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UPDATED: Mick Jagger Teases, The Rolling Stones Announce 60th Anniversary Tour and New Album, New Logo

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED: Mick Jagger Teases, The Rolling Stones Announce 60th Anniversary Tour and New Album, New Logo

The Rolling Stones are going out on a 60th anniversary tour! New album, too.

Even without Charlie Watts — or in his memory. We’re down to Mick and Keith and Ronnie Wood with lots of special guests. But in the end we still want to see and hear them. I know I do.

Keep refreshing for more details…I think it’s hilarious they dropped all this in the middle of the BAFTA Awards!

UPDATED Here’s the official announcement today, Monday, followed by the earlier teases:

Happy Birthday Sweet 83, Neil Sedaka, Pop Genius Who Belongs in the Rock Hall NOW

Roger Friedman
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Happy Birthday Sweet 83, Neil Sedaka, Pop Genius Who Belongs in the Rock Hall NOW

Happy Birthday Neil Sedaka!

I actually ran into the great pop genius on Friday night at A list star eatery Craigs LA on Melrose. He was out celebrating his birthday early with his grandkids in the back room. When Sedaka emerged into the main room, he drew audible cheers from the tables including a big one captained by Lance Bass from NSync.

Neil wrote his first hits in his teens, then scored a huge and lasting solo smash with “Calendar Girl” in 1961. His other hits included the great “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” and “Oh Carol,” named for Carole King before she added the “e”.

All through the 60s, Neil wrote tons more hits, but the Beatles and the British invasion knocked out his early solo career. That didn’t stop him. In 1975, with his album, “Sedaka’s Back,” and an assist from Elton John, Neil triumphed like never before. He wrote “Love Will Keep Us Together,” sung by the Captain and Tennille. It was number 1 for weeks and remains one of the great pop hits of all time.

But even more: the album, “Sedaka’s Back” yielded massive hits: “Bad Blood,” with Elton John, the amazing “Laughter in the Rain,” a re-record of “Breaking Up” that sent the song to the top of the charts, plus “Solitaire,” one of the most covered brilliant anthems of all time.

Neil capped all this with “The Hungry Years,” a stunning song that has become his signature.

So why isn’t Neil Sedaka in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? This year, the group should just induct him. It’s embarrassing that it’s taken so long.

Happy Brithday, Neil! And we can listen to him on his new Sirius Radio talk show, too!

Number 3 at the Box Office: Concert Film by KPop Sensations BTS Earns $6.8 Mil in US

Roger Friedman
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Number 3 at the Box Office: Concert Film by KPop Sensations BTS Earns $6.8 Mil in US

Yes, “The Batman” is up to $238 million after this weekend.

And “Uncharted” rose to $113 million.

But it was the number 3 box office movie that should get your attention. That was “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage Seoul — Live Viewing.”

With hits like “Butter” and “Dynamite,” the Korean KPop sensations BTS (which stands for Buy This Soon) raked in $6.8 million over the weekend. The concert film was playing in 800 theaters where it took in $8,518 at each location. Ka ching!

“Permission to Dance” is from Trafalgar Releasing, which has already had success with previous BTS concert films and ones by other groups as well. “PTD” has a total worldwide take of $32.6 million making it their biggest offering yet.

Will we adults ever see this movie? I don’t think so. But it doesn’t matter. The kids love it, some kids, who are bracing themselves to spend tons more on BTS in the coming year.

 

 

Surprise at DGA Awards as Stanley Nelson’s “Attica” Wins Best Doc, Leaps Forward in Oscar Race

Roger Friedman
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Surprise at DGA Awards as Stanley Nelson’s “Attica” Wins Best Doc, Leaps Forward in Oscar Race

There was one big surprise in Saturday night’s Director’s Guild Awards: Stanley Nelson won Best Direction of a Documentary for “Attica,” a movie made for Showtime but eligible for the Oscars this year. Nelson beat Questlove, who made “Summer of Soul,” an archival film that has picked up several awards already. But “Attica” is a real documentary, and it’s leapt ahead in the Oscar race.

Netflix picked up the two big feature film awards for directing. As expected, Jane Campion won for “The Power of the Dog.” Maggie Gyllenhaal won for Best First Feature for “The Lost Daughter.”

HBO triumphed on the TV side, with wins for “Succession” and “Hacks.”

Barry Jenkins picked up an award for his work on “The Underground Railroad” on Amazon Prime.

Don Roy King, the long time director of “Saturday Night Live” who retired at the end of 2021, won an award for the show featuring Keegan Michael Key as host and Olivia Rodrigo as musical guest. “SNL” has yet to acknowledge King’s retirement on air.

This is King’s 16th DGA Award nomination. He previously won the DGA Award in this category for Saturday Night Live episodes: Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters” in 2020, E. Murphy; Lizzo” in 2019, “Adam Driver; Kanye West” in 2018, “Host: Jimmy Fallon” in 2017, “Host: Dave Chappelle” in 2016 and for “Host: Justin Timberlake” in 2013. Mr. King also won the DGA Award for Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for SNL 40th Anniversary Special in 2015. He was previously nominated for Saturday Night Live episodes in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, and in 2015 in the Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming category for the Saturday Night Live episode, “Host: Tracy Morgan/Musical Guest: Demi Lovato.”

