Michael Jackson finally got a Lifetime Achievement Award yesterday from the Grammys.
No one from his family showed up to accept it.
The Grammy board invited all the Jacksons. Sources say they never heard a word from anyone. At one point there was talk of Marlon Jackson showing up. He didn’t.
Rihanna returned to Clive Davis’s annual pre-Grammy party last night, 51 weeks after her calamitous exit from the party with Chris Brown in 2009. She looked great, and seemed to have shed the past like an old coat. It was a bold move and one to be applauded.
Jamie Foxx and Justin Timberlake have a “Split Personality.”
That’s the name of the single they’re going to release soon from Jamie’s next album, coming in May.
The pair actually recorded two duets, each of which is set for the album.
The great Roy Orbison finally got his star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame on Friday. It was about time!
Thanks to the persistence of his widow, the intrepid and beautiful Barbara, Orbison has lived on well after his death at age 52 in 1989.
The star was unveiled on Vine Street, right in front of the Capitol Records tower, and right next to Garth Brooks. Not bad.
With “Pretty Woman” playing in the background, Barbara and sons Alex and Roy Jr., and Roy’s son Wesley, received the proclamation from the city of Hollywood. Dan Aykroyd (who was there with gorgeous wife Donna Dixon) and T Bone Burnett each spoke about their love of Roy — who didn’t love Roy Orbison, that’s the question!
And Barbara Orbison, in accepting the citation, turned around from the mic and thanked the community of friends who’ve grown around her since Roy’s death: Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh and his wife Marjorie, Olivia Harrison, Barbara Bach Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Phil Everly, Chris Isaak, Jonathan Clyde from the Beatles’ Apple Records, and so on.
Last night, the 20th annual MusiCares Person of the Year dinner produced several memorable comments, not the least of which came from 83-year-old Tony Bennett, at whose table I was lucky to sit. Upon hearing the Red Hot Chili Peppers launch into a dissonant version of honoree Neil Young’s “A Man Needs A Maid,” Bennett told me: “Tonight proves to me there’s room for everyone.” He meant it, too. That’s a mensch!
Neil Young, who was seated with his family a few rows in front of us, must have picked up Bennett’s good vibrations. When it came time for Young to accept his award, it was Bennett — one of the few musicians in the room who didn’t perform last night — he cited. “Look at Tony Bennett,” Young told the star studded crowd at the L.A. Convention Center. “He rocks!”
Ex spouses Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman now, oddly, have the same publicist: 42 West, formerly the Dart Group. It’s a company started by Leslee Dart, the dynamic ex-partner of Lois Smith and Pat Kingsley of PMK fame.
If only the bloggers who huff and puff on subjects about which they know very little had stopped to think about Cruise’s defection to 42 West from Rogers & Cowan they would have realized this. Kidman moved to 42 West from PMK-HBH over a year ago. She is personally repped by Leslee Dart. Read the rest of this entry »
This Sunday’s Grammy Awards is set to open with a tribute to Michael Jackson. There will be the 3D “Earth Song” from Michael’s canceled “This Is It” concert. Then a selection of pop stars including Smokey Robinson, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Usher is scheduled to perform a medley of Michael’s hits.
But what hasn’t been determined is who will accept Michael’s Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. Jackson is to be honored along with Bobby Darin, Loretta Lynn, Clark Terry, David Honeyboy Edwards, Andre Previn, and Leonard Cohen. Among the winners of the Trustees award are Florence Greenberg, founder of Scepter Records and subject of the new musical, “Baby It’s You.” Read the rest of this entry »
Clive Davis‘ annual pre-Grammy shindig is my favorite party of the year. It’s the best of the season, a tie maybe with Vanity Fair’s Oscar party. Everyone in Hollywood wants to be in the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom this Saturday night. Not all of them will make it.
Yesterday I spent party of the morning observing while Clive did interviews and pre-press with Harry Connick, Jr. Harry is very funny, and the duo made for a good team as all the shows like “Access Hollywood” and “ET” got a crack at them. Read the rest of this entry »
J.D. Salinger died yesterday. He was just past his 91st birthday.
The author of “The Catcher in the Rye” lived life on his own terms. He didn’t want celebrity. He shunned it despite the many attempts by fans to see him, touch him, feel him. Salinger is thought of as a recluse, but he just didn’t want the trappings of fame. It was hard for people to accept. Read the rest of this entry »
GRAMMY NOTES:
“Soul Man” Sam Moore, the 74-year-old Grammy winner, has been asked to be the star performer at the official Grammy after party at the L.A. Convention Center following Sunday’s Grammy telecast. “American Idol” judge and famed musician Randy Jackson, who produced Moore’s “Overnight Sensational” album, will be a special guest star on guitar in Moore’s band. Singer-composer Brenda Russell is going to join in on vocals. That should be some show…
…On the Grammy telecast, expect a tribute to the late Les Paul, the man who invented the rock and roll guitar. Among those involved: the great Jeff Beck, and performer-producer Narada Michael Walden…
…The Golden Globes had no “in memoriam” section, but hopefully that will not be the case with the Grammys. We recently lost Al Green’s amazing producer Willie Mitchell. And last week, the wonderful Robert “Squirrel” Lester, founding member of the Chi Lites, passed away. Lester was a soft spoken, lanky, masterful singer and dancer. His contributions to the Chi Lites over 40 years led to their hits like “Have You Seen Her?” and “Oh Girl.” Squirrel joins his old friend, Chi Lites founder and songwriter Eugene Record, another lovely guy, in rock and roll heaven. He will be sorely missed… Read the rest of this entry »
