Jay-Z was emotionally moved after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The rapper was honoured at the grand event with a star-studded video montage from celebrities like his wife Beyonce and former President Barack Obama paying tribute to him.
In Obama’s message, who is close friends with the Carters, he said "Today, Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him".
In typical Obama fashion he threw in a joke saying that they "both have wives that are significantly more popular than we are".
Seeing the outpour of love and support for his illustrious career he took to Twitter to express joy and share how he was "gonna cry" over the moment.
"Thank you to everyone in that video package, I'm definitely gonna cry in the car."
A Mercury-Jupiter link on your birthday will make it easy for you to express yourself physically, verbally and emotionally. Don’t be afraid to let loved ones know what you truly think and feel. And make sure they know they can be honest with you too.
ARIES (March 21 - April 20):
Don’t let any kind of personal or professional issue worry you today. With mind planet Mercury nicely linked to Jupiter, planet of expansion, the answers you need, both at home and at work, will come to you if you just relax and let life happen.
TAURUS (April 21 - May 21):
Something unexpected will happen today and you will no doubt be delighted by it. Some people won’t be quite so thrilled but if you make it your business to explain to them why it’s such a good thing they’ll come round to it eventually.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21):
Nothing is going to go wrong today. On the contrary, almost everything will go right. The bigger the problem you face over the next 24 hours the more the universe will help you find a solution. The cosmic powers that be are very much on your side.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23):
You may have all sorts of duties and responsibilities to deal with but you must also find time to have fun. If what you are doing doesn’t bring a smile to your face then either you are doing it wrong or should not be doing it at all.
LEO (July 24 - Aug. 23):
You need to be on the move as the new week begins, ideally in the company of friends who share your adventurous outlook on life. Wherever you go and whatever you do you will have a great deal of fun, because you’re with some really fun people.
VIRGO (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23):
The more you worry about a personal matter the more of a worry it will become. Fortunately, the opposite is true as well: the less you worry about it the less of an issue it will be. Your mind creates your world, be it “good” or be it “bad”.
LIBRA (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23):
Mercury in your sign is at the best possible angle to Jupiter, planet of good fortune, so get out into the world and have the time of your life. If there is something you desire, just ask for it. The universe will hand it to you on a plate.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22):
You may find it hard to choose between several tempting offers today but if you are smart you will choose the one that does not require too much effort. Save yourself for later in the week when the new moon will make you the best offer of all.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21):
Be wary of people who flatter you for no good reason. Yes, of course, they are right to point out what a wonderful human being you are but are they being honest about their feelings? Probably not. They may be after something you won’t want to give.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20):
Something you have been planning for quite some time may receive a setback over the next day or two, but there is no need to be alarmed. Thursday’s new moon will make sure your efforts are back on track and your plan will very soon be a reality.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19):
Other people can break the rules if they choose to but you are far too honest to follow their example. As well as that, you simply don’t need to. Jupiter in your sign, linked to Mercury, means you’ll succeed by following the letter of the law.
PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20):
Something delightful will come into your life today and you are advised to make the most of it, because by this time tomorrow it could be on its way out again! The message of the stars for you as the new week begins is simply to enjoy the moment.
Canadian musician Bryan Adams ducked out of a scheduled performance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night after testing positive for COVID-19.
His management team says Adams is fully vaccinated against the virus and is not experiencing any symptoms.
This image released by Focus Features shows Thomasin McKenzie in Edgar Wright's "Last Night in Soho." (Parisa Taghizadeh/Focus Features via AP)
After a record-breaking start, October’s box office closed out quietly this weekend with “Dune” repeating at number one and two prominent genre newcomers, “ Last Night in Soho ” and “Antlers,” stumbling.
Whether it’s due to Halloween falling on a Sunday, too many new options or simply a lack of enthusiasm, moviegoing audiences seemed to have other plans this weekend. Notable exceptions are the latest “My Hero Academia” and the new Wes Anderson pic “The French Dispatch.”
First place still went to the bigger budget and wider release Timothée Chalamet film. In its second weekend in theaters, “Dune,” which is also available on HBO Max, grossed an additional $15.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Although down a steep 62% from its debut, the ticket sales were enough to give it one more week atop the North American charts.
With a production budget of $165 million (not including marketing and promotion), “Dune” has now grossed $69.4 million in North America and $292.1 millon globally. Warner Bros. and Legendary last week confirmed plans to go ahead with a sequel that is expected to open exclusively in theaters in 2023.
