We’re about to learn a whole lot more about Barbra Streisand. The 80-year-old icon is set to release her memoir, My Name is Barbra, on November 7.
According to the book’s publisher, Babs “tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career,” including growing up in Brooklyn, her early struggles, her breakout performance in Funny Girl and more. “The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming,” the publisher says.
My Name is Barbra will delve into her achievements as a singer, actor, director, producer, songwriter, philanthropist and more, and will touch on her friendships with big names like Marlon Brando and Madeline Albright, as well as her relationship with husband James Brolin.
Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Roger Waters have been on the outs for years, and based on a recent tweet by Gilmour’s wife, we won’t be seeing a reunion happening anytime soon. Polly Samson, who’s responsible for writing several post-Waters Floyd songs, took to social media to respond to a recent interview Waters gave in which he criticized Pink Floyd for releasing a Ukrainian protest song.
In an interview with the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, Waters discusses his take on Ukraine, Israel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He called it “really, really sad” that his former bandmates recorded the song “Hey Hey Rise Up” with Ukrainian musician Andrij Chlywnjuk, calling it “lacking in humanity.”
That article prompted Samson to respond, “Sadly @rogerwaters you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac. Enough of your nonsense.” Gilmour then re-tweeted the post, “writing Every word demonstrably true.”
Waters later responded to the tweet, writing, “Roger Waters is aware of the incendiary and wildly inaccurate comments made about him on Twitter by Polly Samson which he refutes entirely. He is currently taking advice as to his position.”
Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” hit number one on the U.S. singles chart, his first and only number one as a solo artist. It spent three weeks at the top of the chart and also topped the Adult Contemporary charts for two weeks.
The tune was his second single from Simon’s fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years, and featured background vocals by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson and Phoebe Snow.
“50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” went on to be certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies.
Bono will be in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night, but not for a concert. The U2 frontman is set to be a guest of first lady Jill Biden in her viewing box for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will join them in the box, as well.
Bono is being recognized for his work fighting HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty, especially the role he played in building public and bipartisan support for the President George W. Bush-era PEPFAR, or President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was championed by then-Sen. Biden.
Bono is one of many special guests who’ll be sitting in the box with the first lady and the second gentleman. Others include Row Vaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old unarmed Black man who was severely beaten by police officers during an alleged traffic stop in Memphis and later died; Paul Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband, who was violently attacked in their California home last year; and Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the shooter responsible for the mass shooting at the Monterey Park Lunar New Year celebrations.
Ahead of her Super Bowl halftime performance, Rihanna is making an appearance at Madame Tussauds New York — in wax.
The Fenty mogul has a new figure at the New York location of the famed wax museum. Located in the museum’s Glow Gala Room, the figure depicts Rihanna in her outfit from the 2018 Met Gala, which had a theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” Rihanna came dressed in a papal-inspired outfit: She wore a heavily embellished miter, along with a matching strapless mini dress and a long cape.
The figure also includes the accessories Rihanna wore that night — diamond-encrusted nails, rings and anklets — and it features her tattoos. The figure’s outfit includes LED lights, which really makes it light up the room. Each Madame Tussauds wax figure takes about six months to create.
Madame Tussauds Orlando will also be getting a new Rihanna figure later this year, wearing the look that she’s going to unveil at the Super Bowl.
“Rihanna is sure to make history with her upcoming live show this Sunday so the timing is perfect for us to reveal her new figure exclusively at Madame Tussauds New York where fans can admire and pose with the icon,” said a Madam Tussauds executive in a statement.
British actress Naomi Ackie embodied Whitney Houston in the biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, but how was she able to imitate the late singer’s voice and movements?
Speaking with People, Ackie explained the lengths she went through in order to become Whitney. “There was many different elements: How do I prepare myself vocally, singing-wise? The accent work took about six months to get really comfortable with it,” she recalled.
She continued, “And how do I prepare myself physically? In terms of movement, I worked with my amazing friend and my movement coach, Polly Bennett, and we kind of split it all up.”
