“I’ll never forget your kindness”: Sam Smith praises Madonna

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Sam Smith praised Madonna in a sentimental post about the recent Grammy Awards. Madonna famously introduced Sam and collaborator Kim Petras ahead of their controversial “Unholy” performance.

Sam shared an Instagram photo of them posing with Madonna at the ceremony and wrote, “Overwhelmed, grateful and inspired. Thank you for your love and support @madonna. I’ll never forget your kindness.”

Sam’s post comes days after Madonna took to Instagram to decry how their moment at the Grammys was seemingly overshadowed by comments about her appearance.

“It was an honor for me to Introduce. Kim Petras and Sam Smith at the Grammys. I wanted to give the last award which was Album of the year, but I thought it was more important that I present the first trans- woman performing at the Grammys — a History making moment!! And on top of that she won a Grammy!!” the singer wrote, while also praising the duo’s fearlessness.

Madonna called out those who focused more on “Close-up photos of me Taken with a long lens camera By a press photographer that Would distort anyone’s face” over Sam and Kim’s history-making moment. She slammed the negative attention for being ageist.

Kim responded to Madonna’s post by commenting with three red heart emojis.

Beck premieres new single, “Thinking About You”

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Beck has premiered a new single called “Thinking About You.”

The track falls on the acoustic, sincere side of the “Loser” artist’s wide-ranging musical spectrum. You can listen to it now via digital outlets.

“Thinking About You” follows Beck’s latest album, 2019’s Hyperspace. In between, he’s put out a number of collaborations, including a reworking of the Paul McCartney song “Find My Way,” and covered Neil Young‘s “Old Man” in 2022, which was nominated for Best Rock Performance at this year’s Grammys.

Meanwhile, Beck is also getting back on the road for the Summer Odyssey co-headlining tour with Phoenix. The joint outing launches in August.

Elvis Costello pays tribute to Burt Bacharach at New York residency kickoff

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Elvis Costello paid tribute to his friend and collaborator Burt Bacharach at the kickoff for his 10-night residency at New York’s Gramercy Theatre Thursday. Bacharach died Wednesday at the age of 94.

“It’s been a tough day,” Costello told the audience, as reported by Variety. “You know, a really great man left us yesterday. And people say, when somebody leaves you who’s a great age, they say, well, it was a good ending. Yeah, but it’s never time to say goodbye to somebody if you love ‘em. And I’m not ashamed to say I did love this man.”

Costello went on to play three Bacharach-penned tunes: “Baby It’s You,” recorded by The Shirelles and The Beatles; “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” made famous by Dionne Warwick; and “Please Stay,” recorded by The Drifters. Costello had previously recorded two of those songs, “Baby It’s You” with Nick Lowe and “Please Stay,” for his all-covers album Kojak Variety. Costello also said he was planning to perform some of the songs he wrote with Bacharach later in the residency when his pianist, Steve Nieve, joins him.

In 1998 Bacharach and Costello teamed up for the album Painted From Memory, which went on to earn the pair a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song “I Still Have That Other Girl.” A box set of their work, The Songs Of Bacharach & Costello, including the new collection Taken From Life, featuring unreleased songs from a proposed Painted From Memory musical score, is due out March 3. It is available for preorder now.

BTS breaks box office record for highest-grossing worldwide event cinema release

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Courtesy of HYBE, Trafalgar Releasing, and CJ 4DPlex. BTS 2023 (hightail.com)

BTS may be on a break, but they’re still breaking global records. It was recently announced their concert movie BTS: Yet To Come in Cinemas broke the record for the highest-grossing worldwide cinema event after amassing $40 million during its limited global run.

According to a release, the film premiered in global theaters across 128 countries and territories on February 1 and ran through Sunday, February 5. Its estimated five-day run in the U.S. alone grossed $8 million and became the weekend’s fifth highest-grossing film, with a per-screen average of $7,080 across 1,127 movie theaters.

