Hear Young Thug's new single "Elton" featuring Wyclef Jean
Saturday, August 20 2016
Young Thug has a new dance single out just in time for the end of summer. In 'Elton,' Thugger sings, raps, moans and yelps in his signature style over a jazzy, bass-heavy beat.
He's backed up by Wyclef Jean, who intermittently cries out "Jeffrey!" in reference to Young Thug's new mixtape and ambiguous name change.
The reason behind the title reference to Elton John isn't completely clear, but the rapper is rumored to be working on a collaboration with the British pop icon. A recent meeting between the two in Atlanta resulted in some surreal Instagrams.
Elton's music company takes notice of Greenock singer
Saturday, August 20 2016
A talented Greenock singer has struck a chord with bosses at Elton’s music company — and is now set to record in Los Angeles with Justin Bieber’s producer.
Rising star Lewis Darrah performed at Elton’s Rocket Music artist management firm in London a fortnight ago and impressed top executives. The 18-year-old is now preparing to jet out to LA next month to record and is due to work with A-list producer Poo Bear, who is behind recent hits by pop superstar Justin Bieber.
It is all thanks to New York music manager and promoter Tommy Johnston, who spotted the former Inverclyde Academy pupil performing on social media. Lewis has also lined up a gig at the world-famous Hotel Cafe in LA where the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran have played and hopes his American adventure will kick-start his music career across the Atlantic.
He told the Telegraph: “I had a lot of music and stuff on social media and about three months ago I uploaded a country song on Instagram because I’m a big fan of TV show Nashville. By the next morning I had a message from some guy in LA saying he wanted to speak to me more about my music. A lot of people have contacted me from Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, asking me to join bands, but I’ve turned them down because I’m not a boy band person — I’m a solo singer and songwriter.
“But this guy said he wanted to take me on as a soloist and messaged me back saying he was in London. He flew me down there and I spent the whole weekend there. He also wanted to meet my family so we all went down and met Elton John’s head executive. Usually for a meeting like that you have to ask a year in advance but he managed to get it within a few days because Tommy knows Elton John and his husband David Furnish. I sang three songs and answered some questions and they loved it.”
On the back of the trip to the ‘Rocket Man’ singer’s London HQ, Lewis is preparing to rub shoulders with some more big names in the music business. The former King’s Glen and King’s Oak pupil first started singing when he was about four or five years old through the Church of Nazarene in Port Glasgow, where he attends. Now his prayers have been answered with an all-expenses paid trip to LA to record and perform.
Lewis said: “Tommy’s getting me in the studio and arranging for me to meet famous producers, including Poo Bear who helped write some of Justin Bieber’s songs. To get my foot in the door like this is amazing but a bit nerve-racking. I’ve always wanted to go to LA and do music. In this industry there’s a lot of people aiming for it. But I’m going there hoping to get signed.”
Trial date set in LAPD officer’s sexual battery lawsuit against Elton
Friday, August 12 2016
Elton received a May 17, 2016 trial date for his battle with the Los Angeles police officer suing him for sexual battery.
A judge assigned the date after first alerting both sides that he had a connection to Elton. "I did attend an Elton John concert maybe 25 years ago," Judge Howard Halm said at a hearing on August 11, 2016 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, adding that crooner Billy Joel also performed. "I think I went to one, too," the lawyer for plaintiff Jeffrey Wenninger also confessed.
Elton's lawyers said they hoped to avoid a trial by filing a motion for summary judgment at the end of the discovery process. Wenninger, 49, sued Elton for sexual battery in March 2016. He claimed Elton touched him inappropriately on multiple occasions while he was working as an off-duty security guard for him.
He alleged that during a ride to the airport in March 2014, Elton groped him in the area of his crotch and buttocks while stating, "Say Hello to Uncle Elton." Wenninger claimed Elton also twisted his nipples during a subsequent car ride. Elton's lawyers have called the lawsuit "baseless" and "patently false."
Wenninger received an LAPD Medal of Valor in 2007 for entering a burning building in 1996 to help rescue dozens of elderly residents. But the cop was accused of abusive behavior by an ex-wife who won a temporary restraining order November 2002 after claiming Wenninger flicked water in her face and screamed profanities at her.
Elton gives Slash permission to re-record 'Rocket Man'
Wednesday, August 3 2016
Elton originally released the song in 1972, where it featured on his fifth studio album 'Honky Château' and hit number two in the UK chart.
The song has had new life breathed into it, however, by the Guns N' Roses guitarist in honour of stuntman Eddie Braun's Evel Knievel-inspired "rocket launch", which is taking place next month (September 17, 2016). The launch will see Braun attempt to cross the Snake River, located in north-west America, using a 10,000 hp rocket.
Slash, alongside his band Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators, have reinterpreted the song as the theme music for Braun's daredevil Kickstarter project after Elton gave his blessing. Recorded at the Sunset Sound studio in Hollywood, Braun has explained how he got Slash involved.
"I approached the rock icon Slash, who I knew to be an Evel Knievel fan, and asked if he would be interested in being involved with my rocket project," Braun said. "He gave us the most awesome gift we could ever dream… a theme song! Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators got permission from Elton to re-record his 1972 hit song 'Rocket Man' specifically for our project. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators suggested we include the song with every reward so every single backer of our Kickstarter campaign gets it. So that's what we're doing! I'm so honoured to have been given the most epic theme song, by the most epic guitarist of all time!"
Elton performs for Tony Bennett TV Special
Wednesday, August 3 2016
Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Elton John and Stevie Wonder lead an all-star lineup of performers for a TV special celebrating Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday.
Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Diana Krall, k.d. lang and Rufus Wainwright will also come to the party for NBC’s Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come, which will air December 20, 2016.
“I turn 90 tomorrow (August 3, 2016) and feel like I’m just getting started and look forward to each day,” Bennett said in a statement. “I have loved performing for the public and sharing the music I love with the world. It’s a thrill to have NBC air a special in honor of my birthday and to have so many wonderful artists that I have worked with and admire participate.”
Few recording artists can match Bennett's longevity. The legendary crooner has amassed 19 Grammy Awards over his 60-years-plus in the business. His prolific career has yielded a studio album almost each year on average (he's up to 57 studio sets and 11 live LPs), and Bennett has earned a reputation as a late bloomer. He set the record for the oldest-living artist to land a No. 1 album with 2011's Duets, at which time he was 85. He set a new mark in 2014 when, at age 88, his album Cheek to Cheek, a compilation of duets with Lady Gaga, went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
NBC last hosted a special on Bennett to mark his 80th birthday, back in 2006. Tony Bennett: An American Classic won seven Emmy Awards, more than any other show that year.
“Since we celebrated Tony’s 80th birthday on NBC, it only seemed fitting that we should also stop and pay tribute to his 90th, a true milestone for the greatest living vocalist of popular music,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “Happy birthday, Tony, your achievements are epic and your voice has been the soundtrack of four generations. We and the entire music business are in awe.”
Actors Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta and Bruce Willis will participate in the special, and others celebs will be announced in due course.