Janis Ian took home two honors at the International Folk Music Awards in Kansas City, Missouri, Tuesday night. Ian was already set to receive the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award, but as an added bonus she also earned top honors as Artist of the Year.
The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are handed out each year by Folk Alliance International “to honor the cultural impact of legendary folk music figures.” For her honor, Billboard reports Ian was celebrated with a performance by musician Jake Blount, who performed the classic “At Seventeen,” and Wallis Bird, who performed “Better Times Will Come.”
And Ian’s winning ways could continue Sunday. She’s nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album for The Light at the End of the Line.
Brian May says he feels violated after hackers got into several of his accounts. The Queen guitarist took to Instagram to reveal that not only have his TikTok and Twitter accounts been hacked, his email account has been, as well.
“Basically, I wasted the whole day today trying to reclaim my stuff, without much success to be honest,” he shares in a video to his followers. “I spend my life trying to earn an honest living I suppose and trying to do some good in the world and bring some joy to people. But this guy just wants to spend his days making my life a misery. So I don’t really get it; I think it is kind of sad.”
May says he does have someone working on fixing the matter, but notes, “It has done a lot of damage to me, it also makes me feel really, I guess, violated. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling.”
And what’s worse, Brian says in the caption of the video the hacker has been “scamming kids with fraudulent offers of cheap laptops, pretending to be me.” He warns folks to be careful.
TikTok is apparently becoming a kingmaker for older songs. After reviving Kate Bush‘s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” and Lady Gaga‘s 2011 deep-cut “Bloody Mary,” the app is now breathing new life into Mariah Carey‘s 2009 song “It’s a Wrap.”
Mariah can thank herself for the renewed interest in the track: Last month, she shared a video of her singing to the slightly sped-up track while accompanied by four backup dancers. Mariah then exits the shot and a man dressed like a chef presents a literal wrap sandwich to the camera.
The video has been seen nearly 10 million times since she uploaded it on January 15.
TikTokers have created a new dance challenge by posting videos of them doing their own choreography to the song. To date, the sped-up clip has been featured in nearly 650,000 TikTok videos.
Billboardreports the song is now enjoying a streaming boom. Since the challenge took off, streams of “It’s a Wrap” have jumped by 1,000 percent. Fans streamed it 1.65 million times during the week ending on January 26.
Prior to that, the track averaged about 17,000 weekly streams.
“It’s a Wrap” appeared on Mariah’s 2009 album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. It was never released as a single.
Looking for that perfect Valentine’s Day card for your love? Well, if they are a Def Leppard fan, the band has got you covered.
Just in time for the romantic holiday, the rockers are selling Valentine’s Day cards featuring five different poses, with lyrics from the band’s hits placed in a heart. Professions of love include “pour some sugar on me,” “let the love begin” and “love and affection.”
“Send some Leppard love with these classic Def Leppard valentine cards!” the band suggests. “Vibrant, fun, and smoking hot, these valentines are the perfect way to show your affection.”
The cards are available for purchase at leppardvault.com and can be purchased individually, or in five- or 10-card packs.
Carole King’s famed 1973 Central Park concert is the subject of a new documentary that will be streamed for the first time ever later this month, and now fans are getting their first taste of what to expect.
King has released a clip of her performance of the Tapestry track “Home Again” at the homecoming show, which took place May 26, 1973, at the Great Lawn in NYC’s Central Park. It was the first concert ever held on the Great Lawn.
Home Again: Carole King Live In Central Park is set to start streaming exclusively on The Coda Collection, via Amazon Prime, on February 9, which is also Carole’s 81st birthday. The following day the live album, Home Again, will be released digitally.
One of Tom Jones’ classic tunes will never be played in a Cardiff, Wales, stadium again. Sky News reports that Principality Stadium has officially banned choirs from performing Jones’ tune “Delilah” due to its controversial lyrics about the murder of a woman by her jealous partner.
The Welsh Ruby Union says the song was removed from halftime playlists at the stadium in 2015, but now the stadium has issued the same ban to choirs performing there.
“’Delilah’ will not feature on the playlist for choirs for rugby internationals at Principality Stadium,” says a spokesperson for the stadium. “Guest choirs have also more recently been requested not to feature the song during their pre-match performances and throughout games.”
The song has been popular with fans at rugby matches, and while the stadium won’t play it anymore, there are no restrictions placed on fans who want to sing it.
Jones has commented on the controversy surrounding the tune, arguing people were taking it too literally and adding that it didn’t make light of violence against women.
