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Grammy Backstage: Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna

Roger Friedman
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rihannagrammys Grammy Backstage: Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna Rihanna is starting to get jinxed by the Grammys. Last night, she and her assistant tried to get to their floor seats at the Staples Center at the start of the show. But the show had just begun, and the security guards weren’t letting anyone down from individual gate entrances. So Rihanna had to wait and watch Elton John and Lady Gaga on’a screen, just like regular people. She craned her neck back to catch the action as a crowd pressed up against her. What were the guards thinking? Not much, apparently. Also in our little crowd: George Clinton, the legendary creator of funk…

…Likewise, outside the Staples, coming up the red carpet, Usher had to show his ticket to get in. I mean, hilarious…

PHOTO GALLERY: The 52nd Grammys

…Santana’s new album will feature a dozen or so famous’guest vocalists…So, too, will Slash’s new album…

…Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony left the Grammys early. I asked her about her recent comment in Spanish about Sarah Palin. “It was just a joke!” she said, laughing. Whatever: It was the best thing she ever did…

…Mary J. Blige startled Clive Davis’ audience on Saturday night when she yelled at the backing band mid-performance. But in chatting with her last night, I do think that Mary J. had no idea what she was doing — she goes into something of a trance on stage. “I didn’t know what was happening,” she told me very sincerely. She’d already forgotten about it. For his part, musical director Greg Philliganes was ok with it. “She was right,” he said. Mary J. also told me that during her blistering performance of “I See Colors,” she does see them. “I didn’t know where I was,” she said. Wow!…

…The legendary and beloved Leonard Cohen was not at last night’s show. But he did win a Lifetime Achievement Award. And his manager told me he’s working on’new material for a new recording…

…Elton John will not be part of “We Are the World” today because he’s in the studio recording with Leon Russell. However: Elton John Aids Foundation has donated $200,000 to’Haiti relief, and more’may be coming. The Foundation may have lost more than dozen volunteers in the earthquake…

…Beyonce and Jay Z have seven foot bodyguards who push everyone out of the way, even when Beyonce says, “That’s all right” about a person she knows who’s trying to talk to her. They also had a little boy with them…

…What color tux was Usher wearing? “Taupe, I think,” he said as we walked from the red carpet to the stage entrance. Usher’s working on a new album, and getting back on track post-divorce. He’s part of today’s “We Are the World” recording, too…

…Justin Bieber is a child, but fame has gone to his head. He doesn’t sign autographs and is not nice to adults. The 15-year-old should be sent to his room until he is set straight…

The Real Story Behind Lady Gaga

Roger Friedman
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gagagrammys The Real Story Behind Lady GagaMeet the Bride of Frankenstein, the love child of Elton John and Madonna: Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga.

At last night’s Grammy Awards, Steve Walter — who ran the late, lamented Cutting Room on West 24th Street with co-owner and pal Chris Noth — got a chuckle out of Lady Gaga.

“That’s Stefani Germanotta,” Walter said. “She got signed out of a workshop at the Cutting Room.”

That was four years ago. Here’s a link to a story that explains what happened. Producer Rob Fusari started working with the New York University student after that night.

The rest of the Lady Gaga story sounds very much like Madonna’s beginnings in Livonia, Mich. Like Gaga, she didn’t write her original hits. The people who gave her her early start were soon forgotten. Now Madonna is worth millions, belongs to’a cult, speaks with an English accent and adopts children from Africa against the will of their families.

Is this what we can expect from Stefani Germanotta? Hopefully not. There are a couple of major differences between Gaga and Madonna. For one, Germanotta really plays the piano, is a gifted musician and a pretty good singer. She also really co-writes her songs from the ground up.

Elton John, dressed down after the opening number last night, told me he really enjoyed playing two-handed piano with Gaga. Of course, Elton was sensational. He’s been doing this stuff since the early ’70s, when he’d dress in wild costumes like the Statue of Liberty in giant platform shoes and play the piano with his elbows. But he can spot talent. And Lady Gaga is certainly his disciple.

