Joni Mitchell is set to receive yet another prestigious honor. The singer will be honored with the 2023 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, handed out by the Library of Congress.
“This is a very prestigious award,” Mitchell said in statement. “Thank you for honoring me.”
Mitchell will be feted with a tribute concert taking place March 1 in Washington, D.C., which will air on PBS March 31 at 9 p.m. So far no artists have been announced for the tribute.
The new honor comes about a year after Mitchell was celebrated as the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Person of the Year.
The Gershwin Prize has been handed out since 2007, with Paul Simon the first honoree. Last year Lionel Richie received the award, with Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Carole King and Stevie Wonder among the previous honorees.
Jack White has shared a tribute to late guitar icon Jeff Beck, who died Tuesday at age 78.
In an Instagram post, the White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather rocker writes, “Jeff Beck, guitar innovator extraordinaire has moved to the next realm.”
“He was amazingly kind and instructional to me over the years,” White continues. “Many shows that I’ve played began moments after listening to his song ‘Led Boots’ backstage.”
White’s post also includes a video of him and Meg White performing with Beck during a 2002 White Stripes show in London, during which they performed a set of songs by Beck’s legendary group The Yardbirds.
“In our rehearsals he plugged straight into an amp, no effects pedals,” White recalls. “He was changing the sound of the guitar and doing things people didn’t know were possible from his earliest days on stage.”
Beck’s passing has been mourned by many of the biggest names in rock. Those who’ve also paid tribute include Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.
Russell Dickerson can’t contain his excitement about California’s popular In-N-Out burger chain finally making its way to Nashville.
“Y’all, huge announcement! As you probably already have seen, In-N-Out’s coming to Nashville. I will be playing the opening of the In-N-Out in Nashville,” he posted on his socials.
There might be one little hiccup with Russell’s plan, however.
“I’ve not been invited to do so,” he added, “but I will be there, guitar in hand, at the opening of these In-N-Outs. Yo!”
Earlier this week, the iconic burgers, fries and shakes joint announced it will be opening a corporate hub south of Nashville, with plans to open its first couple Music City locations by 2026. So far, In-N-Out only extends as far east as Texas.
Stay tuned to see if Russell can make his dream gig official.
FX shows about J Dilla, and mother and son duo Afeni and TupacShakur are coming in the second quarter of the year. On Thursday the network announced premiere dates for The New York Times Presents: “The Legacy of J Dilla” and Dear Mama; the former will air on April 7, with the latter premiering weeks later.
Produced and directed by Christopher Frierson and Esther Dere, The Legacy of J Dilla is a documentary feature about the musician, producer and visionary who worked with the likes Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, D’Angelo and A Tribe Called Quest before he passed away due to cardiac arrest in 2006. “It explores the complications that have arisen as so many people try to control his legacy,” according to a press release.
Dear Mama, named after the 1995 hit Tupac dedicated to his mom, Afeni, is a five-part docuseries that explores the lives and legacies of both individuals. It’s an audio and visual experience that paints their individual stories as “one definitive portrait of a global superstar and the woman who shaped him.”
The J Dilla documentary premieres April 7 at 10 p.m. ET on FX and Hulu. Dear Mama will premiere with two episodes April 21 at 10 p.m. ET, with new episodes airing every week. It airs on FX and streams the following day on Hulu.
Idina Menzel got her start on Broadway, and the singer is making her grand return to the stage in the new musical Redwood.
Varietyreports Menzel is heading to La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, to debut the new production, which she has reportedly been working on for the past 20 years.
The musical was initially inspired by environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill, a prominent figure in the late ’90s who lobbied against loggers cutting down redwood trees. Menzel will star as a woman named Jesse, presumably inspired by Hill.
The singer adds the musical’s plot now includes experiences she and director Tina Landau — who is behind Broadway’s The SpongeBob Musical — have had since they first began working on the production.
“I subscribe to this feeling very often in my life of wanting to just escape,” Menzel said. “I’m more of a recluse than people think I am … I definitely grapple with that a lot in my life, just like, ‘Can I just put it all down and leave and do something different?'”
She said her partnership with Landau challenged her to explore elements that are both new and intimidating to her. “It’s opening my vernacular and forcing me to find new colors and places in my voice that I think are just fun,” she said of the forthcoming musical, “and have different emotional connections for me to the character and hopefully open up different chakras, if you will, for other people when they’re listening.”
While a premiere date for Redwood has not been announced, the musical will reportedly take its bow as the production closing out La Jolla’s 2023-24 season.
While some people watch the Super Bowl for the football, others tune in purely for the commercials. With the big game weeks away, Doritos amped up the excitement by releasing a teaser of their ad, which features Jack Harlow.
The commercial starts with the rapper being swarmed by fans and paparazzi as he escapes into his car. He then cracks open a bag of Doritos and is about to dive in when a pap screams at him, “Is it true about the love triangle?”