Other awards went to Paul Dugdale for directing the special, “Adele One Night Only” on CBS.  Awards also went to Bradford Young, Adam Vetri, and Smriti Mundhra.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBER & SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Renowned director Spike Lee was the recipient of the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Feature Film. This award, which is given to a Director in recognition of distinguished achievement in motion picture direction, is the Guild’s highest honor and the recipient is selected by the present and past presidents of the Guild.

Joseph P. Reidy received the Frank Capra Achievement Award, which is given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

Garry W. Hood received the Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, which is given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of service to the industry and to the Directors Guild of America.

SUNDAY: WATCH THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS 8PM EASTERN ON THE CW AND TBS NETWORKS

Ukraine War No Help to ABC Evening News, Down 500K From Last Year, Only Lester Holt Holding Steady

Roger Friedman
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Ukraine War No Help to ABC Evening News, Down 500K From Last Year, Only Lester Holt Holding Steady

Someone is intent on slagging Norah O’Donnell and the CBS Evening News to the New York Post.

The Post is obsessed with the idea of somehow destroying O’Donnell until CBS fires her and replaces her with, who knows? LL Cool J maybe!

Well, ratings for “CBS Evening News” are only off a bit from last year at this very time.  The difference is about 400,000 viewers.

More surprisingly, ABC’s popular “Evening News” with David Muir is down by more, even with the Ukraine War. Last year at this time, Muir averaged 9.223 million peeps. Last week, Muir’s numbers were 8.735 million. That’s significant.

Of the three major networks, only NBC stayed on keel. Lester Holt had an average of 7.319 million last week. Last year, it 7.44 million. I’m not surprised. The NBC News is my go to, with CBS and then ABC my choices when news is breaking these days.

The Post’s obsession with O’Donnell is curious, and sexist. O’Donnell does a great job, and CBS News is always the best written report around. I don’t know who’s planting those stories, but they should cut it out already. And PS I do not know any of these people personally. I’m just going by the numbers and watching their shows.

 

 

TMZ Says Justin Bieber’s Wife May Have Brain Issues (No Joke) But Were Either of Them Vaccinated?

Roger Friedman
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TMZ Says Justin Bieber’s Wife May Have Brain Issues (No Joke) But Were Either of Them Vaccinated?

TMZ is reporting that Justin Bieber’s wife, Hailey Baldwin Bieber, may have brain issues stemming from something COVID related.

While it’s funny enough to report that either Justin or Hailey have brain issues (haha), what’s more pressing is this question: Were either of them of them ever vaccinated?

Justin already missed several shows in the last two weeks because he contracted COVID. No one would answer whether he’d been vaccinated. You can almost guarantee that Bieber, who is petulant on a good day, doesn’t wear a mask when he’s with other people.

Baldwin comes from a devoutly Christian family and may invoke a “religious exemption” over the vaccine. Same with Justin, even though his Hillsong Church — mired in scandals galore — did say they didn’t oppose the vaccine. They told CNN last July that Covid-19 vaccines are a “personal decision for each individual to make with the counsel of medical professionals” after a congregant who publicly refused inoculation died of complications from the disease.

But in January Brian Houston, head of the teetering Hillsong organization, denounced tennis star Novak Djokovic  for coming to Australia unvaccinated. He signed a Tweet “#proudlyvaccinated.” So who knows what course the Bieber-Baldwins have taken? And how it affects their tour crew and fans looms large also.

Yesterday, Justin — not a rocket scientist– published a picture of the couple with the caption “Can’t keep this one down.” Neither of them is wearing a mask, but their bodyguard sure is. He’s not stupid.

 

 

“The Batman” Will Cross $200 Million Today After 8 Days, Heads to Huge Second Weekend

Roger Friedman
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“The Batman” Will Cross $200 Million Today After 8 Days, Heads to Huge Second Weekend

There are still some surprises to come out of the old Bat Cave.

After slowing down a bit mid week, Warner’s “The Batman” scared up a surprising $18 million Friday night. That brings Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, The Couple of the Month, to the point of crossing $200 million perhaps this very moment. By the time the weekend is over, “The Batman” should be up around $240 million.

Obviously, the second timers are kicking in, going back for more and looking for things they hadn’t seen the first time around. And they’re bringing first timers who are finally done with “Spider Man” after 20 viewings.

Oh, “Spider Man”? It’s “only” going to cross $790 million tomorrow, and then head for $800 mil this week.

