MUSIC NEWS: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
MEGHAN LINSEY - TAKE A KNEE
Meghan Linsey defends her decision to take a knee after singing the national anthem before Sunday's Seahawks-Titans game to protest racism. Linsey tells Newsweek as a ``white, blonde, privileged woman in the music industry,'' she knew what that move would carry. She says she knelt ``out of love'' for the U-S rather than a demonstration against anyone. Linsey says a lot of country musicians are scared to express their opinions, and she's gotten a lot of negative comments, but she's also had people say they're now fans of hers. Her guitarist, Tyler Cain, says they had agreed beforehand they would both take a knee.
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TAMAR BRAXTON PLANS TO STOP RECORDING
Tamar Braxton says her upcoming album will be her last one because she needs to focus on her family. Braxton tells ``Entertainment Tonight'' that ``whatever I can do to eliminate all of the stress and problems off of my relationship, I would rather do that.'' She's married to music executive Vince Herbert. They have a four-year-old son, Logan. Braxton says she'll still write songs for other artists and maybe do television again. Her ``Bluebird of Happiness'' album comes out Friday.
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SNOOP DOGG - DON RICKLES
You got Snoop Dogg comparing Don Rickles to a freestyle rapper and Rickles comparing Snoop to Frank Sinatra. Then they talk about pot and which comedians Rickles found annoying. The A-A-R-P has launched a 13-episode show called ``Dinner with Don,''
which features interviews Rickles did with several celebrities before Rickles died in April. Besides Snoop, Rickles talked with Jimmy Kimmel, Robert De Niro, Sarah Silverman and Marisa Tomei').
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STYX'S JAMES YOUNG WAS ALMOST A SPACE GUY
Styx guitarist James Young considered aerospace engineering as his fallback plan. Young says he has a degree in aerospace engineering because he was avoiding the Vietnam draft and he promised his dad he wouldn't pursue music until he was done with college. All these years later, Styx has released an album called ``The Mission,'' a concept album about a trip to Mars. Young says it's actually singer Tommy Shaw's concept, not his. He says if he had suggested it, everyone would think he can only come up with space ideas. He did sneak one into a Styx hit, though. He says he convinced former singer Dennis DeYoung to turn the ship in ``Come Sail Away'' into a spaceship at the end. ``The Mission'' is out now.
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CHEAP TRICK COVERS ``SNL'' SKIT SONG
Among the songs that Cheap Trick covers for their first-ever holiday album is a song that started out as a joke on ``Saturday Night Live.'' Cheap Trick will put their own spin on the song ``I Wish It Was Christmas Today,'' written by Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz. They'll also do their versions of ``Father Christmas'' by The Kinks, ``Merry Xmas Everybody'' by Slade and ``Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)'' by The Ramones.
Cheap Trick also wrote three new holiday songs for the album, which is called ``Christmas Christmas.'' It comes out October 20th.
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ED SHEERAN, MIGOS WILL PERFORM ON ``TRL'' REVIVAL
Ed Sheeran and Migos will be the first guests on M-T-V reboot of ``Total Request Live.'' The show will premiere October 2nd from the same studio overlooking Times Square where the original show aired.
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(The Associated Press)
