MUSIC NEWS: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017
TAYLOR SWIFT - WAITING FOR HER DOLLAR
Taylor Swift says she has yet to be paid the one dollar she won in the sexual assault trial against a Colorado D-J she accused of grabbing her rear end during a photo opportunity in 2013. Swift tells Time magazine, ``That act of defiance is symbolic in itself.'' Swift was one of the women pictured on the cover of Time's Person of the Year issue that featured the ``Silence Breakers'' who shared stories of sexual assault. Swift says her advice for others who find themselves victims of sexual harassment and assault is ``that you not blame yourself and do not accept the blame others will try to place on you.''
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TICKETMASTER - TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS
Ticketmaster admits it's slowing down the process for Taylor Swift fans trying to buy tickets to her concerts.
Ticketmaster head of music David Marcus tells Billboard magazine tickets are being processed at about 18 tickets per show per minute, as opposed to the usual two-thousand per minute. He says that fights off bots and scalpers. Swift is using a Verified Fan system to sell tickets and Marcus says all fans who were verified will be able to buy tickets this week. He warns against people buying Verified Fan codes on eBay, because each code corresponds to an individual Ticketmaster account and you can't use someone else's code.
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NILE RODGERS - CANCER RETURNS
Nile Rodgers of Chic reveals he was diagnosed with cancer again, and his prognosis is ``100 per cent recovery.'' Rodgers reveals on his website two different cancers within one mass were discovered on his kidney when he was being treated for an E-coli infection in August. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and it was in remission in 2014. Rodgers says with the new diagnosis, he was ``more relaxed, analytic and calm.'' He still kept his slate of international tour dates, then flew to Rochester, New York, for surgery. Rodgers says his health issues have delayed some big plans, but he promises what happens next year ``is beyond any of my wildest dreams.''
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JOHN MAYER - RECOVERY
John Mayer is thanking fans for the support after his emergency appendectomy earlier this week. Mayer tweets he woke up from surgery to ``some amazingly kind and loving tweets.'' He apologizes for failing to finish the run of shows with Dead and Company. The band put out a statement saying the concerts scheduled this week for Orlando and Sunrise, Florida, will be rescheduled in addition to the New Orleans show.
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GENE SIMMONS - BOOK
Gene Simmons' advice for becoming rich and powerful: learn English, be creative and have a lot of hustle.
Simmons says the guy who invented the pet rock is a ``billionaire.''
Simmons notes that he himself was not even born in the U-S and English is his fourth language. He recently published a book called ``On Power'' that profiles successful people like Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey. He also shares anecdotes from his own life. Simmons says it's fine to be proud of being from Serbia or Zambia or wherever, and you can speak your native language in America, but he'll always make more money because he learned ``the language of money, and that's called English.''
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MARTY STUART - PHOTO DISPLAY
The first photograph Marty Stuart took when he was 11-years-old was of Connie Smith at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, Mississippi. She's now his wife. Stuart's black-and-white photo collection is on display at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center in Huntingdon, Tennessee. It's only been displayed one other time. The collection includes Stuart's photos of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Roy Acuff. The exhibit runs through February 28th.
BON JOVI - ROCK HALL INDUCTION
Bon Jovi is a step closer to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bon Jovi won the fan vote, pulling ahead of The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Cars and Judas Priest. The top five fan vote winners get one extra vote in the official balloting, which is made up of industry professionals. The 2018 inductees will be announced next Wednesday.
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U2 - BERLIN SUBWAY RIDE
It was U-2 on the U-2 yesterday. Bono and The Edge took a trip on the Berlin subway line known as the U-2 from Olympic Stadium to the Deutsche Oper stop. They performed a short acoustic set on the platform. A local radio station gave out tickets for the ride and says about 120 people were on the train.
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SUPER BOWL WEEK - PERFORMANCES
Ellie Goulding and D-J Kygo will join the festivities leading up to the Super Bowl in Minneapolis. They will headline a show on Feb. 2nd, two days before the Super Bowl. Other acts performing as part of Super Bowl week include Florida Georgia Line, The Chainsmokers, Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., The Revolution, Morris Day and The Time.
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JIMI HENDRIX - LOST MUSIC
Recording engineer Eddie Kramer recalls the hair on his neck standing up when he heard Jimi Hendrix record in 1969.
He says the same thing happened again when he heard the tapes 48 years later. The upcoming album ``Both Sides of the Sky'' will feature 13 Hendrix tracks, ten of which have never been released.
Guest musicians include Johnny Winter and Stephen Stills. The album will come out March 9th. It's the third in the trilogy that also included ``Valleys of Neptune'' in 2010 and ``People, Hell and Angels'' in 2013. Kramer says the Hendrix estate still has some live footage of Hendrix that it plans to release.
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(The Canadian Press)
