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New stage in Eddie and Alex Van Halen’s hometown to be named after Van Halen

August 27, 2022 by WDNY Radio

A performance stage at a new park in Pasadena, California, the city where Alex Van Halen and the late Eddie Van Halen grew up, will be named after the brothers’ famous band at a dedication ceremony Saturday, September 10.

According to Pasadena Now, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Playhouse Village Park and Van Halen Stage will be held at 9 a.m. PT, followed by a two-hour community celebration.

The Pasadena City Council voted to name the stage after Van Halen following a citywide survey in 2021.

The Van Halen family moved to Pasadena from the Netherlands in 1962, and the siblings formed their famous namesake band in the city in 1972. Eddie died in October 2020 from complications of cancer. He was 65.

Eddie Van Halen Park was the most popular name considered for the park, but the City Council eventually decided that Playhouse District Village Park would be more appropriate. The performance stage was then set to be named Eddie Van Halen Stage, but the Van Halen family requested that the area be named for the whole band rather than just for the late guitarist. The plans then were amended to honor the family’s wishes.

The park, which sits on 1.04 acres of land, also features a children’s play area and a dog run.

Music notes: Michael Jackson, Ava Max and more

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Michael Jackson as Morpheus? On a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, author Neil Gaiman revealed the King of Pop wanted to play the main character in an early adaptation of The Sandman. That version never came to pass, and the role ultimately went to Tom Sturridge in Netflix’s current adaptation of the graphic novels.

Ava Max had a Coyote Ugly moment with none other than LeAnn Rimes. In a couple of TikTok videos posted Friday, Ava and LeAnn dance around to LeAnn’s hit “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” from the 2000 film, as well as Ava’s upcoming new song, “Million Dollar Baby,” which samples the track. “my Coyote dream came true!!” Ava captioned one of the vids.

After Britney Spears and Elton John released their new collab “Hold Me Closer” on Friday, Britney’s husband, Sam Asghari, shared his pride on Instagram. He posted a video that showed the song blasting in his car speakers and captioned it, “Proud husband moment! I will be listening to this all night!”

Britney posted her own reaction to the song’s instant success on the streaming charts, tweeting a video of herself in the bathtub. “Hello, Sir Elton John, we are, like, number one in 40 countries,” she says in the clip. “Holy s***! I’m in the tub right now and I’m about to have the best day ever. I hope you’re well.”

Music notes: Britney Spears, Ava Max and more

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

After Britney Spears and Elton John released their new collab, “Hold Me Closer,” on Friday, Britney’s husband, Sam Asghari, shared his pride on Instagram. He posted a video that showed the song blasting in his car speakers and captioned it, “Proud husband moment! I will be listening to this all night!”

Dinah Jane posted a video of herself reacting to a viral TikTok video slamming Fifth Harmony’s style. The singer watched as TikTok user Olivia Layne absolutely roasted the group’s early red carpet looks. At one point Dinah hides under her hoodie in embarrassment, but at other points nods in agreement with the style assessment. “ok that hurt w the throwback, but very much valid,” she captioned her reaction vid.

Final episode of ‘My Life as a Rolling Stone’ docuseries, focusing on Charlie Watts, premieres Sunday

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The fourth and final episode of the new Rolling Stones docuseries My Life as a Rolling Stone premieres on EPIX this Sunday, August 28.

The new installment focuses specifically on Charlie Watts, and features archival interviews with the late Stones drummer — who died last year at age 80 — as well as new commentary from his Stones bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.

The episode looks at how Watts’ low-key and humble persona helped counterbalance some of the group’s more volatile personalities, while his swinging backbeat helped keep the band grooving for six decades.

A preview clip from the episode features audio of Watts sharing how he felt about audiences’ over-the-top reaction to The Stones when they first achieved fame.

“I loved it. As far as the excitement and the crowd, it was fantastic,” Charlie said. “And, you know, when you see a balcony in one of these beautiful old theaters in the north of England bouncing up and down, it’s incredible.”

Watts also noted that during the mania that followed their initial success, the band never got to play more than a few songs before a show would be halted.

“[T]he curtains would open, the whole place would go mad, and within about three songs, they’d break the whole thing up and you’d have to get off,” he recalled. “Apart from going in studios, we didn’t play a great deal, ’cause we actually never got through a set.”

Charlie added that he could’ve done without the post-show attention he got from fans.

“[W]hen the music stopped, I wished I could have turned it off,” he admitted. “I hated it. I hated being chased by girls and all that.”

My Life as a Rolling Stone: Charlie Watts airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

Keanu Reeves gives newlyweds quite the wedding present by checking out their reception

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Keanu Reeves made a U.K. couple’s wedding day even more special when he showed up at their reception.

The famously unaffected superstar was in the bar of a venue called Fawsley Hall in Northamptonshire when new groom James Roadnight spotted him and invited him to their reception there, he tells Newsweek.

Bride Nikki tells the magazine, “He was very friendly and said he would later on. We didn’t know if he would or not but it was cool that my husband had spoken to him!”

However, an hour later, a hotel worker told the bride a “very special guest” would like a word with her outside the festivities. To their shock, it was John Wick himself.

Nikki recalled, “It was all very exciting and I went to say hi and introduce myself, and I offered him a drink, but he declined that and said he’d just had a long flight so wouldn’t stay long, but he was so kind and friendly and congratulated us on our wedding.”

Keanu even posed with the couple and their wedding guests.

“My mum, Jo, took photos and shouted for everyone to yell ‘Speed‘ as she took the photo,” Nikki said, referring to Keanu’s 1994 hit.

