MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2018
CELINE DION - EAR PROCEDURE
Celine Dion is calling off her Las Vegas shows for March and April because of a middle ear condition. Her management says the Canadian chanteuse has Patulous Eustachian tube, which causes hearing irregularities and makes it difficult for her to sing. She's been dealing with it for the past year or so and had treated it with ear drops, but they aren't working anymore. She is having surgery to correct the problem. Dion says her luck has not been very good lately and she offers her apologies. She plans to resume performing on May 22nd.
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BILLY CORGAN - D'ARCY WRETZKY
Billy Corgan says the bridge with former Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'Arcy Wretzky is burned ``forever.'' Corgan tells The New York Times Wretzky making their correspondence public as they tried to negotiate a reunion of the original lineup ``demonstrates why she couldn't be involved.'' He says he believed there was a reason to give Wretzky a chance, ``despite plenty of empirical evidence that that was not a wise decision.'' Wretzky says Corgan can be charming and fun, but when it comes to money and giving credit, ``it's not pretty.'' She says Corgan stands to make twice as much as the other band members from the reunion. She says if everyone had been doing it for free, she would have done it for free.
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PRINCE - INVESTIGATIVE DATA
A Minnesota prosecutor is reviewing law enforcement reports regarding the death of Prince to decide whether to file charges. Carver County Attorney Mark Metz says the investigative data in the case is not public information until the decision is made about charges. Autopsy data was released to Prince's siblings with an order of strict confidentiality. Prince's siblings want the investigative data in case they want to file civil lawsuits. Metz says he will address the release of the data at a hearing next week.
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CARLY PEARCE - FORMER DOLLYWOOD PERFORMER
If you saw a show at Dollywood at a place called The Valley with a front porch as the stage about ten years ago, you might have seen Carly Pearce. She quit high school at 16 to be a Dollywood performer. She says the costumes were ``George Jones-style pearl snap shirts'' with long, unflattering denim skirts, cowboy boots and ugly belts, which they wore in 100-degree weather. Pearce says it was the time of her life. She met her Dollywood boss, Dolly Parton, but couldn't say two words to her because she was star-struck. Years later, Pearce happened to be on the ``Today'' show with Parton because they released albums on the same day, so she told Parton her story. She says Parton's name for is her ``little Dollywood girl.''
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ELVIS PRESLEY - ARMY STINT
Graceland will kick off the morning tomorrow with reveille and a flag-raising ceremony conducted by the current members of the U-S Army unit in which Elvis Presley served. It's to mark the 60th anniversary of Presley's induction into the Army. Graceland also will open an exhibit called ``Private Presley'' with memorabilia from his time in the service.
Items include Presley's Army footlocker and the letters that his manager, Col. Tom Parker, wrote to the Army asking for a deferment so Presley could finish filming ``King Creole.'' Graceland will give free tickets tomorrow to active and retired U-S military, law enforcement officers and firefighters.
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BLAKE SHELTON - THIRD RESTAURANT
Blake Shelton will open a third branch of his Ole Red entertainment venue, this time in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It will be a 16-thousand-square-foot venue over several stories that includes a bar and restaurant, retail area, dance floor and performance space. It will open in spring of 2019. Shelton is about to open Ole Red Nashville in May. Another Ole Red opened in September in Shelton's hometown of Tishomingo, Oklahoma.
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(The Associated Press)
