MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
IAN KELLY - ROBBED
Here's a robbery story with a happy ending.
Montreal indie pop-rocker Ian Kelly says someone has returned stolen hard drives containing the only copies of an album he was preparing to release. He took to Twitter and Facebook this week to plead for the return of the drives, which he says were swiped from an S-U-V on Tuesday. Wednesday night, Kelly announced on Twitter his property had been returned by the thief's father. He had offered a reward to anyone who found his hard drives, but he says the man refused it.
Kelly says the stolen master copy and backup contain about six months of work.
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JANET JACKSON - NOT CANCER
Janet Jackson is still not saying why she postponed her concert tour, but she will say that it isn't cancer.
Jackson posted a two-minute clip from her song ``The Great Forever.'' It ends with a message from Jackson saying she's recovering and her doctors have approved her European tour in March.
Some online reports had suggested she had throat cancer, but Jackson denies it.
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BEYONCE - SUPER BOWL
Beyonce is returning to the Super Bowl. Pepsi confirms to The Associated Press that Beyonce will perform during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show February 7th, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Last month, it was announced that Coldplay would perform. Beyonce headlined the 2013 Pepsi Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans at the Superdome, where she was joined by her Destiny Child's bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
Beyonce and Coldplay recently collaborated on the band's new album, ``A Head Full of Dreams.''
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MICHAEL JACKSON - ``OFF THE WALL'' - REISSUE
A Spike Lee documentary will be included in the re-release of Michael Jackson's ``Off The Wall'' album. The film ``Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to 'Off The Wall''' will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24th and then it will be shown on Showtime on February 5th. The album and documentary will be available for purchase February 26th. Lee also made a documentary about Jackson's ``Bad'' album for the 2012 reissue.
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NATALIE COLE - CAUSE OF DEATH
Natalie Cole died of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension which led to heart failure. What that means is she had a rare lung disease that caused shortness of breath, dizziness and sometimes chest pain, but the exact cause was unknown.
Her family said Cole got that diagnosis after her 2009 kidney transplant. She had battled drug problems and hepatitis.
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RAPPERS AND THE HAWKS
T.I., Ludacris and Big Boi are helping the Atlanta Hawks improve their image. They have been performing at halftime and after Hawks home games. The Hawks came under fire when former general manager Danny Ferry made insensitive comments about Luol Deng, and former co-owner Bruce Levenson complained in a 2012 email that blacks kept potential white fans away from games. T.I. had performed at games before the incidents but has performed more frequently since then. Others who have performed include 2 Chainz, Jeezy, CeeLo Green, Rich Homie Quan, Big Grams and Silento. The artists aren't paid but the team will make donations to charity in their name.
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RACHEL PLATTEN - BIG AND SMALL
Rachel Platten's biggest concert was also the first one she ever did. Platten says she sang backup for a friend for 80-thousand people in Trinidad. She says it was at that moment she realized she wanted to be a singer. Her favourites are her smallest gigs. Platten says she will sing for hospital patients as part of the charity Musicians On Call and it reminds her of the healing power of music.
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(The Associated Press)