MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2016
LED ZEPPELIN
Jurors in a Los Angeles courtroom have listened to the opening to Led Zeppelin's ``Stairway to Heaven.'' A lawyer for the estate of the late Randy California told jurors Led Zeppelin lifted the instrumental from a song called ``Taurus''
recorded by California and his band Spirit. An attorney for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant said the chord progression was found in songs dating back to the 1600s. Page, Plant and bandmate John Paul Jones are all expected to testify at the trial.
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LIL WAYNE
Lil Wayne is in good spirits and stable condition after suffering two minor seizures, according to his publicist. A supervisor at Omaha's Eppley Airfield says a plane took off Monday afternoon and landed due to a medical emergency, but treatment was refused. The plane was just taking off when the pilot declared another medical emergency. Lil Wayne's publicist says he's under the care of his own doctors and he thanks fans for their support. Lil Wayne has had hospital stays in recent years for seizures and severe migraines.
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HENRY McCULLOUGH
Paul McCartney says former Wings guitarist Henry McCullough (mih-KUL'-uh) was ``a pleasure to work with, a super-talented musician with a lovely sense of humour.'' McCullough died yesterday after a long illness at the age of 72, according to his agent. McCullough did the guitar solo on the Wings song ``My Love'' in a single take, and McCartney says McCullough made it up on the spot in front of a live orchestra. McCullough also played on the single ``Live and Let Die.'' He quit Wings in 1973 after clashing with McCartney but they made up in later years. McCullough also has another claim to fame: he's the voice that says, ``I don't know, I was really drunk at the time,'' at the end of the Pink Floyd song ``Money.''
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DAVID ALLAN COE
The I-R-S is cracking down on David Allan Coe.
Federal prosecutors say Coe has been ordered to pay more than 980-thousand dollars in restitution. Coe pleaded guilty last year to one count of obstructing the tax agency. Court documents say Coe earned money from at least 100 concerts annually from 2008 to 2013 and either did not file tax returns or pay taxes when he did file.
Prosecutors say Coe owed for prior years as well. Coe's attorney, Michael Stengel, says the judge noted that Coe has already been repaying the IRS.
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FOO FIGHTERS
The Foo Fighters are suing their insurance company for failing to pay up when the unexpected happened. The Foo Fighters have filed a lawsuit against underwriters with Lloyd's of London and loss adjuster Robertson Taylor. The band say they were forced to call off their shows in Turin, Italy; Paris and Lyon in France and Barcelona immediately after the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 dead. The band say the website www.foofighterstours2015.com had been hacked the day after the attacks to show an I-SIL flag, an automatic weapon and the threat, ``Be prepared.'' The Foo Fighters also are suing the insurers for not paying for three shows cancelled after singer Dave Grohl hurt his leg falling from a stage in Sweden last June.
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TOM DELONGE
Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 and of Angels and Airwaves is not surprised that his singing accent is one of the most distinctive ones in music. DeLonge says a linguistic professor studied his singing and found that DeLonge is the prime example of the pop-punk accent. DeLonge has had to deal with that for years. He says when he first started playing guitar around seventh or eighth grade, he'd call up girls he liked to serenade them. They knew instantly it was him as soon as he started singing. DeLonge says it's pretty funny but he's just ``a garage punk at heart.''
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BEYONCE
Beyonce fans are helping out Flint, Michigan, as the city continues to deal with a water crisis. The Detroit News reports Beyonce's management company presented the United Way of Genessee County with a cheque for more than 82-thousand dollars on Monday. The money came from Beyonce fans who chose to contribute to the Flint fund when they bought tickets to her Formation tour.
Beyonce also is giving 14 Detroit-area high school students money for college. Flint has been dealing with lead in its water supply since April 2014.
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IGGY AZALEA
Iggy Azalea will be joining the judges' panel on the Australian version of ``The X Factor.'' What that means for American fans is that she will push back the release of her second album, ``Digital Distortion.'' It was due to come out June 24th and she says she doesn't know when the new release date will be.
Azalea's new job with ``The X Factor'' begins with auditions in Sydney on June 29th.
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GWEN STEFANI
Gwen Stefani says the shooting death a woman who had been a contestant on ``The Voice'' makes her ``feel totally vulnerable.'' Stefani says she and her fellow coaches on the NBC show are ``shaken'' and shocked that Christina Grimmie was shot to death as she signed autographs after a show in Orlando.
The man who shot her killed himself after being tackled by Grimmie's brother. Authorities say there seemed to be no connection between the two before the suspect pulled the trigger.
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CHISTINA GRIMMIE
Funeral services for ``The Voice'' star Christina Grimmie are being made final now. The viewing for the 22-year-old singer will be held Friday at a church in Medford, New Jersey. And a memorial will be held later that evening. Grimmie lived in Evesham Township, a small community located about 20 miles from Philadelphia. She moved to Los Angeles about four years ago.
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(The Associated Press)
