MUSIC NEWS: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015
GRAMMY PERFORMERS
One sings about being ``Happy,'' the other croons about being sad: Pharrell and Sam Smith will perform at the Grammys next month.
The Recording Academy announced Wednesday that Usher and Miranda Lambert also will take the stage at the Feb. 8 show in Los Angeles.Common and John Legend will perform their Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated song, ``Glory,'' from the movie ``Selma.''
Smith, Pharrell and Beyonce are the Grammy leaders with six nominations apiece. They will battle Beck and Ed Sheeran for the top prize, album of the year.
Previously announced performers include Madonna, AC/DC, Ariana Grande, Eric Church and Sheeran.
The 57th annual Grammy Awards will air live on CBS from the Staples Center.
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RASCAL FLATTS ANNOUNCE TOUR
Rascal Flatts will hang out in Las Vegas, then hit the road for the summer. Rascal Flatts have announced a tour beginning May 29 in St. Louis. Scotty McCreery will be the opening act. Before that, Rascal Flatts will do a residency in Las Vegas from February 25th to March 14th, with ``The Voice'' winner Craig Wayne Boyd opening.
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COMEDY CENTRAL PLANS ROAST OF JUSTIN BIEBER
The folks at Comedy Central are licking their lips over the idea of roasting Justin Bieber, and he says, bring it on. Comedy Central president Kent Alterman says Bieber has been asking them for years to roast him, and the network told him to ``go create more source material first.'' Alterman says, ``We're thrilled he listened.'' The show will tape in Los Angeles, but a taping date and air date have not yet been announced. Bieber tweets, ``Let's do it.''
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ANNIE LENNOX APOLOGIZES FOR ``STRANGE FRUIT'' OMISSION
Annie Lennox has worked to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa, but now she's defending herself against accusations of racism for failing to mention what the Billie Holiday song ``Strange Fruit'' is about. In an interview with Tavis Smiley of PBS last year, she mentioned the song because she remade it for her ``Nostalgia'' CD. She had said it was about human violence and bigotry but did not say it was about African-American lynchings.
Bloggers accused her of ``whitewashing'' the song's origins. On Monday, Lennox told the Television Critics Association the criticisms were an ``opportunistic swipe'' and if she offended anyone by not mentioning the lynchings, she wholeheartedly apologizes.
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LINKIN PARK CANCELS TOUR
Linkin Park is cancelling the rest of their U.S.
tour. Frontman Chester Bennington has hurt his leg and says he needs immediate medical attention. Bennington hasn't said how he got hurt.
He adds it's impossible for him to perform. Linkin Park's ``The Hunting Party'' tour kicked off last week. The band has only performed three shows. Bennington was onstage with crutches at Sunday's concert in Indianapolis. He says he's ``disappointed'' he can't perform and called the first few shows ``magical.''
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MOTLEY CRUE ANNOUNCE FAREWELL SHOW
Made your plans yet for New Year's Eve? Motley Crue has, and they're big plans. They will perform their final show ever on December 31 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band has been doing a two-year farewell tour and they've announced Los Angeles the last concert. Motley Crue also have a gift for fans.
They will give away their ``Greatest Hits'' album for free through Google Play, now through next Tuesday.
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JUDGE TELLS SOUTH CAROLINA TO RELEASE JAMES BROWN EMAILS
South Carolina officials have been ordered to release emails about the diary of James Brown's widow. A judge in South Carolina has ruled the state attorney general's office has 10 days to produce the documents related to the diary of Tomi
Tomi Rae Hynie, as well as an appraisal of Brown's estate and what the state should pay a private law firm for its help in the fight over Brown's estate. Lawyers for the attorney general's office had argued the records should be kept from the public while it appeals a July ruling requiring their release. A freelance journalist sued to get access to the documents.
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TAYLOR MOMSEN OF PRETTY RECKLESS: IT'S ALL ROCK TO ME
Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless doesn't think rock should be whittled down further into guy rock and girl rock. Momsen says rock is a niche anyway. She says all her rock heroes were bands fronted by men, so the fact that she's a woman fronting a band isn't important because she's doing the same thing.
Momsen says she doesn't face much sexism in the music business anyway -- at least from men. She says the women tend to be the aggressive ones toward her, and she finds that funny.
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MICHAEL BOLTON SINGS FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY
Let Michael Bolton wish your friend a happy birthday. American Greetings has created a video greeting card featuring Bolton singing a happy birthday song. It's customizable, which means Bolton will sing any of a thousand names, as well as ``sweetie,'' ''honey,`` ''buddy,`` ''grandpa,`` ''grandma,`` and other general terms. Bolton also will sing the date and a custom message, including ''You are the birthday boy today,`` ''You are God knows how old today,`` ''You are a sexy babe today`` and ''You are still alive today.`` Bolton says he hopes everyone has as much fun with the card as he did and there's more where that came from. Find out more at www.AmericanGreetings.com .
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BARBRA STREISAND EARNS MORE PLATINUM
Barbra Streisand's ``Partners'' album has been certified platinum for sales of one million. She can now put them with her other 30 platinum albums. Streisand solidifies her place as the female artist with the most platinum albums. She also has 53 gold and 14 multi-platinum albums.
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LIBERACE HOLOGRAM WILL PLAY VEGAS
We've seen on-stage holograms of Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson. The next one will be ... Liberace. Forbes magazine reports what makes this one different is that Liberace will perform a full show, set to debut in Las Vegas with plans to tour. The virtual Liberace will also interact with the audience. Jonathan Warren of the Liberace Foundation says the audience will be able to ``feel the warmth from his heart, the sparkle of his eye.''
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NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK'S JONATHAN KNIGHT IS ON ``THE AMAZING RACE''
Jonathan Knight will compete on the next edition of ``The Amazing Race.'' The 11 teams competing this time are all couples who are dating, with five teams consisting of people meeting for the race as blind dates. Knight will compete with his partner of seven years, fitness trainer Harley Rodriguez. ``The Amazing Race'' premieres February 25th on CBS.
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