MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
KIM MITCHELL HEART ATTACK
Canadian rock musician Kim Mitchell is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack on Tuesday.
A Facebook message posted by Alert Music, his management company, says Mitchell underwent emergency surgery.
He will remain at the hospital for another day or two before returning home.
Mitchell has been a staple of the Canadian music scene for decades, first as the lead singer and guitarist for Max Webster in the 1970s before going solo.
Some of his best-known hits include ``Go For Soda,'' ``Patio Lanterns'' and ``I Am A Wild Party.''
Last year, Mitchell left Toronto classic rock radio station Q107, where he worked for about 11 years.
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(The Canadian Press)
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DAVID BOWIE CANADA
About 900 people packed a Toronto concert venue last night to pay tribute to the beloved performer who died on Sunday from cancer at the age of 69.
Holy Holy, a band comprised of former Bowie collaborators, performed a variety of his early songs, but the show almost didn't happen.
Longtime Bowie producer Tony Visconti told the crowd they wondered if they should go ahead with the Opera House show, which was scheduled months ago as part of a North America tour.
But Visconti said they decided ``there is no better way to work through grief than through music.''
And, due to overwhelming demand, the band has added a second Toronto show to be held tonight.
Holy Holy began by performing Bowie's 1970 album ``The Man Who Sold The World'' in its entirety before charging through other favourites from the Ziggy Stardust era.
Next month, Visconti will lead a house band for a Bowie memorial concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
The event had been scheduled months ago as a tribute concert with performances of Bowie songs by 20 artists, including Cyndi Lauper, the Roots and Ann Wilson of Heart.
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``LET'S DANCE'' PUB IN AUSTRALIA SEES BOOM IN BUSINESS SINCE DAVID BOWIE'S DEATH
Among the people around the world paying tribute to David Bowie are the drinkers at a pub in the Australian Outback in a town of fewer than 200 people -- but they have a special connection to him. The only pub in the town of Carinda, a 400-mile drive from Sydney in New South Wales, was the setting for Bowie's ``Let's Dance'' video in 1983. The pub's current owner, Malcolm George, says no one knew Bowie was coming that day.
He says business has been nonstop since Bowie died on Sunday. Bartender Marie Draper says tourists gravitate to the wall with the brown and green tiles where Bowie plays his guitar in the video.
George says when he bought the bar, the tiles had fallen from the wall, so he stripped tiles from elsewhere to restore it.
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BRIT AWARDS PREPARES DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE
Britain's biggest music awards show is planning to pay respects to David Bowie. Max Lousada of the Brit Awards says Bowie was ``a visionary and ground-breaking pioneer'' and the show will put on a fitting tribute at the February 24 show in London.
Bowie had his moments at the Brit Awards. When he won best male artist in 2014, he sent supermodel Kate Moss dressed as Ziggy Stardust to accept the award.
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LAW STUDENT GETS SIR MIX-A-LOT'S OLD PHONE NUMBER
Seattle University law student Jonathan Nichols thought it would be a good idea to get a local phone number to help with his job search. Then he started getting texts to check out videos, calls from luxury car dealers asking if he wanted a test drive and pictures of scantily clad women, according to the Seattle Times. Turns out he has Sir Mix-A-Lot's old phone number. Nichols figured it out because the car dealers would ask for Anthony Ray, Mix's real name, and the photos came more frequently on August 12, Mix's birthday. Nichols plans to keep the number. Mix suggests Nichols should not check texts in front of his wife and should not say ``yes'' to anything. He says if any of the women send good pictures, Nichols should give them his new number, but he shouldn't give it to the car dealerships.
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BILLY GIBBONS REVEALS WHY ZZ TOP HAS BEEN AROUND SO LONG
The secret to ZZ Top's longevity is that they like music and they don't know what the other ones are going to do.
Guitarist Billy Gibbons says they're going on more than four decades of music, more than most marriages. Gibbons says they all agree they enjoy doing what they do. He says the secondary force is that they don't know which guy is going to make the first mistake. Gibbons says it's a constant challenge that keeps them on their toes.
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DIERKS BENTLEY PLANS NASHVILLE RESTAURANT
Dierks Bentley will open a branch of his Whiskey Row restaurants in Nashville. The Nashville Business Journal reports the restaurant will open next year on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. Bentley has two other Whiskey Rows in Arizona.
Bentley says Lower Broadway is the neighbourhood where he cut his teeth as a young performer, and he hopes to give a place for other young musicians to get their starts. Bentley notes his restaurant will back up to the Ryman Auditorium.
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SCOTTY McCREERY WILL SING BEFORE AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF
Scotty McCreery will sing the national anthem before the AFC divisional playoff game between the Patriots and the Chiefs on Saturday. McCreery says his dad was raised in New England and instilled a love for the Patriots in him. McCreery says he was at the Super Bowl last year when the Patriots won, so he's their good luck charm. The game will be shown on CBS.
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BONNAROO LINEUP WILL BE REVEALED ON ``CONAN''
Conan O'Brien will know the lineup of Bonnaroo before anyone else. The lineup for the June festival will be announced on O'Brien's show on Tuesday. Bonnaroo will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year with better toilets. Great State Park in Manchester, Tennessee, is installing a new water line that will allow the installation of 400 permanent toilets, as well as hundreds of permanent showers and water-filling stations.
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(The Associated Press)