Music – Page 1841 – 105.7 WDNY

Shakira ordered to stand trial in Spain over alleged tax evasion, faces up to 8 years in prison

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Shakira will stand trial in Spain after being accused of dodging roughly $14 million dollars in unpaid taxes.

A spokesperson in Barcelona for the Audiencia Nacional confirmed to ABC News that the Grammy winner has been ordered to stand trial. Shakira has been charged with tax fraud for allegedly not paying income taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014. Prosecutors allege she owes the nation roughly 14.5 million euros or $14 million USD.

Spanish prosecutors allege Spain was Shakira’s primary residence during that time period, so she was obligated to pay the country’s income tax.

The “Objection (Tango)” singer denies any wrongdoing. In a recent interview with ELLE, the hitmaker addressed her legal woes and called them “false accusations.”

Shakira refuted the claim she mainly resided in Spain between 2012 and 2014, adding she was “busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world.” She noted further, “I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe zero to them.”

The singer also said she was advised by “one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world” at the time and is “confident” she was “doing things correctly and transparently from day one.”

She then accused prosecutors of intentionally harming her reputation by planting “salacious” stories about her in the press.

In all, Shakira believes she will be vindicated in court. “I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor,” she declared.

If convicted, however, Shakira could spend up to eight years in prison and pay a hefty fine.

A trial date has not been announced.

Maroon 5 announces Las Vegas residency for 2023

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Earlier this year, Maroon 5 guitarist James Valentine told ABC Audio that a Las Vegas residency was something the band would “absolutely love” to do. Well, now their wish has come true.

The band has announced a residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM starting Friday, March 24, 2023. Called M5LV The Residency, it’ll be custom-designed for the 5,200-seat theater. Right now, the residency has 16 performances scheduled: four in March, four in April, two in July and six in August.

Tickets go on sale Monday, October 3 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster; a fan pre-sale starts Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT. In addition, members of MGM Resorts’ loyalty program, plus Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers, will get pre-sale access on Friday at 10 a.m. PT.

James told ABC Audio that one reason the band wanted to do a residency was because, “It opens up possibilities for production, because if you’re doing that many shows in a row in the same place, you can get a little bit more creative on different elements that you can bring to the show.”

As for what sort of elements they’d like to have, James laughed, “Adam [Levine] has been lobbying to get me to fly above the crowd since day one. So maybe that’s finally going to happen in Vegas!”

Here are the scheduled dates for M5LV:

March 2023: 24, 25, 29 & 31

April 2023: 1, 5, 7 & 8

July 2023: 28 & 29

August 2023: 2, 4, 5, 9, 11 & 12

Summer Pardi used a boat to tell Jon Pardi she was pregnant

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Summer Pardi is opening up about how she told husband Jon Pardi she was pregnant.

Summer found out she was expecting their first child not long after they got a new boat. She used the new watercraft as a way to tell her husband the good news, taping a “baby on board” sign, along with the positive pregnancy test, to the back of the boat.

Summer told Jon that there was a “big scratch” on the back of the boat that he needed to check out, but when he went to inspect the damage, he instead found the surprise.

“Even with the baby on board sign AND pregnancy test he still didn’t get it.. he thought i was just making fun of him because the boat was his new baby,” Summer recalls of the special moment. “5 minutes later he was blasting ‘Baby Shark’ in the kitchen, already thriving hahah.”

Summer also shares a series of pregnancy selfies that show off her growing baby bump and a video dancing onstage with her husband, set to the tune of Ruelle’s “I Get to Love You.”

Jon and Summer are expecting the baby in early 2023.

John Mellencamp taking part in opening of permanent Rock Hall exhibit devoted to him

September 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland will host a special John Mellencamp Fan Day this Thursday, September 29, that will celebrate the opening of a permanent exhibit dubbed “Legends of Rock: John Mellencamp.”

Mellencamp, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2008, will be on hand on Thursday to give a special performance and take part in an interview that will air live on select satellite radio stations at 5 p.m. ET.

The heartland rocker also will reveal plans for a 2023 tour during the event.

Prime access to view the performance and Q&A is sold out, but visitors will be able to listen to the presentation at the Union Home Mortgage Plaza.

