MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
SHANIA TWAIN AWARD
Canadian country superstar Shania Twain will be the first woman to receive CMT's Artist of a Lifetime award.
Past recipients include legendary artists Kenny Rogers and Merle Haggard.
Twain will be honoured at the seventh annual ``CMT Artists of the Year'' celebration airing Oct. 20 at 9 p.m. ET. on CMT.
She was chosen for her ``indelible impact and achievements in country music.''
The five-time Grammy winner has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide, and remains the top-selling female country artist of all time.
The 90-minute special will be taped live at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center and will celebrate five acts selected by CMT as the top artists of the year: Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett.
(The Canadian Press)
PAISLEY PARK NOT READY TO OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Regular tours of Prince's estate might not start until near the end of the year. But Paisley Park will open to the public tomorrow, Saturday and next Thursday, under a temporary permit. The move is a compromise after the city council in Chanhassen, Minnesota, indefinitely postponed voting on a rezoning request. The council debated more than three hours on a proposal to zone the property as a museum before tabling the issue. Traffic and safety were among the concerns cited. The council says it will vote by December 20th.
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TONI BRAXTON RECOVERING AFTER HOSPITAL STAY
Toni Braxton's sister Tamar has posted a video of Braxton in her hospital bed. The video appears to be Braxton giving hugs to her sons and joking they have gotten tall eating macaroni and cheese at Tamar's house. Braxton's spokeswoman says Braxton is home after spending several days in a Los Angeles hospital for treatment for lupus. Braxton is expected to be well enough to start rehearsals this week for an upcoming tour.
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JERRY HELLER DEAD
The future of a defamation lawsuit filed by former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller against the producers of the film ``Straight Outta Compton'' is uncertain after Heller's death last month. The Hollywood Reporter reports Heller was supposed to be deposed in August but his lawyers cancelled the day before, citing an unspecified conflict of interest. Defence attorneys disputed that, but Heller died before the issue could be resolved. A court filing Monday indicates the lawsuit may not proceed without a plaintiff. Heller's attorney, Michael Shapiro, has asked for a stay until October 20 to continue the lawsuit in the name of a successor-in-interest. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the widow of Eazy-E were among the defendants in the lawsuit.
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THIRD EYE BLIND
Third Eye Blind are flipping the order of how they release music. Frontman Stephan Jenkins says rather than put out an album and then a single, they're going to put out songs as they create them and then eventually collect them into an L-P.
Jenkins says they made the decision to do it that way after the release of last year's ``Dopamine'' album. He says they measure their wealth in terms of happiness and they feel happier increasing the tempo of exchange with their fans. Third Eye Blind's new album, ``We Are Drugs,'' comes out Friday.
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GENE SIMMONS
Simmons says he can appreciate his former ``Celebrity Apprentice'' mentor Donald Trump for being ``a true animal'' on the campaign trail. Simmons says Trump will say whatever he wants. Simmons says if he were Trump, he'd hold back more, but that's Trump's decision. That does not mean Simmons is telling people to vote for Trump. Simmons says everyone should vote their conscience and remember there's a curtain when you vote. He says people should not care about what George Clooney or Gene Simmons or Chubby Checker have to say about who they're voting for.
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THE RAMONES
The street in front of the school where The Ramones attended will be named after them. ``Ramones Way'' will be at the intersection of 67th Avenue and 110th Street in Queens, New York, in front of the main entrance to Forest Hills High School. The renaming ceremony will be October 23rd.
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MACKLEMORE - U-S PRESIDENT OBAMA
If the idea of Macklemore and U-S President Barack Obama sitting around talking about their drug pasts makes you think, ``I'd watch that,'' the good news is, you can. M-T-V will run a one-hour special featuring Macklemore and Obama called ``Prescription for Change: Ending America's Opioid Crisis.''
Macklemore is a recovering addict and says the documentary shines a light on things that need to be done to address the opioid epidemic.
Macklemore is one of the executive producers of the show.
``Prescription for Change'' airs October 11th on M-T-V.
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R. KELLY PLANS HOLIDAY RECORD
R. Kelly is putting his own spin on the holidays.
He will release his first Christmas album, ``12 Nights of Christmas,'' on October 21st. No Christmas classics here: all 12 songs are new ones.
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PLAIN WHITE T'S
The next video from Plain White T's will be directed by a winner of a contest sponsored by the same people behind the ``Project Greenlight'' T-V series. Six finalists in a contest started in August were given 2,000 dollars to create a concept video based on their original pitches for the Plain White T's song ``Land of the Living.'' Melanie D'Andrea came up with the winning video. She gets 3,000 dollars for herself and a 25,000 dollar budget to make the full video. It's the first time Project Greenlight Digital Studios has done a music video.
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DOLLY PARTON
Dolly Parton will get special recognition at the Country Music Association Awards. She will receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on November 2. The show will be broadcast live on A-B-C.
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(The Associated Press)
