Search Results for: 1973

Billy Joel and his wife of five years, television host Katie Lee, are splitting up, according to an official statement. Joel, 60, and Lee, 27, confirmed they put “much thought and consideration” into their decision to separate, and say they will “remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other.” Joel was previously married to his business manager Elizabeth Small from 1973 to 1982 and model Christie Brinkley from 1985 to 1994, with whom he has one daughter, singer Alexa Ray. Ray said she “wasn’t surprised” by the news. “I have a pretty good women’s intuition, so I can… Read more »

When Barack Obama moved into the White House on January 20th, he gained access to five chefs, a private bowling alley – and a killer collection of classic LPs. Stored in the basement of the executive mansion is the official White House Record Library: several hundred LPs that include landmark albums in rock (Led Zeppelin IV, the Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed), punk (the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia, the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols), cult classics (Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, the Flying Burrito Brothers’ The Gilded Palace of Sin) and disco. Not to mention… Read more »

Rolling Stone magazine is shrinking with the times. After more than four decades of standing out with a larger format than other magazines, it will step back and look like everyone else starting with the Oct. 30 issue, due out this week. The adoption of a standard format could boost single-copy sales and reduce production costs for advertising inserts such as scent strips and tear-out postcards. The magazine says any cost savings, though, will be offset by the inclusion of more pages and the shift to thicker, glossier paper. Like other devoted readers, Eddie Ward, 35, said he will miss… Read more »

For those about to rock, AC/DC salutes you. Unless, that is, you want to buy the Australian heavy metal group's newest album, "Black Ice," on iTunes, or anywhere but Wal-Mart when it drops in record stores on October 20. "Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God bless 'em, it's going to kill music if they're not careful," lead singer Brian Johnson, 61, told Reuters. AC/DC, formed by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young in 1973, is among only a handful of musicians to refuse to put their music on the popular download website in a move that Johnson defended… Read more »

Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. is negotiating the exit of its chairman, Michael Cohl, amid a dispute between him and CEO Michael Rapino, according to a newspaper report Thursday. Cohl and Rapino have been battling over contracts known as “360 deals” that give the company an all-encompassing stake in an artist’s business, including albums, touring, merchandising, and television and film projects, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site. Live Nation already has inked such deals with artists Madonna and Jay-Z, reportedly worth $120 million and $150 million, respectively. Cohl wants to accelerate the pace of the dealmaking, while… Read more »

Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90. Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press. Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as “the godfather of the telecommunications satellite.” His most famous novel, “2001: A… Read more »

Ola Brunkert, a former drummer for ABBA and one of only two musicians to play on all the Swedish pop superstars’ albums, died in a freak accident at his home on the Spanish island of Mallorca. According to authorities, Brunkert fell into a glass door in his dining room and slashed his throat. He apparently attempted to stanch the blood flow with a towel and apparently went outside to call neighbors for help. But he lost consciousness and collapsed. According to published reports, a neighbor discovered Brunkert ‘s body, in a pool of blood, in the garden outside the musician’s… Read more »