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Natalie Cole Hospitalized, Postpones Tour

Posted by Great Articles under Great music news

Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie
Cole has been hospitalized in New York after suffering a
setback in her battle against Hepatitis C, her spokeswoman said
on Friday.

Cole, the 58-year-old daughter of legendary singer Nat King
Cole, has canceled her tour dates for October but is expected
to make a full recovery, the spokeswoman told Reuters. Cole’s
unexpected hospitalization was first reported by Entertainment
Tonight.

“She has had a setback and is in the hospital in New York.
We expect her to make a full recovery.

She will be in the
hospital a few more days and then will be sent home for bed
rest,” the spokeswoman, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

She said Cole had postponed all her concert dates and other
appearances scheduled for October.

Cole’s manager declined to discuss her condition.

Cole announced in July she had been diagnosed with
Hepatitis C and that she probably contracted the liver disease
from drug use more than 30 years ago.

Her doctors said at the time she was responding well to
treatment, including chemotherapy, but was suffering
“significant side effects,” including fatigue, muscle aches and
dehydration.

The singer, whose father died of lung cancer when she was
15, documented her addiction to cocaine, heroin and alcohol in
her 2000 autobiography “Angel On My Shoulder.” She overcame her
addictions after a lengthy stay in rehab in the early 1980s.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease that is
often without symptoms and can cause inflammation of the liver,
and in extreme cases, liver cancer. It is usually contracted
through transfusions of unscreened blood, or by injecting or
inhaling drugs.

Natalie Cole has won eight Grammys in a 30-year career
singing jazz, pop and R&B and releasing hit albums such as
“Everlasting” and “Unforgettable … With Love,” which featured
her singing a duet with her late father via electronic
technology.

Reuters

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Singer Natalie Cole in Hep C setback

Posted by Great Articles under Great music news

Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie Cole has been hospitalised in New York after suffering a setback in her battle against Hepatitis C, her spokeswoman said.

Cole, the 58-year-old daughter of legendary singer Nat King Cole, has canceled her tour dates for October but is expected to make a full recovery, the spokeswoman confirmed.

Cole’s unexpected hospitalisation was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

“She has had a setback and is in the hospital in New York. We expect her to make a full recovery. She will be in the hospital a few more days and then will be sent home for bed rest,” the spokeswoman, who declined to be named, said.

She said Cole had postponed all her concert dates and other appearances scheduled for October.

Cole’s manager declined to discuss her condition.

Cole announced in July she had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C and that she probably contracted the liver disease from drug use more than 30 years ago.

Her doctors said at the time she was responding well to treatment, including chemotherapy, but was suffering “significant side effects,” including fatigue, muscle aches and dehydration.

The singer, whose father died of lung cancer when she was 15, documented her addiction to cocaine, heroin and alcohol in her 2000 autobiography Angel On My Shoulder.

She overcame her addictions after a lengthy stay in rehab in the early 1980s.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease that is often without symptoms and can cause inflammation of the liver, and in extreme cases, liver cancer. It is usually contracted through transfusions of unscreened blood, or by injecting or inhaling drugs.

Natalie Cole has won eight Grammys in a 30-year career singing jazz, pop and R&B and releasing hit albums such as Everlasting and Unforgettable … With Love, which featured her singing a duet with her late father via electronic technology.

Clay Aiken - Aiken Feared For Newborn Son

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Singer CLAY AIKEN realised the difficulties of fatherhood when his son became sick just weeks after his birth.
The American Idol star and the baby’s mother - Aiken’s friend and record producer Jaymes Foster - feared for their son Parker’s health when he was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, a condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract, in August (08).
And Aiken - who conceived Parker via in vitro fertilisation - quickly realised he had to start acting like a father.
He tells People.com, “He had been gassy for weeks and then he started throwing up.
“Jaymes and I were trying to be calm, rational parents, so we didn’t call the doctors too much, but it just got to a point where he was vomiting everything. He was starting to get dehydrated.
“I was a little worried, like ‘I don’t think they’re going to let me in the hospital at two or three in the morning’. Then I thought, ‘Wait a second, I’m the father! Of course they’ll let me in’.
“It was the first moment when I thought, ‘I’m actually this child’s father!’
“I was like, wait a second, this is my responsibility, I need to take care of this child, and he can’t ask questions for himself. It was a reality check, like this is the real deal.”
Aiken says Parker is now on the road to recovery, adding, “He’s fine, healthy and doing well!”