There are no new releases this week except for “The Adam Project” on Netflix, which has a 69 on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve never seen such loathing for a film as more reviews come in. The newest one calls it “junk.” What to watch at home? “Mrs Maisel,” “Inventing Anna,” “Billions.” “Ozark,” etc…

Report: EDM Musician “Grimes” Had Secret 2nd Child with Elon Musk, Then Left Him for Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning

Roger Friedman
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Report: EDM Musician “Grimes” Had Secret 2nd Child with Elon Musk, Then Left Him for Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning

Well, this is 2022.

Grimes is kind of a maker of electronic music and a singer sorts. Her real name is Claire Boucher and she’s from Vancouver.

Grimes in on the cover of Vanity Fair for April, in which the writer of her profile discovers that Grimes has a baby, a second child with Tesla founder Elon Musk. (Musk has older children, a set of twins and a set of triplets.)

But what Vanity Fair doesn’t know is that Boucher has left Musk and moved on with Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, the court martialed whistleblower who went to jail, changed sexes, and is now finally out in the world again.

Could you make this up? Would anyone believe it?

Grimes’s children are named X and Y. Actually X has an unpronounceable name that reads l X Æ A-12 and Y is short for Exa Dark Sideræl Musk.

Musk is the richest man in the world, sending people to space in his rocket ships, selling electric cars that sometimes blow up. Do Musk and Grimes have legal agreements? Vanity Fair doesn’t get into that. Does Musk like her “music’? We don’t know. But Grimes sounds like Yoko Ono most of the time, shrieking to a Casio keyboard, as if Nina Hagen had hooked up with Gary Numan during his “Do You Need the Service?” era.

Are friends electric? With Musk we know cars are. Musk, Numan. “Cars.” Here in my car…

Page Six says Grimes and Manning are now living together. Manning disclosed to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.  She was in jail for seven years between 2010 and 2017. Clearly, Manning will not be going to work for Musk any time soon.

Do any of them actually drive a Tesla?

Manning is set to release a memoir later this year, but not about the whistleblowing case. I guess she needed some other material. Well, she’s got it now!

Tim Cook Paid $25 Million for “CODA” So No Surprise He Turned Up at Today’s AFI Luncheon

Roger Friedman
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Tim Cook Paid $25 Million for “CODA” So No Surprise He Turned Up at Today’s AFI Luncheon

Some people at today’s AFI luncheon in Beverly Hills wondered why Apple chief Tim Cook was in the room?

Answer: he paid $25 million for “CODA,” and part of the deal was getting a cold roll and a hard chair at a long afternoon luncheon.

The crowd applauded him and for good reason: Cook and Apple are now players in the film business. Apple might become the first streaming service to win Best Picture.

Many potential AFI lunch buddies were absent, having gone to London for Sunday’s BAFTA Awards. But among the film people, Steven Spielberg with his “West Side Story” stars Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreo, and Guillermo del Toro with his “Nightmare Alley” star Bradley Cooper were the biggest names, along with Jane Campion and “Power of the Dog” gang, plus Andrew Garfield, a stunning, gray haired Andie McDowell, and lots of TV people from shows like “Succession” and “White Lotus.” But conversely, plenty of the TV people didn’t show, as they were working. The event was postponed from January, which lessened its impact.

Also not present: actors and directors from the movies snubbed by the AFI including “Being the Ricardos,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “The French Dispatch,” and “Respect.” There was no sign of anyone from “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” as well.

On the plus side, Morgan Freeman made an appearance as the voice of God.

Keith Richards Steals the Show as Love Rocks Raises $3 Mil for God’s Love We Deliver

Roger Friedman
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Keith Richards Steals the Show as Love Rocks Raises $3 Mil for God’s Love We Deliver

Yes, that was the remarkably resilient Keith Richards on stage last night at the Beacon Theater.

Keef helped Love Rocks’ John Varvatos and Greg Williamson raise $3 million for God’s Love We Deliver. Reuniting his X-Pensive Wino’s (Ivan Neville, Steve Jordan and Waddy Wachtel)  for the first time 30 years, Keith drove the crowd crazy with three songs: “999”, a blues-drenched “You Got the Silver” and the rockin’ “Before They Make Me Run.”

Other artists who took the stage included Mavis Staples, Hozier, Warren Haynes, Ben Harper, Melissa Etheridge, Allison Russell, Larkin Poe, Tyler Bryant, David Shaw (of The Revivalists), Anders Osborne, Celisse, Jimmy Vivino, Maggie Rose and Connor Kennedy, and Music Director and Bandleader Will Lee.

Hosts included Mario Cantone, Steve Schirripa and Michelle Buteau with surprise host Bill Murray and a special guest appearance by Laurence Fishburne.

One of the most inspiring moments of the evening came when Karen Pearl, President & CEO of God’s Love We Deliver, announced from the stage that the board and staff of the organization are giving half of all donations raised via text-to-give during the concert to support food and hunger relief for the Ukrainian people.

A big highlight: Mavis Staples reprising her Staples Singers hit, “I’ll Take You There,” which had the exhilarated crowd singing and dancing along, including fellow performers Hozier, Allison Russell and Michelle Buteau who joined the audience, and shouting for “more Mavis!” when she finished.

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