MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015
CARRIE UNDERWOOD WILL MAKE FIRST POST-BABY TV PERFORMANCE
Carrie Underwood will return from maternity leave with an appearance at the CMT Music Awards. Underwood will be one of the performers, along with Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney.
Underwood has the most nominations, with five. The awards are set for June 10 in Nashville.
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LYNYRD SKYNYRD TRIBUTE CONCERT WILL BE RELEASED ON DVD JULY 24
Last November's all-star concert that paid tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd will be released on home video. ``Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More For The Fans'' was taped in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre, the same place the band recorded their 1976 live album, ``One More From The Road.'' Besides Lynyrd Skynyrd, the November concert featured Trace Adkins, Alabama, Gregg Allman, Blackberry Smoke, Cheap Trick, Charlie Daniels, Peter Frampton, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Aaron Lewis and O.A.R. The two-CD and DVD set will come out July 24th.
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SAM SMITH HAS VOCAL CORD PROCEDURE
Sam Smith's surgery for his vocal cords is a success. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston says in a statement Smith is expected to make a full recovery from surgery to stop recurrent vocal cord bleeding. Smith had unstable blood vessels in the vocal cord that could have ruptured and destroyed his voice.
The surgeon who performed the procedure has also done it for Steven Tyler, Lionel Richie and Adele. Smith is hoping to be well enough to resume his tour July 18 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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YES BASSIST CHRIS SQUIRE HAS LEUKEMIA
For the first time, Yes will perform live without bassist Chris Squire. He is taking off the next few months to seek treatment in Phoenix for a rare form of leukemia. Yes will continue their tour with Toto and have enlisted Billy Sherwood to sit in for Squire. Squire says he and the rest of the band agree Sherwood will do an excellent job of covering his parts and deliver the same Yes experience fans expect.
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LEON REDBONE RETIRES
Leon Redbone's health is forcing him to give up show business. His publicist says Redbone will retire from performing and recording, but the nature of his health issues was not disclosed. Redbone was a cult musician who was a frequent guest on ``The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson'' and on the early years of ``Saturday Night Live.'' He did the theme to the TV show ``Mr.
Belvedere.'' Jack White's Third Man Records will release a retrospective on Redbone's career in the coming months.
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COLDPLAY AMONG ACTS PARTICIPATING IN RED NOSE DAY
Imagine Coldplay doing a musical version of ``Game of Thrones.'' You can see it for yourself tomorrow on the Red Nose Day telethon that will run on NBC. Coldplay will perform original songs written by Chris Martin featuring the cast of ``Game of Thrones.'' Other musicians who will appear on the telethon include Sean ``P. Diddy'' Combs, John Legend, Keith Urban, John Mellencamp, One Direction, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Pharrell Williams and Adam Levine. Red Nose Day is an annual comedy event in the U.K. that raises money for children's charities. This is the first time it will be run in the U.S.
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TOVE LO EXPLAINS ``HABITS'' AND ``TALKING BODY''
Tove Lo is looking rough in some parts of the video for ``Habits,'' and that was her choice. She says she and the cast ran around Stockholm drunk and looking like idiots, and the first time she saw the footage she realized it showed all her worst sides. She went with it because it shows what she wanted the song to be. Contrast that with her song ``Talking Body,'' which she admits is a song about sex. She says she was ``obviously in a little bit more of a happy place'' than when she wrote ``Habits.''
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IAN ANDERSON PRESENTS OPERA ABOUT THE OTHER JETHRO TULL
The singer for Jethro Tull will hit the road to tell the story of Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson will tour with ``Jethro Tull, The Rock Opera,'' about the life of English agricultural inventor Jethro Tull. Anderson will present the story using new music and some Jethro Tull songs, some of which will have lyric changes to tell the story better. The tour kicks off November 1 in Chicago.
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VERUCA SALT PLAN ALBUM RELEASE
Veruca Salt will release their first album featuring both Louise Post and Nina Gordon since their ``Eight Arms To Hold You'' album. ``Ghost Notes'' will come out July 10. The album features not just new music, but songs Post and Gordon had worked on in 1996 and abandoned when Gordon left the band, then resurrected when they reconciled. Veruca Salt will tour to support the album beginning July 8 in San Diego.
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