The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is deeply saddened to announce that company member Wayne Robson has passed away peacefully at his home.
After a long and varied career, Mr. Robson was to make his Stratford debut this season as Grampa inThe Grapes of Wrath.
“In the brief period since Wayne joined the Festival company, he very quickly became close to us all with his enthusiasm, good humour and enormous talent,” said General Director Antoni Cimolino. “He was generous in sharing stories from his past and from his vast experience in theatre across many countries dating back to the 1960s. He was immensely practical and yet a true imaginative child of the stage light.
“His work as Grampa had us both in stitches and in tears. Within The Grapes of Wrath, Grampa dies suddenly and his loss forever leaves a mark on the Joad family. So too does Wayne’s parting leave a gap in our Festival family.”
“I first met Wayne Robson more than 30 years ago,” said Artistic Director Des McAnuff, “when I offered him a part in A Mad World, My Masters at the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto – which he had to turn down in order to accept a role in Robert Altman’s movie Popeye. I’d been looking for another opportunity to work with him ever since, so I was naturally delighted when he agreed to join our 2011 company.
“Now I am utterly heartbroken that he has been taken from us so prematurely, with such an important contribution still to make. Wayne was an outstanding artist who had a diverse and accomplished career on stage, in film and on television, and his loss will be heavily felt not only here in Stratford but across our country.”
The Festival will dedicate this season’s production of The Grapes of Wrath to the memory of Mr. Robson.
Mr. Robson appeared in over 100 theatre productions in Canada, 30 feature films and 120 television productions, including 12 seasons as Mike Hamar on The Red Green Show. Last November he played Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie at the Sudbury Theatre Centre. He won Gemini Awards for his roles as Wally in And Then You Die and Christie Logan in The Diviners, a Dora Award for his portrayal of Stan in Walking the Tightrope at Theatre Direct and a Blizzard Award in Manitoba for his work in The Diviners. He also received Genie nominations for his roles as Shorty in The Grey Foxand Hank in Bye Bye Blues, and was named Actor of the Year by the Vancouver Sun.
In his 65th year, Mr. Robson leaves behind his children Ivy and Louis; their mother Lynn; and many, many friends and colleagues in theatre, film and television.
Funeral details will be announced at a later date.


National Swimming Star Dies of Illegal Abortion
Virginia Hopkins Watson, a famed national swimming star, died on this day in Los Angeles of an illegal abortion. Her death received national publicity in part because of her celebrity status but also because of rising public awareness (and news media coverage) of the large number of illegal abortions in the U.S.
Under her maiden name, Virginia Hopkins had gained fame as one of the Hopkins twins, along with her sister Marion. She and her sister had joined Esther Williams (later a top Hollywood star) in the 1939 women’s 400 meter relay team that set the world’s record. In 1938 she had set the world’s record in the women’s 50 meters race.
Virginia also sought a career in the movies, and chose an abortion because she believed having a child would interfere with her film career. She explained this to her husband, Arthur Watson, as she lay dying (the abortion had occurred 12 days before her death). Her husband had not known she was pregnant.
At the time of her death she was 32 years old and was a swimming instructor at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
Follow a timeline on abortion rights: http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/history_abortion.html
Learn more about women’s swimming and diving today: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/swimming-women/d1


All arrangements will be held in private, and we ask that you kindly respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.
Your thoughts and kindness are truly appreciated during this time of sorrow.
Erkin Koray, a legendary rock n roll musician whose career spanned an astounding 60 years, passed away on August 7, 2023. He was born on June 24, 1941, in Turkey. His contribution to music and his unwavering passion for rock n roll will forever be etched in the hearts of his fans and loved ones. Erkin leaves behind his beloved daughter Damla, who will carry forward his legacy with utmost pride.
Throughout his extraordinary musical journey, Erkin Koray mesmerized audiences with his remarkable talent and captivating stage presence. From the searing guitar solos to the soul-stirring lyrics that touched the very core of one's being, he had an uncanny ability to connect with his listeners on a profound level. Each performance was an exhilarating experience filled with passion and raw energy that could move mountains.
With every strum of his guitar and every note he sang, Erkin drew upon the depths of his soul to create music that transcended time and space. His songs became anthems for generations, resonating not only with rock enthusiasts but with anyone who craved a sonic escape into a world of emotion and liberation. The sheer power of his music ignited a fire within the hearts of millions around the globe.
While reaching unparalleled heights in his musical career, Erkin always remained humble and down-to-earth. He saw himself as a conduit through which music flowed and touched people's lives. Fans admired not just his virtuosity but also the genuine kindness he emanated both on and off stage. He ardently believed that music had the power to heal, unite, and bridge divides among people from all walks of life.
Beyond the stage lights and thunderous applause, Erkin held dear the simple joys of life. He reveled in spending time with his daughter Damla, nurturing their bond amidst the hectic life of a musician. Despite the demanding nature of his career, Erkin cherished the moments shared with Damla, creating a safe haven of love and understanding that anchored him throughout his incredible journey.
As we mourn the loss of this legendary musician, let us also celebrate his life—a life lived unapologetically immersed in music and dedicated to spreading joy through his transcendent melodies. Though he may no longer physically grace the stage or strum his guitar in our presence, Erkin's spirit lives on eternally through the symphonies of his legacy.
Erkin Koray will forever remain an indelible name in the annals of rock n roll history—a true pioneer who blazed trails and shattered boundaries with his talent and undying passion. As we honor the memory of this extraordinary individual, let us remember that the beauty of his music continues to pulsate within our hearts. May he find eternal peace and may his melodies echo through eternity.


Last April, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter was scheduled to perform as headliner for the Saturday night slate of Coachella. Her highly-reported on pregnancy had caused her to cancel her plans to perform at the 2017 edition of the festival, leaving fellow musician Lady Gaga to fill in the gap left behind by her. When the time finally came for Beyoncé to perform, the big question in the mind of both casual festival-goers and her fanatic fan base, the Hive, was, “what is she going to do?”
What she did rocked the entire world. In front of a crowd of 125,000 and more than 40 million viewers on the livestream (which broke records), she led more than 100 dancers, singers, and band members in a celebration of both the African musical diaspora and of historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs for short. Both her incredible performance skills and the expansive setlist, which ranged from old classics like “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy” to the best songs from her critically acclaimed latest album, the mature and artful Lemonade, inspired the kind of idolatry usually saved for religious icons. Dubbed “Beychella” in her honor, it was proof that she truly does run the world. Even at this year’s lackluster edition of Coachella, her stage remains on display; a reminder of the greatness anyone can aspire to.
Somehow her performance managed to feel truly epic, even for her standards. Beychella was on an even grander scale than other moments in her career, such as the surprise release of her eponymous fifth studio album, which broke the Internet and caused the global release date of music to be shifted from Tuesday to Friday; or the release of Lemonade, which turned her husband Jay-Z into the most hated man in the world for a brief moment of time. Homecoming dives into the creation of the performance, while displaying the show in full with footage from both weekends of Coachella.
“Instead of me pulling out my flower crown, it was more important that I brought our culture ,” Beyoncé notes at one point during the film. Bringing her culture – black culture – is exactly what she did. Coachella has been a predominately white-oriented festival ever since the beginning, with only a few black artists headlining over the past twenty years. Criticisms of cultural appropriation from attendees frequently goes viral, given how many of them mindlessly wear henna and Native American headdresses without any consideration of the cultural aspects behind them. It would’ve been easy for Mrs. Carter to just perform her hits and dance in a performance without much culture behind it.
She gave the world a Homecoming instead – something that she never got to have, despite her wishes. “My college was Destiny’s Child, my college was traveling around the world, and life was my teacher,” she says early on in the film. Agreed upon by many students at HBCUs to be the highlight of the calendar year, Beyoncé recreated the feeling of one, complete with a drum line and majorettes. The performance is a stunning display of black culture, involving damn near every type of music created by black people, from afrobeat to dancehall to rock-and-roll to bounce. By juxtaposing the national black anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, with her triumphant ode to all black women, “Formation”, Beyoncé informed the audience that she knew how important her music has become to black people all across the world, and that she would always respect that. It was a true family reunion – and not just because she brought her husband, her sister Solange, and her former band-mates from Destiny’s Child out as special guests.
The almost two-hour set, presented in full during Homecoming, is a triumph. It solidifies her status at the greatest entertainer alive; possibly the greatest entertainer of all time. Yet the film has more to offer than just a killer show. The film is interspersed with interludes focusing on the hard work behind the performance, narrated by Beyoncé herself. She notes, time and time again, the incredible amount of effort it took to make sure that the performance would be a masterpiece of showmanship. Jay-Z is there, sitting patiently with Blue Ivy and the twins as Beyoncé rehearses every single dance break repeatedly for hours on end. Rehearsing for any show is difficult. But rehearsing for eight months, with 14-hour rehearsals almost every single day? That’s the kind of dedication most mortals lack.
For the most introverted megastar in the world, Beyoncé gets surprisingly intimate at multiple points throughout the film. She’s open about how her pregnancy with twins Rumi and Sir almost killed her, how she felt worried about getting her body back into shape, how frustrated she felt at times. She’s a perfectionist, and her attention to detail comes across clearly. In one of the rawest moments, she sternly tells the crew that she’s concerned the performance isn’t going to work on film, before giggling due to the rings of “Happy anniversary!” from her crew. Jay-Z just sits there, meekly smiling at her. It might be their tenth wedding anniversary, but the work can’t stop.
Whatever concerns she had about the performance working well on film were unfounded. Beychella truly comes alive on film, due to the amazing Steadicam work by her DP, Ben Hagarty. Hagarty’s camerawork is even more impressive considering how cautious he had to be about walking around on the bleacher pyramid stage. The film also contains flawless editing by Nicholas Figuerora, who has worked on prior projects such as First Reformed and A Quiet Place. He crosscuts between the two weekends with impeccable timing, and creates some stunning edits in the process. The whole film is a visual feast, due to the staging, costuming by Balmain, and the lighting effects.
Put the visuals with the music, and you’ve got a truly astounding concert film. Add in the behind-the-scenes footage with inspirational quotes from black thinkers and artists, and you’ve got something that will be remembered for decades to come.
All hail the Queen!
Homecoming is available to stream on Netflix. The live album accompanying it is available on all major streaming platforms and iTunes. Beyoncé’s discography is available on all platforms, with the exception of Lemonade, which is a TIDAL exclusive until April 23rd, when it will become available on Apple Music and Spotify.