“Halloween Kills,” in its third weekend, placed second with $8.5 million. The penultimate film in this modern trilogy has now grossed $115.1 million globally.
Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” meanwhile, opened in sixth place. Playing on 3,016 screens, the stylish thriller distributed by Focus grossed an estimated $4.2 million. Thomasin McKenzie stars as a modern-day fashion student who at night dreams increasingly realistic dreams of Anya Taylor-Joy’s aspiring singer in the 1960s.
“There are few bigger champions of the theatrical experience than Edgar and we couldn’t be prouder he has made Focus his home,” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus' president of distribution.
Scott Cooper’s “ Antlers,” about a mythical beast terrorizing a blighted Oregon town, also earned an estimated $4.2 million from 2,800 locations. The Searchlight-distributed horror stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons.
“Obviously, we hoped for a little more but we went up head to head against ‘Last Night in Soho,' another really good genre film,” said Frank Rodriguez, Searchlight's head of distribution. “They may have cancelled each other out.”
But he's optimistic going forward since next weekend's big releases include the Princess Diana film “Spencer” and the Marvel epic “Eternals," and “Antlers” has a different audience.
One of the brighter spots of the weekend was “ The French Dispatch,” also distributed by Searchlight, which expanded after a limited debut and made $2.8 million from only 788 total locations. In 10 days of release, it's made $4.6 million.
“We're still ecstatic about it," Rodriguez said. “It's amazing to see art house theaters who haven’t seen numbers like this in 18 months finally starting to see people coming out ... We are helping to open up the doors to art house and specialty theaters.”
Although the weekend was muted, October has become the highest grossing month of the year with total grosses expected to net out around $625 million. The previous high-water mark came in July with $583.8 million.
“October became a blockbuster month by virtue of the unusual nature of the pandemic. So many big movies moved into October," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It surpassed July. That never happens.”
Things aren't quite back to “normal” yet. For comparison, total grosses in pre-pandemic October 2019 were around $781.6 million and in 2018 were $830.8 million. But, Dergarabedian said the robust October 2021 box office has created a momentum that should continue through the end of the year.
“This sets up a final three months of the year that feel more like summer than summer did in 2021,” he added. “Audiences follow the movie no matter what month they’re in. The movies define the month — the month doesn’t define the movies.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Dune,” $15.5 million.
2. “Halloween Kills,” $8.5 million.
3. “No Time To Die,” $7.8 million.
4. “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission,” $6.4 million.
Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” finally hit U.S. cinemas last week following a solid international run from late September.
With nearly $300 million at the box-office, studios Legendary and Warner Bros. Pictures greenlit “Dune: Part Two” the other day which will shoot next year for a Fall 2023 release.
Now in a new interview with THR, Villeneuve offers an update on how the second film is progressing and how the announcement has resulted in a bit of a scramble even as they’re already well into the pre-production phase:
“[The ‘Dune: Part Two’ release date is] fantastic news, but it’s also kind of a burden. The good news is that a lot of the work has been done already regarding design, casting, locations and writing. So we’re not starting from scratch.
It’s not a long period of time, but I will try to face that challenge because it’s important for me that the audience sees ‘Part Two’ as soon as possible. It’s not a sequel where it’s another episode or another story with the same characters. It actually has direct continuity to the first movie. It’s the second part of the big, huge movie that I’m trying to do. So the sooner the better.”
One big change is Villeneuve will not be repeating the day-and-date HBO Max/theatrical release, saying a traditional theatrical only first release was a “non-negotiable condition” for the follow-up. He adds:
“I love streaming. I use streaming all the time. But I still think that contemporary movies need to have their chance. All movies need to have proper time in theaters. The theatrical experience is at the very heart of the cinematic language for me.”
Villeneuve also says he’s keen to make bigger movies over the next few years, with no plans for smaller “Prisoners” or “Enemy” style films until he gets a bit older:
“If things go well with ‘Part Two,’ I could foresee the idea of maybe doing … ‘Dune: Messiah.’ That would make sense to me. After that, I think that I will make some other movies – let’s call them big movies, regarding their ambition and scope. And later on, when I’m too tired to do that, I will go back to some smaller projects. But for now, I have the energy to do this.”
“Dune: Part One” is in theaters and on HBO Max now with “Dune: Part Two” set to arrive in theaters on October 20th 2023.