Jack shrugs before letting out a noncommittal “maybe,” then shoves a chip in his mouth.
The clip ends with another paparazzi mishearing Harlow and screaming, “Baby? You’re having a baby?!”
Fans can watch the “Love Triangle” commercial in full when it airs during the Super Bowl on February 12. The big game, held this year at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, starts airing at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Ringo Starr is ready to get back on the stage. The Beatles drummer just announced some spring 2023 dates with his All-Starr Band, made up of Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette.
“It’s a new year and here are some new tour dates,” Ringo shares. “I love playing with the All Starrs and can’t wait to be back out on the road again with this band. I send Peace and Love to you all and we hope to see you out there.”
The tour kicks off May 19 in Temecula, California, and includes a three-night stand at The Venetian Theatre inside The Venetian Resort Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 26 and 27. It also includes a return to Los Angeles’ Greek Theater on June 15, with dates confirmed through June 17 in San Jose, California.
Tickets for the Vegas shows go on sale to the general public Thursday, January 19, at 10 a.m. PT. Click here for more ticket info.
The final piece of track is now in place for Dollywood’s newest roller coaster.
Big Bear Mountain sits on 6 acres at Dolly Parton‘s East Tennessee theme park. When finished, it will be Dollywood’s longest coaster, measuring nearly 4,000 feet. It’ll also be the first one to have on-board audio, as well as “three separate launches, multiple airtime hills, high-speed carousel turns, and tunnels, including a pass behind a waterfall.”
It’s set to launch this spring. You can check out video, maps and renderings of Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood.com.
Black Stone Cherry has premiered a new single called “Out of Pocket.”
“‘Out of Pocket’ is a song born out of that exact feeling,” says frontman Chris Robertson. “The song was what I personally, and I think a lot of us, felt over these very trying last couple of years. Facing your demons, knowing that you have to come out the other side stronger than before.”
“Out of Pocket” is the first new song from Black Stone Cherry to follow their 2020 album, The Human Condition, and their first with new bassist Steve Jewell, who joined the band following the departure of founding member Jon Lawhon in 2021.
Black Stone Cherry was recently confirmed to play at this year’s Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple festivals.
(NEW YORK) — The New York City nurses’ strike finally ended after the hospitals and the employees reached a tentative agreement early Thursday morning.
More than 7,000 nurses at Montefiore Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital — two of the city’s largest hospitals — walked off the job for three days as they argued for better pay, safer staffing and better working conditions.
The hospitals and the New York State Nurses Association, which represents the nurses, said the tentative deal meant nurses would be returning to work.
“This is a historic victory for New York City nurses and for nurses across the country,” Nancy Hagans, NYSNA president, said in a statement. “Through our unity and by putting it all on the line, we won enforceable safe staffing ratios at both Montefiore and Mount Sinai where nurses went on strike for patient care.”
The statement continued, “Today, we can return to work with our heads held high, knowing that our victory means safer care for our patients and more sustainable jobs for our profession.”
Although the striking nurses have argued for fair compensation, one of their biggest grievances is the nurse-to-patient ratio, which measures how many patients a nurse is responsible for, at a hospital, arguing that their contract did not address these ratios.
Under the agreement at Montefiore, new safe staffing ratios will be implemented in the emergency department. This will come with new staffing language and financial penalties if safe staffing levels are not met in all units.
Also included are a 19.1% compounded wage increase, a commitment to creating 170 new nursing positions and lifetime health coverage for eligible retired nurses.
Montefiore will also develop nurse student partnerships to recruit local Bronx nurses so they can stay as union nurses at the hospital.
“We came to these bargaining sessions with great respect for our nurses and with proposals that reflect their priorities in terms of wages, benefits, safety, and staffing,” Dr. Philip Ozuah, president and CEO of Montefiore Medicine, said in a statement. “We are pleased to offer a 19% wage increase, benefits that match or exceed those of our peer institutions, more than 170 new nursing positions and a generous plan to address recruitment and retention.”
Meanwhile, Mount Sinai did not reveal what was in the agreement reached between hospital administrators and nurses, saying in a short statement “our proposed agreement is similar to those between NYSNA and eight other New York City hospitals. It is fair and responsible, and it puts patients first.”
Mount Sinai previously told ABC News that it had also offered a 19% compounded wage increase to nurses during negotiations.
However, the nurses said Mount Sinai agreed to safe nurse-to-patient ratios that will be firmly enforced so there will be enough nurses to care for patients, and that the ratios will take effect immediately.
Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the striking nurses outside Mount Sinai Thursday morning and commended them for reaching a deal so they could return to work.
“So these individuals [who] are angels here on Earth can get back to saving lives, and helping the most vulnerable people in our society, those who enter these doors sick,” she said. “The city can take a sigh of relief, as well as continue to applaud and champion the men and women who were walking in the doors behind us this morning.”
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