John Legend expands ‘Evolver’ jaunt

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R&B/neo-soul singer John Legend [ ] has added a second leg to his upcoming North American tour.

The Grammy winner recently announced the first leg, which kicks off Nov. 19 in Minneapolis and sticks close to the eastern US through mid-December. That run, featuring special guest Raphael Saadiq, includes two-night stands in Chicago and Montclair, NJ, and a stop in Toronto.

The tour’s second leg is set to launch Jan. 12 in Oakland, CA, with London-based singer/rapper Estelle in the opening slot. Legend will make his way across the US through Feb. 7, and then jump into a two-week European jaunt. North American shows are detailed below and those overseas can be found at the performer’s website.

The outing marks Legend’s first major concert series since his 2007 world tour, which is captured on April’s “Live from Philadelphia” CD/DVD set.

The soul man is supporting his third studio effort, “Evolver,” which surfaced last month and debuted in the Top 5 on The Billboard 200, as well as the No. 1 slot on the magazine’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Lead single “Green Light,” featuring OutKast’s Andre 3000, has been making waves on the pop, R&B/hip-hop and dance charts. The tune is streaming at Legend’s MySpace page.

The success of Legend’s previous offering, 2006’s platinum-selling, Grammy-winning “Once Again,” didn’t stop the entertainer from changing his formula for the new record.

“I am constantly evolving as a person and as an artist,” Legend explained in his bio. “You still have the legacy of what you did before and the people’s memory of that will always be there, but with each album you get to question that, to play with it and even rebel against if you want to and I did that with this album.”

In addition to Andre 3000, the record features guest stars including pop singer Brandy, Estelle and Kanye West, who also lends his skills on the production end, along with Will.I.Am and The Neptunes.

Legend has sold more than 5 million albums worldwide and racked up five Grammys during his career, according to his bio. He has also been honored by several organizations for his humanitarian efforts.

[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or tour sources, who verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

November 200819 - Minneapolis, MN - Northrop Auditorium20, 21 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre24 - East Lansing, MI - Wharton Center for Performing Arts26 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Temple Theatre28 - Toronto, Ontario - Roy Thompson Hall29 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont TheatreDecember 20081 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre2 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre4 - University Park, PA - Bryce Theatre @ Penn State5 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater6 - Fairfield, CT - Fairfield University/Alumni Hall8 - Baltimore, MD - Lyric Theatre9 - Washington, DC - Constitution Hall10 - Greenville, SC - Peace Center12 - Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium13 - Durham, NC - Durham Performing Arts CenterJanuary 200912 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre13 - Universal City, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre16 - La Jolla, CA - RIMAC Arena22 - Dallas, TX - Nokia Theatre @ Grand Prairie23 - Austin, TX - Bass Concert Hall24 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater26 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium28 - Orlando, FL - Bob Carr Performing Arts Center29 - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall30 - Miami, FL - The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason TheaterFebruary 20093 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre5 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall6 - Mashantucket, CT - MGM Grand Theater @ MGM Foxwoods7 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Events Center

Locksley Kick Off Choose Or Lose Tour With Rocking Set In Boston

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BOSTON — “This is to support the voting process!” Brandon Kress announced from the stage of Café 939 on Sunday night at the kickoff of the
Choose or Lose Tour.

He asked the people in the audience who were over 18 years old to raise their hands, and then asked those of age who had registered to vote to raise their hands again. Those who hadn’t were ordered to a registration booth just outside the venue’s doors. Only then, after such civic duties had been addressed, could the main event — performances by headliner
Locksley, Hymns and local act Brite Lite Brite — take place.

The Killers play secret London fan gig

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The Killers played a last minute fan-only gig at London’s Bush Hall yesterday.

Brandon Flowers’s band announced details of the concert, which is the smallest show the group has ever played in the capital, on their official website on Friday.

Flowers wore a black jacket with fur shoulder pads for the concert, which acted as a warm-up for tonight’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

The four-piece played five new tracks in the show, including ‘Neon Tiger, ‘Joyride’, ‘Spaceman’ and new single ‘Human’.

Day And Age, the Las Vegas group’s third studio album, is released on November 24.

Aerosmith singer Tyler sues bloggers

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Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has sued unknown bloggers who the singer said impersonated him on the web, writing about the death of his mother and other “intimate details” from his life.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Tyler, 60, said he didn’t know the real names of those who have impersonated him and girlfriend Erin Brady on the web, but he believes the same group was responsible for similar postings in 2007.