PHOTO GALLERY: The 52nd Grammys

Elton John, David Furnish: Broadway Naked Angels

Roger Friedman
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Elton John and David Furnish are about to become Naked Angels.

The pair of partners are also Broadway producers, famously and successfully of the multiple Tony award-winning “Billy Elliott.”

But now they’re joining the upcoming Broadway production of “Next Fall,” which comes from the Naked Angels theater group.

They were both very excited last night at the Grammys when they told me they had a big Broadway announcement.

What’s interesting is that Geoffrey Naufft’s play has no music. It’s the first “straight play” that Elton and Furnish have gotten involved with. But it’s not exactly a “straight play”–to use a pun. The central story is about Luke and Adam, who have been in afive year relationship. Long time Naked Angel member Patrick Breen stars with Patrick Heusinger. “Next Fall” is also about faith, committment, and unconditional love, according to a summary provided by the company.

Streisand, Celine Dion, Usher Record ‘We are the World’ for Haiti

Roger Friedman
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Barbra Streisand, Wyclef Jean, Celine Dion, Usher, Natalie Cole, Keith Urban and 75 more stars are right now recording a new version of “We are the World” to raise money for Haiti relief.

Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie and producer RedOne are conducting the proceedings, with Patti Austin organizing vocals. Jennifer Hudson, Pink, Carlos Santana, Rob Thomas, the Jonas Brothers and even Miley Cyrus are participating. The extraordinary event is being filmed by Oscar winner Paul Haggis at Henson Studios in Hollywood.

More to come…

Justin Timberlake/Jamie Foxx Duet Single Coming

Roger Friedman
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Justin Timberlake Jamie Foxx2 Justin Timberlake/Jamie Foxx Duet Single ComingJamie Foxx and Justin Timberlake have a “Split Personality.”

That’s the name of the single they’re going to release soon from Jamie’s next album, coming in May.

The pair actually recorded two duets, each of which is set for the album.

Very quietly, Jamie has become a solid music star. He’s had two hit albums in the last four years. And lots of singles. In just a short time he’s ramped up his music career to full speed, right along with his Oscar winning film career.

Much of the music success goes to his music manager, Breyon Prescott. Jamie gave him a shout out last night at Clive Davis’s party. The film side is still handled by Marcus King. They’re a good team.

Justin meanwhile has loads of duets he’s amassing, such as “4 Minutes to Save the World” with Madonna. Soon he’ll have enough for a whole album– a good thing since he’s not working on one of his own!

Clive’s Party: Rihanna Returns, Streisand Gets Tribute

Roger Friedman
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Rihanna returned to Clive Davis’s annual pre-Grammy party last night, 51 weeks after her calamitous exit from the party with Chris Brown in 2009. She looked great, and seemed to have shed the past like an old coat. It was a bold move and one to be applauded.

Rihanna Grammys2 Clives Party: Rihanna Returns, Streisand Gets TributeCan it be almost a year ago that Rihanna and Brown left the party and got into a fight that would last forever?

But Davis’s annual spectacular party was about a special guest star last night. Barbra Streisand — who like Davis graduated from Erasmus High School in Brooklyn– made her first ever appearance at the Davis gala at the Beverly Hilton ballroom, with husband James Brolin. She also brought her manager of over 40 years, Marty Ehrlichman. They sat with Jane Fonda–also making her debut appearance–and her beau, Richard Perry the record producer responsible for Barbra’s great hit. “Stoney End.” Both Fonda and Streisand got standing ovations from the star studded crowd. Also at their table: hit songwriter Carole Bayer Sager and her husband, former Warner Bros. chief Bob Daly.

