MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY 9, 2015
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL - U2 - BATACLAN
Singer Jesse Hughes of Eagles Of Death Metal is offering profound thanks to U2 for letting them share their stage at U2's Paris concert on Monday. Hughes says U2 ``reminded us that the bad guys never take a day off, and therefore we rock 'n rollers cannot either ... and we never will.'' Eagles of Death Metal visited the Bataclan concert hall yesterday, the site of their last concert last month where Islamic extremist gunmen killed 89 people. Band members laid flowers at the site while wiping tears from their eyes.
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SCOTT WEILAND - EX-WIFE
Scott Weiland's ex-wife says December 3rd is not the day he died so much as the day hope was lost. Mary Forsberg writes in Rolling Stone she and their two teenage children, Noah and Lucy, are angry and sad, but they are ``most devastated that he chose to give up.'' She says Noah and Lucy lost their father years ago. Forsberg says Weiland was ``a paranoid man who couldn't remember his own lyrics and who was only photographed with his children a handful of times in 15 years of fatherhood.'' She says even after they broke up, she'd still try to help Weiland with his paranoid fits so that he could show up to his kids' school functions. Forsberg ends by saying, ``Skip the depressing T-shirt with 1967-2015 on it - use the money to take a kid to a ballgame or out for ice cream.''
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MICK FLEETWOOD - DIVORCE
Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood's divorce has been finalized. Court records show a judge granted his divorce from Lynn Frankel Fleetwood on November 20th. They were married for 20 years. The judgment does not say how they will divide assets, who will get custody of their 13-year-old twin daughters or if child support will be paid.
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JAZZ MUSICIAN - GRAMMY NOMINATIONS
Saxophonist Jimmy Greene has earned his first Grammy nominations for an album he wishes he never had to make.
Green was nominated for best arrangement, instrument and vocals for ``When I Come Home'' and best jazz instrumental album for ``Beautiful Life.'' He made the album in memory of his 6-year-old daughter, Ana, who was one of 20 first graders and six adults killed in 2012 the Sandy Hook shooting. Greene says he wrote the songs just a few months after Ana was killed. He says his face would be wet with tears but he wanted the world to hear a little bit about how his daughter had lived.
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B.B. KING - GRAVESTONE
The gravestone marking B.B. King's final resting place will be unveiled Friday. King is buried outside the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. The marker will be black granite engraved with King's signature. His grave is in a courtyard that eventually will be surrounded by walls that will have panels with his song titles and slats to allow breezes.
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PENTATONIX
Some of the members of Pentatonix knew as youngsters they wanted to become musicians, while others were adults when they figured it out. Scott Hoying says he knew from the time he was 5 or 6. Mitch Grassi says he was a music nerd in middle school and that's when he decided he wanted to make music for a living. Avi Kaplan says he was in high school when he saw a college choir and realized he wanted to be like them. Kirstin Maldonado says when she got to college, she realized she'd rather be a starving but happy singer than successful and miserable as anything else. Kevin Olusola had to convince his parents that music was his path in life. He was a pre-med student and they were big on academics, but Olusola says he's never regretted his decision.
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TRISHA YEARWOOD - ``SOUTHERN KITCHEN''
The premiere episode of the next season of Trisha Yearwood's ``Southern Kitchen'' cooking show takes her to Graceland.
She makes a banana pancake sandwich filled with peanut butter syrup in honour of Elvis Presley. That episode airs January 2nd on Food Network. Reba McEntire will stop by for dinner in a future episode.
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IMAGE AWARD - NOMINATIONS
``Empire'' leads the T-V nominees for the N-Double-A-C-P's Image Awards. The Fox musical drama is up for 12 trophies, including acting nominations for stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. ``Empire'' will face off against ``Being Mary Jane,'' ''How to Get Away with Murder,`` ''Power`` and ''Scandal`` in the outstanding T-V drama category. The ''Rocky`` sequel ''Creed`` leads the film categories with six nods. ''Creed`` star Michael B. Jordan is also up for entertainer of the year, nominated alongside Misty Copeland, Pharrell Williams, Shonda Rhimes and Viola Davis. The awards will be presented Feb. 6th and air on T-V One.
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NIELSEN RATINGS
``The Wiz'' is a win for N-B-C. The live production of the musical drew 11 and a-half million viewers last Thursday and helped the network to its second straight win in the weekly ratings race. According to Nielsen, N-B-C's special saluting the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City was also a winner. But football is still the rating's king.
N-B-C's coverage of Indianapolis at Pittsburgh was the week's most-watched show. Green Bay at Detroit on C-B-S was second, followed by the football wrap-up ``The O-T'' on Fox and N-B-C's ``Sunday Night N-F-L Pre-Kick.'' Overall, C-B-S was second in the weekly standings, followed by Fox, A-B-C and Univision.
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``THE VOICE'' - FINAL FOUR
It was a good night for Team Blake on ``The Voice.'' Last night, two of Blake Shelton's singers made the final four and will go on to perform in next week's finale. High school teacher Barrett Baber and 17-year-old Emily Ann Roberts are both country artists and both were in the top three in this week's results. Team Adam's Jordan Smith is also among the top vote-getters and wins a place in the finale. The final spot was filled in three-way instant Twitter vote sing-off. Team Gwen's Jeffery Austin wins that slot. Team Pharrell is a washout this season. Next week's finale of The Voice will span two evenings.
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(The Associated Press)