Welcome to Hugh-Dancy.com. We are a growing fan site for the talented English actor, Hugh Dancy. You many recognize him from Ella Enchanted, Evening, Confessions of a Shopaholic or Martha Marcy May Marlene.
We proudly provide you, the fans, with updated information & news regarding Mr. Dancy and his career. Our image gallery is growing all the time. Our coming efforts will be an icon archive, video archive and fan forum. Soon you will be able to catch him in the upcoming NBC series Hannibal. Thank you for stopping by, and please come back soon as we are constantly updating.
Hugh-Dancy.com is a non-profit fansite. We are in no way affiliated with Hugh Dancy, his management, and etcetera. All photos and media are being used under the Fair Copyright Law 107 and are copyright to their respective owners. No infringement is intended.


BOISE (Idaho Statesman)– Jerry Seinfeld is coming (back) to Boise.
The comedian will perform at the Morrison Center at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2020, giving audiences a taste of his iconic stand-up routine.
Seinfeld, perhaps most well-known for his 1990s-era sitcom that bore his name and was once named the No. 1 reason the whole decade “ruled,” has been in multiple recent projects, including Netflix’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” He also had a Netflix special titled “Jerry Before Seinfeld.”
Tickets for his Boise performances will go on sale at noon on Friday, Nov. 1. Tickets begin at $65 plus fees, and they can be purchased from the Morrison Center box office online, in person or over the phone. Other ticket tiers will cost $85 and $160, both before ticketing fees.
Seinfeld performed in Boise in 2012, 2009, 2006 and 2004, always at the Morrison Center. Recently, he’s been performing at the Beacon Theatre in New York City as part of an ongoing resident that he resumed in January. It started in 2016 and continued in 2017.
The comedian has recently made headlines for striking up a five-year deal with Netflix beginning in 2021. The exact value of the deal is not public, but the Los Angeles Times put the figure at more than $500 million. The deal includes all 180 episodes of “Seinfeld,” which are available for streaming on Hulu in the meantime.


Nigerian singer, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido has revealed that he didn’t know his family was wealthy until he was 13 years old.
He disclosed this while appearing as a guest on the latest episode of Drink Champs podcast co-hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN.
Davido said, “As much money that I have been seeing, all these rich this, rich that. My dad is very disciplined.
“I ain’t know we had money till I was 13. My dad was a billionaire driving a Honda Accord. Let me tell you how I knew he was lit. So, there was an explosion and a lot of houses got destroyed including our first house that we have been since when I was a kid. When that happened, we had to leave that day because the house got so f***ed up.
“So, my mum was like, David, we are leaving, we are going to the new house. I was like, ahnn! New house? He [my dad] has been building the house in another part of the town since but I didn’t even know.
“We started driving, when he got there, it was mad. Big crib. He still stays there now. I wad like, mummy, what’s going on? That was when I started realising that my dad was rich.”


Stevie Nicks is touring with The Pretenders this year, and you might think Stevie Nicks would be the hot item on this ticket. But after watching Crissie Hynde and the Pretenders rock out for about an hour, I have to say they are as fun and exciting as any throwback rock group I’ve seen.
The Pretenders played like they were still in their 20’s, playing such hits as Talk of the Town, Middle of the Road, and Brass In Pocket. They really rocked the house, and the audience, which was about 65% female, responded with huge cheers.
The audience was an interesting group. You had everything from 70’s Rockers, to 80’s Madonna Wannabes, to Wicca Princesses. The audience was fun and full of energy, especially after The Pretenders got them so pumped.
At the break everyone was buzzing. It was a delicious feast for people watchers. After what seemed to be a long break, the lights went out and Stevie’s band took the stage one by one. Once the band was in position, Stevie strolled out from the back center of the stage, and the crowd jump to their feet with a gracious applause.
She was wearing her traditional black scarf that her mother gave her years ago. She later told a fun story about how her mom gave her the scarf years ago, and how it has stood the test of time.
She opened the show with two of her solo songs before she invited Crissie Hynde on the stage with her to sing the duet Stop Dragging My Heart Around.
I wasn’t sure if she do many Fleetwood Mac songs, but about five songs in she sang Gypsy, and I knew she was going to sing all her hits.
Stevie has a lot of ballads, so this was not the regular “stand and dance” type of concert. A lot of people were sitting through out, listening to the beautiful ballads Stevie is so well known for.
She drew her show to a close with her Fleetwood Mac hit Golddust Woman and her solo hit Edge of Seventeen, And then, after a bit of a wait, she returned for an encore to close out the show with her Fleetwood Mac hits Rhiannon and Landslide.
Stevie Nicks enjoys performing by adding narratives between her songs. Because she has so many rich stories to tell, this really gives the show a unique feel. It’s kind of like taking a joy ride through time in the life of a rockstar in the 60s 70s and 80s.
In the back of my mind I remember the stories a friend of mine used to tell me about seeing Stevie Nicks at parties in the 70s with other celebrities. He said “I never seen anyone do so much cocaine in my life.” LOL. As you can guess, she didn’t talk about that. But she is a rockstar and lived a rockstar lifestyle. So what would you expect?
It’s always fun seeing the legend perform, and Stevie Nicks is truly a rock legend. I feel blessed to be able to still see people like Stevie Nicks and Crissie Hynde perform. I have to say they both have still got it!
By Bob Dietrich


About Elvira Jain
STUDIES & CAREER
Model and entrepreneur, Elvira did her graduation in Finance and MBA in Finance from London School of Business and Finance. She also did an internship in the “mergers and acquisitions” department in Garanti Bank in Turkey during her study years. Once Elvira graduated in finance, she has already started her model career. She decided to use her skills in business and finance to purse her dream of becoming an international recognized model and she choose to make a big step in believing in herself and follow the model path. During her model career she got signed with agencies in China, Italy, Greece, India ,Turkey, Singapore, Spain and Dubai.
She has worked with several renowned brands around the world, has been on various important magazine covers like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and has taken part in many leading campaigns such as Gucci, Dolce&Gabbana and much more. She represented Moldova in international beauty competitions such as "Miss Tourism International" in China followed by "Miss Charity" in Taiwan , "World League of beauty and fashion" in Turkey and “Miss Earth”. She walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.
Having an entrepreneur mind, At the age of 18, she opened her own agency, the Dmd Model Management, a scouting/mother agency. Their main aim was to sign models for the top agencies around the world like Europe, Asia and USA. Her models were on the cover of magazines like Vogue, Marie Claire and she was working internationally to be the only boutique agency in Moldova that was getting significant model contracts. Five years later, she sold the company focusing more on her own career.


One of the true pioneers of American independent cinema, John Cassavetes had a style and method all his own, instilling his tumultuous dramas of everyday modern life with an unflinching emotional honesty and a kinetic sense of spontaneity. Cassavetes, who came up as a theater actor himself and also appeared on-screen throughout his career, gained renown as a director for drawing galvanic and often improvised performances from a regular stable of actors that included Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassel, Peter Falk, and, most notably, his wife, Gena Rowlands. But his significant collaborators were by no means limited to the cast.
In a new documentary premiering today in 10 Minutes or Less, a section of short videos on the Criterion Channel on FilmStruck, filmmaker Daniel Raim throws the spotlight on composer and sound recordist Bo Harwood, who forged a close working relationship with Cassavetes over the course of six films. Raim’s intimate portrait—which appears alongside our full edition of five of the director’s key films (Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night)—finds Harwood fondly recalling Cassavetes’s compassion and creative generosity, the intuitive method of communication they developed, and his initial realization that the director, whom he took to be “a New York conservative businessman,” was anything but.
Stay tuned for another video piece with Harwood, focused on the music in A Woman Under the Influence, which we’ll be premiering soon exclusively on the Current.
WATCH THE FILM


The Oscar winner, 28, sparked engagement rumours when she was spotted wearing a “massive ring” while enjoying a night out with Maroney, 34, in New York at the weekend, according to the New York Post’s Page Six.
A source quoted by Harpers Bazaar said Lawrence wore “a giant rock” to the date at French restaurant Raoul’s.
“They seemed like they were celebrating and people were talking about it,” the insider added. “The ring was very noticeable. They were sitting back in a corner.”
Lawrence was first romantically linked to art dealer Maroney in June 2018, and the pair have since been pictured together numerous times.
According to reports in the US, they were introduced by Lawrence’s friend Laura Simpson.
Lawrence is known for starring in films such as Hunger Games and 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, for which she won the best actress Oscar.
She has previously dated Coldplay front man Chris Martin, actor Nicholas Hoult and director Darren Aronofsky.
A spokesperson for Ms Lawrence confirmed the engagement today. No wedding date has as yet been announced.


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Massachusetts rapper Token is back with his most honest and personal music video to date. Released on his 17th birthday, the track gives insight into some of the changes that Token has been dealing with after reaching the milestone of 3 million views on facebook for two of his music videos. The 5-minute track consists of two different instrumentals, both produced by Jon Glass, on which Token delivers gritty and passionate lyrics revealing his fear of being controlled. The captivating video with impressive cinematography was shot by fellow 17-year old high schooler Blake Z Larson.


