Luther Vandross makes 1st appearance since illness on Oprah
As Luther Vandross goes through the healing process of recovering from having a stroke a year ago, he made his first publc appearance since the incident last week and vows to his fans that he plans to continue singing ''Til I'm 80''.
Luther appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and spoke candidly about the issues of putting himself at risk and the strides he's made as he recovers to health stating in one instant that "I was very depressed".
The interview itself was held at the rehabilitation centre where he is recovering and viewers learned the accounts about his days spent in intensive physical and vocal therapy sessions. ''It was for him to move around, his therapy sessions often left him exhausted" the host said.
The stroke is reported to be linked to his Diabetes, an illness that runs in his family and took the lives of his father, brother and sister. He had been in denial about his diabetes for years and often blames himself for ignoring the illness saying ''It was something I did and I wish I hadn't''. "It's a very nifty, crafty disease. It seems like a soft disease at first. It's anything but. It's anything except that. What it does is it incapacitates you."
He is doing as wella as can be expected and although he was too ill to attend, at this years Grammys, he won 4 awards including Song of the Year for ''Dance With My Father'' from the album of the same name.
Despite being too ill to attend, he cleaned up with four awards including best male R&B vocal performance and best R&B album.
- - Source: REact.com
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'Punked' prank on the Black Eyed Peas backfires
There is always a 1st time - right. According to the radio station 102.7 Kiiss FM in Los Angeles, prankster Ashton Kutcher tried to pull off one of his famous cons on hit makers The Black Eyed Peas but the affair turned ugly when the group's entourage started fighting with the fake police in a brothel.
Kutcher was filming the practical joke for his hit show "Punk'd", but he had no idea his victims would fight back. Black Eyed Peas founder Will.I.Am was in on the prank, but even he was amazed by his band mates' actions.
An eyewitness states, "Will.I.Am was an accomplice in the prank, but the rest of the band and their entourage became suspicious. When one of the cops acted like he was going to slap the cuffs on Will.I.Am, one of his friends punched the cop in the jaw."
The Punk'd crew hurriedly to the scene of the crime (so to speak) to try to explain the bust was a prank, but tensions were too high and no one was laughing. It's not known whether the violent fight will appear on the show.
- - Source: hhso.com
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Teena Marie's 'La Doña' set to hit stores tomorrow
Most might call it a come back for Lady T but if you're a fan of hers (which I am) and have been following her music then you will know it's been anything but a comeback for her.
As Teena (who's given name is Mary Christine Brockert) gears to release her 1st album of new material called La Doña in almost 10 years, she has been keeping herself busy since her last album 1994's 'Passion Play' dropped by touring and always writing material. During that time there was rumors of a new album called 'Black Rain' that was supposed to surface but never did.
But if you regularly visit her website throughout the last few years then you would know that La Doña was originally in fact called 'Black Rain'. The song was kept on the album but as Teena explains the title had to change. “Black Rain is actually a double entendre, on the surface, that song is reflections on a love affair that had me feeling like not only was it raining outside, but inside my house as well. But I also flip it to speak on how Black music has rained on my life and made me who I am…my thoughts on what Black music has given me and what I’ve given back. In one line I sing, ‘I’ve been ordained.’ Within the last year, the rain suddenly stopped….”Well my friends she is back with a vengence and La Doña will be on your record shelves tomorrow so I do urge you to get a copy of her set as it is immaculate from start to finish and doean't disappoint - GET YOURS
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- Source:billboard.com
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Record labels to pay out $50 million in past royalties
It's a major win for superstar artists such as David Bowie, Harry Belafonte, Dave Matthews, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Gloria Estefan to name a few as well as the countless thousands of artists in the industry. They all will receive a portion of a $50 million settlement in unclaimed recording and publishing royalties between the U.S. music business and the New York State Attorney General's office.
Under the agreement, an additional $25 million is expected to be distributed (the labels have already disbursed more than $25 million to the artists). The settlement is the result of a two-year investigation by State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer who found many artists and writers were not being paid their royalties. stating that the record companies had failed to maintain contact with the artists or their estates and had stopped making the required payments. He added that the problem was primarily one of not maintaining accurate contact information, and did not involve disagreement over the terms of recording contracts or the amount of royalty payments.
Under terms of the deal, the major labels have agreed to list the names of artists and songwriters who are owed royalty payments on company Web sites and in music-industry publications explaining procedures for claiming the royalties.
The companies will also work with artist groups to locate performers who have not received or collected royalties, share artist contact information with other labels and hold regular meetings between the heads of the labels' royalty accounting and legal departments to review the status of royalty account.