Bennett previously worked with Austin Butler on Elvis, as well as Rami Malek on Bohemian Rhapsody, thebiopic about late Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
“Everyone has certain cadences. Everyone has a sort of inner rhythm. And if you study it and practice it enough, the hope is that it comes out really naturally,” she said.
In all, the actress hopes her performance would earn Whitney’s seal of approval — and bring empathy to those struggling with addiction.
“The thing about Whitney and people who are suffering from addiction is it’s a reminder that it’s an illness, that the person who is going through this is the victim of it … Her life was extraordinary, but the things she was going through were things we all go through,” she said.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is on digital now. It’ll be released on Blu-ray on February 28.
When it comes to the sin of helping to invent punk rock, Iggy Pop still ain’t got time to make no apology.
The highly influential StoogesRaw Power album turns 50 Wednesday. Released on February 7, 1973, Raw Power didn’t exactly set the charts on fire at first, but proved to be instrumental in pioneering the burgeoning punk scene.
Raw Power was the third Stooges album, following 1969’s self-titled debut and 1970’s Fun House, but was the first to be credited to Iggy & the Stooges. Along with Pop on lead vocals, the record featured guitarist James Williamson, and brothers Ron and Scott Asheton on bass and drums, respectively. It was co-produced and mixed by David Bowie.
Having built a reputation for wild stage antics, Iggy’s energy is felt throughout Raw Power, beginning with the album opener “Search and Destroy,” in which Pop memorably yelps, “Look out, honey, ’cause I’m using technology” and “I’m the world’s forgotten boy.”
By 1974, the Stooges had broken up, but their impact had been made. The sound and ferocity of Raw Power paved the way for the explosion of punk rock in the mid-’70s, and Iggy is now known as the Godfather of Punk.
Following the demise of the Stooges, Pop went solo, and memorably reunited with Bowie for the 1977 albums Lust for Life and The Idiot.
Eventually, Iggy reunited with the Asheton brothers in 2003 and they released a new album, The Weirdness, in 2007. Following Ron Asheton’s death in 2009, the Stooges were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Williamson rejoined for one final album, 2013’s Ready to Die. Scott Asheton died in 2014.
A remastered edition of Raw Power was released last week in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Hailie Jade Mathers; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Eminem‘s daughter Hailie Jade is getting married.
On Monday, the Just a Little Shady podcast host shared a carousel of pictures from her engagement to longtime boyfriend Evan McClintock. The first photo shows the happy couple popping a bottle of champagne, the second is a snapshot of McClintock down on one knee, and the third a close-up of the engagement ring.
“casual weekend recap… 2.4.23,” 27-year-old Hailie captioned the post. “I love you @evanmcclintock11.”
Hailie, whom Eminem shares with ex-wife Kim Scott, has reportedly been dating McClintock since 2016.
Offset is shutting down rumors that he and his fellow Migos member Quavo got into an altercation at the Grammys Sunday night.
Taking to Twitter Monday afternoon, the rapper wrote, “What tf look like fighting my brother yal n***** is crazy.”
The social media post comes after TMZ reported that the pair got into a physical fight just before Quavo, 31, took the stage for a tribute performance to the late Migos member Takeoff, who died November 1, 2022. Quavo reportedly blocked Offset from taking part in the tribute, which allegedly prompted the altercation. TMZ reports that Quavo initiated the squabble.
Quavo took the Grammys stage Sunday with Maverick City Music to perform his tribute song “Without You” during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of the show.
Darius Rucker hasn’t put out a full-length album since 2017’s When Was the Last Time. So what’s the holdup on the follow-up that’s been more than five years in the making?
“You know, [hit songwriter] Ross Copperman produced a bunch of tracks and now [longtime producer] Frank Rogers is finishing it up,” Darius reveals. “We’re doing some stuff, so it’s gonna be [coming out in] early ’23. I’m really excited for this record.”
Darius’ seventh album will be named after his beloved mother.
“We’re gonna name it Carolyn’s Boy, and it’s just a record that — it’s a personal record. It means a lot to me, and I think that’s one of the reasons I’m taking so much time with it is because I want the right songs to be on it,” he says.
So far, Darius has put out the new tracks “Same Beer Different Problem” and “Ol’ Church Hymn” with Chapel Hart.
