Anxious fans tonight kept vigil outside a Tokyo hospital as Sir Paul McCartney battled a serious viral infection. Macca, 72 next month, was admitted after his recent symptoms failed to improve.
He was hit by the mystery bug on May 16 – the day after he landed in the Japanese capital. His world tour gigs on May 18 and 19 were postponed as doctors ordered “complete rest” in his hotel room while he recuperated. The Beatles legend, who had tests for a “minor heart irregularity” in 2007, had hoped to return for the third and final Tokyo show on Wednesday. But that too was axed as he was taken to hospital on Tuesday amid growing fears over his health.Now organisers have also cancelled a scheduled concert in Osaka tomorrow and a first show in South Korea capital Seoul next Wednesday. Vegetarian Sir Paul, who also practices yoga and meditation, is being treated at Tokyo’s St Luke’s International Hospital, with third wife Nancy, 53, at his bedside. One fan outside said: “I was surprised when I first heard a details
It was 50 years ago in June that Sgt Pepper taught the band to play. And to celebrate, hundreds of New Zealand musicians are teaming up to bring Beatlemania back to Auckland.
The Play It Strange Trust is uniting 150 musicians for two nights of music to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' two Auckland Town Hall shows on June 24 and 25. Each night's performance will have a different line-up. Among those performing on June 24 are Don McGlashan, SJD and Tim Finn, with Peter Urlich, Jason Kerrison and Jordan Luck among those taking to the stage on the second night. And though there were swarms of teenagers screaming at the Fab Four 50 years ago, this time hundreds of schoolchildren will join the musicians on stage, performing Beatles songs they have been rehearsing in the lead-up to the shows. Thankfully, it seems John, Paul, George and Ringo haven't been lost among the Biebers and Mileys that dominate the charts today. Play It Strange CEO Mike Chunn says when one student was asked if she knew any Beatles songs, she replied that she knew ever details
NEIL Innes is convinced that too many people involved in the music business are far too serious. And for more than 40 years he’s been on a mission to bring some fun back, both as a solo artist and with the likes of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Rutles, who come to Clitheroe’s Grand Theatre next week.
“Oh, musicians can be way too serious,” he said. “People are all individuals and need to find themselves and what works for them. “The music industry treats the music-buying public as a mob, happy to accept what’s thrown at them without questioning. “I’m afraid I’ve never been able to accept that concept. For a start, there’s no room for silliness.” The Rutles have become a cult, beloved by music and comedy fans alike. The original idea was for a sketch on Rutland Weekend Television, a TV series in the mid 1970s featuring Monty Python’s Eric Idle. Neil had the idea for a spoof of The Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night, which became a five minute sketch on the show.
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Paul McCartney
"Paul received successful medical treatment at a hospital in
She was the impetus for two of rock music’s most identifiable love songs in the Beatles‘ ‘Something‘ and Derek and the Dominoes‘ ‘Layla.’ Pattie Boyd was also the catalyst for the first Beatles concert reunion.
On May 19, 1979, Boyd — ex-wife of George Harrison — married the former Beatle’s best friend Eric Clapton at his English estate. Harrison brought along Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for what turned into an epic, though apparently musically questionable, wedding reception jam. Also there on an outdoor stage at Clapton’s English estate (in the same garden, by the way, where Harrison wrote ‘Here Comes the Sun’) was the Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman, Elton John, David Bowie, members of Clapton’s band Cream and Denny Laine, from McCartney’s ’70s-era band Wings. Boyd, an ex-model who’d appeared on the cover of Vogue, was married to Harrison from 1966-77 & details
The walk to freedom for Sunder, a 13-year-old elephant who has been in captivity, could be delayed further. MLA Vinay Kore, who has been resisting Sunder's release, has now filed an appeal against it in the Supreme Court.
The Bombay High Court had on April 7 ordered authorities to implement a state government order, issued in August 2012, to release Sunder into the wild. The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been fighting to secure the pachyderm's release and had moved the Bombay High Court as the state government's order to release him had not been implemented. Sunder who has been in captivity and was kept chained inside a dark shed at a Temple in the Kolhapur district of Maharashtra for seven years would have been finally free from the torture. PETA India's Director of Veterinary Affairs Dr Manilal Valliyate told NDTV, "This is an attempt from MLA Vinay Kore to delay the process of implementing the High Court order. All the paperwork from moving Sunder to a sanctuary in Bangalore
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An electric guitar played by The Beatles' George Harrison has sold for almost £400,000 at an auction in New York. The former Beatle played the 1962 Rickenbacker 425 guitar on British TV shows like Ready Steady Go! in 1963, prior to the band's US invasion in 1964.
