating whether federal securities laws were violated when Iconix reported financial results, including some related to Rocawear. The S-E-C says Iconix and Jay-Z continued to do business. Jay-Z's representative says he's not involved in this matter.
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MEEK MILL
Meek Mill says he knows the errors of the criminal justice system because he's tangled with it since he was 18. Mill joined Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf yesterday in Philadelphia to call on state lawmakers to enact criminal justice reforms. Mill says he's committed to speaking for the voiceless.
Mill was released from prison last week after a court ordered that he get a new trial on his probation violation because of credibility questions about the arresting officer. Variety reports Mill also will do a six-part documentary for Amazon about his situation. The documentary is set to premiere in 2019.
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RIC OCASEK AND PAULINA PORIZKOVA SEPARATE
So far, Ric Ocasek has not commented on the breakup of his marriage to model Paulina Porizkova . She posted on Instagram they've been ``peaceably separated'' for about a year, although she did show up to The Cars'
induction into the Rock Hall last month. Porizkova says they still are a happy family, but they just aren't a couple anymore. They had been married for 28 years and have two children.
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MARC ANTHONY IS HANGING IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
Marc Anthony's portrait is on display in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington after winning an online vote. The photo by Puerto Rican photographer Adal shows Anthony with his shirt open and arms raised to the sky. The gallery invited visitors to its social media pages to vote on one of three portraits of celebrities turning 50 this year to mark the gallery's 50th anniversary. The portrait of Anthony beat out ones of actor Daniel Dae Kim and actress Molly Ringwald. The photo is now hanging on the gallery's ``Recognize'' wall, created to display portraits of popular interest.
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JAMES BAY GOES FOR A NEW LOOK WITH NEW ALBUM
James Bay without the hat and with shorter hair is still James Bay. He says he spent the past year exploring artistic ideas and he decided that it was better to move forward than to stand still. He says people can read into what his haircut means all they want, but they'll learn more about him from his songs. As for the hats, Bay says they're in a cupboard. He says he hasn't touched them as ``an artistic choice.'' Bay's new album, ``Electric Light,'' comes out May 18th.
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GEORGE HARRISON'S GUITAR IS FOR SALE
George Harrison's first electric guitar is up for auction. Harrison's Hofner Club 40 is expected to sell for as much as 400-thouand dollars when it's sold May 19th in New York, according to Julien's Auctions. Harrison traded his acoustic guitar to get the Hofner from Ray Ennis of The Swinging Blue Jeans. Ennis says in those days they used to swap guitars a lot because they'd get fed up with the ones they had. He doesn't have Harrison's acoustic anymore because he had no idea The Beatles would become anything.
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PAUL McCARTNEY DONATES PHOTOS TO LONDON MUSEUM
Some of the photographs that Linda McCartney took have never been seen publicly, but they will go on display in London on October 12th. Paul McCartney donated 63 of his late wife's photos to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The photos include nature shots as well as portraits of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. The McCartney family's vacation photos also are part of the collection.
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CELINE-DION-DEADPOOL
Celine Dion has released a new song and music video for the ``Deadpool 2'' soundtrack that combines heart and humour. ``Ashes'' starts off with the Quebec native singing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas about dreams going up in smoke. She's seen onstage at The Colosseum in a flowing light-blue gown as images from the superhero comedy flash onscreen. At the end, ``Deadpool'' star and fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds appears in the theatre in character, and at first he praises her singing. He then tells her in typical ``Deadpool'' deadpan humour that her performance was too good for the film.
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BRAD PAISLEY JOINS ``THE GONG SHOW''
We know how Brad Paisley is with a guitar.
Let's see how he handles a gong. Paisley will be one of the judges on the return of ``The Gong Show'' on A-B-C. Other celebrity judges include Jimmy Kimmel, Alyson Hannigan, Dana Carvey, Ken Jeong and Will Arnett. The show premieres June 21st.
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LEONA LEWIS, CHARLES ESTEN SIGN ON FOR MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT
Leona Lewis and singer-actor Charles Esten of the TV show ``Nashville'' will headline the Memorial Day concert in Washington. Other performers include Broadway stars Megan Hilty, Cynthia Erivo and Alfie Boe, as well as Gary Sinise (suh-NEES') and the Lieutenant Dan Band. Sinise and Joe Mantegna will host. The concert will air live on PBS on May 27th.
Female singer songwriters reign at East Coast Music Awards gala
Female singer-songwriters reigned at this year's East Coast Music Awards gala Thursday, including a P.E.I. artist rewarded for an intimate music video detailing her heartbreaking story of adolescent rape.
KINLEY picked up the Rising Star Recording of the Year for her debut solo album ``Letters Never Sent,'' and also took home the Fan Choice Video of the Year for her song ``Microphone.''
Island-born, Halifax-based artist Rose Cousins captured the coveted Album of the Year for her melancholic heartbreak record ``Natural Conclusion,'' and also won Song of the Year for ``Grace.''
Meanwhile, Halifax's Jenn Grant nabbed Pop Recording of the Year for her album ``Paradise,'' which weaves folk music with ambient pop.
Sloan, one of Halifax's most acclaimed alternative rock exports, received an honourary award and also performed at the gala event in downtown Halifax.
Hosted by actor Jonathan Torrens, the 30th annual East Coast Music Awards show also featured performances from Cape Breton's Port Cities, rapper Classified of Enfield, N.S., Halifax electronic pop group Neon Dreams and Cape Breton darlings The Barra MacNeils.
(The Canadian Press)