U.S. reality television star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint at a Paris hotel by assailants disguised as police who made off with millions, mainly in jewellery, French authorities and her representative said Monday.
Paris police said the loss amounted to “several million euros, mostly jewellery,” adding that they were still assessing the total amount stolen and had opened an investigation.
A spokesperson for the celebrity had earlier described her as “badly shaken but physically unharmed” after the assault, which occurred late on Sunday.
The spokesperson said that “two armed masked men dressed as police officers” entered Kardashian’s hotel room and held her up at gunpoint.
The representative gave no further details, nor did the person say whether the incident was an attempted robbery or had another motive.
On hearing the news, Kardashian’s husband, rapper Kanye West, abruptly ended a festival appearance in New York citing a “family emergency.”
Kardashian, one of the most identifiable US celebrities, has been appearing prominently at Paris fashion week.
The 35-year-old starlet made headlines at the show for appearing without make-up, a bare look recently adopted by singer Alicia Keys at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Kardashian, who has two children with West, has been a fixture of US celebrity news for more than a decade after an infamous leaked sex tape and the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
Also in Paris, Kardashian was last week approached by Vitalii Sediuk, a famous accoster of the stars, who was caught on video attempting to kiss her behind in an apparent social commentary.
Rap superstar West learned about the assault as he headlined a music festival in New York.
One of the biggest draws in live music, West took the stage half an hour late but in dramatic fashion with a fireworks show overhead as he ripped into songs from his latest album “The Life of Pablo.”
However, an hour into his set, West said mid-song, “I’m sorry, show’s over,” and quickly left. (AFP)


Prince Harry returned to the accusation against a tabloid press, which he accuses of having practiced wiretapping on an “industrial scale” in the past, during the trial in London on Wednesday against a tabloid.
during this second day of testimonyThe 38-year-old prince’s testimony ended in the early afternoon. It was the first appearance by a member of the royal family on the stand since that of the future Edward VII in 1891 for a libel suit.
The youngest son of Carlos III, at odds with the royal family, has been involved in several legal battles against the tabloid press. In the ongoing trial, which began last month and is scheduled to last several more weeks, Harry accuses the newspaper’s editor daily mirror of using illegal methods to gather information, including voicemail hacking, between 1996 and 2010.
“Phone hacking was practiced on an industrial scale by at least three newspapers at the time, and there is no doubt about that,” the Duke of Sussex dropped on Wednesday morning, on the second day of his testimony.
If the court did not recognize this, Harry would “feel a certain injustice”, he added. The prince also explained that “hate” towards him and his wife Meghan, with whom he went into exile in California in 2020, was one of his motivations for this trial.
On Wednesday morning, Andrew Green, MGN’s lawyer – who, in addition to the daily mirror, post sunday mirror AND sunday people – continued to question the prince in detail about the controversial items, like the day before, asking for evidence of illegal practices.
The first mentioned, published in 2005, revealed that Harry, then a trainee officer in the army, had been “exempt from daily marches” of five miles due to a knee injury.
For Andrew Green, Harry’s allegations about his voicemail being hacked are “speculation.” “Not at all,” the prince reacted. As reported by guardianAndrew Green ended his questioning by stating that Harry did not have a single piece of evidence that his email was hacked.
“I remember calls that lasted a second and I remember a lot of people asking me if I got their voicemail. (…) When they told me it was hacking, it made sense,” Harry said.
The prince also accused MGN of “large-scale destruction of evidence”.
33 articles published in the daily mirror are at the center of this test. Much of her day was devoted to articles published during her relationship with her former partner, Chelsy Davy. A relationship that has been widely broadcast by the tabloid press, which the Duke of Sussex suffered at the time.
One of the articles claimed that the prince spent “15 minutes a day” emailing his girlfriend from a computer room at Sandhurst, the military academy where he was staying.
“I don’t see how anyone could have known that,” the prince said, when asked by the lawyer if he believed the information came from illegal information gathering.
He pointed to several articles that provide disturbing details of his phone conversations that he says were obtained illegally.
It was then David Sherborne, Prince Harry’s lawyer, who asked him questions. Asked how he felt during a day and a half of reliving those years surrounded by tabloids, Prince Harry, who sometimes seemed tired during the day, seemed touched.
“That’s a lot,” he said, his voice cracking slightly, according to several British newspapers.
Harry left the witness box in the middle of the afternoon, but not from the High Court of Justice. He remained in the courtroom to attend the questioning of Jane Kerr, a former journalist for the daily mirror.
For several hours, Prince Harry’s lawyer went on the offensive. He asked the journalist about the private detectives he used during his years on the editorial team: he would have contacted a private detective agency no fewer than 900 times, The Guardian reports.
Jane Kerr tried to evade her obligation to provide evidence last week before being forced to comply with her subpoena today. She admitted that she didn’t want to come.
He often evoked vague memories of these contacts, claiming that he had never knowingly used illegally obtained information.
“You sign a statement saying you never called a private detective who obtained information illegally,” David Sherborne told him. “But how can you sign the statement if you’re not sure which detectives you contacted?”
If the Daily Mirror Group (MGN) already apologized for its practices at the time, Prince Harry will have to convince the judge in this trial that there was illegal information obtaining precisely in the 33 articles brought to trial.
The Duke of Sussex was hesitant at times when questioned by the press group’s lawyer, Andrew Green. On the other hand, he described more generally the intrusion of the tabloid press into his life, from a very early age, and his suffering and even his “paranoia” at the articles published about him.
He also denounced the “despicable” practices of certain newspapers, as he already did in a Netflix documentary in December and in his memoirs. alternatepublished in January.
Source: BFM TV


The docuseries follows on the heels of YouTube’s Johnny Cash documentary. While Bieber hasn’t produced an album in years and canceled the final shows of his 2017 tour, he currently has 47.8 million subscribers, more than any other artist on YouTube. He’s in six videos with over one billion views, and he has over 19 billion views on his Official Artist Channel. YouTube is calling the docuseries a “homecoming,” as Bieber was discovered on the platform.
The series will include interviews with Bieber’s wife Hailey Bieber, as well as footage from their wedding, and reveal more about what was going on when he canceled the end of his 2017 tour.
If you can’t wait until January 27th to watch the show, ABC will host a preview of the series and “a special message from Bieber himself” after tonight’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2020.”


It’s with great sadness that we post this tribute to our friend, Olivia-Newton John, who passed yesterday, August 8, 2022.
She burst onto the Hollywood scene with her role as Sandy opposite John Travolta’s Danny in the 1978 blockbuster, Grease. A four-time Grammy Award-winner, Olivia sold 100 million albums with songs like “I Honestly Love You” and “Suddenly” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” She also scored huge hits in the 1980s with “Xanadu” and “Physical” and “Magic.” After retiring from acting, she focused on philanthropy, founding the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
We were honored to include Olivia and her husband, “Amazon John” Easterling, in two of our docu-series The Truth About Pet Cancer and also Quest for the Cures: FINAL CHAPTER. Along with Amazon John, Olivia was an avid animal lover and was a firm believer in plant medicine. When Ty interviewed her and John in early 2018 in Los Angeles, Olivia was charming, kind, genuine, and endearing. Not at all what you would expect from a Hollywood “mega-star” and icon. The next year, Amazon John was one of our speakers at TTAC [LIVE] 2019 in Anaheim.
A statement from her Facebook page stated, “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”
A statement from her Instagram page stated, “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.
Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the @onjfoundation.
Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall.
– via John Easterling, husband, Olivia Newton-John”
Our prayers go out to Amazon John and the rest of Olivia’s family. She will be greatly missed.


You could win STAR treatment at the Red Carpet Celebrity Luxury Lounge honoring the 64th Primetime Emmy® Award nominees!
Bid on the chance to be showered with gifts and photographed on the red carpet—just like your favorite celebs! Courtesy of Secret Room Events, you have the opportunity to bid on the chance to be a celeb for one day at the Secret Room Events Red Carpet Celebrity Luxury Lounge, honoring the 64th Primetime Emmy® Award nominees.
At the event on Wednesday, September 19th at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, you’ll hob-knob with celebs, have your photo taken on the red carpet, and be treated to fabulous gifts of jewelry, clothing and other swag, just like the Hollywood elite!
Bidding begins on Friday, September 7th at noon on spcaLA’s eBay page. 100% of proceeds of the auction benefit spcaLA programs and services. The winning bidder may bring one guest to the event, but only the winner will be gifted.
spcaLA is thankful to Secret Room Events for choosing us as the charity beneficiary of the Red Carpet Celebrity Luxury Lounge.
Please note, this is not an spcaLA-hosted event. The event host has chosen spcaLA to be a beneficiary—monetarily, through increased exposure or both. spcaLA is honored to be chosen to benefit from this event, but assumes no legal or financial responsibility for it. Concerns about the event should be directed to the event host. If you would like to know the extent to which the event host intends spcaLA to benefit, please email info@spcaLA.com with the event’s name in the subject line or call (323) 730-5300, ext 233.


The season 15 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for fans worldwide. As the largest-ever cast on the show, viewers were left on the edge of their seats as RuPaul narrowed down the contestants to the final four. However, the real question on everyone's mind was, who would be crowned the winner?
After a grueling season filled with unforgettable performances and fierce competition, the wait was finally over. The winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 was announced, and it was none other than the talented Sasha Colby!
was well-deserved, and she was officially crowned as the queen of the season. As she accepted her title from RuPaul, she made a powerful statement that resonated with the trans community worldwide. "This goes to every trans person, past, present, and future, because we are not going anywhere," she said.
The season finale was an epic event that saw each of the final four contestants perform their own musical numbers. The crowd was on their feet as the queens dazzled in their performances, leaving judges and viewers alike in awe. However, it was Sasha's captivating performance that won her the crown and secured her place in the Winner Era.
As the second consecutive trans winner of a regular season of Drag Race's American edition, Sasha has broken barriers and paved the way for future trans contestants. With a platform that Drag Race has given her, Sasha hopes to pursue her dreams of acting, music, and even having her own TV show.
While Sasha's win was undoubtedly the highlight of the season, there were other exciting moments, such as the Miss Congeniality title going to Malaysia Babydoll Foxx. The season may be over, but fans have plenty to look forward to, with All Stars 8 set to premiere on May 12th on Paramount+, as well as various international spin-offs in the works.


Deaths in 2016: Wikipedia
Mariano Mores, 98, Argentine tango composer and pianist.
Gareth Thomas, 71, Welsh actor (Blake’s 7, Children of the Stones,Star Maidens), heart failure.
Ray Thornton, 87, American attorney and politician, member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas (1973–1979, 1991–1997).
Nera White, 80, American Hall of Fame basketball player.