Harrison, who died in 2001 aged 58, also used the instrument during the recording of I Want to Hold Your Hand and This Boy. The guitar’s pre-sale estimate was up to $600,000 (£356,000) said auction house Julien's but it eventually sold for $657,000 (£390,641) The sale topped the previous sale of a VOX guitar played by both Harrison and Lennon in May last year which fetched £269,000 but fell far short of the record $965,000 (£591,000) set by a Bob Dylan guitar in December. Harrison bought the guitar in 1963 in Mount Vernon, Illinois, while visiting his sister in the United States. The auction also saw the sale of a placard covered in doodles and signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from their ‘bed-in’ protest, details
Tokyo National Stadium shows to be postponed 18th & 19th May Doctors have ordered Paul complete rest and he has been doing all he can to get better. Paul has only ever had to reschedule a handful of shows in his entire career and is so upset about this situation, he hates to let people down.
This morning he told his staff he was going to try and perform tonight against doctors orders, but his team, along with the doctors, wouldn't allow it. He has been very moved by the fan's reactions and messages of love and support he has received in Japan. Paul has instructed his team to look at rescheduling options. Message from Paul: "Thank you so much for your kind messages of support. I’m so very touched. Unfortunately my condition has not improved overnight. I was really hoping that I'd be feeling better today. I'm so disappointed and sorry to be letting my fans down. Love, Paul"
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With seven shows around the country already announced and selling fast, two new cities have been added to the White Album Concert National Tour, with performances in Canberra on 22 July and in Wollongong on 23 July.
The White Album Concerts feature four of Australia's greatest rock'n'roll showmen - Chris Cheney, The Living End, Phil Jamieson of Grinspoon, Tim Rogers from You Am I and ARIA award winner singer/songwriter Josh Pyke performing the entire album with an all-star 17 piece rock orchestra. The Beatles' most challenging and stylistically varied collection of songs has been taken apart and reassembled track by track by four singers at the peak of their powers. Coming after India, but before the split, The White Album was the sound of John, Paul, George and Ringo throwing everything they'd learned into their musical blender. This major work bursts with variety, creativity, experimentation, and the genius of The Beatles during one of their most intense, fertile, periods. It is a t details
It was basically music's worst-kept secret, but now it's official... The Flaming Lips are releasing a full cover album of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. According to Stereogum, the album will be titled With A Little Help From My Fwends and will drop on Oct. 28 via Warner Bros. Records.
The Flaming Lips have long teased the release of its Beatles cover album, with plenty Instagram teasers of the band in the recording studio and working on music, especially with Wayne Coyne's new musical BFF, Miley Cyrus. Cyrus will be featured on at least two With A Little Help From My Fwends tracks; it's been confirmed that she will join Coyne and and join MGMT singer Andrew VanWyngarden on "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and she's also reported to appear on "A Day In The Life." Last night (May 14), during Cyrus' latest Bangerz Tour stop in Manchester, England, Coyne joined Cyrus on stage for a (likely tel details
Beatles show Let It Be is to return to the West End for an 11-week run. The show originally ran in the West End in September 2012 at the Prince of Wales, before moving to the Savoy Theatre in January 2013.
It has since toured the UK and will now return to London, playing at the Garrick Theatre from July 9 to September 21. It will have a media night on July 10. Jamie Hendry, the show’s producer, said: “I am delighted that Nimax Theatres has worked with us to bring Let It Be back to the West End for its third season.” Let It Be is produced by Jamie Hendry Productions and Annerin Productions. When it opens on July 9 it will mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. Its UK tour concludes on July 5 at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend.
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A Beatles-themed cafe has created an epic 7000 calorie snack sandwich and has challenged fans to consume it.
The sandwich was prepared with 30 rashers of bacon, 20 slices of bread, six tomatoes, two lettuces and a pound of butter, the Daily Star reported.According to the challenge, the winner who devours the whole sandwich while listening to the Fab Four's hits will be offered free breakfast for the entire week at Cafe 23 on Liverpool's famous Penny Lane. Tess Smith, manager, said that the Fab Four are around us in high spirits and wished the challengers best of luck. The feast was kicked-off to celebrate the British Sandwich Week.
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detailsAt 38, Sean Lennon is already deep into a long and idiosyncratic career in pop music, following his creative whims as singer, sideman, bandleader and producer. His current band, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, was supposed to be a side project with his girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, until inspiration took over.
"We have a very strong shared aesthetic," says Lennon of the musical partnership. "It has to do with spooky notes, wordplay, and a lot of records that we like." The duo's new album, "Midnight Sun," builds on the charms of their previous acoustic releases to create a heavier (and electric) psychedelic folk-rock sound. Beginning with the brooding "Too Deep," it's music with roots in both swirling, late-'60s pop and modern indie rock. "We basically just want to rock out," says Muhl, 26, of the band, which performs Saturday at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. At the moment, the duo are on a breezy patio overlooking downtown Austin, dressed in stylish layers: Lennon bearded in a light brown suit and a matching wide-brim hat, and Muhl in fringed suede over details