Fans who purchase general admission Rock Hall tickets for Thursday will be able to check out the exhibit and enjoy all other John Mellencamp Fan Day activities. Tickets are available at RockHall.com.

The “Legends of Rock: John Mellencamp” exhibit will feature such memorabilia as the suit the singer/songwriter wore in promo photos for his 2003 album, Trouble No More; the 1976 Fender Telecaster guitar he played onstage extensively starting in 1981; a guitar that David Bowie gifted him; and a new original oil painting.

As part of the Fan Day festivities, video clips from John’s Rock Hall will be screened in a theater in the Ahmet Ertegun Exhibition Hall; a career-spanning Mellencamp playlist will be played throughout the museum; the Rock Hall’s house band, The Mechanics, will help teach fans to sing and play Mellencamp songs in the Jam Room of the museum’s Garage area; and more.

Rob Thomas announces 10th anniversary benefit concert at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Rob Thomas‘ annual charity concert at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and he’ll mark the milestone with a special one-night-only event taking place in January.

For the show, the Matchbox Twenty singer has invited some “very special guests” to perform along with him — but he is remaining tight lipped on who they are at the moment. The event is set for Sunday, January 15.

The concert benefits Thomas’ Sidewalk Angels Foundation, which he co-founded in 2003 with wife Marisol Maldonado. He explained on Twitter that his charity supports “over 20 no-kill animal shelters and animal rescues across the country” by providing them critical resources and funds.

The Grammy winner noted that COVID-19 impacted these rescues and shelters, so his charity is helping them “continue their work as well as make sure that families can continue to get the care they need for their pets.”

Tickets for the event go on sale on Tuesday, September 27, for VIP and fan club members on The Borgata‘s website. General public ticket sales start Friday, September 30.

Anthrax is “getting there” with next album, says Scott Ian: “We’re not that far off!”

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Scott Ian has shared an update on the status of the next Anthrax album, telling Metal Hammer that the thrash icons are “getting there.”

“We had started writing before COVID, but then eventually we jumped back in, so we do have eight arrangements and half of them with lyrics,” Ian says. “We’ve got at least another six really, really great things that we just need to start bashing out as a band.”

The guitarist adds, “We’re not that far off!”

Anthrax’s most recent studio effort is 2016’s For All Kings. Over the summer, they released a live album titled XL, which captured their 2021 40th anniversary streaming concert.

The 40th anniversary celebration continued this year with a U.S. Anthrax tour also featuring Black Label Society and Hatebreed.

Music notes: Ed Sheeran, Spice Girls, Lewis Capaldi, Rihanna, Sam Smith and Meghan Trainor

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Ed Sheeran is digging a remix of his song “Shape of You” with “Take On Me” by a-ha. The TikTok account @ThereIRuinedIt mashed the two songs together, but Ed wants to know, “Why is this SO GOOD?”

Ed is also working to protect the United Kingdom’s smallest music venues by teaming up with Music Venue Trust. He said in a statement, via Music Times, “Small, independent venues are so, so important to the music community, and I’ve played some of my favourite gigs of my career in these rooms. We’ve got to do all we can to protect these beautiful venues that we’ve all come to love for years to come.”

Melanie C is looking back at the Spice Girls’ infamous meetup with then-Prince Charles, now King Charles III, in 1997. Mel told People Geri Halliwell gave the royal a pat on the butt and joined Mel B in kissing him on the cheek — he didn’t mind! “Now that Charles is our King, it kind of makes it even more naughty,” she laughed. “Those naughty Spice Girls!”

Lewis Capaldi took on Britney Spears by covering her song “Everytime” on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. Lewis slowed down the melancholy track and made the song punch harder with his raw, emotional vocals. Fans are begging him to release it as a single.

Rihanna is the next Super Bowl halftime performer and she is going to give “1,000 percent,” a source tells Entertainment Tonight.

Sam Smith celebrated new song “Unholy” amassing nearly 30,000,000 streams. They shared a screenshot of the song’s Spotify stats to their Instagram Story and captioned it with a sobbing emoji.

Meghan Trainor wants “4 babies.” She shared a TikTok about how she learned to love her stretch marks and C-section scars, which she said made it look like “a lawnmower ran over me.” She’s now teasing, “It’s about to get crazy” with her future pregnancy plans.