Streisand would have to wait about three and a half hours before another Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson, came to pay tribute to her with renditions of “People” and “The Way We Were.” Each was spectacular. Hudson told me she’s lost 56 pounds in preparation for playing Winnie Mandela in an upcoming movie. She did it the natural way, nothing nuts. “Just a lot of walking and not a lot of eating!” she said.

But before that, Barbra got to see and hear the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie with Slash, Harry Connick Jr. solo and with Carrie Underwood, Maxwell, Ke$ha, and Carlos Santana’with Rob Thomas, and a blistering Mary J. Blige.

Barbra’also got to see what a Clive Davis party is really like: everyone from Chace Crawford to producer Brian Grazer, from Quincy Jones to’Berry Gordy to Englebert Humperdinck to Prince Abdulla of Bahrain. And in between: Wyclef Jean with his wife’ Marie Claudinette and brother Sam Jean; Rob Thomas and wife Marisol, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Jackie Collins, Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, Barbara Davis, Nikki Haskell. Jay Z, Jamie Foxx (who closed the show with a blockbuster R&B set), Diane Warren, Desmond Child, Frank DiLeo, Lyor Cohen and Tory Burch, Alice Cooper– yes, Alice Cooper!–as well as Taylor Swift, Usher, Phil Ramone, Gayle King, Adam Lambert, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Russell Brand and Katy Perry, Les’ Moonves and Julie Chen, L.A. Reid, and AEG’s Randy Phillips and Rod Stewart’s manager Arnold Stiefel. And the mayor of Los Angeles.

The amazing this, the party is still the hottest ticket in town. And deservedly so. As Ryan Seacrest quipped, you always know the date of the Grammy Awards. It’s the day after Clive’s party.

There is never disappointment. For Streisand, she was knocked out–not only by Jennifer Hudson’s towering tribute. She told her tablemates that she’d like to try some Black Eyed Peas songs. Of course, when Fergie sang Aerosmith’s “Sweet Child of Mine” with Slash on guitar, it was a pinnacle among many.

Mary J. Blige tore through “I See Colors,” peeling the paint right off the walls. Earlier, she’d had some drama with her song, “No More Drama,” chastising the band for making a mistake.

Jane Fonda liked Maxwell, whom she’d never seen before. Later, a backstage insider told me that Maxwell–whom Jackie Collins rightly pronounced a new Marvin Gaye–was “so nervous he was shaking and had to be calmed down.” Then he came out, sang, danced and did a split, seeming cool as a cuke.

And wait, more names: Kelsey Grammer. David Foster. Johnny Wright. Penny Marshall. Chick Corea. Jill Goodacre (Mrs. Connick). Lots of record execs, movie execs. Barry Weiss. Tom Courson. Richard Palmese. Larry Jackson. Sylvia Rhone. Mel Lewinter.

Best bit of the night: Harry Connick, who can be hilarious, showed off his fake “Clive swag”: a skateboard he’d made up with Clive’s peering eyes, Clive stamps, and Clive apron. “They’re available out front,” Harry quipped. No kidding: watch tonight’s Grammy-cast. There will be a Clive announcement. I’m not allowed to say, but it’s very, very nice.

And where was Whitney Houston? On tour, and not one bit upset about her lack of Grammy noms. She’s got plenty. And Alicia Keys? Also busy promoting her album, still in the top 10 and selling like hotcakes. She missed this year’s early deadline. Her own non Jay Z version of “Empire State of Mind” is number 3 in the UK and soon to chart stateside as well.

Jacksons Diss Michael’s Grammy

Roger Friedman
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Frank DiLeo Jacksons Diss Michaels GrammyMichael Jackson finally got a Lifetime Achievement Award yesterday from the Grammys.

No one from his family showed up to accept it.

The Grammy board invited all the Jacksons. Sources say they never heard a word from anyone. At one point there was talk of Marlon Jackson showing up. He didn’t.

