Billy Joel Turned Down Request To Score A Bronx Tale Musical
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Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:19PM
Rock icon Billy Joel turned down a request to score the A Bronx Tale musical because it was too similar to his 1983 album An Innocent Man.
Robert De Niro re-teamed with Chazz Palminteri last year (15) to turn his 1993 film into a Broadway musical and asked Joel if he would be a part of the production. However, the singer felt his previous record was too close to the 1950s and 1960s style of music in the stageshow.
"I didn´t say no at first, but I realized I had already done that kind of thing," the Piano Man star told the New York Daily News. "I´d done an album called An Innocent Man, which was kind of an homage to that era, and I just felt like it would be redundant if I would have done it again. I had a lot of work otherwise so they got (top composer) Alan Menken, and he did a good job."
Joel has been keeping busy with his monthly residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City since 2014, but despite continually extending his record run, he knows the show will come to an end in the near future.
"It has to end," he said. "As long as there´s a ticket demand, we´re going to keep playing, but I´m just assuming that there´s got to be an arc to it where it tapers off. We´re at the end of three years."
Dolly Parton´s Smoky Mountains Rise Telethon Raises Nearly $9 Million
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Thu Dec 15, 2016 03:32PM
Dolly Parton´s star-studded Smoky Mountains Rise telethon has raised nearly $9 million .
The country music icon launched the My People Fund at the beginning of December (16) to raise much-needed funds for whole communities left homeless by the wildfires that hit areas of Tennessee in November.
Dolly also held a telethon on Tuesday night (13Dec16), which aired on a host of networks, and featured more than 20 live and pre-taped performances from stars ranging from Cyndi Lauper, Don McLean, Kenny Rogers, Chris Young, Chris Stapleton and Reba McEntire.
According to Dolly, the telethon and fundraising efforts have raised $9 million for the community so far.
"I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the people who have donated from all over the country and to my friends who donated their time, their talent, and money for My People," Dolly told The Tennessean in a statement.
"The response has been so overwhelming that we haven´t been able to count all of the donations yet; right now, in total, we have raised about $9 million for the folks who lost everything in Sevier County."
Celebrities including Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Paul Simon and Dierks Bentley also made significant donations to the My People Fund as did the Academy of Country Music, ACM Lifting Lives and the Country Music Association.
The fire broke out on 23 November (16), killing 14 people and scorching 17,000 acres in the tourist community. More than 1,300 families are known to have lost their homes.
Dolly has pledged she will donate $1,000 -per-month for six months to families affected by the disaster through the new charity drive.
And the Jolene singer is still heartbroken to think about all the people who lost their homes in the fires, which forced the temporary closure of her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
"These are the woods I roamed around in as a little kid," she told Entertainment Tonight recently. "We were blessed none of my family were injured and lost in the properties, but so many of my friends and neighbors lost everything."
Rolling Stones Stars Waive Royalties On Charity Christmas Single
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Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:55PM
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards won´t be taking a penny from sales of a new version of the Rolling Stones´ You Can´t Always Get What You Want, so all the money raised can go to charity.
The rockers have waived royalties from sales of the Christmas single, released to honor murdered U.K. politician Jo Cox, which has been recorded by a group of British celebrities.
As a result, all proceeds will benefit a charity set up in Cox´s name.
Announcing the news in London´s House of Commons, Member of Parliament (MP) Pete Wishart said: "I´m sure the Leader of the House would like to join me in thanking Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for waiving their royalties... ensuring that even more money goes to the Jo Cox Foundation."
The charity single, which will be released on Friday (16Dec16), features Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, Cockney Rebel´s Steve Harley, and KT Tunstall, among others. It´s among the favorites to land the coveted U.K. Christmas number one slot.
West Yorkshire MP Cox was murdered by Thomas Mair in June (16). He has been sentenced to life behind bars.