The Don Gibson Theater!
One of America's greatest singer/songwriters was born in 1928 in
Shelby, NC. Don Gibson was a legend in country music, rockabilly,
r&b and beyond.
The mention of his name brings to mind so many of his songs: Ray
Charles singing "I Can't Stop Loving You", Patsy Cline singing "Sweet
Dream", Roy Orbison's entire album "Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson", Doc
Watson singing "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" and even Neil Young
singing "Oh Lonesome Me."
Don Gibson was an accomplished singer and musician in his own right.
His voice was a rich and woody baritone, very engaging and enjoyable.
His version of "Oh Lonesome Me" was recorded in 1957 and was a hit on
both the country and pop charts (the guitar solo is classic). He
followed with "Sea of Heartbreak", "Legend In My Time", "Lonesome
Number 1", "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart", "Woman Sensuous Woman" and
so many others.
More than 700 artists recorded his songs. He was inducted into the
Nashville Songwriters hall of fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall
of Fame in 2001.
Don Gibson was a shy and humble man, who eschewed many of the honors
due him. WSM's Eddie Stubbs tells the story of Gibson not showing up
for a parade in his honor because he felt that he didn't deserve the
recognition. Don Gibson passed away in 2003 and was buried in Shelby.
Shelby, NC is now honoring their famous son through the Don Gibson Theater!
The State Theater was built in 1939 in Shelby, and has long been
recognized as a masterpiece of Art Deco design. The Theater had a long
run, changing hands and names throughout the years. It has now been
refurbished and renamed the Don Gibson Theater.
The Don Gibson Theater is becoming one of the most beautiful and
interesting venues in North Carolina for several genres of live music
and classic film! Click the link below for the current schedule of performances and more information.
The Don Gibson Theater


EL DORADO WORLD TOUR
Wednesday, February 7 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Twelve-time GRAMMY® Award-winner and international superstar Shakira has announced plans to embark on her EL DORADO WORLD TOUR, presented by Rakuten. The tour, produced by Live Nation, will feature many of her catalog hits and kicks off on November 8th in Cologne, Germany with a return to the Bay Area February 7, 2018 at the SAP Center at San Jose.
On her first-ever partnership with Rakuten, Shakira commented, “I’m so excited to be announcing the EL DORADO WORLD TOUR, I feel this will be my best tour yet, and am thrilled to be supported by such an amazing partner as Rakuten, with whom I share the same values!”
“Thank you all so much for listening to my music in so many places around the world. I can’t wait to be onstage again singing along with all of you, all of your favorites and mine. It’s going to be fun! The road to El Dorado starts now!” Shakira said.
The tour announcement comes on the heels of Shakira’s 11th studio album release, EL DORADO, which hit #1 on iTunes in 37 countries and held 5 of the top 10 spots on the iTunes Latino Chart within hours of its release. The 5x platinum album, including her already massive global hits – “La Bicicleta,” “Chantaje,” “Me Enamoré,” and “Déjà vu”- currently holds the top spot on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums, marking her 6th #1 album on this chart. Her single, “Chantaje” featuring Maluma, is 16x diamond certified, while its video currently has been viewed over 1.4 billion times, making it the #5 fastest video to reach 1 billion views worldwide and working its way to soon be the most viewed video of her entire catalogue.
Over the course of her career, Colombian singer-songwriter and GRAMMY® winner Shakira has sold over 60 million records worldwide and has won numerous awards including two GRAMMYs®, eight Latin GRAMMYs®, and several World Music Awards, American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, to name a few. She is the only artist from South America to have a number one song in the US, and has had four of the 20 top-selling hits of the last decade. At the age of 18, she founded the Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation which currently provides education and nutrition to over six thousand impoverished children in Colombia and is expanding its work to other countries, including newly launched projects in Haiti and South Africa. In October 2011, Shakira was named a member of President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira served as coach on the 4th and 6th season of “The Voice,” NBC’s hit reality vocal competition series that searches for the nation’s best voice. Her tenth studio album “Shakira” was released in 2014, featuring hits such as “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” with Rihanna and “La La La (Brazil 2014)” which she performed at the finals of Fifa’s World Cup 2014 in Brazil. In 2016, she starred as Gazelle in Disney’s record-breaking film “Zootopia,” as well as contributing to its soundtrack with “Try Everything”. In June, she launched “La Bicicleta” with fellow Colombian artist Carlos Vives, which broke records in Colombia when it remained #1 for 18 consecutive weeks and spent 13 weeks at #1 in Spain, as well as reaching #1 on US Latin iTunes. The video, shot in Shakira and Carlos’s hometowns of Barranquilla and Santa Marta, respectively, has over 900 million views on Vevo to date. It was followed up by the seductive track “Chantaje” (Blackmail) feat. Maluma. With over 1.1 billion views on YouTube, it is one of the platform’s biggest Latin hits in history. It also reached #1 on the “Latin Airplay” chart and was certified Double Platinum in Spain. Shakira recently released her 11th studio album, “El Dorado” which was recorded primarily in Spanish. Upon release, the album charted #1 on iTunes in 37 Countries.


The irreverent and sometimes opinionated,songwriter, engineer and musician will perform his new project: A Liar’s Broken Heart, generously donating a portion of the proceeds to Orlando’s Downtown Arts District.
Tony has loaned his talents to such artists as: N’Sync, The Backstreet Boys, Mandy Moore, Shinedown, Puddle Of Mudd and other notables. Credits include film and TV, composing and producing for The Simpsons, Hairspray the motion picture (title song), Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All and many more.
Battaglia started out in Miami as a session guitarist with some of the most prominent acts of the 1970’s: KC and The Sunshine Band (co-producing KC 10), and R&B legend Betty Wright. Later he played guitar and sang with Joe Walsh on Jay Ferguson’s top 5 single Thunder Island. The producer-of- all-producers, Tom Dowd (Layla, Aretha Franklin), recruited Tony to provide background vocals for Michael Bolton and Third World.
In the 1980’s he moved to NYC, there he opened Studio 900. Again,Tony's talents were in demand by artists such as Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones), pioneer rap group Run DMC, and jazz legend Herbie Mann, just to name a few.
From his personal sense of loss, disappointment, and heartbreak Tony says, “ I’m just sitting here doing time for the crime of being me. [So] I decided, I really had no choice but to write from my heart, and not for any other reason.”
Join Tony and friends for a true variety show, with [Michael Lamy, Manzo & Jimi Kill, Emily].
For tickets and info, contact ticketweb.com


The annual pass costs $99.99 while the monthly subscription costs $19.99. (In Canada, a subscription is $20 CAD per month or $150 CAD per year.) Along with DAZN live events, subscribers to the annual pass are given access to highlights, replays, behind-the-scenes features, original shows and live reports.
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Where is the Jake Paul vs. AnEsonGib fight?
The fight is taking place in Miami on Watson Island in a venue called Meridian Island Gardens, which was specifically built to host Super Bowl events.
Who is Jake Paul?
Jake Paul is a 22-year-old YouTuber and social media influencer. He first gained attention on the now-defunct video app Vine where he would post six-second videos along with his brother, Logan. He also had a prominent role as Dirk Mann on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark.
He gained fame mostly on YouTube, though, where he currently has 19.7 million subscribers. His videos have amassed over 6.3 billion views in total. On Instagram, Paul currently has 12.8 million followers.
Who is AnEsonGib?
AnEsonGib, also known simply as Gib, is also a YouTuber, although is popular for a different reason. While Paul gained fame mostly through sketch comedy videos, Gib gained his subscribers mostly through filming himself play the sports video game FIFA.
He’s also a friend of The Sidemen, a British YouTube group that featured KSI. Although Gib is not officially a member of The Sidemen, he’s essentially a loose affiliate of the group. Gib currently has over 2.1 million subscribers on YouTube.


Grant Lawrence is an award-winning author, CBC personality, singer, columnist and live event host.
He is the author of three best-selling books: Adventures in Solitude (2010), The Lonely End of the Rink (2013), and Dirty Windshields (2017). Grant Lawrence is the only author in the history of the BC Book Prizes to win the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice twice. In 2014, Lawrence won a Canadian Screen Award for hosting the CBC Beetle Roadtrip. At the CBC, Lawrence is known mostly for his work with the ground-breaking Radio 3, having hosted the first-ever original CBC podcast which championed Canadian independent music from 2005-2017. He is also a weekly columnist for the Vancouver Courier and Vancouver Is Awesome, the lead singer of the Smugglers since 1988, and the goalie for the Vancouver Flying Vees beer league hockey team. Grant Lawrence is married to musician Jill Barber and they live in Vancouver, BC, with their two children.