CLEVELAND -- Canadian musician Bryan Adams ducked out of a scheduled performance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night after testing positive for COVID-19.
His management team says Adams is fully vaccinated against the virus and is not experiencing any symptoms.
The rocker was to sing "It's Only Love," a duet he recorded with Tina Turner, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ceremony.
Instead, Keith Urban took the stage with H.E.R. to perform the 1984 hit.
Turner had previously joined the Hall of Fame in 1991 as part of Ike and Tina Turner, but this year was inducted as a solo artist.
The 2021 class also includes Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Carole King, The Go-Gos and Todd Rundgren.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2021.
Kal Penn has come out of the closet in the most surprising of ways -- announcing he's gay in a new book of his, which reveals that he's actually getting married as well.
The actor shared the news through his forthcoming offering, "You Can't Be Serious," via excerpts that leaked over the weekend ... and which is due out this Tuesday. He makes no bones about it ... he's in a relationship with a guy named Josh, whom he's been dating for 11 years.
More importantly, they're on the road to matrimony ... because the couple is engaged. Apparently, Kal met Josh while he was living/working in D.C. under the Obama administration -- for which he worked in an official capacity -- and they've been together since.
He discusses his sexuality this way, "I've always been very public with everybody I've personally interacted with. Whether it's somebody that I meet at a bar, if Josh and I are out or we're talking to friends." He adds, "I'm really excited to share our relationship with readers. But Josh, my partner, my parents, and my brother, four people who I'm closest to in the family, are fairly quiet. They don't love attention and shy away from the limelight."
The guy is getting overwhelming support for finally sharing his truth -- one that's been kept as a secret for years now ... as no one really seems to have known Kal was gay.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
He posted a video thanking people for the love he's been getting ... and also shouted out folks whom he sent an early copy of his book to -- with their reaction quotes featured on the back cover.
Kal has traditionally played stoner bros in a lot of the raunchy comedies he's known for, especially from the 'Harold & Kumar' franchise. He's also known for roles from "Designated Survivor," "How I Met Your Mother," "House," "Van Wilder," "Battle Creek" and many more.
Jennifer Lopez's latest look was a nostalgic flashback to the year 2002 — and honestly, not much has changed. She's dating Ben Affleck for a second time, her sculpted abs haven't gone anywhere, and her wardrobe is still just as glam. And last night, the multi-hyphenate harkened back to the early aughts yet again with a performance filled with Y2K trappings at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.
During the event, Lopez sang her 2002 hit "All I Have" alongside inductee LL Cool J, and her outfit was a total throwback. Wearing a bedazzled bikini top underneath a floor-length blue coat straight off the AZ Factory runway, J.Lo paired the combo with black cargo pants and lace-up stiletto boots. She accessorized with a rhinestone-studded belt over her bare midriff, a diamond choker necklace, and her signature hoop earrings.
Jennifer Lopez
Her hair was styled slicked-back with two face-framing ponytails on each side.
Following her surprise appearance, Lopez posed for photos backstage and swapped her voluminous jacket for a black blazer. "LOVE IS LIFE AND LIFE IS LIVING !!!! I was honored to be part of something very special for my friend @llcoolj tonight," J.Lo tweeted a photo of herself with the rapper, Eminem, and Dr. Dre.
This fall, Jen's schedule has been jam-packed with work commitments. In addition to her multiple musical performances, she's been shooting her upcoming Netflix thriller, The Mother, in Vancouver, while Ben is filming a movie in Austin, Texas. But despite the distance, the couple continues to "stay connected."
"They are both filming during the week on location, but they have met up whenever possible," a source told E! News. "They are working out their schedules so that they can be sure to see each other every few days. Things are good between them, and they are staying connected. They are busy with their projects, but also making time to be together."
One of the most upsetting facts about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is that female inductees only comprise about 8 percent of its total body; the disproportionate number, in fact, has influenced numerous induction speeches by women in recent years, with Stevie Nicks and Janet Jackson both going deep about the institutional failures that allowed this to happen. At Saturday’s ceremony, the Go-Go’s carried on that torch: The seminal pop-punkers, who performed a rousing medley of “Vacation,” “Our Lips Our Sealed,” and “We Got the Beat,” made sure the boys were sweating a bit.