Singer/songwriter Graham Nash was born in Blackpool, England. He first gained fame in the early 60s as a member of the Hollies, and then in 1968 he teamed with Stephen Stills and David Crosby to form Crosby, Stills & Nash, with Neil Young joining them a year later. They performed their second-ever gig together at Woodstock. Their first album as a foursome, 1970’s Déjà Vu, went to number one.
Nash has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice:as a member of Crosby, Stills, & Nash in 1997, and again as a member of the Hollies in 2010. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity.
Nash is scheduled to start a new tour on April 12 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
Sheryl Crow has been a fixture at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies for many years, but now she’s got a chance to be there as an inductee herself. On Wednesday, she was announced as a nominee for induction into the Rock Hall’s Class of 2023.
“I just want to say I’m so honored and just, I’m blown away! I’m blown away,” Sheryl says in a video message on Instagram. “I can’t believe I’m nominated to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
“I’ve been to the Rock Hall of Fame when it wasn’t televised and got to see Bob Dylan … [and] Fleetwood Mac I got to induct,” she continued. “I got to see Prince and Tom Petty, and obviously, the people that have influenced me and brought me to where I am and made me want to be what I am and made me want to do what I’m doing for all these years are in the Hall of Fame. So it just feels monumentally sacred.”
She concluded, “I just want to say thank you to the powers that be here or whoever put me on that list. It’s just, it really means so much to me. So thank you.”
John Mayer wrote in the comments, “You’re a shoo-in!!“
We’ll find out in May who the official inductees will be. Sheryl is nominated along with 13 other acts, including Cyndi Lauper, Kate Bush, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, The Spinners, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden and Rage Against the Machine.
Speaking of Willie, Sheryl also did a separate post showing them together and wrote, “Congrats to my friend and hero @willienelsonofficial for his @rockhall Hall Of Fame nomination! Long overdue but so happy to be nominated along with you!”
It’s been a six-year wait that for fans has felt longer, but Bruce Springsteenand the E Street were back on stage in Tampa Wednesday night treating fans to a set filled with a mix of new tracks and classic cuts.
Fans were treated to several songs off 2020‘s Letters to You album, including the title track, “Ghosts,” “House of a Thousand Guitars,” “Burnin’ Train” and a solo acoustic version of “Last Man Standing,” which The Boss dedicated to his former Castiles bandmate George Theiss, who passed away in 2018.
“His passing would leave me as the last surviving member of my first band, so it’s kind of like standing on the tracks with the hot light of an oncoming train bearing down on you,” Springsteen told the crowd, according to the Asbury Park Press. “It brings a clarity of thought and a purpose that you might have not previously experienced.” He added, “At 15 it’s all hellos. At 73 it’s a lot of goodbyes. That’s why you have to make the most of right now.”
The set list also included two songs from Bruce’s Only the Strong Survive solo album, “Night Shift,” and “Don’t Play That Song,” along with lots of old favorites, including the opener “No Surrender,” “Rosalita,” “Born to Run,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Glory Days” and more, along with some deeper cuts like “Kitty’s Back” and “E Street Shuffle.”
The Boss ended the night with another solo acoustic performance, the Letters to You track “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
Next up, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s bring the tour to Atlanta, Georgia on Friday.
David M. Benett/Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty Images
In addition to being a rock star, Paul McCartney is a husband and father, and those are two roles that are very important to him. In a new post on his website, the Beatles legend responds to a Twitter question about what the two roles mean to him, noting they are “two completely different things.”
“As far as being a dad is concerned, I’ve always just tried to give my kids a bit of guidance, if they seem to need it – but that was mainly when they were younger,” he explains. “Now that they are older, they’re guiding me! They don’t need so much guidance these days but if there’s ever a problem, I’m very happy to be the guy they come to.”
He adds, “You’re just there to help, and I suppose have fun with – we do have a lot of fun. Now they’re older we can have a drink together, for instance!”
As for being a husband, he says the most important thing is “just trying to be good to my wife Nancy (Shevell) and trying to be considerate and romantic.” And it sounds like Nancy can expect something special later this month.
“I completely overdo Valentine’s Day! I mean, there’s not just one card, there are cards hidden around the room, and sometimes things even spill into the next day – it’s completely silly,” Sir Paul says. “If there’s an excuse to have some fun, I overdo it!”
McCartney adds that he likes to be helpful to his wife, noting, “I’m always very happy to be the person Nancy relies on, and to be her strength when she goes through tough times. I am very proud, in fact, to be ‘The Guy’ there.”