Mohammed Rafi died on 31 July 1980 leaving millions of fans across the globe in grief. But 38 years on, his popularity shows no signs of waning.
Bushra Alvi Razzack
AT A RECENT concert in memory of Rafi Sahab, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the main auditorium as well as the balcony seats were already packed to capacity when I arrived, and the aisles too were filling up rapidly. I somehow managed to find a place to sit and spent the next four hours reveling in the memory of the singer whose contribution to Indian cinema is matchless.
Mohammed Rafi died on 31 July 1980, leaving not just an entire nation, but millions of fans across the globe, in grief. But 38 years on, his popularity shows no signs of waning. The innumerable concerts organized each year on his birth and death anniversaries are a testimony to his popularity and the love and respect he commands even today.
Mohammed Rafi was one of the best singers of Hindi cinema. In fact, he was ‘The Best’. Born on 24 Dec 1924 to Haji Mohammed Ali and Allahrakhi in the village of Kotla Sultan Singh, a short distance from Amritsar, Rafi’s singing talent was apparent from a very early age. He performed his first stage show at the age of thirteen in Lahore. He started singing for All India Radio, Lahore, from the year 1941. The same year, he recorded his first song Soniye Nee, a duet with the famous singer Zeenat Begam for the Punjabi film, Gul Baloch to music set by Shyam Sunder.
He shifted to Bombay in 1944 and started meeting various producers and directors. The first song he recorded in Bombay was Ai dil ho kaabu mein (Gaon ki Gori, 1944). Soon he started singing for top music directors like Shyam Sunder and Naushad. Mohammed Rafi got to work with all the best music directors through the next few decades like Laxmikant Pyarelal, Shankar Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, Ravi, Roshan, Rajesh Roshan, O. P. Nayyar, S. D. Burman, his son, R. D. Burman and others. With lyricists like Hasrat Jaipuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Anand Bakshi, Qamar Jalalabadi, etc., the songs they created together were to impact listeners all over the world.
Mohammed Rafi has been my childhood hero, an integral part of my growing up years and still holds a very special place in my heart. My childhood would have been incomplete without his songs.
We twisted to the up-tempo popular song Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche har zubaan par (Brahmachari, 1968). We got goose flesh on hearing Kar chale hum fida jaano tan saathiyon, ab tumhare hawale watan saathiyon (Haqeeqat, 1964), one of the best patriotic songs given to us by our evergreen legend.
Our chests thrust forth with pride at our brave soldiers and our hearts thumped with emotion. We shook a leg to Aaja aaja, main hun pyaar tera (Teesri Manzil, 1966) and we swooned with gentle intoxication to Likhe jo khat tujhe, wo teri yaad mein (Kanyadaan, 1968). Road trips across the country were rendered more enjoyable with Rafi’s songs playing on our transistors or cassette players or as part of the antakshari game we siblings loved to indulge in whenever we were together.
No wedding in India is complete without Mohammed Rafi’s songs. My wedding video too starts and ends with his golden melodious voice – from Baharon phool barsao mera mehboob aaya hai (Suraj, 1966) at the arrival of the barat to the heart-wrenching song sung in Rafi’s inimitable style, a song that pulls at every chord of my being and brings tears to my eyes each time I listen to it, a song that is arguably one of his very best – Babul ki duaaein leti jaa, jaa tujh ko sukhi sansaar mile, the vidaai song from the film Neelkamal (1968). Mohammed Rafi had actually cried while singing this song as his own daughter had got married just a few days prior to its recording.
And who can forget Shammi Kapoor’s Chaahe koi mujhe junglee kahe/kehne do ji kehta rahe (Junglee,1961). The word ‘yahoo’ in the song was not in Rafi’s voice. It was the voice of Prayag Raj, a writer in Prithvi Theatre. However, Rafi Sahab took this fast and peppy song from there and elevated it to such dizzying heights that it remains one of the most iconic songs of Shammi Kapoor. Mohammed Rafi was called the ‘soul’ of Shammi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor himself admitted that he would have been incomplete as an actor without Rafi Sahab. The two went on to do many films together where Rafi gave voice to the songs the actor sang on screen.
Mohammed Rafi was a very versatile singer and had a song for every emotion. From classical numbers to patriotic songs, lively, happy numbers and intensely romantic songs to sad ones, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans, village songs to songs sung in a club, his oeuvre was vast.
He was the man with the ‘Golden Voice’ who was conferred with the title, ‘Suron Ke Badshah’ and ‘Sangeet Duniya ke Anmol Rattan’. He sang with ease and there was a divine quality in his voice. He had a glorious career that spanned over four decades and thousands of melodies that are timeless and have touched the hearts of many generations of music lovers and will continue to do so for many more.
Rafi had the knack of bringing alive any song. He had the perfect blend of melody, emotions and energy. From the classically inclined songs of Baiju Bawra (1952) to the foot-tapping songs of Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), he gave each song the treatment it deserved. He is credited with elevating playback singing to a very high standard. He bridged the gap between the singer and the actor.
After the era of silent movies was over, mostly those actors who could also sing were given roles in films, eg. K.L. Saigal, Suraiyya, Noorjehan, etc. Then came the tradition of playback singing. Rafi Sahab was aware of the difference between singing for a recording or singing on stage where the singer had a direct relation with the audience and playback singing which was altogether a different game. Here one had to show that the actor is singing, and this had to be portrayed with conviction. The problem here was that every actor’s voice has a different quality, every actor has a different style and a different personality.
How could a singer blend all these to match the actor. Rafi was perhaps the first person who could do this so successfully. He could, with absolute ease, adapt his voice and style to suit the actor on whom the song was being picturized. Thus we hear a great variation in his voice quality when he sings Hum aap ki aankhon mein is dil ko basa lein to (Pyaasa,1957) for Guru Dutt, Gum uthane ke liay mai to jiay jaaonga ( Mere Huzoor,1968) for Jeetendra, Teri chham-chham se, meri dum-dum se, kya rang chhaane laga hai (Sargam, 1979) for Rishi Kapoor, Nain Lad Jaye Hain To Manwa Ma (Ganga Jamuna, 1961) for a rustic Dilip Kumar. For a suave Dilip Kumar in Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salaami le le (Ram Aur Shyam, 1967), the voice modulation was very different. In fact, if one heard just the song, one could easily guess which actor it had been picturized on. The actor for whom Chhup gaye sare nazare oyi kya baat ho gayi (Do Raaste, 1970) could only be Rajesh Khanna. Such was Rafi’s genius.
It is this rare quality of Rafi and the scale, timbre and tenor of his voice which makes him stand apart from all the other playback singers of Bollywood till date. He had immense control over voice, a fine example of which we see in the climax of the song, O duniya ke rakhwaaley, sun dard bharey mere naale (Baiju Bawra,1952) where he raises his voice to a very high pitch in the repetition of the word ‘rakhwale’. It has been said that this is the highest scale pitch song ever to be recorded. Only a Mohammed Rafi could do this! This song was so tough that his throat was bleeding while he was singing it.
Mohammed Rafi was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer 6 times (he was nominated 19 times). He was also honoured once with the National Film Award. He was conferred the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1967.
Not only was Mohammed Rafi a singer par excellence, he was a wonderful human being too, compassionate and kind. Simplicity was his much-admired trait. One of the qualities that endeared him to all was that he was modest and down to earth. He could not even understand why people were so crazy about his singing.
Surprisingly for a man with a God-gifted voice, he didn’t speak much. He never attended any filmi parties or socialize much preferring to spend time with his family or play his favourite games. He loved to play badminton, carrom and to fly kites. A very religious person, he took no credit for his success, attributing all his achievements to the Almighty. People often debated whether Rafi was a better singer or a better human being. They simply concluded that he was, in fact, not a human being. He was a farishta, an angel!
The last song Rafi Sahab recorded was Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost for the movie Aas Paas by Producer Director J Om Prakash. It was one day before his end. On the morning of 31 July 1980, Rafi took ill while rehearsing for a Bengali song at home which was to be a tribute to actor Uttam Kumar who had passed away just a few days earlier. It was the 19th day of the holy month of Ramadan that year. Late night, he suffered a massive heart attack and coud not survive. He was 55 years old.
Mohammed Rafi died in 1980 but the singer Mohammed Rafi is not dead. He is immortal. He will continue to mesmerize us with his golden voice. The magic of Rafi will live on.
Bushra Alvi Razzack is a Delhi-based writer, editor, translator and poet.


Billie Jean King is the founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative. She has long been a champion for social change and equality. King created new inroads for all genders in sports and beyond during her legendary career and she continues to make her mark today. King was named one of the 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century by Life Magazine and, in 2009, in recognition of her work as a social justice pioneer and her accomplishments in sports, President Barack Obama awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2017, Fox Searchlight released the critically acclaimed film “Battle of the Sexes,” starring Academy Award winner Emma Stone as King and Academy Award nominee Steve Carrell as Bobby Riggs, which depicts both players’ battles on and off the court as well as the cultural and social impact of the groundbreaking match.


Japanese actress Sayaka Kanda, who played the character of Anna in Disney’s Japanese dub “Frozen”, has died. She was 35 years old.
Kanda was found unconscious around 1 p.m. Saturday outside her hotel in Sapporo, northern Japan. She was taken to the hospital but could not be saved.
Representatives for the late actress believe she fell from her room on the 14th floor of the 22-story hotel, local publication Kyodo News reported.
Police are investigating the case as likely suicide, but have yet to rule out foul play, the outlet added.
The actress had attended a rehearsal for a performance of the musical “My Fair Lady” as recently as Friday, but missed a rehearsal on Saturday, her producers noted.
“I would like to report to everyone who has supported Sayaka Kanda so far. Kanda Sayaka (35) died suddenly at 9.40 p.m. on December 18, 2021, ”Kamaichi Mitsuhisa, CEO of the Kanda Robe Co. agency, wrote in a statement according to Yahoo. “We are so sorry to report such a report to all the fans who have supported us and to all the people who took care of us.”
In addition to the Japanese adaptation “Frozen”, Kanda was also known for her voice roles in the video games “Kingdom Hearts II” and “Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony”. A second-generation performer, she was the daughter of 70-year-old actor Masaki Kanda and 59-year-old singer Seiko Matsuda.
Kanda’s career began at the age of 20 when she started performing in musicals. She was due to play Maetel in the musical “Galaxy Express 999” next April, according to Kyodo.
Takako Matsu, who starred alongside Kanda in the Japanese dub “Frozen” as Elsa, said the news of Kanda’s death had left her “speechless,” according to Yahoo.
“[The] the time we have spent together is an irreplaceable treasure for me.


George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ voted No.1 song of all time
The late George Michael’s single ‘Careless Whisper’ has been voted the number one song of all time by Smooth Radio’s listeners.
The music legend tragically died in December last year aged 53, but his debut solo track, which was released in 1984, is still top of the charts, whilst ‘A Different Corner’ has landed in second place.
And the former Wham! band member has been praised as “one of the biggest talents” in the world, as he still continues to be “in the nation’s heart” even more now after his death.
Speaking about the musician and the nation’s favourite tunes, group executive director and director of broadcasting at Global, Richard Park, said:
“George Michael was one of the biggest talents the world has ever seen and the results of Smooth’s All Time Top 500 confirm that he remains in the nation’s heart now more than ever. Together with Smooth’s 5.4 million listeners across the UK, our countdown over the Bank Holiday weekend has been the perfect way to celebrate the life and music of this great man.”