“By recognizing our achievement, the Rock Hall celebrates possibility, the kind of possibility that creates hopeful dreamers. By honoring our historical contribution, the doors to this establishment have opened wider and the Go-Go’s will be advocating for the inclusion of more women,” bassist Kathy Valentine said, still basking in the glory of Drew Barrymore’s cosplay antics. “Women who have paved the way for us and others. Women who started bands, who sing and write songs, who excel on their instruments, who make and produce records. Because here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.” She continued, reminiscing about the dawn of the Go-Go’s in the L.A. punk scene: “Being in a band is a trip. It’s not like anything else. It’s kind of like being married. In our case, a polygamist same-sex marriage that ends up getting divorced and remarried and divorced and remarried. Our band has been, at different times, like the most rinky-dink traveling circus you could ever imagine, like a snarling wolf pack, and very much like family. And that we are a sisterhood and women is significant.”
As for the other members, drummer Gina Schock used her speech to reiterate that “this is a long time coming,” while vocalist Belinda Carlisle had to read from her notecards “because I’m too nervous.” Guitarist Jane Wiedlin thanked the director of the Go-Go’s recent Showtime documentary, Allison Eastwood, for being able to “introduce the world to a band that really was kind of maybe fading away or whatever.” God bless them all.
The annual Thrill the World event took place in Kelowna and in cities around the globe on Saturday.
The event is a worldwide project that inspires others to break down barriers by connecting people of all sorts and different backgrounds. People from around the world organize local dance groups to join other nations at the same time, performing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" while raising money for charity.
Michael Guzzi, the organizer in Kelowna, says the event is a big deal for the kids.
“I think they had some fun. To have that experience of getting out in front of people, that's a big deal. When they get through it it's kind of like, ‘wow look what I did,’” explained Guzzi.
This year's event did not have the usual turn out, roughly 40 kids showed up according to Guzzi, but as he tells Castanet, he's hopeful next year’s event will be back to normal in terms of the numbers.
“Hopefully when we get to next year, we’ll double or even triple the number of dancers ... We have our school dancers, and we will also have a number of other groups come out,” said Guzzi.
In most years, funds raised from registration would go to charity, but because of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID situation, Guzzi wasn't sure if the event would even happen. He's hopeful that next year will see funds raised for charity again, but at the end of the day, he’s just happy the event could go on.
“Again, with so many things going on with our COVID protocols, we didn't know from one week to the next what it would be like, so we couldn't really make a big plan. It was a little plan and it worked,” said Guzzi.
Guzzi said the students from the Studio9 School of the Art’s in Kelowna have been hard at work, practicing for this day.
“Those kids have been practicing for about a month and a half, and not necessarily just practicing “Thriller,” but other dances too. I was impressed by what I saw today, everyone did a really nice job, and the ones who practiced lots, you could tell they were ready for it,” described Guzzi.
For more information on the Thrill The World event, click here.
Paul McCartney is not an easy man to impress, but a little over four hours into the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony — which saw surprise appearances from Dave Chappelle, Eminem, and Jennifer Lopez, along with incredible performances by Taylor Swift, LL Cool J, Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera and the Go-Go’s — he genuinely seemed a little awestruck when he stepped onto the stage to induct the Foo Fighters.
“Rock and roll is a magical thing that contains so many elements,” he told the capacity crowd at Cleveland, Ohio’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. “It’s like all of the people we’ve heard tonight. I mean, it’s just unbelievable. I feel super privileged to be here.”
It was a sentiment shared by everyone in the arena, especially after a dreadful year and a half that saw shuttered concert halls, wildly unsatisfying attempts to recreate the live music experience via virtual events, and a 2020 Rock Hall induction ceremony that existed only on the HBO airwaves and didn’t contain a single performance.
The 2021 event was a return to the grand in-person events of years’ past, and the first one to take place since John Sykes took over as Hall of Fame chairman. He had a real challenge on his hands since a whopping 13 acts got in this time, which is about double the number in a standard class. If he stuck to the old playbook, that would have meant a roughly 8-hour show.
But this time around, “The Early Influences” and most of the no-shows were honored with brief tribute videos. That may not be ideal if you’re related Randy Rhoads or Billy Preston and wanted to give a speech, but it sure sped the evening along and gave ample time for the Go-Go’s, Foo Fighters, L.L. Cool J, and Carole King to rock the place. It also led to one of the most entertaining Hall of Fame ceremonies in recent memory.
