Aretha Franklin’s handprints find new, permanent home at Detroit Historical Museum

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Just prior to her death, Aretha Franklin cast her handprints in concrete in 2017. Three years later, they’ve finally found a permanent home.

The Detroit native’s hand prints were unveiled Sunday, according to the Detroit Free Press, to celebrate a new exhibit from the Detroit Historical Museum honoring the late legend. Originally, the castings were meant to be installed in the city’s then-newly announced Aretha Franklin Way. Plans for the installation were changed when Franklin passed away in 2018.

The temporary exhibit, titled “Respect,” showcases several artifacts belonging to the Queen of Soul, as well as props and costumes from her new biopic of the same name that opens in theaters later this month. The display will be available for viewing until the end of August at the museum’s Motor City Music Exhibition space.

In addition to the new exhibit, a private screening of Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson as Franklin, was also held Sunday for the singer’s inner circle.

Hudson, who was Aretha’s hand-picked selection to play her in the film, was also in the city for the festivities. She was joined by the movie’s director, Liesl Tommy, at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History for a Q&A session regarding the biopic. The event was invitation only.

Respect, which follows Aretha’s life story from being a singer in her father’s choir in church to becoming a worldwide music legend, debuts in theaters August 13.

Aretha died August 16, 2018 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 76.

“Famous Friends”: Chris Young sets 2021 tour dates

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Chris Young is bringing his “Famous Friends” on tour.

This fall, the chart-topping singer will set out on the Famous Friends Tour that covers 13 cities from October through December. The trek kicks off October 21 in Little Rock, Arkansas and runs through December 5 where it wraps at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Along the way, Chris and friends will make multiple stops in Texas and perform another arena show in Iowa at Xtream Arena. Mitchell Tenpenny and newcomer Callista Clark join as opening acts.

“Everybody’s been asking me when’s the tour announce — well now you have your answer and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’m pumped to be able to share some of this new music on tour!” Chris shares in a statement.

The Famous Friends tour is named after Chris’ current #1 single, featuring Kane Brown.

News of the tour comes just days before the Tennessee native drops his long-awaited album, Famous Friends, on Friday. The 14-track album also features collaborations with Mitchell and Lauren Alaina. It’s his first studio album since Losing Sleep was released in 2017.

Fetty Wap’s 4-year-old daughter, Lauren, has died

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Fetty Wap‘s 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Maxwell, has died.

The 30-year-old “Trap Queen” rapper shared Lauren with artist Turquoise Miami, who confirmed the heart-wrenching news on Saturday.

Sharing a short clip to Instagram of their daughter in a pool smiling and bouncing around, she wrote, “This is my amazing, beautiful, funny, vibrant, loving, talented, smart and hardheaded princess mermaid Aquarius.”

Miami then asked that those who see the post either comment or say to themselves “‘I love you Lauren’ because they say that souls can feel your love.” She closed the post with #rip and the broken heart emoji.

There was no mention of how Lauren died.

Fetty, born Willie Junior Maxwell, hasn’t directly commented on the devastating news. The U.S. Sun, however, reports that he seemingly acknowledged it after his Rolling Loud performance last weekend.

“LoLo daddy did that…for you last night baby girl,” he wrote in an Instagram Story, accompanied by a butterfly, dove and heart emoji on July 25.

Fetty followed up that post with a video of himself singing his record “Come My Way” with the phrase “Listen LoLo.”

“Welcome to the ‘Youngs'”: Brett Young announces arrival of second daughter

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Brett Young is a proud father, as he and wife Taylor announce the arrival of their second child.

Over the weekend, Brett took to Instagram to reveal that his second daughter, Rowan Marie Young, was born on July 21. She joins the couple’s one-year-old daughter, Presley.The “Mercy” singer shared the news alongside a photo of the sleeping newborn wrapped in a big pink bow.

“I thought my heart was maxed out. I usually don’t like to be wrong…… I was wrong. And I can’t wait to thank you properly for the opportunity to be your daddy. I already love you so much and I can’t wait to watch you and your sister become best friends,” Brett writes in the caption.

The singer also praises his wife and eldest daughter, encouraging the new baby to follow their example as she grows up.

“The women in your life are super heroes and you’re the luckiest lady alive. Presley has been begging for you. Be prepared for me to mess everything up and your mom and sister to always be there to fix it,” he continues. “I love you. Welcome to the ‘Youngs’ -Daddy.”

Brett and Taylor welcomed Presley in October 2019. His most recent #1 hit, “Lady,” is inspired by them. Brett’s set to release a children’s book, Love You, Little Lady on August 24.

New Led Zeppelin documentary, made with band’s participation, is ready to go

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

First announced in 2019, a new Led Zeppelin documentary — the first in 50 years to feature the band’s participation — has been completed, and now has a title: Becoming Led Zeppelin.

As Variety reports, the director, Bernard McMahon, had what’s described as “unprecedented” access to the band for the project. “Becoming Led Zeppelin is a film that no one thought could be made,” Variety quotes MacMahon as saying. “The band’s meteoric rise to stardom was swift and virtually undocumented. Through an intense search across the globe and years of restoration of the visual and audio archive found, this story is finally able to be told.”

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones all sat for new interviews for the doc, and archival interviews with late drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, are also included. Never-before-seen pictures and film, plus state-of-the-art audio transfers of Zeppelin’s music, round out the project.

McMahon also directed American Epic, a documentary series focusing on American roots music and its impact on the world. According to Variety, when Becoming Led Zeppelin was first announced, Page said that he knew McMahon would be “qualified’ to tell their story based on his “remarkable achievement” with American Epic.

So far, the documentary does not have a release date.