The concert film also scored top-five box office positions in Japan, Korea, Italy and Spain. The film went to #1 in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines. It was also the #1 international film in India.

The concert film was of their October 15 performance in Busan, South Korea, as part of the city’s bid to host the World Expo 2030. They named the show BTS in BUSAN and performed signature hits like “Dynamite,” “Butter” and “IDOL.”

BTS was named PR ambassadors for Busan’s bid to host the Expo. It is competing for the rights against Rome, Italy; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Odessa, Ukraine. The host city will be chosen next year.

The Who’s Roger Daltrey gives update on Keith Moon biopic, has actor in mind for the role

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The Who’s Roger Daltrey is still working hard on his planned biopic about the band’s late drummer, Keith Moon, and in a new interview with Vulture he gives fans an update on the progress being made.

“I just finished a script, and I’m hoping to do my biopic of Keith within the next couple of years,” he says. “I’m very pleased with the script. I want people to get an understanding of him and his life, and the complete genius he was.”

Daltrey says he already has an idea of an actor “who’s a role model” to play Moon, although he worries the unidentified actor, who he says is around 40, may be “too old.” However, Daltrey thinks it still could work, because “Keith looked 50 when he died. He was 32, but he looked 54.”

“But there’s an actor who I’ve seen and when I look at him I go, ‘God, it’s Moon,’” Roger says. “It’s all to do with the eyes. The eyes are all important. You virtually wouldn’t need to say any dialogue because you could read it in his eyes.”

And it sounds like Roger won’t stop until the movie is made, noting, “I’m driven by this project. It came to me in a dream 30 years ago.”

Daltrey also gave a little insight into what he hopes is in the future for The Who, including an orchestrated Quadrophenia.

“That’s my ambition. But I can’t tell you I could physically handle it,” the almost-79-year-old says. “It’s a challenging piece of work and it deserves respect. But who knows. We’ve gone on far longer than I ever thought we would. I didn’t think it would last until the end of the week.”

On This Day – February 10, 1971: Carole King releases’ Tapestry’

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

On This Day – February 10, 1971…

Carole King released her second album, Tapestry, which went on to be a massive hit for the singer/songwriter. It featured several songs that went on to be King classics, including “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “So Far Away,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and others.

Tapestry spent 15 straight weeks at number one and won four Grammy Awards, on its way to becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. It holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one by a female artist, and until 2017 held the record for the longest-charting album by a female solo artist in the U.S. The record was broken by Adele’s 21.

Several songs on Tapestry also became hits for other artists, including “You’ve Got a Friend,” which was recorded by James Taylor and went to number one, and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” which became a classic thanks to Aretha Franklin.

Linkin Park shares previously unreleased song “Lost,” announces 20th anniversary ’Meteora’ reissue

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

After a week of teases, Linkin Park has released “Lost,” a previously unreleased song that dates back to the Meteora era.

The track, which features lead vocals by the late Chester Bennington, is available now via digital outlets and is streaming now alongside an anime-styled video on YouTube.

“Finding [‘Lost’] was like finding a favorite photo you had forgotten you’d taken, like it was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself,” says LP’s Mike Shinoda. “For years, fans have been asking us to release something with Chester’s voice, and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to make that happen in such a special way.”

As theorized, “Lost” previews a 20th anniversary reissue of Meteora, which will arrive April 7. The collection will be available in a number of configurations, including as a super deluxe box set edition featuring a host of never-before-released material, as well as demos, B-sides and live tracks.

“I think [fans are] going to be floored when they hear and see all the incredible unreleased songs and video footage in METEORA|20,” Shinoda says.

Meteora, the sophomore follow-up to LP’s RIAA Diamond-certified debut, Hybrid Theory, was first released in March 2003. It’s been certified seven-times Platinum, and spawned the hits “Numb” and “Faint.”