After introductory remarks by Sykes and museum President/CEO Greg Harris, the evening began with Taylor Swift taking the stage to sing a synth-pop rendition of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” as a tribute to Carole King. Swift hasn’t played to a live crowd for quite some time, and her fans are desperately waiting for her to announce any sort of a tour, but her performance chops are undiminished, and a beaming King watched the whole thing from her seat.
When it was done, Swift addressed the crowd. “I cannot remember a time when I didn’t know Carole King’s music,” she said. “I was raised by two of her biggest fans, who taught me the basic truths of life as they saw it: That you should treat people the way you want to be treated, that you must believe that you can achieve whatever you want to in life, and that Carole King is the greatest songwriter of all time.”
King generously spent much of her acceptance speech thanking people like Gerry Goffin, Lou Adler, and James Taylor that helped her along the way. “I keep hearing it, so I guess I’m going to have to try to own it, that today’s female singers and songwriters stand on my shoulders,” she said. “Let it not be forgotten that they also stand on the shoulders of the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. May she rest in power, Miss Aretha Franklin!”
With that, Jennifer Hudson, who played Franklin the recent biopic Respect, took the stage to belt out “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” King then came back out to lead the arena in a singalong rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend,” which featured drummer Russ Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar, and guitarist Danny Kortchmar from her Tapestry days. King says that she never plans on touring again, so this could wind up being one of her last major performances. If that’s so, it’s hard to imagine wrapping up her live career in a more triumphant way.
Ringo Starr’s brief video address for Billy Preston and a mini-documentary about the pianist’s amazing, Zelig-like career led right into Dr. Dre’s speech for LL Cool J. The good doctor isn’t always the most animated public speaker, but paying respect to one his greatest hip-hop influences brought out the grinning fan in him, and he made a strong argument that LL is indeed the G.O.A.T.
“He’s hit that unique space that crosses and bridges generations; the rare artist beloved by you, your mama and all of your kids all at once,” he said. “How ’bout that? How many artists in the rap game are relevant after 30 years?”
LL was rejected by Hall of Fame voters six times before the institution grew tired of waiting for them to come to their senses, and simply gave him the Musical Excellence Award so he could take his rightful place alongside Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Tupac, Biggie, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
But he wasn’t even remotely bitter about the long wait. “A lot people, when I told them when I told them I got inducted, they’d say to me, ‘Isn’t it is about time?,” he said during his induction speech. “What people don’t realize is, I wasn’t thinking about the people who voted against me. I was thinking about the people who voted for me. It was love. Like what I was feeling was, ‘Wow, here’s some people over there who won’t take no for an answer.’ They like, ‘Yo this guy got to be in here and we’re going to keep fighting for you till we get him in here.’ So I thank you.”
LL is known as an incredible live act, but few people in the arena were prepared for what went down when it was time for him to perform. It began with 1987’s “Go Cut Creator Go” and a little snippet of “Going Back to Cali” before surprise guest Eminem strolled onto the stage for an explosive rendition of “Rock the Bells” where they traded lines and fed off the incredible energy and shock they created in the house.
That shock continued when Jennifer Lopez, another unannounced guest, joined him for a revival of their 2003 hit “All I Have.” And it all ended with a wild “Mama Said Knock You Out” where dancers in white hoodies moved from the arena floor onto the stage. The crowd was in an absolute frenzy by this point, and it can easily be said that this will join Prince’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” guitar solo, the 2002 Talking Heads reunion set, and Led Zeppelin’s jam with Neil Young as one of the best Hall of Fame moments in history. He crushed his entire career down to just a few minutes, and created an absolutely impossible act for anyone to follow.
That might have happened had Tina Turner flown in from Switzerland to accept her award in person, but we had to settle for a short video speech. She was inducted by Angela Bassett, who played her in the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It. “Now let us remember Tina is already a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame from her earlier work with Ike Turner,” she said. “However, what brings us here tonight is Tina’s journey to independence. For Tina, hope triumphed over hate. Faith won over fear. And ambition eclipsed adversity.”
Nobody can sing Tina like Tina, but Mickey Guyton did her absolute best by strapping on a jean jacket and black leather dress and delivering “What’s Love Got To Do With It” like she had just stepped out of a time machine from 1984. Prior to that, H.E.R. and Keith Urban teamed up for “It’s Only Love,” which Turner originally recorded with Bryan Adams In 1985. (The night originally called for Adams himself to sing it with H.E.R., but he reportedly came down with a case of COVID.) Urban was a splendid last-minute sub, even though it felt a little odd to spotlight this tune as opposed to one of her better-known hits. All was forgotten when Christina Aguilera wrapped up the Tina portion of the night with a sensational “River Deep, Mountain High.” It was a great reminder that Aguilera was, by far, the greatest vocalist of the TRL era.