Lorde to perform on ‘Good Morning America’ in Central Park

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Lorde will be performing live in New York City’s Central Park later this month for Good Morning America’s 2021 Summer Concert Series.

The New Zealand singer-songwriter will be hitting the stage on August 20 — the same day her new album, Solar Power, is released. She debuted the title track off the album back in June.

Tickets are required to attend the free concert and strict COVID-19 protocols will be enforced. GMA requires all attendees to be fully vaccinated on the day of attendance.

Can’t be in New York City? You can get a front row seat for the performance at home by watching GMA live on August 20 and tweeting @GMA on social with the hashtag #LordeonGMA.

Mark Hoppus’ cancer is “disappearing,” says Tom DeLonge

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Tom DeLonge, the former guitarist/vocalist of the band Blink-182, provided a positive update about his ex-bandmate Mark Hoppus‘ cancer battle.

Hoppus, who previously confirmed he was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, is currently undergoing chemotherapy to treat the illness. Now, DeLonge has great news about his fellow Blink-182 co-founder: the treatment is working.

Taking to Instagram recently, DeLonge shared a throwback photo of the two and declared in the caption, “Mark is doing well! Cancer is disappearing!”

“But, he still has more chemo to do. As tough as it is, IT IS working,” DeLonge continued. “Mark is a real life superhero.”

According to the rocker, the photo was snapped when the band was recording their debut studio album, Cheshire Cat, which was released February 1995.

Last week, Hoppus proved his condition was improving by hopping on the live-streaming site Twitch to play the bass, which he said he hadn’t been able to do since he was diagnosed.

DeLonge co-founded Blink-182 alongside Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor, who was replaced by Travis Barker in 1998. DeLonge left the band in 2015 and was replaced by Alkaline Trio‘s Matt Skiba.

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The Weeknd scrubs his social media, shares extended preview of new single

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The Weeknd is leaving his After Hours era in the rear-view mirror and gearing up for the release of his fifth studio album.

Wiping his Instagram clean on Sunday, the 31-year-old artist shared two cryptic updates that hinted his new music is on the horizon.

The first image, which he shared late Sunday night with his 32 million followers, is mysterious in nature — depicting him in profile, bathed in white-blue light while wearing an oversized black leather jacket as he looks down through amber-tinted sunglasses.

The second update is a nearly two-minute preview of his upcoming new single. The visual continues his theme of daylight, taking viewers on a first-person ride over a dark landscape and toward the setting sun until the entire screen is blanketed in white light.

Minimally captioned as “.” , the preview is reminiscent of the music made by his Starboy collaborators Daft Punk. The undulating, retro-sounding techno beat pulsates over a loud snare and a chorus of “oohs.”

Prior to wiping his Instagram clean, The Weeknd teased his next chapter in music over on Twitter by writing, “F*** it … IT STARTS TONIGHT.”

The Grammy winner first alluded to his upcoming album in April and, during a May interview with Variety, he stated, “If the last record is the after hours of the night, then the dawn is coming.”

A release date and title for The Weeknd’s upcoming work are currently unknown.

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Members of Heart, Mr. Mister, Asia among stars featured on new Beatles tribute album

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A new Beatles tribute album featuring an eclectic variety of well-known artists, including Heart‘s Ann Wilson, Mr. Mister‘s Richard Page and late Asia frontman John Wetton performing classic songs by the Fab Four will be released this Friday, August 6.

Legends Play The Beatles is a 12-track collection that’s available on CD and as a limited-edition LP pressed on either blue or yellow vinyl.

The album, which can be pre-ordered now, features Wilson’s rendition of “Across the Universe,” Page teaming up with longtime Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse for a cover of “Here Comes the Sun,” and Wetton performing “Penny Lane.”

Other artists contributing tunes to the record include Air Supply, ’80s synth-pop artist Howard Jones, folk legend Judy Collins, late Cream bassist Jack Bruce, late pop singer/songwriter Andrew Gold, Southern rockers Molly Hatchet and ex-Deep Purple bassist/singer Glenn Hughes.

Here’s the full track list of Legends Play The Beatles:

“Here Comes the Sun” — Richard Page & Steve Morse
“Across the Universe” — Ann Wilson
“Penny Lane” — John Wetton
“Back in the USSR” — Molly Hatchet
“Norwegian Wood” — Andrew Gold
“The Long and Winding Road” — Air Supply
“Tomorrow Never Knows” — Electric Moon
“Rain” — Sugar Candy Mountain
“Eleanor Rigby” — Jack Bruce
“And I Love Her” — Howard Jones
“Yesterday” — Judy Collins
“Let It Be” — Glenn Hughes

Ann Wilson, Jack Bruce, Molly Hatchet among stars featured on new Beatles tribute album

August 2, 2021 by WDNY Radio

A new Beatles tribute album featuring an eclectic variety of well-known artists, including Heart‘s Ann Wilson, late Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Southern rockers Molly Hatchet, performing classic songs by the Fab Four will be released this Friday, August 6.

Legends Play The Beatles is a 12-track collection that’s available on CD and as a limited-edition LP pressed on either blue or yellow vinyl.

The album, which can be pre-ordered now, features Wilson’s rendition of “Across the Universe,” Bruce’s version “Eleanor Rigby” and Molly Hatchet performing “Back in the USSR.”

Other artists contributing tunes to the record include late Asia frontman John Wetton, ex-Deep Purple bassist/singer Glenn Hughes, folk legend Judy Collins, ’80s synth-pop artist Howard Jones and longtime Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, the latter of whom teams up with Mr. Mister‘s Richard Page for a cover of “Here Comes the Sun.”

Here’s the full track list of Legends Play The Beatles:

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