Michael’s faithful friend and longtime manager Frank DiLeo accepted in their place. He thanked NARAS and said he was accepting on behalf of Michael’s kids. He talked a little about their long association. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Tonight on the Grammys: All eyes will be on seats marked for Katherine Jackson and Michael’s kids. They’re supposed to be there. Of course, the Lifetime Achievement ceremony isn’t televised and there’s no money involved. The Grammys at least are good for publicity.

Neil Young Serenaded by Elton, Dave Matthews, Stars

Roger Friedman
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young neil 250x350 214x300 Neil Young Serenaded by Elton, Dave Matthews, StarsLast night, the 20th annual MusiCares Person of the Year dinner produced several memorable comments, not the least of which came from 83-year-old Tony Bennett, at whose table I was lucky to sit. Upon hearing the Red Hot Chili Peppers launch into a dissonant version of honoree Neil Young’s “A Man Needs A Maid,” Bennett told me: “Tonight proves to me there’s room for everyone.” He meant it, too. That’s a mensch!

Neil Young, who was seated with his’family a few rows in front of us, must have picked up Bennett’s’good vibrations. When it came time for Young to accept his award, it was Bennett — one of the few musicians in the room who didn’t perform last night — he cited. “Look at Tony’Bennett,” Young told the star studded crowd at the L.A. Convention Center. “He rocks!”

And the crowd was pretty impressive. Country star Keith Urban, who eventually played Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free’World” with John Fogerty and Booker T., brought his movie star wife Nicole Kidman. ‘Matthew McConaughey and his baby mama Camilla Alves were seated on the opposite side of the room, maybe to keep things evenly weighted. I spotted John C. Reilly sitting with director-producer writer Judd Apatow and actor Jason Schwartzman. Ray Liotta rolled around the room, hair standing straight up.’ There was Jeff Beck (with British legendary producer Harvey Goldsmith) and Beck (just Beck). Famed producer Phil Ramone was seated at the Bennett table, along with Bennett’s three children (manager son Danny and wife Carrie, singer daughter Antonia, and son award winning produce Dae Bennett) as well as Mitchell Davis (son of Clive), and Jay Krugman. I think I saw reclusive bearded Rick Rubin come in with Gina Gershon. Also: Jeff Lynne and Joe Walsh.

Elvis Costello worked the room, wearing a sort of Gaucho hat and black suit. Later he performed a lively early Young song called “The Losing End.”

About Town gallery

Jack Black emceed the show, soon getting the idea to help raise money for MusiCares — which helps indigent musicians — by auctioning off his shoes and other items. When he decided to put up a sign from the stage with a Neil Young quote, he brought back the evening’s professional auctioneer. The man obviously thought his work was done earlier in the evening after the formal auction of items (Elton John paid $12,000 to sing with Brian Wilson). The man was now looped, which was pretty funny. He sold the sign — which Young offered to autograph — for $40,000.

The sign read: “Just do what you want to do, don’t listen to anyone else.”

That philosophy came through in Young’s songs, which were performed by a huge number of music stars. The outstanding moments included Elton John, Leon Russell, T Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow and Neko Case on “Helpless.” This was especially poignant because Russell has been very ill of late. He and Elton have just laid down tracks for an’album they are making quickly with Burnett. Later, all of them joined James Taylor for Young’s “Heart of Gold,” which Young and wife Peggy enjoyed so much they very sweetly’rested their heads on each other’s shoulders.

Other performers and songs included: Wilco’s sensational rendering of “Broken Arrow”; Ozomatli’s stunning “Mr. Soul”; Dave Matthews, “The Needle and the Damage Done”; Jackson Browne, “Don’t Let It Get You Down”; Jason Mraz and Shawn Colvin, “Lotta Love”; Ben Harper, “Ohio”; “Tell Me Why,” Norah Jones; “Comes a Time,” Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Patti Griffith; Lady Antebellum, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”; Stephen Stills with Sheryl Crow playing accordion on’”Long’May You’Run”; ‘and Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Human Highway.”