Most of the evening’s attendees probably didn’t know much about Ahmet Ertegun Award winner Clarence Avant, but Lionel Richie explained just how important the Sussex Records founder was in the history of Black music. “He’s a teacher,” Richie said. “He’s a master communicator. He’s the perfect marriage between street sense and common sense. What he did for us, the sons and daughters of the Afro-American community, he was the one that brought us to some understanding of what the music business was all about. What we learned was that there are two parts to this industry: the music business and the business of music. One, you sweat your ass off. Two, you bank the money. He taught us how to bank the money.”
Todd Rundgren has made it clear for many years that he has no interest in the Rock Hall, and he hammered that point home by booking a concert in Cincinnati the night of the ceremony. That meant his moment was limited to a virtual speech by Patti Smith, where she looked back at their early days on the New York music scene, and his innovative work as an engineer, producer, and recording artist in the years that followed. By the end, it was hard to not agree with Rundgren that he should have gotten into the Hall of Fame two decades earlier.
Similar videos were put together for Charley Patton, Kraftwerk, Randy Rhoads, and Gil Scott-Heron. It felt a little odd to shortchange such titanic musical figures, but perhaps they’ll get a little more love from the HBO broadcast. Gary Clark Jr. did come out to play Patton’s “High Water Everywhere,” but the crowd was a little restless during the Delta blues song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1929. Maybe things would have gone a little better had they brought out “Crazy Train” or even “Autobahn.”
The audience perked up when Drew Barrymore came out to induct the Go-Go’s, especially when she recreated the Beauty and the Beat cover by wrapping her body in bath towels and smearing white makeup on her face. “Beauty and the Beat blew the doors of my life off,” she said. “It opened me up to a whole new dimension. I dropped the needle and I felt instantly connected to the punk pulse of this record. It sounded like pure possibility. It rattled up my walls and straight through to my heart. I spent hours staring at that cover and the back side, all of them in the bathtub. The coolest girls in the world taking a spa day in cool-girl heaven.”
The Go-Go’s waited a long time for this moment, and all of five them seemed overwhelmed by the enormity of it. “Being in a band is a trip,” said bassist Kathy Valentine. “It’s not like anything else — it’s kind of like being married. In our case, a polygamist same-sex marriage that ends up getting divorced and remarried and divorced and remarried. Our band has been, at different times, like the most rinky-dink traveling circus you could ever imagine, like a snarling wolf pack, and very much like family.”
She went on to say that the Hall of Fame needs to do better about bringing in female acts. “By honoring our historical contribution, the doors to this establishment have opened wider and the Go-Go’s will be advocating for the inclusion of more women,” she said. “Women who have paved the way for us and others. Women who started bands, who sing and write songs, who excel on their instruments, who make and produce records. Because here is the thing: There would not be less of us if more of us were visible.”
The quintet then banged through “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” and “We Got The Beat,” transforming everyone in the crowd back to the Reagan era, and reminding everyone just how dominant they were in that time.
We were then reminded just how devastating this past year has been when the In Memoriam segment showed images of Charlie Watts, Bunny Wailer, Chick Corea, Phil Spector, Mary Wilson, Biz Markie, Dusty Hill, Jim Steinman, Billie Joe Shaver, and many others. It ended on Don Everly, and a beautiful version of the Everly Brothers classic “All I Have To Do Is Dream” by Brandi Carlile and two of her bandmates.
No information was given out about the Jay-Z segment in advance of the evening, but he didn’t wind up performing, and nobody played on his behalf. He also didn’t seem to bring Beyoncé unless she was hiding somewhere. But there was a brief virtual address by President Obama, and a tribute video that featured an absurdly large group of A-listers, including LeBron James, David Letterman, Diddy, Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock and John Legend, along with Beyoncé and Blue Ivy.
If that wasn’t enough, it ended with Dave Chappelle walking onto the stage. He briefly referenced the ongoing controversy surrounding his Netflix special (“I would like to apologize…I’m just fucking with you”), before delivering an uncharacteristically serious speech about the brilliance of Jay-Z.