Roger Waters’ 2023 Polish concerts canceled; Waters writes open letter to Putin

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Founding Pink Floyd singer/bassist Roger Waters‘ April concerts in Krakow, Poland, were canceled by promoter Live Nation Polska and the Tauron Arena, according the venue’s official website.

The cancellation comes after Waters’ recent comments defending Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine drew the ire of Krakow city councilor Łukasz Wantuch, who has called for the rocker be declared “persona non grata” in Krakow.

In early September, Waters posted an open letter to Olena Zelenska, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s wife, suggesting that Ukraine negotiate with Russia rather than continue fighting. He maintained that U.S. military support for Ukraine was prolonging the conflict.

Zelenska responded with a Twitter message that read, “It is Russia that invaded Ukraine, destroys cities and kills civilians. Ukrainians defend their land and their children’s future. If we give up — we will not exist tomorrow. If Russia gives up — war will be over.”

Roger then wrote a lengthy response to Zelenska reiterating his beliefs.

Now Waters has penned an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the invasion of Ukraine.

The message reads in part, “I know some people who think you want to overrun the whole of Europe, starting with Poland and the rest of the Baltic states. If you do, f*** you, and we might as well all stop playing the desperately dangerous game of nuclear chicken that the hawks on both sides of the Atlantic seem so comfortable with, and have at it.”

He also declares, “[Y]our invasion of Ukraine took me completely by surprise, it was a heinous war of aggression, provoked or not.”

Waters concludes by asking Putin to reply to his letter, writing, “I would mightily respect you for it, and take it as an honorable move in the right direction towards a sustainable peace.”

Charlie Puth to release “Charlie Be Quiet” on Friday, jokes he sings like a goat

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Charlie Puth has several things to celebrate — first off being the release of his new song, “Charlie Be Quiet.”

A clip of the track has blown up on TikTok and fans will finally hear it in full this Friday. The singer teased the good news on his account in a since-deleted announcement.

The song is about Charlie knowing he’s in love but struggling to not to let his girlfriend know he’s ready to say the “L” word out of fear she’ll leave him.

Charlie has been having fun on TikTok and sarcastically revealed he’s expanding his One Night Only Tour across Europe, with new dates added for London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin, because fans are interested in spending a night with him between the sheets.

Tickets for his European fans go live this Friday, September 30, at 12 p.m. local time. The tour is in support of his forthcoming album, Charlie, due out October 7.

In other Charlie news, he joked about suffering a vocal faux pas onstage while singing his hit “Left and Right.” He had been performing “in front of like 85,000 people” and joked he “started singing like a goat.” The clip shows Charlie struggling to hit the song’s high notes before mimicking a goat’s high-pitched bleat.

Despite the embarrassing onstage snafu, Charlie is in good spirits and laughed off his vocal misfortune. The singer joked in the caption, “Not so pitch perfect now huh.”

Melissa Etheridge says Ellen DeGeneres, Ricky Martin, Barry Manilow and Jodie Foster all asked her for advice on coming out

September 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Celebrities coming out as LGBTQ doesn’t seem to be a big deal these days, but back in 1993, when Melissa Etheridge came out, it was. In fact, Melissa was such a pioneer that many other super-famous but closeted celebrities asked her for advice about doing it themselves.

Melissa tells The Daily Beast that Ricky Martin, Barry Manilow, Jodie Foster and Ellen DeGeneres are some of the now-out gay stars who approached her. “I had people come to me and say, ‘I see you being out,’ and they would apologize to me because they were not out,” Melissa recalls. “I would say, ‘Look, it’s very personal. It’s totally up to you, you don’t have to explain anything to me.’”

Melissa recalls that Manilow was concerned about coming out because, he said, “all my fans are women.” “I was so glad when he came out,” she notes. She says Ricky Martin was worried because he was a sex symbol. She says she told him, “Dude, it’s obvious you’re gay.”

“It’s been wonderful to see all these people finally come into themselves,” she adds. “The ones who come out do much better than the ones who don’t, or didn’t.”

Melissa also tells The Daily Beast that the TV show The L Word was based on her real-life group of friends in the late ’80s to mid-’90s, who at the time included everyone from Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts to k.d. lang, DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell. Another member of the group was Ilene Chaiken, who went on to co-create the show.

Melissa laughs, “I stopped watching The L Word because I lived it!”

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