Search Results for: billy joel

A former member of the 1960s folk-rock group We Five, who also produced a major Billy Joel album, has died. Michael Stewart was 57. Stewart, who produced Joel’s breakthrough album “Piano Man,” died Wednesday in Sacramento after a long illness. We Five had a hit in 1965 with its song “You Were on My Mind,” and the group earned a Best New Group Grammy nomination that same year. Stewart moved into producing albums and singles for Joel, Tom Jones, Kenny Rankin and Amad Jamal. Stewart is survived by his wife and three children.

“Surreal” is about the only word to describe it when that kid you remember from “Gremlins” and “Goonies,” all grown up now, is rocking out in the middle of a record store. And surreal it was when Corey Feldman and his band played for a bewildered crowd numbering less than a hundred recently at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. As fans and curious shoppers waited (and waited), a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist named Pharaoh and a keyboard player (none of whom would look lost at a construction site) along with two backup singers crowded onto a makeshift stage, where… Read more »

Yahoo and Internet service providers have sided with Verizon Communications in its legal spat with the recording industry over revealing the identity of an alleged peer-to-peer pirate. In court papers filed late Monday, the groups said that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has not followed the law in its efforts to learn more about a Kazaa user accused of illicitly trading music files. Monday’s move highlights the latest battle lines that have been struck in the legal war over peer-to-peer networks. On one side are Internet companies, civil liberties groups and telecommunications providers, an alliance that is opposed… Read more »

A trial in a closely watched breach of contract case pitting rock star Courtney Love against Universal Music was postponed on Tuesday as the two sides continue talks to reach an out-of-court settlement. Sources familiar with talks said the case is likely to be resolved, rendering a trial unlikely. Officials for Universal Music, the world’s biggest record company and a unit of Vivendi Universal, declined comment. Love’s attorney, Barry Cappello, also declined comment. The case’s roots date back to December 1999 when Love, the widow of Nirvana’s late bandleader Kurt Cobain, decided to stop recording for Geffen, a unit of… Read more »

John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow and James Taylor are among the performers expected at two concerts that will benefit the family of Timothy White, the Billboard editor in chief who recently died of a heart attack. White was just 50 when he was stricken in his Manhattan offices on June 27. He left behind a wife and 10-year-old twin boys. One concert is set for Oct. 7 at Boston’s Fleet Center, with the other the next day at Madison Square Garden. Mellencamp, Crow, Don Henley and Sting will perform at both concerts. Billy Joel and Taylor will be at the Boston… Read more »

The concert business is thanking Paul McCartney for a big first half in 2002. But don’t be fooled: A closer look shows that attendance is actually down, and the increase in revenue is due solely to a hike in ticket prices, which have jumped by about four dollars. Rock concerts in 2002 have split into two separate markets: nostalgia fests for baby boomers willing to pay as much as $100 a ticket, and tours by current bands whose younger fans usually aren’t expected to pony up more than $30. The result? More money spent on fewer tickets. According to concert-industry… Read more »

The post-September 11 music programs, America: A Tribute To Heroes, A&E In Concert: Sting In Tuscany…All This Time, and The Concert For New York City are among this year’s Emmy nominees, which were announced Thursday (July 18). Sting’s special picked up seven nominations, including individual performance, and six in technical categories. America: A Tribute To Heroes, which featured Sting, and Bruce Springsteen, U2, Billy Joel, Faith Hill, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Celine Dion, and others, earned six noms, including best program, directing, and writing in the variety, music or comedy special categories. Another post-September 11 tribute, The Concert… Read more »

Concert grosses for the first half of the year were up 17 percent, but so were ticket prices – the average cost of a ticket for top tours was about $51, compared to $47 last year, according to an industry report. Attendance at concerts was down for a second straight year, according to the survey released Friday by Pollstar, a weekly trade publication. The survey of the top 50 tours, including those by Paul McCartney, ‘N Sync ( news – web sites), the Dave Matthews Band and Creed, showed that from January to June, the top tours recorded about $538… Read more »

Rock ‘n’ roll has turned music fans into rebels. Not only are they pirating tunes on the Internet rather than paying upwards of $20 for a compact disc, they are also increasingly reluctant to fork out for costly concert tickets. A survey of the North American concert industry by trade publication Pollstar showed the top 50 acts sold a combined 10.6 million tickets in the first half of the year, down about three percent from the year-ago period (10.9 million tickets) and off 18 percent from 2000 (12.9 million tickets). The average ticket price for those top 50 tours rose… Read more »

Days after Recording Industry Association of America president Hilary Rosen lashed out at the Recording Artists Coalition in a speech at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas, accusing the group of oversimplifying its dispute with record companies over recording contracts, Eagles and RAC leader Don Henley fired back. “Hilary Rosen is, and always has been, the one who engages in gross oversimplification of the issue designed to elicit a sympathetic response from the media, lawmakers and the public,” Henley says. “Ms. Rosen well knows that this is a very complex matter that will require lengthy discussions by… Read more »