Today: September 20, 2024
Today: September 20, 2024

Arts

Arts

'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett, who turned beach-bum life into an empire, dies at 76

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into an empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died. He was 76. “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” a statement posted to Buffett’s official website and social media pages said late Friday. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.” The statement did not say where Buffett died

September 02, 2023
'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett, who turned beach-bum life into an empire, dies at 76
Arts

Jimmy Buffett's laid-back party vibe created adoring 'Parrotheads' and success beyond music

Jimmy Buffett celebrated slackers before the word existed, even though he was hardly one himself. “Wasting away in Margaritaville,” went the chorus to his most famous song, which became an international singalong. But Buffett was actually an astute, ambitious, aggressive businessman. A statement posted to Buffett’s official website and social media pages announced his passing on Friday at age 76. The statement did not say where Buffett died or give a cause. He rescheduled concerts in May and acknowledged he had been hospitalized for an unspecified illness. Buffett built an empire based largely on Caribbean-flavored pop that celebrated the Florida

September 02, 2023
Jimmy Buffett's laid-back party vibe created adoring 'Parrotheads' and success beyond music
Arts

For at least a day, all the world is 'Margaritaville' in homage to Jimmy Buffett

All the world was “Margaritaville” on Saturday, from Key West to New York City and beyond, as legions of fans mourned the passing of beach-bum balladeer Jimmy Buffett at the age of 76. Buffett’s eponymous hit song has long been the anthem of Florida’s Key West, where Buffett once lived and built his enduring legacy. “Everybody equates that song with our city,” said Clayton Lopez, a Key West city commissioner. “I mean, when you say Margaritaville, you’re talking about the city of Key West.” The community planned a remembrance Sunday along Duval Street, home to

September 02, 2023
For at least a day, all the world is 'Margaritaville' in homage to Jimmy Buffett
Arts

Americans have long wanted the perfect endless summer. Jimmy Buffett offered them one

It seemed wistfully appropriate, somehow, that news of Jimmy Buffett’s death emerged at the beginning of the Labor Day weekend, the demarcation point of every American summer’s symbolic end. Because for so many, the 76-year-old Buffett embodied something they held onto ever so tightly as the world grew ever more complex: the promise of an eternal summer of sand, sun, blue salt water and gentle tropical winds. He was the man whose studied devil-may-care attitude became a lifestyle and a multimillion-dollar business — a connecting filament between the suburbs and the Florida Keys and, beyond them, the Caribbean. From Margaritaville

September 03, 2023
Americans have long wanted the perfect endless summer. Jimmy Buffett offered them one
Arts

‘Equalizer 3’ cleans up, while ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ score new records

The third installment in the Denzel Washington-led “Equalizer” franchise topped the domestic box office this weekend with $34.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday. By the end of the Monday holiday, Sony expects that total will rise to $42 million. Labor Day signals the end of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will likely surpass $4 billion in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic thanks in no small part to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” which are still netting records even after seven weeks in theaters. This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” officially became the biggest movie of 2023 with over

September 03, 2023
‘Equalizer 3’ cleans up, while ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ score new records
Arts

Aerosmith singer and Maui homeowner Steven Tyler urges tourists to return to the island

He’s most often associated with Boston, the hometown of his legendary rock band, but Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has a soft spot in his heart for the Hawaiian island of Maui. The singer, who has a home on the island, wants vacationers to return to Maui to help the island’s economy — devastated by wildfires last month — recover. Near the end of the opening night of the band’s farewell tour in Philadelphia Saturday, Tyler urged audience members not to be afraid to travel to the island again. “When you think about Lahaina, think about south Maui,”

September 03, 2023
Aerosmith singer and Maui homeowner Steven Tyler urges tourists to return to the island
Arts

Beyoncé shines bright among Hollywood stars during Renaissance concert tour stop in Los Angeles

Lights, cameras, Beyoncé! The superstar singer shined the brightest in a city full of Hollywood stars during the second night of her epic Renaissance Tour show on Saturday night. She once again packed the massive SoFi Stadium filled with concertgoers wearing gleaming silver outfits at the request of Beyoncé who asked fans to sport the silvery wardrobe for the last month of her spectacular tour. The crowd included many entertainers and athletes: Viola Davis, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade and Kelly Rowland. Some returned for a second straight night to witness another

