MUSIC NEWS: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015
JOHN MELLENCAMP IN WINNIPEG
Legendary musician and co-founder of Farm Aid, John Mellencamp played the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg last night to a very satisfied and close to sold out crowd.
Opening the show was a bit of Country Music Royalty in the form of Carlene Carter who impressed the crowd with her sincerity and her amazing voice and songs. Both performers came on stage together to sing a couple of songs from the John Mellencamp -Stephen King Musical "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County" which will soon return!
___
MIRANDA LAMBERT
Dauphinites may have gotten lucky! Miranda Lambert is dealing with a serious throat issue. Officials with the Calgary Stampede say Lambert has called off her performance today because she has a vocal cord inflammation.
Lambert's next performance is a week from tomorrow in Minot, North Dakota.
---
KEITH RICHARDS
Keith Richards will release a new solo album after 20 years this fall.
The Rolling Stones guitarist announced the Sept. 18 release of ``Crosseyed Heart'' on Thursday. It's his third solo album. The first single, ``Trouble,'' will be released July 17.
His last solo album was 1992's ``Main Offender.'' Richards wrote most of the songs with producer Steve Jordan. The album includes a duet with Norah Jones.
The Rolling Stones are currently on tour.
---
ARIANA GRANDE
Ariana Grande is apologizing for hating on America. The gossip website TMZ posted a video of her and her friends at a doughnut shop outside Los Angeles. The video shows Grande being presented with a tray of doughnuts and she uses an expletive to say, ``What...is that? I hate Americans. I hate America.'' Grande says what she said in a private moment was taken out of context and she's sorry for not using more discretion. She says she was upset over how Americans eat without giving any thought to consequences. Grande, by the way, has pulled out of Major League Baseball's All-Star Concert in Cincinnati on Saturday, but not because of the doughnut incident. Her representative says it's because Grande had her wisdom teeth out. Demi Lovato will take her place.
---
JONI MITCHELL
Joni Mitchell is on her way to better health and a judge is pleased with how her friend is taking care of her.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cunningham the Third says Mitchell's longtime friend, Leslie Morris, should remain in charge of Mitchell's health care. Cunningham was impressed with Mitchell's progress as she recovers from an aneurysm in March. She is home in Los Angeles and has regained her speech. A court-appointed attorney says Mitchell is expected to make a full recovery. Morris does not have any control over Mitchell's finances.
---
GRATEFUL DEAD
With the smell of marijuana in the air at the Grateful Dead's final shows in Chicago this past weekend, you'd think the cops would have been busting people left and right.
Chicago police made all of three marijuana-related arrests. The Chicago Sun-Times reports police made one arrest for possession of cannabis on Friday and wrote two tickets for possession of cannabis on Sunday. A police spokesman says officers instead focused on fighting violent crime and addressing illegal guns in the community.
---
IMAGINE DRAGONS GO DIAMOND
`Radioactive'' by Imagine Dragons has become one of the rare songs to reach diamond status, or ten times platinum, according to The Recording Industry Association of America. A diamond award used to mean sales of ten million, but now that also includes streaming data. Nielsen Soundscan says ``Radioactive'' has sold 7.7 million tracks. The only other songs to have reached digital diamond status are Lady Gaga's ``Bad Romance,'' Justin Bieber's ``Baby'' and Eminem's ``Love the Way You Lie'' and ``Not Afraid.'' Elton John's ``Candle in the Wind 1997'' is the only physical single to reach diamond status.
---
AVETT BROTHERS
As long as The Avett Brothers are touring, they will make records. Banjo player Scott Avett says they make albums to fuel their live shows. He says they demand a certain amount of new music from themselves so they can stay excited about performing. He says they could probably put out an album a year if they wanted to, but on the whole, they write and release as much music as they're supposed to.
Former Winnipegger and member of The Duhks is now the fiddle player with the group.
---
2015 GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL
Beyonce, Pearl Jam and Coldplay will perform at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park in September. They will join Ed Sheeran at the Sept. 26 event on the Great Lawn, organizers announced Thursday.
Beyonce made a surprise appearance onstage last year when Jay Z closed the free event.
The fourth annual concert will air on MSNBC and stream on iHeartRadio and Tidal. Past performers include Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Alicia Keys, Foo Fighters and Carrie Underwood.
Fans can earn free tickets by taking actions to end poverty on globalcitizen.org. The concert is timed to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
---
CHUMBAWAMBA
Chumbawamba singer Dunstan Bruce has started a Kickstarter campaign to tell the band's story in film. Bruce is hoping to raise $63,000 to make the movie ``I Get Knocked Down: The Untold Story of Chumbawamba.'' He's gotten about half that so far, with 21 days to go in the fundraising campaign. Bruce promises it's a ``fascinating and hilarious story'' about ``what happens when a bunch of anarchists from the north of England had a worldwide hit totally by accident.'' If all goes well, the film would come out next spring. Bruce says he can't fund the film himself because Chumbawamba gave away all the money they earned from the song ``Tubthumping.''
---
CIARA, JOSH TURNER
Ciara will sing the national anthem before Major League Baseball's All-Star Game on Tuesday. Josh Turner will sing ``God Bless America'' before the game.
---
(The Canadian Press/The American Press/CKDM)