So: can Clive Davis’s amazing pre Grammy party top this? We’ll see! And then, on to the Grammys, and the Sam Moore show at the after party. The record business is alive at least for this weekend!

**P.S. I’ve been writing of late about Leon Russell. Originally in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, Leon played with Delaney and Bonnie before going out on his own. His authored songs include “A Song for You,” “This Masquerade,” and “Superstar (Don’t You Remember You Said You’d Be Back One Day Baby).”

Roy Orbison Gets His Hollywood Star

Roger Friedman
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The great Roy Orbison finally got his star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame on Friday. It was about time!

Thanks to the persistence of his widow, the intrepid and beautiful Barbara, Orbison has lived on well after his death at age 52 in 1989.

orbison walk of fame 300x200 Roy Orbison Gets His Hollywood StarThe star was unveiled on Vine Street, right in front of the Capitol Records tower, and right next to Garth Brooks. Not bad.

With “Pretty Woman” playing in the background, Barbara and sons Alex and Roy Jr., and Roy’s son Wesley, received the proclamation from the city of Hollywood. Dan Aykroyd (who was there with gorgeous wife Donna Dixon) and T Bone Burnett each spoke about their love of Roy — who didn’t love Roy Orbison, that’s the question!

And Barbara Orbison, in accepting the citation, turned around from the mic and thanked the community of friends who’ve grown around her since Roy’s death: Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh and his wife Marjorie, Olivia Harrison, Barbara Bach Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Phil Everly, Chris Isaak, Jonathan Clyde from the Beatles’ Apple Records, and so on.

The sun got very warm and buttery just as they unveiled the star, too, and the whole crowd put on signature Roy Orbison sunglasses in the singer’s honor.

One postscript: Roy will be joined nearby on the Walk of Fame on February 8th by none other than… Ringo! The whole gang will return to the scene that night. Nice!

Grammy Notes: Soul Man, Roy Orbison, Squirrel, RIP

Roger Friedman
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GRAMMY NOTES:

51375522“Soul Man” Sam Moore, the 74-year-old Grammy winner, has been asked to be the star’performer at the official Grammy after party at the L.A. Convention Center following Sunday’s Grammy telecast. “American Idol” judge and famed musician Randy Jackson, who produced Moore’s “Overnight Sensational” album, will be a special guest star on guitar in Moore’s band. Singer-composer Brenda Russell is going to join in on vocals. That should be some show…

…On the Grammy telecast, expect a tribute to the late Les Paul, the man who invented the rock and roll guitar. Among those involved: the great Jeff Beck, and performer-producer Narada Michael Walden…

…The Golden Globes had no “in memoriam” section, but hopefully that will not be the case with the Grammys. We recently lost Al Green’s amazing producer Willie Mitchell. And last week, the wonderful Robert “Squirrel” Lester, founding member of the Chi Lites, passed away. Lester was a soft spoken, lanky, masterful singer and dancer. His contributions to the Chi Lites over 40 years led to their hits like “Have You Seen Her?” and “Oh Girl.” Squirrel joins his old friend, Chi Lites founder and songwriter Eugene Record, another lovely guy, in rock and roll heaven. He will be sorely missed……The magnificent Roy Orbison gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today in front of the Capitol Records tower. Roy died in 1988 at age 52 of a heart attack. His widow, Barbara, and his two kids, Alex and Roy Jr., have proudly kept his memory alive…

…Tonight’s participants in MusiCares, the Grammy Foundation dinner, get an old-school gift bag put together by Julie Kenney of Jewels and Pinstripes. Stuffed into a rolling Adidas bag are a 500 gig hard drive from Seagate, a box of designer chocolates from Chocolat, pairs of Do Denim jeans, a gorgeous pair of Converse sunglasses (who knew they made designer eyewear?), a Ritmo sound system for pregnant women, a Life is Good shirt, and a newly pressed vinyl record of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s second album, “Deja Vu.” No one does a gift bag like Jewels and Pinstripes…

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