MUSIC NEWS: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018
MUSIC Juno Nominations
By David Friend
The 2018 Juno Awards nominees will be unveiled this morning as the music industry grapples with questions about a lack of female representation.
Canada's biggest music bash will likely shine a spotlight on superstars Drake, Shania Twain and the late Gord Downie in the top categories.
But many will be closely watching the number of female artists who earn recognition in the wake of the MeToo and Time's Up movements.
The Junos were criticized last year for a poor showing of women across the nominees, even though some felt there were plenty of worthy contenders.
Numerous album categories _ including country, francophone, rap, R&B/soul and reggae _ only had one female nominee each. Both the engineer and producer categories didn't generate a single female nominee.
Conversations over representation escalated after last month after Brampton, Ont., singer Alessia Cara was the only woman to be awarded on the televized portion of the Grammys.
PAUL SIMON ANNOUNCES FINAL TOUR
Paul Simon says his decision to stop touring after one last tour is because the time away from his family detracts from his joy of playing. He also cites the death of longtime guitarist Vincent Nguini (n-GEE'-nee), who died in December. Simon's ``Homeward Bound - The Farewell Tour'' - will begin May 16th in Vancouver and run through July 15th in London.
Simon, who is 76, says he still plans to do occasional concerts after the tour to raise money for ecological charities.
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G-EAZY AND HALSEY GIVE UP TIME OFF TO DO ``HIM AND I'' VIDEO
G-Eazy and Halsey had intended to spend two days off together wandering around New York to celebrate Halsey's birthday. Instead, they shot the video for ``Him and I.'' G-Eazy says they had shot a different video a week prior and they both hated it. They have friends who are videographers, so G-Eazy and Halsey invited them to follow them with cameras on their days off.
G-Eazy says he and Halsey both love ``Romeo and Juliet'' stories. He says that song is about ``two people who are young and crazy in love.''
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KELLY CLARKSON'S FAVOURITE PART OF THE GRAMMYS IS THE PERFORMING
Kelly Clarkson says she would rather perform on the Grammys than win a Grammy. Clarkson says winning an award is ``awesome, because your art is validated,'' but she always likes the performances. She says Pink did not win an award but ``she slayed that stage.'' Clarkson says Pink was memorable because she had ``the best vocal, hands down, of the night.'' Clarkson says it was ``weird'' that Lorde (LORD) was up for album of the year but did not get a performance spot.
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PRINCE ITEMS WILL BE AUCTIONED
One of the items for sale at an upcoming auction of Prince memorabilia is a letter he wrote in purple ink to his former wife, Mayte Garcia, apologizing for director Lisa Bonet not choosing her for his ``Walk Don't Run'' video.
It's expected to sell for at least four-thousand dollars. The 2002 white Schecter ``cloud'' guitar is expected to sell for 10-thousand to 20-thousand dollars. Several outfits and shoes are for sale, many with his ``love'' symbol used in the design. Julien's Auctions will sell the items online and live in New York on May 18th and 19th.
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HILLARY SCOTT REVEALS BABY NAMES
Lady Antebellum singer Hillary Scott is revealing details of her twin girls, born last week. She writes on social media the girls' names are Betsy Mack and Emory JoAnn. Scott says her twins' favourite place to be, other than on her, is ``nose to nose and cheek to cheek.''
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COMMON HAS A BRUISED FACE FROM BASKETBALL
Common is trying to hide a black eye. Then he showed everyone pictures of how he got it. Common wore glasses to the Oscar Nominees Luncheon outside Los Angeles yesterday to disguise a bruise he got while playing basketball last weekend.
However, he was quick to pull out photos of how his face looked after he was hit. He jokes he might have gotten a mild concussion.
Common is nominated with Diane Warren for best original song for writing ``Stand Up For Something'' from the movie ``Marshall.''
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DRUMMER LEON ``NDUGU'' CHANCLER DIES
The man who laid down the beat for Michael Jackson's song ``Billie Jean'' has died. Rolling Stone magazine reports drummer Leon ``Ndugu'' Chancler died Saturday at the age of 65, according to his wife. A cause of death was not given. Chancler also played on Jackson's songs ``P.Y.T.'' and ``I Just Can't Stop Loving You.'' He was also a co-writer of ``Let It Whip'' by the Dazz Band. Chancler got his start as a jazz drummer, and in later years, he taught at the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
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LUIS FONSI WILL GET BMI AWARD
Luis Fonsi will be honoured at the B-M-I Latin Awards for his body of work and for his charitable endeavours. Fonsi will be presented with the B-M-I President's Award on March 20th outside Los Angeles. B-M-I says it's honouring Fonsi for ``Despacito'' and all his other hits from the past two decades, as well as his efforts to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria last year.
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(The Associated Press)
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