Entertainment News:
"Godfather of Go-Go"' Chuck Brown dies at 75
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chuck Brown, known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" for the subgenre of funk music he helped create, died on Wednesday at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore after being admitted earlier this month suffering from pneumonia. A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed the death but could not provide a cause, and Brown's manager, Tom Goldfogle, was not immediately available to comment. Goldfogle told the Washington Post Brown died of complications from sepsis. Brown, a singer/songwriter and guitarist had been a key personality in the Washington, D.C. ...
Analysis: Key to Universal-EMI decision: Has music business lost control?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the face of it, Universal Music Group's bid to buy a big chunk of EMI stands to make the world's leading music company an even more formidable force, combining Universal's star lineup of Lady Gaga and Rihanna with the British company's deep library of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Katy Perry. Certainly the fierce opposition from rival Warner Music Group, consumer groups and independent music companies makes it seem that way. They have all vowed to fight it tooth and nail, telling U.S. ...
OneRepublic drummer Eddie Fisher arrested in Denver
DENVER (Reuters) - Drummer Eddie Fisher of the alternative rock band OneRepublic was arrested in Denver on Tuesday on suspicion of assault, disturbing the peace and destruction of private property, police said. There was no immediate word from authorities on what led to the arrest, but Fisher, 38, was being held without bond at the Denver city jail, according to the Denver Sheriff's Office. Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said the musician was taken into custody Tuesday morning but he had no details on the circumstances of the case. Fisher was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. ...
Whitney Houston's daughter stars in reality TV series
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Whitney Houston's teenage daughter will star in a reality TV show that follows the family of the "I Will Always Love You" singer as they cope with her sudden death earlier this year. The Lifetime channel said on Friday that Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, Houston's mother Cissy, the singer's brother Gary, and her manager and sister-in-law Pat Houston would all appear in the show that will air later this year. ...
Tenacious D aim to revive hard rock with "Fenix"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - To hear Tenacious D tell it, hard rock music is dead and they plan to resurrect it. That's no joke. Comedy-rock duo Tenacious D, formed 18 years ago by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, drop their third album, "Rize of the Fenix," next Tuesday, aiming to save what they see as a dying musical genre. Six years after their last album, "The Pick of Destiny," they claim to be bringing back "the majesty and the genius" of hard rock while exploring deeper, darker themes on their album. ...
Composer George Benjamin: Don't label me, I'm British
LONDON (Reuters) - Rats "stream like hot metal, to the rim of the world" and children, lured by the music of a Pied Piper-like exterminator, disappear into a hillside in British composer George Benjamin's eerie 2006 mini-opera "Into the Little Hill". Benjamin claims they're still alive, and perhaps better off, inside that hill, where the "piper" leads them after the minister fails to pay him for exterminating the rats, but one can't help but wonder how much oxygen they're getting. ...
Jury convicts man of murdering singer Hudson's family members
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Illinois jury on Friday found the former brother-in-law of Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson guilty of murdering three members of her family in 2008. William Balfour, 31, was found guilty of breaking into the Hudson family home and fatally shooting Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, her brother Jason Hudson, 29, and her 7-year-old nephew Julian King. He faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. Jennifer Hudson, wearing a long black-and-white printed sweater, dabbed at her eyes after the verdict was read. ...