“You embody Black excellence, how great we can be,” he said. “When Barack Obama was running for president, I sat in an arena in Columbus, and watched you influence the crowd and make sure we’re unified and vote as a body. I understand who you are. And I understand what you do and I a very grateful for your contribution to this art. And I am honored to be the N—a that gets to say, “My N—a, welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
A tuxedo-clad Hov then gave the longest speech of the night where he touched on nearly every era of his career and paid respect to rappers like KRS-One and Chuck D that inspired him early on. It ended with an hysterical story about getting a call from President Obama shortly before the 2012 election.
“He called me,” Jay said, “and he said, ‘You know, it’s the fourth quarter. We’re down two. I need you to assist me, give me the ball, I’m Michael Jordan and I’ll get this done. I need you to go to Miami, Philly, Atlanta, and Ohio.’ And I thought like, ‘Man, hip-hop was really an agent for change and how amazing is its reach that this man is calling me to help out when he campaigned…I thought, “N—a, I’m Michael Jordan.’ That’s what I really thought.”
Shortly before midnight, Paul McCartney appeared to induct the Foo Fighters. He spent much of his time comparing Grohl’s post-Nirvana career to his time in Wings. “We had a great time with our groups [the Beatles and Nirvana], but eventually tragedy happened and my group broke up,” he said. “Same happened with Dave. His group broke up under tragic circumstances. So the question is, what do you do now? We both were presented with that question. In my case, I said, ‘Well, I’ll make an album where I play all the instruments myself.’ So I did that. Dave’s group broke up, what’s he do? He makes an album where he plays all the instruments himself. Do you think this guy’s stalking me?”
Dave Grohl telegraphed in advance that he was going to give a short speech, and he actually followed through with it. “I’m usually the guy who talks too much,” he said. “I didn’t prepare any sort of speech because I figured I’d make it short because the last 25 years has been me, just like, ‘Blah, blah, blah … rock & roll … blah, blah, blah.'” (It was a wonderful echo of Alex Lifeson’s now-legendary “blah blah blah” speech from Rush’s 2013 induction.)
Prior to the speeches, the band ripped through “Best of You,” “My Hero” and “Everlong,” essentially squeezing a two-hour Foo Fighters gig into about 10 euphoric minutes. In a year where the Foos were seemingly everywhere, this was a very fitting capper.
The original plan for the grand finale was an all-star jam on the Rolling Stones’ “Tumbling Dice” with the Foos and many of the evening’s other honorees. That would have been an incredible chance to see Pat Smear reunite with his one-time Germs bandmate Belinda Carlisle, not to mention a great way to honor Charlie Watts, but it wasn’t to be.
Instead, Paul McCartney and the Foos teamed up for a rollicking “Get Back.” This was McCartney’s first time playing to a live crowd in a long time, and he was a little hoarse, but there wasn’t even a single person in the arena that even remotely cared. The Hall of Fame had pulled off yet another magical evening. And with the Smiths, Devo, Carly Simon, Phil Collins, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Joy Division/New Order, and the Monkees all waiting to get in (not to mention Taylor Swift in 2032), there will be many more to come.
Country star Keith Urban stepped in for Bryan Adams at tonight’s (Oct. 30) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Adams was set to perform in a medley of songs with Christina Aguilera, Mickey Guyton, H.E.R. honoring inductee Tina Turner — recreating his duet of “It’s Only Love” (from his 1984 album, “Reckless”) with H.E.R. — but had to pull out of the ceremony last-minute due to a positive COVID-19 test, sources tell Variety.
The Canadian rocker was tested in advance of arriving in Cleveland for the festivities. All participants in the Rock Hall ceremony were required to show a negative COVID test regardless of vaccination status. A rep for Adams confirms the positive test and tells Variety that Adams is fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms.
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Urban took the stage at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to handle vocals and guitar for the collaboration, which H.E.R. revealed earlier during an interview on SiriusXM’s Volume they had only first rehearsed the day prior. Angela Bassett, who portrayed Turner in the 1993 film “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” (and received an Oscar nomination for the role) was on hand to induct the icon into the Hall for a second time as a solo artist.
For the Rock Hall performance, Aguilera sang “River Deep, Mountain High” and Guyton tackled “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Speaking to SiriusXM’s Volume backstage, Urban said he got the call to sub for Adams on Thursday morning and that he only had three run-throughs with H.E.R.