Divyadarshini (aka) DD is an Indian actress and anchor, who works mostly in Tamil films and television industries. Initially, she appeared in a supporting role in the 2003 Tamil comedy film “Naala Damayanti” produced by Kamal Haasan. She then started appearing in television serials and gained popularity for her performances in serials like Selvi and Arasi. Since 2007, she has been hosting shows regularly on Vijay TV, and in 2014, she started hosting her own show “Coffee With DD”, He played a major role in the Hotstar Special Mathagam web series starring Atharva in the lead role.
|Real Name||Divyadarshini Neelkandan|
|profession||actor, tv host|
|Date of birth||17 February 1985|
|Age (by 2023)||38|
|Family||Father: Of. neelakandan
Mother: N Sreelatha
Brother: Sudarshan Neelkandan
Sister: Priyadarshini Kishore Neelkandan
|marital status||Divorced (29 June 2014)|
|Affairs / Boyfriend||No|
|Children||yet to be updated|
|School||Our Lady’s Matriculation School, Chennai|
|College||Ethiraj Women’s College, Chennai|
|Hobby||Drawing, Painting, Listening to Music, Gymming|
|birth place||Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India|
|hometown||Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India|
|Current City||Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India|
social media profiles
- At the age of 14, she successfully auditioned to become a child anchor for Vijay TV’s Angal Theerpu in 1999. Then he did K.K. Balachander’s television serial Rekkai Kattiya Manasu in a serious character.
- Then she appeared in the Kamal Production venture “Nala Damayanti” directed by Mauli.
- In 2003, she appeared in the Tamil campus horror film “Whistle” and was also featured in the independent English film “Five by Four”.
- In 2007, she became a prominent TV anchor and continues to host several reality TV shows on Vijay Television. Along with Deepak and Arvind Akash, she hosted the initial seasons of Jodi Number One and Boys Vs. Girls. He also hosted popular Vijay TV shows like Home Sweet Home and Airtel Super Singer.
- Then she started hosting her own show named “Koffee with DD”. From 1 April 2017, Divyadarshini started hosting Ambudan DD, a spin-off of her previous show Koffee with DD.
- In June 2014, she tied the knot with Srikanth Ravichandran. They were only friends for six years, after which their parents suggested that they get married.
- Her Instagram account has more than 2.5M followers (as of May 2023).
|1990||Happy journey||Raman’s child||Malayalam||child artist|
|2003||five by four||Namita||English|
|2008||Saroja||Special appearance in the song “Aaja Meri Soniye”||tamil||guest appearance|
|2017||power pandi||Poonendral’s daughter||tamil||guest appearance|
|2019||Sarvam Thala Mayam||Anjana||tamil|
|2022||Coffee with Kadhal||TBA||tamil||filming|
|TBA||Joshua Imai Pol Kakha||TBA||tamil||delayed|
- 2008 – Vega Tamotia for Saroja
- 2010 – Pia Bajpai for Goa
- 2010 – Bale Pandiya
- 2010 – Aparna Bajpai for Ishaan
- 2016 – Preethi for Appa
- 2019 – Frozen 2 (Tamil Dubbed Version) – Anna (2019)
|1999||Ungal Theerpu||host||Tara Vijay|
|2003-2004||Rekkai Kattiya Manasu||Raj TV||serial|
|2002||irandavathu kadaimai||Usha||Raj TV||serial|
|2006–2014||jodi number one||The Host (Seasons 1,2,3,5,6,7)||Tara Vijay|
|2006-2007||Kolangal||Anjalidevi||sun television||Akilandeshwari replaced the serial|
|2007||Kanavugal Aayiram||Bharti||Jaya TV||serial|
|2009||boys vs girls||The Host (Seasons 1, 2)||Tara Vijay|
|2012||jodi number one||Participant (Season 4)||Tara Vijay|
|2012||airtel super singer t20||host||Tara Vijay|
|2013-2017||coffee with dd||host||Tara Vijay|
|2016||achham thaavir||host||Tara Vijay|
|2017||Ambudan DD||host||Tara Vijay|
|2018||couple fun unlimited||judge||Tara Vijay|
|2018||bigg boss tamil 2||Guest||Tara Vijay|
|2018–2019||enkita modhade||The Host (Seasons 1, 2)||Tara Vijay|
|2019-present||dancing super stars||judge||Tara Vijay|
|2019–2020||Get speed set!||host||Tara Vijay|
|2021||bigg boss tamil 4 kondattam||host||Tara Vijay||special episode|
|2021||6th Annual Vijay Television Awards||host||Tara Vijay|
|2022||rrr special||host||Tara Vijay|
|2022||Galata Nakshatra Award||host||Kalaignar TV|
|2022||Big Boss (Tamil Season 6)||Guest||Tara Vijay|
- 2011 – Best Anchor Female for Home Sweet Home (Vijay TV) – Won
See the latest pictures of Divyadarshini.


Meet the Musician
Phillip, from Miami, Florida is an alumni of FAMU & FSU. He is a man of many talents who is also known as “KING P”. He is a song writing, recording artist and saxophonist. Outside his passion for music, he also loves children, skating and coaching football, basketball and track & field. As a saxophonist, he is credited as a platinum artist with his contribution to Ludacris album, Release Therapy. Other accomplishments include opening up for Tank, Atlantic Starr and headlining in multiple festival events. KingP is currently working on his 5th album, which he hopes will break him mainstream into the music industry!


Rosalía celebrates the two-year anniversary of her album MOTOMAMI by releasing an extended version of the album on vinyl. This third album by the Spanish singer was released in March 2022 and was followed by a deluxe version in September.
The new vinyl, titled MOTOMAMI+, will include all the songs from the deluxe version, including the hit electro pop track “Desspechá”.
This double vinyl LP will contain all 24 songs from the album, spread over four sides. The vinyl itself is transparent, with a cover featuring the cover of MOTOMAMI+. This release marks the first time the project has been available in vinyl format, and orders will come with an updated lyric booklet and exclusive poster.
MOTOMAMI was a flagship project for Rosalía, with production provided by Noah Goldstein, Michael Uzowuru, Dylan Wiggins and Pharrell Williams. The album received the Album of the Year award and three other honors at the 2023 Latin Grammys.
Pre-orders for Rosalía's MOTOMAMI+ vinyl are available for $45 USD on the singer's official website . Delivery of the vinyl is scheduled for June 2024.
Written by Yeazzy.


Here’s my interview with singer Manjeet Ral of the Singh is King fame and a member of the erstwhile band ‘RDB’ — an acronym for Rhythm, Dhol, Bass — , about his latest music ensemble ‘Manj Musik’ and upcoming collaborations.
Manjeet has just completed a project for Dr Cabbie, a comedy caper co-produced by Salman Khan. Set in Canada, it is the story of a young Indian doctor who embarks on a coming-of-age journey. And keeping with the Indian-ness of the movie is the title track ‘Daal Makhani’ created by Manjeet. “They loved the work I had done on Shera di Kaum from Speedy Singhs (2011). Hence they asked me to produce the title song for this movie and one other song. The title track fuses all the fun elements. It will officially go live on YouTube on August 19 and subsequently on TV.”
Apart from this, he has collaborations with Vishal-Shekhar and Sunidhi Chauhan lined up as well, he tells us.
Manj Musik was born a little over a year ago, following the demise of his brother, Kuly. For Manjeet, RDB was a symbol of Kuly’s musical prowess, his dedication and their combined effort. So he didn’t want to show disrespect to his brother by continuing the band on his own. “RDB was intrinsically what Kuly and I created. I didn’t want to take credit for RDB’s music,” he says.
Ask him to describe his music style and he quips, “It is a good mix of western and eastern beats. My sound is influenced by everything from hip-hop and house to rock and classical genres. I feel my music is very experimental. Very futuristic.”
Having spent his childhood in the United Kingdom and then relocating to Toronto, Manjeet enjoys a significant clout in the international music circles. He has worked with quite a few international names, most notably the likes of Ludacris, Snoop Lion, LMFAO, T-Pain and Public Enemy. “It was an amazing experience. They are very professional in their work and they taught me a lot about music,” says the star, who is also the ambassador in India for 50 Cent’s brand of headphones ‘SMS Audio’.
But in no way, he feels, he has reached the pinnacle of success yet. He avers, “I am still climbing the ladder and I have a lot to achieve before I can say my music is the best. I make music because I love this, not for fame. I do it for the people who come to listen to my music and I feel accomplished when they appreciate my efforts.”
Manj Musik comprises of Manjeet Ral, his wife Nindy Kaur and Raftaar (who doubles up as the lyricist). To know more, visit facebook.com/ManjMusik
Published in The New Indian Express on August 18, 2014.


James Bowman has been one of the world’s leading Counter tenors for over forty years; his career spanning Opera, Oratorio, Contemporary music and solo recitals. He began singing as a Chorister at Ely Cathedral and later entered New College, Oxford with a Choral scholarship. After leaving Oxford, he joined the choir of Westminster Abbey. He was invited by Benjamin Britten to sing at the opening concert of the new Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in March 1967, and this marked his London debut.
His career since then has included opera engagements both in the UK and abroad. Locations range from Paris, La Scala in Milan and Venice to further afield in Sydney and Melbourne Opera houses and the USA, including the Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Centre in Washington.
He has made over 150 recordings with all the major record labels, under such directors as Britten, Harnoncourt, Mackerras, Leppard, Hogwood, Bruggen and Pinnock. He has recorded ‘Messiah’ four times, under Willcocks, Koopman, Dorati and Parrott. Many of his recordings have been for Hyperion, recording all the Purcell Odes, Church music and Solo songs, as well as various solo discs of music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Hasse, Domenico Scarlatti and Dowland.
He has given the world premiere of many important contemporary compositions, including works by Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett, Peter Maxwell Davies, Richard Rodney Bennett, Robin Holloway, Geoffrey Burgon, Michael Nyman, Alan Ridout and Tariq O’Regan.
In May 1996 he received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and was made CBE in the 1997 Queen’s Birthday Honours. He is also an Honorary Fellow of New College, Oxford and in October 2000 became a Gentleman of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace. In 2010 he was presented with ‘A Lifetime Award for Services to Early Music’ by the York Early Music Festival.
In May 2011 he made his farewell to the London concert platform with a sold-out recital at London’s Wigmore Hall, singing Purcell and Handel. However, he still appears occasionally at smaller venues away from the capital and has performed several times with Cantemus.


