Search Results for: paul mccartney

Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Elton John led music stars honoring the victims and rescue workers of the World Trade Center attack in a concert that celebrated the energy and pride of New York. Joel tapped into the city’s emotion singing “New York State of Mind,” stirring a crowd at Madison Square Garden that included rows of uniformed police, firefighters and their families dancing, singing and screaming at the more than five-hour gala. Movie stars, including Harrison Ford, Jim Carrey and Meg Ryan, also joined politicians such as former President Clinton and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to launch what… Read more »

XM Satellite Radio will broadcast “The Concert for New York City,” featuring dozens of the biggest names in entertainment, live at 7 pm Saturday on both its VH1 and “Special X” channels. “XM is proud to carry VH1 among its 100 channels of amazing radio, and proud to broadcast Saturday’s benefit concert for New York City,” said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. XM will broadcast the five-hour concert live from 7 pm Eastern to midnight on both its VH1 (# 26) and Special X (# 30) channels. XM’s VH1 channel is dedicated to VH1’s programming while Special X is… Read more »

U2’s Bono, who will perform at the Concert For New York City with U2 guitarist the Edge on Saturday (October 20), says the show comes at a poignant time in the Irish band’s career. The group’s latest album, the year-old All That You Can’t Leave Behind, returned U2 to political and social commentary after nearly a decade of “throwing rocks at our own demons,” according to Bono. The singer tells LAUNCH that a key idea for U2 now is the search for grace in a world that makes it very difficult to achieve. “It’s a powerful idea, grace. It really… Read more »

Out today (October 16) is Cuttin’ Heads, the latest album from John Mellencamp. The album is marked by several songs that deal with race relations, including the title track (which features a rap by Public Enemy’s Chuck D) and the first single, “Beautiful World,” which features newcomer India Arie. Mellencamp tells LAUNCH that he’s no newcomer to the topic. “I’ve always been interested in race: the white and black relationship. ‘Pink Houses’ starts out, ‘There’s a black man and black cat, livin’ in a black neighborhood.’ And in ‘Cherry Bomb,’ I had, you know, a black guy dancing with a… Read more »

Fans have been getting their first taste of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger’s upcoming solo album recently via “God Gave Me Everything,” a track he co-wrote and performs with Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz, who also collaborated on Jagger’s 1993 effort Wandering Spirit, tells LAUNCH that his idea was to give Jagger a chance to rock out on the album. “It’s a rockin’ tune, and I wanted to hear him really upbeat again,” Kravitz says. “It was great working with him-he’s a genius. We work together well. It keeps me on my toes, ’cause it’s, like, ‘Hey, it’s Mick Jagger.’ I don’t… Read more »

In the latest sign of consolidation within the embattled recording industry, EMI Group Plc said on Friday it was merging its Priority and Capitol labels, resulting in about 100 job cuts. The move comes as several industry experts predict further job cuts in the world’s major labels, who are currently negotiating among themselves to combine CD manufacturing operations as a way to shrink costs. EMI has said it and other major music companies are looking to exit manufacturing and distribution to cut expenses and focus on nurturing and promoting stars. EMI’s consolidation and these ongoing negotiations within the industry reflect… Read more »

A host of performers paid a live, televised tribute on Tuesday to John Lennon, portraying the slain musician as an artist whose words have taken on renewed meaning since the attacks on the World Trade Center. Gathering together to play songs such as “Imagine,” “Give Peace A Chance” and “Come Together” were Dave Matthews, Marc Anthony, Natalie Merchant and more than a dozen others on the two-hour show on TNT. “This evening is now dedicated to New York City and its magnificent people,” said host Kevin Spacey of the tribute that had been in the works for more than a… Read more »

Voting is currently going on for the 2002 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and once again Black Sabbath is among the finalists on the ballot. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne has made many caustic comments about the Hall and has intimated that he has no interest in being thus enshrined. However, in a recent chat with LAUNCH, Osbourne changed his tone somewhat and indicated that, if elected, he would serve. “I’ve voiced my opinion about it,” he explained. “I don’t really believe in it, to the respect that it’s not voted by the people-it’s voted by the committee.… Read more »

*NSYNC, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, and Britney Spears join traditional artists such as Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald on the upcoming holiday collection, Now That’s What I Call Christmas!, due October 23. The makers of America’s best-selling multi-artist album series Now That’s What I Call Music! get into the Christmas spirit with their first-ever holiday collection, which features 36 songs on two discs. Now That’s What I Call Christmas! was assembled through the combined efforts of Universal Music Group, the EMI Group, Sony Music, and Zomba Music. Universal Music Enterprises will release it. Complete tracklisting for… Read more »

VH1 is going bananas with New York-based music events. On Thursday the music cable channel announced it was joining with Miramax and Cablevision to present a Madison Square Garden benefit concert featuring Paul McCartney and the Who for victims of the attack on the World Trade Center. On Friday, VH1 said it would tape the seventh annual “VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards” in New York on Oct. 19 for cablecasting as a two-hour primetime special Oct. 22. But the plan is to tone down the glitter and frivolity, said Todd Schwartz, executive producer of the awards show, and “tip our hat to… Read more »