HIDDEN HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Melissa Etheridge and songwriter Priscilla Renea had never met before sitting down to discuss their craft, and within an hour, they were spontaneously harmonizing together. Etheridge plucked a guitar from the wall of electrics and acoustics hanging in the front room of her suburban home. As she strummed a bluesy … Continue reading
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan has banned a performance by a popular Lebanese rock band on religious grounds, spurring criticism of the Western-allied kingdom, which portrays itself as an island of tolerance in a turbulent region. The band Mashrou’ Leila (“Leila’s Project”) is known internationally for violin-laced pop music with catchy Arabic lyrics. Songs … Continue reading
MIAMI (AP) — Whether scorned woman or confident seductress, Beyonce moved seamlessly between the two on the opening night of her Formation World Tour in Miami, offering no insight into the rumors of marital infidelity fueled by her latest album. Queen B came out swinging Wednesday in an oversized black western hat and bodysuit, trading … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Before his death, fans searching online for Prince were likely to find just a handful of his performance videos and almost none of his recorded music. In the days since he died, YouTube and other uploading sites have been flooded with hundreds of hours of the superstar musician’s songs, concert footage, … Continue reading
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The start of the second weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was marked with thunderstorms, but the music played on to crowds that were thinned by the bad weather. By the time the headliners hit the stage on Thursday the rain had long ceased and the day ended … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The creators of “Angry Birds” hope movie theater audiences don’t get their feathers ruffled if some filmgoers pluck out their mobile devices at the end of “The Angry Birds Movie” and point them at the screen. Rovio Entertainment is dropping a code in the credits of the upcoming animated film inspired … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Elusive Italian author Elena Ferrante and Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk are among six finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction. Ferrante’s Neapolitan tale “The Story of the Lost Child” and Pamuk’s Istanbul-set “A Strangeness in My Mind” are on a shortlist, announced Thursday, that includes books from Asia, Africa … Continue reading
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Several country music artists and songwriters have condemned proposed laws that critics say discriminate against LGBT people, but anyone looking for reaction from the record labels and production companies on Nashville’s Music Row has heard only the sound of silence. New laws in North Carolina and Mississippi have drawn the ire … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Kurt Deutsch didn’t intend to become the Clive Davis of Broadway when he converted a second bedroom into the headquarters of a new record company. He was just hoping to help friends make rock ‘n’ roll albums. That was back in 2000, and the first albums he made were on … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It wasn’t love but inertia that kept them together. That’s the essence of “Toni Tennille: A Memoir” (Taylor Trade Publishing), which details the relationship of Daryl “the Captain” Dragon and Toni Tennille, better known as ’70s pop-music duo the Captain & Tennille. They had a top-40 pop-chart run from 1975-1980 … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — James Levine will retire as the Metropolitan Opera’s music director at the end of the season because of Parkinson’s disease, ending a 40-year run that lifted the company to a golden era but became increasingly problematic as his health declined. Levine, who turns 73 in June, suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — My descent from the boat, gliding through schools of fish and clouds of phosphorescent jellyfish, seemed to be going pretty smoothly. At least until the shark emerged from the deeper gloom and tried to tear its way into my protective cage. Of course, it wasn’t really a shark. And I … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank Sinatra Jr., who carried on his famous father’s legacy with his own music career and whose kidnapping as a young man added a bizarre chapter to his father’s legendary life, died Wednesday. He was 72. The younger Sinatra died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest while on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida, … Continue reading
LOU KESTEN, Associated Press — Ah, the glamorous life of an international assassin. What other career gives you the chance to hobnob with world leaders, models, fashion designers, chess masters and other celebrities — and then murder them? Such is the lot of Agent 47, the protagonist of “Hitman” (Square Enix, for the PlayStation 4, … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Virtual reality is big at South by Southwest Interactive, the annual Austin, Texas, tech festival that wraps up Tuesday. It’s a big technological development, a business opportunity — and also just a big experiment, as everyone tries to figure out how to use it. All around Austin, companies like Samsung, Google, … Continue reading
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