Garth Brooks’ December concert series at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena is expected to bring in $5 million for flood relief in Tennessee.
Brooks concert raises $5 million
NASHVILLE — Garth Brooks’ December concert series at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena is expected to bring in $5 million for flood relief in Tennessee.
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee on Wednesday announced the expected total take from the nine sold-out concerts. The non-profit already has received $4.35 million and the money is still coming in.
The proceeds will go to The River Fund, a charitable fund within the Community Foundation. The fund already has given out $1.4 million to Hands on Nashville, the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Community Resource Center.
Flood victims seeking help should call 211 to be directed to a case manager.
In a statement, Brooks said he was honoured to have been able to help.
The show must go on — or else
DETROIT — Kid Rock has penned an expletive-laden post on his website aimed to those critical of his decision to perform as scheduled in snowy Arkansas.
Some fans unwilling or unable to brave the conditions to get to the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., for the concert Wednesday night voiced their displeasure on Kid Rock’s website.
The Detroit musician fired back online, informing fans that if they purchased tickets to the show and couldn’t make it, “YOU WILL BE GETTING A REFUND, STRAIGHT OUT OF MY POCKET.”
Rock writes he’s “never ripped any of my fans off” and has never missed a show.
The posting also includes a profane response to those Rock says accused him of being “greedy” for deciding to go forward with the performance.
Online: Kid Rock: http://www.kidrock.com
Stanley issues A Mother’s Prayer
COEBURN, Va. — Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley is releasing a collection of hymns and spirituals.
Nashville’s Rebel Records says the album, called A Mother’s Prayer, will be released April 19.
Considered the foremost artist of Appalachian music, the 84-year-old Stanley will draw on stark ballads and the church music of his youth.
Some of the selections will be a cappella, while the Grammy-winning Clinch Mountain Boys will back him up on others.
Stanley is best known for his music in the Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2000. His song Oh, Death on the soundtrack earned him two Grammy awards.
He’s celebrating his 40th year with Rebel Records.
Hudson talks to Oprah
CHICAGO — Singer and actress Jennifer Hudson will talk about her recent weight loss and the murders of her mother, brother and nephew on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
The Chicago native will also sing during the episode set to air Thursday.
Hudson, a Grammy and Oscar winner, has been a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers.
In October 2008, the bodies of her mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found in the family’s home on Chicago’s South Side.
The body of her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found days later in a sport utility vehicle about 10 miles away. All three had been shot.
The estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia, is charged with first-degree murder in the killings. Hudson has repeatedly declined to talk publicly about the killings.
True Grit opens Berlin festival
BERLIN — The annual Berlin International Film Festival is opening with Joel and Ethan Coen’s multiple-Oscar-nominated Western, True Grit.
The remake of a John Wayne classic, starring Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld, screens out of competition Thursday.
That opens a varied 10-day program that includes Ralph Fiennes’ debut as a director, Coriolanus” and J.C. Chandor’s finance thriller Margin Call.
A six-member jury under actress Isabella Rossellini will award the festival’s top honour, the Golden Bear.
A seat was left symbolically empty Thursday for the jury’s official seventh member — Iranian director Jafar Panahi, jailed in his homeland.
Rossellini says inviting Panahi was an “attempt to take a very strong position for freedom of speech and freedom of artists.”
High expectations for Lady Gaga
NEW YORK — It’s only 2011 but Lady Gaga wants her next album Born This Way to be the best of the decade.
The performer tells the March issue of Vogue her fans deserve “nothing less” than that. She also doesn’t want to record “something trendy.”
The album’s first single of the same name is described as a gay-pride anthem, which the singer tells the magazine she wrote in 10 minutes.
Earlier this week, Lady Gaga wrote on Twitter the song would debut on U.S. radio on Friday.
Lady Gaga is nominated for six awards at Sunday’s Grammy Awards including album of the year.
The album Born This Way will hit stores in May.
The March issue of Vogue goes on sale Feb. 22.
Online: http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/lady-gaga-our-lady-of-pop
Stars come out for BookExpo
NEW YORK — The stars will be out at this year’s BookExpo America.
Event organizers announced Thursday that Diane Keaton and Julianne Moore will be among the speakers at the publishing industry’s annual national convention. Film critic Roger Ebert is also a featured guest.
Other attendees include Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides and Sookie Stackhouse author Charlaine Harris. BookExpo will be held in New York from May 24-26.
Havok joins American Idiot
NEW YORK — Billie Joe Armstrong will hand over his role in American Idiot to another rocker — Davey Havok, lead singer of AFI.
Havok joins the cast of the Broadway musical for a two-week engagement as the evil St. Jimmy on March 1. Armstrong’s 50-show stand as the character ends Feb. 27. AFI toured with Green Day this summer.
Producers also announced Wednesday that former American Idol contestant Justin Guarini will join the show starting March 1. Guarini was last seen on Broadway in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
The high-octane show at The St. James Theatre is based on Green Day music and follows three working-class characters as they wrestle with modern life. One joins the Army, one becomes a father and one descends into a drug-fueled life.
