MUSIC NEWS: FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015
OBIT - Ben E. King
R&B and soul singer Ben E King, best known for the classic song Stand By Me, has died at the age of 76.
King started his career in the late 1950s with The Drifters, singing on hits including There Goes My Baby and Save The Last Dance For Me. After going solo, he hit the US top five with Stand By Me in 1961. It returned to the charts in the 1980s, including a three-week spell at number one in the UK, following its use in the film of the same name and a TV advert. The song has charted nine times on the US Billboard 100 over the years - King's version twice and seven times with covers by artists like John Lennon and Spyder Turner.
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BRITNEY SPEARS INJURES ANKLE, CANCELS SHOWS
Britney Spears is rescheduling her Las Vegas shows set for tonight and tomorrow. She hurt her ankle during a performance Wednesday night. Video footage shot by someone in the audience shows Spears kicking and high-stepping on high-heels during ``(You Drive Me) Crazy,'' before her left ankle gives way. A statement from the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino says Spears'doctor recommends she take the two days to heal. Spears took to Twitter to thank fans for their support and well wishes. Spears tweets she ``had a little scare on stage'' but is OK.
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BRITNEY SPEARS CELL PHONE GAME
Britney Spears will get her own cellphone game.
Glu Mobile says it signed a five-year deal with Spears to feature her likeness, voice and what it calls ``creative influence'' in a game to be launched early next year. Glu also has games that feature Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian.
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RUSSIAN LAWMAKER SAYS U2 ALBUM COVER PROMOTES GAY RELATIONSHIPS
What most Americans see as U2 drummer Larry Mullen Junior hugging his son, a Russian lawmaker sees as gay propaganda.
Russian newspaper Izvestia reports Russian parliament member Alexander Starovoitov is appealing to prosecutors to determine whether the cover of the U2 album, ``Songs of Innocence'' promotes gay lifestyle. The cover shows both men shirtless and Mullen hugging his son around the waist. Starovoitov says the cover is ``a display of nontraditional sexual relations.'' Russian law prohibits depictions of same-sex relationships to minors. U2 have not commented on the story.
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BONO HAS SLOW RECOVERY
Bono will start the U2 tour without the full use of his hands. Bono was in a bike accident in November that fractured his eye socket, shoulder, elbow and left hand. The New York Times quotes Bono as saying while his shoulder and face are better, he feels like he has someone else's hand. He can't bend two of his fingers, and he has numbness in his forearm.
He says he can't play guitar but he adds with a grin his bandmates ``don't seem to mind.'' The tour starts in Vancouver on May 14th.
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NTSB DECLINES TO REINVESTIGATE BUDDY HOLLY CRASH
The U-S National Transportation Safety Board will not reopen the investigation into the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens in 1959. Pilot L-J Coon had petitioned the N-T-S-B to look into the crash again, saying issues involving weight and balance and fuel-gauge readings contributed to the crash. The Civil Aeronautics Board ruled in 1959 the crash was likely caused by pilot error, with snow as a secondary cause. The N-T-S-B says Coon did not present enough evidence to back up his assertions. Coon could not be reached for comment.
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TAYLOR SWIFT CALLS YOUNG CANCER PATIENT
A 12-year-old Chicago girl with cancer is a little more upbeat now after getting a call from Taylor Swift. Ed Beazley says Swift chatted with his daughter, Emily, for about 10 minutes Wednesday night. Emily has non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Her friends and family had appealed to Swift through social media to call Emily.
They even sent a video with about two-hundred children singing and dancing to Swift's music. Emily's mother, Nadia Beazley, says her daughter had ``the biggest smile'' and ``jumped up and down'' after Swift's call. She says Swift's manager offered the family tickets and the opportunity to meet Swift at her Detroit concert May 30th.
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NEW ORLEANS JAZZ FEST
This weekend's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will feature Widespread Panic, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Chicago ... and a funeral procession. Two funerals were held at last weekend's Jazz Fest. One will be held Saturday for the longtime supervisor of the Jazz Fest plumbing crew. Jazz funerals are a tradition in New Orleans. The ones at Jazz Fest are a little different because the procession is driven by drumbeats and horns.
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ECHOSMITH
Echosmith singer Sydney Sierota still is smarting from being rejected from a grade-school talent show. She says she tried out with her brother Noah by performing an Evanescence song for their third-grade teacher. He rejected them because he said Sydney didn't move around enough, even though Sydney had been in the show in previous years. That third-grade teacher recently showed up to an Echosmith concert. Sydney says she brought him on stage and asked the sold-out crowd if they thought she'd make the talent show now. They screamed, ``Yeah!'' Even the teacher acknowledged they'd make it. Sydney says they took a photo together and it was all fun.
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