At that time, Tyler asked Google to remove the blogs, and the internet company complied.

The latest batch of impersonator blogs, which show pictures of Tyler, the lead singer for the rock group Aerosmith, were posted at Blogspot.com, the lawsuit said.

One posting had 31 entries for 2008, and another written by “Brady” had seven entries in recent months, the lawsuit said.

“The impersonated statements relating to (Tyler’s) mother are perhaps most hurtful given that she recently passed away,” the lawsuit stated.

Tyler’s lawsuit accuses the bloggers of public disclosure of private facts, making false statements and misappropriation of likeness. It also seeks an injunction to have the defendants stop impersonating him online or elsewhere.

On Wednesday, the blogs Tyler’s lawsuit describes as being written by impostors were unavailable for public viewing.

A statement on each of the blog pages said, “This blog is under review due to possible blogger terms of service violations.”

Friendly Fires wrap up tour with ‘London Carnival’

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Friendly Fires wrapped up their UK tour last night (October 7) with a ‘carnival’-style set at London’s Kings College.

The St Albans group played a frenetic show, featuring glitter canons and strobe lighting, in front of a sold-out crowd.

As well as songs from their self-titled debut album, the band played ‘Your Love’, featuring the bassline of The Source’s 1991 classic ‘You Got The Love’.

During the song, singer Ed MacFarlane jumped into the audience with his guitar and microphone and continued the performance amongst the fans.

The gig ended in an elongated version of ‘Jump In The Pool’ during which five drummers and two carnival dancers joined the band on stage.

Friendly Fires played:

‘Photobooth’
‘Your Love’
‘Skeleton Boy’
‘White Diamond’
‘In The Hospital’
‘On Board’
‘Strobe’
‘Paris’
‘Ex-Lover’
‘Jump In The Pool’

The band play a one-off London show at KOKO venue on December 12.

To check the availability of Friendly Fires tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/GIGS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Sean Penn’s new gay drama avoiding publicity

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NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The opening of “Milk,” director Gus Van Sant’s account of California’s first openly gay politician, is four weeks away. Yet you wouldn’t know it.

Unlike the hoopla over Focus Features’ previous gay-themed awards magnet, “Brokeback Mountain,” which was drawing calls of agenda-pushing from right-wingers months before it opened in 2005, there’s been hardly a peep in editorial pages or on talk radio.

Admittedly, the election is a major distraction. But Focus also is doing something deliberate: It’s eschewing publicity for the Sean Penn vehicle, keeping it out of the high-profile fall film festivals and heavily restricting media screenings.

“The best way to help this film win over a mainstream audience is to avoid partisanship, and the best way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out about the film from the film itself,” said one person involved with the film.

Giving up word-of-mouth to avoid hot air is not a typical trade-off — notice how Lionsgate effectively flogged politically charged movies like Oliver Stone’s George W. Bush biopic “W.” and the Bill Maher documentary “Religulous” — but it’s one Focus is willing to make.

Not that it will last. The political football will be kicked off when the movie premieres Tuesday night in San Francisco and then put in play after the November 4 election. And when that happens, the studio will face a marketing dilemma: how to accommodate the gay-rights angle the core audience expects while appealing to mainstream filmgoers who might not be immediately moved to see a movie about the subject.

One example of those filmgoers: At a recent Vegas test-screening for a middle-class, straight audience, several senior citizens tried to leave after a gay love scene in the early moments but couldn’t because they were trapped in the middle of a row (near Focus production chief John Lyons, in fact). The seniors eventually said they were happy that they stayed, but, like independent voters in an election contest, these are the viewers Focus must woo.

Like its initial phase of playing keep-away from cable news, the post-election phase will also involve staying above politics. Focus plans on selling “Milk” in part as a story of hope and change (Harvey Milk, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Superviors until his assassination in 1978, won equal-rights battles against great odds), just as it sold “Brokeback” as a love story. 

Pussycat Doll Thornton wanted to be a nun

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Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton has reportedly revealed that she wanted to be a nun when she was younger.

According to The Sun, the singer said: “I used to watch these movies about people who really devote their lives to charity in someway or bettering the world, devoting themselves to serve God or a common purpose.”

“Then I realised when I could sing I realised I could do both, like Angelina Jolie.”

When Thornton’s bandmate Ashley Roberts suggested that she could pursue a religious career in the future, Thornton joked: “I can’t actually. I’ve done too many things.”