- This event has passed.
Comedy Night w/ Mo Jones
December 7 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm| $10.00
Check out Comedy Night with Mo Jones! Moore Jones Jr. is best known by his stage name, “Mo” Jones and he’s best known for being a dancer who toured with MC Hammer for many years. More recently however, he has been known for entertaining audiences by spreading smiles.
Mo has been featured in TV Shows such as BET Comic View.
Tickets are only $10 at the door. Doors open at 5pm and the show begins at 8pm.


Missy Higgins shares first pic of her new baby daughter
Missy Higgins has shared the first photo of her new baby daughter, who she’s named Luna.
The Aussie singer-songwriter took to Instagram overnight, sharing a cute snap of the new baby girl sleeping in what appeared to be a hospital room.
“Testing out some of my new demos on Luna this morning. She was well impressed,” she captioned the pic.
Missy announced the new arrival on Instagram on Monday afternoon, sharing an adorable selfie of her new baby girl nursing in her chest.
“Welcome to the world little Luna,” she wrote alongside the photo, adding a series of love heart emojis.
This is Missy’s second child with her playwright husband Dan Lee — the couple are already parents to their three-year-old son Samuel.
Missy, who took the stage as the opening act on Ed Sheeran’s recent Aussie tour, announced her pregnancy in March while singing at a concert in Perth.
“And on that note, I’d like to tell you guys that I’m expecting,” she told the crowd.
Image Credit: Kylie Keene via Missy Higgins, Instagram.


Nicki Minaj has unveiled the cover art of her upcoming disc Pink Friday : Roman Reloaded . The album cover features Nicki from the neck up, sporting blonde hair. Her face is covered in pink, green and orange make-up, and behind her a white wall is splattered with pink, orange, yellow and blue paint.
Speaking of covers -- Nicki will appear on the front of Allure 's April issue. Inside the magazine, she talks about her big business plans, saying, "I had a little conversation with Jay-Z at the Victoria's Secret fashion show. He said, 'Congratulations on all your success.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm coming for you. I'm coming for your spot, Mr. Mogul.'"
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded will be out April 3. The upcoming issue of Allure arrives on newsstands March 20.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio


Bruce Hollywood, a Colonel in the United State Air Force, was adopted by an American couple in 1960. Until his heart attack in 2005, he never thought much about his birth parents, but his near-death experience sparked a pang of regret that he had never pursued any information about his roots. After recovery, he made steps to change that. His adoptive mother had given Hollywood the name of his birth mother before her death and encouraged him to contact her. Hollywood’s search began at the American Embassy in Tokyo and, after no luck, he hired a private investigator, also to no avail.
A few months later, after he’d given up, Hollywood was sitting at a wine bar in Dulles airport and started swapping stories with another military man, Admiral Harry Harris--who told him he could help him find his birth mother. 10 days later, he was on the phone with her--a day before her birthday, giving her the gift she had always wished for, a reunion with her son. 10 days after that, Bruce Hollywood flew to Shizuoka, Japan to meet Nobue Ouchi, and see the restaurant and bar she ran—which she had named after him. They spent three years visiting each other frequently until her death. She learned some English. He learned some Japanese. She taught him about his heritage. And it changed his life.
Source: The Washington Post


Throughout the development of the rap and hip-hop genre we have seen hundreds of truly world class albums from top draw music producers and rappers keen to etch their name in musical folklore. Only a select few of these become recognised as the very best of all time and can be discussed for generations. Nobody truly knows which one is the best of them all, but this is my perspective of it all. These are, in my opinion, the 10 greatest rap albums of all time.
10. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle:
This is the debut album of loveable Long Beach, California born rapper Snoop Dogg, which was released way back in 1993. It was a real eye opener for fans of the genre as a new hero was about to burst onto the scene with his satirical verses and infectious character. People were aware of Snoop Dogg’s talents when he contributed massively to the work of Dr Dre’s breakout album ‘The Chronic’ (1992) so there was quite a lot of buzz around what Snoop could deliver. The album became recognised as one of the most important and groundbreaking of the 90s as it furthered Snoop’s reputation and brought G-funk into the mainstream audience. It also made the West Coast a dominant force in the early 90s over their Eastern rivals. It debuted straight at the top of the Billboard charts and sold over 800,000 copies in its first week of sales, which was the record until Eminem took it for ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ in 2000. It has been certified as 4x Platinum and has sold 11 million worldwide copies thanks to huge tracks such as ‘Gin & Juice’, ‘Doggy Dogg World’ and ‘Who Am I?’. It became a stalwart for regular people as Snoop himself mentioned that “I can’t rap about something I don’t know” meaning he stuck true to his hometown and his upbringing and ran with it for this album.
9. OutKast – Speakerboxx/The Love Below:
The only album ever released by a hip-hop act to win the ‘Best Album’ award at the Grammy’s. Not just ‘Best Rap Album’, but the best of them all. That is an achievement which literally no other rap act has achieved and that is why this album proudly sits on this list. OutKast released this double album in 2001 which was a real treat to fans considering the 3 year break they took previously to this project. Following up from their previous album ‘Stankonia’ was always going to be difficult as that was a critically acclaimed record and helped the group receive widespread recognition. But they managed it, they raised the bar and never looked back. 40 songs in one album just seems absurd but this whole album is full of underplayed gems and of course, three of the group’s biggest hits in ‘Roses’, ‘The Way You Move’ and their biggest song ‘Hey Ya’. Any album which features those three is going to be a hit because they were the songs which gave OutKast their image and their sound, a soulful but gritty rap style with iconic choruses. It was clear that frontman Dré’s decision to go by the new identity of André 3000 became a wise move as it seemed to revitalise not only him but the band as a whole in this masterful project. The group would only go on to release one more album after this before splitting and going their separate ways, perhaps recognising not only that their time was up, but also that they would never quite replicate the success of this album.
8. Jay Z – The Blueprint:
This was the sixth studio album by legendary rapper and producer Jay-Z and he wasn’t holding anything back on this one. Released in 2001, it is often regarded not only as Jay’s first huge commercial success on an album, but also as one of the most influential rap albums of the decade due to it paving the way for other New York rappers to go after the South Side rose to dominance around that time in hip hop. The album itself featured the lead single ‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.)’ which was simply brilliant and was a real commercially staggering release. As well as this the quite brilliant ‘Renegade’ came from this album where Jay-Z does perform incredibly well on a very good song but is also allowing the spotlight onto Eminem who’s fantastic verse takes the plaudits. That takes nothing away from the genius of the song, however which provides a crucial role in this album as a whole. This album became commercially successful through its range of synth-rap bangers and the soulful samples used, such as in ‘Hola Hovito’ or ‘That N***a Jigga’ and this gave Jay that platform to run with and create a truly masterful album. Oh yeah, and it’s home to the greatest rap diss track there has ever been with ‘U Don’t Know’, the song of course which is well known as the song that ended Nas’ career.
7. N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton:
Way back in 1988, a little known group of California born rappers released their breakout debut record, they named it Straight Outta Compton and themselves went by the name of N.W.A. It meshed every single musical code the West Coast stood for, gang rhythm, funk and flow, they had it all. Dr Dre, Eazy E, Ice Cube and co. were a force to be reckoned with in an instant with this absolute classic of an album. The lead single itself was named after the album and became a legendary anthem for the group who later had a film dedicated to their incredible rise to fame from the rough streets of Compton, California. It has been ranked as the fourth best rap album of all time by Rolling Stone and also went platinum not only in America but in the United Kingdom as well, which is some fear for anyone to achieve let alone a bunch of young rappers. It’s a youthful vibe of energy and rebellion as these young men released huge tracks that were not only aggressive but also rule bending. ‘F*** The Police’ became a massive hit and was a clear message to all those listening that N.W.A weren’t the biggest fans of the American police departments. Despite this, they also had immense talent, every last member of the group had rhythm, flow and ability to rhyme proficiently and they bounced off of each other so well it was just perfect. ‘Express Yourself’ was an example of that with its funky mix and high responsibility on maintaining flow but they all do that superbly, creating a brilliant song as a result. The album as a whole is a masterclass and as before mentioned, was so good they named a film after it so it must have caused a stir around the world.
6. Dr. Dre – 2001:
Despite the title, this is in fact the album Dre released in 1999 and was his second studio release. When talking about mainstream gangsta rap, this is where you come. The most iconic and well known album of it’s time, it contains 2-3 of the biggest rap songs ever created along with other magnificent tracks. The standouts of this record are, of course, ‘Still D.R.E.’ the lead single of this album which featured close friend and colleague Snoop Dogg, ‘The Next Episode’ again with Snoop alongside him and ‘Forgot About Dre’ which contains an incredible verse from Eminem as well as lively and top notch bars from Dre himself. These three tracks are at the forefront of this record and make it stand tall as a truly iconic piece, something that will never rust and will be listened to and enjoyed for generations on end. The production value demonstrated here epitomises Dre himself, his hard work but also unbridled talent helped create a masterpiece of sound and artistic design. It’s never going to be soft, easy going listening but will be guaranteed to get any party started, if anything just for the legendary Snoop Dogg line in ‘The Next Episode’ (I’m sure you all know what I, talking about). I’m running out of superlatives for this so I’ll say this, the fact I’ve put this in as Dre’s standout project ahead of The Chronic tells you all you need to know about the genius of this release, it’s sublime.
5. 2Pac – All Eyez On Me:
This is the 4th studio album released by the then alive Tupac Shakur, better known as 2Pac. It was released on February 13th 1996 and became known as the most commercially successful album Pac ever released. It was also the first ever double-full-length hip-hop solo album released for mass consumption after being issued on two discs. It contained the most singles of any 2Pac record, those included the track which the album was named after ‘All Eyez On Me’ and the cult classic ‘California Love’ which has gone on to become one of the truly great songs in the history of hip-hop. The album itself has been charted in the Billboard 200 for a total of 105 weeks since its release and was certified platinum a few years ago, showing the impact it has had with the public even today. It was the phenomenal variation of Pac which made this project so special, the ability he had to be a real gangsta rapper and then transform in a second to a soulful and cultural prophet of his time, showing his true genius and weaving his magic on every song he touched. ‘Ambitionz Az A Ridah’ is an example of that gritty, gangsta style which Pac developed after growing up in the streets of Harlem, whereas ‘Heaven Ain’t Hard 2 Find’, the closer of the album was a much more meaningful piece and showed Pac’s preaching side as he showed throughout his life that he was desperate for humans to be at peace with one another. His legacy, along with this album, will live on forever and with him we remember this fantastic album which has been widely regarded as his greatest work.
4. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP:
This was Eminem’s 3rd studio album and was released on May 23rd 2000 in Los Angeles, California. It’s as hard hitting and heartbreaking as an album could possibly get and shows the vulnerable side of Eminem along with the fame it has brought him. Nobody had witnessed something quite like it when this was brought along as he didn’t use his rap ability to go on and on about chains, fast cars and models. In actual fact, he made a mockery of that and would write songs in homage to that style almost in a satirical way. That is how ‘The Real Slim Shady’ came about, the lead single off this album and a key cog in the Eminem wheel of songs. This high octane, bouncy sound twinned with a higher keyed than usual Eminem rap vocal made for really brilliant listening and became one of the key songs of that year. What staggered people was how he would go from that style to the depressing, soul crushing path he took during ‘Stan’, perhaps his most emotionally fuelled song. Written by Eminem from the perspective of a fan, it shows us the devotion of some fans and how they can dedicate their lives to one man (Slim Shady in this case) and go to extreme measures to be recognised. It was also seen as a bit of a message to his fans that due to his incredibly busy and hectic lifestyle, he can’t spend as much time as he would like to talking with his fans. This album broke all sorts of records as it became the fastest selling studio album by any solo artist in American history, selling a mind blowing 1.76 million copies in its first week alone. It also won Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammy’s by an absolute landslide and was nominated for Album Of The Year. The album still maintains a huge feeling with fans to this day, as numbers of sales have now tipped over 32 million worldwide, numbers that were previously unheard of in the rap industry. A guru and role model of his generation, this was the finest work of Eminem’s huge discography and also ranks as one of the best ever albums.
3. Nas – Illmatic:
The 1994 debut album by New York rapper Nas is often referred to as one of the true pioneering greats of rap music. MTV rank it 2nd in their list of all time hip-hop albums and hip-hop connection and their readers voted Illmatic 3rd overall. It’s a masterpiece of public message and concern, a plea to focus more on poverty across the streets of America, the struggles of growing up in Queensbridge with all of its gang violence and desolation of urban areas. It’s such a personal piece yet is so relatable for those living in desperate times and gave them a window of opportunity, a belief that they too could release an album of this magnificence. The truth of the matter was that they couldn’t, simply because Nas was a one of a kind rapper, the kind of talent and genius mind you don’t stumble across every day and he devoted all of that into this album. It eventually went Platinum thanks to the incredible work he put into it and as a result became a global superstar. Hit tracks such as ‘Life’s A Bitch’ or the colossal hit ‘N.Y. State Of Mind’ which blew away the minds of millions who listened to it with his revolutionary and never before heard production value. Not only are his verses red-hot throughout this album, he also had the fantastic talent of finding the perfect beat to match his lyrics. Using ‘One Love’ as an example, he provided a slightly softer element than he would for ‘Life’s A Bitch’ or for ‘Represent’ because he was fully aware of the situation he wanted to paint for the listener. Although Nas did go on to achieve great things in his career, he would never be able to replicate this work again, but that’s one hell of an achievement to aim for given the sheer brilliance of this album.
2. The Notorious B.I.G – Life After Death:
This album is a history maker, it was released posthumously 16 days after his death in March 1997 and became an instant classic. With it only being his second studio album and the follow up to the hugely successful ‘Ready To Die’ album there was anticipation in abundance for the release of it and to see how he would have continued to path his legacy. As a rapper, there is no better in my personal opinion. The fact he released one album while alive and had the second in the pipeline following his death yet still became known as the greatest to ever live suggests and confirms his supremacy in the hip hop genre. This project, along with his debut, revolutionised rap as we knew it back then and became part of a lasting story, almost like a sequel to ‘Ready To Die’. It was a huge discovery into the sub-genre known as mafioso rap, which artists such as Jay-Z, Nas and Raekwon had all attempted before with large success. When Biggie released this, however, they were all pushed to one side and made to witness true history in the making. The track list is perfection, it balances pop and gangsta rap to an absolute T and provides a new kind of sound for avid pop or rap listeners as he mixes the two with incredible proficiency. The iconic singles ‘Hypnotize’ and ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’ feature on this blockbuster record which sold a staggering 690,000 copies in it’s first week. Even after death, The Notorious B.I.G was living up to his name, becoming a global icon that would be relevant until the end of time. Many have described this album as the gateway for rappers such as Kanye West, J Cole and Drake to add a pop funk style to gangsta rap, something that without Biggie, nobody would have dared to even consider. Jay-Z and Ice Cube are just two of the huge names influenced so greatly by this album that they dedicated bars or beats from the album to use themselves as a tribute to the great man and his magnificent work on this project. All in all, it’s a phenomenon. An album that will stand the test of time and be judged not only as one of the greatest rap albums of all time, but musicians of all genres stand and notice the wonder of Christopher Wallace and his majestic work on ‘Life After Death’.
1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy:
Simply the greatest rap album ever to be crafted. From start to finish it demonstrates a masterful mix of flow, timing, production and most of all, impeccable track listing. It’s perhaps the most underrated element of an album and in this case, the album becomes a motion picture. Starting with ‘Dark Fantasy’ and a harrowing speech from Nicki Minaj who is acting out a role of a princess, this album fades softly and subtly into life with a great intro, only made better by the next songs and their placement. ‘Gorgeous’ which features Kid Cudi, is a funky beat with an electric guitar influence and brilliant rap verses. This moves into quite possibly Kanye’s most influential and inspiring song ever, ‘POWER’. He acknowledges his genius and his talent, growing it all into this public service announcement that he is in fact here to inspire and revolutionise. ‘All Of The Lights’ features just about everyone in music and is a club banger for the ages, a hype track which will live in infamy. It’s a release of passion, aggression and desire as he raps about his girlfriend cheating on him. Following this song is a continued spree of energy with ‘Monster’ which has, for me, the only negative point on the whole album (Jay-Z’s diabolical verse). Despite this it also has the truly magnificent verse from New Yorker Nicki Minaj, who completely slays the competition and announces herself well and truly on the rap scene. ‘Devil In A New Dress’, ‘Runaway’ and ‘Blame Game’ are beautiful and quite remarkable pieces of music which demonstrate the softer and more emotional side of Kanye’s lyrics and songwriting ability, particularly for ‘Runaway’ and ‘Blame Game’ which show an incredibly passionate Kanye rapping and singing over a harmonic and soft piano tune. The speech in ‘Blame Game’ is iconic and brigs back the demons of his past, being cheated on and made to feel irrelevant by a previous partner. It provides a perfect diversity to the previously upbeat songs he had earlier in the album. By ending on the wonderful ‘Lost In The World’ which samples Bon Iver he provides a space age but glorious ending along with the next song which compliments it brilliantly. A technical masterpiece from start to finish and I struggle to believe anything will touch it.