September 03, 2023
Beyoncé shines bright among Hollywood stars during Renaissance concert tour stop in Los Angeles
Arts

Sweet emotion in Philadelphia as Aerosmith starts its farewell tour, and fans dream on

Aerosmith is one of the best things to come out of Boston, and soon it will exist only in memories and playbacks — like Tom Brady, “Cheers” and Larry Bird. The quintet has given the world 50 years of classic rock and some of the most enduring songs of all time, including “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” Aerosmith began its farewell “Peace Out” tour Saturday in Philadelphia with a two-hour set spanning its voluminous catalog — giving the world one last chance to see what earned these skinny guys from New England an exalted

September 03, 2023
Sweet emotion in Philadelphia as Aerosmith starts its farewell tour, and fans dream on
Arts

Accusers in Japanese boy band producer's sex scandal say they hope for apology, compensation

A group of men who say they were sexually abused by a Japanese boy band producer expressed hope Monday that the company will provide financial compensation and introduce measures to prevent a recurrence. They say producer Johnny Kitagawa sexually preyed on young dancers and singers for decades, having them stay at his luxury home, handing them cash and leveraging promises of potential fame. The company, Johnny & Associates, is a powerful force in Japan’s entertainment industry. The men said at a news conference Monday that they have been ignored for decades by the company, Japanese society and

September 04, 2023
Accusers in Japanese boy band producer's sex scandal say they hope for apology, compensation
Arts

Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell dies at 56

Steve Harwell, the longtime frontman of the Grammy-nominated pop rock band Smash Mouth has died. He was 56. The band’s manager, Robert Hayes, said Harwell “passed peacefully and comfortably” Monday morning surrounded by family and friends at his home in Boise, Idaho. The cause of death was acute liver failure, Hayes said in a statement. Smash Mouth was known for hits including “All star” and “Then the morning comes.” “Steve Harwell was a true American Original. A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle,” Hayes said. “Steve should be

September 04, 2023
Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell dies at 56
Arts

The Rolling Stones will release their first studio album in 18 years, 'Hackney Diamonds'

The wait is over: The Rolling Stones will soon release new music. On Monday, the band announced they are preparing to release their first album of original material in 18 years — since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang.” Titled “Hackney Diamonds,” the band will share details of the release at an event in East London’s Hackney district on Wednesday, where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will be interviewed live by “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon. The event will be livestreamed exclusively on YouTube on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. BST, 9:30 a.m. EST and 6:30

September 04, 2023
The Rolling Stones will release their first studio album in 18 years, 'Hackney Diamonds'
Arts

How video games like 'Starfield' are creating a new generation of classical music fans

The London Symphony Orchestra has performed music from video games like ‘Starfield’ and ‘The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.’ Tristan Fewings/Getty Images “Starfield” is one of the most anticipated video games in recent history. The game, which will be released on Sept. 6, 2023, allows players to build their own character and spacecraft, travel to any one of a thousand or more planets and follow multiple story arcs. The soundtrack is equally epic, with audio director Mark Lampert describing the game’s music as a “companion to the player,” with a “sense of scale” that “had to be totally readjusted,” in a

September 05, 2023
How video games like 'Starfield' are creating a new generation of classical music fans
Arts

Fall Movie Preview: Hollywood readies for a season with stars on the sidelines

Hollywood is at a standstill. Actors and screenwriters are months into a dual strike. Film sets are dark. But the movies are still coming — or, at least, most of them. Even if that means some potentially solitary red-carpet walks. “I’m hoping I’m not promoting the movie by myself,” says Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming Marvel movie “The Marvels” (Nov. 10). “No one’s there to see me, either. They’re going to be like, ‘Where’s Brie Larson?’” Though the ongoing actors and screenwriters strikes are casting a pall over the fall movie season and prompting some

September 05, 2023
Fall Movie Preview: Hollywood readies for a season with stars on the sidelines
Arts

