It was a quarter of a century ago when Bill Clinton took Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” as his campaign song. It was a brilliant move, although for a while the song suffered from the association and wasn’t played on the radio so much.

So tonight it was only fitting that Clinton showed up to present Fleetwood Mac with their Person of the Year award from MusiCares, one of the Grammy Award charities. After a night songs from other stars and from the Mac themselves, Clinton made a special appearance at Radio City Music Hall to hand Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham their awards.

Clinton revealed that in 1991 a 19 year old driver in Los Angeles flipped a cassette in the car radio and played Dont Stop for him. “This should be your campaign song.” That’s how it happened.

Clinton said he owed so much to Fleetwood Mac he had to be here.He brought a date too: Hillary.

The former President was preceded by performances featuring Miley Cyrus, Jared Leto, Little Big Town, Brandi Carlisle, Alison Kraus and Jerry Douglas, Imagine Dragons, and so on. After Clinton spoke and each member of Fleetwood Mac spoke, the group took the stage and played a half dozen or so hits including “The Chain,” with Harry Styles as guest star.

It was a different kind of night for MusiCares, which usually puts on its whole event– a big gala dinner and the concert– all in one spot at the LA Convention Center. But with no comparable venue in New York, they decided to have a proper concert at Radio City followed by a buffet at the New York Hilton in a ballroom. Even with the changes. they raised $7 million for indigent musicians and/or those needing help with housing and health issues.

PS at the live auction, someone paid $170,000 for a boxed signed set of lyrics from the “Rumours” album.

It was a pretty joyous night at the glittery Rainbow Room when the Producers and Engineers Wing of the Grammys honored Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz last night. Alicia, who’s from New York, said “I’ve never been to the Rainbow Room before!” How is that possible? It was Alicia’s birthday, so Swizz got the crowd– including famed producer Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt) and Boo Mitchell (son of famed Memphis Hi Records founder and Al Green/Ann Peebles producer Willie Mitchell)– to serenade her. Nice to run into brothers David and Norman Chesky also, of Chesky Records and Hdtracks.com.

Tomorrow night, Alicia is one of the (shhh– don’t tell anyone) main performers at Clive Davis’s annual pre-Grammy dinner. It’s her first time back in maybe a decade.

PS Hoping P&E Wing will honor not only Asher but Carly Simon producer Richard Perry next year in L.A.!

It used to be called the Four Seasons. It was New York’s most famous restaurant for power lunching and dining in the Seagram’s building, a landmark designed by Philip Glass and Mies van der Rohe. It was famous for its pool in the main dining room.

Last night, Warner Music covered the pool and invited in a few hundred people to watch Cardi B, a whirling dervish of a rap star (with a good sense of humor), take the place over. She has two dancers who channel Tina Turner’s Ikettes circa 1966. (Real name Belcalis Almanzar, age 25, former stripper, born in the Bronx, famous for “no filter”).

Cardi, like Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim before her, is a cherub who likes to shock people with bad language. But she’s just a girl with a dream, as Joan Rivers might have said. She’s also a clever businesswoman who’s currently featured on at least a half dozen different chart singles.

She whooped it up in front of Warner Music’s owner, Len Blavatnik, as well as executives, fans, and friends, plus celebs like Janelle Monae and Kelly Clarkson. The place was packed and the smell of pot was strong. This was not the Pool Room of Henry Kissinger or Pete Peterson. How times have changed!

The irony, of course, is that this was the Seagram’s building, owned by the Bronfman family,  until it was sold to Aby Rosen, who kicked out the Four Seasons. Now the whole place is called The Grill. And this was Warner Music, once owned by Edgar Bronfman, Jr., until he drove it into the ground and sold it to Blavatnik. In all the years Edgar Jr. owned the record company he never — as far I as anyone could recall– used the Four Seasons pool as a stage for one of his acts. But now it all came full circle, shall we say.

@recordingacademy week kick off with @iamcardib #love thank you @showbiz411 @warnermusic #newyork #grammys2018

A post shared by Norah Lawlor (@lawlormedia) on Jan 25, 2018 at 8:07pm PST

Elton John announced his semi-retirement from touring today with panache and spectacle, exactly as you might have imagined it. He told the audience of press and friends at the Gotham Hall on West 36th and Broadway that this event was planned for two years, beginning in 2015. Seeing his two little sons with David Furnish starting to grow up, he could also see the writing on the wall. When they turn 8 and 10 respectively, in three years, he wants to be home with them.

So AEG tossed this tri- city (NY, with satellite hookups in London and LA) extravaganza at Gotham Hall with Champagne served by servers, an open bar, delicious hors d’ouevres like sliced steak, and goodie bags containing Elton’s greatest hits.

On stage, Anderson Cooper introduced our star, a panel slipped away revealing Sir Elton at a black grand piano dressed in a magnificent silver colored metal and jewel encrusted jacket and sparkling diamond sunglasses. It was Elton at his best. He entertained us with “Tiny Dancer” and “I’m Still Standing,” then took questions from selected press.

“I won’t be like Cher,” he said of that singer’s ongoing farewell tours. “But I do like her clothes!”

This event was clearly for celebration– no farewells here. Elton will play 300 dates on a three year worldwide tour. So that takes us to 2021. After that– well there will still be shows, and Las Vegas type residencies. But really– enough with the city after city business which is too grueling for anyone over 50.

The big scoop: I’m told he’ll do a sit down of at least a week at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. This is where he played six shows beginning August 25, 1970, introduced by Neil Diamond (they were label mates on Uni Records, part of the old MCA Records, now Universal). Elton sent good wishes to Neil, who announced his own withdrawal from touring this week because of Parkinson’s Disease.

The 300 dates start in Pennsylvania. Where will they end? Not in a small town. “I wanted to go out with a bang,” he told us. I do think that will mean a week of shows at Madison Square Garden, something huge, something amazing, and something befitting this beloved and famed performer.

EXCLUSIVE Sting has agreed to perform at the Grammy Awards Sunday. And we don’t have to wait anymore for the official release of Sting’s new single with Shaggy. The guys are dropping the incredibly catchy “Don’t Make Me Wait” this morning, and it’s a helluva hot song. They performed it in Jamaica two weeks ago at Shaggy’s charity event, but this is the finished deal. I got to hear it yesterday for the first time and now it’s stuck in my head.

The other big news is that a reggae-pop album has grown out of this song. The duo will release it on April 20th, and I can tell you the songs are fun and serious at the same time, with gorgeous rich melodies and grooves that marry Sting’s bass with great Jamaican musicians like Robbie Shakespeare.

The pairing of Sting with Shaggy wasn’t obvious but then again, maybe it was. Shaggy has loads of hits around the world, but one– “It Wasn’t Me”– that has transcended the 18 years since its release. In the reggae world, he’s revered. Sting’s early work with the Police is full of reggae overtones that make songs like “So Lonely” and “The Bed’s Too Big Without You” classic rock staples. What I heard of them together– and I it was a lot–about eight of the 12 to 16 final tracks– are going to blow everyone away.

By the way, wasn’t it just a minute ago that Sting released a new solo album with “57 and 9th”? He’ll turn 67 this year and is prolific as ever. New songs are pouring out of him. A stripped down version of his Broadway musical “The Last Ship” opens in Newcastle, England (where it’s set) in March, then heads to London’s West End. We should all be so productive! Bravo!

photo credit: Salvador Ochoa

Live “Don’t Make Me Wait”