Music

Annie Lennox is set to perform at the second annual awards ceremony for The Earthshot Prize, the global environmental prize founded by Prince William. The event, which Prince William and wife Kate Middleton will attend, is happening Friday at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston. 

“The urgent need to protect and restore our Earth’s damaged environmental systems is essential for future survival,” Lennox shares. “The objective of The Earthshot Prize is powerful in terms of building a ‘Waste-Free World’ and ‘Reviving Our Oceans.’ I’m therefore honured to lend my voice in support of this ambitious mission.”

In addition to Lennox, Billie Eilish and brother Finneas are also set to perform, along with Chloe x Halle and Ellie Goulding. Actor Daniel Dae Kim and presenter Clara Amfo will co-host the ceremony, which will feature appearances by Rami Malek, Catherine O’Hara, and Shailene Woodley, along with Sir Richard Attenborough. Prince William is also expected to speak at the end of the ceremony.

Winners will be announced at the ceremony, with Earthshot honoring those who find solutions to help reach the organization’s five goals: protect and restore nature; clean our air; revive our oceans; build a waste-free world and fix our climate.

The public will get a chance to see the event when it streams December 5 on PBS.org at 2 p.m. ET, and on the PBS app at 8 p.m ET. It will also air on PBS December 14 at 8 p.m. ET.

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In 1973, Leonard Cohen visited the frontlines of the Yom Kippur war in Israel and performed a series of concerts for soldiers. Now, that trip is being turned into a TV series. Variety reports journalist Matti Friedman’s 2022 book about the trip, Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai, is being made into a limited TV series by Keshet International and Sixty-Six Media, which is set to film in Israel in 2024.

“Moving around the front with a guitar and a pick-up team of local musicians, Cohen dived headlong into a global crisis and met hundreds of fighting men and women at the worst moment of their lives,” reads a description of the series. “Cohen’s audience knew his songs might be the last thing they heard, and those who survived never forgot the experience,” the description continues, adding, “The war tour was an electric cultural moment, one that still echoes today, – but a moment that only few knew about, until now.”

The title of the book and series comes from the track “Who By Fire,” which appeared on Cohen’s fourth studio album, 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony, released after the tour. It is inspired by a Yom Kippur prayer.

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[Note Language] While a lot of artists hope to one day be big enough to be asked to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, John Mellencamp already is, but he isn’t interested. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer appeared on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with his daughter Teddi Mellencamp, and when asked if he’d been offered the prestigious gig, he revealed that he had but said no. “I don’t like being on television,” he shared, adding he was only on WWHL because he loves his daughter.

Apparently, Mellencamp doesn’t only have an aversion to the Super Bowl; he doesn’t really like performing altogether. When asked what his favorite song to perform live was, he noted, “I don’t like really singing any of them.” He continued, “live performance for me is a job ‘cause they pay me for leaving home, not for going on stage,” sharing, “I owe it to the audience because they pull me through those songs.”

Mellencamp also talked about his breakthrough album American Fool. He revealed the “record company hated it” after hearing “Hurts So Good,” “Jack and Diane” and “Hand to Hold on To.” He said they wanted him to be the next Neil Diamond, adding he basically just told them “F*** you.”

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A new video for the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers classic “American Girl” has just been released. The live acoustic version of the song comes from the newly released Live at the Fillmore, (1997) box set.

According to a post on the Petty Instagram account, the black and white clip “realizes Tom’s stated vision of the ‘modern’ American Girl being ‘any kind of woman.’” It also includes a quick cameo from the singer’s granddaughter Everly.

Petty’s daughter Adria Petty directed the video and notes, “In 2017 Tom changed his tour visuals to reflect a wide range of women,” adding, “we are excited to carry on his wishes.” 

Speaking of “American Girl,” Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench performed a stripped down version of the classic song for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The clip was shot at the band’s recording and rehearsal space, with Tench on piano and singing, backed by Campbell on guitar.

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There is a very familiar album in the Billboard 200 Album chart this week. Thanks to the 40th anniversary celebration of Michael Jackson’s classic album Thriller, the album has returned to the top 10. 

The 40th anniversary edition of the record moved 37,000 equivalent album units to leap from #115 to #7 on the chart, with that number consisting of 27,500 in traditional album sales, an increase of 820% from the previous week.

The last time Thriller was in the top 10 was the week of June 30, 1984. In total, it has spent 37 nonconsecutive weeks at #1, which holds the record for the most weeks of any artist. Only the soundtrack to West Side Story has more weeks on top, 54.

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Just days after Simon & Schuster agreed to refund Bob Dylan fans who thought they were buying a personally signed copy of his recent book, only to find out it was signed using auto-pen, the rock star is apologizing for misleading fans.

“To my fans and followers, I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversy about signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited edition of ‘Philosophy Of Modern Song,’” he shares on Facebook. “I’ve hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there’s never been a problem.” 

He then explained that in 2019 he developed vertigo that lasted through the pandemic, which made it “impossible to sign anything.” He adds, “With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.” 

Finally he notes, “Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that. With my deepest regrets, Bob Dylan.”

Simon & Schuster has already agreed to refund the $600 fans shelled out for the auto-penned signed books, but it turns out the controversy now extends to more than just the books. Castle Galleries, a UK gallery that sold what was supposed to be “hand-signed” prints of Dylan’s paintings, announced they are giving purchasers refunds. The paintings, “The Retrospectum Collection” and “Sunset, Monument Valley,” were also machine-signed, and while the purchasers can keep the paintings, if they send back the certificates of authenticity, they’ll get refunds, along with a new certificate that declares they were auto-signed.

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