MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
CHRIS BROWN - RESTRAINING ORDER
A judge has ordered Chris Brown to stay at least 100 yards away from his ex-girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, after she accused him of threatening her. Tran said in court filings Brown punched her in the stomach and pushed her down stairs a few years ago. She says he repeatedly threatened her since December. The order also calls for Brown to surrender any firearms until his March 9th court hearing on the restraining order.
Meanwhile, Soulja Boy says his three-round boxing pay-per-view event against Brown has been cancelled. Soulja Boy says Brown's manager says Brown won't sign the contract. The fight was to settle an online feud that began when Soulja Boy liked a photo on Tran's Instagram.
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GRACE SLICK - CHICK-FIL-A
Grace Slick has agreed to let one of her songs be used in a commercial for a company she admits she hates so she can prove a point. Slick writes in Forbes magazine she has allowed Chick-fil-A to use the Starship song ``Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now,'' even though she disagrees with the company's stance against gay marriage. Slick says she will donate every dime she makes from the commercial to Lambda Legal, a legal organization that works for L-G-B-T-Q causes. Slick says she could have said no and Chick-fil-A would have used someone else's song. Instead, she says she wanted to ``take some of their money, and pay it back.'' A Chick-fil-A representative could not be reached for comment.
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BOWIE MEMORIAL - CROWD FUNDING
A group of artists and activists are trying to raise money to create a memorial to David Bowie in the London neighbourhood where he was born. The three-story red-and-blue lightning bolt was inspired by Bowie's ``Aladdin Sane'' album cover.
It would go next to a mural of Bowie as Aladdin Sane. One of the artists behind the idea, Charlie Waterhouse, says the sculpture is meant to be ``startling, stupid and utterly joyous in equal measure.'' The group needs 1.25-million dollars to build it.
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``LA LA LAND'' SONGWRITERS - OSCAR-NOMINATED SONGS
The composers of the two songs from the film ``La La Land'' that are nominated for the best original song Oscar never expected two of their songs to be up for that award.
``Audition (The Fools Who Dream)'' and ``City of Stars'' by Justin Hurwitz, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek are nominated. Paul says ``Audition'' is a love letter for those who chase dreams that make no sense but they put their whole life behind those dreams. Pasek says writing the words for ``City of Stars'' was tough because the song has such a simple melody but expresses both hope and melancholy. He says the challenge was to come up with lyrics that didn't ``get in the way of the beautiful music.'' The Oscars are Sunday in Los Angeles.
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(The Associated Press)