Alexander Payne makes 'em like they used to: Fall Movie Preview

The great films of the 1970s have long loomed in the imagination of filmmakers raised during one of the most fertile periods of American movies. But Alexander Payne wanted to take it a step further. Payne’s latest film, “The Holdovers,” isn’t just set in 1970, it seeks to imbibe the humanistic spirit of films like “The Last Detail,”“Harold and Maude,” “The Landlord” and “Paper Moon” — all movies he screened for his cast and crew. “We were very fully making a ’70s movie,” Payne says, recently speaking by phone from his desk in Omaha, Nebraska. Payne,

September 05, 2023
Alexander Payne makes 'em like they used to: Fall Movie Preview
Arts

The films coming to theaters and streaming soon, from 'Dumb Money' to 'The Hunger Games'

Fall is coming, and so are the movies. OK, not all the movies. Some of them, like “Dune: Part Two,” have been postponed until next year due to the ongoing actors and writers strikes. But most of the film calendar has stayed intact — for now. Just like summer, there are plenty of sequels and prequels on the way. A second “Nun,” a third “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” a fourth “Expendables” and a 10th “Saw.” But many of the most anticipated titles are awards contenders, historical epics and festival hits. Here’s a look at some of the highlights of

September 05, 2023
The films coming to theaters and streaming soon, from 'Dumb Money' to 'The Hunger Games'
Arts

Disney, Spectrum direct customers to other TV services as dispute keeping ESPN off air continues

Both sides of a dispute that has left nearly 15 million cable TV subscribers without ESPN or other networks affiliated with The Walt Disney Co. are directing customers to other services where they can watch television. The offers speak to the unusual nature of the business dispute between Disney and Charter Communications, and doesn’t auger a quick resolution. Charter is telling its Spectrum TV customers about a special deal being offered by the Fubo live television streaming service to get two months at discounts of 25% or 30%, depending on the plan. “I’ve covered carriage disputes

September 05, 2023
Disney, Spectrum direct customers to other TV services as dispute keeping ESPN off air continues
Arts

Joe Jonas files for divorce from Sophie Turner after 4 years of marriage, 2 daughters

Joe Jonas filed for divorce from Sophie Turner on Tuesday after four years of marriage and two children. The 34-year-old Jonas Brothers singer filed to end his marriage with the 27-year-old star of “Game of Thrones” and “X-Men” actor in Florida’s Miami-Dade County Court. The filing says “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” Turner and Jonas married in a secretive ceremony at a Las Vegas wedding chapel on May 1, 2019, after the Billboard Music Awards. Country duo Dan + Shay performed at the wedding. The couple had a daughter, Willa, in 2020, and last

September 05, 2023
Joe Jonas files for divorce from Sophie Turner after 4 years of marriage, 2 daughters
Arts

David Grann and Siddhartha Mukherjee are among contenders for a prestigious nonfiction prize

Books about the perilous state of our world, our food and our relationship with technology are in the running for Britain’s leading nonfiction book award, the Baillie Gifford Prize. The 13-book longlist announced Wednesday includes John Vaillant’s look at the reality of climate change, “Fire Weather”; Chris van Tulleken’s dietary warning “Ultra Processed People”; and “Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity” by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. Best-selling American author David Grann is nominated for the stirring seafaring yarn “The Wager,” while physician-writer Siddhartha Mukherjee is in the running with “The Song of

September 06, 2023
David Grann and Siddhartha Mukherjee are among contenders for a prestigious nonfiction prize
Arts

The Rolling Stones are set to unveil their new album at an event in London

A rock’n’roll juggernaut was descending Wednesday on London’s Hackney district, where The Rolling Stones are set to unveil their new album, “Hackney Diamonds.” Hard-core fans were already lining up Wednesday morning outside the Hackney Empire, where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will be interviewed onstage by “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon in a livestreamed event at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT; 9:30 a.m. EDT). Inside the ornate former Edwardian musical hall where Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel once performed, Jagger, 80, Richards, 79 and Wood, 76 are due to give details of the Stones’ first

September 06, 2023
The Rolling Stones are set to unveil their new album at an event in London
Arts