“It’s Only Love” was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal and the accompanying video won an MTV Video Music Award for best stage performance. It was released as a single 37 years ago on Oct. 21, 1985. The song hit No. 15 on the Billboard top 20 and No. 7 on the mainstream rock charts. A live version of the song was included on Tina Turner’s 1988 album, Live in Europe.
In a 1992 interview with the Morning Call, Adams said the song happened after he received a call from Turner’s producer, John S. Carter, asking for a song for her album, 1984’s “Private Dancer.”
“It transpired by me calling her (and) asking if she wanted to do the song. She wanted me to play on her “Private Dancer” album and I was making “Reckless” and couldn’t get away,” he said. “I thought maybe I could reciprocate by having her sing on “It’s Only Love.”
Adams’ friendship with Turner continued after that, with him producing her Grammy Award-winning song, “Back Where You Started” and working with her on the song “Why Must We Wait Until Tonight” from the movie “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” A noted photographer, Adams also captured the icon in images.
For the Rock Hall performance, Aguilera sang “River Deep, Mountain High” and Guyton tackled “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son walked out of jail on Saturday and was greeted with dancing and firecrackers, over three weeks after his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship party in Mumbai, the country’s financial and entertainment capital.
The Bombay High Court granted bail to 23-year-old Aryan Khan on Thursday but he spent two more nights in the city’s Arthur Road jail because his papers did not reach the prison authorities by the deadline of 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Hundreds of fans of Shah Rukh Khan, who found himself at the center of a boycott campaign on social media due to the high profile drug case, lined up to greet Khan as he arrived at his home in Mumbai. Some danced and lit firecrackers in jubilation.
Khan and seven others were detained on Oct. 3 when narcotics agents raided a party and seized drugs on a luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. He was held in the jail since Oct. 8.
Coronavirus: Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, 3 family members test positive for COVID-19
Coronavirus: Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, 3 family members test positive for COVID-19 – Jul 12, 2020
India’s narcotics agency said it has evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages that Khan was involved in illicit drug dealings.
Mukul Rohatgi, Khan’s lawyer, told the court that the agency did not find any drugs on Khan and allegations that he was in contact with drug dealers were untrue. He called the arrest “arbitrary” and said the agency did not conduct a medical examination to show he had consumed drugs.
The case has dominated headlines and social media in India, with fans of the actor demanding Khan’s release while others calling for a boycott of his father’s films.
The 55-year-old megastar is India’s most loved actor and is known as the “King of Bollywood.” He has starred in more than 105 movies over nearly three decades.
In September last year, some of Bollywood’s most prominent stars were questioned by the narcotics agency in connection with the death of famous actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Rajput died by suicide and doctors and police ruled out drugs.
A vigil is held for Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer who was killed on the set of 'Rust,' in Burbank, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2021. At a vigil for Hutchins, a sign alluded to the recent union negotiations over workplace safety.ALLISON ZAUCHA/The New York Times News Service
Alec Baldwin has spoken publicly for the first time on camera about the cinematographer he fatally shot on the movie set of “Rust,” calling her a friend and saying he is in “constant contact” with her grieving family.
“She was my friend,” Baldwin told photographers Saturday on a roadside in Vermont. “We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.” The video was distributed by TMZ.
Investigators believe Baldwin’s gun fired a single live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Baldwin was joined by his wife, Hilaria, when he spoke to photographers and she filmed the exchange with her smartphone, often trying to get her husband to stop talking. Baldwin said he was speaking out so that the photographers would stop following his family.
Baldwin called the shooting incident a “one-in-a-trillion event” and said he had met with Hutchins’s husband. “He is in shock, he has a 9-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid. As I said, we are eagerly awaiting for the sheriff’s department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.”
Investigators in New Mexico where the shooting occurred have said that there was “some complacency” in how weapons were handled on the movie set, but it’s too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has said 500 rounds of ammunition – a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live rounds – were found while searching the set of the Western “Rust.”
Detectives have recovered a lead projectile they believe the actor fired. Testing is being done to confirm whether the projectile taken from Souza’s shoulder was fired from the same long Colt revolver used by Baldwin. The FBI will help with ballistics analysis.
Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins, told investigators there should never be live rounds present near the scene.
District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said investigators cannot say yet whether it was negligence or by whom. She called it a complex case that will require more research and analysis.
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