MUSIC NEWS: MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016
JOE PERRY - COLLAPSES
Joe Perry is described as stable and resting, after being taken to a hospital. The Aerosmith guitarist became ill last night while performing with Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper in his side band, the Hollywood Vampires. An administrator at Coney Island Hospital confirmed the 65-year-old Perry was undergoing tests. A Hollywood Vampires record label rep said Perry was stable and resting. Cooper tweets ``our brother'' is stable and with family.
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PROFESSOR GRIFF - DALLAS SHOOTER
Professor Griff of Public Enemy is denying any association with the suspect who shot five police officers in Dallas last week. The Dallas Police Department says the Facebook account of 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson includes information on Griff, who the police say ``embraces a radical form of Afrocentrism.'' A photo of Johnson shaking hands with Griff has surfaced. Griff says he does not advocate killing cops and he does not know the shooter.
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MUSICIANS - SONGS IN RESPONSE TO KILLINGS
Musicians have been responding to recent events involving killings and police in the way they best know how: with song. Chris Brown has released a song called ``My Friend.'' He writes on Instagram it's for ``anybody dealing with injustice or struggle in their lives.'' Jay Z released a song called ``spiritual'' and says, ``I trust God and know everything that happens is for our greatest good, but man...it's tough right now.''
Florida Georgia Line have posted a new song called ``Music Is Healing'' on their Instagram account. The song plays over a photo of a black police officer and a white police officer, each of whom wrote on his hand ``His life matters'' and an arrow pointing to the other. Maren Morris has released a demo for a song she calls ``Dear Hate,'' in which she tells hate that love will always win.
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DAVID GILMOUR - POMPEII
David Gilmour has returned to Pompeii. On Thursday and Friday, Gilmour played for about two-thousand people in the ancient amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy. It was 45 years after Pink Floyd filmed a concert there for an audience of nobody. Gilmour says he likes playing in places that are interesting and beautiful.
He says they may be hard to stage or not make much money, but he would rather do something that people think for years, ``Wow, that was fantastic.'' The concert was filmed for a documentary.
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KENNY CHESNEY - ALBUM TITLE
Kenny Chesney is not just delaying the release of his next album. He's changed the name. Chesney has announced he's dropping the title ``Some Town Somewhere'' in favour of ``Cosmic Hallelujah.'' Chesney says ``Some Town Somewhere'' is a great title, but he felt ``Cosmic Hallelujah'' continues with what he was trying to accomplish with ``The Big Revival'' album. ``Some Town Somewhere'' was supposed to come out Friday. It will now come out with the new title on October 28th. Chesney delayed the release so he could include a duet with Pink.
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FRANZ FERDINAND - GUITARIST
Guitarist Nick McCarthy will not be on the next Franz Ferdinand album nor will he tour with them. The band say in a statement McCarthy has a young family and does not want to be away from them for the year and a half it takes to work on an album. They say McCarthy's departure is not a permanent solution. McCarthy says he's going to concentrate on writing and producing completely different things for a bit and ``we can all look forward to hearing the new Franz Ferdinand album.''
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CHAKA KHAN - REHAB
Chaka Khan says Prince's death has pushed her to get help. Khan says in a statement she is battling an addiction to the same medication that led to Prince's death. An autopsy found Prince had died of an overdose to the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
Khan has entered rehab with her sister, Yvonne Stevens, also known as Taka Boom. Khan says they agreed they would take the journey together and support each other through recovery.
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ALANIS MORISSETTE - BABY
It's a girl for Canadian songstress Alanis Morissette. She's posted photos of her daughter on social media, noting the baby was born June 23rd. Morissette and her husband, Souleye, have named her Onyx Solace Morissette-Treadway. They also have a five-year-old boy named Ever.
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(The Associated Press)