BTS' Jung Kook to join Global Citizen Festival lineup to make one of his first US solo appearances

Jung Kook of BTS will join the Global Citizen Festival lineup, making one of his first live solo appearances at the Sept. 23 concert in New York’s Central Park. The record-setting K-Pop singer, whose debut solo single “Seven” hit No. 1 in the United States and around the world this summer, will join Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Anitta and Megan Thee Stallion as headliners of the event designed to encourage supporters, especially those in Gen Z, to take action on extreme poverty, gender inequality, climate change and other issues. “The festival sheds light

September 06, 2023
BTS' Jung Kook to join Global Citizen Festival lineup to make one of his first US solo appearances
Arts

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen taking on new challenges on two continents

Embarking on her most ambitious season yet, Lise Davidsen is giving a solo recital at the Metropolitan Opera, making her Carnegie Hall debut, and performing three major roles she’s never sung in staged productions. At 36, the Norwegian soprano will become the youngest singer in recent Met history to perform such a recital when she takes the stage on Sept. 14 with piano accompanist James Baillieu for an evening of songs and opera arias. “Recitals at the Met are pretty few and far between,” said Peter Gelb, the company’s general manager. “We reserve them for artists

September 06, 2023
Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen taking on new challenges on two continents
Arts

Fall music releases: Pop powerhouses, country classics, hip-hop heavyweights and beyond

Music fans, it is time to bid adieu to the sunny, slow summer months, and welcome fall — historically, one of the busiest times in the calendar year for new albums, EPs, and mixtapes. Trends have already begun to reveal themselves: Some of the biggest names in pop (and in pop’s future) are gearing up for back-to-school releases. A-listers are returning after years. Country legends are taking on new genres. And hip-hop heavyweights are back in full force. Others defy categorization — like a new Pretenders record (“Relentless”), the swoon-worthy “Live for Me” EP from Omar

September 06, 2023
Fall music releases: Pop powerhouses, country classics, hip-hop heavyweights and beyond
Arts

Veterans’ fundraiser draws Tracy Morgan, Josh Groban, John Mellencamp and Jon Stewart

Josh Groban, John Mellencamp,Tracy Morgan and the ever-present Jon Stewart will stand up at this year’s Stand Up for Heroes fundraiser. The fundraiser, which benefits injured veterans and their families, will also feature comedians and musicians including Jimmy Carr, Ronny Chieng, Shane Gillis, The War and Treaty and Rita Wilson. Stewart has been a steady presence at the annual event. This year’s event will take place Nov. 6 at David Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Since its inception, Stand Up for Heroes has raised $70 million to

September 06, 2023
Veterans’ fundraiser draws Tracy Morgan, Josh Groban, John Mellencamp and Jon Stewart
Arts

Eric Nam's global pop defies expectations. On his latest album, 'House on a Hill,' he relishes in it

In an entertainment industry bent on categorization, Eric Nam finds an audience in fluidity. A decade into his career, he’s still a challenge to describe: Do you label him a pop star? Or a K-pop idol? Is there a difference? Is he an actor? A singer-songwriter? An interviewer? A television personality? A mental health activist? Korean American, or Korean and American? Nam was born and raised in Georgia, studied at Boston College, and got a job in New York City before heading to Seoul, South Korea, where he started his music career in his early 20s.

September 06, 2023
Eric Nam's global pop defies expectations. On his latest album, 'House on a Hill,' he relishes in it
Arts

Nia DaCosta makes her mark on Marvel history with 'The Marvels': Fall Movie Preview

Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming “The Marvels,” has a diagnosis for the recent struggles of superhero movies. It basically comes down to, she says, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Success inevitably breeds bigger budgets. Box-office expectations get inflated. Even superhero spandex can’t sustain endless cycles of wash, rinse and repeat. “Growth has to stop at some point,” says DaCosta. “As you make more and more films, you want those films to be more interesting, more dynamic and to appeal to different audiences. But that requires risk. And there’s a conundrum where you’re so big that you

September 06, 2023
Nia DaCosta makes her mark on Marvel history with 'The Marvels': Fall Movie Preview

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