MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016
OBIT-RENE-ANGELIL
Celine Dion is cancelling her shows tomorrow and Sunday night in Las Vegas. Dion's husband and former manager, Rene Angelil, has died of throat cancer in Vegas. He was 73. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg says his office was notified yesterday of Angelil's death. Angelil discovered Dion when she was 12 and mortgaged his house to fund her first record. They married in 1994 and had three children. Dion had taken time off of her Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace to take care of Angelil for a year. She returned in August.
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DAVID-BOWIE-FUNERAL
David Bowie was private in his personal life and his family wants his death to be private as well. Bowie's family writes on his website they are planning a private memorial service for him and won't give any more details. They say they welcome the tributes and concerts that are being held in Bowie's honour, but the family did not organize or endorse any of them. They say they ``welcome everyone's celebration of his life as they see fit.''
Bowie died Sunday of cancer.
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DAVID-BOWIE-VEVO-RECORD
David Bowie has knocked Adele out of the top spot for video views on Vevo. Bowie videos were viewed 51 million times on Monday, the day after his death. That sets a new record for most single-day video views on Vevo. Adele had held the record on October 23 when her ``Hello'' video debuted. Bowie's video for ``Lazarus'' was the most-viewed Vevo video on Monday, with 11.1 million.
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DAVID-BOWIE-AUSTIN-UNSANCTIONED-TRIBUTE
A prankster has changed the name of Bowie Street in Austin, Texas, to David Bowie Street, and Austin is fine with it for now. The Austin Statesman reports the sign is near the offices for the South By Southwest music festival. City officials say the sign was not sanctioned, but they'll leave it up until next week.
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NICK-CARTER-ARRESTED
Backstreet Boy Nick Carter is out on $1,500 bail after he got into a fight outside a bar in Key West, Florida, Wednesday. The police report says Carter and another man, Michael Ray Papayans, were intoxicated and refused to leave after the bartender would not serve them. Police say Papayans head-butted one employee and Carter grabbed a bouncer by the throat. Both men have been charged with misdemeanour battery. Calls to Carter's representative were not returned.
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ORIGINAL-SONG-OSCARS
Sam Smith was in a coffee shop with his mother when he found out he was nominated for an Oscar. He's up for best original song for co-writing ``Writing's On The Wall'' from ``Spectre.'' Smith says he's feeling overwhelmed and jokes, ``Better pick out a gown.'' His competition includes Lady Gaga and Diane Warren, who wrote the song ``Til It Happens To You'' from the sexual assault documentary, ``The Hunting Ground.'' Lady Gaga says her nomination ``lends a voice to the victims and survivors all over the world.'' It's Warren's eighth nomination for best original song, but she's never won. Toronto-native The Weeknd is nominated for co-writing ``Earned It'' from ``Fifty Shades of Grey.'' He tweets, ``It can't get more surreal than this'' and it's ``truly a proud moment.'' The other nominees are ``Manta Ray'' from ``Racing Extinction'' and ``Simple Song Number 3'' from ``Youth.'' The Oscars will be given out February 28th.
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NEWMAN-FAMILY-OSCAR-NOMINATIONS-RECORD
Randy Newman's family has achieved an Oscars milestone. Newman's cousin Thomas was nominated for an Oscar for writing the score to the film ``Bridge of Spies.'' Thomas' father, Alfred Newman, his brother, David Newman, and uncles Emil and Lionel Newman are also film composers. Add all that up and the Newmans have been nominated for Oscars 89 times, more than any other family.
``Bridge of Spies'' is Thomas Newman 13th Oscar nomination. He has never won. The awards will be handed out February 28th.
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DOCUMENTARY-OSCAR-NOMINATIONS
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences likes Amy Winehouse and Nina Simone, but Nirvana, N.W.A. or the Beach Boys -- not so much. The Amy Winehouse film ``Amy'' and the movie about Simone, ``What Happened, Miss Simone?'' both have been nominated for the best documentary Oscar. ``Kurt Cobain:Montage of Heck'' was snubbed. The movie based on N.W.A, ``Straight Outta Compton,'' was a critical and commercial success but only got a nomination for best original screenplay. The Brian Wilson film ``Love and Mercy'' was expected to at least get a nomination for its music but it failed to get anything.
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METALLICA-CANADIAN-TRIBUTE-BAND
Metallica joke they are sending their lawyer on a flight to go permanently ice fishing in Alaska after he sent a cease-and-desist letter to a Metallica tribute band. Metallica write on their website their lawyer, Joe Di Taranto, was ``very overzealous'' in sending the letter to the Canadian tribute band Sandman. Metallica say they and their management were unaware of the letter until Sandman posted it online. Metallica point out they not only love tribute bands, but they started as one. Metallica advise Sandman to ``file the letter in the trash.''
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NBA-ALL-STAR-CELEBRITIES
Drake and Kevin Hart will be the coaches for the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. Drake will coach Team Canada and his players include Win Butler of Arcade Fire, Drew and Jonathan Scott of ``Property Brothers,'' tennis player Milos Raonic, actor-singer Kris Wu and NBA TV analyst Rick Fox. Hart's Team USA will include Anthony Anderson of ``blackish,'' ''Creed`` star Michael B. Jordan, Bryshere ''Yazz`` Gray of ''Empire`` and ''America's Got Talent`` host Nick Cannon. The game is February 12th in Toronto.
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(The Associated Press)