Today’s Music News: Prince crashes jazz show to play a Beatles cover
by Staff
December 03, 2014
Prince upgraded himself from guest to featured performer during the W Hollywood's jazz night on Sunday. As the house band played the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends," Prince picked up a guitar to rip a long solo. (Consequence of Sound)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr6_c4I_yfQ
Meanwhile, the Who's Roger Daltrey crashed a couple's wedding in Scotland, cruising up to the stage because "I heard the band and they're brilliant." The wedding band, The Milestone, didn't know how to play any Who songs but faked their way through "I Can't Explain" while Daltrey sang. (Consequence of Sound)
The music world is mourning Bobby Keys, a saxophonist who died today aged 70. Keys played with luminaries including three of the Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Dion, but he's best-known for his decades-long association with the Rolling Stones. Keys's playing helped shape the sound of Stones hits like "Tumbling Dice" and "Brown Sugar." (The Current)
What will happen to the Northeast Minneapolis site currently occupied by Nye's Polonaise? Just a day after news broke that the storied venue's owners plan to close the bar and restaurant in 2015, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reports that the brothers who own Nye's are actively considering plans to raze the site to build a high-rise apartment complex. (Local Current)
Madonna is the world's wealthiest recording artist; according to a new list from Wealth-X, she's worth $800 million. Trailing behind her is second-wealthiest artist Paul McCartney and, at number three, Dr. Dre. Remember Diddy? He's at number four. As Billboard notes, however, though Madonna's the world's richest performer, she's not the world's wealthiest person who makes music for a living: theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is worth $1.2 billion.
Every year since 2006, the Killers have released a holiday song often featuring a special guest, with proceeds going to fight AIDS. This year's song, "Joel, the Lump of Coal," was made with the help of Jimmy Kimmel. (Billboard)
John Fogerty announced that next year he'll release an autobiography and a career-spanning box set. The busy CCR frontman, who turns 70 in May, will also tour the U.S. with a show celebrating the music he made in 1969—and is also working on new tunes. (Billboard)
OkCupid founder—and data geek—Christian Rudder has a new book in which he shares some of the aggregate preferences of the dating site's users. Among the revelations: the band most disproportionately favored by white people (or, as Consequence of Sound more pointedly puts it, "the whitest band ever") are Belle and Sebastian.