The upcoming reissue will be Linkin Park’s first new release since the Hybrid Theory 20th anniversary reissue, which dropped in 2020. The band has largely been quiet since the death of Bennington in 2017. They haven’t performed live since their tribute concert to Bennington that same year. Last April, Shinoda said that Linkin Park didn’t currently have any new music or live show plans.

Queen The Greatest Live episode four gives sneak peek at sound check

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Queen is back with the latest edition of their YouTube series Queen The Greatest Live. This week the band wraps up their look at the rehearsal process, sharing footage of Brian May and Roger Taylor at soundcheck for a 2012 concert in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The rare and unseen footage gives fans a peak at the important few hours the band has at the venue before the show, revealing how they use that time to make sure everything is ready to go for showtime. It features clips of them rehearsing the track “39” from A Night at the Opera.

The show was a particularly important one for the band, as it was their first full concert with new frontman Adam Lambert. It took place at Kyiv’s Independence Square, where they performed in front of more than 35,000 fans, as well as a TV audience.

Britney Spears speaks out on intervention rumors: “It makes me sick to my stomach”

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Britney Spears‘ husband, Sam Asghari, has already condemned the recent reports that his wife’s inner circle was planning an intervention because, as one source told TMZ, “I’m afraid she’s gonna die.” But now, let’s hear from the woman herself.

Taking to Instagram, Britney wrote, “It makes me sick to my stomach that it’s even legal for people to make up stories that I almost died … I mean at some point enough is enough !!!”

“I’m probably going to have to stop posting on Instagram because even though I enjoy doing it, there’s obviously a lot of people who don’t wish me well !!!” she continued. “I’m honestly not surprised at all … Again doing the best I can !!! Again, the conservatorship has been over for almost a year.”

And while sources told People that her life is “chaotic,” Britney wrote, “No folks, it’s not 2007 … it’s 2023 and I’m making my first homemade lasagna at home !!! I finally got my fireplace to work in my living room !!!”

“As my hubby says it best: don’t believe everything you read !!! All that love right back at ya !!!” she concluded.

As previously reported, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputies last month performed a welfare check on Spears in response to calls after she deactivated her Instagram, which she’s done several times. Authorities reportedly made contact with Britney and determined she was not in any danger. Britney later called it the result of “some prank phone calls.”

Last November marked a year since Britney’s conservatorship was terminated. She had been placed under the care of her father, Jamie Spears, following her 2008 mental health crisis.

Sam Asghari responds to Britney Spears intervention speculation

February 10, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Sam Asghari is shutting down claims that Britney Spears‘ family and friends are planning an intervention for the pop star.

“An intervention did not occur, ” he said in a statement to Access Hollywood. “My wife is in full control of her life and will continue to make all decisions involving her care regardless of circumstances. Speculation on her health is inappropriate and should end immediately.”

The statement follows rumors that Spears’ inner circle was concerned about the singer’s behavior and was planning an intervention. People reports the plan fell apart last minute when the “Toxic” singer became suspicious.

Sources close to the singer told the outlet, “Britney has been acting increasingly erratically and those around her have grown more concerned…She is often up all night, sleeps during [the] day and has a lot of anger.”

Another source described Britney’s situation as “very difficult” and said it is “absolutely chaotic” behind the scenes. “Everyone had hoped Britney could be convinced to seek treatment before things got any worse, but they knew it wouldn’t be easy,” they said. “She’s been going through a lot and has been increasingly combative.”

TMZ was first to report news of the planned intervention.

The rumors come after fans called the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office last month to ask deputies to perform a welfare check on Spears after she deactivated her Instagram, which she’s done several times. Authorities reportedly made contact with Britney and determined she was not in any danger.

Last November marked a year since Britney’s conservatorship was terminated. She had been placed under the care of her father, Jamie Spears, following her 2008 mental health crisis.

Since her conservatorship was terminated, Britney has regularly spoken out about the anger she feels toward her family and has made several serious allegations against them.

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