I was skeptical when I read that tickets to Hugh Jackman’s shows at Radio City weren’t selling like hotcakes.

But listen: the Ticketmaster maps of Radio City for Hugh’s shows are dotted blue oceans. You can sit anywhere, not for much money. On StubHub there are tickets going for as low as $26.

This is Hugh Jackman, lovable star of “The Music Man.” Wolverine, the great Marvel anti-hero. “Deadpool and Wolverine” made a trillion dollars.

But after the first two shows in April, things have gone south. At the first show his buddy Ryan Reynolds came and introduced him. There was a smattering of celebrities. It all looked very buzzy.

What happened next is a publicist’s nightmare. Hugh left his wife, Debora Lee Furness, after 36 years. He dumped her despite their years of PDA. Hugh, who a lot of people thought was gay, was outta there.

Next came the Blake Lively mess, with Hugh — like Taylor Swift — getting pulled into the drama of “It Ends with Us.” There were lawsuits with Justin Baldoni and miles of video on tabloid shows. The back and forth became fodder for all wags. And there was Hugh, an innocent bystander.

Finally came the news that Hugh had been hooking up with “Music Man” co-star Sutton Foster for a while. He left the wife for her. Foster who has a halo on Broadway was suddenly in the middle of a scandal. Hugh, always the hero, now looked like a villain as Furness started coming out with the story.

That is not a good time to book more than a dozen shows headlining Radio City. The results are pretty awful. One reason might be lack of publicity. It feels like Hugh depended solely on good will to sell tickets. Jackman has 15 more shows to sell with three this weekend.

But it’s more than likely that his affair and divorce are a turn off to his largely female audience. Women don’t want to be reminded this could happen to them.

Below is a typical seat map.

Carol Kaye has played bass on thousands of hits for the last 70 years. Some say 40,000 songs. She turned 90 in March.

She was the only female musician in Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew, the legendary band that was loaned out to provide the music for everyone from the Beach Boys to The Fifth Dimension. She literally IS Oldies Radio at this point.

But Carol — whom I’ve known for years — is declining her invitation to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I am not surprised. Carol is an iconoclast who goes her own way. It’s very refreshing.

She writes on Facebook:
“People have been asking: NO I won’t be there……. I am declining the rrhof awards show (and denny tedesco process)…..turning it down because it wasn’t something that reflects the work that Studio Musicians do and did in the golden era of the 1960s Recording Hits…….. you are always part of a TEAM, not a solo artist at all….there were always 350-400 Studio Musicians (AFM Local 47 Hollywood) working in the busy 1960s, and called that ONLY ….since 1930s, I was never a ‘wrecker’ at all….that’s a terrible insulting name.

“Just so you know, as a working Jazz musician (soloing jazz guitar work) in the 1950s working since 1949, I was accidentally asked to record records by producer Bumps Blackwell in 1957, got into recording good music, w/Sam Cooke, other artists and then accidentally placed on Fender Precision Bass mid 1963 when someone didn’t show…….I never played bass in my life but being an experienced recording guitarist, it was plain to see that 3 bass players hired to play “dum-de-dum” on record dates, wasn’t getting it…..it was easy for me to invent good bass lines…..as a Jazz musician, you invent every note you play……and they used a lot of Jazz musicians (and former big-band experienced musicians on all those rock and pop dates too)………..I refuse to be part of a process that is something else rather than what I believe in, for others’ benefit and not reflecting on the truth – we all enjoyed working with EACH OTHER……..Thank-You for understanding. Carol Kaye”

I do wish Carol would take the award and accept the kudos but I know why she won’t. It’s not done with malice. The Rock Hall Museum can still have display for her and the Wrecking Crew including Hal Blaine, Bones Howe, Denny Tedesco, and some of the stars that matriculated like Glenn Campbell and Leon Russell.

Carol, your legacy is secure.

Frankly, the whole Wrecking Crew should have been inducted way back in 1989. But Phil Spector hovered over the original Rock Hall like a…spectre… and probably didn’t want to acknowledge them.

Carol has an amazing story. You can read all about her here: https://www.carolkaye.com/