Netflix’s workplace comedy ‘Blockbuster’ debuting November 3

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Netflix has announced that a titular workplace comedy set in the country’s sole surviving Blockbuster store will debut on November 3.

WandaVision co-star Randall Park stars in the sitcom, along with Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Melissa Fumero; Park plays Timmy, “an analog dreamer living in a 5G world,” who, along with his co-worker and longtime crush Eliza (Fumero), fights to stay relevant.

“The only way to succeed is to remind their community that they provide something big corporations can’t: human connection,” Netflix teases.

The 10-episode Blockbuster series also stars J.B. Smoove from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Endlings star Kamaia Fairburn and In The Heights‘ Olga Merediz.

For the record, the last remaining Blockbuster is still operating in Bend, Oregon — and was itself the subject of a Netflix documentary.

‘Flash’ forward? Embattled Ezra Miller reportedly took a meeting with Warner Bros. to discuss the movie’s future

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

After the actor’s repeated run-ins with the law, including arrests for harassment, accusations of assault, a burglary charge and more, it’s understandable Warner Bros. Discovery is nervous about its $250 million investment in the Ezra Miller-headlined The Flash.

Weeks after Batgirl, a much more moderately budgeted film by comparison, was shelved by the studio, The Hollywood Reporter notes Miller appeared at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to take a meeting with top execs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy regarding the project’s future.

Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, recently said they were now seeking treatment for “complex mental health issues,” and wanted “to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with [their] past behavior.”

According to the trade, however, the mea culpa came after Miller learned the execs were willing to scrap the big-budget superhero film entirely.

A source told THR that Miller wasn’t particularly upset at the negative headlines they’d generated, but was willing to play ball for the sake of the Scarlet Speedster. “They care about The Flash,” the source said of Miller. “It’s one of their favorite characters to play.”

Although no parties commented officially on the sit-down, Miller was said to be “apologetic” and willing to do whatever it took to make sure the movie meets its June 23, 2023, release date.

Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Sheryl Crow to perform at NYC benefit in Central Park

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Nile Rodgers & CHIC and Sheryl Crow will both perform at a special benefit event in New York City for City Parks Foundation. The event will be held September 29 at the SummerStage venue in Central Park.

City Parks Foundation presents and organizes a variety of free arts and cultural programs in New York City parks, including the annual series of SummerStage concerts held in Central Park. The organization also encourages residents to use and care for their local public parks and green spaces.

The benefit event will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET with a cocktail reception and dinner, followed by an awards presentation. The evening will end with a concert featuring the aforementioned Rodgers & CHIC and Crow, as well as yet-to-be-named special guests.

Tickets and tables for the event are available now. For more info, visit CityParksFoundation.org.

Take a look at me now: Judge dismisses $20 million lawsuit Phil Collins’ ex-wife brought against him

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Take a look at me now: Judge dismisses million lawsuit Phil Collins’ ex-wife brought against him

Looks like the legal battle between Phil Collins and his third wife, Orianne Cevey, is over for now: Page Six reports that a judge has dismissed Orianne’s $20 million lawsuit against the superstar singer.

On Friday morning, Judge Alan Fine tossed the case, noting that Orianne had violated court orders 10 different times, and writing, “I’m done with this…I feel comfortable that enough is enough.”

Orianne, the mother of Phil’s two youngest children, was suing him for half the proceeds from the sale of his Miami mansion, which he sold last year for $40 million. She claimed that he’d promised to split the proceeds if she moved back in with him.

But Phil’s lawyer told Page Six, “Before she filed this case, Orianne…threatened to make disparaging remarks about Phil Collins unless he caved in to her demands for 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale.”

The lawyer noted, “Phil Collins has steadfastly maintained that Orianne’s lawsuit claiming an interest in his home was baseless because he never made [such] an agreement with her.”

Phil and Orianne were married from 1999 to 2007. She was legally married to another man from 2008 to 2017, but reunited with Phil in 2015 because, she claimed, he said he’d give her half the proceeds from the house if she moved back in with him — which he denied.

But then in 2020, while she was still living with Phil, she secretly married another man she’d selected from a male escort site, court papers said. Phil sued to eject the couple from the mansion so he could sell it.

‘Seinfeld’ star John O’Hurley on his new tech venture and how he helped buy the J. Peterman Company IRL

August 26, 2022 by WDNY Radio

With online fraud a multibillion-dollar threat to our connected world, a new company says it has what it takes to keep crooks from stealing your identity.

The Q5id app uses a biometric verification process that takes minutes to perform, but leads to a lifetime of protection, according to its new partner, John O’Hurley.

If the name sounds familiar, he’s the Seinfeld and Dancing with the Stars veteran who, as it turns out, really knows his stuff when it comes to online security.

“Now nobody has a better sense of identity theft than I do because I took J. Peterman‘s identity and I’m not giving it back,” he joked to ABC Audio.

“That being said, this company Q5id has, I believe, the best idea — and it’s creating a personal ID for you that you control.”

He explains you provide Q5id with a palm print, your government-issued ID, a voice sample and a retinal scan, “creating a depth of information that is absolutely irreplaceable.”

“The failure rate in this technology is one in 933 billion. So it is absolutely perfect,” he says.

Hurley later explained how his most famous role blurred the line between fantasy and reality. After Seinfeld ended, the actual J. Peterman Company expanded too rapidly and hit the skids, financially.

“They went into Chapter 11,” O’Hurley explains.

“And about six months later, I got a call from John Peterman. He said, ‘I have some investors and I’d like you to come on board with me.’ … and so I did. And so I was on the board and also an owner of the company, as well.”

He says with a laugh, “I liked the role so much I bought the company.”

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