TORONTO — Kelly Fraser, the Inuk singer-songwriter who aspired to bridge the world of mainstream pop with Indigenous music, was “an incredibly kind person” who shared her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder in hopes it might help her fans, her family said on Monday.
Fraser died by suicide in Winnipeg on Dec. 24, her mother and six siblings confirmed in a statement provided to The Canadian Press. She was 26.
“Kelly suffered from PTSD for many years as a result of childhood traumas, racism and persistent cyber-bullying,” they said.
“She was actively seeking help and spoke openly about her personal challenges online and through her journey.”
Fraser, who was raised in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, began playing music at 11, but it was a 2013 cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” that was shared widely on YouTube, and helped build her name within the Indigenous music community.
Her sophomore album “Sedna” picked up an Indigenous music album nomination at the 2018 Juno Awards, and more recently she received a 2019 Indspire Award for her work representing the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people.
The singer was also an advocate for Indigenous rights and co-founded Nunavut Hitmakerz, a project that provided workshops in Inuktitut and free recording equipment to underfunded communities in the North.
She “gave so much of herself to help others,” her family said.
“She was fiercely open with her fans in the hopes that sharing her struggles might help them know they were not alone. Kelly fought so hard to be well. We know that she would want us all to continue to do our very best to take care of ourselves. Please respect our privacy at this time as no further details about the circumstances of her death will be provided.”
The family says memorials for Fraser are planned in both Winnipeg and Iqaluit with details to be provided at a later date.
They also encouraged anyone struggling in the North to contact the Kamatsiaqtut Helpline, which provides 24-hour anonymous and confidential telephone counselling about personal problems or crisis, at (867) 979-3333 or 1-800-265-3333, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or by texting “TALK” to 686868.
By: David Friend, (follow @dfriend on Twitter).
© The Canadian Press, 2019. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Love Island winner Jack Fincham signs professional boxing contract with BOXXER
Love Island winner and reality star Jack Fincham has signed a professional boxing contract with BOXXER and is on course to make his boxing debut this November.
Fincham is looking to achieve his dream after two years since winning Love Island.
After 26 fights at amateur level and he is on schedule to get his license to step into the squared circle once again, this time as a professional, live on TV.
Jack will box at Super-Middleweight and will be guided by world renowned boxing trainer Ben Davison who helped World Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury make a dramatic return to the ring in similar fashion – turning his life around after mental health and weight problems.
The Kent born reality star, will undertake an 8-week training camp to get himself in shape with hopes of furthering his boxing career if victorious, in his debut..
Talking about his debut, Jack said:
“I am delighted to be turning professional with Boxxer, I love the sport of boxing, it’s in my blood having competed in amateur bouts when I was younger. This isn’t just a one-off fight for me, I’m taking it seriously, if I perform well on the night I will be wanting to continue the journey.”
“I’ve been associated with the Boxxer brand through the successful ultimate boxxer series. It’s a forward thinking company that is going places, I am very thankful of the opportunity they’ve given me.”
Boxxer founder Ben Shalom added:
“We’re delighted about Jack making his professional debut with Boxxer, he resonates very well with our audience and brings with him a credible amateur record.”