Members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2005 have been chosen. U2, the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, Percy Sledge and the O'Jays are the new inductees. The induction ceremony will take place on March 14, 2005 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In the non-performer category, inductees include Sire Records chairman Seymour Stein and Premier Talent Agency founder and president Frank Barsalona. Artists become eligible for induction to the Cleveland, Ohio-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album.
Talk show host Regis Philbin will replace Dick Clark as host of ABC-TV's "New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005" show. Clark suffered a mild stroke on December 6. He issued a statement, saying, "It'll feel strange watching it on TV, but my doctors felt it was too soon." Newcomer Ashlee Simpson will host the show's festivities on the West Coast. She'll also perform on the show, along with Big & Rich, Ciara, Fabolous, Good Charlotte, and others. 75-year-old Clark has helped ring in the New Year for the past 32 years.
Barry Manilow follows Celine Dion and Elton John as the latest artist to sign a long-term performance deal in Las Vegas. The 61-year-old singer-songwriter is scheduled to perform five shows per week for 24 weeks beginning February 24, 2005. The run will extend into 2006. His show will be named "Manilow: Music and Passion." Manilow recently told a news conference, "I've spent most of my performing life on the road all over the country and all over the world. On the last tour, I would joke with the audience that maybe they could just come over to my house. And now, from now on, they can."
The New York medical examiner's office has ruled that rapper ODB (Ol' Dirty Bastard, real name Russell Jones) died from an accidental overdose of cocaine and a prescription painkiller. The 35-year-old died November 13 at a New York City recording studio after complaining of chest pains. In other news, in early 2005, Roc-A-Fella Records plans to release ODB's debut album for the label, which was nearly finished at the time of his death. His mother, Cherry Jones, is also releasing a collection with 15 of ODB's previously unreleased songs on her newly created JC Records. The album, titled Osirus: The Official Mixtape, will hit stores on January 4.
Actress Liv Tyler and her husband, rock musician Royston Langdon, welcomed their first child on December 14. The couple hasn't released the name of their son, who weighed in at eight pounds. Langdon and his brother performed in their band Spacehog for nearly 10 years. Last year, the group broke up and they formed a new band named Quick. Tyler's father, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, was with Liv for the birth of his first grandchild.
AWARDS PRESENTATIONS/WINNERS:
Nominations for this year's Golden Globe Awards have been announced. In the Best Original Song category are Counting Crows for "Accidentally in Love" from "Shrek 2," Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri for "Believe" from "The Polar Express" performed by Josh Groban, Andrew Lloyd Weber for "Learn To Be Lonely" from "The Phantom of the Opera," Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonder" Duplessis and Andrea Guerra for "Million Voices" from "Hotel Rwanda," and Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart for "Old Habits Die Hard" from "Alfie." The Best Original Score nominees include Clint Eastwood for "Million Dollar Baby," Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for "Finding Neverland," Rolfe Kent for "Sideways," Howard Shore for "The Aviator" and Hans Zimmer for "Spanglish." The Golden Globe Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on January 16.
TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION:
Madonna heads the list of top-grossing tours of 2004. Her 56-date "Re-Invention" tour brought in $125 million . 55 of the shows were sold out. In second place is Prince, whose "Musicology" tour earned $90.2 million. Rounding out the Top 5 tours of the past year were Shania Twain in third place $62.5 million, Simon & Garfunkel at Number 4 $59 million and Metallica in fifth place $53.8 million.
